Washington, DC — Energy equity nonprofit Groundswell announced Thursday that LaGrange resident Becca Eiland is joining its team to head up community engagement in Georgia. 

Eiland will bring with her 20 plus years of strategic marketing and planning experience with major brands such as the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG), Nike, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Sweetland Amphitheatre.

Based in Washington, D.C., Groundswell builds community power. Groundswell works with congregations, local nonprofits and cities to build community solar projects that share power — from creating job opportunities during construction to connecting with energy efficiency programs that help reduce utility bills for families in need. Groundswell’s work is grounded in the imperative to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Groundswell CEO Michelle Moore was born and raised in LaGrange and got her start in sustainability at Interface after graduating college in the mid-1990s. Moore went on to help build the global green building market and become the Chief Sustainability Officer for the Obama Administration, where she helped cut the Government’s energy bill by $11 billion – all inspired by what she learned from the community values and leadership in LaGrange.

“Groundswell is thrilled to have Becca Eiland on our team to lead our outreach and work in Georgia,” Moore said. “From a community solar project we’re working to bring to LaGrange with The Ray, to the green and healthy homes training program we’re kicking off next month, to supporting the Georgia International Business Park’s vision to be the most sustainable business community in the state — we are grateful for Becca’s leadership and to headquarter our statewide work in LaGrange.”

Groundswell’s work focuses on connecting solar power and energy efficiency to economic opportunity for neighbors in need. Everywhere in America, people who struggle to pay the bills, pay the most for energy — typically 10 to 20 percent of their total household income — because their homes and appliances are less efficient. This is particularly true in the south because it gets both very hot and cold. Helping reduce local bills strengthens families and communities.

“I am honored and excited to join the Groundswell team and serve as an extension of their mission-driven work here in LaGrange,” Eiland said. “We are at the early stages of some very exciting projects that will both help build a stronger community and continue to position LaGrange as a leader in the sustainability movement in the South, in America, and in the world.”