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Virginia "Ginger" Cutler
Virginia “Ginger” Cutler’s passion for service and international affairs was born in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, as a child growing up in Manhattan.
“I became quite interested in international security and geopolitics in a way that I might not have if 9/11 had not hit so close to home,” she says. “As a child, I had a visceral feeling of international terrorism as a threat to our country and my community.”
She went on to study international affairs at Georgetown University. While a student there, she taught English in Poland and worked at a boarding school in India, both of which nurtured a desire for a service-oriented career. She considered Teach for America, the Foreign Service, the Navy, and the Marine Corps, eventually deciding to pursue the latter.
She spent 10 years as a Marine Corps MV22 Osprey pilot, with multiple deployments across Europe and Asia as well as a tour as an instructor pilot. In 2022, she began her civilian career with a SkillBridge internship in venture capital.
Not long after she began a new role at Palantir Technologies, she witnessed another event that changed the course of her life and career. Wildfires were blazing in Canada in June 2023, and Cutler was struck by the severity of the smoke and poor air quality as far south as New York City. She felt a pull to get involved in the clean energy industry.
“I thought, ‘What am I doing with my career if I’m not working on what I perceive to be a major threat to the American way of life?’” Cutler says. She began her role at Voltus, a virtual power plant operator of distributed energy resources, eight months later.
Ginger Cutler became New York City Community Leader for Project Vanguard in early 2025. She was excited for the opportunity to advocate for clean energy, build a network of veterans in New York City, and help other veterans build strong careers in support of the clean energy mission.
“I love helping other veterans navigate their post-military careers,” Cutler says. “The transition from active duty to a civilian career is difficult for everyone, no matter how qualified, accomplished, or well-connected they are. It means a lot to me to help people in a vulnerable, uncertain moment of their lives.”
She says the clean energy industry can provide a sense of mission and purpose to veterans looking to serve a cause larger than themselves, in addition to providing a sense of stability in their post-military lives.
“Although the civilian world lacks the job security offered by the military, the energy industry is only growing and expanding,” Cutler says. “Veterans working in energy will likely find themselves in high demand for the remainder of their careers.”