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Billy Parish

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Billy Parish
Billy Parish
Born
Billy Parish

(1981-09-11) September 11, 1981 (age 43)
Alma materYale University, The Mountain School
Occupations
  • Co-founder & Executive Chairman of Mosaic
  • author
  • activist
Years active2003 - present
SpouseMarried

Billy Parish (born September 11, 1981) is an American environmental entrepreneur, author, and activist. He is the co-founder and executive chair of Mosaic Inc., a leading financing platform for U.S. residential solar and sustainable home improvements.[1]

Early life

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Parish grew up in Manhattan, New York City. His father, a lawyer, specialized in finance for electronic utilities. His mother, also a lawyer, met his father while working on a securitization deal.[2] He spent a semester of high school at The Mountain School in Vermont, where he was turned on to working for the environment.[3] In July 2005 he led a three-day fast in front of the White House to draw attention to the 150,000 deaths caused each year by climate change.[4] He designed his own major in sustainable economic developments at Yale University.[2] However, in 2002, he left Yale University and went on to found the Energy Action Coalition, renamed the Power Shift Network.[5] The Coalition became the largest youth-led clean energy advocacy network in the world, bringing together 50 environmental and social justice groups and over 340,000 members.[6] The coalition raised nearly $10 million in four years and helped more than 600 colleges make commitments to climate neutrality.[6]

In March 2009, the Energy Action Coalition organized Power Shift '09, which brought over 12,000 young people to Washington D.C., for the largest climate-focused training, lobby day and non-violent civil disobedience action in U.S. history. 1Sky states Parish is on the Board of Directors.[5] He is also co-chair of SolarAPP+ and board member and former board chair at The Solutions Project.[7][8]

Career

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Parish played a leading role in creating the Clean Energy Corps proposal to create 5 million new green jobs in the U.S.,[6] which was incorporated into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009. He also helped to expand the AmeriCorps public service program to include a new “Clean Energy Service Corps”.[9] With the idea that crowdfunding could affect a shift to green energy, Parish co-founded Mosaic. At that time, the company allowed individuals to micro invest in community-scale solar projects.[10] In 2014, Parish shifted the company’s focus from crowdfunding to financing for residential solar projects, and in 2018, expanded to sustainable home improvements.[11]

Personal life

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Billy lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and two daughters.

Awards and honors

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Writing

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Parish has written over 50 articles for publications Inc., The Atlantic, HuffPost, and Grist.

  • Making Good: Finding Meaning, Money & Community in a Changing World (ISBN 978-1605290782)

References

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  1. ^ Litvak, Nicole. "U.S. Residential Solar Financing 2016-2021". Greentech Media. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Cardwell, Diane (September 2, 2013). "A Bet on the Environment". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  3. ^ "Sprig.com Interview". Archived from the original on January 5, 2009.
  4. ^ Rolling Stone, November 3, 2005
  5. ^ a b "Board of directors". 1sky.org. Archived from the original on April 11, 2009.
  6. ^ a b c Kamenetz, Anya. "Climate Change Power Shift". The Nation.
  7. ^ "Billy Parish, President of Mosaic". The OGM. September 19, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  8. ^ "Watt It Takes: The Origin Story of Mosaic With Billy Parish". Green Tech Media. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  9. ^ Ross, Alice (November 9, 2020). "Green entrepreneurs look to make money and a difference". Financial Times. Archived from the original on February 12, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  10. ^ "The Fossil Fuel Resistance: Meet the New Green Heroes". Rolling Stone. April 11, 2013. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  11. ^ "Mosaic, Freedom Forever Partner on Residential Solar Financing". Solar Industry magazine. February 18, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  12. ^ Vision Award | Center for Social Entrepreneurship. Middlebury.edu (2015-08-13). Retrieved on 2015-08-13.
  13. ^ Cohan, Ellen (March 3, 2015). "Billy Parish". Climate One. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  14. ^ "New Leaders Initiative 2004 Award Winners" Archived July 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Earth Island Institute. Retrieved 29 December 2010.