Reina Ashizawa

Reina Ashizawa is a Lead Business Analyst at Next Rung, a process engineering firm that helps sustainable technology companies move from feasibility and scale-up to commercialization. Next Rung works with teams developing industrial and climate solutions, supporting the technical, economic, and project planning work needed to take promising processes beyond the lab or pilot stage and into commercial deployment.

Reina appeared on The Grove podcast by Earth Onward in the episode “Scaling the Next Generation of Sustainable Technology | John Ellersick & Reina Ashizawa, Next Rung.” In the conversation, she joined Next Rung founder John Ellersick to discuss how emerging sustainable technologies make the difficult transition from proven concept to real-world production. The episode explored what it takes to assess feasibility, plan scale-up, engage industry partners, and prepare for the demands of commercial manufacturing. Reina brought the perspective of a business analyst focused on connecting technical progress with practical deployment needs, including market fit, project readiness, and the operational questions that determine whether a new technology can succeed at scale.