Rhetorical analysis

1. Michael Jeans takes charge of Cleveland's climate economy
By Micah Anglin
Michael Jean is the CEO of Growth Opportunities Partners a CDFI (community development
financial institute) that is looking to get a chunk of federal dollars reserved for building
renewable energy infrastructure
Growth Opps led by Michael Jeans is capitalizing on the opportunity of the decade for the green
infrastructure in Northeast Ohio and breaking down racial barriers while doing it.
Growth Opps is the leading partner of the Go Green Fund. It is the first African-American-led
green bank in the country.
A green bank is a mission-driven financial institution that uses innovative financing techniques
and market development tools in partnership with the private sector to accelerate the deployment
of clean energy technologies. They are usually public institutions that try to stimulate private
sector investment and reduce energy costs for ratepayers.
The Inflation Reduction Act set aside 27 billion dollars for the EPA (Environmental protection
Agency) to create these institutions to better reach the community and work with them on
deploying
renewable energy in a just and equitable place. Michael Jeans knew he had to act.
“This plan has been years in the works since Biden got into office. His team made it clear that he
was going to make renewable energy a key point of his policy and make it underserved

2. communities would be first in line for once. It was a no-brainer to bring different groups together
in Ohio to lobby for some of those federal dollars
Michael Knows just how much Northeast Ohio needs these types of organizations and this
funding. He grew up in the East side of Cleveland where these resources were not available.
After
going to Ashland College and becoming a successful accountant he saw the difference between
the resources that wealthy families were getting on the west side of the city compared to the
the largely black population on the East side.
So far it is going well. Growth Apps is leading a multi-state effort to secure a chunk of $7 billion
in funding for low-income residential solar installations. This would lower the utility bills of
underserved communities as well as give black and brown people to fairly participate in the fight
against climate change.
“Environmental racism is never talked about where I come from even though it affects my
people the most. I loved helping my clients but I saw the disparity in the access to capital they
were getting compared to my old high school classmates. I knew I had to figure this out”
Before creating Growth Opps, Michael worked for established and respected leaders in the
financial services industry including KPMG, Morgan Stanley, National City Bank, and KeyBank.
In 2020, Growth Opps established GO Green Energy, the first African-American-led Green Bank

3. in the United States