ERIK WOHLGEMUTH | Chief Executive Officer
Pronouns: He / Him / His
Unofficial Title: Team Dad
Words to live by: “You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.” - Indira Gandhi
In a prior life: Guided rafting trips across the American West.
Erik is an innovative strategist and a thoughtful leader. Throughout his career, business, civil society, philanthropy, and investing leaders have sought his counsel on wide-ranging issues. He’s academically trained on competitive corporate environmental strategies and rounds it out with extensive private-sector and NGO experience. Erik excels at cultivating human connection and synthesizing new or disparate information to spot trends that will materially impact a company or its sector.
Erik has traveled extensively and is as comfortable in his childhood stomping grounds of Brooklyn as he is unplugged, rafting a river. He is a student of history, skeptical of tribalism, and a font of esoterica on everything from personal finances to disaster readiness.
Erik earned an MBA from the Yale School of Management (SOM), a Master’s in Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment (YSE), and a BA in History from Yale College. Beyond Future 500, he serves as a West Coast Advisory Board member for Yale SOM, Pacific Northwest Chapter Co-Leader for Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), and board member of the pioneering land conservation organization, the Pacific Forest Trust.
Erik lives with his family in Portland, Oregon, and many mornings, he likes whipping up an array of breakfast pastries from scratch (even on school days)!
