Five Minutes with Jess Cadorette, Chair of Chester County's Environmental and Energy Advisory Board
Fall 2022
Jess Cadorette was appointed to the Chester County's Environmental and Energy advisory board in 2020 and has served as its chairperson since then. In her professional life she currently serves as the Field Director for both Conservation Voters of PA and Penn Future — two distinct nonprofit organizations that both advocate for clean air, drinkable water, protected lands, and a healthy climate. Prior to this role she served as CVPA's Chester County Director and PennEnvironment's Climate Defender Organizer for Chester and Delaware Counties. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outside in the environment she works to protect. Read more about what motivates Jess about her work and her role on the EEAB.
What is your personal mission related to your environmental work?
I am in awe of our natural world, and I've found so many benefits from enjoying nature, and I want my future children to be able to do the same! So, I've always been eager to spend my professional life helping to make a better impact on our environment — especially in the face of the current climate crisis.
Conservation is a broad field. How did you end up in the advocacy realm of the field?
I recognized that in order to have good environmental policy, we had to be actively educating, communicating, and pushing for the regulations and laws we need to protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land and climate we live in. Environmental advocacy is critical to accomplishing this!
What things is Chester County doing in the environmental space that you find particularly impactful?
Aside from Chester County's great history of preserving open space, I'm excited about the newer initiatives like a potential power purchasing agreement for ChesCo to expand our use of renewable energy, and like the C-PACE program to help businesses get better deals on long term energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. These are just some of the many initiatives that Chester County is helping to lead the way on that will have a huge effect on how we impact the environment!
Have you found your role on the EEAB meaningful? Why?
I was incredibly excited to hear about the new EEAB because in order to tackle the environmental problems we face, we need to be actively working together at all levels of government — including the county level. I was grateful to be appointed as a Chester County resident to the first EEAB cohort — and honored to be elected Chair of the Board. We've got a great group of folks with incredible expertise to help advise the county on moving forward sustainably into the future. We're very proud of helping to get the county's first Climate Action Plan across the finish line. And even after serving as Chair, I look forward to working with the County to enact the many solutions included in that plan.