Steph Speirs
Co-Founder and CEO, Solstice
2021 U.S. C3E Entrepreneurship Award Winner
Steph Speirs is an entrepreneur and community builder with management experience in the Middle East, South Asia, and the United States. She is the Co-Founder and CEO of Solstice, an enterprise dedicated to radically expanding the number of American households that can take advantage of clean energy using community-shared solar farms. Solstice also invented the EnergyScore, a new, proprietary underwriting standard for solar customers that is more accurate in predicting who will pay their utility bill and more inclusive of low-income Americans than FICO credit scores, the industry standard.
Before founding Solstice, Speirs led sales and marketing innovation initiatives in India at d.light, a solar products company providing renewable energy to areas without reliable electricity; spearheaded venture capital firm Acumen's renewable energy impact investment strategy in Pakistan in 2013; developed Middle East policy as the youngest policy director at the White House National Security Council from 2010 to 2012; served as a special assistant to the Office of the Secretary in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2009; and managed field operations in seven states for the first Obama presidential campaign in 2007-2008.
Speirs was selected as an Elle’s US Women Entrepreneur of the Year, Inc Magazine’s Female Founder 100, Echoing Green Climate Fellow, a Kia Revisionary, a Renewable Energy World 40 Under 40 in Solar, a Grist 50 Fixer, a P.D. Soros Fellowship for New Americans, a Gerson Lehrman Group Social Impact Fellow, and an Acumen Global Fellow.
Speirs holds a BA in History and International Studies from Yale, a Master’s in Public Affairs (MPA) with distinction from Princeton, and an MBA from MIT with a Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
+ Learn More About Steph Speirs's Clean Energy Journey
Widening Clean Energy Access
Steph Speirs was inspired to become an entrepreneur by watching her immigrant mother struggle as a single, working parent of three. She learned the value of hard work early and developed a keen interest in social change. Her academic and volunteer achievements landed her in her “dream job” with the White House National Security Council. While visiting the Middle East in that capacity, she was struck by the energy poverty plaguing poor families in that oil-rich region. Speirs then made a conscious pivot to delve into renewable energy solutions for ordinary people. Her subsequent work on renewables in India and Pakistan made her realize that many Americans have even fewer clean energy options. That’s when she co-founded Solstice with Sandhya Murali, Solstice’s COO.
“At Solstice, we work to radically expand the number of American households that can take advantage of clean energy using community-shared solar farms. We focus on traditionally under-resourced communities that often endure high levels of pollution and asthma and must spend a high share of their income on energy. These struggling families must not be deprived of access to cleaner, more affordable solar power.”
Solstice is removing financial and language barriers to solar for renters, low-credit households, and other Americans who have been left out of the clean energy transition. Innovative strategies include providing enrollment forms and information in multiple languages, negotiating shorter contract lengths, eliminating cancellation fees, and lowering financing hurdles. Solstice pioneered use of a proprietary new underwriting standard known as EnergyScore, which has been shown to be more accurate in predicting who will pay their utility bills on-time and more inclusive of low-income households than FICO scores. Ultimately, this work is removing barriers to historically excluded Americans who wish to become solar customers.
Solstice helps U.S. communities that are among the hardest hit by air pollution, climate change, and energy costs gain access to the health and economic benefits of solar energy. Increased inclusivity promotes wider adoption of clean energy, which further encourages more Americans to choose renewables—saving money and the planet at the same time. Solstice is now using this open, scalable path to solar access in New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Illinois. Plans call for expansion into additional states including New Jersey and Maine in 2022.
Speirs originally hails from Hawaii and is the recipient of numerous awards, fellowships, and other forms of recognition for her commitment to clean energy, social justice, and innovative entrepreneurship.