Michael Dunn Story

Michael Dunn enlisted in the Army to help fund his college education, and served seven years in the Army and National Guard. He earned his bachelor's degree from University of Alabama and his MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

After completing his MBA, he began working at the Boston Consulting Group, where a mentor of his—who happened to be an Army veteran himself—encouraged him to get involved with the group’s energy practice. He discovered a passion for renewable energy, which led him to his current role leading market intelligence and policy for Qcells out of its corporate affairs office in Washington, D.C.

“I’m not tree-huggy, but I am cognizant of climate change, and I didn’t want to do anything with my career that would exacerbate any problems in the world,” Dunn says. “I wanted to be aligned with something I cared about, not just doing a job for a job’s sake. I have a huge feeling of contributing to helping a problem I see.”

He says that feeling of service, plus the mission-driven atmosphere, closely mirrors his experience in the Army.

We called it ‘big boy rules,’ which meant you took care of what you needed to take care of, and you knew that nobody was going to be breathing down your neck,” Dunn says.

Dunn views the energy industry as vitally important in protecting American interests, especially in keeping manufacturing stateside. He says Qcells alone employs 2,000 factory workers in Dalton, Ga., and is planning a second factory closeby that will employ another 2,000 people.

“There’s an impression that the only people doing a lot of these jobs in renewable energy are officer types, but there’s a lot of upward momentum available to enlisted types like I was,” Dunn says. “The industry offers diverse career paths, from skilled trades like solar installation and wind turbine maintenance to project management, engineering, or policy work.”