Spotlight on Carolina: Do more to change
Carolina is an associate general counsel at BayWa r.e. Solar Projects in California. Working remotely between New York and Mexico, she’s providing legal support for all stages of our projects. Whether it’s development, construction, or operation, she’s known and respected for helping a diverse range of people navigate tricky legal challenges.
After studying economics and law, she’s got a keen sense for how to make business ideas happen in the real world. But she’s come to see her real value shine in collaboration, relationship building, and constantly developing herself.
Carolina Never Stops Learning
A story of learning and personal growth led Carolina to join the BayWa r.e. team in September 2019. Despite working as general counsel for a Spanish multinational construction firm, she knew it still wasn’t where she needed to be.
That’s a familiar story to anyone who’s dreamed of doing more with their lives. But the lengths Carolina would go to in order to develop herself were truly impressive.
“I needed to do more to change. So, I decided to apply for a scholarship to study abroad. I came to the US for a master’s in law at Columbia University, then I sat the New York bar exam. After that, I knew I didn’t want to go back to the same old thing but the right answer still wasn’t clear to me.
“Through a former colleague, I learned about BayWa r.e. They needed a Spanish-speaking attorney to help enter the Mexican market. I joined without feeling like I knew too much about renewables, but the experience of working for a company that’s trying to help the planet was amazing.”
Carolina was involved in our first Mexican project, a 200 MW solar farm near Aguascalientes. Getting to grips with a new job means rapidly absorbing new information. Doing so during the 2020 pandemic added extra complexities, but nothing her team couldn’t handle.
To me, diversity means giving the opportunity to hear different voices to solve new problems. When you’re driving change, you’re missing a big part of the process if you fail to do this. All that gathered knowledge will really help us change the world.
Carolina
General Counsel Assistant, United States
Carolina is Finding new Ways
Leaving her home at 34 to study and build a career in a whole new country demonstrates Carolina’s tenacity. But it’s her creativity which has helped her progress so fast. It might surprise you to know that, supported by her mother, she trained as a flamenco dancer before going into law. Now, she’s able to exercise some of that flair in a legal context.
“Every day we’re navigating not just difficult problems, but entirely new ones. There’s no precedent for some of this technology, and I’ve also got to know how it all works. I’m talking with external counsels, independent engineers, gifted people who are trying to solve the same issues as us. We need to be coming to informed decisions together.
“I work as a mediator pro bono in my spare time, helping families and communities solve disputes. That helps me keep an open mind and stay flexible in my project work. We’re not looking for one ‘right’ answer, we’re communicating and listening to a range of perspectives to find a way forward.”
New challenges show up every day, both from the technology we develop and our legislative environment. Carolina is as comfortable discussing Mexican labor reforms as she is with the finer points of President Biden’s new energy policies. Involved in creating our Diversity and Inclusion Committee, her commitment to keeping an open mind is having an effect up and down the entire business.
