HUSARCH Conversations: Unpacking Power & Privilege in the Energy Industry
Rachel Dortin, Quinn Parker, & Patrice McFarlin (from left to right)
This month, our founder, Chyanne Husar, sat down with two colleagues from the Power & Privilege Working Group (PPWG) which is co-facilitated by The Shared Space Project, Encolor, Strategic Coyote LLC, and HUSARCH.
Introductions:
Patrice McFarlin joined Encolor as Principal in 2024, bringing with her 15+ years of experience on the frontlines of the energy efficiency industry. Patrice began her career as an Outreach Coordinator and later moved into operations, marketing and compliance roles. After many years of delivering programs and working across the energy efficiency landscape, Patrice recognized early design and structural decisions could constrain programs in unseen ways, and she was inspired to make those blind spots visible and driving systems change. At Encolor, she applies her experience in outreach and operations to help design, support, and evaluate energy efficiency programs that center equity.
Rachel Dortin is Managing Consultant with Encolor and Director of Community Organizing & Ownership at Encolor’s sister nonprofit, The Shared Space Project. Rachel got her start in academia, but after seven years of teaching, researching, and publishing, she found herself unsatisfied by just theorizing about equity—she wanted to actually do the work. In 2021, she left her tenure-track position to carve a new path for herself. Rachel’s first stop after academia was digital content strategy at an environmental nonprofit, which later led her to Encolor and the Shared Space Project. Today, in each of her roles, she’s focused on creating spaces where communities can take ownership and develop shared power.
Both women tribute Quinn Parker, founder of both organizations, with shaping the voice and leadership style of the working group.
Chyanne and Rachel at 2026 MEEA Conference
The Working Group Origin Story
In early 2025, Encolor and The Shared Space Project hosted a workshop exploring power in the energy industry to AESP’s annual conference for utility professionals. By the end, participants were asking for opportunities to stay connected to each other and to the conversation. And so, the PPWG was born. Chyanne learned about the group through a separate Shared Space Project stakeholder engagement training and supported the group by hosting numerous meet and greet conversations at subsequent energy conferences.
No Fixing and No Saving
The working group operates under a framework of “Community Agreements” designed by Encolor and Shared Space to use as guideposts—reminders of how members want to be in community together. They begin each working session with shared Community Agreements that help set the tone for a safe space to express opinions and experiences. Rachel has been particularly fond of the phrase “No fixing and No Saving.” She reflected on her experiences in higher education. “We used to talk a lot about the white savior mentality, where professors would take their students to volunteer in a soup kitchen and then students would walk away from the experience feeling like they’d fixed something. We really wanted to avoid that.”
Deeply Personal Work
Rachel facilitating in Chicago
Conversations about power and privilege are inherently personal, and it can be tempting to separate the personal from the professional. The PPWG challenges that divide, recognizing that meaningful progress requires us to bring our whole self into the conversation.
Patrice sees the PPWG’s mission as two-fold: “It’s a place for a personal journey, but also a collective journey. Until you have the conversation and become aware of how important power and privilege is, you aren’t going to be able to recognize that it permeates everything that we do. Whether our group is 10 people or 10,000, it’s still important, because the way that we’ll be able to develop, and grow, and support each other will expand beyond the group.”
Chyanne shared how her perception of power and privilege have really changed throughout her life. While working her way up through architecture she associated ‘power’ with ‘old boys clubs’ and could see what felt like an impenetrable glass ceiling. Today, she reflects that “I really assumed and appreciated the true power with me when I started my own firm. I want to be able to use that voice to help others find their own potential. However,” she adds, “imposter-syndrome can really be the other side of the coin that self sabotages the power you have innate within you.”
Patrice shared her technique to manage imposter syndrome was to focus on her internal truth rather than seeking external validation. While Rachel used a guiding light of: ‘am I doing work that I would be proud of my neighbors knowing that I'm doing?’”
Patrice & Quinn at MEEA
Looking ahead
The three shared some resources and inspiration for the next steps of their work:
Rachel shared how Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer inspired her with the indigenous concept of thinking “seven generations ahead” which reminds her to invite the next generations to the table.
Chyanne had recently read How Equality Wins: A New Vision for an Inclusive America by Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow. The book challenged some of her preconceptions about how we can have the conversations about equality and provides some inspiration for navigating and bridging a future political divide.
Patrice found inspiration from Freedom Fighters who’ve been doing this work for decades: “If you're around long enough, then you'll see the pendulum swing back the other way. This is our current state. That does not mean that it's going to be our forever state.”
At HUSARCH, our commitment to unpacking power and privilege takes many forms—from our participation in the PPWG, to our workforce development efforts, our commitment to our neighbors in Pilsen and across the south side of Chicago, and our new artist residency program (due May 8, 2026!). We’re excited to keep finding new ways to show up for these conversations and to invite others into the dialogue. So, if you’re an energy professional interested in exploring power and privilege in our industry, let’s talk.
Stay tuned for future articles as we continue to explore different facets of our work through conversations with our many collaborators and co-conspirators!