PACENation has announced the election of four new Board members: Deborah Burke of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Keith den Hollander of the Christian Coalition, Robert Giles of PACE Funding Group, and Brad Knyal of E3. Cisco DeVries has been elected to serve as Chairman of the Board of PACENation.
“I am thrilled to welcome these new members to our Board of Directors. Each brings a unique perspective and depth of experience that will make them an excellent resource and advocate for PACENation’s stakeholders,” said Jeff Tannenbaum, PACENation’s founder and Chair Emeritus. “I am also delighted to announce that Cisco DeVries, the inventor of PACE and a visionary in clean energy finance, will be taking on the role of Board Chair. It has been an honor to Chair PACENation, to have worked with so many committed and talented individuals, and to leave the organization with such capable leaders.”
“PACENation is leading the charge to make energy efficiency, renewable energy, and resiliency a choice for all building owners,” said Cisco DeVries. “I look forward to working with PACENation’s members as we continue to strengthen PACE as an industry.”
Cisco DeVries is the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Titan Grove. For over two decades, Mr. DeVries has nurtured new ideas, created policy, built companies, and inspired change. In 2008, Mr. DeVries co-founded the firm Renew Financial, which under his leadership became one of the largest dedicated clean energy finance companies in the United States. As CEO of Renew, he raised over $2 billion in private capital that financed energy efficiency and clean energy projects in nearly 100,000 homes. Previously, he spent five years as the Chief of Staff to Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates where he managed the Mayor’s environmental agenda and developed the first PACE program. In 1996, he was appointed to the administration of President Bill Clinton, and served as an aide to the U.S. Secretary of Energy, held roles at the White House and the U.S. Department of Transportation, and organized the roll-out of key Presidential and Secretarial policy initiatives throughout the U.S. and internationally.
Deborah Burke is Program Associate for the Rockefeller Brother Fund’s Sustainable Development program. Prior to joining the RBF, Ms. Burke was part of the research team at New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. She has extensive legislative experience from her role as the senior policy advisor to Oregon State Representative Jules Bailey, and was honored to support the West Lancashire Member of Parliament Rosie Cooper as a parliamentary researcher in the United Kingdom’s House of Commons.
Robert Giles is the Chief Executive Officer of PACE Funding Group. PACE Funding Group is a leading energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy finance company that provides PACE to homeowners. Mr. Giles brings 25+ years of experience in public finance banking and solar photovoltaic sales channel management and finance, and was the founder and CEO of Ready Solar, which he sold to SunEdison in 2010. Prior to Ready Solar, Mr. Giles was a Managing Director in the Municipal Finance Groups at both Bank of America and Merrill Lynch for a combined 18 years.
Keith den Hollander joined the Christian Coalition in 2013 after nearly 8 years in the insurance industry. Since 2013, he has held the roles of Michigan State Chairman, Midwest Director, and his current role as National Field Director. Keith also volunteers as the commanding officer of Training Ship Windward, a unit of the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corp, a youth leadership program. He serves on the Michigan Advisory Committee for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and sits on the National Leadership Council for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Keith lives in Michigan with his wife, Rebecca, and four children.
Brad Knyal is Chief Executive Officer of Energy Efficient Equity (E3). Founded in 2015, E3 has benefited California’s homeowners by providing streamlined access to cost-efficient capital for critical clean energy, water, and resiliency upgrades to their properties. Mr. Knyal joined E3 as the CEO and Member of the Board in May of 2017. Previously, Mr. Knyal was the CEO and co-founder of Wireless Capital Partners. WCP was one of the largest aggregators cell tower ground leases in the US. Over a 15 year period WCP acquired and sold over 7,000 assets in all 50 States. Mr. Knyal is a graduate of Arizona State University with a B.A. in Political Science.
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PACENation is the national, independent non-profit organization that advocates for PACE within the United States and in growing markets abroad and provides information, resources, and advice to PACE market participants from the government, non-profit and for-profit sectors. Its annual Summit has become the must attend event for PACE market participants and those intent on providing it. This year’s Summit will be held in Austin on April 3-5. For more information and to register, visit https://pacenation.us/summit.