Ep. 110 | Building WRISE from the Ground Up — Lisa Daniels on Community Power and Tribal Energy Leadership
Mon Dec 22 2025
What does it look like to spend more than two decades advancing community-led clean energy — from helping farmers and rural landowners build their own wind projects to supporting Native and tribal nations pursuing energy sovereignty today?
In this episode, Catherine sat down with Lisa Daniels, one of the founders of Women of Wind Energy (now WRISE) and the longtime Executive Director of Windustry, whose work has shaped how rural and tribal communities participate in the renewable energy transition.
Lisa came into this work as an environmentalist in the late 1990s, confused by an energy system that ignored the free wind and sunlight all around us while investing heavily in fossil fuels. When state funding for her early nonprofit work evaporated overnight due to political changes, she took the curriculum home and built a new organization from scratch — one that helped thousands of farmers, ranchers, and rural communities understand how to harvest the wind for themselves.
To mark WRISE’s 20th anniversary, we talked about:
• Why community ownership keeps economic benefits local
• Building Windustry on a shoestring after state funding collapsed
• The early volunteer-powered days of Women of Wind Energy
• What it was like to be one of only a few women in every meeting, workshop, and conference
• How WRISE’s fellowship program gave new people their first real glimpse into the industry
• Why state and local action will drive the next era of clean energy
If you’re a clean energy employer and need help scaling your workforce efficiently with top tier staff, contact Catherine McLean, CEO & Founder of Dylan Green, directly on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3odzxQr. If you’re looking for your next role in clean energy, take a look at our industry-leading clients’ latest job openings: bit.ly/dg_jobs.
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What does it look like to spend more than two decades advancing community-led clean energy — from helping farmers and rural landowners build their own wind projects to supporting Native and tribal nations pursuing energy sovereignty today? In this episode, Catherine sat down with Lisa Daniels, one of the founders of Women of Wind Energy (now WRISE) and the longtime Executive Director of Windustry, whose work has shaped how rural and tribal communities participate in the renewable energy transition. Lisa came into this work as an environmentalist in the late 1990s, confused by an energy system that ignored the free wind and sunlight all around us while investing heavily in fossil fuels. When state funding for her early nonprofit work evaporated overnight due to political changes, she took the curriculum home and built a new organization from scratch — one that helped thousands of farmers, ranchers, and rural communities understand how to harvest the wind for themselves. To mark WRISE’s 20th anniversary, we talked about: • Why community ownership keeps economic benefits local • Building Windustry on a shoestring after state funding collapsed • The early volunteer-powered days of Women of Wind Energy • What it was like to be one of only a few women in every meeting, workshop, and conference • How WRISE’s fellowship program gave new people their first real glimpse into the industry • Why state and local action will drive the next era of clean energy If you’re a clean energy employer and need help scaling your workforce efficiently with top tier staff, contact Catherine McLean, CEO & Founder of Dylan Green, directly on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3odzxQr. If you’re looking for your next role in clean energy, take a look at our industry-leading clients’ latest job openings: bit.ly/dg_jobs.