Mike Putnam
Founder and CEO
Mike Putnam is an experienced business professional with deep experience in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire, entrepreneurship, development of new technologies and business models, funding and legal models for new enterprises, public policy, and public-private partnerships. He is passionate about rolling out large scale efforts that fight global warming and make renewable energy more accessible and affordable throughout rural communities.
Previously Mike worked at MARKEM Corporation, a manufacturing company headquartered in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire that is one of the largest community employers. At MARKEM, Mike introduced key new technologies including Extranets and RFID, used to ensure competitiveness and to open new markets for this business leader.
Mike was previously on the Board of the Monadnock Broadband Initiative, which worked to bring broadband Internet access to rural southwest New Hampshire. High speed Internet access is a fundamental requirement for business operation and the effort was a great success, with broadband now widely available in the region. Mike was also on the Board of Antioch University in Keene, an innovator in environmental education, climate resiliency and education that is an anchor to many efforts in the region.
Mike was also on the Board of the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network – a group working to support and development entrepreneurship and innovation in the region, including companies with innovative renewable energy storage solutions.
Mike also works with underserved communities internationally. He is on the Board of Prosperity Catalyst, an NGO that works to empower women in Haiti and Iraq so they can become economically self-sustaining and improve the circumstances of their families. Previously, Mike worked for the Center for International Development at Harvard on projects in the Dominican Republic. The project was conducted in partnership with the former president of the DR – visiting remote rural communities throughout the country and working to improve the use of technology in business, education and healthcare in the country.
For the last two years Mike has focused on climate and renewable energy business and technology. He was Chief Growth Officer and Chief Product Officer at Future.green, a venture-funded startup working to provide financial rewards to consumers making climate-friendly purchasing decisions. The company has offices at Greentown Labs – the largest incubator of climate tech companies in North America. Mike is also an investor in the My Climate Journey venture capital funds, which have invested in more than 70 climate tech companies.
Mike holds a BS in Science, Technology and Society from the School of Engineering at Stanford University, an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (located in Hanover, New Hampshire), and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School, where he focused on technology policy, studying with John Holdren, who later became the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Brian Levy
Principal, LMI Solar
Brian is the principal at LMI Solar, a DC-based solar developer and consulting firm specializing in bringing the benefits of solar to low and moderate income (LMI) households. Since 2015 LMI has led, co-led, or supported over 7MW of solar projects that benefit LMI households & affordable housing organizations, churches and schools. LMI brings technical, financial, legal and policy expertise to develop solar (see lmisolar.com), specifically focusing on solar business development, project feasibility and financial modeling, and solar project management for a variety of clients. To date the majority of solar projects have focused on LIHTC (low-income housing tax credit) properties, as well as 3.5MW of community solar projects where all power is allocated directly at zero cost to LMI households.
Prior to LMI Solar, Brian worked at DC Sustainable Energy Utility and focused on bringing energy efficiency technologies to low-income DC households (DC Home Performance with ENERGY STAR). Prior to this, Brian worked at DOE/EERE/Office of Weatherization and Intergovernmental Programs in the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) during ARRA days, assisting with scaling up weatherization funds to low-income households as well as helping to launch the Weatherization Innovation Pilot Program.
Brian’s earlier career focused extensively on work with remote and impoverished agricultural communities internationally. For four years at the U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), he provided project design and in-field implementation support to 6 provinces in Madagascar under a newly launched $17m agricultural investment project. He was also one of MCC’s key staff to design a new $300m arboriculture productivity project across Morocco. Both programs had a heavy emphasis on rural agricultural extension/training services to producers. Key to all these activities were strong local partnerships that required trust, appropriate levels of assistance, on-site presence, and built on existing local capacity and resources.
Brian holds a MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School with a concentration in economic development, and a BS from Carleton College in International Relations.