Hertz Foundation and Breakthrough Energy Partner to Advance Climate and Energy Solutions

This collaboration brings together two organizations with a shared commitment to advancing scientific innovation and supporting exceptional talent. By connecting Breakthrough Energy’s innovation platform with the Hertz Foundation’s renowned community of scientific leaders, the partnership will create new opportunities for Fellows across both networks to engage, exchange ideas, and collaborate.

Through this partnership, Hertz Fellows will gain access to Breakthrough Energy’s global network of climate and energy experts, entrepreneurship curriculum, mentorship opportunities, and grant programs. In turn, Breakthrough Energy will engage more deeply with the Hertz Foundation’s exceptional pipeline of technical talent working at the frontiers of science and engineering. Together, the partners will offer joint programming — including workshops, targeted networking, and shared resources — to engage Hertz Fellows at key stages in their careers and contribute to climate and energy solutions.

This collaboration also reflects a broader model for how mission-aligned organizations can deepen support for top-tier scientific talent and accelerate impact far beyond the scope of any single program.

“At its core, this partnership is about the power of ecosystems,” said Ashley Grosh, Vice President of Breakthrough Energy Discovery. “When institutions like Breakthrough Energy and the Hertz Foundation align, we create something greater than the sum of our parts. By opening up our networks, sharing resources, and connecting extraordinary talent, we believe we can accelerate innovation at a scale that no one organization could achieve alone.”

“This partnership highlights the transformative power of strategic collaboration in addressing the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Wendy Connors, Hertz Foundation President. “By connecting the Hertz Foundation’s unparalleled network of scientific talent with Breakthrough Energy’s global platform of climate and energy experts, we are unlocking breakthrough potential and accelerating innovative solutions.”

Several Hertz Fellows have worked at Breakthrough Energy during their careers, including Cooper Rinzler and Rajeev Ram, who serve as partners at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Thomas Dean, a research scientist on the Breakthrough Energy Contrails team.

The first joint effort kicks off this summer with a session on climate collaboration and innovation at the 2025 Hertz Summer Workshop, the signature event for the Hertz community and one-of-a-kind gathering of some of the nation’s top scientists, entrepreneurs and leaders. This is one of many opportunities the two organizations are building together to connect, collaborate, and advance climate solutions.

Breakthrough Energy is a global platform focused on accelerating clean energy innovation and building the industries of the future. Founded by Bill Gates in 2015, we work across every major source of emissions to drive down costs, eliminate green premiums, and make clean technologies affordable and accessible worldwide. We support investment-ready breakthroughs at every stage of the innovation pipeline—through our discovery platform for pre-venture innovation; a suite of venture capital funds backing 120+ climate tech companies; and flexible capital for commercial deployment. We’re finding solutions, funding them, and bringing people together to scale them.

Founded in 1957, the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation accelerates solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges, from enhancing national security to improving human health. Through the Hertz Fellowship, the Foundation identifies the nation’s most promising young innovators and disruptors in science and technology, empowering them to become future leaders who keep our country safe and secure. Today, a community of more than 1,300 Hertz Fellows are a powerful, solution-oriented network of our nation’s top scientific minds, working to address complex problems and contributing to the economic vitality of our country. Learn more at hertzfoundation.org.