Two Shleifer Senior Fellows Named
The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania is pleased to announce the appointment of two inaugural Shleifer Senior Fellows, Leslie Labruto and Danny Cullenward. These Shleifer fellows join a robust community of dozens of current and former Kleinman Center senior fellows, including policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, and analysts.
Senior fellows help extend the Kleinman Center’s reach beyond campus, building meaningful connections with decision-makers, institutions, and communities working at the front lines of energy policy. Through teaching, research, public engagement, and professional networks, they help translate ideas into action and strengthen the center’s ability to inform policy debates, shape practical solutions, and support a just and efficient energy transition.
Labruto, CEO of Resolve Fund, brings expertise in climate finance and impact investing, with a focus on creative options to tackle climate change. She is a former EDF managing director of the sustainable finance team, where she helped drive finance for decarbonization across multiple sectors, including oil and gas, food and agriculture, and transportation. Labruto is also a venture partner with Delta40 in Nairobi, Kenya, building a climate portfolio with new financing solutions suited for emerging markets.
Cullenward, who is transitioning into this named position to deepen his work with the Kleinman Center, brings expertise in legal and policy processes. He is also vice chair of California’s Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee, a member of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Independent Standards Board, and a member of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism’s Methodological Expert Panel. As part of his work with the Kleinman Center, he has lectured, published, and appeared as a guest on the Kleinman Center podcast Energy Policy Now.
The Shleifer Senior Fellows Program is possible because of the generosity of Scott (W ‘99) and Elena Shleifer. The program provides financial support for two senior fellow positions annually for three years. These senior fellows integrate teaching and lecturing, research and writing, and public engagement to advance public policy outcomes in their specialized areas of expertise.
“Scott and Elena Shleifer’s commitment to the center represents an extraordinary investment in the people who make our work possible. Shleifer fellowships strengthen our ability to recruit and retain leading practitioners,” said Cory Colijn, executive director of the Kleinman Center. “Senior fellows have deep expertise, judgment, and real-world experience that enrich Penn’s classrooms, expand our research agenda, and help move energy policy ideas into practice.”
About the Shleifers: Scott Shleifer is a 1999 graduate of the Wharton School and a former partner at Tiger Global Management, where he co-founded the firm’s venture capital business. He and his wife, Elena, are dedicated philanthropists whose generosity at Penn includes naming the Shleifer Family Penn First Plus Center, supporting multiple undergraduate scholarships, and providing meaningful contributions to the School of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Education, the Wharton School, and a range of other university-wide initiatives. Beyond Penn, the Shleifers’ philanthropy reaches broadly across educational and community organizations through their family foundation, reflecting their deep commitment to expanding opportunity and strengthening the institutions that support children and families.
About the Kleinman Center: Kleinman Center for Energy Policy operates within the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design. Its mission is to create the conditions for policy innovation that support a just and efficient transition to sustainable energy.
