OUR ORGANIZATION
Get to know Solar Energy International.
SEI’s Purpose
Our purpose is to empower students, alumni, and partners to expand a diverse, inclusive, well-trained and educated solar workforce and spread the knowledge of how to safely deploy industry-leading technology. Our aim is to mitigate climate change, promote sustainable economic growth, and support energy independence.
SEI’s Values
SEI is a dedicated community of hardworking professionals who believe in a world where all people have equal access to clean energy resources to ensure the safety and health of their communities, natural environments, and the planet. Our Core values are to Educate, Engage and Empower each other and the world through our work, aligning with our mission of a world powered by renewable energy.
Realizing this vision takes committed hearts, and we work every day to ensure that the people and communities we engage are educated and empowered to make a difference. These beliefs create the bedrock for SEI’s actions and programs and our core values guide what we do and how we do it, including a loyalty and commitment to our staff, students, instructors, and collaborators.
Educate
We Educate through reliable and quality educational products and services designed to provide a pathway to a skilled, knowledgeable, and equitable workforce.
We believe that training and building a global renewable energy workforce is essential to our collective futures. SEI is dedicated to continuous innovation in providing reliable, relevant, and quality services that are accessible to all, delivered by experienced industry thought leaders. We strive for a learning environment that puts service to students first and provides a pathway to a skilled, knowledgeable, and equitable workforce.
Engage
We Engage by building a community in all levels of our organization that is rooted in integrity to our mission.
We recognize the power in collective engagement, and knowing that diversity equals success, we endeavor to create a culture of inclusion amongst our community that focuses on taking care of each other and the planet. SEI is grounded in integrity, compassion, professionalism, and excellent service, and we engage with our work, our staff, instructors, students, and our collaborators to develop solutions and curate experiences with wide-ranging impact.
Empower
We Empower all those we work and collaborate with to believe in their potential, have a curiosity to learn and the determination to make a difference in their own lives and in the world.
We strive to empower as a way of life at SEI. We encourage people to apply their education to make a difference in their life and communities by providing resources, fostering connections and creating career opportunities. SEI’s work environment is focused on harmonious and productive teams, encouraging work/life balance, individual responsibility, and spirited fun. We advocate for personal and professional growth and prioritize quality of life.
Board of Directors
Gerald retooled for a career in the clean energy economy by coming to Solar Energy International (SEI). As an alum and AmeriCorps VISTA for SEI’s Solarize program, Gerald became immersed not only in the promise of solar energy technology, but the positive impacts renewable energy can have in forming relationships, improving communities and fostering equity. After gaining installation experience with Namaste Solar’s residential and commercial operations, Gerald transitioned to Commercial & Industrial (C&I) Project Development. Gerald recently joined Pivot Energy, a leading national solar developer, assisting with origination, project analysis, and distributed generation deployment. Gerald lives in Denver and is building a Tiny Home with his partner, an elementary school teacher.
Kathy Swartz
Interim Executive Director, Western Slope Conservation Center; Former SEI Executive Director
Kathy Swartz is thrilled to join the SEI Board of Directors after serving as Executive Director from 2012 through 2021. Originally from Ohio, Kathy moved to Colorado almost 20 years ago and has made Paonia her homebase to pursue her passions of clean energy, locally grown food, and healthy watersheds. After serving for nine years, she left in 2021 for a long sabbatical to dive into food, including working at a local organic farm and starting her own catering company that uses food as a catalyst for connection and play. She currently is the interim Executive Director at the Western Slope Conservation Center, a local nonprofit focused on protecting public lands and watershed stewardship. When not running non-profits or cooking for others, Kathy can be found hiking with her dogs, biking, and savoring a decadently simple life.
Kristan Kirsh is a global marketing executive with ten years in the cleantech and solar sectors running global communications for Nextracker, a solar tracker and software systems provider for utility-scale solar applications. From start-up to global market leader, Kristan is responsible for building the Nextracker brand and developing its various community programs. Kristan also conceived of the company’s installer training program PowerworX, a renowned academy boasting over 1,000 graduates worldwide. Prior to working in the renewable energy sector, she held numerous marketing leadership roles for EdTech non-profits and IT companies such as Cisco Systems. At home crossing borders, Kristan’s first career was in international development where she worked in community health throughout Latin America and the Caribbean with USAID and the World Bank. Her first experience with photovoltaics was on a training program in the Peace Corps where she installed a 36 watt panel on her corrugated zinc roof tied to a car battery in the Dominican Republic. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Kristan holds a B.A. in Economics from U.C. Santa Barbara and two Master’s in Public Health and International Public Policy from the University of Pittsburgh, PA.
Kevin’s love for solar began unknowingly, as he grew up surrounded by those blazing the trail for the future of the solar industry in the heart of Mendocino County, California. As a young adult, that knowledge piqued a curiosity to explore the industry further, and eventually lead to building one of Idaho’s largest and most successful solar installation companies. Recognizing the importance of proper training and safety, Kevin then began Solar Tools USA, which has provided an avenue for solar professionals to obtain specialized tools to install systems more efficiently and safely. Driven by a passion for education and advocacy, Kevin has made significant contributions in state legislation through his work as President of the nonprofit the Idaho Clean Energy Association. As well as by serving on the NABCEP PVIP JTA Exam and Technical Committee and IREC’s Solar Ready Vets Advisory Board. Kevin’s passion for the solar industry has been known to be contagious, and he looks forward to spreading that with his contributions to SEI through insight, encouragement, and advocacy. Kevin’s proudest achievements outside of solar include: serving his country as a USMC VFW, building his 1971 Ford Bronco, his two boys, and marrying his high school sweetheart.
Josh Rogers is the Senior Director of Safety, Workforce Training, and Operations at ACP. In this role, Josh leads the ACP team and committees focused on worker safety, workforce development, and operational excellence that will support the renewables industry growth. He brings over 15 years or operational industry experience.
Cynthia serves as Vice President of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council’s Workforce program, creating strategic initiatives to expand workforce development in clean energy. Cynthia is responsible for building IREC’s workforce strategy, Green Workforce Connect, connecting resources for job-seekers, quality training providers, and employers. Cynthia’s background includes experience and a Ph.D. in higher education, workforce development, adult education, fiscal management, programs for justice-impacted individuals, and research in building social capital for underserved communities. Cynthia is passionate about developing sustainable and equitable career opportunities and pathways for underrepresented populations in the clean energy workforce.
In Jul 2010, Shannon attended 3 weeks of classes at SEI after having been mostly unemployed since Aug 2008. Prior to Aug 2008, he had been employed as a project manager and estimator in the commercial general contracting world for 25-ish years on projects as varied as a gravesite upgrade for Howard Hughes to the preparation of Snowbasin Ski Resort for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Those 3 weeks at SEI changed his life and set him on a career trajectory that culminated with him retiring in Feb 2025 as the Program Manager of Onsite Renewable Energy Design and Construction in North America for Amazon. In retirement, he hopes to contribute to the future of SEI any way he can.
Naveed has worked at Sungrow for over seven years, throughout the company’s expansion in the U.S. utility-scale solar market to become the leading provider of PV inverters and now battery energy storage. Bankability has been a chief concern of his, and BNEF recently named Sungrow the most bankable company of 2024 in both energy storage and power control systems. Naveed has also worked on supply chain resilience, ensuring compliance with U.S. standards for cybersecurity and imports, and reducing overseas dependencies. Today 77% of Sungrow’s equipment is manufactured outside of China, coming from places such as India, Thailand, and South Korea. Before joining Sungrow in 2018, Naveed served as Head of Marketing, Americas at KACO, now Siemens. He has also worked at ReneSola, Canadian Solar, and BRAC.SEI Advisory Board
Jean-Philippe (JP) Denruyter
World Wildlife Federation, Manager, Applied Energy Solutions
Sean Murphy
AES, Sr. Cx Superintendent
Industry Partners
“SEI is to Solar as Harvard is to Law.
-Tony Michael