The Woman Bringing EV Charging to the Masses
FFF Profile: Tiya Gordon, Co-Founder/COO, it’s electric
Dear Fabulous Female Founders,
I think I have the best job in the world. I get to coach and advise brilliant, visionary founders as they create, launch, lead, pivot, and exit. They inspire and amaze me, and I never stop feeling a sense of awe and wonder as they navigate challenges and drive toward their dreams.
Today I’d like to introduce you to Fabulous Female Founder Tiya Gordon, Co-Founder and COO of it’s electric. Tiya sent me the loveliest email during COVID saying that she and co-founder Nathan King were CitiBike superfans. They’d done their homework and knew I had been involved in launching CitiBike. They’d started a firm focused on public right-of-way electric vehicle (EV) charging that would rely on government partnerships, similar to bike share. Would I consider advising them?
At that moment, I was feeling pretty low, trying to hold it together for the seven people in our household, uncomfortable with zoom, and still grappling with bitter emotions from the CitiBike experience. My first reaction was, EV charging, what do I know about EV charging? In NYC? God no. Good luck! May the force be with you! But her email was so thoughtful and kind that I agreed to hear them out, and when I got on Zoom with them a few days later, I was instantly captivated. Even though what they proposed sounded super challenging, I saw in them such determination, such clarity of vision, such willingness to ask good questions and learn, that I said yes.
***
THE biggest problem in the world of electric vehicles is charging. No, this isn’t a huge problem for those of us with access to our own driveways, but it is a massive problem for tens of millions in densely populated areas like New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Boston.
Tiya, a lifelong New Yorker, started thinking about getting a car for the first time in her life during COVID, when all the forms of public transportation she used daily became unsafe. How would she transport her five-year-old? How could she reach family members if something terrible happened? An EV wasn’t possible, she realized, due to the lack of charging options, and not just for her. Cities would never meet their carbon reduction goals without addressing this.
A designer by training, with a background in operations and finance, Tiya and Nathan, an architect, threw themselves into research and ideation, coming up with a simple concept: sleek public curbside EV chargers accessible to all, with electricity derived from adjacent buildings. Building owners would share the revenue.

The biggest obstacle with their system is the necessary use of sidewalks, curbs, and streets, a.k.a. the public right-of-way. And nothing is simple when you’re dealing with the public right-of-way. Next time you’re out walking, take note. Every single tree, bike rack, parking meter, and sign, is there not by magic but multi-layered bureaucratic processes overseen by government staff and influenced by property owners, emergency services, advocates, and other vested interests. In pretty much every city I worked on bikeways and bike share, the public right-of-way was hotly contested space.
Another advisor, Michael Replogle, had been an official in NYC’s Department of Transportation. He and I worked with Tiya and Nathan on strategies to get pilot projects off the ground, secure grants, understand the right-of-way permitting process, and more. I’ve helped them secure investment and shared my knowledge of sponsorship deals and contracting. I’m so glad I said yes, for it has been an absolute honor working with them.
Four years later, it’s electric is about to deploy in a half dozen cities.
***
I could go on at length about Tiya’s energy, for she is a whirling dervish, with results including multiple incubator programs; awards from the World Economic Forum, Fast Company, and South by Southwest; shout-outs in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, and more; pilot programs in Detroit, San Francisco, and New York; federal funding; and dozens of contracts in the pipeline.
I could talk about her determination, because raising money is tough for any company, let alone one led by a woman, since VC money is still highly concentrated in male-led firms. Harder still, it’s electric’s success relies on government contracts and approvals, which investors understandably hate, yet she and Nathan have managed to raise over $12 million, including $8.7 million in equity funding and $3.5 million in grants. Notably, Uber is one of their investors, motivated by supporting drivers’ charging needs. Along the way were a barrage of discouraging ‘nos’ and a zillion hours in the air, away from home, missing her daughter.
But the superpower I want to focus on is clarity, for Tiya and Nathan’s vision is as crystal clear as Australia's Great Barrier Reef and Oregon’s treasured Crater Lake.
They are clear about the problems and obstacles. You’ll find no magical thinking nor excessive optimism anywhere in their ecosystem.
They are clear about every financial aspect, with a relentless focus on driving toward profitability on a massive scale.
They are clear about the process: creating and following an aggressive but realistic roadmap and embracing the public-private partnership aspects. By bringing on advisors like me early on (among others with complementary expertise and connections), they leaned into reality. Step by step, they’ve developed, tested, and refined the concept. Step by step, they’ve built a strong foundation for their company, which now employs 10 and is headquartered at Newlab in Brooklyn.
They are unwaveringly clear about—and willing to put in—the work required to realize their vision.
Tiya’s tagline on LinkedIn is “using design to wage war against the climate crisis,” a clear message if I’ve ever heard one. Please join me in celebrating Fabulous Female Founder Tiya Gordon alongside co-founder Nathan King, and head on over to their website to join the waiting list, especially if you own a home or building in their earliest deployment cities: LA, SF, Detroit, Boston, D.C., Jersey City, and Yonkers.
-Mia
Thanks Marc! Good to hear from you.
Thanks for sharing - so interesting to learn about good people and good ideas from a good person with good ideas!