Donnel Baird is the founder of BlocPower, a startup that markets, finances and installs solar and energy efficiency technology to help houses of worship, non-profits, small businesses and multifamily projects to slash their energy costs. Donnel spent three years as a community organizer in Brooklyn and one year as a voter contact director for Obama For America and seven years overall as a community and political organizer. He managed a national Change to Win/LIUNA campaign to leverage Dept. of Energy energy efficiency financing to create green construction jobs for out-of-work populations. He partnered with the Washington Interfaith Network to generate a $100m government investment in underserved communities in the District of Columbia. Donnel also is an Echoing Green/Open Society Foundation BMA Fellow and the first Entrepreneur in Residence at Jalia Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in for-profits with a social and environmental mission. He has a B.A. from Duke University and an M.B.A from Columbia Business School. BlocPower is backed by Microsoft, Kapor Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.
