From Cap Hill to Capitol Hill: Alumna Maddie Lee talks SAAS Summit, Sustainability

Written By: Gena Wynkoop, Editorial Content Manager

Seattle Academy alumna Maddie Lee ’15 started her schooling on Seattle’s Capitol Hill and is now making big career moves on Washington D.C.’s Capitol Hill. Working as a Senior Policy Analyst at Enel North America, a multinational clean energy developer, Maddie has turned her passion for the planet into an intentional career, addressing the climate crisis. 

Maddie has two loves: first, the planet and all of its natural beauty, and second, policy. Both of these are a direct result of growing up in Seattle and attending SAAS.

In Upper School, Maddie was a part of the speech and debate team that won 10 state championships, six of them consecutive, and credits speech and debate as the catalyst for her interest in rhetoric. She also recalled a few notable assignments that helped her discover interests in morality and current events, especially in the context of law and policy.

“Beginning freshman year, I competed in a speech and debate event called Extemporaneous Speaking, which requires one to deliver a seven-minute speech, with memorized citations, that answers a randomly-selected international or domestic current events question after 30 minutes of preparation,” she said. 

These questions, such as, “Is Tunisia a model that other Arab countries should emulate?” introduced her to international law and politics. In her sophomore year English class, Maddie wrote her first ever research paper, which discussed the egregious human rights violations being committed by the Assad regime in the Syrian Civil War and resulting violations of international law.

“My experiences at SAAS definitely contributed to my interest in policy and the work I do today,” said Maddie. “It was at SAAS that I fell in love with research: identifying a question, digging deeply into sources and evidence, and ultimately creating a product that seeks to deepen our collective understanding of a topic.” 

“I know that the term “Culture of Performance '' gets thrown around a lot, but SAAS’ emphasis on teaching students to get up in front of a crowd under myriad circumstances continues to serve me today. My ability to present, speak, and engage with a variety of stakeholders was cultivated by being in speech and debate and the classes I took.”

An initial plan to study Middle Eastern Politics shifted when Maddie started working at an environmental research institute on campus, leading her to ultimately major in International Relations with a focus on climate policy at Claremont McKenna College.

It was during college that her passion for renewable energy and climate policy developed further, in particular, during her study abroad semester in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. An independent research project on renewable energy in Mongolia eventually underpinned her senior thesis, which examined the barriers and opportunities contributing to the country’s adoption of clean energy.

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To inform her research, Maddie interviewed and surveyed citizens, government employees, and civil society actors on their knowledge and perception of renewable energy. These initial interviews led to Maddie receiving a Fulbright grant in Mongolia to conduct further field research, diving deeper into the topic.

“Renewable energy is perceived differently across the world, including within the United States,” shared Maddie. “In both Mongolia and in the US, renewables aren’t developed for sustainability or emissions reductions, but rather, because they are an accessible and economically beneficial form of electricity.”

Focusing on the economic benefit of renewables is increasingly important in a polarized political climate. “I work on Enel’s policy team, which interfaces with the federal government, Congress, and state legislatures and agencies. We collaborate with all of these stakeholders to advance clean energy technologies, including wind and solar, battery energy storage, and EV charging,” said Maddie.

In these interactions, Maddie continues to rely on the speaking and communication skills that she gained from SAAS. Her ability to establish, convey, and defend a position stems from her junior year at SAAS, when she took 11th-grade American Studies, a combination of honors English and History taught by Rob Phillips, Alison Ray, and Steve Retz.

“We dove into different American studies topics, but one of the things we had to do was called the Kobayashi Maru, named after an exercise in Star Trek that is supposed to be unwinnable. Our comparable assignment was to prepare and deliver a speech stating our individual moral premise and values in front of the entire class, subject to interruption and interrogation from Alison, Steve, and Rob.”

“Being challenged by these seasoned educators at a young age was transformative. The ability to respond quickly to questions and call on compelling supporting evidence continues to serve me.”

In the summer of 2022, President Biden signed the most significant climate law in the nation's history, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Over 700 pages long, the IRA consists of transformative financing mechanisms that are revolutionizing the clean energy sector and society at large. 

Since the IRA’s passage, Maddie has facilitated Enel’s ability to take advantage of the sweeping law’s provisions and other funding programs in federal and state legislation, working with colleagues on understanding the policy levers and writing external content.

While renewables serve a key role in reducing global emissions, Maddie recognizes there are also actions we can all take to reduce our respective carbon footprints. Recent research is clear: Fly less and eat fewer meat and dairy products. 

Maddie mentions that there is a lot of miscommunication, misleading information, and catchy headlines, such as: “If you just recycle more, you’ll reduce climate change.” “In actuality, recycling does not contribute to meaningful emissions reductions.”

“There has to be a balance between taking personal responsibility while still recognizing that historically, the largest contributor to global emissions is legacy fossil fuel generation.”

Maddie is truly a wealth of knowledge and has an insightful and direct way of communicating, which is why Rob Phillips, Head of School, invited Maddie to be a guest speaker and moderator at the SAAS Summit: Entrepreneurship & Innovation later this month on October 22, 2023.

“I’m incredibly excited to come back to SAAS. When I got Rob’s email, he asked, ‘What are the odds of you getting on a plane to Seattle?” I said, "The odds are incredibly high!”

“The theme of Innovation for the Summit is a great fit because SAAS has been innovating for so long in terms of education. It’s always been there, and highlighting innovation both within and beyond the walls of SAAS will be a natural fit.”

Regarding Maddie’s own career path, she encourages others to get involved: “If anyone at SAAS is interested in addressing climate change, there is space for you in this fight. The sheer scale of this challenge may seem overwhelming, but whether you’re an engineer, a writer, an artist, or a researcher, every single one of those roles and so many more has a place in our collective fight to address climate change.” 

“To reach deep decarbonization, action must happen at all levels of society and it has to be done equitably. Without centering the voices and perspectives of communities and individuals, many of whom have historically been excluded, we won’t achieve a meaningful or just transition.”

And of course, work is always more enjoyable when it’s driven by an underlying passion: “For me, the reason I get up in the morning is to address the climate crisis.”

Join us at the SAAS Summit on October 22nd. The SAAS Summit is a free community event for all ages. Part forum, think tank, and networking experience all in one setting: the Seattle Academy campus.