Michael Hawthorne Jr.

Michael is a Climate Policy Activist who has devoted his life to advocating for Energy Justice and seeing an equitable Clean Energy Economy transition in Black Communities. Michael is the Co-Founder of Klean Energy Kulture. This not-for-profit production company partners with Billboard Topping Hit Music Artists to accelerate awareness of the Clean Energy Transition in Black Communities. Over the last decade, Michael has led pivotal campaigns that successfully generated awareness and engagement in Communities of Color, resulting in substantial participation in Climate Change Advocacy. These leadership experiences include being Georgia’s Deputy Field Director for Barack Obama's first Presidential Campaign, Vice President Al Gore's Repower America Campaign, Greenpeace, and the Beyond Coal Campaign with the Sierra Club.

His community-centric orientation in all of these roles has garnered the respect and trust of Stakeholders at all levels. When sharing why he joined the CAB, Micahel said, “I look forward to a world where communities of color are not just the receivers of clean energy but are generators of clean energy too for decades to come.”