Voices from the Field: Gerard Pozzi

1. Describe your current role and primary responsibilities. What industry/function do you work in?

I am the Senior Program Manager of the ClimateTech Incubator at the Roux Institute in Portland, ME, where I manage a portfolio of 20+ climate-tech startups. My responsibilities include member onboarding and evaluation, ecosystem development, corporate and investor partnership cultivation, and operational support for early-stage companies commercializing climate solutions across energy, agriculture, materials, and built environment sectors.

2. Describe a business decision where environmental or climate considerations played a meaningful role. What was the challenge, and how did you approach it?

When evaluating new portfolio companies for admission to the Incubator, environmental impact potential is a primary selection criterion alongside commercial viability. When assessing companies, we need to balance measurable climate impact — such as emissions reduction potential or resource efficiency gains — against market readiness and founder capability. This requires ensuring we support ventures that can achieve meaningful climate impact at scale while building sustainable businesses.

3. What knowledge or skills have proven most valuable in your current role? Looking back, what do you wish you’d learned earlier in your career?

Systems thinking and relationship management have proven most valuable: the ability to connect startups with the right resources, partners, and expertise at critical inflection points. I wish I’d learned data visualization earlier in my career; the ability to communicate complex portfolio metrics, impact data, and ecosystem trends through clear visual storytelling significantly enhances stakeholder communications and strategic decision-making from the start.

4.Looking ahead 5-10 years, how do you expect environmental factors to reshape your industry? What capabilities will professionals need to stay competitive?

Climate considerations will shift — and already are shifting in many instances — from peripheral CSR initiatives to core business strategy across all sectors. The climate-tech ecosystem will mature significantly, with increased corporate venture activity, larger fund sizes, and more defined pathways from innovation to scale. Professionals will need cross-functional fluency, understanding both climate science fundamentals and business model innovation (plus strong network orchestration skills to navigate increasingly complex partnerships between startups, corporates, investors, and policy makers).

5. What advice would you give to someone who wants to work in your industry as climate change reshapes the current business landscape?

Build genuine relationships early on across the ecosystem with founders, investors, corporates, researchers, and fellow ecosystem builders. Climate-tech is inherently collaborative; solutions require multi-stakeholder coordination. Develop both technical literacy in climate solutions and business acumen in commercialization pathways. Most importantly, focus on companies solving real problems with viable business models, not just those with compelling climate narratives.

Gerard is the Senior Program Manager for the ClimateTech Incubator at Northeastern University’s Roux Institute, supporting 20+ portfolio companies commercializing climate solutions. He manages member operations, ecosystem development, and strategic partnerships, working to accelerate the path from climate innovation to market deployment in Maine’s growing climate-tech hub.