Meet Our EIP Team: Lee Ringo, Program Manager

Each EIPer brings a unique background, experience, and story to our organization. In our employee spotlight series, we’re shining a light on the people behind the scenes who make EIP a trusted partner in the energy industry.

In this employee Q&A, you’ll get to meet EIP Program Manager, Lee Ringo. Lee brings nearly two decades of sales, operations, and project management success to EIP. Lee is a certified Building Science Professional and Healthy Homes Evaluator. Since entering the energy sector, he has dedicated his career to leading clean energy initiatives in underserved communities.

What led you to this industry & role?

I was drawn to this work because it sits at the intersection of solving practical problems and improving people's lives. In 2020, I had the opportunity to work with the Department of Energy and several partners, including a local community development corporation, on a pilot that introduced homeowners in a rural BIPOC community to clean energy alternatives such as heat pumps, helping reduce their reliance on propane.

That experience showed me that energy efficiency isn’t just about lowering utility bills. It’s also about creating healthier, safer, and more comfortable homes, particularly for communities that have historically been underserved.

My success in this pilot gave me the platform to lead breakout sessions at industry conferences, which is where I met Renny, in Philadelphia, at ACEEE. The rest is history.

How do you explain your role to someone who knows nothing about energy programs?

I often describe my role as being part program manager, part problem solver, and part connector.

Over the last several years, my role has evolved from managing projects to helping build programs that bring together utilities, contractors, healthcare organizations, and community partners. My job is to coordinate everyone involved and ensure the right resources come together to help homeowners improve their homes at little or no cost.

Ultimately, I help turn a complicated process into one that feels manageable for the customer.

What kind of customer or client challenge does your work help solve?

Many homeowners know something isn't right in their home. They're uncomfortable, paying high utility bills, or dealing with moisture or air quality issues, but they often don't know where to start or assume improvements are financially out of reach. They also might not realize that poor indoor air quality, excess moisture, or inadequate ventilation can contribute to broader health concerns.

Our goal is to address those issues while also reducing energy use and making homes safer and more comfortable. Our program helps remove barriers to improvements by providing expert assessments, connecting customers with trusted contractors, and educating customers on improvements that can make a meaningful difference in how their home performs.

The immediate impact is easy to see, lower energy bills, more comfortable homes, improved indoor air quality, but I think the lasting impact is bigger than that. Every project represents a family, not just a metric.

When we improve homes, we're helping create healthier living environments that can benefit families and communities for years.

We're also building partnerships between industries that traditionally haven't worked together. If healthcare providers, utilities, and community organizations continue collaborating, we can create a much more proactive approach to improving quality of life.

For me, success isn't measured only by kilowatt-hours saved. It's measured by whether families are living in healthier homes and whether we've built systems that allow more people to benefit long after one project is complete.

What part of your personality helps you do this work well?

I learned early on in my career that my purpose in life, not just work, is to serve. I’m passionate about making a difference in people’s lives and that has brought me further in my life than any talents or expertise. It translates into what I'm doing every day, and when things get tough, knowing I’m serving others helps keep me going. We are all fighting battles that no one has any idea that we're dealing with. My mindset is, how can I make a positive impact on someone's life? That mindset carries directly into my work, I'm always asking, "How can we make this better for the customer?"

I'm naturally curious and enjoy solving complex problems. Whether that's organizing information, learning new technologies, or developing better processes, I tend to approach challenges with curiosity rather than frustration. I've always enjoyed learning how things work and looking for ways to improve systems. I enjoy building systems that make programs more efficient and easier for both customers and implementation teams.

I also genuinely enjoy bringing people together. Some of the work I'm most proud of has involved creating relationships between energy programs, healthcare organizations, community groups, and local governments. I like finding common ground and helping everyone work toward the same goal.

Those partnerships allow us to reach families who may have never known these resources existed. I enjoy creating those connections because they expand the program's impact far beyond energy savings.