Olga Bahdanava

Olga Bahdanava is an entrepreneur and a founding member of the board of Ecombustible Energy, LLC, a company that is transforming the carbon-free energy space starting with hydrogen-based fuel. Born under the communist regime in Belarus when it was part of the USSR, Bahdanava grew up in the small industrial town of Novopolotsk. Before climate change was of global concern, she experienced the devastating effects of the fossil fuel industry first-hand. The town was built around an oil refinery, a plastic producing chemical plant, and a fertilizer-producing facility. As a child, it was the norm to have to shelter indoors because of the toxic air emissions and the local river was too polluted with industrial waste to swim or fish in. The pollution’s damaging consequences didn’t stop there and many of her friends and family growing up had chronic health conditions ranging from breathing issues to heavy metal toxicity. Living a mere 400 miles from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant when it exploded in 1986, Bahdanava’s life was changed forever. She witnessed firsthand the devastating environmental fallout and human tragedy surrounding the clean-up that followed for many years after and had detrimental effects across Belarus. These events cemented her passion for environmental causes and public health by the time she was a young adult. Bahdanava is a strong proponent of a “can-do” attitude and cites Grant and Elena Cardon, whom she first met during the early days of eCombustible, as among the people that most inspire her. Bahdanava speaks 3 languages. She is a proud legal immigrant and an advocate for legal immigration.