I am delighted to announce that Roland Hwang will join the Heising-Simons Foundation as the new director of our Climate and Clean Energy program.

Roland comes to us from our grantee partner the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which he joined in 2000, and where he most recently served as the managing director of its Climate and Clean Energy Program. His portfolio covered advancing clean energy in four key sectors including power, buildings, transportation, and industrial, at both the state and federal levels.

Roland is an expert on clean vehicle and fuels technologies and policies, and brings to the Heising-Simons Foundation a deep expertise in transportation, energy demand forecasting, and air pollution regulation. He believes that the next decade is critical to put the U.S. and the world on the path to a carbon-free economy and that the climate movement must work to better integrate equity into its solutions. He joins our talented Climate and Clean Energy team of Laura Wisland, Mitchell Lee, and Savannah Whaley.

Prior to his time at NRDC, Roland spent seven years at the Union of Concerned Scientists where he directed its Transportation Program. He currently serves on the U.C. Davis Institute of Transportation Board of Advisors, the Pacific Gas & Electric Sustainability Advisory Board, and the 50×50 Transportation Initiative Commission.

Roland’s first day at the Foundation will be December 13, 2021. He looks forward to connecting and working with our many grantee partners. We are very pleased to have him join us at the Heising-Simons Foundation.