Peter W. Davidson

Peter W. Davidson is an American businessman, public servant, philanthropist, and investor. He is the former Executive Director of the Loan Programs Officehttps://www.energy.gov/lpo/person/peter-w-davidsonhttps://www.energy.gov/lpo/loan-programs-office under the U.S. Department of Energy and the Empire State Development Corporation, New York's Economic Development Agency. Davidson currently serves as a member of New York City's Sustainability Advisory Boardhttps://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/895-22/mayor-adams-appoints-26-members-sustainability-advisory-board; as the Chair of the JM Kaplan Fund,https://www.jmkfund.org/history/https://www.jmkfund.org/people/peter-davidson-2/ a family foundation with over $150 million in assets; and as the CEO and Founder of Aligned Climate Capitalhttps://www.alignedclimatecapital.com/team, a low-carbon asset management company based in New York City. 
==Early Life and Education==
Davidson was born in Portland, Oregon, and spent his early years there and in Wrangell, Alaska before moving to New York City, where he grew up with his three siblings and his parents, Joan K. Davidson and C. Girard (“Jebby”) Davidson. Davidson’s grandfather Jacob Merrill (“Jack”) Kaplanhttps://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/20/obituaries/jacob-kaplan-philanthropist-is-dead.html pioneered the cooperative form of business creation and reorganized and headed Welch’s Grape Juice Company, which remains a farmer-owned co-op. 
Peter received a BA from Stanford University in Classical Studies and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
==Career==
Early in his career, Davidson was an executive in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley & Co. He left in the early 1990s and founded and/or managed six media companies serving the Hispanic market, including ownership of el Diario/La Prensa,https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/03/business/the-media-business-investor-group-to-provide-for-expansion-of-el-diario.html New York City’s largest Spanish-language newspaper, as well as three Univision-affiliated TV stations, 50+ radio stationshttps://web.archive.org/web/20060523004039/http://www.davidsonmediagroup.com/contact/boardofdirectores.htm#:~:text=School%20of%20Business.-,PETER%20DAVIDSON,-(President/Founder)%20is, and Vista Media, Inc., the largest US Hispanic focused out of home advertising company. After 20 years in the private sector as an entrepreneur, CEO, and investor, Davidson began a second career in government service.
In 2009, he joined the government of the State of New York, becoming the Executive Director of the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC),https://cdn.esd.ny.gov/AboutUs/Data/DavidsonBio.pdfhttps://cdn.esd.ny.gov/newsroom/Data/2009/9.29.09_PETER_DAVIDSON_APPOINTED_EXECUTIVE_DIRECTOR_OF_EMPIRE_STATE_DEVELOPMENT.pdf where he oversaw such large-scale projects as Brooklyn Bridge Park,https://www.brooklynbridgepark.org/about/press-releases/governor-paterson-and-mayor-bloomberg-open-first-section-of-bbp/ Governors Island,https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/nyregion/12island.html Moynihan Station, the Javits convention center, and the Atlantic Yards Development Corporationhttps://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2009/09/esdc-names-media-executive-peter.html and Queens West Development Corporation. 
Davidson has been an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and is a former Fellow of the School’s Global Energy Policy Center (GEPC).https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/peter-davidson-former-executive-director-department-energy-s-loan-programs-office-joining-non/
From 2015-2018, Peter served as CEO of the global climate infrastructure advisory firm Aligned Intermediary, Inchttps://www.forbes.com/sites/bobeccles/2018/01/07/aligned-intermediary-solving-the-funding-conundrum/?sh=34b2184f73c5. Aligned Intermediary was later restructured and became Aligned Climate Capital. 
==Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office==
	
==Aligned Climate Capital== 
In 2019, Davidson founded Aligned Climate Capital, a low-carbon asset management company focused on decarbonizing the global economy with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Today, the Aligned partners have more than $2 billion of assets under management (AUM) https://www.wsj.com/articles/clean-energy-focused-aligned-climate-capital-looks-to-ride-regulation-tailwinds-11654252201https://www.wsj.com/articles/aligned-climate-capital-backs-software-maker-utilityapi-11652785202across three investment strategies: a) Aligned Climate Fund, its venture capital arm, b) Aligned Solar Partners, a tax-efficient distributed solar strategy, and c) Ares Climate Infrastructure Partners, its climate infrastructure joint venture with Ares Management’s Infrastructure & Power Group. In addition to rigorous investment analysis, Aligned incorporates thorough environmental, social, and governance (ESG) screens throughout its investment process and asset management.
==Philanthropy==
Since 2001, Davidson has served as the chairman of the JM Kaplan Fund, a family foundation focused on transformative social, environmental, and cultural causes through inventive grant-makinghttps://www.ft.com/content/77fa4578-374a-11e3-9603-00144feab7de#:~:text=The%20Kaplan%20Fund%20is%20now%20in%20the%20hands%20of%20the%20third%20generation%2C%20with%20Davidson%E2%80%99s%20son%20Peter%20serving%20as%20chairman%2C%20and%20while%20her%20children%E2%80%99s%20interests%20have%20broadened%20beyond%20New%20York%2C%20Davidson%20is%20pleased%20with%20their%20stewardship.https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/j.m.-kaplan-fund-announces-2021-innovation-prize-recipients. Under his leadership, he has channeled the foundation’s grantmaking focus toward climate change impact and prevention, social justice, and archeological conservation and discovery.
==Boards==
In addition to serving as Chairman of the Board of the JM Kaplan Foundation , Davidson is a board member of the Saint Ann’s School of Brooklyn, NY;https://saintannsny.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/SA_GIDOF_2021-22-spreads.pdf Green-Wood Cemetery.https://www.green-wood.com/a-dynamic-board/https://brooklynreporter.com/2019/12/the-green-wood-board-of-trustees-elects-new-chair/ and several boards for for-profit companies, including Envision Solar (EVSI)https://finance.yahoo.com/news/peter-davidson-joins-envision-solar-123000387.htmlhttps://beamforall.com/peter-davidson-joins-envision-solar-international-as-independent-director/.
Davidson is a former member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Category:People from Portland, Oregon
Category:American businesspeople
Category:Public services	
Category:Philanthropists
Category:Investors