NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

In times like this, when clean energy technologies are?the hype and talent in the sector is in high demand,?Mathias Craig could have any job in the world. His training includes engineering degrees from both UC Berkeley and MIT, and his true passion is wind power.?In stead of getting?taking one of the job offers he got after graduate school Mathias decided to found blueEnergy?Group and bring energy to underserved communities. He is now the executive director of the organization.

blueEnergy helps communities in the caribbean coast of Nicaragua develop sustainable energy systems?through hybrid wind and solar?technologies that are manufactured, maintained and operated by themselves.??I learned a lot from Mathias, his passion, vision and commitment.?Like most entrepreneurs, he?didn’t have much?time to plan at all when he decided to become?one in such an isolated area. He just did?it. Now he is living up to his?dream, with all the ups and downs that entails.Like everyone I met in GSBI, I will keep an eye out for Mathias and how he continues to build a robust organization and scale his initial idea. I wasn’t able to get him on film?in California but he sent us the following clip, recorded a few days ago while working with his team in the caribbean coasts of Nicaragua.?

Finally, make sure to catch Mathias’ blog on Social Edge. You’ll get a good feeling of the challenges he faces as an entrepreneur but mostly the drive and passion that keep him at the job.

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