Our People

Sungevity's executive leadership team and Board of Directors is dedicated to bringing easy and affordable solar electricity to mainstream America and beyond.

Executive Leadership

Andrew Birch co-founded Sungevity and is our solar-loving CEO.  Andrew has a Master's Degree in Photovoltaics and has been involved in the solar industry for several years. Prior to starting Sungevity, Andrew was the Business Development Manager at BP Solar.

Danny Kennedy co-founded Sungevity and is the President of the company. A long-time social entrepreneur, Danny has achieved global recognition as an environmental activist, spokesperson, and opinion leader. Most recently, Danny was the Campaigns Manager for Greenpeace Australia Pacific. In 2001, he ran Greenpeace’s California Clean Energy Campaign, the success of which helped lead to the current California Solar Initiative. Danny was the founder and first Executive Director of Project Underground and serves on several nonprofit boards.

Charles Ferer is our Chief Financial Officer. Most recently Charles served as CFO for SolarCity, the US’s largest solar installer, where he helped raise over $60M in tax equity and launch a successful solar leasing program. He has more than 20 years of experience for companies including Gap and PepsiCo. Ferer has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Puget Sound, and an MBA in Finance from Indiana University.

Daphne Li is our Chief Operations Officer. Daphne has held key leadership positions in marketing, product management, strategy and M&A at ADP and Apple. As Chief Strategy Officer and VP, Marketing for DoveBid, she helped start up business online auctions and grew revenue from $12M to $150M. She currently sits on KQED’s board. Daphne has a B.A. in Economics and an MBA, both from Stanford.

Alec Guettel is our Senior Vice President of Corporate Development. Prior to joining Sungevity, Alec was the co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of Axiom Law, one of the nation’s fastest growing private companies. Alec has worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, McKinsey & Company, and he was a member of the Clinton-Gore transition team in 1993. Alec graduated from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Nicholas Mack is our General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Prior to joining Sungevity, Nick was General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for REC Solar, as well as its corporate affiliates, Mainstream Energy and AEE Solar. Before joining REC, AEE and Mainstream in June 2008, Nick was Deputy General Counsel at Yodlee. Prior to this, Nick spent five years as Senior Counsel and Assistant General Counsel in the Products Law Group at Sun Microsystems. Nick is a member of the State Bar of California and the Association of Corporate Counsel. Nick received his J.D. degree from University of California, Hastings College of Law and a B.A. with Honors in American Government from Georgetown.

Ariel Tseitlin is our Vice President of Technology and Product Development. He was most recently the Founder & CEO of CTOWorks, a software consultancy advising early-stage start-ups on their technology strategy. Prior to CTOWorks, Ariel was the VP of Engineering at Playboox, a SaaS CRM start-up. Ariel has also held senior management positions at Oracle and Siebel Systems. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from UC Berkeley and an MBA with Honors from Wharton.

JP Ross is our Vice President of Strategic Relations. He received his Master’s Degree in Renewable Energy in 2000. JP has since spent the last eight years advocating for solar market development at the state and federal level with Greenpeace and Vote Solar. Active in the development of the California Solar Initiative, JP was Program Director of Vote Solar from 2004-2007. JP also Chairs the Solar Energy Society Policy Committee and is an active participant in the Solar Circle.

Martha Belcher is our Vice President of Customer Care and has been a member of Sungevity's senior team since its inception. Prior to Sungevity, she worked as a management consultant on operations for businesses such as Odwalla, EcoTimber, and the David Brower Center. She was formerly the VP of the Social Network Venture – a national network of business, investment and social enterprise leaders. As Sungevity's first customer, Martha and her family have been enjoying clean green energy for over two years.

A. George (Skip) Battle is a Director of Advent Software, Expedia, Netflix, and OpenTable, and is the Chairman of the Board of FICO. He spent 27 years with Anderson Consulting (now Accenture), where he retired as Worldwide Managing Partner - Market Development. From 2000 to 2005, he was CEO and then Executive Chairman of Ask Jeeves, retiring when the company was sold to IAC. He holds a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College, an MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, and is a Senior Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Charlie Finnie is the Managing Partner of Greener Capital, a venture capital firm specializing in clean technology solutions. Greener Capital's current portfolio includes investments in solar, clean transportation, next-generation biofuels, carbon sequestration, waste-heat-to-energy, utility-scale energy storage, and green building construction. Prior to founding Greener Capital, he was a General Partner at Crosslink Capital, a venture capital firm. Before that he was a Research Analyst at technology-focused investment banks Volpe Welty & Co. and Alex. Brown & Sons. In 1985 he worked as an analyst at the Solar Energy Industry Association in Washington D.C., but later realized he was twenty years too early.