Fourteen Years at the Intersection: A Conversation with Rasheq Rahman

After fourteen years on the AE2C Leadership Team, six of which on the Board of
Directors, Rasheq Rahman is stepping down. Susan sat down with him to reflect on
what drew him to the organization, the moments that defined his tenure, and what he
hopes comes next.

Susan: You’ve been with AE2C since 2012. Take us back to the beginning — how
did you first get involved?
I attended the May 4, 2012, AE2C Luncheon as a recent MBA grad. Robert Gee, Jenny
Hou — these were the people on stage, and I was in the audience trying to figure out
where I fit in the energy world. I’d gone from Goldman Sachs to structured finance at
KBC, then to Yale for my MBA where I focused on business and the environment, and
eventually to Virginia Tech’s Advanced Research Institute working on smart grid and
clean energy. At every stop, I was often the only person in the room who cared about
the things I cared about — energy policy, environmental sustainability, the question of
who gets a seat at the table when these decisions are made.
That luncheon changed things. For the first time, I was surrounded by people who
understood all of that without explanation. Not as a talking point, but as something felt
deep in their cores. That feeling of recognition, of not having to translate yourself — it’s
hard to describe until you’ve experienced it. By November of that year I was actively
engaged, and I never looked back.


Susan: Your first role was Events Chair. What was that like?
I had no idea what I was getting into. But I fell in love with producing events quickly.
There’s this assumption that the important work of an organization is the big-stage stuff
— the panels, the keynotes. And that matters. But what I discovered is that the work I
found most fulfilling was the behind-the-scenes infrastructure that makes everything
else possible.
I became the person who set up website using Wild Apricot so we could actually
manage our membership back in 2012 — and more recently, I led the transition from
Wild Apricot to its enterprise product, which was a big step for us as an organization. I
got us onto Google Workspace for Nonprofits so our teams in Houston, DC, and Boston
could collaborate without emailing attachments back and forth. I was the one showing
up at conferences with a PayPal reader so we could sign people up on the spot. Not
exactly keynote material — but here’s the thing people don’t always see: the DOE
programs, the Houston conference, the FERC interviews, all of that external presence.
None of it happens without the operational work behind it. Somebody has to build the
systems that let an organization show up credibly in those rooms. That was my work,
along with my team members, and I’m proud of it.

Susan: You went from Events Chair to Program Committee Chair to National
Board Secretary and Technology Head. How did your role evolve?
It grew organically. I started on the Program Committee, which is where I got to shape
the actual conversations we were having as a community — policy forums, Hill
briefings, technical panels on clean energy, grid modernization, workforce diversity. That
was where I found my footing. Then I became National Board Secretary, which gave me
a front-row seat to how the organization was being built from the inside. And the
technology side just became mine because I was the one who understood the systems.
I liked the combination. One side was about curating the substance of what AE2C stood
for, and the other was about building the operational backbone that held it all together.
Both felt essential.

Susan: What are the moments that stand out most vividly?
A few come to mind immediately.
Standing in the Department of Energy in 2014, watching our community participate in an
AAPI program alongside Secretary Ernest Moniz. I remember looking around the room
and thinking: we belong here. Not as guests. As participants. That was a milestone —
not just for AE2C, but for the broader movement toward inclusion in energy policy.
And one that was especially personal. In 2019, I moderated a panel called “Imagining
the Electric Power Grid in 2030” — a co-production between AE2C’s DC chapter and
Virginia Tech’s Advanced Research Institute, held at the VT building in Arlington. We
had Eric Hsieh, who was then Director for Grid Systems and Components at DOE’s
Office of Electricity, talking about grid modernization and energy storage. My father,
Saifur Rahman, was involved through the Virginia Tech connection and his leadership in
smart grid research. The discussion was about how the physical grid might look the
same by 2030 but the entire experience of electric power would be transformed —
distributed energy, smart devices, new business models. Afterward we all went
downstairs for a networking happy hour in the lobby. Having my dad there, moderating a
panel that brought together AE2C and his world at Virginia Tech — that was one of
those moments where two parts of your life finally meet. It meant the world to me.
Then there was our three-day conference in Houston in 2015, with the Mayor joining us.
Houston is the energy capital of the world, and there we were — a young organization
— convening a serious conversation about the industry’s future. I remember the
nervous energy of pulling it off, and the pride when we did.
And helping to organize and be a part of events with FERC Chairmen Neil Chatterjee
and Norman Bay for one-on-one interviews. Those weren’t photo ops. They were
substantive conversations about regulation and the energy transition, and they
happened because people in power had started to take AE2C seriously. That still
means a lot to me.

Susan: What will you miss most?
The people. Without question.
Robert Gee, Jenny Hou, Jeanette Pablo, Anand Subbiah, Puja Vohra, Melita Elmore —
and so many others who’ve cycled through board and chapter service over the years.
The late-night calls before big events. The debates about strategy that sometimes got
heated because everyone cared so much. The shared sense that we were building
something that would outlast any one of us.
Watching AE2C grow from a small network to a 501(c)(3) with over 300 professionals
and chapters in Washington, DC, Massachusetts, Texas, and now California — that’s a
collective achievement. I played my part, but this was never a one-person show.

Susan: Why step down now?
Fourteen years is a long time. Long enough to know that the best thing a board member
can do is recognize when it’s time to make room — for new energy, new ideas, new
leadership. AE2C’s mission has never been more urgent. The energy transition is
accelerating. The need for diverse leadership is growing. And the foundation we’ve built
is strong enough to support whatever comes next.
That’s actually the best feeling — knowing you can walk away not because the work is
done, but because the organization doesn’t need you the way it used to. That’s a sign of
health.

Susan: Any parting words for the AE2C community?
I’m not disappearing. I’ll still be showing up at events, cheering from the sidelines, and
probably offering unsolicited opinions about the website.
But really — to everyone who’s been part of this journey, the members who showed up,
the volunteers who gave their time, the leaders who took risks on a young organization
— thank you. You gave me a professional home for fourteen years, and I’m a better
person for it.
Rasheq Rahman served on the AE2C Leadership Team and Board of Directors from
2012 to 2025 as Program Committee Chair, National Board Secretary, and Technology
Head. He holds an MBA from Yale University and a BA in Economics and
Environmental Studies from the University of Chicago. He is the founder of TYGR
Ventures and the Secretary of the McLean Community Foundation.