RFF Announces Two New Board Members

WASHINGTON—Resources for the Future (RFF) today announced that two new members have joined its Board of Directors: Kyung-Ah Park, Managing Director and head of environmental markets at Goldman Sachs; and Jonathan Silver, Managing Partner of Tax Equity Advisors, an advisory firm that manages solar investments for Fortune 500 companies.

Richard Newell, RFF President, noted: “It is a pleasure to welcome these two remarkably accomplished people. They complement our Board by providing a hands-on understanding critical to addressing the great energy and environmental challenges of our day through market-based and financial instruments.”

In addition to driving the global environmental initiatives of Goldman Sachs, which includes a $150 billion clean energy financing and investment target as well as a 100 percent renewables goal to meet its global electricity needs, Kyung-Ah Park also leads their Center for Environmental Markets, which partners with businesses, NGOs, and universities to inform ways to scale environmental market solutions. She has been with Goldman Sachs almost two decades previously in the Investment Banking Division in New York and Asia. Before joining Goldman-Sachs, Park was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, where she worked in Seoul and Johannesburg. She and her family live in Manhattan.

Park said, “RFF is uniquely positioned to influence the critical energy and environmental issues of our day. As a long-time follower of RFF’s work, I appreciate the rigor of their economic analysis and nonpartisan credibility in informing policy. I look forward to contributing to this venerable institution.”

Before launching Tax Equity Advisors, Jonathan Silver served in the Obama administration, leading the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) $40B investment program in alternative energy, which made major investments in large-scale solar, wind, geothermal, biofuels, and nuclear power projects. He also co-founded venture capital firm Core Capital Partners, was Chief Operating Officer of hedge fund Tiger Management and has served as a policy advisor to four US Cabinet Secretaries—Energy, Commerce, Interior, and Treasury. He, too, began his career at McKinsey and Company. He and his family live in Washington, DC.

Silver said, “The environmental choices we make today will determine the quality of life our children enjoy tomorrow. Those decisions need to be based on the best scientific and economic analysis we have. RFF is one of the most important voices in this discussion and its work is critical to good and accurate decisionmaking. I am honored to become part of this important institution.”

Richard Schmalensee, Chair of RFF’s Board and Dean Emeritus of the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said: “Kyung-Ah Park and Jonathan Silver are two effective and thoughtful people with deep experience in areas in which RFF works. They will help RFF become even more effective, and we are proud to have them join our Board.”