📚We’re publishing a series of climate career stories, highlighting the diversity of climate journeys and what makes a climate career.Â
If you’re interested in contributing, we invite you to share your own story on #climate-careers or reach out to Elisa or Jon on Slack for guidance.Â
Clifton Reddy is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a British Computer Society (BCS) Fellow, and community Organizer & Champion for the Houston chapter of the Green Software Foundation.
How did you get started and what changes did you make in your career to work in this space?
As a software engineer and technology leader with over 24 years in the field, my work has always centered around designing mission-critical enterprise solutions. But one question quietly transformed the direction of my professional journey: Which programming language consumes the least amount of resources? This seemingly simple curiosity led me into the world of green software.
In my search, I stumbled across a research paper exploring the resource efficiency of different languages. That paper lit a spark. Soon after, I discovered the Green Software Foundation (GSF) and quickly became involved with its mission to reduce software carbon intensity. What began as a personal research project evolved into a professional calling.
Today, I proudly serve as the Organizer of the Houston Chapter Meetup for the Green Software Foundation, and have been elevated to the title of Champion for my continued advocacy work. From organizing community events to speaking at universities and conferences, I’ve worked to integrate sustainable practices into the broader tech conversation.
What challenges have you faced in making this transition? How did you get started and what changes did you make in your career to work in this space?
My journey has been far from linear or easy. Sustainability is not always a top-line concern for companies that prioritize profit margins. Rather than push for an immediate overhaul, I adopted a different approach: education and advocacy.
Through guest lectures at the University of Houston, University of Houston–Clear Lake, and upcoming sessions with Texas A&M University, I’ve been fostering a grassroots-level understanding of sustainable software principles among students and faculty. Similarly, I’ve begun internal initiatives within my organization to pilot tools from the Green Software Foundation, focusing on reducing carbon intensity in our CI/CD pipelines.
What is a climate career to you?
Academic and Technical Contributions
My commitment to sustainable innovation isn’t limited to talks. I’ve actively contributed to research papers and scholarly publications, including:
- “ML-Driven Dynamic Optimization for Energy-Efficient Software Execution” presented at ICISS 2025 (DOI: 10.1109/ICISS63372.2025.11076275)
- “A Sustainable AI Framework for Efficient Software Systems” published by Springer Nature
- Speaker at the International Conference on Engineering Horizons organized by SRM Madurai
In addition to my academic efforts, I’ve filed a patent focused on modular and hardware-efficient scientific computing – US 63/816,306, which reduces e-waste and carbon emissions by promoting reusability and system longevity.
Creating a Movement, Not Just a Moment
This work is about more than personal recognition—it’s about fostering a mindset shift within the tech community. I’ve written thought pieces such as:
- Green Software Practices: A Guide for IT Leaders
- Conf42 Talk – Green Software in the Real World
- FITP Recap – Building Better Tech Careers
I’m also frequently consulted by organizations and open source teams to review and validate their sustainability strategies.
Looking Forward: A Vision for Greener Innovation
We’re just getting started. My goal is to normalize sustainable software design as a best practice—not a fringe concern. By weaving green software principles into business process architecture, DevOps, cloud migrations, and education, we can create scalable, energy-efficient digital ecosystems.
Any advice you’d like to share with others on their own climate journeys?
Sustainability in tech is not an ideal. It’s an imperative. And through collaboration, innovation, and continued advocacy, we can make it the new standard.
You can connect with Clifton on LinkedIn and read more about his work on his GSF Champions profile.
If you’re interested in contributing, we invite you to share your own story on #climate-careers or reach out to Elisa or Jon on Slack for guidance.