Harrison Hensley (he/him) joined Cornell Cooperative Extension’s (CCE) energy work well before joining Smart Energy Choices. After graduating from SUNY Oswego in 2019, he moved to Texas in search of work, but he soon moved to Ithaca after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Since then, he’s held a variety of jobs, including working at the Cornell Store and at a local Christmas tree farm.
While he was working for the tree farm, Harrison saw an email on a Tompkins County listserv calling for participants in CCE’s Energy Warriors program. Since he’s long had an interest in climate change and ways to combat it, he was naturally drawn to Energy Warriors’ environmental literacy training. As part of his Energy Warriors work, Harrison participated in the Cozy Basements program, for which he insulated rim joists in houses across the county.
Once Smart Energy Choices was formed and CCE Tompkins started leading it, Energy Warriors educators joined the Hub team. In its second year, the Hub saw a large increase in demand for its services, so it announced the need for more Community Energy Advisors. As an Energy Warriors participant, Harrison heard about this opportunity and jumped at the chance. He saw the CEA role as a way to continue the environmental equity work he started in Energy Warriors on a larger scale.
When he joined in March of 2024, Harrison said he’s most looking forward to his chance to advise residents one on one on energy-related topics. He values the Hub’s environmental mission, and he knows it’ll take everyone’s participation to make a difference. But more than that, he admire’s the Hub’s commitment to putting energy savings within reach for residents most in need.
“The biggest thing about the kind of work that I want to do is really helping people, doing work that’s meaningful to me.”
Contact Harrison with your energy-related questions at (607) 366-0833 x1 or hrh73@cornell.edu.