John M Woolard

John is the Former President and CEO of BrightSource Energy, a developer of utility-scale solar power plants. In his role as Director, John brings more than two decades of experience in the energy technology sector as an executive, entrepreneur and investor. Prior to joining BrightSource Energy, John co-founded Silicon Energy, one of the first successful clean tech companies, and was President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board from 1997 to 2003. John joined the executive team at Itron, Inc. in 2003 following its acquisition of Silicon Energy, and was Vice President of Software Solutions and subsequently the Vice President of Strategy and Business Development. John previously held positions with VantagePoint Venture Partner’s CleanTech Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, and Pacific Gas & Electric Company. John currently serves on the advisory boards of the Tuolumne River Preservation Trust and U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business Energy Institute and Lester Center for Entrepreneurship. John is also a member of the Oakland Zoo’s East Bay Zoological Society Board of Trustees. John holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley, a Masters in Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia. John is a member of the 1999 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.