Kay Aikin
CEO at Dynamic Grid
Renewables and Environment
Education: Penn State University
Portland, ME, USA
Biography
Systems Architect | Energy Engineer | Artist | Catalyst for Regenerative Design
Kay Aikin is a thought leader at the intersection of energy innovation, regenerative community design, and systems transformation. With a background spanning engineering, urban planning, and environmental advocacy, she catalyzes shifts from extractive systems toward living, thriving ecosystems.
Through her leadership roles with the United Nations Environment Programme and the Buildings Action Coalition, Kay brings a human-centered systems approach to decarbonization, urban resilience, and climate innovation. She is focused on the energy transition and creating the "Bridge to the Future" to decarbonize our energy sector.
She advises the US Department of Energy on grid modernization and architecture issues and is a member of multiple trade groups related to the utility/renewable industries. She is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Power and Energy Society, and Women in Power.
Kay speaks at multiple venues worldwide, is a published author, and is currently working on a book titled "INOV8 Beyond the Edge of Envelopes" that explores the intersection of science, complexity science, and innovation in creating lasting value for society.
Speaking Topics:
Changing How We Belong to Nature: Systems Thinking for a Thriving Planet
Beyond Carbon: Designing Regenerative Communities
Architecting Resilient Futures: Human-Centered Decarbonization
The Energy Transition Meta Problem: Reimagining Our Relationship to Systems
From Innovation to Regeneration: Lessons from Complex Systems Design
Bridge to the Future: Grid Architecture and Complexity in Navigating the Energy Transition
Complexity vs. Complicated: Lessons for Decarbonization
Leadership:
CEO: Dynamic Grid- https://dynamicgrid.ai
Senior Advisor to the UN Environment Programme–Buildings Action Coalition
Board Member, Grid Wise Architecture Council
Founder and founding Director of the Community Design Innovation Network (CDIN)
Decades of expertise in energy systems, high-performance building design, and urban resilience
Organizer and facilitator of international charrettes on sustainable, human-centered ecosystems
Author of "Connections-INOV8 Beyond the Edge of Envelopes" (forthcoming)
Passion
Designing futures where humans thriving and planetary health are one and the same.
Best Story
Graduated with and engineering degree, back in the solar valley of death (1980's) with a newly created degree in energy engineering at Penn State, where no one knew what to do with someone with a bit of electrical engineering, some mechanical engineering, building design, and engineering economics. The first graduates couldn't find jobs, so I created my first job, designing and building my first sustainable house for a client while still a senior in college.
Origin Story
I started as one of the first graduates of a "sustainability" engineering degree, moved to sustainable construction, retired after starting two design/build firms, and then found a bigger cause in reimagining how we manage the electrical grid.
Example talks
Zoom Out to Understand — And Then Zoom In to Care: Rethinking Complexity in the Age of Climate Crisis
Why do so many well-intentioned solutions fail to create lasting change? Because we mistake complexity for complication—and try to fix the parts without seeing the whole.
In this thought-provoking and inspiring talk, systems architect and regenerative futurist Kay Aikin explores the critical difference between complicated and complex systems—and why solving today’s greatest challenges requires a shift in mindset. Drawing on insights from systems thinking and her experience in energy transition, Kay reveals how zooming out helps us see interdependencies, while zooming in reconnects us to meaning, care, and community.
This session offers more than theory—it’s a call to design for life, not just function. Perfect for leaders, designers, changemakers, and anyone committed to building a thriving, resilient future.
Bridge to the Future: Grid Architecture and Complexity in Navigating the Energy Transition
The electric grid is undergoing its most radical transformation in a century. This session demystifies grid architecture through the lens of complexity science—revealing how dynamic controls, local energy systems, and distributed intelligence can help us build an adaptive bridge to a decarbonized future.
From Innovation to Regeneration: Lessons from Complex Systems Design
Why do so many innovations fail to scale meaningful change? Because they treat symptoms, not systems. This keynote walks through lessons from complex systems design—highlighting how to move from isolated inventions to regenerative infrastructures that adapt, evolve, and endure.
The Energy Transition Meta Problem: Reimagining Our Relationship to Systems
The energy crisis isn’t just about power—it’s about paradigm. This provocative presentation reveals the “meta problem” behind climate and energy debates: our outdated mental models of control, growth, and linear thinking. It invites audiences to shift toward complexity-aware, regenerative solutions for resilient energy futures
Architecting Resilient Futures: Human-Centered Decarbonization
What does decarbonization look like when centered around people—not just metrics? This talk introduces frameworks for building systems that reduce emissions and increase belonging, well-being, and social cohesion. It draws from real-world Charette facilitation experiences to demonstrate the power of human-centered systems architecture
Beyond Carbon: Designing Regenerative Communities
Carbon reduction is only the beginning. This session focuses on reimagining community design through a regenerative lens—shifting from efficiency to vitality, from extraction to restoration. Participants will explore how to embed circularity, equity, and resilience into the systems that govern housing, mobility, energy, and land use.
Changing How We Belong to Nature: Systems Thinking for a Thriving Planet
This talk explores the deeper rupture in how humans relate to the natural world—and how systems thinking can help repair it. Moving beyond conservation or sustainability, it redefines belonging as a regenerative relationship with nature, offering tools for designing communities and infrastructures that support both human and ecological thriving
I am willing to travel
More than 100 miles
When it comes to payments
Everything is negotiable
Topics
Best Story
Graduated with and engineering degree, back in the solar valley of death (1980's) with a newly created degree in energy engineering at Penn State, where no one knew what to do with someone with a bit of electrical engineering, some mechanical engineering, building design, and engineering economics. The first graduates couldn't find jobs, so I created my first job, designing and building my first sustainable house for a client while still a senior in college.
Origin Story
I started as one of the first graduates of a "sustainability" engineering degree, moved to sustainable construction, retired after starting two design/build firms, and then found a bigger cause in reimagining how we manage the electrical grid.
Example talks
Zoom Out to Understand — And Then Zoom In to Care: Rethinking Complexity in the Age of Climate Crisis
Why do so many well-intentioned solutions fail to create lasting change? Because we mistake complexity for complication—and try to fix the parts without seeing the whole.
In this thought-provoking and inspiring talk, systems architect and regenerative futurist Kay Aikin explores the critical difference between complicated and complex systems—and why solving today’s greatest challenges requires a shift in mindset. Drawing on insights from systems thinking and her experience in energy transition, Kay reveals how zooming out helps us see interdependencies, while zooming in reconnects us to meaning, care, and community.
This session offers more than theory—it’s a call to design for life, not just function. Perfect for leaders, designers, changemakers, and anyone committed to building a thriving, resilient future.
Bridge to the Future: Grid Architecture and Complexity in Navigating the Energy Transition
The electric grid is undergoing its most radical transformation in a century. This session demystifies grid architecture through the lens of complexity science—revealing how dynamic controls, local energy systems, and distributed intelligence can help us build an adaptive bridge to a decarbonized future.
From Innovation to Regeneration: Lessons from Complex Systems Design
Why do so many innovations fail to scale meaningful change? Because they treat symptoms, not systems. This keynote walks through lessons from complex systems design—highlighting how to move from isolated inventions to regenerative infrastructures that adapt, evolve, and endure.
The Energy Transition Meta Problem: Reimagining Our Relationship to Systems
The energy crisis isn’t just about power—it’s about paradigm. This provocative presentation reveals the “meta problem” behind climate and energy debates: our outdated mental models of control, growth, and linear thinking. It invites audiences to shift toward complexity-aware, regenerative solutions for resilient energy futures
Architecting Resilient Futures: Human-Centered Decarbonization
What does decarbonization look like when centered around people—not just metrics? This talk introduces frameworks for building systems that reduce emissions and increase belonging, well-being, and social cohesion. It draws from real-world Charette facilitation experiences to demonstrate the power of human-centered systems architecture
Beyond Carbon: Designing Regenerative Communities
Carbon reduction is only the beginning. This session focuses on reimagining community design through a regenerative lens—shifting from efficiency to vitality, from extraction to restoration. Participants will explore how to embed circularity, equity, and resilience into the systems that govern housing, mobility, energy, and land use.
Changing How We Belong to Nature: Systems Thinking for a Thriving Planet
This talk explores the deeper rupture in how humans relate to the natural world—and how systems thinking can help repair it. Moving beyond conservation or sustainability, it redefines belonging as a regenerative relationship with nature, offering tools for designing communities and infrastructures that support both human and ecological thriving