Brian is a Director on the Partnerships team at Breakthrough Energy. He develops and scales partner collaborations to accelerate global adoption of the climate technologies necessary to achieve net zero by 2050.

Before joining Breakthrough Energy, Brian was a Partner at a pioneering global venture capital firm focused on climate technology investments. He led investments resulting in IPOs, M&A, and significant market expansions in sectors such as transportation, the built environment, agriculture, robotics, sensors, and semiconductors, advancing strategic relationships in the US and Asia.

Brian’s operational background includes managing the US-China Clean Energy Research Center for Net Zero Energy Buildings at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he led a consortium of research institutions and Fortune 100 companies. His efforts drove the commercialization of lab-scale technologies and the development of new standards and policies adopted by governments in both the US and China. From 2006 to 2011, while living in China, Brian co-founded an eco-city planning and engineering firm focused on sustainable urban infrastructure. Prior to that, he launched a farm-to-door e-commerce platform for organic produce and founded a non-profit to integrate environmental standards into institutional food procurement.

Brian holds a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Food Politics from the University of California, Berkeley. Fluent in Mandarin, he serves on several corporate and advisory boards. Based in Santa Barbara, California, Brian enjoys offshore sailing, exploring the outdoors, and expanding his knowledge of innovative and emerging art, inspired by his wife’s work as an artist.