Former Biden community energy chief joins Climate First Bank

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Climate First Bank, a Florida-based, FDIC-insured bank that offers solar financing and financial services to support the clean energy transition, named former Biden administration staffer Chris Castro as executive vice president and its first chief sustainability officer.

Climate First is a relatively modest financial institution, with $850 million in total assets as of October. For context, JPMorgan Chase held $4.2 trillion in assets as of Dec. 31.

Climate First originated more than $150 million in solar lending during its first two years and has been recognized as the fastest-growing community bank in the U.S. Climate First Bank’s goal is to reach $10 billion in assets within 10 years. It has four physical branch locations and depositors in all 50 states.

The bank is just one of three U.S. financial institutions, along with Amalgamated Bank and Areti Bank, that has stayed in the Net Zero Banking Alliance amid the political backlash over the industry’s net-zero aspirations.

An IPO on the planning books

Castro’s role will include management of sustainability strategy for OneEthos, a fintech subsidiary that offers an app to help green banks, credit unions and other financial institutions manage solar and battery loan portfolios.

“This is a newly formed position at the executive level to continue to drive forward our mission as we look to expand nationally and eventually IPO to be one of the first public climate banks in America,” Castro said. 

Castro actually co-founded Climate First Bank in June 2021 as one of five directors but left his fiduciary role in July 2022 to join the Department of Energy as chief of staff for the newly formed Office of State and Community Energy Programs. There, he managed a $16 billion portfolio of grants and technical assistance programs for states, tribes and local communities transitioning toward a clean energy future.

More than a decade in public service

Castro, named to the 2016 Trellis 30 Under 30 list of rising sustainability professionals, is a long-time public servant. He served for eight years as senior adviser on climate change to Buddy Dyer, mayor of Orlando, Florida. He was also director of sustainability and resilience for the city before being appointed to the DoE in July 2022 by President Joe Biden.

“In the Biden-Harris administration, we had a mantra that this transition is ‘Government-enabled and private-sector led,’ which has become my philosophy on how we can spur a market transformation towards climate-friendly solutions at scale,” Castro said. “I truly believe that’s the only way we will achieve our goals.”

Castro is a prolific entrepreneur still actively involved with several nonprofits and small businesses he founded including IDEAS For Us, which supports community-led environmental action; and Fleet Farming, a lawn to organic farm conversion program; and Citizen Energy, which handles clean energy retrofits in Washington, D.C., and parts of California.