FernLeaf Interactive founder Jeff Hicks brings his expertise and interest in building relationships and collaborations both within and outside the company to the climate realm. Climate resilience is an ongoing issue for communities everywhere and Jeff’s company provides solutions.
Jeff Hicks is the Resilience Analytics Lead and CEO of FernLeaf Interactive, a company founded in Asheville, NC on the vision that data can maximize the effectiveness of climate adaptation. In addition to being a technical lead for the US Climate Resilience Toolkit and helping develop data visuals for the National Climate Assessment, Jeff leads a growing practice specializing in quantitative and solutions-oriented climate resilience assessments for local government.
Prior to co-founding FernLeaf, Jeff worked with UNC Asheville’s NEMAC and Locus Technologies as a software engineer. In both of these roles, he helped develop several high-profile environmental assessment applications for NOAA, NASA, the US Forest Service, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the White House; and for a global set of companies including Chevron, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Intel, Kodak, and Lockheed Martin.
Jeff is a product of the North Carolina public education system, having graduated from UNC Asheville and the NC School of Science and Mathematics.
3 Key Points
- Find partner organizations who share your goals. By helping those with similar goals, you can spread your impact.
- Foster a culture where people thrive. Leaders with nurtured, connected, and resilient employees will have resilient companies.
- None of us alone is as capable as all of us working together.
Quote
“As we think about resilience as our business, we also have to think about resilience in our organization. [It] fundamentally boils down to the resilience of our people.”
What We Talked About
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- 01:09 – What inspired you to start FernLeaf?
- 06:18 – How do you navigate the challenges of partnership?
- 08:10 – On funding and “weekend and evening” passion projects
- 09:58 – On disaster preparation and resource allocation
- 12:58 – As a company, are you more in a position to help recognize problems or to help find solutions?
- 16:41 – On socioeconomic factors when considering risk
- 18:10 – How do you see your company having impact?
- 21:44 – How are you navigating expanding beyond your geographic region?
- 26:14 – How do you define “impactful leadership”?
- 30:00 – What is the culture at FernLeaf?
- 34:00 – How are you navigating changes springing from COVID-19?
- 36:58 – Do you see a role for FernLeaf in the pandemic?
Actionable Tips
- Take time to understand the impact you can have—it’s not always immediately obvious.
- Recognize the value of the people around you.
- Reach out and ask for help.
- Get to know yourself.
Resources Mentioned
- Reach out to Jeff via email.
- Books mentioned in the episode:
- Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters
Resources for Your Business
Click here for free resources to increase the impact of your business.
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Ursula Jorch, Host of The Impact Interviews
Ursula Jorch is a business coach, speaker, and podcaster who shows women leaders how to turn their businesses into profitable agents for lasting change, global impact, and a force for good in the world.
