Catherine Von Burg brings a broad range of experience as a founder, entrepreneur, impact investor, advisor, public speaker, and author to the President’s Council. Her career spans a diverse portfolio of research & development, strategic planning, policy & regulatory initiatives, executive leadership, entrepreneurship, and multidisciplinary team building in the fields of biomedical engineering & research, health & human services, renewable energy technology, and environmental conservation. With a foundational focus on economic and social equity, Catherine has worked extensively in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, leveraging strategic partnerships to fund, innovate, and operationalize programmatic and technology-driven solutions to solve real-world problems with commercially competitive, market-based results.
Committed to the transformation of the power grid and creating equitable access to renewable energy to empower people and communities globally, Catherine founded SimpliPhi Power, Inc. in 2010, a mission-based cleantech manufacturer of non-cobalt based lithium-ion energy storage & management solutions for the residential, commercial, military and emergency response markets. Refusing to gain a competitive advantage in the market by utilizing a lower cost, cobalt-based lithium-ion battery chemistry and supply chain rife with child labor, corruption, and safety issues, Catherine built a profitable purpose-driven company utilizing safer innovations in lithium ferro phosphate chemistry - demonstrating both the efficacy of the technology and the business model predicated on an integrated bottom line: people, planet, profit. As a startup company that continued to scale without VC funding, bootstrapping its growing operations, manufacturing capacity, R&D and renewable energy projects deployed in over 40 countries, Catherine positioned the company for an acquisition by private equity KPS Capital Partners in 2021 and exited this past January, 2023.
Catherine continues her public speaking, writing and activism in the cleantech industry and serves on the Board of Directors of the California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA), and as an Advisor to both the Footprint Project, a global nonprofit building and deploying mobile clean energy solutions for communities in crisis, and Alegria Farmacy, a company that innovates and builds solar-powered hydroponic and regenerative microfarms with front-line training for interns and farmers from across the U.S.
Prior to founding SimpliPhi Power, Inc., Catherine conducted research, published white papers and spearheaded national and local program, policy, and business-driven initiatives with organizations such as The Pew Charitable Trusts, Rockefeller Institute, Columbia University, John Hopkins School of Biomedical Engineering, NY March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, Wilderness Education Association, and First 5 California.
Catherine has been recognized with honors, including the "Meaningful Business 100 Award" as a business leader combining purpose with profit to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals; "Global Power & Energy Elite" leader for her impact on the transition to a more sustainable power and energy sector; and "Inc. Female Founders 100" for challenging the status quo, tackling industry inertia and leading a purpose-driven and profitable company.
Catherine holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy, and a BA from Columbia University.