# Hayes Barnard

> Hayes Barnard is the Austin-based founder, chairman and CEO of GoodLeap and GivePower, and the founder of sustainable-investment manager GoodFinch. After a career that ran from Oracle enterprise sales to mortgage lending and SolarCity, he built a financing platform around sustainable home upgrades and a nonprofit around solar-powered electricity and water systems. The common thread is his conviction that large problems become tractable when finance, software and a sharply defined sense of purpose are made to work together.

- **Role:** Founder, Chairman and CEO at GoodLeap and GivePower
- **Organizations:** GoodLeap, GivePower, GoodFinch, SolarCity, Paramount Solar, Oracle
- **From:** Creve Coeur, Missouri, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BSBA in Business Management and Marketing, University of Missouri
- **Known for:** Built GoodLeap into a major U.S. financing and software platform for sustainable home improvements; the company says it has supported more than $68 billion in sustainable-home solutions since founding., Led Paramount Solar through its 2013 acquisition by SolarCity for a reported $120 million., Helped SolarCity grow from about 1,000 to more than 17,000 employees and from 10 to 100 megawatts of monthly solar deployment, according to his official GoodLeap biography.

## Career timeline

- **1995** — Graduated from the University of Missouri and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, beginning a technology-sales career that included nearly a decade at Oracle.
- **2003** — Co-founded Paramount Equity Mortgage, the business that later became Loanpal and then GoodLeap.
- **2008** — Traveled with his executive team to help build a school in a remote village in Mali; he later described the trip as the inspiration for GivePower's trek program.
- **2008** — Founded Paramount Solar as a solar-focused business within the Paramount group.
- **2013** — SolarCity acquired Paramount Solar for a reported $120 million; Barnard became SolarCity's chief revenue officer.
- **2013** — Launched GivePower, initially connected to SolarCity's nonprofit work, to expand access to clean electricity and later safe water.
- **2017** — Concluded his tenure as SolarCity chief revenue officer after helping scale its workforce and monthly solar deployment.
- **2020** — Founded GoodFinch, an asset-management company focused on sustainable investments.
- **2021** — Loanpal rebranded as GoodLeap, broadening its identity beyond solar loans to a wider sustainable-home platform.
- **2023** — Delivered the University of Texas at Austin's university-wide commencement address to a crowd of roughly 50,000.
- **2024** — Inducted into the Mizzou Hall of Fame as a University of Missouri alumnus.

## Achievements

- Built GoodLeap into a major U.S. financing and software platform for sustainable home improvements; the company says it has supported more than $68 billion in sustainable-home solutions since founding.
- Led Paramount Solar through its 2013 acquisition by SolarCity for a reported $120 million.
- Helped SolarCity grow from about 1,000 to more than 17,000 employees and from 10 to 100 megawatts of monthly solar deployment, according to his official GoodLeap biography.
- Founded GivePower, which reports reaching more than 2.7 million people across 32 countries with clean-energy and safe-water projects.
- GivePower's solar water work received the 2020 Global Water Award and Kenya's 2021 Energy Globe Award.
- Inducted into the Mizzou Hall of Fame in 2024.
- Delivered the 2023 University of Texas at Austin commencement address.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Forbes updated Barnard's profile, continuing to list him as GoodLeap's cofounder and CEO and estimating his fortune at $2.9 billion.
- **2025-10** — GoodLeap closed its first $183 million securitization backed by company-originated solar leases and power-purchase agreements.
- **2025-09** — GoodLeap was named to Fortune's 2025 Change the World list and announced a nationwide expansion of its AI-powered virtual power plant.
- **2025-03** — Barnard appeared on How Leaders Lead for a 53-minute conversation about purpose, teams and applying artificial intelligence to personal development.
- **2024-10** — The University of Missouri inducted Barnard into the Mizzou Hall of Fame.

## Links

- Website: https://www.goodleap.com/leadership/hayes-barnard
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayesbarnard

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/hayes-barnard
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-26