DeAndrea Salvador
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
DeAndrea Salvador | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2021 | |
| Member of the North Carolina Senate from the 39th district | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Rob Bryan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | |
| Party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina at Charlotte |
DeAndrea Salvador is a Democratic member of the North Carolina Senate. She has represented the 39th Senate district since 2021. She is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Renewable Energy Transition Initiative (RETI), a nonprofit that educates communities and leaders about energy conservation and affordability. She was a 2018 TED Fellow. Elected at age 30, Salvador is the youngest Black woman ever to serve in the North Carolina General Assembly.[1]
Salvador is the fifth generation of her family to live in Charlotte, North Carolina.[2] She became concerned about energy poverty during her undergraduate studies.[3] She studied economics, with a minor in anthropology, at University of North Carolina at Charlotte.[4] She graduated in 2013.[5] She was part of the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity: a co-educational fraternity which offered her networking opportunities in the energy sector.[4] She wanted to learn more about sustainability and energy, and completed a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certificate from the U.S. Green Building Council.[6]
Career
Salvador applied to SEED20, a North Carolina social venture partnership offering training, coaching and mentoring program for nonprofits.[7] In 2014 she founded Renewable Energy Transition Initiative (RETI), a nonprofit that educates low-income people about renewable energy.[3] Their mission is to sustainably decrease the amount of people's income that they spend on energy.[4] In North Carolina, many families spend more than 20% of their income on energy expenses.[8] In 2016 she was named as a Charlotte-Mecklenburg BLACK CHAMBER of Commerce (CMBCC) 30 Under 30.[9]
Salvador was announced as a TED Fellow in January 2018.[2] She was announced as the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Alumni of the Year in 2018.[4] SouthPark magazine announced her as a "Woman to Watch" in 2018.[10] RETI has run a series of educational activities with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Girl Scouts of the USA, churches, neighbourhood organisations and community centres.[2] The Grist 50 named Salvador an “emerging leader on climate, equity, and sustainability” for her involvement in negotiating HB 951 Energy Solutions for North Carolina.[11] She is on the Board of Advisors of Clean Air Carolina, a statewide initiative to improve air quality in North Carolina.[12] Additionally, she works in the data privacy industry and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional as recognized by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).[13]