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
Paul presently works as a Senior Program Manager at CLEAResult. CLEAResult’s comprehensive set of energy programs and demand-side management strategies deliver solutions that lower load requirements for utilities, reduce energy bills for end users, and minimize environmental burdens on communities. Paul has a diversified background in marketing and delivering energy efficiency and renewable energy products and services at the utility, manufacturer, distributor, dealer and consumer level. He helped write a solar thermal bill that Senator Gail Schwartz will introduce in 2013. He has spearheaded similar efforts in Maryland and New Hampshire. He also serves on the Montrose Economic Development Council.
Cathryn has over 30 years of tax, financial, legal, educational, consulting, and management experience with both national and international firms and law schools. Cathryn began her career in accounting in the oil and gas industry in Denver. After gaining years of increasingly responsible accounting experience and teaching a college course in oil and gas accounting, she joined a Denver financial consulting firm where she quickly ascended to Vice President in charge of financial planning.. She co-chaired a joint venture with a top-ten bank and developed a business plan for implementation of the financial planning systems in their Dallas headquarters with roll-out to all their branches. After law school) Cathryn was, inter alia, managing attorney for an international Fortune 500 company’s Denver office where she consulted with local and national law firms on professional and organizational development projects.
Kathy Swartz
Interim Executive Director, Western Slope Conservation Center; Former SEI Executive Director
Zach is a mechanical and civil engineer based in Paonia, Colorado. He currently works with Gates Carbon Drive on electric bikes and light electric vehicles to produce a silent drive train that lasts 10 times longer than conventional systems. Zach previously worked with Bosch in Germany to create the most respected electric bike system sold globally that has now displaced over 27 billion automotive road miles and counting. He lives and works inside a net-zero passive house structure he constructed with pumice crete, living roof, rainwater catchment/grey water, PV, Solar thermal, and biomass backup heating.
As an educator, a certified industrial trainer, and a building professional, Johnny has more than 40 years experience in the real-world applications of renewable energy technologies. Johnny Co-Founded Solar Energy International in 1991. He was the Executive Director and led SEI for over 20 years, helping establish SEI as a leader in solar education. Johnny has consulted and collaborated with teams and NGOs worldwide, and with Native American tribes. He brings supportive, environmental and ecological ethics and understanding to team efforts. With decades of experience designing and building solar systems, Johnny is particularly interested in solar electricity-generating projects (photovoltaic/PV) that are sustainable, green, international, and socially worthwhile. Currently, he is focused on helping to develop Solar Training Centers in Tanzania and on Native American reservations
SEI Advisory Board
Jean-Philippe (JP) Denruyter
World Wildlife Federation, Manager, Applied Energy Solutions
Sean Murphy
AES, Sr. Cx Superintendent
Industry Partners
“Great presentations, books, and magazines provided. University grade material.”
-Colin McCaulley