Spotlight on Hassan Ebrahim, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Sustainability at Yellow Door Energy
What are your key responsibilities and objectives as Yellow Door Energy's SVP of Corporate Development and Sustainability?
As the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Sustainability at Yellow Door Energy (“YDE”), my primary responsibility is to ensure that sustainability is integrated into YDE’s business, culture and governance practices across the company.
The three main objectives for me in this role are related to reporting, climate governance and social impact.
(1) Reporting: Numerous stakeholders, including YDE’s shareholders, lenders, and customers are increasingly requiring the company to demonstrate and report detailed Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) metrics and credentials. Therefore, my first major objective is for the company to develop robust sustainability reporting practices.
(2) Climate Governance: This entails working closely with our senior leadership team to incorporate assessment of climate risks and opportunities into the governance framework. This means setting ambitious climate targets for our company, and you’ll hear more about this soon!
(3) Social Impact: Since our company’s inception, we have been a leader when it comes to social initiatives in all our operating markets. Some examples of our community activities include planting ghaf trees, packing food at labor camps, supporting children with special needs, and donating to disaster-relief funds. This year, my aim is to formalize our company’s social impact strategy to ensure we’re giving back to the community in our operating markets and in our new markets, such as South Africa and others.
What were the highlights of your career and education before becoming Yellow Door Energy's SVP of Corporate Development and Sustainability?
I have been working at Yellow Door Energy for 7 years, and am proud to have been one of the earliest employees hired at the company. I’ve witnessed YDE’s transformative growth from a start-up to now becoming one of the largest distributed solar companies in the region.
Prior to my sustainability role, I was responsible for equity fundraising at YDE. A career highlight for me was the opportunity to lead multiple rounds of capital raising from leading institutions such as Actis, IFC, Mitsui and APICORP. In October 2022, YDE closed a $400 million equity fundraise with Actis as a lead investor. Through that experience, I developed an understanding of the factors that institutional investors look for when making investment decisions. Our shareholders place significant importance on the role of sustainability in driving long-term value in their portfolio companies.
In terms of education, in 2022 I completed an Executive MBA from INSEAD in France. The experience helped me broaden my intellectual horizon beyond finance, enabling me to shift the focus of my role at YDE to strategy, corporate development and sustainability. I’m also a CFA charter holder, and have a degree in Economics and Sociology from the University of Toronto in Canada.
Why is sustainability important for businesses during UAE's Year of Sustainability and ahead of COP28?
Sustainability should not be viewed as a short-term project to be implemented only during the Year of Sustainability. It is an ongoing process with multiple nodes to fully embed sustainable practices into a business’ DNA.
As we approach the year 2030, our company’s stakeholders, such as customers, lenders, investors, and suppliers, have been requiring us to report on sustainability and ESG metrics. Sustainability is already high on the agenda of most global institutions.
Businesses that incorporate ESG factors and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) into their culture, business practices and governance benefit by becoming more resilient and environmentally responsible. They open the door to more cost-effective financing, and can attract and retain more talented people to their teams. Being a sustainability leader also makes good business sense.
What is Yellow Door Energy's perspective on industry associations' role such as MESIA?
Our company has been a MESIA member for many years. Industry associations such as MESIA play a very vital role in raising awareness about sustainable business practices and setting the standard for the entire industry to grow in a responsible way.
As for MESIA members, it is important that we all lead by example. Renewable energy businesses are not exempt from the responsibility to be sustainable and incorporate ESG KPIs into their business practices.
As a lifetime learner, I’m always open to hearing about new products, innovations and break-throughs to help businesses become more sustainable. Feel free to reach out to me directly on LinkedIn or send our company an email at gosolar@yellowdoorenergy.com.