Leila Madrone

Leila Madrone (she/her), Executive-in-Residence at Activate, has over 20 years of experience driving breakthrough hard-tech innovation. With bachelor’s and master’s degrees from MIT, she began her career in robotics, which led her to NASA before transitioning to the climate sector 17 years ago. As the founder of Sunfolding, she led the company over a 12-year journey from concept to full-scale manufacturing, bankability, and profitable utility-scale projects. After building Sunfolding through government awards, accelerators, corporate partnerships, and traditional VC, her work at Activate now focuses on developing optimal commercialization strategies for climate-tech founders.