Greenhouse Accelerator Inc.

“Gacih's board of directors reviews the organizations financial situation bi-monthly at board meetings. The draft form 990 and related schedules are prepared by executive director and reviewed by the treasurer (board position) and the entire board of directors.”

“The organization consistently monitors and enforces compliance with its conflict of interest policy by addressing any potential conflict in real time. Each board member, employee and advisor is required to complete a annual declaration of potential conflicts.”

“The board of directors formally and independently approved the compensation for the executive director of gacih, guided by legal counsel, the board of directors executive compensation committee, and the due diligence procedures contained in gacih's conflict of interest policy.”

“Gacih's governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available upon request.”

“History and evolution: the organization was established in 2012 as an initiative of the green chamber of the south and spun out as a stand alone 501c3, the greenhouse accelerator inc, in 2016. The organization rebranded as the georgia cleantech innovation hub (now doing business as - dba) in 2023 taking on the broader mission of innovation ecosystem building. The organization has been operated fully by volunteers, including a full time executive director, in preparation for bringing on paid staff starting in 2025. The organization currently has two full time, paid, employees and forecasts that the ratio of program spend to g&a spend will increase subtantially in the coming fiscal year (2025).”

“Theory of change: innovation industries, like cleantech, grow and create jobs at nearly double the rate of all other sectors. We work throughout georgia to help cleantech innovators to access the captial, customers, partners, and phyiscal resources they need to grow a business, to build a product or deploy a project in the state. In turn, this will create good jobs, products and solutions that lead to more sustainable and resilient ways of living for residents and communities in the state and region.”

“Area of focus #1: ecosystem-building: by creating programs to support cleantech innovators, the greenhouse accelerator (dba georgia cleantech innovation hub -- gacih) connects georgia's cleantech startups to the wealth of resources the state has to offer that help early-stage innovators raise capital, win customer contracts, and develop and deploy cleantech products and services. Going forward, the organization is focused on creating the action plan to build a multipurpose physical space that supports the prototyping, testing, and small-scale manufacturing needs of the state's cleantech startups.”

“Area of focus #2: direct support of cleantech innovators: by providing coaching and advice to innovators through its network of mentors, gacih facilitates business formation, product development, market and product validation, and early field deployments. These services are meant to enhance market access to innovators in georgia and the greater southeast across cleantech sectors that complement with the region's strenghts: logistics, built-environment, agriculture, fintech, and resilient clean energy. Future work in this program area will focus on creating industry and corporate partnerships that identify commercialization opportunities for new products and services, and the programs that increase the number of pilots the decrease the hurdles to widespread adoption of cleantech solutions at scale within georgia and the southeast.”

“Area of focus #3: thought leadership and community building: by creating deeply researched reports and newsletters and hosting community-building events, gacih increases awareness of the state's cleantech innovation capabilities and impact on local communities. These efforts are aimed at attracting new innovators, entreprenuers, investors, workforce and students to cleantech-related industries and fields. Going forward, gacih will continue and expand upon its current activities (cleantech outlook report, newsletter, databases, and meet up events) with new event series, resource maps, and greater topic and geographic reach.”