Since 1992, Hayes has been president of the Bullitt Foundation in Washington and continues to be a leader in environmental and energy policy.

[6] Hayes received his undergraduate degree in history from Stanford University,[7] where he was president of the student body and an activist against the Vietnam War.

[28] Since 1992, Hayes has been president of the Bullitt Foundation[29] in Seattle, Washington and continues to be a leader in environmental and energy policy.

[30][31][32] By mobilizing the resources of The Bullitt Foundation, Hayes intends to make the Pacific Northwest the best-educated, most environmentally aware, most progressive corner of America—a global model for sustainable development.

For example, a solar array will generate as much electricity as the building uses and rain will supply as much water, with all wastewater treated onsite.

[36] Over Hayes' career, he has been a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC[37] and at the Bellagio Center in Italy, a senior fellow at the Worldwatch Institute,[38] an adjunct professor of engineering at Stanford University, a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow of the Bosch Foundation, a Silicon Valley lawyer at the Cooley Firm,[39] and author.

[40] He has served on dozens of governing boards, including those of Stanford University, the World Resources Institute, the Federation of American Scientists, The Energy Foundation,[41] Children Now, the National Programming Council for Public Television, the American Solar Energy Society, Greenpeace, CERES, and the Environmental Grantmakers Association.

[42][43] Hayes has received the national Jefferson Awards Medal for Outstanding Public Service,[44] as well as the highest awards bestowed by the Sierra Club, The Humane Society of the United States, the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Council of America,[45] the Global Environmental Facility of the World Bank, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, and the American Solar Energy Society.