Dear OpenMinds Colleagues and Friends:
In 2025, we focused our resources behind three impact pillars:
Grid Vision (our coalition to strategically electrify America)
NextGen (connecting and enabling the next generation of energy and climate leaders)
Transformative Communication (developing unique communication tools to align global energy and climate ambitions)
We are grateful to the many experts and partners who have dedicated their time and resources to this work – our progress over the past year would not have been possible without your contributions and support.
2025 Key Accomplishments
Public Launch: We hosted our first public summit, OM25, at MIT, strengthening our impact strategy, visibility, and member network
Impact Focus: We completed a strategic review and focused the organization behind three high-conviction impact pillars: Grid Vision, NextGen Leaders, and Communications
Grid Vision: In September, we convened 50+ senior leaders across industry, policy, and finance to pressure-test Grid Vision priorities, prioritize and launch actionable solutions, and set the stage for OM26 this April at Stanford University
Network Growth: We expanded our expert network with a range of leaders whose expertise, experience, and authority directly support our impact pillars and projects
Federal Engagement: We worked directly with senior officials and congressional leaders, informing grid enhancement and electrification policy discussions and decisions
Organizational Development: We formalized our Board of Directors, expanded our staff and volunteer leadership for each impact pillar, and strengthened governance and accountability
Broader Foundation: We widened our funding base to support sustainability and long-term growth
Impact in Practice
Pillar 1: Grid Vision - A practical roadmap to power U.S. electrification
Working with experts from across the U.S. grid system, we developed and advanced a clear, non-partisan Grid Vision Plan to optimize the grid we have today while building the grid we need for the future.
Plan: Developed an actionable Grid Vision Plan to meet accelerating U.S. load growth affordably, reliably, and securely
Team: Aligned input from over 50 experts across industry, utilities, policy, NGOs, and academia to prioritize actions across a highly complex, multi-stakeholder system
Action: Identified six catalyzing projects for execution within our network that will accelerate transmission build-out, scale advanced technologies, and inform required policy decisions
Leadership: Recruited Francis Slingsby, on secondment from The Conservation Fund, as our COO and project director for Grid Vision
Roadmap: Provided a timeline for key actions, deliverables, and metrics for success
Pillar 2: NextGen - Delivering impact with future leaders
Our 10-year ambition is to create a global network of 300 energy and climate entrepreneurs and leaders who will work together throughout their careers to solve the Dual Challenge.
Growth: Onboarded the second cohort of 32 (NG25) and recruited a dedicated Program Director, Kristin Barbato, a former utilities executive and the co-founder of Dynamo Energy Hub, to help shape and develop the program’s impact potential
Projects: Completed six sponsor-aligned projects now driving real-world outcomes, supporting Microsoft, Williams, Calpine, CenterPoint, Carrier, and Fervo
Activation: Established five self-governance teams to shift NextGen Leaders from participants to operators, driving programming, collaboration, and community growth
2026: We’re planning the first NextGen Summit and recruiting the 2026 cohort to grow the reach and power of this community of young leaders tackling the Dual Challenge together
Pillar 3: Communications – Aligning leaders to solutions for energy AND climate
We launched a campaign focused on the importance of solving for energy and climate together, and the growing opportunity to do so now.
Platform: Established LinkedIn channel with 2,000+ followers, garnering over 170,000 impressions
Products: Published an updated P50 outlook, recorded podcasts, spoke on stages, and launched both LinkedIn articles and a public Substack to expand our thought leadership footprint
Reach: Earned sustained engagement from more than 100,000 LinkedIn members and reinforced OpenMinds’ standing and expertise for our network, key stakeholders, and policymakers
Q4 Highlights
We marked the end of the year with meaningful progress:
Drafted our Grid Vision Plan, and discussed with senior policy leaders
Established six Grid Vision project teams to drive implementation in 2026
Delivered decision-worthy NextGen projects to their sponsors
Established NextGen communications strategy for 2026
Aligned policy leaders behind practical analysis, actively informing near-term decisions
Began planning for OM26 with our co-hosts at Stanford University, building to our public Grid Vision launch
Looking Ahead: Poised for Impact in 2026
Advancing Grid Vision: Present the Grid Vision Plan and accelerate project progress at and beyond OM26
Scaling next-generation leadership: Launch the 2026 NextGen cohort, growing the community of future leaders advancing energy and climate solutions together
Shaping the narrative: Establish OpenMinds as a leading voice on the importance and potential of addressing energy and climate together, reinforcing a pragmatic, non-partisan case for solving the Dual Challenge through collaborative action
What started as an idea became a committed network and is now becoming a movement focused on delivering progress on the Dual Challenge: more energy AND less emissions—fast.
Thank you for your continued support of OpenMinds.
OpenMinds co-founders
An incredible year! Great job and thank you for what you do to the whole OpenMinds team, expert network, and supporting organizations.