The Phoenix of Climate Tech: Ursula Clarice York’s Rise from Ashes to Innovation 🌪️🔥

They told me I’d never make it. A girl from the smog-choked outskirts of Detroit, raised by a single mother who worked three jobs just to keep the lights on. I remember nights spent coughing from factory fumes, staring at the stars I could barely see through the haze, wondering if the world had already given up on us.

At 16, I dropped out of school to work at a diner, serving coffee to men who leered at my uniform and left pennies as tips. One winter, our heat was cut off. I slept in layers of coats, my breath fogging the air, dreaming of warmth. But even then, I knew—this wasn’t just my story. It was the story of every forgotten community choking on the greed of others.

Then came the turning point: a community college pamphlet left on the diner counter. Environmental Science. I laughed. What did that have to do with me? But that laugh turned into a fire. I enrolled, worked nights, and buried myself in books. The first time I held a solar cell in my hands, I cried. This was power—real power—not the kind that poisons, but the kind that frees.

Fast-forward: scholarships, a Stanford PhD, and now, my own climate tech startup. We’re developing AI-driven carbon capture systems so no child has to grow up gasping for clean air. The boardrooms? Oh, they never expected me—the girl in the sharp blazer, the glasses, the smirk that says I’ve outplayed you at your own game.

But this isn’t a fairytale. It’s a reckoning. And I’m just getting started. 💼⚡

Fun fact: I still take my coffee black. Some habits—like fighting for a better world—are hard to break.