Hunter Johansson (he/him)
NYU Alumni Changemaker of the Year
(WAG ’19)
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Solar Responders
Innovative champion harnessing solar energy for resilient emergency response, saving lives, positively impacting the environment, and shaping Puerto Rico's renewable future.
Long before his arrival at NYU, Hunter Johansson was a passionate community organizer and environmental advocate. He managed a home rebuilding non-profit organization in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. He helped frame environmental issues for elected officials and campaigned for progressive candidates in New York. When Hurricane Maria swept through Puerto Rico in 2017, causing the longest blackout in US history, Johansson—then a student at Wagner—felt compelled to help.
His first trip to the island revealed that power outages had severed communications between first responders and their surrounding communities. “Solar energy and battery storage was a real solution,” he says. “The island’s renewable-energy infrastructure was nascent and the firefighters’ need for power was critical.” Drawing on his experience as a fundraiser and coalition-builder—and using what he was learning in Professor Raj Thakkar’s Understanding Social Enterprise class at Wagner—Johansson developed a business plan that could grow that infrastructure. He began making frequent trips to Puerto Rico, cultivating relationships with firefighters, government officials, and renewable energy advocates, while soliciting foundations and private donors to fast-track solar-system installations.
Eleven months post-Maria, Johansson’s vision and determination gave rise to the green-infrastructure nonprofit, Solar Responders. SR operates solar panels and battery-storage systems at 19 emergency fire-stations and has provided over 5,000 hours of backup power during outages, keeping first responders up and running. Johansson has forged close ties with government agencies, community leaders, and the private sector, helping to shape the island’s plan to generate 100% of its power through renewable energy by 2050. “Issues like these take a long time to solve,” he says. “We must persevere.”