---
title: Donnel Baird | Black History Month Energy Spotlight
description: In honor of Black History Month, we’re highlighting Donnel Baird, CEO & founder of BlocPower, and his contributions to an equitable clean energy transformation.
image: https://info.fluenceenergy.com/hubfs/Donnel-Baird-Quotes.png
---
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#### Black History Month
# Energy Spotlight: Donnel Baird
*In honor of Black History Month, we’re sharing a series of posts highlighting the significant contributions of the Black community in shaping and driving the energy industry, as well as important initiatives to advance equal access to clean, affordable energy.*
## Donnel Baird, CEO and founder of BlocPower
This week, we’d like to highlight the work of Donnel Baird, the CEO and founder of [BlocPower](https://www.blocpower.io/), and his contributions to an equitable clean energy transformation.
Based in Brooklyn, New York, BlocPower is an energy technology startup committed to greening American cities with solar and energy efficiency technology while simultaneously providing good jobs for vulnerable populations.
BlocPower’s business model is twofold: first, building owners hire the company to green their buildings by providing energy-saving upgrades, which reduces the buildings’ operating costs. (The company has helped [customers in cities around the U.S. save 20-40% on their energy bills](https://www.blocpower.io/#about-blocpower) each year.) Separately, city governments with greenhouse gas reduction and renewable energy goals, as well as utilities that must manage electric infrastructure and energy demand, pay BlocPower for completed projects that support their goals and reduce peak demand.
Although Donnel has secured backing from world-class investors such as Kapor Capital, one of Uber’s first investors, Andreessen Horowitz, the former Chairman of Google, and the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, his initial capital-raising efforts demonstrate the challenges Black entrepreneurs face. You can hear him discuss that experience, BlocPower’s mission, and how his own encounters with pollution and energy poverty inspired him to focus on transforming the energy landscape in underserved communities on this excellent episode of the [Watt It Takes podcast](https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/watt-it-takes-blocpower-ceo-donnel-baird-wants-to-electrify-buildings-for-everyone).
### Accomplishments and Contributions
Donnel’s numerous accomplishments include:
- Working for three years as a community organizer in Brooklyn and one year as a voter contact director for Obama For America.
- Managing a national [Change to Win](http://www.changetowin.org/)/[LIUNA](https://www.liuna.org/)campaign to leverage Dept. of Energy energy efficiency financing to create green construction jobs for out-of-work populations.
- Partnering with the [Washington Interfaith Network](https://www.windc-iaf.org/) to generate a $100m government investment in underserved communities in the District of Columbia.
- This recent TechCrunch article, "[Bringing jobs and health benefits, BlocPower unlocks energy efficiency retrofits for low-income communities](https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/22/bringing-jobs-and-health-benefits-blocpower-unlocks-energy-efficiency-retrofits-for-low-income-communities/)," does a great job of explaining exactly how BlocPower works and why its model is so innovative and potentially game-changing, as well as significant company milestones.
Donnel holds an undergraduate degree from Duke University, and an MBA from Columbia University.
## The Energy Spotlight Series in Honor of Black History Month
- Post 1: [Lewis Howard Latimer (1848-1928)](https://info.fluenceenergy.com/lewis-howard-latimer-black-history-month-energy-spotlight?hsLang=en)
- Post 2: Donnel Baird & BlocPower
- Post 3: [Ugwem Eneyo & SHYFT Power Solutions](https://info.fluenceenergy.com/ugwem-eneyo-shyft-power-solutions-black-history-month?hsLang=en)
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