Member of The Board
(Cherokee)

Gelvin Stevenson (Western Cherokee) was born in Chelsea, Oklahoma, raised in Missouri, and now lives in Manhattan with his wife, Clara Rodriguez. He has two grown children who live nearby. Mr. Stevenson has a Ph.D. in economics, and many years of experience as a writer and as a consultant working with clean energy companies and financial consulting in Indian Country. He teaches environmental economics at Pratt Institute.

For more than seven years, Mr. Stevenson wrote on economics and corporate finance at Business Week. He has also written for the New York Times, The Nation, Indian Country Today, The San Juan Star, and other publications.

Mr. Stevenson has worked as an independent investment consultant for Native American nations and start-up companies in the energy and environment industries. He has spoken at numerous conferences throughout Indian Country on finance and investment issues. Mr. Stevenson served as director of investment responsibility for the $40 billion New York City Pension Funds. Before that, he organized tenants and youth gang members in the South Bronx, and wrote about housing abandonment and arson.

Mr. Stevenson organizes and directs the Energy & Environmental Funders breakfasts, which meet monthly in New York and Washington, D.C., and provide opportunities for a clean energy company to present to an audience of investors and strategic partners. He has organized more than 120 of these, and developed an extensive knowledge of emerging clean energy technologies and companies.

Mr. Stevenson’s additional board memberships include the Cherokee National Historical Society, Community Resource Exchange, Green Workers Coop, and Clear Skies Group, a public solar installation and technology development company. His hobbies include running and string figures.