Kathy Fontaine grew up in Texas before moving to California and Washington with her husband and two sons. After her sons were grown, she and her husband lived aboard a sailboat on Lake Union, Seattle, for a year before sailing down the West Coast, through the Panama Canal, and back up through the Caribbean to Texas Her sailboat was equipped with solar panels to recharge the batteries on board. She spent many blissful hours looking at the sun, then the solar panels, scratching her head and uttering AHA! It didn’t take long before she was transformed into an avid renewable energy advocate. In 2001, Kathy participated in SEI’s work/trade program, took seven renewable energy workshops, and was hired as SEI’s Office Manager and Registrar.
