Episode 1: Jon Powers

Join our host Jon Powers for the introductory episode of our ‘Experts Only’ podcast. Jon is  a clean energy and national security expert and the co-founder and president of CleanCapital. He leads corporate strategy, operations, investor relations, and marketing for CleanCapital. Prior to CleanCapital, Jon led public sector business development at Bloom Energy, served with the U.S. Army in Iraq, and was appointed Federal Chief Sustainability Officer under President Barack Obama.

In each episode following, Jon will explore the intersection of energy, innovation, and finance with experts in the field. Learn from industry leaders about their personal journeys as well as the most pressing problems and promising developments in their respective fields.

Transcript

Voiceover:

Welcome to the Experts Only podcast sponsored by CleanCapital, where we explore the intersection of energy, innovation and finance. Our host is CleanCapital’s co-founder and former federal chief sustainability officer, Jon Powers. Learn how CleanCapital is revolutionizing clean energy finance and find more episodes at cleancapital.com, iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe and leave us a five star review.

Jon Powers:

Hi, my name’s Jon Powers. I’d like to welcome you to CleanCapital’s Experts Only podcast. I will be your regular host as we explore the intersection of energy, innovation and finance. But why are we doing a podcast? I was down in Texas in 2017 moderating a panel with some industry leaders, one from Bank of America, one from Goldman Sachs, and we were having a very fascinated conversation about where the industry is today and where it’s going. Except at this conference, no one could hear us. We were in a building that had a terrible echo. We were standing between people and their cocktail hour. And all I could think to myself was, man, this is really interesting and I wish I could record it. And that was sort of what triggered the idea. And as someone who listens to podcasts regularly, we recognized that there was a space to really dive into this unique intersection where we can talk to folks about their personal journeys, look at the most interesting pressing and promising developments of the day, and really tackle the space in the energy innovation and finance sectors.

Jon Powers:

So I got interested in this sector when I was serving as President Obama’s chief sustainability officer and saw technologies that range from new energy efficiency systems, to things like HVACs, to electric vehicles, to new solar systems providing more efficient output. And there was so much happening, it was hard to keep track. So what we wanted to do in this podcast is dive into these different sectors, learn from some of the experts about what’s happening in this space, and really have sort of a conversation about how they got into this space from a personal perspective as well, and learn as leaders in the industry, what advice they can give to others looking to grow in the space.

Jon Powers:

So we expect this podcast to come out weekly or biweekly. We will be probably about a 30-minute episode. And what we are really hoping to do is help to educate folks that are not just experts in the industry, but folks that really want to get and learn about this space as well.

Jon Powers:

So why should you subscribe? I think we’re going to bring a unique voice to the conversation that’s needed to really help drive clean energy forward. We’re really excited about some of these first episodes we’ve already got under our belt, and look forward to continuing the conversations.

Jon Powers:

You can learn more by visiting CleanCapital.com and the Experts Only podcast link. You can also give us advice on who we should be interviewing. Follow us on Twitter, and we’ll be making sure to promote each and every episode as we’re putting them forward.

Jon Powers:

I ask if you like the show, please rate us on iTunes. And we look forward to continuing the conversation with you as we explore this really exciting space and this really exciting time of the market. Thank you. And we look forward furthering the conversation.