Friendship Summit Speaker Biographies
Panel Discussion:
Accelerating Renewable Energy and Clean-Tech Momentum
Below is only a partial list of the panelists to take part Monday morning.
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Peggy Liu
Chairperson, Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE)
Peggy Liu is Chairperson of JUCCCE. She was honored as a Time Magazine 2008 Environmental Hero and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2009. Peggy was an adviser to the Clinton Global Initiative 2008 on Energy & Climate Change. Most recently, Peggy was COO of Mustang Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund in Shanghai, China. Peggy, an active alumna of MIT, organized the MIT Forum on the Future of Energy in China 2007 from which JUCCCE was formed.
In the 1990's Peggy was on the cover of "Red Herring Hits" as an Internet pioneer in Silicon Valley. She was General Manager of Consumer Applications at Zaplet, a dynamic email communications platform (funded by KPCB and acquired by MetricStream). She was also VP of Marketing at SeeUthere.com (now owned by Starcite). As an independent advisor, she consulted ecommerce companies on strategy, fundraising, and business partnerships. In 1996, Peggy co-founded and was CEO of Channel A, one of the earliest business-to-consumer ecommerce web sites. She led NetManage into the retail channel with Internet Chameleon, the first consumer software package to connect Windows users to the Internet. As Product Manager at Symantec, she managed the Macintosh development tools line, helped launch Symantec C++ for Windows, and built the OEM channel for Symantec's Norton Group.
Peggy was also a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. Peggy is Chinese-American and resides in Shanghai. She has a B.S. from MIT in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Peggy is also a member of TARA (Today's Already Rising Achievers). She has been in non-profit leadership positions for most of her life and has a passion for making the world a better place.
Travis Bradford
Chief Operating Officer, Carbon War Room
Travis founded the Prometheus Institute in 2003 as a means to connect the vast reach and power of industrial and capital markets with the technologies necessary to sustain and develop long-term economic well-being for people around the world. Travis is currently the Editor-in-Chief of PVNews, the solar energy industry's oldest newsletter, and is the author of Solar Revolution: The Economic Transformation of the Global Energy Industry published by MIT Press. He is also a partner at Atlas Capital, a hedge fund based in Cambridge, MA.
Prior to founding the Prometheus Institute, Travis was a partner at Steel Partners II, L.P., a hedge fund based in New York City focused on the acquisition, growth, and sale of small publicly traded and privately owned businesses. In this capacity, Travis served as both a board member and active management participant in these types of businesses in industries ranging from industrial filters to fertilizer distributors to financial service providers. Travis has worked for the Federal Reserve Bank, has lectured at top Universities including Columbia University, Duke University, New York University, and Harvard University on finance, entrepreneurship, and alternative energy economics.
Mark D. Levine
Founder & Group Leader, China Energy Group
Mark D. Levine was director of the Environmental Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) from 1996-2006, a division of 400 people working on energy efficiency, both R&D and policy analysis. Previously he led the Energy Analysis Department (1983-1996). His major passion in the past two decades has involved analyzing and promoting energy efficiency in China. In 1988, he created and has since led the China Energy Group at LBNL. Today he spends the majority of his time working with collaborators in China on energy efficiency policy in that country. Dr. Levine is a board member of four leading non-profits in the United States (American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, Center for Clean Air Policy, Center for Resource Solutions, and the U.S. China Green Energy Council).
He is a member of the Energy Advisory Board of Dow Chemical Company, the Board of Directors of an energy venture capital firm (California Clean Energy Fund), and of the Advisory Board of the Asian Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC) in Tokyo. In 1999, he was elected a fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology, California's counterpart to the U.S. National Academies. In 2008, he was selected as the recipient of the prestigious Obayashi Prize for his contributions to sustainable development, especially in urban areas, an award given to one individual every two years. Also in 2008, he received the Federation of American Scientists' (FAS) Public Service award, an recognition that has chosen to make for only four people over the past decade. In addition to authoring numerous technical publications, Dr. Levine has led a series of high-profile energy analysis activities: reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (that in the past year received the Nobel Peace Prize), co-leader of major scenario studies of the United States, China, and the global energy system for such organizations as the World Energy Council, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Energy Foundation China Sustainable Energy Program, and others. He is on the editorial board of four international journals: Energy Policy (United States) Building Research & Information (United Kingdom), and a journal in Japan and Switzerland.
Dr. Levine graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University, earned a PhD from the University of California, and has been the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship and a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.
Michael Eckhart
President, American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE)
Michael Eckhart is founding President and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE). He also is co-chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE), a member of the Steering Committee of the REN 21 global policy network, and co-head of the North American Secretariat of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP). He is a 2008 recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, a 2006 recipient of RSA's Good Deal for All Award, and a three-time participant in the Clinton Global Initiative.
In 1998 he was named Renewable Energy Man of the Year of India for his work in bringing financing to solar energy markets, and in 1999 formed a $50 million joint venture between Shell and ESKOM in South Africa which electrified 10,000 off-grid homes with solar home systems. He has over 25 years of experience in renewable energy, power generation, high technology, and finance. Previously, he was Chairman/CEO of United Power Systems, Inc.; Co-founder and Vice President of the venture capital firm Arete Ventures, Inc.; Manager of Strategic Planning for the Power Systems Sector of General Electric Company; and a Principal of Booz, Allen & Hamilton's energy practice where he conducted many of the original national studies in the 1970s on emerging energy technologies including solar PV, solar heating & cooling, solar thermal-electric, windpower, hydropower, geothermal energy, cogeneration, energy storage, advanced coal combustion, gasification, liquefaction, synthetic fuels, and advanced nuclear.
Michael received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and has served in the US Navy Submarine Service.
Puon Penn
Senior Vice President, Head of National CleanTech & Emerging Tech Markets, Commercial Banking, Wells Fargo & Company
Puon Penn is a senior vice president and head of the National CleanTech & Emerging Tech Markets sector at Wells Fargo within the Technology Banking Group, part of Commercial Banking. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., he manages a team of banking professionals who serve the financial needs of businesses in technology and clean technology nationwide.
Puon began his career with Wells Fargo in 1998 in the International Group. He moved on to become a relationship manager in the Regional Commercial Banking Office (RCBO) in Modesto, Calif., serving the financial needs of middle-market companies. In 2003, Puon joined the Securities Investment Group as a financial analyst covering the food and beverage, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, and financial services sectors. In 2006, Puon was promoted to loan team manager for the RCBO in Palo Alto.
Puon earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Reed College in Portland, Ore., and his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Active in the community, Puon is involved with several nonprofit organizations including the Khmer Institute and Friends Without a Border.
Chi K. Chu
Senior Vice President, Silverstein Properties, Inc.
Chi K. Chu, Senior Vice President, has been with Silverstein Properties, Inc. since 1986. As head of the Operations Department, Mr. Chu oversees the management of all properties owned and net leased by the company. He has been involved with a majority of the firm’s development projects including the World Trade Center area redevelopment, A&S Plaza, Teleport Centers, River Place complex, as well as new acquisitions. Mr. Chu actively represents the real estate industry and works closely with the city and state on regulatory issues and building codes including the restructuring of both the New York City Electrical Code and the New York State Energy Code.
He is Vice Chairperson of the Real Estate Board of New York’s Board of Management Division and Director of the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations. Mr. Chu also serves as the Vice Chairperson of the Grand Central Partnership Construction Committee. As an esteemed member of the industry, Mr. Chu was awarded with top honors in 2007 as the recipient of the REBNY Commercial Management Leadership Award. He was also the 2002 winner of the George M. Brooker Management Executive of the Year award. On top of his involvement in the industry, Mr. Chu is an active member of the community, sitting on the Board of Directors for the Outreach Project and as Board Chairman of Hamilton-Madison House, a non-profit settlement house that has been serving several downtown communities since 1898. He is also President of the New York Chinese Opera Society which serves to promote and preserve the ancient Chinese art of Beijing Opera.