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About the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation
The Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI) is an independent, agency-related foundation, established through the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 to assist the Department of Energy in advancing its mission of addressing the nation’s energy and environmental challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.
Through its unique authority and capabilities, FESI can help DOE accelerate the development and commercialization of critical energy technologies, foster public-private partnerships, and provide additional resources to partners and communities across the country supporting solutions-driven research and innovation that strengthens America’s energy and national security goals.
You can learn more about FESI’s statutory mission and congressionally authorized activities here.
Opportunities for Impact
FESI, by design, can go beyond the Department abilities and act nimbly and flexibly at a regional and national scale. For example, FESI could:
- Tackle systemic and widely distributed federal, state, and local deployment challenges such as those faced by local energy offices as they navigate the deployment of clean energy technologies.
- Invest and incubate early-stage start-up companies commercializing DOE-funded and other critical energy technologies.
- Build public-private partnerships to decarbonize sectors that span several federal agencies as well as state and local governments, along with a diverse array of private-sector interests, such as agriculture, construction, or marine transport.
- Support education and training of new researchers in energy technology fields as well as enhance public education and awareness regarding the role and value of DOE-sponsored RDD&D.
- Provide direct assistance to underrepresented groups and regions to facilitate participation in funding opportunities, bringing in new stakeholders and ideas into the DOE family.
- Create a forum for the national laboratories and their associated foundations to network and share knowledge, and respond as a system to cross-cutting national challenges.
This list represents some of the ideas that have surfaced so far. FESI presents an amazing opportunity for the DOE to enhance its engagement with the broader clean energy ecosystem.
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Agency Related Foundations
The notion of an agency related foundation may seem novel but is in fact well established. Independent non-profit foundations are leveraged across federal agencies spanning from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The foundations that support these agencies are doing incredible things to advance their missions.
Agency-related foundations are independent of the federal government and are different from other non-profit foundations due to their congressional authorized relationship with a federal agency. As such, the FESI can, “solicit and accept gifts, grants, and other donations, establish accounts, invest and expend funds” to support activities and programs of the FESI and–unlike any other non-profit foundation–can transfer funds, land, and equipment to the DOE.
Agency-related foundations have demonstrated they can leverage their non-profit status to raise substantial private sector dollars in the pursuit of government agency objectives. One example of this powerful leveraging of funds is the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, where every $1 received in federal funds raises roughly $80 from private sector donors.
FESI is modeled after these successful congressionally mandated agency-related foundations and can complement DOE investments in cutting-edge research helping to bridge gaps across the research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) continuum, also known as commercialization.
FESI Timeline
2020 - Conference Report on the Energy & Water Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2020 directs DOE to provide a report on the value of creating a non-profit foundation to the Committees on Appropriations of both chambers of Congress. DOE contracts with the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) to perform the study.
2021 - NAPA publishes report – “An Innovation Foundation for DOE: Roles & Opportunities”. The report recommends the creation of a DOE foundation that would be complementary and supplementary to DOE, National Labs, and lab associated foundations.
2022 - FESI codified in the CHIPS and Sciences Act of 2022. OTT begins process to establish & institutionalize FESI.
2023 - OTT launch internal search for FESI Board of Directors (BOD). Internal & external stakeholders provide recommendations re FESI activities & opportunities for impact.
2024 -Inaugural BOD selected & appointed. BOD self organizes to further operationalize FESI.
Meet the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI) Board
The Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI)’s inaugural Board of Directors includes distinguished leaders in energy, technology, and related sectors, guiding strategic initiatives and ensuring alignment with FESI’s mission. Key board members include:
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The Honorable Vicky A. Bailey: Founder and CEO, Anderson Stratton Enterprises LLC. Chair of United States Energy Association (USEA). Former Assistant Secretary, Domestic Policy and International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy
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Dr. Noël Bakhtian: Director of Tech Acceleration, Bezos Earth Fund. Former Executive Director of the Energy Storage Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Former senior leadership team at Idaho National Laboratory
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The Honorable Miranda Ballentine: devoted to accelerating clean energy for national security, economic prosperity, and solving climate change. She brings 25-years of experience in retail, defense, energy, utilities, and infrastructure.
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The Honorable Rita Baranwal: Senior Vice President, Westinghouse Electric Company. Former Assistant Secretary, Nuclear Energy in the U.S. Department of Energy
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Mike Boots: Executive Vice President, Breakthrough Energy and Former Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Mike Boots helped establish Breakthrough Energy and serves as the Executive Vice President. In his role he oversees Breakthrough Energy’s global policy and external affairs as well as leads the Washington, D.C. office
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Dr. Mung Chiang: President and Roscoe H. George Distinguished Professor, Purdue University. Former Science and Technology Advisor to U.S. Secretary of State
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Noelle Laing: Chief Investment Officer, Builders Initiative, Builders Vision. Noelle has more than two decades of institutional investing experience, including 14 years managing mission-related and impact investing programs and portfolios.
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The Honorable Kathleen A. McGinty: Vice President and Chief Sustainability and External Relations Officer, Johnson Controls. Former Environmental Advisor & Chair of White House Council on Environmental Quality. Former Secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
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Tomeka McLeod: Vice President Hydrogen, US, bp
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Nancy E. Pfund: Founder and Managing Partner of DBL Partners, a pioneer impact investing venture capital firm driving strong financial returns while promoting social change and environmental improvement
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Stephen Pearse: Managing Director, Yucatán Rock Ventures
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Jason Walsh: Executive Director, BlueGreen Alliance. Former Director of the Office of Strategic Programs in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Former Senior Policy Advisor in the White House Domestic Policy Council
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Rudolph (Rudy) Wynter: President of National Grid NY, one of the largest combined utilities in the northeast. Through his work, Rudy is leading the energy transition, driving innovation and delivering grid resilience while integrating large-scale renewable energy resources into the energy systems of the future.
To learn more about FESI, its history, and other agency-related foundations check out the resources listed below or connect directly with the DOE FESI team at FESI@hq.doe.gov to explore ongoing FESI initiatives and collaborations with DOE.
Congressional Research Service: Agency Related Nonprofit Research Foundations and Corporations
This 2019 report provides an overview of selected agency-related nonprofit research and development organizations. This includes the agency-related foundations and corporations associated with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Mind the Gap: A Design for a New Energy Technology Commercialization Foundation
This paper, published in 2020, outlines the need for an agency-related foundation for the Department of Energy in order to fill gaps in the U.S. energy innovation ecosystem and enable the commercialization of energy technologies.
In 2020, Congress directed DOE to report on the value of a nonprofit foundation. The independent assessment done by NAPA recommended the creation of a DOE-related foundation to complement and supplement the Department, National Laboratories, and lab-associated foundations.
