Our Climate Journey with Lipi Sanghi
“As a mother, I’m always thinking about the impact of my actions. What I say, the things I do, all of that has a big impact on my kids. The same is true for all of us, with this planet. The actions we take, the way we live our lives both good and bad, all of that has consequences down the line.”
Lipi Sanghi
Product Lead
Lipi Sanghi has been Product Lead at Zum since January 2023. In her role, she’s focused on building products that enhance our school bus driver experience and streamline yard operations in order to improve daily efficiency and ensure safe and reliable transportation service.
Outside of work, Lipi stays busy managing her two young kids’ activities. She’s also an enthusiastic reader, likes to stay up to date on current trends, and enjoys gardening in her spare time.
At Zum, we’re revolutionizing student transportation in order to build a green, sustainable future. What does sustainability mean to you?
I’m a mother of two. I worry a lot generally, but I also worry about what our planet will be like when my kids grow up. What will things be like when they get to be my age?
My kids are at the age when they’re learning about animals. When I was a kid, there were a lot more species on the planet. Today, we’ve lost many to extinction, and many more are endangered. It scares me to think how rapidly that number is going down. A 2022 study by the World Wildlife Foundation indicates a 69% decrease in wildlife populations since 1970. That’s alarming.
As a mother, I’m always thinking about the impact of my actions. What I say, the things I do, all of that has a big impact on my kids. The same is true for all of us, with this planet. The actions we take, the way we live our lives both good and bad, all of that has consequences down the line. It can be hard for us to try and make a difference, and as a society, we have such short attention spans that if we don’t see an immediate positive difference, we stop doing that behavior—but we have to continue trying. We have to continue doing our part, however small. Each of us has to do whatever we can to make sure that our kids have a good world to live in—and in aggregate, it’s all of those small changes that we can all make that make up sustainability.
Climate change is the single greatest threat to our way of life, but it can sometimes feel abstract, far away, a problem for another time. How has climate change affected you personally?
Today, my parents live in New Delhi—actually, the same city that Ritu, our Founder and CEO, grew up in. So she knows what I’m talking about. In fact, she posted on LinkedIn last year about the conditions there.
The air quality in New Delhi is terrible, and is only getting worse. Skies are cloudy, people are advised not to spend too much time outside. One of my parents has asthma, which is greatly worsened by the awful AQI. I worry about their health, and while they’re still relatively young, their asthma is only going to get harder to manage. And they can’t leave New Delhi because of their career, because of the rest of our family that lives there. But the toxic air is shortening their lives.
Across the globe, here in California, we’re also having problems. Last year it rained for six months in our state. That’s Seattle weather. And I personally have been feeling the effects of climate change. Three years ago, I developed three new allergies—oak trees, grass pollen, and mold. I thought allergies were something you had or developed when you were a kid, so when I went to see the doctor, I was like, “What is going on here?” But he told me that shifts in weather and air patterns can trigger adult-onset allergies. Which is crazy. So my body is now different because of what we’ve done to our air, here in California and across the planet. We have to do better.
What can Zum do to be a leader in sustainability, to spearhead the charge in the fight against climate change?
I’ve worked in tech—big tech—my entire career. Facebook, Wal-Mart, Amazon. Always on the product team. These were nice, cushy jobs, but after many years, I found myself wishing I could have more positive impact. It’s not enough for me just to clock in and out and collect a paycheck. I wanted more.
This was a big reason for my shift to Zum. When I interviewed with the company, I saw the potential for positive impact: student transportation is the largest mass transit system in the United States, and since it’s almost entirely composed of diesel buses, it’s also one of—if not the biggest—emitters of diesel fumes. These are the buses our children ride on, the air they breathe! Having children of my own accelerated my desire to help have a positive impact, and thankfully at Zum, where we’re working hard to shift our fleets to electric vehicles, I’m able to do that. If we can spearhead the charge here in the U.S., we can lead and inspire by example, and who knows, maybe we’ll be able to lead global electrified student transportation—though that’s up to Ritu!
And in a small way, I’m trying to contribute in my role as well. As a member of the product team, I’m always trying to figure out ways to make the driver and bus experience maximally easy and efficient, which in turn makes it less energy and fuel intensive. I can’t give away details just yet, but I’m currently working on improving driver route efficiency in a way that should make drivers’ lives easier, and reduce miles driven on the road. Stay tuned! (You can see more updates on our product blog.)