Speaker: Richenda Van Leeuwen, Senior Advisor, Good Energies

Discussion Topic:

Through a focus on poverty alleviation through sustainable access to renewable energy, the Good Energies Foundation is driving the transition to a low-carbon future.  Using modern market solutions, at times combined with microfinance, the Foundation is working to make a range of renewable energy technologies accessible to the poor that provide not only affordable clean energy, but also provide additional benefits in terms of better health, education, environment and household income.

Join this call to learn more about what works and the lessons learned from the Good Energies Foundation's experience. Beginning with an overview of the for-profit arm of Good Energies Inc., Senior Advisor and Board Trustee Richenda Van Leeuwen will discuss the strategy of the Foundation in providing access for the 1.6 billion people globally who still do not have access to electricity. Thereafter, she'll address the Foundation's approach to climate change adaptation and mitigation as it relates to poverty prevention. Finally, Richenda will also discuss, using case studies from Asia and Africa, how we can eliminate the need for kerosene as a fuel in emerging economies for less than the cost of the AIG bailout.

About the Speaker:

Richenda Van Leeuwen is Senior Advisor to Good Energies, Inc. a leading private global renewable energy investment firm.  She also serves as a founding trustee on the board of the Good Energies Foundation.

Good Energies (www.goodenergies.com) is a member of COFRA Holding, AG, headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and is represented through offices in London, New York, Toronto, Washington, DC and Zug. Good Energies contributes as a strategic investor to the ongoing energy transition process through its long-term investments and its support of development initiatives in the field of clean energy technologies. Mrs. Van Leeuwen’s work focuses on commercial investments in renewable energy technologies and companies in emerging markets, as well as hybrid investments with an additional focus on strong positive social impact.  Through her board membership in the Good Energies Foundation, she also focuses on philanthropic activities to bring energy access to the poor and combat global warming (future poverty prevention) in areas where strictly commercial approaches are not initially feasible.

Immediately prior to joining Good Energies in late 2006, Mrs. Van Leeuwen worked as Senior Advisor to the Argidius Foundation, a COFRA foundation.  She was responsible for overseeing the strategic re-structuring of the foundation and its portfolio of social investment and philanthropic projects in international development, particularly focused on catalyzing microfinance, investment in small and medium sized enterprises (SME), and sustainable employment creation in West Africa, Central America and Eastern Europe.  

As Executive Director of the Trickle Up Program in New York from 2001-2005, Mrs. Van Leeuwen led the strategic development and restructuring of this highly regarded international microenterprise development organization.  She developed and oversaw programs in more than 30 countries in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas and the U.S., working with such donors as USAID and the IFC.

Prior to joining Trickle Up, since 1987 Mrs. Van Leeuwen’s career has focused on varied international economic and social development, post-conflict reconstruction and SME development programs in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, with several international organizations including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She has also been active in local economic and workforce development in the United States particularly in Seattle and New York.

Mrs. Van Leeuwen has published a number of articles on poverty alleviation and gender development, and has undertaken a wide number of speaking engagements on renewable energy for the poor, microenterprise development, women’s economic development and a range of poverty-related issues.  She currently serves on several corporate boards and is also a trustee of the North American Foundation for the University of Durham.

Presentation materials and conference access information will be distributed via direct email following registration.

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