TEX-E grows team, names Julia Johansson Chief of Staff
Houston, Texas, Jan. 17, 2024 —The Texas Entrepreneurship Exchange for Energy (TEX-E), a first-of-a-kind collaboration among Greentown Labs, MIT’s Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship, and universities across Texas, today announced David Pruner as its first-ever Executive Director.
Pruner brings more than 30 years of experience across energy, management consulting, financial services, and higher education to TEX-E. His expertise in and passion for the energy transition will play a critical role in TEX-E’s growth and evolution as it strives to have an even greater impact across Texas.
“Dave is the ideal leader for TEX-E to build on the great work that’s been done to develop a robust entrepreneurial energy ecosystem across these five impressive universities in Texas and to directly inspire and support university students to pursue entrepreneurial careers that will power our clean energy future,” said Greentown Labs CEO and President Kevin Knobloch. “Dave’s expertise will have a tremendous impact on the strategy, evolution, and success of this ambitious and important program.”
Prior to TEX-E, Pruner was a Partner at Heidrick & Struggles placing executives and board members into energy companies. Before that, he was a Senior Vice President for more than a decade at Wood Mackenzie, a leading global consulting and research firm for the energy industry. Prior to that, he held executive roles at several other energy firms and in financial services at Bridgewater Associates and Manufacturers Hanover Trust.
“I am very excited about helping Houston and the state of Texas navigate the energy transition,” said Pruner. “We are at a crucial pivot point for the industry and it will be essential for us to help create the next generation of energy transition entrepreneurs. An ecosystem in this area has been building and it will be our mission to inspire, equip, connect and accelerate these individuals and teams working with the universities to make it robust. If we succeed we will assure Texas’s role as the leader in energy globally.”
Outside of TEX-E, Pruner serves on the board at Southern Methodist University Dedman College and The School of American Ballet in New York. He also teaches energy transition at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University. Pruner earned a master’s degree in finance from the A.B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Southern Methodist University.
TEX-E was launched in 2022 to create a powerful student-driven entrepreneurship ecosystem in Houston and the state of Texas with Rice University, Texas A&M University, Prairie View A&M University, University of Houston, and The University of Texas at Austin as its founding institutions.
As Pruner develops the next chapter of growth and impact for TEX-E, he’s building the team to help achieve those goals. Julia Johansson joined the program as Chief of Staff and will manage the day-to-day operations and administrative duties of TEX-E. Previously, Johansson served as a Recruitment Consultant at Selby Jennings and spent time conducting research at the Niwot Ridge Long-term Ecological Research site. She graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and a minor in Geography.
The TEX-E team is growing, and is actively recruiting for a Director of University Engagement based out of Greentown Labs Houston. This role will lead programming, recruitment, and partner management for TEX-E.
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About Greentown Labs
Greentown Labs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit catalyzing climate solutions through entrepreneurship, partnership, and collaboration. As the largest climatetech startup incubator in North America, Greentown brings together startups, corporates, investors, policymakers, and many others with a focus on scaling climate technologies. Driven by the mission of providing startups the community, connections, and resources they need to thrive, Greentown offers lab space, shared office space, machine shops, electronics labs, tool shops, software and business resources, and a large network of corporate customers, investors, and more. With incubators in Somerville, Mass. and Houston, Texas, Greentown is home to more than 200 startups and has supported more than 500 since the incubator’s founding in 2011. These startups have collectively created more than 11,000 jobs and raised more than $5.7 billion in funding. For more information, visit www.greentownlabs.com or follow Greentown on LinkedIn.
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