Levi Mellin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Environmental Studies and Business Administration Undergraduate, Class of 2025
The NC Clean Energy Fund had the pleasure of working with undergraduate Levi Mellin when he joined the team as one of our Strategic Finance Summer Interns during the summer of 2024.
Originally from Minnesota, Levi came all the way to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to pursue a B.A. in Environmental Studies and a B.S.B.A. through UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. He expects to graduate in the spring of 2025. Together, these degrees will allow Levi to explore and participate in the ever-evolving intersection of sustainability and finance.
While at UNC, Levi has been an influential participant in multiple activities and societies that align with his passions and values. As a Co-Vice President of the UNC Sustainable Business Club (SBC), he has worked within a leadership team that built the club from the ground up to give others a voice, create room for sustainable academia in the business school, and promote a space where individuals can learn from each other. In the spring of 2024 – prior to his internship – NCCEF worked with Levi and other members of SBC to illustrate benefits and feasibility of transitioning to electric heat pumps for heating and cooling needs.
Levi’s internship in 2023 with the Ackerman Center for Excellence in Sustainability (ACES) as a Marketing and Multimedia Communications Intern led him to connect with Jennifer Weiss, Co-Director at NC Clean Energy Fund. He was able to learn more about the work she does for our organization and discovered his interests aligned exceptionally well. Once he was selected as a 2024 Pavel Molchanov Scholar, the program paired him with the NCCEF as they found his skills and coursework matched the experience and professional training our organization could provide.
As a Strategic Finance Intern, a large part of Levi’s role at NCCEF has been to help develop materials for a bridge loan program that will support nonprofits and other tax-exempt organizations as they take advantage of Elective Pay, a tax credit program through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that incentivizes the integration of renewable energy investments. Through this role, he built models that demonstrate the financial value proposition of integrating solar systems for nonprofits and tax-exempt organizations. Additionally, he helped create educational materials that teach and excite these targeted organizations about the benefits of integrating clean energy systems and how to navigate Elective Pay. Finally, he had the opportunity to explore various inclusive financing tools such as tariffed on-bill financing and analyzed the return on investment for home heat pump integration in North Carolina.
After his time with NCCEF, Levi is excited to continue his journey in the world of blended finance, green banking, and advocacy work to impact people and ecosystems alike. He is drawn to the clean energy space because it is an issue that resonates across the globe, and as someone who values helping people, sustainability is the perfect lens to examine the moral values of supporting others in the transition to a green future.