Richard Amato

Director, Global Programs and Innovation

Richard Amato is the Director of Global Programs & Innovation (GPI) at Texas Global, the international office for The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). GPI through its Global Innovation Lab (GIL) and Global Customized Programs (GCP) group works with governments, universities and industry around the world to train emerging leaders, professionals and entrepreneurs. GIL focuses on capacity building and support for entrepreneurs in their communities to overcome local challenges, create jobs and drive sustainable economic development, while GCP manages grant-funded programs that provide exceptional academic and cultural enrichment opportunities for students, faculty and working professionals.

In addition to his work at Texas Global, Richard serves as faculty for the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin leading Global Connection classes around entrepreneurship and sustainability. Leveraging off his prior efforts with the World Bank, the classes support entrepreneurs at Climate Innovation Centers (CICs) in Africa and Southeast Asia in real time as they work to drive their venture forward. Richard also serves as the Managing Director of Carpe Aestus, a consultancy building off his extensive experience supporting hundreds of companies and organizations across the globe with a focus on sustainability and developing markets as they look to commercialize their technologies. Holding worldwide acclaim for his groundbreaking involvement in clean energy business development, Amato has been featured as a keynote and panelist in various conferences throughout the world: Austria, Denmark, Ghana, India, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malaysia, Norway, South Africa and Vietnam.

Prior to joining Texas Global, Richard served as the Director of Strategic & Global Initiatives at the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), the premier business incubator of UT Austin. He also founded and served as President and CEO of Venti Energy, a renewable development company dedicated to increasing the supply of clean, reliable and affordable energy. Previously he founded the Clean Energy Incubator (CEI) at UT Austin, the first incubator of its kind dedicated to supporting sustainable ventures.

Never standing still, Amato wants to ensure he does his part in leaving the world a better place for what's most important to him - his children.

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