Leadership

Chief Executive Officer

Josh Kunkel

Josh joined New Energy Equity in 2020 and was elevated to the role of Chief Executive Officer in 2025. Josh is a leader in distributed energy generation with over 15 years in the energy industry and over a decade in the renewable energy space. During his time at New Energy Equity, the company has grown to develop over 600 MWs of operating assets across 16 states. Josh also oversees New Energy Equity’s O&M subsidiary, Energy Support Services, as well as Versiris Energy, New Energy Equity’s commercial solar subsidiary.

Having worked on deals ranging from $100k to $1B, including both local community solar to large operating portfolios, Josh has a successful track record of getting projects financed and built. Prior to New Energy Equity, Josh held management positions with two different solar developers responsible for M&A, Business Development, and Finance. Josh has a degree in Chemical Physics from Hamilton College and an MBA from Cornell University.

Senior Vice President, People, Safety and Compliance, Energy Support Services

Lindsey Gillis

Lindsey Gillis joined the New Energy Equity team in 2014 and moved into her current role at Energy Support Services in 2026. As Senior Vice President of People, Safety, and Compliance, Lindsey leads ESS's safety and compliance programs and oversees process and systems administration across the organization. She also ensures that ESS recruits and trains the best talent to operate the company's growing portfolio of solar projects safely and effectively. In her previous role as Chief Administrative Officer of New Energy Equity, Lindsey oversaw Human Resources, including recruiting, staffing resource allocation, and professional development, as well as led New Energy's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. In her previous role as Vice President of Operations, Lindsey provided the project and operations oversight to ensure that the appropriate resources were engaged at every phase of a project including initial due diligence, planning, and project implementation.

President

Jackie Chambers

Jackie Chambers became President of New Energy Equity in 2026 after joining the company as Chief Investment Officer in 2024. Having spent over fifteen years in the solar industry, she brings a wealth of experience and valuable perspective to the team. In her role as President, Jackie oversees project development and continues to be responsible for shaping the long-term project finance and monetization strategy for New Energy Equity's pipeline of projects. Jackie previously spent time at PNC Energy Capital, providing tax equity financing solutions across nearly all solar industry segments, including behind-the-meter roof-mounts, utility-scale, and community solar, via sale-leasebacks and partnership flips. While there, she participated in the financing of over $500MM of renewable assets. As Vice President of Channel Origination at Nexamp, Jackie led the successful closing of over 300MWdc of community solar projects from a diverse set of sellers.

Chief Operating Officer

Elizabeth Driscoll

Elizabeth Driscoll joined New Energy Equity as Chief Operating Officer in 2026, bringing more than 20 years of leadership experience in renewable energy, construction, engineering, and infrastructure development. As COO, Elizabeth oversees the company's engineering, construction, and operations functions, ensuring the successful execution and long-term performance of New Energy Equity's growing portfolio of solar and energy storage assets.

Prior to joining New Energy Equity, Elizabeth served as Chief Operating Officer of Carson Power, where she led development execution, EPC strategy, procurement, construction readiness, and asset monetization efforts. During her tenure, she helped scale the company from a pre-revenue startup to a profitable renewable energy platform, overseeing all aspects of project delivery from preconstruction through commercial operation.

Throughout her career, Elizabeth has directed engineering, procurement, and construction activities across both distributed generation and utility-scale renewable energy portfolios, including managing more than 1 GW of solar and energy storage projects. Prior to Carson Power, Elizabeth held leadership positions with Advanced Power and Borrego Solar, where she successfully delivered renewable energy projects across multiple markets.

Elizabeth holds both a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Construction Management from Wentworth Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts from California State University, Northridge.

General Counsel

Jim Wrathall

Jim Wrathall joined New Energy Equity LLC in 2019, coming from K&L Gates, where he had represented New Energy. He previously spent more than two decades with AmLaw 20 law firms Skadden and WilmerHale. Since 2014 Jim's practice has focused exclusively on solar and renewable energy project development, finance, M&A transactions, and policy matters. From 2007-2011, he served as Senior Counsel to the U.S. Senate Environment Committee, working on climate and clean energy legislation and oversight. Jim received his B.S. in Management from Tulane University and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Senior Vice President, Human Resources

Melanie Williams

Melanie Williams, PHR is a seasoned Human Resources professional with over 15 years of executive-level experience steering strategic people operations, compliance frameworks, and organizational growth. Known for her ability to align human capital strategy with high-stakes corporate objectives, Melanie has a proven track record of empowering workforces, mitigating risk, and advising executive leadership teams within highly regulated environments. Based in Columbia, Maryland, Melanie has served on the Board of Directors for Sinai Hospital and actively contributes to the regional business and HR community.

Senior Vice President of C&I, Versiris Energy

Nick Kerwin

Nick joined the New Energy Equity team in 2021 and has over 13 years of experience in the solar industry. He has worked on residential, C&I, community solar, storage and small utility-scale projects across the country. In his current role as Senior Vice President, C&I, Nick leads a team of Project Managers, Business Development, Project Engineers, and Marketing professionals working together to bring turn-key solar projects into our National Commercial and Industrial partners, focusing on driving eff reducing transaction costs, and building long-term partnerships in markets across the country.

General Manager, Energy Support Services

Conrad Gross

Conrad Gross joined Energy Support Services at the beginning of 2019 and currently manages both the Energy Support team’s day-to-day operations and our partner relationships. Conrad has been working in the solar O&M industry for the past 12 years. His professional experience began at Standard Solar where, as O&M coordinator, he handled monitoring, dispatch, reporting, billing, and customer management for the Vigilant Energy Management services team. After helping to establish Vigilant as a profitable venture, he joined WGL Energy Systems as Commercial Project Asset Manager. At WGL, Conrad was a sole asset manager for nearly 200MW of C&I solar projects, responsible for both financial and performance reporting, customer & landowner relationships, and managing multiple O&M service providers. He received both a B.A. in Digital Media and a B.A. in History from Eastern Mennonite University.

Vice President of Construction and Engineering

Kevin Corcoran

Kevin Corcoran has been a dedicated member of New Energy Equity since 2017, starting his journey as a project engineer and eventually transitioning into project management. With a decade of experience in the solar industry, Kevin now serves as the Vice President of Construction and Engineering. His focus on developing efficient processes and his exceptional organizational skills have been instrumental in driving the company's success. Kevin holds both his NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional and PMP certification in project management, showcasing his commitment to excellence and professional growth. He graduated cum laude from Virginia Tech with a degree in Materials Science and Engineering, along with a minor in Green Engineering.

Vice President of Development

Bill Francis

Bill joined New Energy Equity in 2026 and leads the Development team as Vice President of Development, where he oversees New Energy Equity’s pipeline of solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) projects. Bill was most recently Director of Business Development at ENGIE North America where he oversaw asset M&A, due diligence, energy storage, land acquisition, and market analytics. Bill’s 10 years of experience at ENGIE was primarily focused on distributed energy including community solar, co-op/municipal partnerships, and battery storage programs. Before ENGIE, Bill worked for American Electric Power (AEP) in their deregulated retail business on pricing, structuring, and product development across PJM and MISO.

Vice President, Marketing

Kyle Marchesseault

Kyle joined New Energy Equity in 2025 and brings experience in marketing from a Fortune 500 company, a leading ad agency, and leading developers and project owners in the solar industry. In his role as VP of Marketing, Kyle oversees New Energy Equity’s marketing strategy to drive origination of our pipeline of solar energy projects. Most recently, Kyle worked at Nexamp and Solar Landscape in marketing leadership roles to grow both companies’ portfolios of community solar projects and subscribers. Prior to joining the solar industry, he worked at Staples.com and at Digitas, a leading digital ad and experience agency. Kyle has an A.B. in Government from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Babson College.

VP, Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, Energy Support Services

Marquis Matthews

Marquis Matthews joined Energy Support Services in late 2020 as the Operations Manager; in this role he oversees all of our field operations, including both our team of local technicians and the various subcontractors with whom they interface. He has a decade plus of solar industry experience, and has had roles as an installer, team lead, trainer, and a small business entrepreneur wherein he ran his own solar company in the Maryland area. Previously, Marquis worked as a deep-sea welder in the oil & gas industry after having served for five years in the Navy. With his extensive industrial and naval experiences, Marquis brings valuable safety expertise to the ESS team as well.

Vice President of Policy

Laurel Passera

Laurel Passera joined New Energy Equity in 2026, bringing more than 15 years of experience advancing renewable energy markets through policy, regulatory strategy, and utility engagement. Previously, Laurel spent 10 years at the Coalition for Community Solar Access, where she led multi-state policy campaigns and worked directly with utilities, regulators, and state agencies to address market barriers and advance community solar and distributed storage opportunities. Her work has included developing national model policy frameworks, supporting market expansion, and resolving challenges related to interconnection, customer billing and utility coordination. Laurel also supported regulatory strategy and policy tracking efforts at Keyes & Fox LLP, EQ Research, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council and the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center. Laurel serves on the board of the Center for Resource Solutions and the advisory board of Raleigh City Farm, which she co-founded in 2011.

VP, Engineering & Construction, Versiris Energy

Rocky Shoemaker

Rocky is a NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional and Master Electrician and with over 16 years of technical and operational experience in the field of commercial and industrial solar PV systems. As Vice President of Engineering and Construction at Versiris Energy, he is responsible for managing all facets of deploying large-scale solar facilities across multiple states. His involvement ranges from early-stage development such as maneuvering difficult permitting processes to rigorous quality assurance, delivering investment-grade assets.

Vice President, Real Estate & Compliance

Deborah Taylor

Deborah Taylor leads a best-in-class real estate team and oversees the company’s compliance strategy across contractual, regulatory, and operational areas. With deep expertise in real estate and title matters and a strong commitment to operational excellence, her work has been instrumental in advancing New Energy Equity’s solar development platform by ensuring projects are built on a foundation of secure site control, thoughtful risk management, and rigorous documentation. Deborah joined the company in 2018 as a Contracts and Compliance Manager, bringing extensive experience from her background in legal and real estate. She holds a bachelor’s degree in legal studies from the University of Maryland Global Campus. In her spare time, Deborah enjoys reading, gardening, and spending time with her husband and their daughter, who is a developing horse enthusiast.