Guiding light Alumna led effort to illuminate Detroit THE ENERGY ON WALL STREET WAS PALPABLE. AFTER HEARING THE BUZZ OF DEAL-MAKING AND RINGING PHONES, THE MO- MENT HAD ARRIVED FOR NICOLETTE CARLONE (’84 B.S.A.) AND THE PUBLIC LIGHTING AUTHORITY TO TAKE CENTER STAGE. WOULD WALL STREET HELP GET DETROIT’S STREETLIGHTS BACK ON? Carlone,then the chief financial officer of the Detroit-based Public LightingAuthority (PLA),sat in a Manhattan conference room and watched a screen that showed the municipal bond purchases as they came in.Sales were slow and steady at first.Then the list began to scroll with buyer names.The response was positively overwhelming. In less than an hour—because of the great demand by investors for the 30-year bonds—Carlone and the PLA hit their $185-millon goal, enough for 65,000 streetlights. “The energy was unbelievable. I’ve never felt anything like it. It was such a‘wow’moment,”said Car- lone, a former General Motors CPA who also ran her own consulting firm before joining the PLA.“At that point, we knew it was going to happen. I saw how people were united in this cause. Detroit’s lights were going to come back on.” And they did. The Detroit Public Lighting Author- ity was authorized by the Michigan Legislature in December 2012 and approved by the Detroit City Council to design and implement a three-year plan, starting in 2014, to improve the city’s lighting system. In that time span, the PLA relit all of Detroit, from the neighborhoods to the major thoroughfares. By the end of 2016, the project was complete, with energy-efficient LED lampposts illuminating the en- tire city. Detroit is also the largest American city to have 100 percent LED public lighting. “More than 40 percent of Detroit’s streetlights were out when we started. Getting them back on was a safety concern and an import- ant way to establish community and trust,”said Carlone, who was named CEO of the lighting authori- ty in February 2016.“We wanted to show people that we were going to follow through in what we said we’d do.That’s why we did the neighbor- hoods first.” Carlone remembers flying home in January 2014 and looking down at the city. She lamented to her hus- band how dark Detroit seemed and wondered what could be done.The following day, she got a message through the LinkedIn social net- work asking if she’d be interested in joining the PLA team. “It was unbelievable, really. I did financial consulting and they needed someone with experi- ence—someone who could hit the ground running since a three-year timeline doesn’t give room for a learning curve,”she said.“All I can say is that it must have been meant to be.” Carlone accepted, seeing the position as an opportunity to make a difference close to home. “In the end, because of the great team I had, we were able to relight the city ahead of schedule and under budget,”she said.“It was one of my career highlights. I saw everyone come together with the goal to make the city a better place. Because when Detroit comes back, we all benefit.” ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT | 23