Speakers for VX2024

Carla J. Peterman is Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer for PG&E Corporation, the parent company of Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

Peterman has spent her career focused on California's energy policy and regulatory landscape. At PG&E, she oversees the company's regulatory, legislative, sustainability, and charitable strategies, all focused on delivering for the customers and communities that PG&E serves in Northern and Central California.

Prior to joining PG&E in 2021, Peterman served as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Regulatory Affairs at Southern California Edison. Before that she served a six-year term as a Commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

A steadfast proponent of clean energy, at the CPUC Peterman led the adoption of the first utility energy storage mandate in the country, the approval of nearly $1 billion of utility investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, the adoption of utility energy efficiency goals and business plans, and the implementation of California's Renewables Portfolio Standard.

Before her CPUC appointment, Peterman served on the California Energy Commission, where she was the lead commissioner for renewables, transportation, and natural gas. She also is a former board member of The Utility Reform Network, an organization that represents consumers before the CPUC and California Legislature.

In 2019, Governor Newsom appointed her to chair the Commission on Catastrophic Wildfire Cost and Recovery. She currently serves as a member of the Federal Reserve of San Francisco Economic Advisory Council. She has also served on various other boards, including the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), NARUC's Energy Resources and Environment Committee (Vice-Chair), and the external advisory board for Sandia National Laboratories’ Energy and Homeland Security Portfolio.

Peterman holds a BA from Howard University, a PhD in energy and resources from the University of California, Berkeley, and MS and MBA degrees from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.

Adel Hagekhalil is the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the largest wholesale drinking water agency in the country. Metropolitan is a state-established cooperative that delivers water to 26-member public agencies, serving 19 million people across Southern CA.
 
As General Manager, Mr. Hagekhalil is responsible for leading Metropolitan’s daily and long-term operations and planning to provide safe, reliable water to Southern California. He oversees Metropolitan’s $1.9 billion annual budget, 1,800 employees, and extensive system of conveyance, storage, treatment, and delivery infrastructure.
 
Mr. Hagekhalil is a registered civil engineer and national board-certified environmental engineer, having earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Houston, TX. Before joining Metropolitan, he was appointed in 2018 by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to serve as the executive director and general manager of the city’s Bureau of Street Services. His responsibilities included oversight of the management, maintenance, and improvement of the city’s network of streets, sidewalks, trees, and bikeways. He also focused on climate change adaptation and multi-benefit integrated active transportation corridors.
 
Previously, he served nearly 10 years as assistant general manager of the Los Angeles’ Bureau of Sanitation, led the city’s wastewater collection system, stormwater and watershed protection program, water quality compliance, advance planning, and facilities. He also helped develop the city’s 2040 One Water LA Plan, an award-winning regional watershed approach to integrate water supply, reuse, conservation, stormwater management and wastewater facilities planning.
 
Mr. Hagekhalil is a member of the American Public Works Association as well as the Water Environment Federation, which recognized him in 2019 as a WEF Fellow for his contribution to enhancing and forwarding the water industry. He also served for more than a decade as a board member on the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, including a term as president.

Randall Winston was appointed Acting Executive Director of the Strategic Growth Council in July 2015 and was officially sworn in as Executive Director in December 2015. Prior to his appointment, Randall served in Governor Brown's office as Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary, where he helped lead implementation of Governor Brown's Executive Orders on Green Buildings and Zero Emission Vehicles as well as international climate change policy. Randall has professional experience in architecture, urban development, venture technology and finance, most recently having worked for the architecture and integrated design practice Foster + Partners prior to joining Governor Brown's office as an Executive Fellow through the Center for California Studies' Capital Fellows Program. Randall was a founding director at Causes, a venture technology company led by Facebook's founding president, and worked in Beijing, China for SOHO China, an integrated urban development and architecture firm, as well as Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities, a China mainland joint-venture with Goldman Sachs.

Randall received a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in Government from Harvard University. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, Urban Land Institute and Pacific Council on International Policy.

Stephanie Wiggins was named chief executive officer of Metrolink by a unanimous vote of the board of directors in December 2018. Wiggins assumed leadership in January 2019 and leads the 275-employee strong commuter railroad with a budget of $793 million.

As CEO, Wiggins directs an agency that operates a commuter rail network on seven routes across a six-county, 538 route-mile system. Wiggins has held high-level positions at three of the five-member agencies that comprise Metrolink and is well-known as a customer -focused leader who finds solutions from a regional perspective.

Wiggins’ vision for the agency is to create value and exceed expectations by prioritizing a customer-first orientation with three pillars to provide an outstanding customer experience: safety and security, an integrated system, and modernizing business practices.

Prior to leading Metrolink, Wiggins was Deputy CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) where she assisted the CEO in providing leadership and formulating and achieving strategic public transportation objectives, including the passage of Measure M, a half-cent sales tax approved by 71 percent of voters in LA County. During her tenure at LA Metro, Stephanie also served as the Executive Director of Vendor/Contract Management, where she implemented procurement streamlining initiatives and greatly expanded Metro’s utilization of small and historically underutilized businesses.

Prior to that role, Stephanie was the Executive Officer and Project Director of the Congestion Reduction/ExpressLanes Program where she launched the first high occupancy toll lanes in LA County, the I-10 and I-110 Express Lanes, which improved travel times and travel reliability on two of the County’s most congested freeway corridors. Prior to Metro, she served as Regional Programs Director for the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) and oversaw transit, commuter rail, rideshare, goods movement and rail capital projects. Wiggins began her career in transportation when she accepted a temporary assignment at the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority and fell in love with the mission of the agency. The six-month temporary assignment turned into more than four years. She then accepted a policy analyst position with the RCTC where she worked for an additional nine and a half years in management and senior management roles.

Feeling the need for personal and academic growth, Wiggins earned a Master of Business Administration from the USC Marshall School of Business in 2007. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Whittier College in 1992.

Wiggins is a self-proclaimed “military brat” whose father made his career in the Air Force. She credits her experience moving from base to base and country to country as a child for teaching her the importance of diversity.

Wiggins is the founding president of the Inland Empire Chapter of Women’s Transportation Seminar. She is the recipient of many awards including the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials 2018 Women Who Move the Nation Award. She is a Board Member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Friends of the Children, the LA Division of the American Heart Association, and an Advisory Board Member for the UCLA Lewis Center. 

Liane Randolph has spent most of her career in public service, specializing in environmental law and policy, effective administration, and a commitment to transparency and public process. She was appointed Chair of the California Air Resources Board by Governor Gavin Newsom in December 2020. Starting in 2015, Randolph served six years as a Commissioner at the California Public Utilities Commission and managed numerous decisions on energy efficiency, integrated energy resource planning, and regulation of transportation network companies, as well as spearheading significant Commission policy reforms. Prior to the PUC, Randolph served from 2011 to 2014 as Deputy Secretary and General Counsel at the California Natural Resources Agency, where she worked on a wide variety of legal and policy issues, including work on the Klamath Dam Removal agreement, CEQA guidelines, and the Agency’s first Tribal Consultation Policy. Randolph’s first role with the State was as Chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission from 2003 to 2007. Her work at the state level builds on experience with local government that she gained while practicing municipal law as a contract City Attorney for the Cities of San Leandro and Suisun City. Randolph earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and lives in Oakland with her husband and family. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, running, and reading.

Sara Neff is the Head of Sustainability, Lendlease Americas, where she provides leadership and management oversight in developing, implementing and driving Lendlease's corporate sustainability framework in the Americas region. Prior to that role, she served as Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Kilroy Realty Corporation. Under her leadership, Kilroy has been recognized as a leader among publicly traded real estate companies on sustainability in the Americas by GRESB for seven of the last eight years as well as being recognized by NAREIT, and achieved carbon neutral operations at the end of 2020. She is a LEED Fellow and holds a BS from Stanford and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Elise Zoli is a partner in the energy and climate solutions practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she focuses on advancing strategic alliances in the clean energy, water, agriculture, and de-carbonized sectors.

Elise has worked extensively on a variety of groundbreaking technologies, transactions, and projects, including with nuclear, solar, wind, fuel cell (PEM (polymer electrolyte membrane) and SOF/EC (solid oxide fuel cells)), storage, micro- and smart-grid, CCUS, de-salination, and water technologies, as well as the associated securitization and markets for carbon, fuels, land, and ecological attributes. In conjunction with her transactional work, which focuses on strategic alliances, Elise has pioneered the use of novel P3 (public-private partnership) instruments, including U.S. Department of Energy grants, loan guarantees, and incentives.

Prior to joining Wilson Sonsini, Elise was a partner and the global head of the Future of Energy, Renewables+ and Sustainability initiative at Jones Day. Previously, she led the energy practice and was a partner at Goodwin Procter.

Elise is a co-founder of the Alliance for a Climate Resilient Earth and serves on the board of directors of the Stimson Center, a leading, nonpartisan global think tank. She is currently obtaining her global M.B.A. from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

Tyson Eckerle serves as the Deputy Director of Zero Emission Vehicle Market Development in the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (Go Biz). In this role, he leads a team focused on scaling the zero emission vehicle market by organizing stakeholder efforts to remove market barriers, create opportunities, and streamline development. Prior to joining Go Biz, Tyson served as Executive Director of Energy Independence Now, a non-profit dedicated to action-oriented solutions to petroleum dependence and climate change.

Tyson holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of California, Davis and a Master of Environmental Science and Management (MESM) from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara. 

Commissioner Darcie L. Houck was appointed to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) by Governor Gavin Newsom on Feb. 9, 2021. She formerly served as Chief Counsel for the California Energy Commission since 2019.

Commissioner Houck was an Administrative Law Judge at the CPUC from 2016 to 2019, a Partner at Fredericks Peebles & Morgan from 2005 to 2016, and Staff Counsel and Policy Advisor at the California Energy Commission from 2000 to 2005.

Commissioner Houck has expertise in matters concerning environmental equity, nuclear energy regulation, and safety policy. She has an extensive background representing Native American tribes throughout the country on matters involving energy, natural resources, land claims, and water rights, among others.

Commissioner Houck is a member of the California Indian Law Association, California Lawyers Association, Schwartz-Levi Inn of Court, Women Lead and the Association of Women in Water, Energy, and Environment. She earned a law degree from the University of California, where she also earned a Master of Science in community development.

Mr. Saito was appointed Chair of NEDO, Japan’s largest and most influential government organization fostering the development of new energy and industrial technologies, in April of 2023.

Prior career was largely with IHI Corporation, one of Japan’s largest, and highly diversified, heavy industry manufacturing companies.  Starting as the founding firm of Japan’s first modern shipyard in 1853, the current IHI product mix ranges from shipbuilding to aviation and space industries, with a healthy portfolio of sustainable energy and environmental technology solutions. 

Saito joined IHI immediately upon completing Graduate Studies at the Engineering Faculty of Tokyo University in 1975.  A successful and varied career was capped with multiple senior executive positions in aerospace related operations until rising to become President of the Aero-Engine & Space Operations of IHI in 2009. 

Successive promotions soon brought Saito to the office of President and CEO of IHI Corporation in 2012, Chairman of the Board and CEO by 2016, and Chairman of IHI to year 2020. 
 

Michael Colvin is the Director of the California Energy Program at Environmental Defense Fund. Based out of EDF’s San Francisco office, Michael focuses on building decarbonization, responsibly contracting the natural gas pipeline network, and wholesale electricity markets. Across each of these issues, Michael’s focuses on minimizing investment risk and aligning utility incentives with affordable, clean and safe energy services. Prior to joining EDF, Michael spent 10 years at the California Public Utilities Commission working on various energy and utility safety matters. Michael was energy advisor to former Commissioners Mark J. Ferron and Catherine J.K. Sandoval. Michael holds a Masters in Public Policy and a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Economics, both from the University of California, Berkeley. More information can be found at http://www.edf.org/ 

Recently retired, Janna Sidley was honored to serve as the first female general counsel for the Port of Los Angeles for over nine years. Ms. Sidley’s career with the City of Los Angeles began in 2003. 

In addition to Ms. Sidley’s work with LA, she serves as a Commissioner of the California Milton Marks “Little Hoover” Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy, appointed in 2016 by Governor Brown and reappointed by Governor Newsom. 

Ms. Sidley was honored in 2020 as a member of Lawyers of Distinction and in 2019 received a Leader in the Law award from the Los Angeles Business Journal. 

Ms. Sidley holds a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School and a Bachelor of Arts, Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jules Radcliff is a business, government, and trial lawyer experienced in counseling directors, officers, and senior government officials, specialized in crafting solutions to complex business challenges, often where government plays a role in regulation, contracting, or enforcement. In addition to negotiating and documenting transactions common to most businesses, he has also conducted complex factual and financial forensic investigations and managed high-stakes, multi-jurisdiction litigation. As special counsel to boards of directors, he has assisted boards in properly discharging fiduciary duties both as to enterprise risks and as to corporate governance. Jules has extensive experience with the regulation of insurance and with all forms of insurance coverage, as well as with risk retention and risk purchasing groups, and served as national coordinating counsel for major D&O insurers coordinating and overseeing the response to, and management of, multiple waves of class action litigation aimed at savings & loan institutions, high-tech companies, and other targeted segments of the national business community. 

His clients have included well-known companies in national and international commerce, finance, insurance, technology, radio and television broadcast, entertainment, manufacturing, real estate, energy, and health care, as well as both domestic (U.S.) and foreign governments. Jules has represented numerous clients in matters before the U.S. Congress involving major, national investigations and related hearings, and he has successfully managed the passage of multiple, new laws through state legislatures, including the California legislature, as well as the amendment or adoption of new regulations in matters of importance to the business community. 

Mr. Radcliff has had a parallel career in government and politics. In government he has served in multiple roles and capacities, from Chief of Staff to appointed member of commissions overseeing municipal and state departments. He has overseen, developed, or managed multiple projects as well as high-profile and diverse public-private commissions and advisory boards, frequently consulting as Special Counsel to government agencies and officials in sensitive matters. In politics he has served as General Counsel, Manager, Chairman, or Co-Chairman of many local, state, and federal political campaigns across the U.S., including mayoral, gubernatorial, congressional, and presidential campaigns.

Internationally, Jules has served as Business Investment Advisor, Office of U.N. High Commissioner, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as Legal Advisor and Intermediary between U.S. Justice/State Departments and the national government of an Eastern European country. 

He is a graduate of UCLA Law School, and holds a Bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, in Business Administration, with a minor in accounting, from California State University—Northridge.

Mary Nichols is the former Chair of The California Air Resources Board, where she occupies the attorney seat. She served on the Board under Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. (1975-82 and 2010-18), Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (2007-2010) and Governor Gavin Newsom (2019—2021.)  She also served as California’s Secretary for Natural Resources (1999-2003), appointed by Gov. Gray Davis.

When not working for the State of California, Mary was a senior staff attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council; Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Regulation, in the administration of President William Jefferson Clinton; and headed the Institute of Environment and Sustainability at UCLA.

Over a career as an environmental lawyer spanning over 45 years, Mary Nichols has played a key role in California and the nation’s progress toward healthy air. She has also led the Board in crafting California’s internationally recognized climate action plan.       

David Libatique is the Deputy Executive Director of Stakeholder Engagement for the Port of Los Angeles, a position that oversees and manages all communications on behalf of America’s Port® via the Community Relations, Media Relations, Government Affairs, Trade Development, and Labor Relations and Workforce Development Divisions.

In this role, Libatique works with diverse stakeholders, including local communities, organized labor, beneficial cargo owners, terminal operators, international customers, shipping and cruise lines, railroads, the trucking industry, media, and regulatory agencies to advance the Port’s goals and initiatives. He also interacts on a broader scale with an array of local, regional, statewide, and national elected officials and stakeholders.

Working alongside Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka, Libatique helped to spearhead the Logistics Victory Los Angeles (LoVLA) COVID-19 response effort in March 2020 to assist in getting critical personal protective equipment (PPE) into the hands of healthcare workers. Throughout the pandemic, Libatique has worked to build relationships with public and private sector partners and further guide the initiative’s efforts.

Libatique first joined the Port in January 2011 as Senior Director of Government Affairs, where he led the Port’s intergovernmental advocacy at a critical time of increasing engagement with local, regional, state, federal, and even transnational and international levels of government.

Prior to joining the Port, Libatique served as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Director of Energy Policy, where he was responsible for advancing the Mayor’s environmental policies at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Before assuming that role, he served as the Mayor’s Senior Policy Analyst and acted as a liaison with the Port of Los Angeles, where he advanced priority initiatives, including the Clean Air Action Plan and Clean Truck Program.

Before joining the Villaraigosa Administration, Libatique served as Senior Deputy for Los Angeles City Councilmember Martin Ludlow, where he led policy development and legislative strategies to reform the City’s gang prevention and intervention efforts.

Libatique has conducted extensive experience in economic research, including working as a Research Analyst at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. There, he was a part of Working Group VI of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health that analyzed the economic impact of investment in improved health outcomes for poor and middle-income countries.

Libatique holds a bachelor of arts in economics from the University of California, Berkeley and a master of public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Lex Heslin is CEO of ENSO Infrastructure, a developer and investor in green infrastructure projects focused on decarbonization. He also serves as Senior Project Developer for Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI), a global engineering and cleantech company with anaerobic digestion (AD) and other projects to produce green electricity, renewable natural gas, and hydrogen. Mr. Heslin has extensive experience in energy and waste, advising leading institutional investors, private equity, and governments in developing green energy solutions. As an advisor to the City of Lancaster, California, Mr. Heslin has championed efforts to transform Lancaster into the first U.S. municipality to commit to hydrogen, creating a 10-year hydrogen roadmap to convert city facilities and fleets to hydrogen, encourage hydrogen-tech investment, and plan participation in large-scale hydrogen generation, storage, and distribution. ENSO is also the program manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s H2 Twin Cities Mentor/Mentee program, announced in Egypt in November 2022 at COP 27, between Lancaster, Hawai’i County and Namie town (Fukushima, Japan).

Mr. Heslin arranged Lancaster’s partnership with Namie, Japan for the first Smart Sister City program promoting mutual assistance in hydrogen advancement in July 2021. As the previous founder and CEO of Beautiful Earth Group, a solar, wind and hydro IPP, Mr. Heslin’s views have evolved to support rapid advancement of hydrogen believing that profound global decarbonization requires a mix of both electron- and molecule-based solutions. Prior to ENSO and HZI, he spent 30 years and participated in more than $8.0 billion in project and structured financing, development, and infrastructure investment at Sanwa Bank in Tokyo, then in New York at Goldman Sachs and as President of Capital Holdings. Mr. Heslin holds a BA from Emory, an MBA from Mercer, an MSc from the London School of Economics (where he received the Rotary International scholarship), and he received a Monbusho Scholarship for post-graduate study in international economics at Seikei University in Tokyo.
 

Ross Zelen is a Research Fellow in the Climate Program at CLEE. Ross’s research focuses on implementation of climate change policy, with a specific focus on solutions to reduce methane emissions. Ross has worked in California environmental policy and public interest for much of the past decade. Starting as an Executive Fellow at the California Air Resources Board, he worked on advancing air quality, clean energy, and sustainable transportation priorities. He also worked for the VerdeXchange Institute as Program Manager and served as Editor of The Planning Report. Ross received his J.D. from Loyola Law School, where he teamed up to win the 2019 California Lawyers Association Environmental Negotiations Competition and was a semifinalist in the 2020 National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition. He has been admitted to the California bar.

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Gunjan Bagla is CEO of Amritt Inc. a consulting firm that has a 20-year track record of building trade, technology and trust between USA and India. Executives from companies such as Boeing, Bose, Clorox, Digikey, Flex, Hewlett Packard, Medtronic. Nordic Naturals and Roche have benefited from Gunjan and Amritt’s expertise and insights on India.  In the green energy space. Westinghouse Nuclear hired Amritt the week after the 123 Civil Nuclear Energy was signed between India and the USA; Amritt also took smaller nuclear ecosystem suppliers such as Structural Integrity and Underwater Construction to meet India’s nuclear energy utility. Amritt was also hired by the Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries to plan and guide a trade mission to India.

Gunjan has been quoted about business with India in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Washington Post, and New York Times and has appeared on Bloomberg TV, BBC TV and Fox Business in addition to NPR station KCRW. Gunjan writes about business with India for the Harvard Business Review and many trade publications and often speaks at local and global events about India.

Gunjan earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and an MBA with honors from Southern Illinois University.  He is the Past President of IIT Alumni and co-founder of India International Impact. Find him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/gunjan/ and @bagla on Twitter.

Rita joined the County of Los Angeles’s Chief Sustainability Office in June 2017 as a Sustainability Program Director for the office. She supports development and implementation of the County’s first sustainability plan, in addition to providing policy support for other County sustainability-related initiatives. In May 2022, she was appointed Acting Chief Sustainability Officer.  Prior to joining the County, Rita was the Science and Policy Director of the non-profit Heal the Bay where she oversaw advocacy and research projects related to water quality and water resources, and guided the development of Heal the Bay’s positions on a wide range of policy issues. Before joining Heal the Bay, Rita worked for Geosyntec Consultants on a range of water quality projects, primarily focusing on stormwater. Rita received a B.S. in chemical engineering from Columbia University, and an M.S. in chemical engineering and a Ph.D. in civil/environmental engineering from UCLA. 
 
 

Brian is a Vice President at Tetra Tech, a leading provider of consulting and engineering services, and an active leader in the environmental, water, and infrastructure sectors. He has over two and a half decades of experience and holds a variety of executive management responsibilities for the firm’s Water and Infrastructure business in the United States. Brian also serves on the strategy and leadership team for several of Tetra Tech’s strategic investments, including their One Water and Digital Water initiatives. 

Tetra Tech’s Digital Water initiative focuses on technology and IT/OT-enabled investments to differentiate the company through pioneering services centered on data, analytics, hardware, and software solutions. Tetra Tech’s One Water solutions provide access to safe, abundant water supplies; effective treatment of stormwater and wastewater; flood control and restoration tools; and state-of-the-art watershed protection approaches to assess, protect, and restore our water bodies. 

Brian is a licensed Professional Engineer in California and his technical experience spans a wide range of water, environment, and infrastructure projects throughout North America including planning, design, and construction activities. He has served in leadership roles on program management assignments involving capital facilities of over ten billion dollars. 

Brian has been active in professional associations his entire career. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and has been elected or appointed to the role of President, Chair, or Vice Chair for over a half-dozen different industry associations. This provides him with unique knowledge of regulatory and policy issues that utilities are facing and detailed insights into the latest industry trends.

Smith is a renowned architect and urban planner who was named the Dodgers’ senior vice president of planning and development on Aug. 6, 2012. In that role, Smith oversees upgrades and enhancements to Dodger Stadium. 

In 2023, Smith along with Fran Weld formed Baltimore-based “Canopy”, a woman-led company devoted to the design and management of sports projects and their surrounding developments.  Dedicated to urban revitalization and community enrichment, Canopy specializes in large-scale projects that seamlessly blend sports, design, and urban planning as well as intimate scales within museums, retail, and public parks.  

Smith is well known in baseball for her work on Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which set the standard for a new wave of ballparks after its opening in 1992. Before joining the Dodgers, Smith worked for the Baltimore Orioles as vice president of planning and development from September 2009 to August 2012. In that role, Smith directed renovations and expansion of the Orioles’ new spring training facility in Sarasota, Florida as well as upgrades and enhancements to Oriole Park at Camden Yards to celebrate the park’s 20^th anniversary.

From 2002 to 2009, Smith served as senior vice president of planning and development for the Boston Red Sox, overseeing the preservation of historic Fenway Park and leading the program that placed this significant ballpark on the National Historic Register. 

From 1994-2000, Smith held the position of president of Turner Sports and Entertainment Development, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, and was the vice president of Planning and Development for the Atlanta Braves. Her work in Atlanta helped transform the 1996 Olympic Stadium into Turner Field, home of the Braves, and she also oversaw the development of the Philips Arena, home of the NBA Atlanta Hawks and NHL Atlanta Thrashers.

Smith holds a Master’s in Urban Planning from City College of New York and a Bachelor of Architecture from Mississippi State University. She is an associate member of the Urban Land Institute, the American Institute of Architects, and the American Planning Association. 

Katy Yaroslavsky serves as Councilwoman for Los Angeles’ Fifth City Council District, representing neighborhoods and communities she has been a part of nearly her entire life. Elected in 2022, CM Yaroslavsky, currently serves as Chair of the City Council’s Energy & Environment committee, Vice-Chair of the Ad Hoc Olympics committee, and is a member of the Budget & Finance, Planning & Land Use Management, and Transportation committees.

Advocating for a sustainable and liveable Los Angeles has been at the center of Councilwoman Yaroslavsky’s career. Prior to her election, she served as a senior policy advisor to LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, where she created LA County’s first Office of Sustainability, and led the development, negotiation, and adoption by voters of Measure W, one of the largest infrastructure and jobs programs in our region’s history. She helped create the Clean Power Alliance — a coalition of thirty-two local cities and counties that serves over 3 million ratepayers and is the largest provider of green power in the nation. Councilwoman Yaroslavsky previously served as General Counsel to the Climate Action Reserve, a leading environmental non-profit focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Councilwoman Yaroslavsky is guided by the belief that the biggest challenges our City is facing – homelessness, generational poverty, racial injustice, climate change, a declining quality of life, and an economy that doesn’t work for most Angelenos – are all intersectional. She believes that these issues will only be solved by doing the hard work of building coalitions, fighting for equity in city services, and initiating authentic, inclusive, and thorough community engagement.

A graduate of public schools, including UC Berkeley and UCLA Law School, Councilwoman Yaroslavsky currently resides in Mid City with her husband Dave, their three children, and their cats.

Renata Simril is President and CEO of the LA84 Foundation (www.LA84.org).  Formed in 1985, originally as the Amateur Athletic Foundation, the LA84 Foundation (“LA84” or the “Foundation”) is a legacy of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Summer Games.  The LA84 Foundation transforms lives through its investment in youth sport programs, infrastructure, research, and education across eight Counties of Southern California, and is a national leader in elevating the role that sports play in positive youth development.

Ms. Simril is an accomplished civic and private sector trailblazer with more than 20 years of diversified experience with a commitment to leadership and service.  She most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff to the Publisher of the Los Angeles Times, where she oversaw staff operations and special projects.  Her earlier career included three seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where she served as Senior Vice President of External Affairs overseeing the restoration of the Dodgers brand and the Dodgers Foundation; and over a decade in real estate development with Jones Lang LaSalle, Forest City Development and LCOR, Inc.  Her public service included stints as Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Housing in the Hahn Administration, where she worked to expand rental and affordable housing in Los Angeles, and as a Development Deputy to Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, where she worked to help rebuild communities in South Los Angeles after the 1992 civil unrest.  Ms. Simril began her career in the U.S. Army as a Military Police Officer in the U.S. and Germany. 

Ms. Simril is active in the community outside of LA84 Foundation, currently serving on the Boards of the LA2024 Olympic Bid Committee; Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce;  United Way of Greater Los Angeles; Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission; and Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation; and as a member of the Board of Regents of Loyola Marymount University (LMU).  In 2016, she was named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s inaugural list of The Los Angeles 500 Most Influential People. 

Ms. Simril is a third generation Angeleno.  She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies from Loyola Marymount University and a Master’s Degree in Real Estate Development from USC.  Ms. Simril resides in Studio City with her husband and two sons.

Martin Adams is the General Manager and Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the nation’s largest publicly-owned utility.  He took over the leadership role in July 2019 after three years as the agency’s Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the City’s water and power systems.     

He leads an organization of more than 10,000 employees delivering water and power to the 4 million residents of Los Angeles.  Mr. Adams has more than 35 years of experience with at LADWP, where he started in 1984 as an entry level engineer in the Water System, eventually leading that organization as the Senior Assistant General Manager of Water.  During the course of his career, Mr. Adams worked throughout the Water System and was directly involved with the planning and implementation of major changes to water storage, conveyance, and treatment facilities to meet new water quality regulations.  He has spent almost half of his career in system operations, including ten years as the Director of Water Operations in charge of the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the Los Angeles water delivery system, including the Los Angeles Aqueduct and other supply sources, pump stations, reservoirs, water treatment, and management of Water System properties. 

Mr. Adams is a native of the greater Los Angeles area and lives with his family in Burbank, where he served for nine years on that city’s Water and Power board.  He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Ted Bardacke is Executive Director for Clean Power Alliance, California’s new, locally-operated, electricity provider for 31 communities and approximately one million eligible customers across Los Angeles and

Ventura Counties. Ted brings a unique background to the organization that includes experience in the public sector, journalism, education, and non-profit leadership. During his career, Ted has developed expertise in renewable energy planning and project development, electricity and water rate setting, customer service, and sustainability program design and implementation.

Ted comes to Clean Power Alliance from the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, where he was Director of Infrastructure and Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Sustainability Office. In those positions he was the Mayor’s chief policy liaison to the Department of Water and Power and the Department of Public Works and was instrumental in crafting the city’s first-ever Sustainability Plan, with an emphasis on pursuing distributed systems in the electricity and water sectors, and utilizing mobility infrastructure to pursue low- carbon and ecologically-beneficial outcomes.

Ted’s accomplishments at the Office of Mayor Garcetti include securing a 5-year water and power rate increase to fund a transition of 75% of the city’s energy mix to low carbon resources and reducing purchases of imported water by 50%. Ted also supervised major energy planning initiatives, including the 2016 Integrated Resources Plan and a multi-year study to define pathways to reach 100% renewables. Ted led major policy initiatives in energy efficiency, including an ordinance requiring annual building energy and water use disclosure and expansion of residential and commercial PACE financing availability.

From 2003 to 2013, Ted worked in the Green Urbanism Program at Global Green USA, a nationally-leading organization advancing smart solutions to climate change. Prior to that, Ted served as a foreign correspondent for the Financial Times of London, based in Mexico City and Bangkok and was a commentator for the BBC World Service and Deutsche Welle. Ted has taught at Pomona College, universities in Mexico City and Southeast Asia, and is a permanent Lecturer at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. He is co-author with his teaching colleague Walker Wells of Blueprint for Greening Affordable Housing (Island Press, 2007) and holds degrees from Wesleyan University and the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University.

Terry Tamminen is Chief Executive Officer of AltaSea. From his youth in Australia to career experiences in Europe, Africa, China and across the United States, Terry has developed expertise in business, farming, education, non-profit, the environment, the arts, and government. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and later Cabinet Secretary, the Chief Policy Advisor to the Governor, where Terry was the architect of many groundbreaking sustainability policies, including California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the Hydrogen Highway Network, and the Million Solar Roofs initiative. In 2010 Terry cofounded the R20 Regions of Climate Action, a new public-private partnership, bringing together sub national governments; businesses; financial markets; NGOs; and academia to implement measurable, large-scale, low-carbon and climate resilient economic development projects that can simultaneously solve the climate crisis and build a sustainable global economy. He also provides advice through 7th Generation Advisors to Pegasus Capital Advisors, the Green Climate Fund and numerous global businesses on sustainability and “green” investing, as well as assisting governments and philanthropists with climate solutions, including Fiji, India, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. An accomplished author, Terry’s books include “Cracking the Carbon Code: The Keys to Sustainable Profits in the New Economy” (Palgrave Macmillan). In 2011, Terry was one of six finalists for the Zayed Future Energy Prize and The Guardian ranked Terry No. 1 in its “Top 50 People Who Can Save the Planet.

Focused on the intersection of grid decarbonization, analytics, and economic development, I develop strategies and models for designing markets where societal benefits are accounted for alongside economic benefits, and where public funds are leveraged with private ones.

I use these strategies to facilitate sustainable infrastructure project deal flow by building stakeholder consensus, providing thought leadership, and influencing policy makers.

I passionately believe that projects that take advantage of these new market designs and deploy energy infrastructure projects will provide economic and environmental benefits to local communities around the world.

David Nahai is the President of David Nahai Consulting Services, the President of David Nahai Associates, and a Managing Partner at AQORA Capital Management Company.  Nahai Consulting Services advises and assists private and public entities involved in the real estate, renewable energy, water, and environmental sectors. David Nahai Associates is a law firm specializing in transactional real estate, energy, water, and environmental matters.  Aqora Capital is a growth capital firm focused on investment in “growth” stage companies active in the sustainability arena.  

Nahai is the former General Manager and Commission President of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (“LADWP”), former Chairman of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (“Regional Water Board”), and former Senior Advisor to the Clinton Climate Initiative. In January 2021, Nahai was reappointed to the Regional Board by Governor Gavin Newsom, the fourth California Governor to appoint Nahai to this post.

Served Toyota Motor North America R&D for more than 40 years. His background includes managing suitability testing of advanced powertrain configurations in North America, coordinating the development of new or improved alternate powertrain system controls for Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicles (FCHV), Gasoline Hybrid Vehicles (HEV), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV). Also includes strategic planning focusing on technologies that enable sustainable transportation systems.

Starting in 2015, his responsibilities have been extended to large-scale Fuel Cell powertrain feasibility in North America. He built the world's first OEM Fuel Cell heavy-duty truck. From 2017 to 2022, the truck was placed in the Port of Los Angeles drayage operation. It served around 20,000 ZERO EMISSION miles before completing its proof-of-concept program.

He became the 1^st chairperson of the Japan Hydrogen Forum (JH2F) founded in 2021. He leads many Japanese affiliate Hydrogen business expert companies that promote US decarbonization business. The forum is supported by the Japanese government, such as the Japan External Trade Organization and the Consulate-general of Japan.

He also serves Stanford University's Precourt Institute for Energy (part of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability) Hydrogen Initiative as an Advisory Council.

Mr. Yokoo earned a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Hosei University, Japan, then began his career at Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in 1981. He moved to Toyota Technical Center USA (TTC) in 1990 to begin his new career in the US, where he was responsible for managing suitability testing and development of gasoline powertrain control systems in North America.

I am a long-time investor in the impact sector. I was born & raised in East LA County & Pomona, California to two of the state’s most well-respected Latino Civil Rights leaders. My father was Assemblyman Phil Soto, the first Latino elected to the state legislature in 1962. My late mother was Nell Soto, my dad’s campaign manager & the mother to their six children. She was a long-time advocate supporting farm worker rights, the environment and labor. She too served the last ten years of her life as a member and leader in the California State Senate.
 

I have owned four PE funds, and now manage our family investment office, Latimer Partners, LLC with my husband of 18 years, Todd Soto. I’ve stood at the dovetail of energy, tech, cloud-based and IoT platforms, renewable energy, and over many Fourth Industrial Revolution-driven platforms where technology contributes to improving the human condition using AI, fintech, and blockchain, all while challenging LP’s and tech platforms to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion. Between contributing to climate change initiatives; Clean Air Act Standards and forcing the removal of diesel from municipal procurement processes across the country and the need to decarbonize our economy, this all to promote a political process and regulatory framework needed to establish a clean economy driving the planet into a future of prosperity and abundance.

I am the former Chairman of the New America Alliance, the national Latino business initiative seeking to increase access to capital for diverse fund managers; I am a founder and Vice Chair of the LA Clean Tech Incubator and Trustee of the California Science Center and Trustee of the NRDC. I'm also an appointee to the California Lithium Valley Commission. After selling my fund, Craton Equity Partners to TCW in 2013, I was the Managing Director of Alternatives at the $198b fund and was an Investment Committee Member of TCW Alternatives. Under mine and my colleagues’ leadership, the TCW alternatives platform grew from $300m in AUM to $10.3b in three years. I am a former member of the board of trustees of the Redwood Mutual Fund, owned by Aspiration where I am a former Sr. Advisor, the country’s fastest-growing online bank and financial services platform.

I am a two-time appointee of President Clinton and was the Team Lead for The Executive Office of the President’s Transition Team for the White House Council on Environmental Quality for President-Elect Obama and a founding member of the Executive Council for Clean Energy for Biden. We live in Los Angeles, with our thirteen year old son.

Forging partnerships among varying disciplines and stakeholders, Panama Bartholomy has managed and facilitated the creation and implementation of some of the largest climate and energy programs in the United States. Panama’s work focuses on finding policy and program solutions for communities facing energy efficiency, renewable energy, land use and climate change challenges. Panama combines frontline experience with state and local government policy and has dealt extensively in the regulatory and utility arenas.  

Previously, Panama was the Advisor on Energy and Natural Resources to California Assembly Speaker John A. Perez where he oversaw the State of California’s energy and environmental legislation and budget. He earlier served as Deputy Director of the California Energy Commission’s Efficiency and Renewables Division and advisor for Chairmen Douglas and Pfannenstiel, worked for the California Conservation Corps on vocational environmental education, and ran the Sustainable Schools program for the Division of the State Architect. Panama served on the City of Sacramento Planning Commission and the County of Sacramento Environmental Commission, and is a former board member on the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and past president of the Northern California Chapter of the USGBC.

Rick Cole is Chief Deputy Controller, responsible for overseeing the accounting, payroll and auditing functions for the City of Los Angeles. His public service includes serving as Mayor of Pasadena, City Manager in three Southern California communities (Santa Monica, Ventura and Azusa) and as Deputy Mayor for Budget and Innovation in the City of LA. He is an adjunct professor of urban policy at Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy and Occidental College’s Urban and Environmental Studies Institute.

Effie Turnbull Sanders is a passionate and dedicated advocate for economic, environmental, and social change. She brings over two decades of experience advancing the rights of underserved Los Angeles communities to lead the South Los Angeles Transit Empowerment Zone (SLATE-Z) as its Executive Director.  As Executive director, Sanders leads SLATE-Z’s efforts to promote neighborhood revitalization, educational excellence, and economic empowerment to help realize the tremendous promise and potential of South Los Angeles.

Prior to joining SLATE-Z, Sanders worked in service of the children of Los Angeles as Assistant General Counsel to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on real estate development, facilities management, and employment law. Through her legal career, she has worked as counsel to public and private organizations such as the City of Los Angeles and Richards, Watson & Gershon.

As a social justice leader, Sanders has served as an appointee to state and federal entities. Currently, she is the Environmental Justice Commissioner with the California Coastal Commission. She is also member of Representative Karen Bass’ Congressional Council. Sanders was a Presidential Appointee for Vice Chair Cruz Reynoso with the United States Commission on Civil Rights.

Throughout her career, Sanders has led a number of non-profit organizations as an active board member for Social Action Partners and the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters. She also served as an advisory board member to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and Mark Ridley Thomas’ African American Voter Registration, Education, and Participation Project.

Sanders received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications from the University of California, Los Angeles, her Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law and is a graduate of the University of Southern California Ross Program in Real Estate.  She and her husband live with their two children in Los Angeles.

Mario Cordero, an international maritime industry leader, Long Beach resident and attorney, is Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach, California, named to the post by the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners in May 2017.

Beginning in 2003, Mr. Cordero served as a member, vice president and president of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners for eight years, before resigning to accept President Barack Obama’s appointment to the Federal Maritime Commission in 2011. He served on the FMC until May 2017 and was FMC Chairman from April 2013 to January 2017.

As Executive Director, Mr. Cordero reports to the Board and leads the Port’s Harbor Department staff of more than 500 with a budget of $622 million for the 2022 fiscal year.

He is the Port’s representative to the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority Governing Board and the Governing Board of the Intermodal Container Transfer FacilityJoint Powers Authority. Mr. Cordero was elected to a two-year term as Chairman of the Board for the American Association of Port Authorities in 2020 following a term as Vice Chairman, and previously served as an Executive Board member on AAPA’s Latin American delegation. He sits on the L.A. County Economic Resiliency Task Force – charged with helping guide the County’s approach to reopening as the region emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic – as chair of the Commodities and Goods Movement sector working group.

In 2021, Mr. Cordero was appointed by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to serve on the bank’s Los Angeles branch seven-member board of directors and, for the third consecutive year, was named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “LA500” list of the city’s most influential civic leaders.

Mr. Cordero has practiced law for more than 30 years, specializing in workers’ compensation cases. He holds a law degree from the University of Santa Clara and a Bachelor of Science in political science from California State University, Long Beach.

He has taught Political Science at Long Beach City College, focusing on California politics, and served on the City of Long Beach Community Development Commission. He also was Vice Chair of the City-commissioned Long Beach Ethics Task Force that developed a Code of Ethics for Long Beach City employees, as well as elected and appointed City officials.

Jim Kelly retired from Edison International (EIX) on July 1, 2011, after almost 38 years of service with the Company.

Prior to his retirement, Mr. Kelly was the senior vice president of Transmission & Distribution for Southern California Edison, responsible for the operation and maintenance of an electrical grid comprised of over 12,000 miles of transmission and 100,000 miles of distribution lines spread across a 50,000-square-mile service area.

Mr. Kelly was also president of Edison ESI, a subsidiary company that operates one of the largest electrical and mechanical repair facilities in the U.S..

Kelly was previously the vice president of Engineering & Technical Services, responsible for planning, engineering, and designing SCE’s electrical grid, as well as research and development, safety and training. Mr. Kelly was one of the early pioneers of the Smart Grid, developing a roadmap for a smarter, safer, more reliable and more environmentally responsible electric grid. Among many other awards and honors, Jim was selected as the IEEE’s “Leader in Power” in 2009.

Kelly also previously served as the vice president of Regulatory Compliance and Environmental Affairs, and has in-depth experience with environmental regulation, permitting and licensing.

Since his retirement, Jim has advised or directed a number of firms in the energy space. 

Jim earned a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Long Beach, and a master’s degree from California State Polytechnic University.  He holds teaching credentials in several subjects and has taught at a number of colleges and universities throughout his career.

Director for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office and coordinates activities across offices for the U.S. DOE Hydrogen Program, Sunita Satyapal is responsible for more than $1.6 billion in hydrogen and fuel cell research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) activities within the office and for coordinating more than $9.5 billion in hydrogen activities across DOE.  In addition, she led the development of the national clean hydrogen strategy and roadmap and serves as the Director for the Hydrogen Interagency Taskforce, which includes a dozen agencies and is co-chaired by the Deputy Secretary of Energy and the White House Deputy National Climate Advisor. She has more than two and a half decades of experience across industry, academia, and government, including at United Technologies managing RDD&D and business development, and as a visiting professor. 

Dr. Satyapal also coordinates international hydrogen activities as Vice-Chair of the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy, a partnership among over 25 countries to accelerate progress in hydrogen, and is the U.S. co-lead for hydrogen efforts within the Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation.  She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University and did postdoctoral work in Applied and Engineering Physics at Cornell University.  She has numerous publications, including in Scientific American, 10 patents, and several recognitions including a Meritorious Presidential Rank Award in 2015, a Distinguished Presidential Rank Award in 2022, and selected as an Ambassador for C3E, the Clean Energy Education & Empowerment Initiative, to advance the leadership of women in clean energy. 

Prior to her role as Deputy Mayor of Energy and Sustainability, Nancy Sutley  served LADWP’s Senior Assistant General Manager of External and Regulatory Affairs, and the Chief Sustainability Officer. In this role, Ms. Sutley oversaw the Department’s customer service operations, energy efficiency and water conservation programs, environmental regulation, public affairs and legislative teams. Over the course of her tenure with the Department, Ms. Sutley initiated LADWP’s corporate sustainability programs, spearheaded LADWP’s La Kretz Innovation Campus, promoted the electrification of the transportation network and coordinated the Clean Grid L.A. plan.

Prior to joining LADWP in 2014, Ms. Sutley served as Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Under her leadership, the Council played a central role in shepherding the Obama Administration’s signature environmental projects and was one of the chief architects of President Obama’s 2013 Climate Action Plan.

Ms. Sutley has an extensive background in public service that includes posts as Deputy Mayor for Energy and Environment for the City of Los Angeles, Board Member of the Metropolitan Water District, Member of the California State Water Resources Control Board, Energy Advisor for California Governor Gray Davis, Deputy Secretary for Policy and Intergovernmental Relations at the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Senior Policy Advisor for the US EPA during the Clinton Administration.

Ms. Sutley holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University.

Gideon Kracov is a lawyer in Los Angeles, where he represents clients in environmental and land use cases. His practice includes high-stakes litigation and complex regulatory matters. Mr. Kracov has worked for diverse business, labor and non-profit clients, and as a government lawyer. He served for more than fifteen years as General Counsel of the California Waste and Recycling Association. Mr. Kracov was appointed to the California Air Resources Board by Governor Gavin Newsom in December 2020. He also serves as the Governor’s appointee to the South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board responsible for improving air quality in Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Mr. Kracov’s career includes roles as a Deputy Los Angeles City Attorney, and practice at law firms such as Rose, Klein & Marias LLP and Weston, Benshoof LLP (now Alston & Bird LLP). He is also the former Chair of the State Bar of California Environmental Law Section Executive Committee, former Governor's appointee and Chair of the California Mining and Geology Board, former Chair of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control Independent Review Panel, and former Vice-Chair of the Los Angeles Proposition O Bond Committee. Mr. Kracov teaches land use law and regulation at Loyola Law School, where he led a winning team in the 20th Annual California Lawyers Association Environmental Law Student Negotiation Competition in 2019.

Prior to his time with Mission Possible Partnership, Senate Majority Leader Emeritus Robert Hertzberg was first elected to the California State Assembly in 1996. He served as the 64^th Speaker of the California State Assembly, unanimously elected by both parties in 2000 and 2002. After his tenure as Speaker, Hertzberg set out to the private sector as a clean energy entrepreneur, where he helped create one of the first solar companies in Los Angeles, and co-launched a company that produced inexpensive, lightweight solar panels. In 2014, he returned to state government when he was elected to represent nearly 1 million people in the San Fernando Valley in the California State Senate.

Mr. Roman Bilak is President of CleanTech Geomechanics Inc. (CTG). CTG is a startup company developing innovative technologies for Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES). Mr. Bilak holds a B.Sc. (Honours, Geology) from the University of Western Ontario and a M.Sc. (Earth Sciences – Geomechanics) from the University of Waterloo, in Canada. His areas of expertise include geo-Energy Storage Systems (geoESS), NORM waste management, deep well disposal-injection, geomechanics, and project
management. With over 25 years of industry experience in sustainable energy resource development globally, he is a recognized industry expert in clean
energy geomechanics. Mr. Bilak also provides technical support and advice to government regulatory departments and inter-governmental agencies worldwide.

Since becoming Mayor of Lancaster in 2008, R. Rex Parris has championed many initiatives to improve his hometown, driven by a can-do attitude that has redefined community development. His leadership has enhanced public safety, economic growth, and environmental stewardship. Parris's efforts in reducing crime have fostered a safer, more inviting community, encouraging residents and businesses to thrive.

Economic development has been a focal point, with Parris leveraging his background as a distinguished lawyer to forge significant international partnerships, like the one with BYD, stimulating job creation and investment in Lancaster. His commitment to environmental sustainability is evident in initiatives such as Lancaster Energy, positioning Lancaster as a leader in green energy and one of the world's first Zero-Net Energy Cities. Additionally, his advocacy for hydrogen energy has established Lancaster as the “First Hydrogen City,” reflecting his innovative approach to sustainable development.

Beyond his role in municipal governance, Parris's legal acumen has been instrumental in his work with CarthroniX, a biotech firm aiming to tackle degenerative diseases. This blend of legal expertise and civic leadership underscores a comprehensive strategy to enhance Lancaster's community life, economic vitality, and sustainable living.

Jack Brouwer is Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Associate Director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center (NFCRC) and Advanced Power and Energy Program (APEP) at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).

Science and engineering of energy conversion with coupled mass, energy and momentum conservation, chemical and electrochemical reaction and heat transfer; steady-state and dynamic modeling of fundamental processes that govern energy conversion devices such as fuel cells, electrolyzers, and gas turbine engines; solid-state ionics and electrochemistry; fuel processing; synthesis and experimental investigation of novel fuel cell materials sets; analyses of integrated energy systems comprising fuel cells, photovoltaics, fuel processing, gas turbines, and wind turbines; experimental analyses and model validation; renewable energy; life cycle analyses of energy conversion technologies.

Through Dr. Brouwer’s leadership, NFCRC and APEP are focusing research, education, beta testing, and outreach on high-efficiency, environmentally preferred energy conversion and power generation technology advancement with fuel cell and gas turbine systems as the principal targets.  Current research projects address ultra-high efficiency and ultra-low emissions high-temperature fuel cell systems, integrated hybrid fuel cell gas turbine systems, renewable power intermittency and integration, battery electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle evaluation and infrastructure development, advanced fuel cell and gas turbine dynamic operations, hydrogen and electricity infrastructure development, and power electronics and energy conversion devices for the smart grid.  Before joining UCI, Dr. Brouwer was on the faculty at the University of Utah, a senior engineer at Reaction Engineering International, and a staff scientist at Sandia National Laboratories.

Jack Brouwer obtained his M.S. and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UCI and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Post-Doc in Chemical Engineering at MIT.

Prior to his time at NRDC, Mark Gold served as Executive Director of OPC and the Deputy Secretary for Ocean and Coastal Policy for the California Natural Resources Agency, Mark serves as a key advisor to Governor and the Secretary of Natural Resources and directs policy, scientific research, and critical partnerships to increase protection of coastal and ocean resources in California. Prior to his appointment, he was the UCLA Associate Vice Chancellor for Environment and Sustainability where he led their Sustainable Los Angeles Grand Challenge effort. Prior to UCLA, Mark was the first hire at Heal the Bay, where he served as their President for 18 years. During that time, he worked on ocean and coastal legislation and policy, stormwater, watershed management, and marine conservation and coastal restoration issues, projects and programs. Over the course of his career, his research focused on beach water quality and health risks, as well as sustainable water resources management. Mark received his bachelor’s and master’s in Biology as well as his doctorate in Environmental Science and Engineering, all from UCLA.

Felicia Marcus is an attorney who has served in leadership and management positions in the government and non-profit sectors. She is currently the Landreth Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Water in the West Program and is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Felicia was most recently Chair of the California State Water Resources Control Board (working on issues of drought, groundwater management, water supply, drinking water, water quality and a host of other issues) after having served as Regional Administrator of the U.S. EPA Region IX and as head of the Los Angeles Department of Public Works in addition to senior leadership in national non-governmental organizations (NRDC and TPL).  She has experience as a private and public interest sector attorney and has worked on issues across the West spanning water supply, water rights, and water quality in addition to experience in other sectors like energy, toxics, and land use. She is also a member of the Water Policy Group, an international network of former and current high level water officials dedicated to assisting developing nations, a Board Member of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, which oversees the bulk electricity transmission grid for the Western US and parts of Canada and Mexico, and is also one of the three US members of the Joint Public Advisory Committee of the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation in addition to serving of many boards and advisory committees.

Dr. K. Srikar Reddy before taking over as the Consul General of India at San Francisco, served at the Department of Commerce, Government of India as Joint Secretary where he oversaw India’s commercial relations with countries in Africa and the Middle-East. He was the Chief Negotiator of India for the India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) and India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that entered into force on 01 April 2021 and 01 May 2022 respectively.

He joined the Indian Foreign Service in the year 2001 and served in various positions at Indian Missions including Germany and Switzerland. Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of India to the World Trade Organization (WTO) from August 2014 to October 2017. He was India's Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from October 2017 to March 2020.

He also served at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), New Delhi and handled India’s relations with Pakistan and East and Southern Africa (E&SA). He served as Regional Passport Officer, Hyderabad (July 2011 – August 2014) where he transformed the delivery of passport services in then undivided state of Andhra Pradesh, India for which he was awarded the “Passport Seva Puraskar (Best Passport Officer)” in June 2013.

Dr. Reddy was born in the district of Warangal, Telangana. He studied Medicine (MBBS) at Kakatiya Medical College, Warangal India. He speaks Telugu, Hindi, English and German.

He is married to Prathima Koppula, an IT professional and has one son.

David Jacot, P.E., is the Director of Efficiency Solutions for the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP). LADWP operates the largest public power portfolio of energy efficiency programs in the nation, comprised of a broad array of energy resource acquisition and market transformation programs serving LADWP’s customers and trade ally networks. 

In this role, David oversees all aspects of LADWP’s offerings and strategies designed to overcome market barriers to the comprehensive adoption of energy efficiency by LADWP’s customers, as well as the integration of energy efficiency with other distributed energy resources to facilitate LADWP’s transition to 100% renewables. David also oversees the integration of electric, gas, and water efficiency programs through a nation-leading joint program partnership with the natural gas utility serving Los Angeles, the Southern California Gas Company. Finally, David manages LADWP’s energy and water efficiency labs, hand-on demonstration facilities, and emerging technology assessment and commercialization efforts at the La Kretz Innovation Campus, home of the world-renowned Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator.

David has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma, and a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from California State Polytechnic University - Pomona, as well as 20+ years of experience designing high performance building systems, modeling building energy usage, and managing cost-effective and investment-grade energy efficiency programs.

Ichiro is US Country Manager at ASUENE, Japanese Climate Tech/Carbon Accounting Startup, spearheading the company’s initiatives in the United States. After starting the career in Financial/Consulting field with EY, Ichiro transitioned to Energy/Sustainability field. Prior to joining ASUENE in 2023, he held the position of VP Business Development/Asset Management at the Japanese major conglomerate Marubeni, worked in both New York and Tokyo.

UCLA's first Chief Sustainability Officer, Nurit Katz is working to foster partnerships among academic, research, and operational departments to facilitate creating a world class living laboratory for sustainability at UCLA. She also currently serves as Commissioner on the Board of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Nurit also served as Executive Officer for UCLA Facilities Management for six years and is an Instructor for UCLA Extension's Sustainability Certificate Program. Nurit is passionate about urban ecology and serves as the Outreach Coordinator for the LA Raptor Study. Nurit holds an MBA and a Masters in Public Policy from UCLA and a BA in Environmental Education from Humboldt State University, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. 

At California Strategies, LLC, Marybel Batjer helps clients develop solutions and strategies that solve problems and make public policy work more effectively for the private and public sectors.

She assists clients with needs in a myriad of government departments and agencies focused on policy areas such as water, transportation, internet technology, taxation, energy, gaming, procurement, digital access, real estate, retirement and climate change, including decarbonizing the economy and wildfire mitigation. Her extensive budget experience includes overseeing several entities with multi-billion-dollar budgets and provides key insights throughout government structures from legislation to implementation. Often, clients look to Batjer for strategic counsel by tapping her ever expanding network of close relationships with government leaders and executives that she has nurtured throughout her many decades of public service.

Her career of interesting positions has spanned through the private and public sectors: from the Pentagon to the White House to state houses in two states. She has deep knowledge in highly regulated industries including gaming and has served as chief regulator of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) overseeing privately held utilities in California.

Prior to joining California Strategies, LLC, Batjer served as President of the CPUC and led the organization through multiple unprecedented statewide emergencies related to the acceleration of climate change and the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic. She worked to improve wildfire mitigation and Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events and accelerated and improved critical customer protections such as banning utility disconnections during the COVID-19 pandemic. She advanced key internal and external social justices initiatives and oversaw changes to Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s governance structure as a requirement for approving their Reorganization Plan to exit bankruptcy.

Before her time at the CPUC, Batjer was the inaugural Secretary of the California Government Operations Agency, which supervised the reformation of the state’s civil service system; modernized the IT procurement process and restructured the Board of Equalization by creating two new state entities: the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and the Office of Tax Appeals. Further, she oversaw the planning and secured funding for three new state office buildings; and restructured the Department of Motor Vehicles.

As the Vice President of Public Policy and Corporate Social Responsibility at Caesars Entertainment Corporation she developed corporate strategy during a leveraged buyout, the industry’s largest merger and acquisition at the time. Additionally, she developed and implemented corporate social responsibility programs to promote corporate social investments, and managed legislative priorities, strategy, and relations.

Batjer is committed to ESG (Environmental Social and Governance) efforts as demonstrated by her roles managing corporate social responsibility, green energy initiatives, and fair labor practices. She has deep expertise in restructuring organizations, managing human capital and DEI, and navigating regulatory processes. Batjer has overseen business entities related to utilities, taxation, retirement, information technology, data management, real estate, and procurement.

Catherine Reheis-Boyd has served as the President and CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) since January 1, 2010. She oversees the trade organization’s operations and advocacy in five Western states – California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon.

Over her 33 year career at WSPA, Ms. Reheis-Boyd has held a variety of leadership roles, including a 2003 appointment as Chief of Staff and subsequent promotions to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. As part of her 39 years of experience in the oil industry, Ms. Reheis-Boyd worked for an environmental consulting firm on various projects before joining Getty Oil and Texaco, working on environmental compliance at the Kern River Field in Bakersfield, California.

She currently manages a broad range of Association activities, including legislative and regulatory issues associated with transportation fuels policy, air and water quality, climate change, renewable fuels and alternative energy issues, crude oil and natural gas production and many other issues in WSPA’s five states, and beyond those borders into Canada and abroad.

In 2004, Ms. Reheis-Boyd was appointed by the California Resource Secretary to the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Blue Ribbon Task Force to an eight-year term. The MLPA is charged with protecting ocean resources off the California coastline from Oregon to Mexico. In addition, Ms. Reheis-Boyd was appointed to the National Marine Protected Areas Center’s Federal Advisory Committee which recommends strategies to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the United States Department of Interior on how to strengthen and protect the nation’s systems of Marine Protected Areas. Ms. Reheis-Boyd is a member of, or advisor to, a number of climate change policy panels and regulatory agencies in all five WSPA states.

In 2016, Ms. Reheis-Boyd was named Distinguished Woman and Petroleum Advocate of the Year by the California Latino Leadership Institute.

Ms. Reheis-Boyd received her Bachelors of Science degree in Natural Resource Management from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where she currently sits on the Advisory Committee and pursued postgraduate studies in environmental engineering at the University of Southern California.

The Western States Petroleum Association represents major integrated petroleum companies, independent refiners and oil and natural gas producers that explore for, produce, transport, refine and market petroleum, petroleum products, and natural gas as well as advanced alternative and renewable transportation fuels in the West. On behalf of the industry, WSPA works to encourage public policies that promote socially and environmentally responsible economic growth and prosperity.

Moriyama is the CEO of Carbon Xtract Corporation, a developer of direct air capture technology and solutions based on separation membranes. Before joining Carbon Xtract, he spent 15 years at Sojitz Corporation, one of the major Japanese trading and investment houses. There, he was responsible for sales and investment management in its metal resources business division, and for new business development related to nanomaterials and climate tech solutions. In 2023, Sojitz and Kyushu University, which has advanced R&D in direct air capture technology that captures and condenses CO2 simply by passing air through a membrane system, jointly established Carbon Xtract. At that time, he was appointed as CEO.

Hector De La Torre is the Executive Director of Gasol Foundation US, a national nonprofit dedicated to children’s health and wellness. He is also Chair of the board at LA Care, the largest public nonprofit health plan in the United States, and a trustee at his alma mater Occidental College in Los Angeles.

De La Torre served in the California State Assembly from 2004 to 2010, representing the largely Latino 50th District in Southeast Los Angeles County. He chaired the Budget Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, the Rules Committee and helped create and chaired the Accountability and Administrative Review Committee during his tenure.

De La Torre was the Executive Director of the national non-profit Transamerica Center for Health Studies.

Prior to his service in the Assembly, he served as Mayor and as a member of the South Gate City Council, Judicial Administrator in the Los Angeles Superior Court, chief of staff to the Deputy Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration, and a teacher at Edison Junior High in South Los Angeles.

De La Torre graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Diplomacy and World Affairs from Occidental College and attended the Elliot School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. He lives in South Gate.

Robert Lempert is a principal researcher at the RAND Corporation and Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for Longer Range Global Policy and the Future Human Condition. His research focuses on climate risk management and decision-making under conditions of deep uncertainty. Dr. Lempert is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a coordinating lead author for Working Group II of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, a chapter lead for the Fourth US National Climate Assessment, chair of the peer review panel for California’s Fourth Climate Assessment, a member of California’s Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group,  and has been a member of numerous study panels for the U.S. National Academies, including America’s Climate Choices and Informing Decisions in a Changing Climate. Dr. Lempert was the Inaugural EADS Distinguished Visitor in Energy and Environment at the American Academy in Berlin and the inaugural president of the Society for Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty (http://www.deepuncertainty.org). A Professor of Policy Analysis in the Pardee RAND Graduate School, Dr. Lempert is an author of the book Shaping the Next One Hundred Years: New Methods for Quantitative, Longer-Term Policy Analysis.

Anil Tammineedi is an investor at Angeleno Group (“AG”), a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm with a global platform focused on high growth investments in next-generation clean energy and climate solutions companies. Since 2008, Mr. Tammineedi has been a member of the investment team, currently serving on the Investment Committee and actively involved on the Boards of several AG portfolio companies including Stem, Locana, Patriot Environmental Services and mPrest.  Previously, he gained several years of operating experience at Broadcom, where he worked in product development and management roles related to semiconductors for communications, mobile and power management applications. His prior investing experience includes his work at Applied Ventures, the corporate venture group of Applied Materials. Mr. Tammineedi is a Kauffman Fellow and serves as a Senior Faculty Advisor to the Business Creation Program at UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he has taught and lectured on the topics of entrepreneurship, clean energy, and impact investing. Mr. Tammineedi holds an M.S. from Iowa State University and an M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Terry cofounded In Charge Energy in 2019. It is the infrastructure leader in electrification of transportation fleets in the United States, and the preferred infrastructure partner of Ryder TruckRental, which serves over 65,000 customers in the U.S. Terry currently advises Macquarie Capital, a division of theAustralian multinational independent investment bank and financial services company that is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager, with $495 billion in assets under management. Previously, Terry led North American strategy for innogy e-MobilityUS, a division of the $40 billion per year German energy company.There, he participated in acquiring the leading U.S. electricvehicle fast charging hardware company and a customer-facing software application with over 700,000 regularusers. 

Previously, Terry led the Western region forEVgo, the nation’s largest public fast charging company for electricvehicles (EVs), taking that company from its first public fast charging installation in 2011 to more than 1,000 chargers nationwide and overseeing an investment program of over $140 million. He led partnerships with major automakers, energy companies and state governments, including a $122.5 million agreement with the California Public Utilities Commission. 

Earlier in his career,Terry founded four companies with Edison International in energy, security services, and electric vehicle charging and the first car rental company in the United States to offer only electric vehicles to the general public, serving fifteen airports in six states and more than 500,000 customers withover 850 cars.Terry also served as Executive Director of Environment Now foundation, a strategic, entrepreneurial, activist leader in California. The organization founded dozens of activist environmental organizations protecting air, land andwater quality in California and Mexico. In 2007, Terry cofounded Move LA and developed LA County’s Measure R, which over 67% of voters approved in 2008 and is contributing over $40 billion to transit investment countywide.

Terry currently serves as Mayor Pro Tempore for the City of Santa Monica and was first elected in November 2010. The city of 95,000 residents hasa daytime population of over 300,000, with 2,300 employees and a $700 million annual budget. Terry led a six-year process to update the City’s General Plan, which became the leading example ofenvironmental land use planning in the state, reducing projected per capita greenhouse gas emissions from land use by 31 percent in 25 years. He led the city’s policy to transition away from imported water, relying instead on sustainable, local water supply and the conversion of over 200 transit buses from natural gas to electric fuel. He has served in community leadership positions in California and Mexico; including Waterkeeper Alliance, Coro Southern California; The USC Center for Sustainable Cities, Environmental Entrepreneurs, Coalition for Clean Air, and the Metropolitan Water District. Terry has an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and BA with honors from Stanford University.

Mia Lehrer is the founder and president of Studio-MLA, an L.A. urban design and landscape architecture firm. Her firm specializes in the design and implementation of public and private sector projects, such as urban waterway programs, local and regional parks, and mixed-use developments. Mia has a breadth of experience in the public sector, including service as a member of Los Angeles’ Cultural Affairs Commission, Zoning Advisory committee, and the Mayor’s Design Advisory Panel.

Mia is also known as a long-time champion for the Los Angeles River, notably through her work as a member of the team that delivered the City’s River Revitalization Master Plan and the 2020 Upper LA River and Tributaries Revitalization Plan.

A native of El Salvador, Lehrer earned a B.A. from Tufts University and a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. She was named a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2010. If confirmed, she would replace former Commissioner Mel Levine.

Mia was appointed to the LADWP Board of Commissioners, making it the first ever all-female board, but LA Mayor Eric Garcetti in September 2020. 

Derek Chernow is the Western Regional Director for the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA). Chernow previously served as Executive Director of the California Alternative Energy & Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA), where he led all operations for the California agency charged with financing clean energy projects to spur economic development. Before CAEATFA, he spent many years working in the California State Legislature, including in the CA Senate Budget Subcommittee on Resources, Environmental Protection, Energy & Transportation and as a Chief of Staff for multiple members. He also held leadership positions advocating for clean energy and environmental protection including Acting Director at the California Department of Conservation. In his spare time, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Sacramento Tree Foundation.

Paul Williams is President of the Electric Infrastructure Security (EIS) Council. Mr. Williams is a Globally recognised leader in technology and operational resilience, with exceptional experience, insight, and expertise in developing operationally robust and regulatorily compliant resilience strategies, operations, and organisations. He has leadership experience in technology and technology risk, within international banking. As well as regulatory experience including leadership of UK domestic regulation development, specialist supervision of non-financial risks, and coordination of several international initiatives. Mr. Williams has participated in NATO, RUSI, and various other domestic and international conferences, and is a Commissioner on the UK’s National Preparedness Commission.

Playing a key role in growing our global environmental, social, and governance (ESG) advisory services, Marca helps our clients put their ESG goals into action. Partnering with practitioners across our service lines, Marca’s role as principal ESG consultant supports our clients with innovative solutions, green finance, and strategic advice, facilitating resilience and long-term value creation.   

A global economist for over 30 years, Marca has conducted research for international agencies such as the International Energy Agency and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. An advisor to governments on environmental policy and utilities on decarbonization, she continues to support private companies as they measure their environmental footprints and disclose their ESG risks. 

Marca is an avid outdoor enthusiast—often on her splitboard exploring snow-covered mountains. She enjoys volunteering with global organizations to support refugees, Indigenous, and tribal peoples.

Raghav Murali is the Head of Policy & Government Affairs at PowerFlex, a leading provider of intelligent solar, storage, and electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions for commercial and industrial customers. In this role, Raghav oversees the company's regulatory and legislative affairs, shaping policy that helps to expand the distributed generation market throughout the United States. Before PowerFlex, Raghav held senior roles in the public, private, and non-profit sector, including Director of Policy & Government Affairs at Enphase Energy, a global solar, storage, and EV charging technology company, Senior Director of Policy and General Counsel at the Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE) overseeing administration of the largest solar, storage, and EV incentive programs in the United States, head of policy and strategy for San Diego Gas & Electric’s clean energy customer programs, energy and environmental attorney at Schiff Hardin LLP, and Chief of Energy and Environmental Policy for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Raghav earned his BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan and his JD with a Certificate in Public Interest Law from Chicago-Kent College of Law

Ken Chawkins has spent 25 years working in the Energy field. Having worked on both operational and staff assignments, Chawkins is well-versed on the issues that frame the broad Energy policy debate. He has spent the bulk of his professional career advocating on behalf of reasonable and responsible Energy policies that can bring safe, reliable, affordable and clean energy to California residents. Ken has worked in many different external-facing posts, interacting with business, labor, non-profit and government organizations on behalf of both Electric and Natural Gas companies. He has his own consulting firm that specializes in designing and deploying strategic communications efforts. With a focus on individual and team dynamics, Chawkins' work aligns internal and external activities to meet broad policy priorities. In addition to his professional work, Chawkins has maintained a very active civic life. His two most prominent areas of interest are Youth/Public Education and Civic Engagement. He currently serves as Chair of The Children’s Partnership, CA’s premier child-advocacy agency and has served for many years on Coro Southern California’s Board of Directors. Previous posts include board membership on the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, Los Angeles Business Federation, Sustain Southern California, Environmental Policy Institute, Pasadena Media Corporation and a host of other local efforts. Chawkins served on the City of Pasadena’s Charter Reform Task Force that brought a citywide elected Mayor to Pasadena, and Chaired the Pasadena Unified School District’s Districting Task Force which moved the School District from an at-large governance model to one with elected sub-districts. Chawkins holds a BA in Political Science from UCLA, an MA in Public Policy from Claremont Graduate School and was a Coro Fellow in New York City. He currently lives in Pasadena with his wife, Dr. Lan Nguyen Chawkins, and has 2 college-aged daughters.

Brian Goldman has over a decade of experience across multiple sectors of the energy industry. At Sonoma Clean Power, one of California’s Community Choice Aggregator (CCAs), his responsibilities include leading compliance obligations, contributing to regulatory practices, and developing risk oversight practices.

Prior to his role at Sonoma Clean Power, Brian was a Public Utilities Regulatory Analyst with the Public Advocates Office within the California Public Utilities Commission. At Cal Advocates, he was the lead analyst on the Distribution Resources Plan proceeding, the investor-owned utility Data Access Plan proceeding, and the SmartMeter deployment opt-out policy proceeding in PacifiCorp’s service territory. Brian also worked on Long Term Procurement Planning, Rule 21 Interconnection, SmartGrid development, and Electric Vehicle Integration matters. Prior to Cal Advocates, Brian was a regulatory and policy consultant for CleanPath Ventures, where he researched once-through cooling plant retirement impacts.

Brian holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern California, and a J.D. from UC Davis School of Law. His Law Review Note “Demarcation and the Smart Grid: An Analysis of California Public Utilities Commission Decision 10-06-047” examined early SmartGrid development plans through the historical lens of Federal telecommunications deregulation.

Paul A Rosen is currently Project Scientist for NASA-ISRO synthetic aperture radar mission (NISAR) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and is a JPL Fellow and Senior Research Scientist. He is also the study coordinator for NASA’s Surface Deformation and Change Decadal Survey Architecture Study. Until 2012, he was the manager of the Radar Science and Engineering Section and Project Scientist for the DESDynI Mission concept at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He has been particularly active in understanding the phenomenology and scientific potentials of interferometric SAR and has led a number of research initiatives in data analysis and the development of software tools and techniques. Dr. Rosen was the team leader for Algorithm Development and Verification on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, for which he received NASA's Exceptional Service Medal (2001) and NASA's Exceptional Achievement Medal (2002).