Our Board
Our mission is to be a catalyst for positive and lasting change leading to healthier environments and communities.
Our Board
Roger C. Dower
President, The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread
Roger C. Dower, President of The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread, is responsible for leading the organization’s strategic efforts in its mission as a catalyst for innovative solutions to complex environmental and community challenges.
Mr. Dower’s career spans more than thirty years, including senior management roles in the public, private and non-profit sectors with a major focus on environmental and energy matters. An economist by training, he began his career directing research for the Environmental Law Institute before entering the public policy arena, first as an Economic Consultant to the White House during the Carter Administration and then Chief of the Energy and Environmental Unit in the Congressional Budget Office during the Reagan Administration.
In 1990, he joined the World Resources Institute (WRI), where he led the Climate, Energy and Pollution Program and was a senior advisor to WRI’s president in his capacity as Co-Chairman of President Clinton’s landmark President’s Council on Sustainable Development. In 1996, Dower joined Sycom Enterprises, (now, eNERGYSolve Corporation) which provides internet-based energy management solutions to large commercial and industrial energy users, and was named President in 2000. During his tenure, he directed the company’s strategic business planning and oversaw all aspects of its operations and marketing efforts.
In 2002, Dower was named President of the U.S. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) where he conceived and led programs which almost doubled the expanse of certified forestry acreage in the U.S. and transformed the FSC into a major brand in the domestic and global paper markets In 2007, he was named President of the Johnson Foundation, becoming the fifth leader of the highly esteemed private family foundation.
Mr. Dower holds a B.S. in agricultural economics and a Masters in Resource Economics, both from the University of Maryland, and is the author of numerous books, articles and publications relating to energy and environmental policy. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the non-profit Clean Air, Cool Planet and is a member of the Board of the Wisconsin Climate Change Action Initiative and serves on the Board of the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation.
