Menu

Come on in: Maggie Kozak helps make CERTs feel like home

July 2025

By Emily Haeg Nguyen
Metro, MN

Maggie Kozak feels right at home with the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs), and for the past 16 years, she’s made it her mission to help others feel that way too. As CERTs’ Event Programming and Seed Grants Manager, she is often the first point of contact for new community members, offering a warm welcome and an invitation to get involved.

“Unlike my wonderful colleagues, my job isn’t to know everything about biomass or air source heat pumps,” she says with a laugh. “My job is to welcome people into the CERTs community and encourage them to participate. That work means a lot to me.”

That work means a lot to CERTs, too. Especially Kozak’s leadership on the CERTs Seed Grant Program. Every other year, CERTs awards seed grants to communities across Minnesota for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Through this work, Kozak has helped CERTs connect hundreds of communities to nearly $2 million in funding for local, community-driven clean energy efforts.

Equally as important is Kozak’s work managing events. Over the past 16 years she has planned hundreds of CERTs events across the state, bringing together countless Minnesotans to connect on clean energy.

“I have a peer to peer philosophy when it comes to events,” says Kozak, noting that CERTs core partner and her base organization, the University of Minnesota Extension's Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, embodies this ideal. “As hosts we’re going to spread information about clean energy opportunities, but we’re also going to make sure you get to learn about opportunities from the community members sitting next to you.”

In events and seed grants work, Kozak contributes a huge amount behind the scenes, and that’s where she prefers to stay.

“I think of myself as a connector and I like to do that from the background,” she shares. “For me personally, it's all about connecting people. Because it’s the people that make this work happen.”

A global journey

Kozak with a group of entrepreneurs in Burkina Faso, West Africa.When Kozak joined CERTs in 2009, she only expected to stay for a year. At that point, her life had already been shaped by travel, service, and a search for meaning.

Her journey began in Hayward, Wisconsin, where she grew up. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin Madison, she lived in Poland and then Spain. After which she studied in Monterey, California, spent a summer in San Francisco, worked for several years in Washington, D.C. and later spent time in France. Through it all, Kozak found herself reflecting on what truly matters.

“What is success for me? What do I want in my life?” she asked herself.

Those questions led her to Burkina Faso, West Africa, where she served in the Peace Corps. There, Kozak worked with women entrepreneurs to access microcredit, helped start a pen-pal program, and supported HIV and AIDS awareness efforts in rural villages.

“That experience really helped me see what matters most. It’s about people. It’s about helping each other.”

A local impact

After returning to the United States, Kozak settled in Minneapolis and soon found her way to CERTs. It didn’t take long before she felt at home, not just with the work, but with the communities CERTs serves.

Among the programs she feels most connected to is CERTs Seed Grants program, particularly for its approach to community. Across every region of Minnesota, CERTs brings together local steering committees. These are groups of dedicated volunteers working to advance clean energy in their communities. The committees review grant applications and decide which projects are the best fit for their region. Kozak says she’s proud to support a program that consistently puts people and community first.

“CERTs staff don't make the funding decisions, the community members on our steering committees do,” she says. “Plus, we take chances on people and projects. If someone has never received funding before, that’s okay. I really like that we take those chances.”

Kozak credits CERTs founder and former director Lissa Pawlisch with building a culture of trust, learning, and community-led action from the very beginning.

“Lissa always said, if a project doesn’t work out, that doesn’t mean it failed. Someone learned something along the way. We just make sure those lessons are captured so others can learn too,” she recalls.

Enjoying the Metro CERT 2024 Annual with fellow CERTsie, Karen Weldon

 

Enjoying the Metro CERT 2024 Annual with fellow CERTsie, Karen Weldon.

2024, Taking in Deep Grand Portage with a group of CERTsies during the annual staff retreat

 

Taking in Deep Grand Portage with a group of CERTsies during the annual staff retreat (2024).

Working in community and learning about geothermal technology (2010)

 

Working in community and learning about geothermal technology (2010).

With 16 years at CERTs, Kozak brings both continuity and care. She helps carry forward the original vision of the program while always creating space for new people to get involved. Whether she is coordinating events or managing seed grants, she brings a welcoming presence that helps people feel a part of something bigger.

“At CERTs, our work is focused on clean energy. In my job, I focus on helping people find their place in this work. I want them to know they belong here.”  

More stories of CERTs staff

Rau looks casual as she sits outside smiling over a beverage.
June 2025

Routes to belonging with CERTs’ Keely Rau

Anna Peterson
July 2024

Anna Peterson empowered by recovery and resilience in NW Minn.

Sign up for Minnesota Energy Stories

We encourage reuse and republishing of this story. All Clean Energy Resource Teams stories are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution license, meaning you can share and adapt the work as long as you give us credit. We'd also love it if you link back to the original piece. Have questions or want to chat? Drop us a line.