Greg Orman is an entrepreneur, businessman, and leading voice in the U.S. political independent movement. His career includes founding, growing, and helping to lead companies that range in value from a few million dollars to over a billion.

At age 23, Mr. Orman started his first business, Environmental Lighting Concepts (ELC), which designed and installed energy-efficient lighting. Mr. Orman grew ELC into a nationwide company with offices in Minneapolis, Kansas City, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Dallas.

In 1997, Mr. Orman sold 70 percent of ELC to a subsidiary of Kansas City Power & Light. He agreed to run KCP&L’s unregulated energy services and became the CEO of Custom Energy. In 2000, Mr. Orman was given responsibility for all of KCP&L’s unregulated businesses, and over the next two years, grew revenue from roughly $100 million to just under $800 million.

Mr. Orman left KCP&L in December of 2002 and has invested in and helped to build over a dozen companies in a range of industries.

In his current capacity as founder of Exemplar Holdings, Mr. Orman’s investments include:

• Healthcare/Fitness: Innovative products and technology to reduce healthcare costs and improve overall health.
• Value-Added Real Estate: Renovating or otherwise improving real-estate property with an emphasis on energy efficiency.
• Green Businesses: Glass recycling, innovative reusable insulation, greenhouse gas capture, and financing of energy-efficiency projects.

Mr. Orman currently serves on the advisory board of the National Policing Institute and has served on the board of directors at the Kansas City Zoo and chaired the Capital Campaign for the YMCA Youth in Government program, among other charitable activities. Mr. Orman also helped form the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers and is on the board of directors at Unite America.

In 2014, Mr. Orman ran as an Independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Kansas, earning 43 percent of the vote and falling just short of defeating incumbent Senator Pat Roberts. At the time, NBC News referred to Mr. Orman as “the most interesting man in politics.” In 2018, Mr. Orman ran again as an Independent, this time as a candidate for the office of Kansas Governor.

He is the author of A Declaration of Independents and has been a frequent contributor to Real Clear Politics. His writing has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Washington Examiner, The Kansas City Star, and other national media outlets. He has appeared on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Bloomberg, and numerous other local TV and radio stations.

Greg Orman graduated with High Honors from Princeton University. He lives in the Kansas City Area with his wife, Sybil, and their two daughters.