About Karin Burns

Karin Burns has taken on leadership roles at organizations ranging from global investment firms to a regional public energy provider. Over two decades, she has worked as an investor, advisor, and operating executive, including three terms as CEO. Her experience joins financial analysis with the realities of running teams and programs. In each setting, she has connected organizational resources to clear operational needs while considering how today's decisions shape future options. Her work has repeatedly required attention to changing industry conditions, including how new technologies affect budgets, teams, customers, and senior leaders' decisions.

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Developing a Foundation in International Finance

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She worked with JPMorgan Chase, GE Equity, i2i Capital, Gulf Capital, and Ambata Capital Partners, building experience in investment banking, private equity, principal investment, and strategic advice. At JPMorgan Chase, she played an execution role in a cross-border sell-side transaction valued at $1.1 billion. Her deal experience also includes an electric vehicle business sold to a Fortune 500 buyer. Investments in Asia produced exits worth 3.5 and 2.5 times invested cash, deepening her understanding of investments across markets and stages of company growth.

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Her finance work touched renewable energy, electric vehicles, energy efficiency, green buildings, and carbon markets. These fields involved different technologies and business models, yet each required attention to capital, risk, and implementation. Karin carried those lessons into executive roles, where she was responsible not only for assessing opportunities but also for staffing, budgets, and program results. This shift from investor to operator became a consistent theme in her career and shaped how she approached enterprise growth.

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From Residential Buildings to Regional Programs

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When she led Build It Green, she led a turnaround of an organization in the residential building sector. Under her leadership, the organization became profitable for four consecutive years. Revenue doubled to $22 million, employee turnover fell by 30%, and operating costs dropped by about 20%. She negotiated the sale of most of its assets to Franklin Energy, enabling a transition into a different operating role within the energy industry.

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Karin subsequently managed Franklin Energy programs across six states, supervising more than 60 staff members and a budget of more than $30 million. The portfolio comprised over 20 programs and contracts involving electrification, energy efficiency, grid optimization, and demand response. She later moved into corporate development and mergers and acquisitions at the national level. These assignments required different forms of coordination, from making individual programs work to considering how an organization could expand or change through larger business decisions.

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Expanding a Community Choice Energy Provider

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From April 2022 until September 2026, she was CEO of San Diego Community Power. She currently serves as Executive Advisor of San Diego Community Power during its leadership transition. The organization is a public Joint Powers Authority and community choice aggregator, serving close to one million customer accounts throughout the San Diego region. Its combination of electricity market responsibilities and public governance required relationships with residents, elected leaders, regulators, utilities, developers, and community groups. Karin worked across these areas while strengthening the agency's internal systems.

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During her CEO tenure, the agency's revenue increased from roughly $385 million in fiscal 2022 to more than $1 billion. Reserves rose from around $42 million in June 2022 to over $500 million. Its staff grew from fewer than 20 people to almost 100 while maintaining low turnover. Alongside operational growth, she championed a goal of 100% clean and renewable power by 2035. She oversaw a portfolio featuring more than 1 gigawatt in renewable purchase agreements and 1.5 gigawatts in battery storage agreements.

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Considering New Tools and Climate Solutions

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Her work on the future of electricity involved customer-side initiatives as well as larger energy supply contracts. She supported residential battery incentives, flexible load management, demand response, distributed energy resources, and virtual power plants. These efforts connected the changing power system with technologies that can affect how customers participate in energy markets. Separately, she was Executive Director and Board Member of Code REDD, where she guided forest conservation partnerships and fundraising. She launched Stand for Trees, an online platform that lets the public purchase voluntary REDD+ credits.

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She also considers emerging technology within organizations. Karin has directed enterprise AI governance and adoption through an AI committee, policy work, and a Microsoft 365 Copilot rollout. She uses ChatGPT and Claude and has spoken to business, policy, industry, and community audiences about climate, energy, and leadership. In both public discussions and management responsibilities, she has addressed the organizational choices involved in adopting new tools while continuing to meet existing obligations.

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Education and Personal Interests

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Her academic credentials include a Master in Public Administration in International Development from Harvard Kennedy School, an International Finance MBA from Edinburgh Business School, and a BA in International Affairs and History from Duke University. A former Fulbright Fellow in India, she has also pursued executive and certificate studies at Stanford, UC Berkeley, and the University of Washington. She has lived and worked on several continents and speaks Spanish and Portuguese.

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Time spent in the United States, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America has given her experience working with different institutions and cultures. Karin Burns lives in California with her husband and two sons. Outside of work, she skis, swims, travels internationally, and explores unfamiliar foods and places with her family.