Leila Owens

About Leila

Leila Owens is an engineer on a mission to promote equitable global adoption of climate change mitigation technologies, such as renewable energy and advanced wastewater treatment. With experience in international climate diplomacy, climate investing, and climate-tech startups, Leila works as a strategy analyst in Deloitte’s Government and Public Sector consulting practice. She supports a government program mobilizing over $2 billion in clean energy tax credits.

Leila earned a B.S.E in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Princeton University, with minors in Sustainable Energy and Geological Engineering. On campus, she was a fellow for the Service Focus Public Interest Technology Cohort. Leila also co-directed Princeton’s social entrepreneurship club, securing over $10k in funding for student-run social enterprises. Leila applied her engineering skills toward climate diplomacy by interning at the United Nations Environment Program. As a Princeton 2022 Dean’s Scholar in the Nations’ Service, Leila also interned at the U.S. State Department in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.

As a senior, Leila joined the research team of startup PolyGone Systems, helping develop a device that removes microplastics from water. In her senior thesis, Leila developed a novel model that accounts for water stress when considering hydrogen production placement. This earned Leila entry into the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honors Society.

Prior to Leila’s undergraduate studies, she participated in the Princeton Novogratz Bridge Year Program, when she lived in Udaipur, India for nine months. She studied Hindi, interned at a nonprofit focused on menstrual health advocacy, and practiced stone carving. After graduating, Leila returned to India to join the investment team of a venture capital firm funding climate-tech startups.

Leila is a Michigander, a lighthouse enthusiast, and member of the Sable Point Lighthouse Keepers Association, where she has volunteered as a lighthouse keeper for five years.