Kauffman Is a Global Leader in Clean Energy Finance
Washington, D.C.— The Board of Directors of the Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) released the following statement:
Today, CGC is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Kauffman as its next Chief Executive Officer. With his Wall Street experience, his service in federal and state governments, including his leadership in founding America’s largest green bank, and his service on CGC’s Board of Directors, Mr. Kauffman is highly qualified to take this groundbreaking investment to the next level. This also marks the transition from Mr. Reed Hundt, whose vision and perseverance led to the launch of the country’s first national green bank, and we thank him for his leadership.
Chairman of the Board of the Coalition for Green Capital Bryan Garcia said, “In the midst of an extensive search process meeting and interviewing many highly qualified, diverse candidates, we realized that the ideal candidate was already in-house. Richard possesses decades of unparalleled leadership across both the public and private sector, where he has been an investor in and financier of clean energy technologies and projects from innovation to infrastructure. Among his many successful endeavors, he founded the largest state green bank in New York and will now lead our national green bank. The CGC board is incredibly grateful to the vision, determination, and leadership of Reed Hundt in creating the nation’s green bank.”
Former Coalition for Green Capital CEO Reed Hundt said, “Richard Kauffman has long been a dear friend, supporter, coach and inspiration to me. I know well that his vast experience as a private sector investor, regulatory reformer, and entrepreneurial manager make him not only the CEO that the Coalition for Green Capital and its network needs but also the leader in public-private capital formation that the whole nation’s energy sector needs to meet burgeoning demand with cheap, clean power. I applaud and thank Richard for agreeing to become CEO of the great CGC team and I congratulate the board for this wise decision.”
Coalition for Green Capital Richard CEO Kauffman said, “The Coalition for Green Capital has more than a decade-long track record in mobilizing public and private sector capital to fund clean energy projects that would otherwise not be financed by private sector capital alone, despite being credit-worthy. This organization has the experience and institutional knowledge to scale its impact and has the capacity to do so through the $5 billion GGRF grant.”
Richard L. Kauffman serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition for Green Capital (CGC), where he leads efforts to mobilize public and private capital to build an affordable clean power platform for everyone. A longstanding member of CGC’s Board of Directors, Richard combines extensive private sector investment acumen with a track record of public-sector leadership focused on clean energy finance, utility reform, and regulatory modernization.
Richard’s career began in the private sector, where he was a leader at some of the world’s premier financial institutions. As a partner at Goldman Sachs, Richard chaired the Global Financing Group. At Morgan Stanley, he served as Vice Chairman of the Institutional Securities business and co-Head of its Banking Department. Later, he served as CEO of Good Energies, Inc., an investor in clean energy and energy efficient technology. He is currently Chair of Generate Capital PBC, a leading financier, owner, and operator of sustainable infrastructure.
In the public sector, Richard served as Chair of Energy and Finance for the State of New York, where he oversaw the Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative. REV modernized utility regulations, shifted incentives toward performance outcomes and enabled integration of cleaner, more reliable energy into the grid. These reforms not only delivered environmental benefits but also reduced costs for New Yorkers. He also spearheaded the creation of the NY Green Bank, the nation’s largest state green bank, which has mobilized more than $8 billion for clean energy projects. Richard continues to serve as Chair of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). He was also a senior advisor to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Richard served as Senior Advisor to Secretary Steven Chu at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) where he oversaw the restructuring and reforming of DOE’s Loan Program after the Solyndra bankruptcy and advanced debt and equity capital market development policies, including proposed uses of REITs and MLPs for renewable energy.
Beyond his leadership in energy, finance, and government, Richard has served on corporate boards. He was Chairman of the Board of Levi Strauss & Co., and he currently serves on the board of Equilibrium Energy, a technology company that manages volatility on the electric grid.
As a non-profit board member, he currently serves on the boards of the Wallace Foundation; and on the advisory boards of the Precourt Energy Institute at Stanford and the Sustainable Finance Initiative. He previously served on the boards of the Brookings Institution, the Wildlife Conservation Society, Emergent Climate, the New York Philharmonic and Alvin Ailey. He was a co-chair of the advisory board of the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale and a member of the Yale School of Management advisory board. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations where he served on a study group on innovation in energy.
Richard received a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, a master’s degree in international relations from Yale University, and a master’s in public and private management from the Yale School of Management. At Yale, he has taught renewable energy finance to a generation of students.
About the Coalition for Green Capital
The Coalition for Green Capital (CGC), doing business as the American Green Bank Consortium, is a 501(c)(3) chartered specifically to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of air pollution and redress climate and energy-related environmental injustice. Green banks are a proven finance model that uses public and philanthropic funds to mobilize private investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and other decarbonization technologies. For over a decade, the Coalition for Green Capital has led the Green Bank movement, working at the federal, state, and local levels in the U.S. and countries around the world. For more information, visit: https://coalitionforgreencapital.com.