John Penney

John Penney is Chief Growth Officer leading companies in climate tech innovation. For more than 20 years, he has been applying systems thinking to identify trends and design innovative global businesses in digital media and entertainment. He transforms business models, crafts strategic partnerships, and pioneers product and service strategies underpinned by financial rigor.

Penney is the Growth and Strategy Advisor to the CEO of Pebble, a next-gen Silicon Valley sustainable living start-up founded by ex-Apple, Tesla, and automotive executives at the intersection of EVs, smart homes, robotics, AI, and sustainable energy. Penney is also an advisor to the CEOs & Founders of Aclymate, a carbon accounting start-up, and Greenfactory.ai, an industrial AI company helping manufacturers deliver enhanced profitability and sustainability. Additionally, Penney is the Chief Sustainability Advisor to CoMotion, the premiere global mobility and transportation collaboration platform.

For the past three years, Penney has also been Chief Growth Strategist of market expansion consultancy NextGen Foundry, advising clients The Volvo Group, Bosch, Infineon Technologies, The Nature Group, Translink Capital, and California Technology International.

Having started his career in media and entertainment business innovation, Penney has held senior executive positions with 20th Century Fox, Starz, IMG, HBO, and Viacom. He launched the first streaming service in the Middle East, Starz Play Arabia, raising $50M in private equity capital, curating a roll-out plan for 19 countries, and being selected as Chairman by lead investor GE.

He currently serves on the Board of Industry Leaders of the Consumer Technology Association, which stages CES, the annual innovation show in Las Vegas, where he moderates keynote panels. Penney is also an Executive Board Member of Sustain SoCal, a trade association in sustainability and cleantech.

Penney holds an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, where he is a Guest Lecturer on Climate Change and Business Strategy. He also holds an MPA with a concentration in Science & Technology Policy from Columbia University and a BA in Social Psychology from Wesleyan University. Penney is a dual EU citizen, keynote speaker, moderator, and evangelist living in Los Angeles with his wife, daughter, and two dogs.