Learn about the foundation’s board and key leadership.

Alan Simon serves as president and a board member for the NREL Foundation, philanthropically supporting NREL’s mission, modern energy, and advancement of the cleantech ecosystem. Alan is also the CEO of North America Closeshoring, where he leads localization of global businesses and supply chains with an emphasis on industries of the future.

Prior to his current role, Alan spent nearly a decade with private investment firm The Broe Group and its affiliated entities, as a senior executive involved in strategic growth related to logistics, supply chains, cross-border projects, real estate, and energy. Alan has been a partner at law firms Dorsey & Whitney and Greenberg Traurig, where he handled mergers and acquisitions and international corporate transactions.

Barb Goodman is the secretary and a board member for the NREL Foundation. While at NREL, she served as executive director for Institutional Planning, Integration and Development. Prior to that, Barb was the associate laboratory director for Mechanical and Thermal Systems Engineering overseeing NREL’s research on advanced transportation technologies, residential and commercial buildings, concentrating solar power, and wind energy.

Barb also served as the director of the Center for Transportation Technologies and Systems at NREL for 16 years, with responsibility for NREL’s research in advanced vehicles (both light- and heavy-duty) and fuels. Key elements of this research included evaluating advanced battery technologies and power electronics (motors and inverters; measuring emissions; reducing energy requirements associated with heating and cooling vehicles; evaluating effectiveness of advanced fuels in current and future engines; and evaluating air quality impacts.

Barb has published numerous technical papers and presentations in various fields. She also served as the co-editor for the Proceedings of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Symposia on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals and coauthor of a book chapter on “Opportunities for Innovation in Biotechnology,” published by U.S. Department of Commerce.

Doug Campbell is a seasoned entrepreneur who specializes in early stage ventures in the aerospace, defense and energy storage industries.  He has extensive experience in leadership and fundraising for startups including non-dilutive Federal funding, equity-based venture financing and public market offerings.  His passion lies in enabling the next-generation of startup companies and leaders.

Previously, he co-founded Solid Power as a spin-out company from the University of Colorado Boulder developing next-generation batteries for the electric vehicle market.  He led the company through its various stages of development culminating in its listing on NASDAQ in 2021.  In parallel he co-founded Roccor, a component supplier for the small satellite industry. He served as the company’s CEO until the end of 2018 and Board Chairperson until the company’s acquisition in 2020.

Doug was named a 2022 distinguished alumni by the University of New Mexico’s School of Engineering, a 2021 Most Admired CEO by the Denver Business Journal and the 2020 Cleantech Innovator of the Year by the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association.  In 2023, Doug established the Gerald May Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at the University of New Mexico via one of the largest gifts in the School of Engineering’s history.

In addition to his role as a Member of the NREL Foundation’s Board of Directors, Doug is also a Member of the Board of Trustees for the University of New Mexico Foundation and serves as an advisor to numerous startups in the aerospace and energy spaces.

Doug holds a B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of New Mexico.

For more than 25 years, Kristin Gray has helped launch dozens of new technology start-ups and worked with hundreds of companies, multinational corporations, and investors to successfully develop and launch new products, generate new revenue, and spur regional economic development.

Under her leadership as the technology transfer director, NREL brought in more than $300 million in R&D revenue and signed more than 100 technology licensing agreements.

Kristin has been involved throughout her career in a variety of entrepreneurial programs, including serving on the board of advisors for ACTiVATE, an internationally acclaimed program that trains mid-career women to start high-tech businesses.

Prior to joining NREL, Kristin worked at the University of Maryland and helped cofound the first Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab technology transfer office.

Prior to her role at the NREL Foundation, Mary served as the Executive Director of the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association (CCIA), based in Golden, Colorado. In her 11 years at CCIA, she curated community partnerships, assisted startup cleantech companies from seed stage funding to IPO, and created targeted global clean technology scouting initiatives that improve operations for the transportation, oil and gas, aviation, and mining industries.

She served as the Energy and Natural Resources lead for the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade’s Advanced Industries grant program and advocated for the cleantech industry ecosystem in Colorado, nationally, and internationally including workforce issues, investment, and policy.

Previously, Mary was Director of Business Development for Connected Organizations for a Responsible Economy (CORE), a non-profit organization that educated businesses in multiple industries on creating and implementing sustainability practices and served as Membership Director for the Boulder Chamber of Commerce.

Born in East Texas but raised in Colorado, Mary holds a B.A. in Communications and French from the University of Colorado Boulder and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Organizational Management at the University of Notre Dame.

Owen Barwell serves as the Treasurer for the NREL Foundation. Owen is also the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Independence Hydrogen, an early stage company recycling low carbon hydrogen from industrial processes to power mobility of people and things.

Prior to his current role, Owen served as the CFO for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Prior to joining NREL, Owen held senior positions in the US Department of Energy, including Deputy CFO. Owen has three decades of experience as a business executive, management consultant, and professional accountant gained in organizations undergoing significant change. He has helped both public and private sector organizations execute strategic plans, reengineer business processes, and implement major functional business systems. His experience spans the professional services, energy, aerospace, retail real estate, utilities, and rail industries.

A native of Derby in the U.K. Mr. Barwell graduated from Lancaster University with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. He is also an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in the U.K.