Tom Soto
Managing Partner and Co-Founder
Craton Equity Partners

Tom is Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Craton Equity Partners, an innovative core equities investment fund that focuses on clean technology investments. Some of the groundbreaking investments include Petra Solar, the first pole-mounted solar panel system to meet the rigorous performance requirements of utilities while simultaneously establishing a network of smart grid communications; GridPoint, one of the fastest growing smart grid companies in the United States; and GreenWave, an enterprise energy efficiency and carbon reduction technology currently being deployed in the EU. Craton’s most cutting edge bio-fuels effort is Principle Energy Limited, Southern Africa’s largest sugar cane, bio-fuels production facility being developed in partnership with the country of Mozambique to deliver sustainably developed ethanol to the EU.

Craton’s portfolio companies have consistently grown by 150% per year in revenue and employ nearly eleven hundred people throughout the United States and southern Africa.

Tom has advised local and national figures from the White House to the City of Los Angeles on issues related to climate change, green jobs, air quality regulation and the economics of clean tech. In 2008 and early 2009, Tom was Team Co-lead of the Executive Office of the President’s Team spearheading the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) transition for President Barack Obama. In December 2009, Tom participated in President Obama’s White House Summit on Jobs, and presented his position on how clean technology could contribute to the country’s economic recovery. Tom recently founded and served on the executive and steering committee for the No on 23 Campaign in California to stop Texas oil companies from overturning the state’s landmark global warming legislation, AB 32. Through his and the committee’s efforts, the voters of California rejected efforts to turn back AB 32 by a margin of two to one.

Tom is a frequent contributor to state and local media for opinion on climate change, green jobs and other related matters. He has been a keynote speaker and presenter around the globe including at the 2010 Clean Technology EU Conference in London and the 2009 AustralAsia Clean Technology Summit in Melbourne, Australia. He was an early signatory on the United Nations Statement on the Principles for Responsible Investment.

Tom was also President Clinton’s appointee to the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission which oversaw and insured that the environmental component of the North American Free Trade Agreement was adhered to, and that the financial resources committed to these concerns were available through the multi-billion dollar North American Development Bank (NADBank). In 2010, he was selected by Hispanic Business Magazine in their annual list “One Hundred Most Influential Hispanics in the United States.”

Tom is a Director for the following Craton companies: EnLink GeoEnergy, GridPoint, Liquid Environmental Solutions, Principle Energy Limited and Propel BioFuels.

Tom is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles and lives in Santa Monica, CA.

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