Michelle Moore is CEO of Groundswell, a nonprofit that builds community power through community solar projects that share power, savings, and economic opportunity. Her passion for community power is rooted in her faith and the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself.”
A social entrepreneur and former White House official with roots in rural Georgia, Michelle is a relentless agent for change with a passion for connecting clean energy with economic growth. Her accomplishments range from building the global green building movement as a senior executive with USGBC to leading the sustainability team for the Obama Administration. Since joining Groundswell in 2015, Michelle has led the organization to deploy a market-based model for equitable community solar that shares power, savings, and opportunity with local families regardless of household income or credit scores.
Prior to joining Groundswell, Michelle led Federal Sustainability as President Obama’s Federal Environmental Executive from 2009-2011. Her accomplishments included launching the GreenGov initiative through Executive Order 13514, which engaged Federal agencies and the military services to improve energy use, saving up to $11 billion in operating expenses. Michelle also worked with the President’s Jobs Council to launch the Better Buildings Challenge, which implemented $4 billion in public and private investment in building energy efficiency – cutting energy use and creating jobs at no cost to taxpayers.
From 2011 – 2013, Michelle launched and led infrastructure project delivery as Senior Advisor to the White House Office of Management and Budget. Designed to eliminate delays and accelerate decision-making on more than $300 billion of job-creating infrastructure projects, this government-wide initiative encompassed regulatory reforms of Federal permitting responsibilities, implementation of collaborative project management systems, and online dashboards designed to improve sustainability, transparency, accountability, and speed.
Previously, Michelle served as Senior Vice President of the U.S. Green Building Council, where she worked to make the LEED Green Building Rating System a globally recognized brand with more than 6 billion square feet of registered and certified buildings around the world. During her tenure, USGBC grew from approximately $17 million a year in annual revenues to more than $100 million per year.
Michelle got her start in sustainability in 1997 as Director of eBusiness for Interface Inc. in her hometown of LaGrange GA, where working for Ray Anderson showed her how to connect people, planet, and profitability; and the pathway to “doing well by doing good.” She currently serves as a member of the Executive Advisory Board of the American Flood Coalition and on the Board of Directors of THI Studio.
Thanks to Michelle’s grandparents, who worked in the cotton mills to give their families an education, Michelle earned her Bachelor’s in political science from Emory University and Masters of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. Michelle is married to Linwood Boswell, a local music mainstay, father of three, and community real estate agent in Richmond VA.