Honored with “Women Who Means Business” and “40 under 40 Top Business Leader” awards by Pacific Business News, Veronica Rocha is a clean energy and climate adaptation leader with a decade of experience working in Hawaii across the private, public and nonprofit sectors in multiple industries. 

 

Prior to founding Essential Leap, Veronica served as the Renewable Energy Branch Manager at the Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) where she led efforts to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2045. This included working on the development of over 10 laws and representing HSEO  in over 10 regulatory proceedings on topics such as utility and distributed energy resources, community based renewable energy, grid modernization, microgrids, electrification of transportation, tax incentives, and greenhouse gas reductions. During her tenure at HSEO, she represented Governor Ige at The Solar and Wind Energy Governor’s Coalition, led the State of Hawaii – Department of the Navy Renewable Energy Working Group, and was a member of the Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale Sanctuary Management Council. 

 

Veronica served as the President of Women in Renewable Energy (WiRE) in 2018-2019 and was a finalist for the Clean Energy & Empowerment (C3E) Government Award recognizing mid-career women who have demonstrated outstanding leadership. 

 

Prior to establishing a career in sustainability, Veronica worked in Silicon Valley in business and engineering helping Fortune and start-up companies manufacture, develop, and launch medical technologies nationally and abroad. 

 

Veronica holds two degrees from Stanford University, a Master of Business Administration and a Mechanical Engineering Bachelor of Science.

 

To learn more about Veronica, check-out her LinkedIn profile.