About John Jeffers
Board of Directors
John Jeffers, an accomplished energy industry executive, embarked on his own “energy transition” several years ago, pivoting from 30+ years in technical and leadership roles in oil and natural gas exploration and production and associated energy technologies to the pursuit of new opportunities in clean energy and sustainability as a co-founder, mentor, advisor, and investor in innovative, emerging companies. His interests include improving efficiency, reducing the environmental impact of legacy energy sources, and the development of economically viable, scalable alternatives. He invests as an angel investor and a VC LP in competitively advantaged startups, firmly believing that technologies and businesses that provide attractive returns to investors are most likely to be deployed at scale, and thus will have the greatest ultimate impact. His interests include but are not limited to technologies and practices that improve the efficiency of energy use, emissions reduction and mitigation, repurposing existing energy infrastructure and capabilities to support energy transition, and key enabling technologies to cost-competitive new energy sources. John and his wife Mary also support sustainable development initiatives in water resources, agriculture, healthcare, and education in developing countries through several charitable organizations.
John’s corporate career spanned a decade each with Mobil Oil, Schlumberger, and Southwestern Energy, where he co-led a number of innovation initiatives intended to minimize the negative environmental and social impacts of massive shale gas development. His current and recent activities include co-founding a clean energy technology startup, serving as a mentor and executive-in-residence for the Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator, serving on the Board of Advisors for several energy technology-related startups, and teaching Principles of Innovation at the University of Houston. He has been an active, investing member of SWAN since 2022. John is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Rice University and is actively engaged with the greater Houston startup community.