OUR WORK
Our work is shaped by and for the people most impacted by extractive systems: beginning with residents of underserved neighborhoods whose homes, blocks, and daily lives will be directly transformed by OakTREE inter-structure. Many will become participants, stewards, and advocates of the work, helping to lead and sustain it over time. Through skill-building and job opportunities, residents of all ages gain tools, purpose, and power, stepping into roles that allow them to build legacy for generations to come.
Surrounding this core are the many people and partners who help OakTREE thrive. Funders and aligned investors provide critical early resources to seed and scale the vision. Advocates amplify the work through storytelling, organizing, and community engagement. Participants within the OakTREE ecosystem share tools, knowledge, and infrastructure, growing the work beyond any single organization. And around all of this is a wider public: neighbors, builders, and curious minds who may not yet be involved but are ready to believe in something different—and help bring it to life.
We’re working to make Oakland the first national center for accessible renewable thermal solutions, a capability that exists nowhere else.
OUR PARTNERS INCLUDE
Project Development Partners:
OakTREE’s demonstration projects come to life through the dedication of our project development partners. These forward-thinking organizations are putting in real resources, expertise, and commitment to prove what’s possible when communities own their energy future. Together, we’re not just talking about change. We’re building it, block by block.
OakTREE Funders:
OakTREE is developing a suite of renewable thermal technology solutions that relate to solar energy, heat pumps, thermal storage and networking, urban agriculture, and more. This work is supported by both public institutions and private philanthropic funders who believe in community-owned energy futures. Together, these funders are backing more than technology—they’re investing in communities taking control of their essential resources.
OakTREE Supporters:
These are organizations with whom OakTREE has established a dialog and who have expressed a desire or interest in partnering or participating in various aspects of the OakTREE journey. These ongoing discussions are evolving as OakTREE transitions through various phases in achieving its long term goals.
Our Founders
Crystal Huang
A grassroots community-builder and a 2020 Roddenberry Fellow with more than 15 years of experience deploying climate solution technologies.
She served as COO for Powerhouse, an energy startup incubator, and Associate Producer of “Time to Choose (2015)”, a documentary film by Academy Award winning filmmaker Charles Ferguson. She later co-founded People Power Solar Cooperative, developing California’s first community-owned residential solar project model to enable broader participation in renewable energy ownership, particularly for disadvantaged communities traditionally excluded from clean energy access. Since 2018, her collaborative prowess has brought together more than 40 energy democracy practitioners throughout the U.S. transforming energy systems for community empowerment through her work with the Energy Democracy Project.
Mark Miles
An innovator and technology pioneer with decades of experience in renewable energy and social impact technology development.
His first venture, Iridigm Display Corporation, created a revolutionary technology for reflective displays in handheld devices, leading to a successful acquisition by Qualcomm in 2004 and the development of a $1B manufacturing facility in Taiwan. While in Japan, he co-founded HotEarth Enterprise, with the goal to develop distributed networks of small-scale geothermal power stations, which sparked his passion for solar thermal solutions. His pioneering vision bridges technological innovation with societal benefit, as evidenced through his extensive work across renewable energy sectors and the arts, where he has contributed as both an inventor and performer. A graduate of MIT, Miles is an inventor on nearly one hundred patents and continues to drive innovation in sustainable technology via his company MMCISolar.
