SAN FRANCISCO (January 10, 2019) — Energy Foundation today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Jason Mark as Chief Executive Officer effective January 11, 2019. Jason succeeds Eric Heitz, who recently departed the organization after 28 years as CEO and Co-founder.
“I have had the opportunity to watch Jason grow as a leader at Energy Foundation for more than a decade and am confident that he is the right choice for this position,” said Board Chair, Bill Ritter, Jr. “With Jason at the helm, Energy Foundation is poised to play a pivotal role in clean energy wins happening at state and regional levels across the country right now. He is clearly the leader for Energy Foundation’s future and he has the unanimous support of the Board.”
The exhaustive, nationwide search for a new CEO yielded resumes from more than 70 qualified candidates. Three individuals emerged and completed a rigorous interview process led by the Board Search Committee and Energy Foundation partners and staff.
As Chief Executive Officer, Jason Mark leads Energy Foundation operations, program strategy development, grantmaking, and partnerships, overseeing a staff of 64 people working to advance clean energy policies throughout the country, with regional offices in Las Vegas, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Raleigh, N.C., and headquarters in San Francisco.
Prior to assuming the role of CEO, Jason served as Energy Foundation’s Senior Vice President of U.S. Programs, managing a team of policy, public engagement, and communications experts who invest in diverse organizations nationally to drive clean energy action. He joined the organization in 2007 as Director of the Transportation Program and then as Deputy Director of U.S. Programs.
Prior to joining Energy Foundation, Jason worked for the Union of Concerned Scientists, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Princeton University. Jason earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University and an M.A. in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley.
Energy Foundation’s (EF) mission is to serve the public interest by building a strong, clean energy economy. Pragmatic and nonpartisan, EF supports education and analysis to promote policy solutions that build markets for clean energy technology. Advancing renewable energy and energy efficiency can open doors to greater innovation and productivity—growing the economy with dramatically less pollution. For 28 years EF has supported grantees to help educate business and community leaders, policymakers, and the general public about the health and economic benefits of a clean energy economy. Grantees include business, health, labor, environmental, faith, and consumer groups, as well as policy leaders, military organizations, think tanks, and universities.