Mighty Oak Monday: Twiggy Hamilton 6/13/2022

Twiggy Hamilton standing in front of the US capitol building

Twiggy Hamilton had a long road to get to where she is today. Unsure of how to navigate the college process, she instead entered the workforce after high school and moved to Chicago. After encountering barriers to career advancement without a college degree, she enrolled in the City Colleges of Chicago, Harry S. Truman School.

Twiggy took a solar jobs training program she heard about in one of her classes, an experience that opened her eyes to the green energy sector. In particular, she realized that green energy could help address energy insecurity. This made it personal to Twiggy, who grew up in a family that, at times, couldn't afford to pay utility bills and had power shut off. After she graduated from community college, she decided to pursue a bachelor's degree so she could make working in the environmental field her life's work.

Twiggy wanted an online program that could offer flexibility and she found ESF's Sustainability Management Program after searching the web. "All of the faculty and staff in the program have been amazingly supportive," Twiggy said.

The program's format has enabled her to do a paid internship sponsored by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) at Ecogy Energy, a company that specializes in the proliferation of distributed energy resources in the United States. It was exactly the type of job Twiggy wanted, and she's excited to be working in the field while going to school.

Twiggy is expecting to graduate from ESF in December 2022 and seek a job at a company that is helping to build a more energy efficient future for the world.

Congratulations, Twiggy, on all you have achieved!

Interested in pursuing an online degree in Sustainability Management? Check out the details here: https://www.esf.edu/openacademy/sus/