Rajan Rathnavalu

Raj is the founder of Newo Global Energy, a non-profit social enterprise that engages in solar installation and energy audit services while training people with barriers to employment, particularly Indigenous youth.

As CEO, Raj oversees Newo’s development, education programs and charitable projects. He is also the co-founder of the Sunrise Farm Cooperative and the Spirit of the Land project at the University of Alberta Augustana Campus, from which Newo arose, and which was guided by the belief that solutions are bountiful when a community works together with mutual respect and compassion.

A contemplative at heart, Raj founded Newo with a vision to align our inner and outer lives in the context of a regular economy seemingly unable to sustain global well-being. Bringing our whole, authentic selves to work is a goal we all aspire to, but it requires an ongoing commitment to integrating both the more difficult and more beautiful aspects of our humanity.