The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will host its 11th annual Cleantech Summit on March 24-25 at the UNC Friday Conference Center. This two-day event brings together professionals from business, government, and academia to discuss and promote growth in the Southeast’s cleantech economy.
The summit is co-hosted by the UNC Institute for the Environment and the Ackerman Center for Excellence in Sustainability at the Kenan-Flagler Business School. It is recognized as the largest university-led event of its kind in the United States, attracting nearly 1,500 attendees annually.
“What makes this Summit different from previous Summits is the increased amount of global content,” said Greg Gangi, associate director for clean technology and innovation at the UNC Institute for the Environment. “The event has been evolving to be more global in nature during the past few years and I think this year we really have made a leap in this direction. By increasing international participation, we also have the opportunity to highlight all the wonderful things going on in this region, to the rest of the world.”
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Keynote speakers for the 2025 summit include Anthony Allard, Managing Director of Hitachi Energy’s United States Region; Ahmad Chatila, Managing Partner at Fenice Investing Group; and Eugene Flood, Jr., Ph.D., Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Flood Mason Holdings.
Other speakers include:
● Mary Margaret Frank: Dean and Professor of Accounting, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School
● Doug Friedman: CEO, BioMADE
● Rose Hall: Consultant, RH Business Ventures
● Kelvin Henderson: Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer, Duke Energy
● Alex Hsu: President, Fortune Electric America
● Michael Luciani: Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Juniper
● Mark Mitchell: Senior Vice President–Project Construction, Dominion Energy
● Valerie Smith: Chief Sustainability Officer, Managing Director, Citi. Ray Spitzley: Vice Chairman, Global Power and Utility Group and Co-Head, Energy Transition, Morgan Stanley
● Edward Stewart: West Zone Energy Transition Growth Leader, Marsh
The event will feature networking opportunities, workshops, and mentoring sessions designed to foster leadership in the cleantech sector.
One of the highlights of the summit is the “Accelerate Cleantech: A Global Matchmaking Event and Business Gateway” on day two of the conference. It is a private, invite-only event designed for connecting investors and company venture scouts with clean-tech ventures seeking capital and/or partnerships to facilitate growth. It also serves to introduce ventures from around the world to the opportunities to locate facilities and offices here to facilitate growth and market penetration.
The summit also aims to award outstanding contributions in cleantech innovation, leadership, and sustainability through its program “Cleantech Awards” in categories like Cleantech Pioneer, Cleantech Entrepreneur, Cleantech Rockstar (< 35 years old), and Cleantech Faculty Innovation Award. The winners will be presented with their awards on March 24 at the summit luncheon.