Marilu Hastings, Mitchell Foundation EVP, to launch an independent advisory firm, lead Permian Energy Development Lab as executive chair

AUSTIN (May 19, 2026) — The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation (CGMF) announced that Marilu Hastings, executive vice president and director of the Mitchell Innovation Lab, is launching an independent advisory firm, Meridian House, departing the foundation July 3, 2026. Hastings’s new endeavor will focus on infrastructure governance, regional development, and advanced energy deployment. She will continue leading the Permian Energy Development Lab (PEDL) as executive chair, building on the work she launched through CGMF's Mitchell Innovation Lab.

Hastings’s work with the Mitchell family began in 1996 at the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), the sustainability research institution founded by George P. Mitchell in 1982. In 2011, she joined CGMF to carry that mission forward through philanthropy.

Over 15 years at the foundation, she helped establish CGMF as a leading philanthropic voice—in Texas and across the United States—on the integrated challenges of energy, land conservation, water, and sustainability education. She also founded and led the Mitchell Innovation Lab, the foundation’s program for identifying emerging sustainability issues and incubating breakthrough ideas.

Most recently, her leadership of PEDL—a CGMF-incubated partnership of industry, government, academia, and NGOs that cultivates advanced energy development while creating opportunities for energy communities—has shaped how CGMF engages with energy infrastructure governance. Under Hastings’s direction, PEDL is an emerging model for the governance of large-scale energy and AI infrastructure in energy-producing regions.

“Marilu has been part of our family's philanthropic work for three decades—first in support of my father’s vision at HARC, then at the Energy Foundation, and most recently at CGMF,” said Grant Mitchell, CGMF board chair. “Few people have shaped this foundation more than Marilu. She has carried my father’s conviction that Texas can lead the transition to a sustainable society into every corner of our work, and what she has built through the Mitchell Innovation Lab reflects the very best of what he hoped CGMF would become. Our family is deeply grateful for her vision, her tenacity, and her unwavering commitment to the foundation’s mission. We’re excited for what comes next, and proud to continue this partnership through PEDL.”

“I have worked alongside Marilu as a colleague and thought partner since 2011 when I became president of CGMF,” said Katherine Lorenz, president of CGMF.

“Marilu is one of the most original thinkers I have worked with. She has been the architect of how we approach many of the sustainability challenges facing Texas and the United States—and she has an unmatched ability to bring together the people, ideas, and organizations needed to make real progress. I'm grateful for everything she has given this foundation, and I’m thrilled we will continue to work together through PEDL as she moves this important work forward.”

“George P. Mitchell believed the transition to a sustainable society was both necessary and achievable. That conviction has guided my work for three decades—first at HARC, then at the Energy Foundation, and for the past 15 years at CGMF,” Hastings said. “I’m grateful to the Mitchell family and to my colleagues for the opportunity to have built this work alongside them, and I look forward to continuing to advance these questions—particularly in my new capacity with PEDL.”

The Austin-based Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation seeks innovative, sustainable solutions at the nexus of environmental protection, economic vibrancy, and human well-being. CGMF also stewards Cook's Branch Conservancy, a 7,000-acre field laboratory in the East Texas Pineywoods, and supports Galveston and other initiatives that reflect the Mitchells’ legacy and values.

Under CGMF's existing leadership, the foundation will continue advancing its mission across all sustainability programs, including ongoing collaboration with PEDL.

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For more information: 
Brett Holmes 
The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
(713) 244-4178
bholmes@CGMF.org

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