Sharon Pillar is the founder and executive director of the Pennsylvania Solar Center, a nonprofit project of their fiscal sponsor, New Sun Rising that launched in 2019. The Center ushers tax-exempt organizations and businesses through the solar procurement process, helping them find solar developers and financing. The Center offers online resources and educates decision makers on the need for robust solar policies. Sharon also owns the Hot Earth Collaborative LLC, a consultancy that she started in 2013 to advance clean energy markets that transform our communities, economy and environment. Since 2016 she has also consulted for Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) as their Pennsylvania Advocate working with businesses across the state to advocate for clean energy. Sharon served as a co-facilitator for the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s Finding Pennsylvania's Solar Future stakeholder project managed by PennFuture that identified the path to get PA to 10% solar. She formerly directed the three year-long Solarize Allegheny campaign and served as the president of the Solar Unified Network of Western Pennsylvania (SUNWPA), the region’s solar trade organization, for five years. During her years at PennFuture from 2006-2013, she served as the Project Manager for solar programs and worked as a climate change advocate. Sharon holds an M.A. in Earth Literacy from St. Mary’s-of-the-Woods College in Terre Haute, IN and a B.A. in Psychology from Mansfield State University. She lives in Coraopolis with her husband, Tom, her college-student son, Jeevan, and their dog Lucky. Congratulations, Sharon! | 
