Steven Kaufman has carried a drive to help companies succeed throughout his professional career. In addition to his current role as Operating Partner at private equity firm Riverside Partners, LLC, Steven Kaufman serves as a Director of Real Goods Solar. He joined the Board of Directors after the merger of the company with Alteris Renewables, Inc., where he served as Chief Executive Officer.

Steven Kaufman’s earlier career has included employment at some leading technology companies including Intel Corporation, Lucent Technologies, Inc. (now Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc.), and Avici Systems, Inc. As President and Chief Executive Officer at Avici Systems, Kaufman helped Avici Systems achieve a high level of product reliability for leading carrier customers. Starting his career with Avici Systems in 2000 after it became a publicly traded company, Steven Kaufman initially served as the company Chief Operating Officer.

At his first job after earning his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Brown University, Steven Kaufman worked as an Applications Specialist for Kurzweil Applied Intelligence. Steven Kaufman laid the groundwork for his career by earning an MBA from Harvard Business School, and continued his education after going to work for Intel Corporation in Santa Clara, California. Through a work-funded opportunity, he completed a Master of Science in Computer Science at Stanford University, specializing in data communication and systems. He holds six patents in the communications field.