Steven Rothstein is the founding managing director of the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable
Capital Markets. Ceres Accelerator aims to transform the practices and policies that govern
capital markets in order to accelerate reduction of the worst financial impacts of the climate
crisis and other sustainability threats. Rothstein’s 40 years of experience will be
critical to explore the most effective strategies for the Ceres Accelerator to focus on and move
capital markets toward climate sustainability.
Rothstein has had a successful career starting, managing, and growing several nonprofit, social
change, and government organizations. After college, he was one of the founding members of
Citizens Energy Corporation, the world’s only nonprofit oil company. This enterprise, as
well as its related organizations, grew to provide significant assistance to numerous low-income
individuals to meet their heating and other energy needs. After several years there, Rothstein
went on to manage a $300 million Massachusetts human service state agency’s programs and
facilities for people with intellectual disabilities. He then started and ran Environmental
Futures, a management and market consulting company serving a wide range of enterprises in the
U.S. and internationally. He also ran the New England market for Constellation’s entry and
expansion into this market as a successful electricity broker. His career also includes running
the world renowned Perkins School for the Blind, as well as Citizen Schools and the John F.
Kennedy Library Foundation.
Rothstein has worked at local, state, federal, and international levels of government. He served
on many nonprofit and government boards. He has spoken and written extensively and worked with
partners in the corporate, nonprofit, government, and philanthropy sectors.
Rothstein is currently on the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence board and the Mass Civic
Learning Coalition’s steering committee. Rothstein has a BA in political science from
Williams College and an MBA from Northeastern University’s D’Amore–McKim
School of Business. He also studied at the Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy.