News: Photovoltaics
20 July 2021
First Solar appoints finance & investment expert to board
Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) module maker First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA has appointed Anita Marangoly George, a senior executive with almost four decades of diverse global experience in institutional finance and sustainable infrastructure investing, to its board of directors. She will serve on First Solar’s Nominating & Governance and Technology Committees.
George has held various positions at la Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ), a global investment group managing funds for public retirement and insurance plans. She is currently a strategic advisor and served as executive VP & deputy head of CDPQ’s global investment arm, CDPQ Global. Prior to that, she was executive VP & head of CDPQ’s Emerging Markets and Strategic Partnerships. She joined CDPQ in 2016 as its managing director for South Asia, establishing its presence and developing investment partnerships in India. During her time at CDPQ, she designed the firm’s emerging market strategy, growing its business, partnerships and presence in Asia and Latin America.
Before CDPQ, George worked at the World Bank as a senior director in its global energy and extractives practice, and before that spent over a decade with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), where she led the institution’s efforts to finance infrastructure and natural resources projects in India, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Latin America regions. George pioneered IFC’s financing of private, commercial solar projects and was key in promoting its Scaling Solar program across emerging markets. She has also held positions at Siemens Financial Services and the Steel Authority of India.
“Anita’s experience working in climate finance and infrastructure across key global markets, combined with her passion for human capital development and sustainability, makes her uniquely qualified to join our board,” comments CEO Mark Widmar. “With the company poised for growth with a differentiated solar technology that is critical to the fight against climate change, I am confident that her expertise and insights will help First Solar navigate its journey to lead the world’s sustainable energy future,” he adds.
“I have spent several years promoting the scaling of renewable energy investments throughout the world and recognize that the transformation of the energy sector is key to addressing climate change,” says George. “First Solar combines the power of technology with unwavering respect for people and the planet to power this transition,” adding that First Solar is at an “important inflection point as it charts its future as a global leader in responsibly-produced solar technology.”
George has extensive experience serving on executive boards, including those in the financial sector, where she has served on the audit, talent and remuneration, technology, governance, and corporate social responsibility committees. She represents CDPQ on boards and also sits on the boards and advisory councils of a number of non-profits including TalentNomics India (which is focused on empowering women), the UK-India Climate Finance Group, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Climate Solver Group, Women in Private Equity (WinPE), Global Private Capital Association, LP Council, the Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (IVCA) LP Council, and the Private Equity and Capital Market Committees of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry. In addition, George is currently a board member and president of the Indo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
George holds a master’s degree in Economic Policy and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Spanish from Smith College.
