Bigger Than Us #58 Walter L. McLeod, Co-founder and Managing Director with VSF Solar, LLC
Walter L. McLeod has more than 25 years of executive experience in business development, strategy and government relations in the energy and mobility sectors. He has been actively engaged in clean technology deployment and finance for over a decade.
Mr. McLeod is the Founder and Managing Director of Eco Capitol Companies, where he has served as a senior advisor to energy companies, startups, investors, trade associations and think tanks. He was a junior partner candidate with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) Green Tech Partners Investment Team. Walter has been an active thought leader in shaping clean energy and mobility policy in the United States for many years. He was appointed to serve on the original “Utility 2.0” project steering committee commissioned by the United Nations Foundation. Walter was also appointed to the “Value of Solar” stakeholder committee commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly. He has successfully developed or permitted a portfolio of utility scale solar projects with a capacity exceeding 500 megawatts (MW) and valued at more than $750M.
Mr. McLeod is also the Founder of the Global Energy and Innovation Institute, where he created the “Electric Vehicle Roundtable” consortium which produced the 2017 landmark document, “Guiding Principles for Electrified Mobility.” Industry participants included Xcel Energy, Dominion Energy, Deutsche Bank, Daimler, Tesla, Volkswagen, EVgo, ChargePoint, Lyft and Uber – representing a collective market cap exceeding $344B. Walter was also appointed to the Virginia Automated 20xx Strategic Plan autonomous mobility committee by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).
Walter has served on several boards and advisory committees, including the George Mason University Alumni Association, American Council on Renewable Energy, Chemical Angels Network, MIT Energy Prize and SURGE Ventures Accelerator, to name a few.
Mr. McLeod earned an M.S. in chemistry from the College of Science at George Mason University, a Bachelor of Art in chemistry from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and completed the Executive Education Program at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.