Goodbye to our founder Leo

After over fifteen years of involvement with Possible, our co-founder and Co-Director Leo Murray has taken the decision to move on from the organisation to focus on Riding Sunbeams, a community energy start-up of which he is the Chief Executive Officer.

Leo took a leading role in founding Possible (then known as 10:10) in the late 2000s, following the seminal climate film Age Of Stupid, with the mission of providing viewers with something practical to do in response to the problem of climate change. 

This began with a campaign encouraging people and organisations to cut their carbon by 10% in 2010. The 10:10 campaign was groundbreaking at the time, with major brands like O2, cultural institutions like the Natural History Museum, local authorities, NHS Trusts and football clubs, thousands of schools and business and over 110,000 ordinary people taking part in a national, collective effort to drive down greenhouse gas emissions in line with the climate science. In the years since, the organisation has grown under Leo’s co-leadership into one of the sector's most innovative and energetic NGOs, helping the public take positive and practical climate action in their lives, homes and communities.

One such project is Riding Sunbeams - a pioneering model of plugging community solar power directly into electrified railways to power trains. After a period of research, feasibility studies, and pilot schemes, Riding Sunbeams became viable enough to become a standalone entity in 2018, of which Leo became a Director (with Possible retaining part-ownership).

After recently taking a year’s sabbatical from Possible to focus on Riding Sunbeams, the project now stands at a critical moment of radical expansion, as our railways prepare to buy power directly from solar plants at scale. Railways are the UK’s biggest electricity consumers, and Leo has decided to step away from his role at Possible to dedicate himself to making sure that the community energy sector is able to win some of these power supply contracts. It’s an exciting time for Riding Sunbeams, with Leo’s innovative idea finally about to become a serious commercial reality, with large numbers of megawatt-scale solar farms expected to be connected directly to railway traction power systems instead of to the grid in the next few years.

More information about Riding Sunbeams is available on their website.

Leo says:

“The decision to step away from Possible was one of the most difficult of my career, but I’m confident it is the right one at this moment.

”I’m so proud of everything I have helped to build in collaboration with dozens of incredible colleagues over the last decade and a half, and I’m excited to watch what the organisation goes on to achieve next.

“Plugging solar into railways is an idea whose time has come, and I am convinced that the most impact I can make in this critical period is to ensure that this step change for community energy and public transport is radically scaled across the country, and indeed the world.

“I’m extremely proud and grateful to have led an organisation which can bring forward viable, trailblazing climate innovations like Riding Sunbeams, and I know that there will be many more such transformative projects brought forward by Possible in the years to come.

“Thank you to the many talented and committed colleagues I have worked with over the last fifteen years, the visionary and trusting board members, and most of all the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people up and down the country who have supported wind farms, planted trees, put solar on their schools, cut their car use, lobbied their elected representatives, and kept climate at the heart of the cultural conversation no matter the political weather. 

“Together, we will create a zero carbon Britain. Wherever I work, this will remain my mission until it is done.”

It is with mixed emotions that his colleagues at Possible say goodbye to Leo. We will feel the loss of his leadership, energy, enthusiasm, innovation, creativity and incredible standing in the sector. But we are also proud to see him continuing to innovate, make impact and trailblaze by scaling up a project which we are delighted to have cultivated here at Possible.

Everyone at Possible wishes Leo the very best in all the incredible work he will continue to lead across the climate movement in the decades ahead. 

Any partner organisations or stakeholders who have any questions about Leo’s departure should contact hello@wearepossible.org where your enquiry will be directed to the appropriate person.