Dylan Simonds

Dylan Simonds "invests privately in a wide array early-stage green businesses, currently ranging in focus from furnishings and diapers to algae-derived chemicals for the renewable energy, industrial chemical, and specialty ingredient markets. Separately, as president of his personal foundation, the Dylan Todd Simonds Foundation, Mr. Simonds supports environmental and civic projects in Pennsylvania and on the West Coast. Currently, he is Vice Chairman of the board of the Headlands Center for the Arts in Marin County, CA, a director on the board of the Pittsburgh-based Elsie H. Hillman Foundation, a director of the Brooklyn-based Cardamom Project, and an advisory board member of Ecotrust, where he previously served three terms as a director. He is also an investor in and board member of Q Collection, a leading environmentally-sound furnishings company founded by fellow SOM-FES joint-degree alumnus and CBEY board member, Jesse Johnson.

"Mr. Simonds began his career at Ecotrust, helping to launch the non-profit organization's various forays into sustainable forestry and green enterprise. During that time, he also helped to establish a regional chapter of the Good Wood Alliance, working to promote environmentally conscientious wood use and to strengthening the network of Northwest forest practitioners, woodworkers, builders, and private timberland owners. Before attending Yale, Mr. Simonds worked for an oil and gas development joint venture in Texas, where he participated in resident lease-hold negotiations, supervised the operation's environmental compliance efforts, and oversaw investor relations.

"Mr. Simonds is a graduate of Middlebury College, and holds an M.E.M. from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management. He lives in Mill Valley, CA with his wife and two young sons."


 * Advisory Board, Center for Business and the Environment at Yale