PowerSchool – Daija Odom – 2023

Goals

As the first-ever EDF Climate Corps fellow at PowerSchool, a leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America, Daija Odom was enrolled to create a greenhouse gas reduction strategy to progress towards PowerSchool’s decarbonization goals.

This roadmap established best practice approaches for significant emissions reductions, focusing on the procurement of renewable energy and increased energy efficiency across business operations in partnership with PowerSchool’s utility providers.

Solutions

Daija worked with PowerSchool’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Facilities teams to analyze the baseline energy consumption and carbon intensity of PowerSchool’s operations. Daija conducted a benchmark analysis to determine successful approaches to renewable energy procurement. She successfully identified renewable energy programs across PowerSchool’s operations and compiled a priority list of the most cost-effective opportunities.

In addition, Daija researched potential Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) retailers to continue advancing PowerSchool’s renewable energy portfolio. To help with the growing demand of PowerSchool’s investor and stakeholder requests, Daija compiled resources and reported best practices on climate-related risk assessments in alignment with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

Potential Impact

As the company continues to grow its platform, increasing the use of renewable energy will be a critical step in reaching PowerSchool’s carbon reduction goal by 2027. Using a mix of utility-provided renewable energy and Renewable Energy Certificates to power critical facilities is expected to materially reduce PowerSchool’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Daija’s execution of PowerSchool’s renewable energy proposal and roadmap for future emissions reduction opportunities will increase PowerSchool’s renewable energy portfolio as the company executes its ESG strategy.