Keynote Speaker
Steve Westly
Managing Partner
The Westly Group
Steve Westly is Managing Partner of The Westly Group, a venture advisory firm which helps entrepreneurs build the clean technology companies of the future. He currently sits on the boards of the electric car company Tesla and the biofuels company Altra, while consulting for a variety of startups.
Before launching his firm, Mr. Westly was California State Controller and the chief financial officer of the world’s sixth largest economy. As Controller, Westly spearheaded innovative tax programs to help close the State’s budget deficit and led the effort to commit more than $1 billion to clean technology investments. Westly ran for Governor in the 2006 Democratic Primary and was narrowly defeated.
Westly began his career in government in Washington DC, where he worked on Capitol Hill and in Jimmy Carter’s Department of Energy in the Office of Conservation and Solar. He returned to California where he worked at the Public Utilities Commission and for the city of San Jose. Westly was Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party and served four terms as a member of the Democratic National Committee.
In the private sector, Westly guided the online auction company eBay through its period of most rapid growth, working as a senior vice president of marketing, business development, mergers and acquisitions, and international operations. Prior to taking eBay public, Westly was a senior executive for a number of technology companies in Silicon Valley.
Westly remains active in public life as Chair of the California Leadership Committee, a PAC dedicated to supporting the next generation of Democratic leaders. On the national scene, he served as California Co-Chair of then-Senator Barack Obama’s successful presidential campaign. He sits on the Board of the newest University of California Campus in Merced. He and his wife Anita run a charitable foundation focused on education, health, and the environment.
Mr. Westly grew up in California and attended public schools in San Mateo County. He earned his BA and MBA at Stanford University, where he was student body president and later served on the faculty for five years. Westly currently lives in San Mateo County with his wife and two kids.
