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Kendall Foundation Selects Rob Pratt to Head Climate Change Initiative

Posted on: Monday, 13 February 2006, 15:00 CST

BOSTON, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Henry P. Kendall Foundation announced today that Robert L. Pratt, well known renewable energy entrepreneur, will be joining the Foundation as Senior Vice President to head up a climate change initiative. Mr. Pratt, who was Director of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's (MTC's) Renewable Energy Trust over the past three years, brings to his new role 30 years of experience in renewable energy and energy efficiency in the private sector, in state and federal government, and in various non-profit organizations.

The Henry P. Kendall Foundation was established in 1957, and since the early 1970s it has emphasized environmental concerns, supporting land, water and wildlife conservation. With climate change becoming the most profound challenge facing us today, the Foundation has decided to sponsor a New England climate initiative to encourage the adoption of best practices -- across all sectors -- to demonstrate that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is technically feasible, economically beneficial, politically supportable and replicable in other regions.

"We are very pleased to have Rob Pratt bring his considerable talents, experience and leadership to the Foundation's climate change program," said Ted Smith, Executive Director of the Kendall Foundation. "He believes, as we do, that we all must work together to find effective solutions. Towards that end, Rob and the Kendall Foundation look forward to working with existing non- profit organizations, the private sector, foundations, state legislatures and government agencies, universities and other key players in implementing regional policies and programs that are effective in addressing climate change."

"I am excited about working with the Kendall Foundation on this agenda," Pratt declared, "because I believe that climate change is shaping up as the environmental issue of the century. Renewable energy and energy efficiency are significant solutions to the problem of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere at ever greater levels. At the same time, the overall way we use energy in our workplaces, in our transportation and personal lives, is increasingly critical to the change in our climate. Consequently, we are embarking upon an action oriented, New England initiative in which results, not studies, will be our goal."

Rob Pratt has a demonstrated ability to build consensus on difficult issues and a track record of success in building and leading energy organizations. Under his leadership at the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, MTC's programs were recognized throughout the country as highly innovative in renewable energy finance, green buildings and green schools, industry support, green affordable housing and community wind. As founder and CEO of Energia Global International (now Enel Latin America) in the 1990s, he built one of the major renewable energy companies in Latin America, with hydroelectric, wind and energy facilities in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Chile and El Salvador.

Mr. Pratt serves as the Chairman of the Board of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), a Washington-based non-profit organization whose members include companies and organizations in wind, biomass, hydro, solar, geothermal and other renewable technologies. He continues to serve on the Board of the International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC), the organization which he founded in 1984. The IIEC promotes energy efficiency programs and policies in developing countries, with offices in Brazil, India, the Philippines, South Africa and Thailand. In addition, Mr. Pratt is on the Board of the Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA), the organization of 17 state funds from around the country which promote renewable energy. He received an MPA degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, a JD degree from Georgetown University Law Center and a BA degree from Wesleyan University.

First Call Analyst: FCMN Contact:

Henry P. Kendall Foundation

CONTACT: Ted Smith of Henry P. Kendall Foundation, +1-617-951-2525

Web site: http://www.kendall.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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