Board of Directors

  • Richard “Dick” Kelly

    Chairman, BrightSource Energy, Inc.

    Richard “Dick” Kelly brings more than four decades of experience in the electricity generation and public utility industry to his role of Chairman at BrightSource Energy. Most recently, Kelly served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Xcel Energy from 2005 until September 2011.  During his tenure at Xcel Energy, Kelly held a number of senior positions, including President, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board and Chief Financial Officer.  Prior to Xcel Energy, Kelly held finance and senior officer positions with Public Service Company of Colorado and New Century Energies. 

    Kelly currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Regis University, Chairman of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Science Museum of Minnesota.  He also serves as a board member of the Capital City Partnership, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and Canadian Pacific Railway.  In the past, Kelly has served as a member of the Minnesota Business Partnership, the National Petroleum Council, Colorado Concern and Colorado Forum and the National Advisory Council of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

    Kelly holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Regis University.  Additionally, he attended the University of Colorado’s Executive Education Conference and The University of Michigan’s Public Utility Executive Program.

  • Arnold J. Goldman

    Chairman Emeritus & Founder, BrightSource Energy, Inc.

    Arnold J. Goldman is the Founder of both BrightSource Energy Inc. and BrightSource Industries (Israel), Ltd. (BSII). He is the Chairman Emeritus of BrightSource Energy Inc. and Chairman of BSII. He holds a B.S. in Engineering from UCLA and a MSEE from the University of Southern California. Mr. Goldman was the founder of Luz International, Ltd. and served as its CEO. Luz International, Ltd. designed, constructed, financed, and operated the world’s nine largest Solar Electric Generating Systems (SEGS) which, at the time, generated 90 percent of the world’s solar electricity. Mr. Goldman also co-founded Electric Fuel Ltd., an electric battery/fuel cell company listed today as Aerotech on the NASDAQ. He was the VP of Engineering and co-founder of Lexitron, the first word processing company in the US. Lexitron was bought by Raytheon in 1977. Mr. Goldman is the recipient of two international awards for his contribution to solar energy development. He holds numerous patents for his inventions and innovations.

  • John M. Woolard

    President and CEO, BrightSource Energy, Inc.

    John Woolard is President and CEO of BrightSource Energy, a developer of utility-scale solar power plants.  In this role, John brings more than two decades of experience in the energy technology sector as an executive, entrepreneur and investor. 

    Prior to joining BrightSource Energy, John co-founded Silicon Energy, one of the first successful clean tech companies, and was President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board from 1997 to 2003.  John joined the executive team at Itron, Inc. in 2003 following its acquisition of Silicon Energy, and was Vice President of Software Solutions and subsequently the Vice President of Strategy and Business Development.  John previously held positions with VantagePoint Venture Partner’s CleanTech Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, and Pacific Gas & Electric Company.

    John is a Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and he currently serves on the advisory boards of the Tuolumne River Preservation Trust and U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business Energy Institute and Lester Center for Entrepreneurship. John is also a member of the Oakland Zoo’s East Bay Zoological Society Board of Trustees.

    John holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley, a Masters in Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia.

  • Nicholas Brathwaite

    Director, BrightSource Energy, Inc.

    Nicholas E. Brathwaite has served as a member of BrightSource’s board of directors since April 2011. Mr. Brathwaite is a partner of Riverwood Capital LLC, a private equity firm he co-founded in January 2008. Mr. Brathwaite served as Chief Executive Officer of Aptina Imaging Corporation, a semiconductor company specializing in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensor technology, from 2008 to 2009, and is currently the Chairman of its board of directors. He was the Chief Technology Officer of Flextronics International Ltd., an electronic manufacturing services company, from 2000 to 2007. In 1995, Flextronics International Ltd. acquired nChip, Inc., a multi-chip module company, where Mr. Brathwaite held the position of Vice President and General Manager of Operations from 1992 to 1996. Mr. Brathwaite currently serves a member of the board of directors of Power Integrations, Inc., a supplier of high-voltage analog integrated circuits for use in AC to DC power conversion and Tessera Technologies, Inc., a technology innovator that invests in, licenses and delivers innovative miniaturization technologies for next-generation electronic devices. He was also a member of the board of directors of Photon Dynamics, Inc., a public company and provider of products and services to flat panel display manufacturers, prior to its acquisition in October 2008. He received a B.S. in Applied Chemistry from McMaster University and a Masters in Polymer Engineering from the University of Waterloo. Mr. Brathwaite has also completed The Wharton School’s Executive Education Training on Corporate Governance at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Brathwaite’s technical background as well as his experience as an independent director of several public companies enable him to provide valuable insight and guidance to our management team and board of directors.

  • Denis Cochet

    Director, BrightSource Energy, Inc.

    Denis Cochet brings more than three decades of experience in the international energy sector to his role at BrightSource. Mr. Cochet is senior vice president of sales and marketing for ALSTOM’s power sector. He began his career at ALSTOM in 1978 after serving two years in the French Navy. During Mr. Cochet’s tenure at ALSTOM, he has held a variety of positions including sales and marketing vice president of ALSTOM Industrial Segment, a €1.5 billion business unit and vice president of sales for ALSTOM’s power sector. Mr. Cochet was educated in France and received a degree in statistics and economics from the national business school, Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique (ENSAE).

  • Stephan Dolezalek

    Director, BrightSource Energy, Inc.

    Stephan has spent more than 25 years in Silicon Valley working exclusively with technology-driven companies. He joined VantagePoint Capital Partners in 1999 and has led the Firm’s CleanTech Group since its inception in 2002. He is an active participant in numerous CleanTech advisory groups, including the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) Leadership Council, the Center for American Progress (CAP) Clean Tech Council, the California Energy Commission Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program Advisory Board, and the University of Texas Energy Management and Innovation Center Advisory Board. At VantagePoint, Stephan previously served as head or co-head of the Firm’s Software and Life Sciences Groups. Prior to joining VantagePoint, Stephan was a senior partner with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison acting as Managing Partner of that Firm’s Palo Alto Office, Head of the Business and Technology Group and Chairman of the Life Sciences Group. He is a graduate of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia (BCP) and the University of Virginia School of Law (JD) and he serves on the board of the University of Virginia School of Architecture Foundation.

  • Jim Eats

    Director, BrightSource Energy, Inc.

    As Division President at Americas for General Electric Wind Energy, Mr. Eats successfully directed a $500 million P&L division, which GE purchased in 2002.  He has vast global experience, including GE Energy Region Executive and General Manager of South Asia, responsible for customer facing activities in 18 countries from Vietnam to New Zealand. Previously, he successfully led GE Power Systems-Korea, one of GE’s largest overseas markets. Mr. Eats has completed formal language training in Mandarin, Japanese, Thai, and Korean. In addition to an energy background in combined cycle and cogeneration applications, he also focuses on environmental and clean technologies, including: large and small wind turbine applications, photovoltaics, solar thermal, combined heat and power, solar electric, micro-turbines and fuel cells, toxin reduction, dynamic power, transmission and distribution, smart metering, and energy management. His education includes a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic, and a B.S. in Engineering from Clarkson University. He is the holder of multiple U.S. patents, and has been named General Electric Energy Young Engineer of the Year.

  • David Fries

    Director, BrightSource Energy, Inc.

    Mr. Fries is a managing partner with VantagePoint Capital Partners. He has more than 35 years of operations, advanced technology, and investment experience and has been a senior-level venture capitalist for more than 20 years. He began his career at General Electric, serving 17 years in numerous executive roles in engineering, manufacturing, senior management, and finance. He directed GE Venture Capital’s California operations, which later became the venture capital firm Canaan Partners and, in his last role, was President of General Electric Ceramics, a wholly owned subsidiary. Mr. Fries is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University B.S. and Case Western Reserve University (Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry).

  • Thomas O’Flynn

    Director, BrightSource Energy, Inc.

    Thomas O’Flynn brings 25 years of energy finance and utility experience to his role at BrightSource Energy. Mr. O’Flynn is a senior advisor to The Blackstone Group, assisting the Private Equity Group’s efforts in the power and utility sector. Mr. O’Flynn has been chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Transmission Developers, Inc. and executive vice president and chief financial officer of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PSEG), where he had responsibility for operating and corporate financial and strategic functions for the diversified energy company. Mr. O’Flynn also spent 15 years at Morgan Stanley primarily leading its Global Power and Utility Group. Mr. O’Flynn has served on the Board of Directors for the Edison Electric Institute and Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University and an MBA degree in Finance from the University of Chicago.