Alejandra Plaza Limon is using her graduate education to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our generation: climate change. After earning her Master of Public Administration at Cornell University’s Brooks School for Public Policy in 2022, Alejandra pursued her MBA a short half-mile away at Cornell’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. Read on for more about Alejandra’s mission and how Cornell and an MBA prepared her to make a difference at Elephant Energy in this Real Humans: Alumni.
Alejandra Plaza Limon, Cornell Johnson MBA ’23, Home Comfort Advisor at Elephant Energy
Age: 31
Hometown: Mexico City
Undergraduate Institution and Major: UNAM – School of Accounting and Management (CU Campus), BSc Business Management and International Studies
Graduate Business School, Graduation Year and Concentration: Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management, 2023, Digital Technology & Sustainability
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Americas Business Administrator, Siemens Energy, 2 years, Energy Management Transmission solutions; Grants Associate, The Nature Conservancy, 1.5 years, Environmental Non-profit; Sustainability Consultant, New York State Columbia County Climate Smart Taskforce, 1.5 years, Local Government Administration
Post-MBA Work Experience: Home Electrification Advisor & Program Manager, Zero Homes, less than a year (8 months), Climate Tech Software Development Start-up; Home Comfort Advisor, Elephant Energy, less than a year (8 months and current), Climate Tech Renewables and Environment Start-up
Why did you choose to attend business school?
I chose to attend business school to further my goal of becoming a practitioner in climate change and sustainability. My professional and academic experiences made me realize that these areas have complex, intertwined problems that require solutions involving diverse stakeholders. By attending business school, I aimed to gain the strategic, high-level perspective necessary to tackle these challenges effectively.
While pursuing my MPA at Cornell, I engaged in interdisciplinary learning, bridging the gap between science, technology, economics, and environmental policy. This experience showed me the important role the private sector can play in driving positive changes. I am particularly passionate about the intersection of business, science, and technology, and I wanted to equip myself with the business acumen needed to mobilize action and create impactful solutions in these areas.
Why Cornell Johnson? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
I came to do my MBA at Johnson as a dual degree student; I was already enrolled at Cornell doing my MPA in Environmental Policy at the Brooks School of Public Policy. During one of my semesters, I enrolled in the highly selective Sustainable Global Enterprise (SGE) Curriculum with Prof. Mark Milstein and Career Advisor Monica Touesnard. Each year, they select students from other schools to join MBA students in a consulting project on sustainability. This opportunity was a no-brainer, and I was very lucky and grateful to be accepted.
When I considered my MBA, the only option I wanted to pursue was Cornell Johnson, partly due to my inspiration from the SGE program. I liked the way my MBA team spoke in highly confident business jargon, had a high-level perspective on how to tackle problems, and had many confident and sound ideas to provide recommendations and find solutions. I found those skills very appealing and thought there was no better way of learning them than by enrolling in Johnson’s MBA program. I felt fortunate to be a student, and my experience was very different from what I expected, and has proven to be very rewarding and fulfilling.
What about your MBA experience prepared you for your current career?
My MBA experience prepared me very well for my current career in the energy sector. The strategic communications class with Professor Angela Noble-Grange helped to improve conveying complex ideas. Preparing for consulting, recruiting, and working on various case studies for interviews and negotiations fine-tuned my ability to tell my story. A strong foundation in marketing and digital tech gave me solid knowledge in customer sales (B2C). Plus, the core curriculum helped me level up my talking points for interviews, giving me a well-rounded skill set to excel in my career.
What was your internship during business school? How did that inform your post-MBA career choice?
I didn’t have a specific MBA internship because I joined the one-year MBA class, and we took the core curriculum during the summer. Instead, I completed three consulting projects that served as my internship. One of these was the continuation and conclusion of my project as an MPA Sustainability Consultant for Columbia County, with the Columbia County Climate Smart Task Force. I led the development of the first climate action strategy for the entire Columbia County, resulting in their first certification as climate leaders by the state—less than 10% of New York counties have achieved this goal. I also proposed new climate mitigation projects to County officials for the Climate Smart Communities program, securing $150,000 in grant funding for a heat pump installation, a new solar project, and two new EV chargers. My project served as a proof of concept to the Board to hire a full-time climate coordinator after I wrapped up the project.
These projects guided my decision to choose a job where I could be a practitioner and work with customers and technology. I always knew I wanted to work in the climate space, and seeing the direct impact of my projects, especially the one in Columbia County, was incredibly rewarding. To this day, I still follow the county’s success, and as of January 2025, I’ve seen that they have secured more than $1 million in grant funding.
Why did you choose your current company? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to work?
I chose Elephant Energy because I see the direct impact that the company is making on climate change. This was exactly what I wanted to do post-graduation: see the tangible results of my work. I also share the founders’ vision, where the start-up aims to make a significant dent in climate change by electrifying homes, and I appreciate their driven perspective to do so across the United States.
A major influence was my manager at the time, Bobby Foley, who encouraged me to be an advisor at Elephant and serve as the face of the company, along with my team. There were no women on the Colorado sales team, and he motivated me to join. This industry is still male-dominated, which fills me with pride to serve as representation and inspire more women to join the industry. The team made me feel welcome by being patient as I learned the technical aspects of the job.
Ultimately, my decision to work here was driven by the opportunity to see my impact directly and apply my strong communication skills.
Advice to current MBA students:
—One thing you would absolutely do again as part of the job search?
Network: learn how to schedule and organize your coffee chats early on, and do it with intention.
—One thing you would change or do differently as part of the job search?
Be bold enough to decide early on if the regular MBA career path is the right fit. I would have saved time and rejections, and then used that time to pursue the area I prefer.
—Were there any surprises regarding your current employer’s recruiting process?
No, I learned at Cornell Johnson that many of the job opportunities come from networking, and this is how I secured my current position.
—What piece of advice do you wish you had been given during your MBA?
Make time and grab coffee with your classmates! You are surrounded by amazing and highly driven people. Meet more with them, with intention outside of class!
