Samantha (Sam) Childress is expanding the global adoption of renewable energy by designing and commercializing microgrid & distributed energy solutions at Schneider Electric. She is responsible for cultivating innovative partnerships to enable clean, affordable, and reliable energy for everyone. Sam is passionate about private sector involvement at the nexus of energy access and equity both domestically and internationally. As such, she serves as the president of United Solar Initiative, a nonprofit organization that leverages private sector contributions to deploy clean energy projects for communities and NGOs worldwide. She also serves on the Board of Directors to Footprint Project, a disaster response nonprofit that helps communities #buildbackgreener following climate disasters. She is an alum of Appalachian State University (B.S.) and Duke University (M.E.M.).