Our new blog series shines a spotlight on our EIRs - Executives in Residence. This group of 50+ highly talented individuals provides support to ventures in our accelerator programs. Experienced, connected, and committed, our EIRs are also very interesting people. We hope you enjoy getting to know them!

“Meet the EIRs” starts with a profile of one of Foresight’s earliest EIRs - a name you might recognize - Jeanette Jackson.

• How long have you been involved with Foresight?

I joined Foresight as an EIR in 2014 and took on the role of CEO In 2018. Coming up on seven years!

• What did you like most about your work as an EIR?

As a serial entrepreneur who had exited my second company, I wanted to get back into climate and sustainability where my passion lies. I saw the EIR role with Foresight as an opportunity to work with many dynamic entrepreneurs and innovators supporting cleantech across several industries.  I loved helping ventures work through challenges and seize opportunities, leveraging my network and connections to help them launch, commercialize, and scale quickly.

• Share a success story.

We knew there was something special about Gareth Brown when he came in with his initial pitch. He had a deep understanding of the space (renewable energy reporting software), and his business was truly problem driven. I was so pleased to see his company, Clir Renewables, closed a $27M Series B funding round earlier this month. He always had an attitude of “I’m not going to stop until this is successful” - and look at him now!

• How did your work as an EIR shape your role as CEO?

I draw on my experience as an EIR all the time. Through that work, I identified issues that Foresight is addressing as we grow and expand our programming and reach. For instance, we were coaching CEOs but other key team members weren’t aligned. So we created the Deliver program for CTOs. I saw the need for C-suite peer-to-peer development, so we introduced the CXO Growth program. Finding team members is hard so we launched a Cleantech Job Board. Finally, raising capital is a massive challenge - we’re working hard on that too!