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Danny Kennedy
Danny Kennedy– a passionate activist, successful cleantech entrepreneur, noted author and recognized opinion leader on global environmental issues.
Danny Kennedy is a passionate activist, successful cleantech entrepreneur and recognized opinion leader on global environmental issues. Kennedy's accomplishments in the cleantech sector have earned him numerous awards, including "Innovator of the Year," from PBS program, Planet Forward, for pioneering an easy-to-access and affordable residential solar solution. The process, which Kennedy refers to as "Sunshine online," harnesses the power of the Internet by using satellite images and aerial photography to assess rooftops remotely and deliver an online solar quote (or iQuote) within 24 hours.
Kennedy was born in Los Angeles on February 24th, 1971 to Australian parents. Until age 11, Kennedy moved between the USA, Europe and Australia with his family, eventually settling in Sydney, Australia and attending St Aloysius School. From an early age Kennedy worked as a community organizer, fundraiser, journalist and youth activist. In 1983 through 1990 Kennedy worked with the Australian Conservation Foundation on various projects including forestry protection and ozone depletion. In 1990 Kennedy represented the Australian Delegate at the Montreal Protocol Negotiations in London, where he met Alec Guettel (with whom he would later found the solar power company Sungevity). In 1992 Kennedy organized youth and students around the first Rio Earth Summit, and worked for the UN Conference on Environment and Development.
Kennedy founded the leading residential solar power company, Sungevity® Inc. in 2007, as an integral part of his life's mission to promote the use of clean energy and eliminate the world's dependence on fossil fuel. He is president of the company, serves on its board of directors and oversees government relations and community engagement programs. Kennedy has worked on climate and energy issues for over two decades. Prior to starting Sungevity, he was a campaign manager for Greenpeace where he focused on ending new oil exploration in the Pacific. Kennedy also ran Greenpeace's California Clean Energy Campaign in 2001-02, which helped create the state's current Solar Initiative, providing substantial market support and helping many citizens go solar. Prior to that, Kennedy founded and directed Project Underground, an organization committed to protecting the human rights of people struggling with mining and oil operations.
Tireless in his efforts to evangelize the mass adoption of solar power, Kennedy spearheaded the "Solar on the White House" (http://www.solaronthewhitehouse.com/) campaign in 2010 that resulted in a decision by the Obama administration to place solar panels on the First Family residence. The administration has yet to honor this commitment. Kennedy serves on the board of the Solar Foundation, a global research and education organization in Washington DC, and Solar Mosaic, a solar-focused, crowd-funding start-up in Berkeley, CA. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Macquarie University in Sydney.
Kennedy resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Miya Yoshitani, two daughters and seven chickens.
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