Board Of Directors
Joe Kselman
Joe founded SVP in 2013, along with his wife Cristeen, after visiting an off-grid untouchable caste village in Bihar, India. What started with providing solar power for a small village school turned into today’s Solar Village Project. Joe is a big believer in solar power being a “leapfrog technology” to bring sustainable and reliable access to electricity to the over 2 billion people living in energy poverty. And that when we fight energy poverty, we also fight climate change.
Jerry Hartz
Jerry is the Director of Government Relations and Communications for the for National Democratic Institute (NDI). Hartz brings a wealth of knowledge of legislative policy, procedure and communications experience to the Institute. Before joining NDI, Hartz served as a top Leadership aide in the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly 29 years, most recently as Senior Adviser and Director of Legislative Floor Operations for Speaker Nancy Pelosi. During his tenure, Hartz was responsible for overseeing the movement of major legislation through the floor of the House, including policy, procedure, and tactics, as well as coordination with the Senate and the White House. Prior to this position, Hartz served as Director of Policy and Whip Operations for the Office of the Democratic Whip, headed by former Representative David Bonior. In addition, he served as an Associate Staff to the House Rules Committee where he developed an expertise in parliamentary procedure. Hartz began his career working on nuclear arms control and foreign policy in 1981. He also developed an expertise in Central American politics and policy during the 1980s.
Ruth McElroy Amundsen
Ruth has a BS in Physics from Stanford, and Dual Engineering Master’s from University of Michigan. She’s a thermal engineer at NASA Langley. She’s an in-demand speaker at local, state, and national conferences on solar energy; a member of the Hampton Roads solar community and shareholder-activist for Dominion Resources; and works with Hampton Roads Solar Home Tour. Ruth led a parent group to put $1M of solar on local schools. And started Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund to install no-cost solar on businesses and nonprofits in low-income neighborhoods. Her home features a green roof with solar panels for both electricity and hot water, a rainwater cistern, a permeable driveway, and an electric car.
Laurent Aguilar
Laurent has been working in impact investment since 2016, following a Master’s in Finance from HEC Lausanne. He is senior associate in the private equity team of responsibility, a Swiss impact asset manager that looks after $3.5B. His initial focus was on microfinance – which links to our microfinance project - and MSME (Micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises) banks in the former Soviet Union and Latin America. Since 2019, he is responsibility's shareholder representative at Banco Sol, the leading microfinance institution in Bolivia. In 2020, he moved to Bangkok to intensify development efforts in Asia. Laurent undertook a volunteer project to put together our business plan. Then, he joined our Board.
Jack Hawkins
Jack Hawkins is a committed international development professional and nonprofit leader with experience in both the public and private sectors. As a senior official with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Hawkins directed a White House initiative that expanded international volunteer service by skilled American professionals, served as the US government’s representative on the board of a global investment fund backed by official donors and philanthropies, and created innovative public-private partnerships in financial services, information and communications technology, and healthcare. In the private sector, Hawkins has held senior positions in nonprofit management, information andcommunications technology, management consulting, and banking. He has also served on the boards and advisory councils of national and global nonprofit organizations. Hawkins holds a BA in political science from the University of Pittsburgh and received a master's degreein international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA).
Thomas Kselman
Thomas Kselman is Professor Emeritus at University of Notre Dame, where he taught from 1979 to 2018. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1978, and is published widely in French history, his most recent publication being Conscience and Conversion: Religious Liberty in Post-Revolutionary France (Yale University Press, 2018). He has received major research grants from National Endowment for the Humanities and Guggenheim Foundation; and was President of American Catholic Historical Association in 2005.
Sumeet Ralwa
An activist at heart, be it conservation, sustainability or inequity across society, Sumeet Rawla is focused on actions that bring measurable impact within a finite time-span. She leads Philanthropic Initiatives at Community Pure Water Foundation, bringing to this role her extensive experience with Global 2000 multi-nationals, technology startups and not-for-profit ventures. During her two decades at Tata Consultancy Services in USA and India, she led new business development for a portfolio of high-value business-critical systems. As Vice President, Strategic Alliances with the global humanitarian aid supply chain organization Aidmatrix (now TechBridge), she developed a donor network of leading technology corporations and forged alliances with World Food Program and USAID. A social entrepreneur in her early career, Sumeet established manufacturing units in paper products and garments, employing women from disadvantaged communities. Sumeet is a member of the board of Video Volunteers. She served on the board of SKS Foundation at its inception; and on various committees at the Women’s Fund of New Jersey.
Richard Shusman
Rich has 18 years’ of professional experience in sales, fundraising, and investments. He is a Managing Director at Manulife Investment Management, a global Investment firm that manages portfolios for endowments, foundations, family offices, pensions, insurance companies, and high net worth individuals. Rich specializes in private equity and private credit for US investors. Previously, Rich worked for Capital Dynamics', a leader in clean energy infrastructure with a focus on utility scale solar and wind projects across the US, Europe, and Asia. Rich went to Penn State University, is a CFA and CAIA Charterholder, and currently lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife and two children.
gene lengdorfer
Experienced Mechanical Engineer utilizing software with hard technology showing a demonstrated history of working in the consumer goods industry. Proven results in utilizing engineering and software development together. Focusing on controls, deep learning, and data science. Strong engineering professional with a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Mechanical Engineering from University of Nevada-Reno.
