Environmental Entrepreneurs

Joel Serface is building a sustainable, resilient, secure, loving, and just world through technology, community, social, and policy innovation. Joel is recognized as one of the leaders in the renewable energy / clean technology industry having created or funded more than 20 companies, non-profits, and policy organizations over his career as well as... developing more than a gigawatt or renewable power projects. Joel is Founder of Catalyze, a technology-driven IPP that is transforming commercial real estate portfolios with resilient, renewable energy. Joel developed the vision, recruited the founding team, secured its initial customers, raised its seed and project equity commitments totaling more than $100M, and hired its ongoing management team before exiting in late 2019. Joel also founded and serves as Managing Director of Brightman Energy, a utility scale renewable development firm whose principals collectively originated 1,100 MW of wind and solar projects in Texas. Joel served as the first Entrepreneur in Residence at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins and previously headed renewable energy efforts at the ATI Clean Energy Incubator, Eastman Ventures, and Sierra Ventures. Joel is a Founding Member of Environmental Entrepreneurs, Founder and Board Member of Colorado Cleantech Industry Association, Founder of CleanTX, and Founder of Clean Economy Network (now Advanced Energy Economy). Joel received his B.S. In Chemical and Environmental Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and his MBA from the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management. At U.T., Joel founded the Homecoming Multi-Cultural Talent Benefit that benefits minority scholarships through the Texas Opportunity Fund and at M.I.T., Joel received the Patrick McGovern Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership for starting the first M.I.T. Venture Capital Conference and the M.I.T. Return on Diversity Award for work he did in increasing inner city achievement with Minneapolis Public Schools.Read More