Careers in Cleantech - Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment (ACEE) Program

OVERVIEW
Millions of new jobs are being created to reduce energy costs and decarbonize the energy sector helping stave off the existential crisis of climate change. Come listen to leaders of clean energy and the environment ready to help you explore careers that not only promise a good livelihood but also a meaningful way to help our country become stronger and the planet more livable.  

Tom Leyden '77, Andlinger Fellow and founder of the Princeton in Solar and Cleantech LinkedIn group, will moderate discussions with panels of alumni and corporate representatives, who'll share their career histories and advice on how to enter this exciting and important field. Following a networking lunch, Dr. Luisa Palacios of Columbia University will also join us to present her findings on women's leadership roles in energy across the globe.

10:00 a.m. -   Alumni Panel #1
11:00 a.m.  -  Alumni Panel #2
noon           -  Networking lunch with panelists
1:00 p.m.    - Presentation by Dr. Luisa Palacios on women in the global energy industry
1:30 p.m.   -  Industry representative panel

PANELISTS

Tom Leyden ‘77 - Vice President of Business Development at Nexamp and Non-Resident Visiting Fellow at Princeton’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment

One of the early solar pioneers, Tom Leyden began his solar career in 1980 and over the years has held a number of executive management positions. He was VP of Sales and Marketing at EPV, a thin-film PV manufacturer, and at WorldWater, a remote-power and solar-water pumping company that installed solar projects in Africa and Asia. He served as VP of East Coast Operations for PowerLight, the commercial PV pioneer bought by SunPower, where he became SunPower’s East Coast Managing Director. In 2012 he became CEO of the energy storage start-up Solar Grid Storage which was acquired by Sunedison and then served as Sunedison's VP of Energy Storage Deployment. He joined EDF in 2016 to help develop and deliver innovative solar and storage business models, and then in 2022 moved to Nexamp to focus on Community Solar and innovative solar deployment such as Floating Solar and Agrivoltaics. Tom was the developer of the first Princeton University solar projects totaling 15 MWs at 8 sites around campus. Tom is also an advisor to two Princeton-born companies, BoxPower (https://boxpower.io) and Solstice (https://solstice.us).

Tom has served the industry in various other roles, including founding President of MDV-SEIA and New Jersey’s MSSIA, board member of national SEIA and PV Now, and advisor to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. He holds a BA from Princeton University. At Princeton, Tom was President of Campus Club and two-time Captain of the varsity lacrosse team.

 

Molly Jones - Chief Operations Officer, C-Change Conversations

With deep-seated dedication to the nonprofit sector and a life-long commitment to protecting the environment, Molly has spent her career working for nonprofits dedicated to addressing climate change. Molly joined the C-Change Conversations team in August 2022 and currently oversees internal operations and program implementation. A non-partisan, science-based organization, C-Change seeks out conservative and moderate audiences throughout the country to explain the impact climate change is having on our health, economy, and global security.

Prior to C-Change, Molly served as the Executive Director of Sustainable Princeton, a non-profit focused on community-based climate action in Princeton, New Jersey. Under her leadership, Sustainable Princeton charted a double-digit reduction in locally produced greenhouse gas emissions, a decrease attributed to fulfillment of strategies defined in the Princeton Climate Action Plan and the cultural shifts brought on by the pandemic.

Molly attended Emory University where she received a degree in Business Administration with a focus in Marketing and a minor in Spanish. Post-graduation, Molly served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala. Currently Molly lives on a horse farm just outside Princeton, NJ with her husband and two daughters. Learn more at www.c-changeconversations.org

Joan Cannon ’15 - Manager, Business Development of First Solar. Joan received a Bachelor’s degree majoring in Geosciences including a Certificate in Environmental Studies. She has spent her entire career working in environmental sustainability and renewable energy. After college, Joan worked at an environmental organizing program called Green Corps, where she ran several successful environmental campaigns for non-profits across the US, including Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. She then incorporated and ran her own environmental non-profit called the Alberta Green Economy Network in Canada to support transitioning Alberta to a green economy, including building out programs to upskill and train out-of-work oil and gas workers to apply their skills to solar and wind industries. Joan took a two-year hiatus from the professional world to earn an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business before continuing her career in renewable energy by joining First Solar, the largest US solar panel manufacturer. Joan has spent four years at First Solar on its Business Development team and now manages several key markets for First Solar. At Princeton, Joan played four years on the varsity women’s tennis team with two Ivy League championships and held leadership roles including the Recruitment Chair for Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and President of the Princeton University Geosciences Society.

Alistair Berven ’17 Director of Madison Energy Infrastructure where he leads strategic partner engagement and development of the MEI+ platform, leveraging solar, storage, and other cleantech infrastructure to support corporate partners in meeting their sustainability goals. Previously, Alistair held roles leading product strategy & new ventures at First Solar as well as engineering community microgrids at the non-profit Clean Coalition. He studied Civil & Environmental Engineering while at Princeton before getting his Master of Science in Environmental Management from Oxford. At Princeton, he was a four-year varsity lacrosse player and then played for the English national team in 2018.
 

Ben Brenner *20 - Sr. VP Boundary Stone Partners. Ben draws on his unique mix of public, private, and nonprofit sector experience to help clients shape public policy, narratives, and action on pressing energy and climate challenges. Before joining Boundary Stone, Ben served as a civil servant legislative liaison for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Chief Financial Officer, where he focused on securing annual congressional appropriations for DOE’s energy, science, electricity grid, cybersecurity, nuclear security, and nuclear nonproliferation programs.

Before his time at DOE, Ben served as a Legislative Assistant to Senator Carl Levin of Michigan. Between his DOE and Senate tenures, Ben worked at Booz Allen Hamilton.

Ben has also served as a government affairs fellow for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Project, a seven-nation project to build a one-of-a-kind prototype nuclear fusion facility in southern France. At ITER, Ben advised senior officials on federal appropriations and provided ITER leadership with tailored outreach strategies reflecting the distinct budgeting and appropriations systems of each of the project’s member countries.

Ben holds a Master's in Public Affairs from Princeton University and a bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Montréal, Canada.

Fiona Wilson ’11 - Director Portfolio Management at AES Corporation. Fiona Wilson has been working in renewable energy since 2010. She currently oversees AES Clean Energy's 60 GW+ development portfolio, including solar, wind, storage, and green hydrogen projects from prospecting through PPA approval. AES is the leading supplier of renewable energy to corporate buyers in the US and also sells to utility companies via IPP and BDTA structures. Fiona credits her start in the renewables sector to her Princeton thesis research, which focused on the political economy of renewable energy in South Africa. After graduating, she worked at an environmental finance firm in Bangkok (and then the Cape Town), developing and investing in renewable energy C&I and IPP projects. She then transitioned to government advisory through the Clinton Foundation's Islands Energy Program, supporting island nations' energy transitions and working with energy sector stakeholders to de-risk energy projects and ensure project bankability. Fiona also worked for Pivotal180, an energy finance firm with an advisory and financial modeling focus, and loves de-mystifying financial modeling for energy professionals of all backgrounds. She also has an amateur interest in ceramics, and is a big floating solar enthusiast!

Lauren Edelman ‘14 - Director of Corporate Development at Longroad Energy. Longroad is a renewable energy company with a portfolio of ~3.5 GWs of operating wind, solar, and energy storage projects, and about 25 GWs of development pipeline. In her role at Longroad, Lauren sources opportunities to expand Longroad’s pipeline, leads diligence on the assets, and negotiates project and portfolio acquisition and development service agreements. Prior to joining Longroad, Lauren spent 5 years at Meta, doing energy management and procurement for their data center portfolio, and 2 years at SunEdison doing project finance and M&A. Lauren received her B.S.E in Chemical and Biological Engineering from Princeton University with a concentration in Environmental Studies and Sustainable Energy.

Christopher Chen - Manger, Business Development at New Jersey Natural Gas. Mr. Chen is responsible for developing low-to-zero carbon projects as a part of NJNG’s overall Decarbonization Strategy. His projects include the Howell Power-to-Gas Green Hydrogen project, the nation’s first 100% Green Hydrogen blending project, as well as landfill gas upgrading, wastewater RNG and hydrogen fueling stations. Previous to his service at NJNG, Mr. Chen held a variety of engineering positions with NJR Clean Energy Ventures, Rolls Royce and Siemens Energy. He is a graduate of Purdue University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.

Yeimy Báez is an accomplished energy professional with over 20 years of experience in oil, gas, renewables, and hydrogen. With a background in petroleum engineering and an MBA, she has held C-level positions in in state-owned and private energy companies, leading multi-billion-dollar operations and large teams. Her leadership has driven significant expansions in renewable energy and pioneering hydrogen projects, including both industrial-scale and transportation initiatives in Latin America, while attracting investment from over 50 international companies.  Currently pursuing a Master in Public Policy (MPP) at Princeton University, she is passionate about the intersection of poverty alleviation, energy transitions, and climate change. 

FEATURED SPEAKER

Dr. Luisa Palacios - Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Dr. Palacios joined the center after a multidisciplinary career in the intersection of energy, finance and policy. She co-heads the ESG/Energy Transition Finance working group and co-leads the initiative on the Financing of the Energy Transition at CGEP. She is Adjunct Faculty at the School of International and Public Affairs and affiliated faculty at the Institute for Latin American Studies at Columbia University. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Americas Quarterly and a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She co-Chairs the Financial Working group (FWG) of the Methane Abatement Financing Taskforce (MAFT) and is the Deputy Chair of the 2024 B20 Finance and Infrastructure Task Force.  She graduated from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela; received a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs; and obtained a Ph.D. in international affairs from The John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

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