“because we can, we must….”
Dave Chen’s commitment to sustainability is a result of his work in venture capital, regional economic development and climate change policy. Throughout his career, Dave has seen the greatest impact – in his work, in investments in public services – when his heart, mind and hands were deep in the task. In founding Equilibrium Capital Group, Dave repeats this pattern.
In 2007, Dave was a visiting executive at the Meyer Memorial Trust developing an investment portfolio based on mission-related investing (MRI); this tool has since been adopted by several institutions. In late 2007, he applied the MRI findings to form Equilibrium Capital Group, a holding company building a portfolio of asset managers in key sustainability sectors. Each of these fund management companies is charged with executing a unique investment strategy in a targeted area: water, energy, agriculture, land, transportation and human habitat/built environment.
Dave is a co-founder and Principal at Equilibrium Capital Group.
Previously, Dave was a general partner at OVP Venture Partners (2000-2007). His investments at OVP include @once (acquired by InfoUSA), Ambric, Intelligent Results (acquired by First Data), Net6 (acquired by Citrix), Tzero and UXComm. He served on the board of @mobile prior to its acquisition by Software.com. Dave served on the board of HNC Software until it was merged with FICO in 2002 (NASDAQ:HNCS, now NYSE:FIC).
Prior to OVP, Dave founded GeoTrust (acquired by VeriSign 2006) and The Ascent Group; was Vice President Marketing Mentor Graphics; was an associate at McKinsey & Company; and was an early team member at Solectron (1978-1985).
Dave serves as:
- Board member GED, Inc. (Gerding Edlen)
- Board member Biological Capital, LLC
- Board member United Streetcar, LLC
- Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Portland Branch
- Board member of the National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance (NCIIA)
- Board member of The Freshwater Trust
- Board member of B Corp/B LAB
- Advisory Board Member of the Oregon Investment Fund (OIF)
- Governor-Appointed Chairman of the Oregon Innovation Council (2005-2011)
- Chairman (2003-2009) of the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI)
- Chairman (2006) of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum
- Faculty at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, on the topic of sustainability and finance
Dave has a B.A. in biology, from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.M. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Dave is co-owner of Patton Valley Vineyards, committed to making the finest Oregon Pinot Noir based on sustainable vineyard farming practices.
Contact: chen@eq-cap.com
Blog: http://conscienceandcommerce.com/
FB: www.facebook.com/dypchen
Skype: dypchen
