By Maya Rosenberg

Khalil Kettering, the urban conservation program director at The Nature Conservancy spoke to students at the Do Good Accelerator on Nov. 13. 

The lecture was part of the accelerator’s monthly “Lunch with Leaders” series, which highlights different innovative and impactful leaders. 

“One of the things I love about the Nature Conservancy is that it’s an organization that’s very much about pragmatic solutions oriented work,” Kettering said. “It’s about how do we find solutions, how we use science, how do we get the word out about environmental issues?”

Kettering, who specializes in creating green solutions for cities, green infrastructure and carbon markets, focused his talk on The Nature Conservatory’s green infrastructure efforts in D.C., including his efforts to build the first ever stormwater retention credit trading program in the city. 

The program involves incentivizing private businesses to create solutions to absorb rainwater and reduce runoff into the city’s rivers through the use of rain gardens and other methods. 

According to Kettering, the idea that “environmental nonprofits cannibalize each other over private donors, foundation grants and government grants,” is detrimental to the work that the nonprofits are trying to accomplish. 

“Instead, we can go to the creditors of the world, the investors of the world, and say you can get a return on investment for doing conservation work in this marketplace,” Kettering said. 

For those in attendance, the talk resonated with the need for local environmental work. 

“I think it’s really important to connect people with, you know, their local environment,” senior environmental science and policy major Max Skogland, who attended the event, said. “I learned a lot about how the Nature Conservancy does that, and as someone who works to promote environmental sustainability locally, I want to be able to do the same thing.”

Finally, Kettering provided students with advice on how to get involved in environmental policy through advocacy, and encouraged them to do so. 

“Advocating on Capitol Hill can be really frightening experience the first time you do it, but it’s also very empowering to know that, ‘hey, I can do this. I belong.’,” Kettering said. “The important thing when you do [advocate] is to know that you need to have a strategy. They need to know what you’re going to talk about, and you don’t just go in and throw bombs, pound the table and point fingers to call people names.”