Billy Parish
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
September 11, 1981
- Co-founder & Executive Chairman of Mosaic
- author
- activist
Billy Parish | |
|---|---|
 Billy Parish | |
| Born | Billy Parish September 11, 1981 New York, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Yale University, The Mountain School |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2003 - present |
| Spouse | Married |
Billy Parish (born September 11, 1981) is an American environmental entrepreneur, author, and activist. He is the Founder and CEO of Hyfin, a platform that builds funds to enable the mass adoption of clean energy technologies globally. He previously founded Mosaic Inc., one of the largest clean energy finance companies in the U.S. [1]
Parish grew up in Manhattan, New York City. His father, a lawyer, specialized in finance for electronic utilities. His mother, also a lawyer, met his father while working on a securitization deal.[2] He spent a semester of high school at The Mountain School in Vermont, where he was turned on to working for the environment.[3] In July 2005 he led a three-day fast in front of the White House to draw attention to the 150,000 deaths caused each year by climate change.[4] He designed his own major in sustainable economic development at Yale University.[2] However, in 2002, he left Yale University and went on to found the Energy Action Coalition, renamed the Power Shift Network.[5] The Coalition became the largest youth-led clean energy advocacy network in the world, bringing together 50 environmental and social justice groups and over 340,000 members.[6] The coalition raised nearly $10 million in four years and helped more than 600 colleges make commitments to climate neutrality.[6]
In March 2009, the Energy Action Coalition organized Power Shift '09, which brought over 12,000 young people to Washington, D.C., for the largest climate-focused training, lobby day and, non-violent civil disobedience action in U.S. history. 1Sky states Parish is on the Board of Directors.[5] He is also co-chair of SolarAPP+ and board member and former board chair at The Solutions Project.[7][8]
Career
Parish played a leading role in creating the Clean Energy Corps proposal to create 5 million new green jobs in the U.S.,[6] which was incorporated into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009. He also helped to expand the AmeriCorps public service program to include a new “Clean Energy Service Corps”.[9] With the idea that crowdfunding could affect a shift to green energy, Parish co-founded Mosaic. At that time, the company allowed individuals to micro invest in community-scale solar projects.[10] In 2014, Parish shifted the company’s focus from crowdfunding to financing for residential solar projects, and in 2018, expanded to sustainable home improvements.[11]
Under Parish’s leadership, Mosaic provided more than $15 billion in loans, enabling over 500,000 households to adopt solar, batteries, and energy-efficient upgrades, and financed roughly 10 percent of U.S. residential solar capacity.[12] Mosaic created the industry’s first 20-year solar loan and, in 2017, completed the first securitization of residential solar loans. Parish transitioned to Executive Chair in 2023 to focus on strategy, partnerships, and policy initiatives.[13]
In 2025, Parish founded Hyfin, where he serves as CEO, building a platform to accelerate investment in climate solutions. [14]
Personal life
Parish lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and two daughters.