Karin Burns
Executive Advisor of San Diego Community Power in San Diego, CA
Karin Burns has worked across the energy transition and corporate finance for over two decades, including three chief executive roles and substantial operating responsibilities.
She served as chief executive of San Diego Community Power from April 2022 to September 2026, then continued as Executive Advisor. The public agency serves nearly one million accounts. Under her leadership, annual revenue passed $1 billion, reserves exceeded $500 million, and headcount climbed from under 20 to nearly 100.
Her energy work pursued 100% clean and renewable power by 2035 through over 1 GW of renewable agreements, 1.5 GW of storage agreements, and customer programs.
At Build It Green, she delivered four profitable years, raised revenue to $22 million, and lowered employee turnover and operating expenses. After negotiating an asset sale to Franklin Energy, she led multistate programs before moving into national corporate development.
At Code REDD, she directed conservation partnerships and fundraising. Karin Burns launched Stand for Trees, a platform selling voluntary forest carbon credits to the public.
Before focusing on operations, she worked with JPMorgan Chase, GE Equity, i2i Capital, Gulf Capital, and Ambata Capital Partners. She supported a $1.1 billion cross-border transaction, the sale of an electric vehicle business, and Asian investment exits at 3.5x and 2.5x.
She has invested in renewable energy, electric vehicles, efficient buildings, and carbon markets, applying those lessons to business decisions.
Her speaking covers climate and energy markets. Karin has also led enterprise AI governance and Microsoft 365 Copilot implementation.
She holds degrees from Harvard Kennedy School, Edinburgh Business School, and Duke University. A Fulbright Fellow in India, she also completed studies at Stanford, UC Berkeley, and the University of Washington.
Her work spans the United States, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Karin speaks Spanish and Portuguese.
Karin Burns lives in California with her husband and two sons. She enjoys skiing, swimming, traveling with her family, and exploring other cultures.
Website 1: https://karinlburns.com/
Website 2: https://karin-burns.com/