Speakers for VX2016

Pedro Pizarro
President
Southern California Edison
Biography

Pedro Pizarro

President
Southern California Edison

Pedro Pizarro is president of Southern California Edison (SCE), one of the nation’s largest investor-owned electric utilities, delivering power to more than 14 million people in a 50,000-square-mile service area spanning Central, Coastal, and Southern California.  He is a member of SCE’s board of directors.

Pizarro was president of Edison Mission Energy (EME) and chair of its board of directors from 2011 until its sale of substantially all of its assets to NRG Energy on April 1, 2014.  EME was a subsidiary of Edison International (EIX) at the time.  EME was an independent power producer that owned, leased, operated, and sold energy and capacity from electric power generation facilities, and engaged in hedging and energy-trading activities in competitive power markets. 

Previously, Pizarro progressed through several roles at EIX and SCE.  He joined EIX in 1999 as director of Strategic Planning, and was elected vice president of Technology Business Development in 2000.  He moved to SCE in 2001 as vice president of Strategy and Business Development and general manager of Edison Carrier Solutions (ECS), a division of SCE that provides wholesale broadband services to telecommunications carriers.  Pizarro was elected vice president of Power Procurement in 2004, senior vice president of Power Procurement in 2005, and executive vice president of Power Operations in 2008.  In that role, he oversaw SCE’s transmission and distribution system, the procurement unit for conventional and renewable power contracts, SCE’s gas-fired and hydroelectric generation facilities, and ECS.

Prior to his work at EIX and SCE, Pizarro was a senior engagement manager with McKinsey & Company in Los Angeles providing management consulting services to energy, technology, engineering services, and banking clients.  There, he developed corporate strategy, handled mergers and acquisitions, and oversaw operational and organizational engagements.

Pizarro earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Caltech and held National Science Foundation and Department of Defense graduate fellowships.  He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Harvard University.

Pizarro serves on the boards of Argonne National Laboratory, the Southern California Leadership Council, and Western Energy Institute.  He also has served on the boards of Caltech, the Electric Power Supply Association, the California Power Exchange, the Colburn School, and House Research Institute. 

Mary Nichols
Co-Chair
Commission on the Future of Mobility
Biography

Mary Nichols

Co-Chair
Commission on the Future of Mobility

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.       

Mark Ridley-Thomas
Supervisor, 2nd District
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Biography

Mark Ridley-Thomas

Supervisor, 2nd District
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

Since he was overwhelmingly elected in 2008 and reelected in 2012 and 2016 to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Mark Ridley-Thomas has distinguished himself as a strong advocate for more than two million Second District residents. He presently serves as Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, President of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission and a member of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

He has promoted the District’s interests on a variety of fronts, including transportation, job creation and retention, and local hiring. In the area of health policy, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas has overseen the construction of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, as well as a network of cutting-edge health care facilities throughout the District. He has facilitated the use of technology and encouraged an integrated approach to wellness that includes mental health care and a prominent role for school-based clinics. His advocacy has helped secure an equitable share of funding for public-private partnership health clinics in underserved areas.

Prior to his election to the Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas served the 26th District in the California State Senate where he chaired the Senate’s Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development. He served as Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus in 2008 and led the Caucus in unprecedented levels of cooperation and collaboration with counterparts in the Latino and Asian-Pacific Islander Legislative Caucuses.

Mark Ridley-Thomas was first elected to public office in 1991 and served with distinction on the Los Angeles City Council for nearly a dozen years, departing as Council President pro Tempore. He later served two terms in the California State Assembly, where he chaired the Assembly Democratic Caucus. His legislative work addressed a broad range of issues with implications for economic and workforce development, health care, public safety, education, budget accountability, consumer protection and civic participation.

He is widely regarded as the foremost advocate of neighborhood participation in government decision-making. By virtue of his founding of the Empowerment Congress, arguably the region’s most successful 24-year experiment in neighborhood-based civic engagement, he is considered the founder of the Neighborhood Council movement.

Ridley-Thomas’ political career was preceded by a decade of service as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, which followed a brief but successful five-year stint as a high school teacher.

The Supervisor is a graduate of Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles and earned a baccalaureate degree in Social Relations with a minor in Government and a master’s degree in Religious Studies with a concentration in Christian ethics from Immaculate Heart College. Supervisor Ridley-Thomas went on to receive his Ph.D. in Social Ethics from the University of Southern California focusing on Social Criticism and Social Change.

He is married to Avis Ridley-Thomas, Co-Founder and Director of the Institute for Non-Violence in Los Angeles. They are the proud parents of Sinclair and Sebastian, both Morehouse Men. Sinclair recently earned an MBA degree at USC’s Marshall School of Business, works in the investment banking industry, and resides with his wife Shaunicie, an attorney, in San Francisco. Sebastian is a member of the California State Assembly representing the 54th District, which includes Southwest Los Angeles, Culver City, Century City and Westwood.

Dennis McGinn
Admiral (ret) & Fmr. U.S. Assistant Secretary/Boardmember
US Navy/EPRI
Biography

Dennis McGinn

Admiral (ret) & Fmr. U.S. Assistant Secretary/Boardmember
US Navy/EPRI

Admiral Dennis McGinn served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment from September 2013 until January 2017.  In this role, he led the transformation of naval installations toward greater mission resiliency though energy efficiency, renewable energy, microgrids, and other technologies.  

Previously, Admiral McGinn served on active duty in the United States Navy for 35 years attaining the rank of Vice Admiral.  He served as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfare Requirements and Programs, overseeing the development of future Navy capabilities, and previously commanded the United States Third Fleet.  While in the Navy, he served as a naval aviator, test pilot, aircraft carrier commanding officer, and national security strategist.  

Admiral McGinn is a former President of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) where he led efforts to communicate the economic, security and environmental benefits of renewable energy.  Admiral McGinn is also a past member of the Steering Committee of the Energy Future Coalition, the United States Energy Security Council, the Bipartisan Center Energy Board, the past Co-Chairman of the CNA Military Advisory Board, and has been an International Senior Fellow at the Rocky Mountain Institute.

Admiral McGinn holds a BS in Naval Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and was a Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Fellow at the U.S. Naval War College. He also participated in the National Security Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Eric Garcetti
Mayor
City of Los Angeles
Biography

Eric Garcetti

Mayor
City of Los Angeles

Eric Garcetti is the 42nd Mayor of Los Angeles. His "back to basics" agenda is focused on job creation and solving everyday problems for L.A. residents.

Garcetti was elected four times by his peers to serve as President of the Los Angeles City Council from 2006 to 2012. From 2001 until taking office as Mayor, he served as the Councilmember representing the 13th District which includes Hollywood, Echo Park, Silver Lake, and Atwater Village -- all of which were dramatically revitalized under Garcetti's leadership.

Garcetti was raised in the San Fernando Valley and earned his B.A. and M.A. from Columbia University. He studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and the London School of Economics and taught at Occidental College and USC. A fourth generation Angeleno, he and his wife, Amy Elaine Wakeland, have a young daughter. He is a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy reserve and is an avid jazz pianist and photographer.

Kathleen Brown
Treasurer (former)
State of California
Biography

Kathleen Brown

Treasurer (former)
State of California
A former California State Treasurer with nearly two decades of experience as a senior bank executive, Kathleen Brown concentrates on business counseling, government and regulatory affairs in connection with the health care, energy, real estate and financial services industries. 

Before joining Manatt, Kathleen served in senior executive positions at Goldman Sachs Inc. and Bank of America. At Goldman Sachs, where her roles included chairman of Midwest investment banking and head of the Western region public-sector and infrastructure group, Kathleen participated in over $4.2 billion of water and power bond financings and counseled municipal utilities in California in their efforts to meet the state’s renewable energy standards. She also helped healthcare institutions navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by healthcare reform. 

A former Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee, Kathleen has extensive experience in the public sector. As California State treasurer, she managed a $25 billion bond portfolio, oversaw a $32 billion cash management fund and served as a trustee on the boards of CalPERS and CalSTRS, two of the largest pension funds in the nation. 

Kathleen served as co-chair of the Council of Institutional Investors; co-chair of the Presidential Commission on Capital Budgeting; a commissioner of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works; and a two-term member of the Los Angeles Board of Education. 

Before she campaigned for treasurer, Kathleen was an attorney at a global law firm, where she was a member of the capital markets group working in public and corporate finance. 

Ms. Brown serves on the Board of Directors of Sustainable Development Acquisition Corp (SDAC), FivePoint Communities, Stifel Financial Corp, Bill Lane Center for the American West, the Annenberg Foundation, the Mayor’s Fund Los Angeles, the Advisory Board of the Stanford Center on Longevity, and The Trusteeship.

Deborah Flint
CEO
Los Angeles World Airports
Biography

Deborah Flint

CEO
Los Angeles World Airports

Deborah Flint was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) in June 2015, with oversight of Los Angeles International (LAX) and Van Nuys (VNY) general aviation airports.

Flint leads the team responsible for returning LAX to iconic status, creating a world class, modern airport for the modern traveler and building a transportation system that will give passengers a first-class, swift, convenient, and reliable way to access the airport.  Flint’s responsibilities involve managing the largest public works project in the history of the City of Los Angeles and investing more than $8.5-billion to innovate retail, food and beverage, terminal redevelopment and create an airport wide hospitality mindset.  As well, Flint oversees the development and advancement of security policies and strategies that comply with federal security regulations and provide world-class law enforcement for the protection of the public and property.

She leads the procurement and delivery of the Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP,) the $5.5 billion solution to the crowded roadways and curbsides at and around LAX.  Elements include an Automated People Mover (APM), Consolidated Rent-a-Car Center (ConRAC), Intermodal Transportation Facilities (ITFs) and comprehensive Roadway Improvements. Working in partnership with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), the system will provide travelers with a seamless connection to public transit.  Flint is committed to building the complex structures with leading edge innovation and design, while creating new jobs and opportunities for small, local and diverse business.

Flint managed the transition of Ontario International Airport to its new local authority.  She continues to position VNY, one of the world’s busiest general aviation airports, as a vital community partner which contributes more than $1.3 billion each year to the Southern California economy.

Flint came to LAWA from the Port of Oakland where she had held the position of aviation director since 2010, being the primary executive responsible management, business development and operation of Oakland International Airport (OAK). 

While there, she delivered the $480-milliion BART Airport Rail project after years of effort and challenges; executed strategies to stabilize and reverse passenger traffic decline in a difficult market environment; redesigned OAK’s customer experience to make the airport more competitive; and marketed, developed and negotiated numerous development and investment transactions in terminal renovation and hangar development.

Prior to serving as aviation director at the Port of Oakland, Flint held the position of assistant aviation director.  Other professional experience includes leading OAK's Capital Program in which she coordinated the design, financing and implementation of major airport projects, and participated in the issuance of more than a half billion dollars in revenue bonds.  She also served as acting port executive director of the Port of Oakland (maritime).  She began her career with the port in 1992 in port finance and advanced through the port’s Finance and Aviation divisions.    

Flint serves on the Board of the Airports Council International World Board, is on the Oversight Committee of the Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program; and is the Chair of the California Airports Council. 

David Kramer
President
Hudson Companies, Inc.
Biography

David Kramer

President
Hudson Companies, Inc.

David Kramer is the President of the Hudson Companies, Inc. (www.hudsoninc.com) which he joined in 1995 and currently runs with fellow principal William Fowler. Hudson has developed 5,600 residential apartments since 1986. Hudson’s projects range from market rate condominiums (J Condo, Riverwalk Court, Third + Bond, The Marais) to institutional housing (Cornell Tech residential tower, NYU Dormitory, staff housing for Memorial Sloan Kettering) to renovations (345 West 13th Street, Cobble Hill Tower, The Knick) to market rate rentals (Riverwalk Crossing, Hudson East, The Crossroads, The Clinton) to affordable housing (Atlantic Center, Dumont Green, Gateway).  In 2011, Hudson was named Private Developer of the Year by the New York State Housing Conference. In 2013, Hudson was selected by the New York City Pension Funds to manage an investment fund to rebuild areas affected by Superstorm Sandy.

Prior to joining Hudson, Kramer developed affordable housing as the Housing Director of the Venice Community Housing Corporation in Los Angeles, and a project manager for the Skid Row Housing Trust.  In 1989, David was one of the founders and the first Executive Director of People for Parks, a Los Angeles non-profit coalition of parks advocates.

David has a Bachelor Degree from Yale University and graduated from the Coro Foundation's Public Affairs Program. David serves on the Alumni Council of the Collegiate School and the board of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and has served on the boards of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, the Coro Foundation and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, where he also served as Chair.  David founded the quarterly Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable to benefit the Brooklyn Historical Society.  He lives in Brooklyn Heights with his wife, three children and poorly trained dog. He is a long suffering New York Giants fan, has completed 5 New York City Marathons, 5 Century Bike Races and knows the lyrics to most Broadway musicals. He has finished in the money in both KenKen and Su Doku tournaments. 

Robert Weisenmiller
Chairman
California Energy Commission
Biography

Robert Weisenmiller

Chairman
California Energy Commission

Chair Robert Weisenmiller was appointed as member and Chair to the California Energy Commission in January 2011 by Governor Jerry Brown and re-appointed in January 2015. He fills the Engineer/Scientist position on the five-member Commission. Commissioner Weisenmiller brings more than 30 years energy experience to the Commission including expertise in electricity and gas markets and California regulatory policies. Chair Weisenmiller has served as an expert witness in more than 100 state and federal regulatory commission proceedings and has authored numerous publications on electricity and natural gas markets.

Before his appointment, Chair Weisenmiller, a co-founder of MRW & Associates, used his expertise to assist businesses, financial institution, regulatory commissions, and public agencies in strategic planning, policy development, analyzing energy markets and regulations, rate design and implications of utility mergers.

Chair Weisenmiller's career also included a previous period of public service with the Energy Commission as Advisor to Commissioner, Manager of the Special Projects Office, and Director of the Office of Policy and Program Evaluation in the period between 1977 and 1982. Chair Weisenmiller holds a Doctorate in Chemistry and a Masters in Energy and Resources from University of California Berkeley and received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Providence College.

Phillip Washington
CEO
Denver International Airport
Biography

Phillip Washington

CEO
Denver International Airport

Phillip A. Washington was nominated by Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and unanimously confirmed by the Denver City Council as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Denver International Airport (DEN) on July 12, 2021. DEN is the country’s 3rd busiest airport and the world’s 7th busiest airport by passengers. The annual economic impact of DEN is $33.5 billion and has 30,000 total badged employees with 22 air carriers and a total of 170 concession locations and more than 190,000 square feet of concession space. In just a short period of time, Phil has set forth a vision for DEN, Vision 100, that looks to prepare DEN to accommodate 100 million passengers, a 30% increase in passengers within the next 5-8 years. 

Prior to Washington’s arrival at DEN, he was the CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) from March 2015 to May, 2021. 

As Metro’s CEO, Washington managed a balanced budget in excess of $8 billion, was responsible for overseeing between $18-$20 billion in capital projects and provided oversight of an agency with 11,000 employees that transported 1.2 million boarding passengers daily on a fleet of 2,200 clean-air buses and six rail lines. Metro is the lead transportation planning, programming, and financing agency for LA County. As such, it is a major construction agency that oversees bus, rail, highway, and other mobility related infrastructure projects – together representing the largest modern public works program in North America. Washington was also engaged and partnering in all facets of transportation and infrastructure in LA County including aviation, goods movement, freight/railroads, water, public works, housing, and transit-oriented communities (TOCs). 

Washington led the 2016 successful effort to pass Measure M, a new half- cent sales tax in Los Angeles County (the most populated county in the United States), which garnered 71.15% voter approval. Measure M will allow Metro to build 40 major highway and transit projects over the next 40 years, create 778,000 jobs and provide $133.3 billion in economic impact for the region. Measure M has no sunset and will only end if voters vote to end it. 

Washington went to Los Angeles from Denver, where he served as the CEO of Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) between 2009 and 2015. He was previously the assistant general manager of RTD for nearly 10 years before being named CEO. 

In Denver, Washington led and implemented the FasTracks program, one of the largest voter approved transportation expansion programs in the country. Under his leadership, Denver’s West Corridor Rail Line project was completed under budget and eight months earlier than scheduled, and the award-winning Denver Union Station project was completed five months early and is now realizing tremendous revenue and value capture from the surrounding development. 

Also in Denver, Washington implemented the nation’s first and still only $2.2 billion rail transit public private partnership (P3), which opened in 2016 and is in operation and exceeding ridership estimates.

Washington has received numerous prestigious assignments and honors. In July 2022, Phil was nominated by President Biden to be the next Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator. Phil awaits Senate confirmation. In 2021, under Washington’s leadership of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, LA Metro was named a Top Regional Employer in the DiversityInc Top 50 Employer competition for the first time in the agency’s history. In 2020 and 2021, Phil co-chaired the Biden/Harris Infrastructure Policy Committee, he was later asked to lead (Captain) the Biden/Harris Transportation Transition Team. In both 2021 and 2019, he testified before the full U.S. Congressional Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, was honored with the Eddy Award for Outstanding Leadership in Economic Development and was awarded the prestigious CORO Crystal Eagle Award for a “Legacy of Leadership.” In 2018, he was awarded the Honorable Ray LaHood Award (former U.S. Secretary of Transportation) by the national Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS) for his outstanding contribution in promoting opportunities to advance and advocate for women in the transportation industry. In 2017, he was presented with the Judge Harry Pregerson Public Service Award for his service to U.S. military veterans and was honored with the Norman Mineta Award for exceptional leadership in the transportation industry. In 2016, he was chosen by the National Safety Council as one of the CEOs Who “Get It” – an honor bestowed on CEOs who demonstrate leadership in safety at the highest levels. In 2014, he was selected by the editors of Engineering News-Record as one of the Top 25 Newsmakers of 2013. Washington was also named 2013-2014 Outstanding Public Transportation CEO of the Year in North America by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). In 2012, President Obama named him a White House Transportation Innovators Champion of Change. In 2009, he was appointed by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter to serve on the State of Colorado’s Workforce Development Council to help the state create a 21st century workforce. And, in 2007, he was appointed by the mayor of Denver to lead the Host Transportation Committee for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. 

Originally from the South Side of Chicago – the housing projects of Altgeld Gardens – Washington is a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Army, where he held the rank of Command Sergeant Major, the highest non-commissioned officer rank an enlisted soldier can achieve. He retired from active duty, is a disabled veteran and was awarded the prestigious Defense Superior Service Medal for exceptional service to his country. He holds a B.A. in Business from Columbia College, an M.A. in Management from Webster University and is a graduate of the Harvard University Kennedy School for Senior Executives in State and Local Government. He is also a past chair of APTA and a former member of the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board and the Eno Center for Transportation.
 

Terry O'Day
Chief Operating Officer
In-Charge Energy
Biography

Terry O'Day

Chief Operating Officer
In-Charge Energy

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 managerwith $495 billion in assets under management. Previously, Terry led North American strategy for innogy e-MobilityUSa 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 EntrepreneursCoalition for Clean Airand the Metropolitan Water DistrictTerry has an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and BA with honors from Stanford University.

Ken Alex
Director
California Office of Planning and Research
Biography

Ken Alex

Director
California Office of Planning and Research
Linda Griego
Board Member
AECOM
Biography

Linda Griego

Board Member
AECOM

Ms. Griego has served, since 1986, as president and chief executive officer of Griego Enterprises, Inc., a business management company that has overseen several entrepreneurial ventures in Los Angeles.

In 2015, Ms. Griego founded the MLK Health and Wellness Community Development Corp. charged with economic development oversight of LA County’s MLK Medical Campus in Watts.  Ms. Griego has held other civic-related appointments, including deputy mayor of the city of Los Angeles focused on economic development; president and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Community Development Bank charged with making loans in the federal economic empowerment zone; and president and chief executive officer of Rebuild LA, the agency created to coordinate a five-year economic recovery following the Los Angeles civil unrest.  

For two decades, she has served on boards of directors of non-profit organizations and government commissions.  She currently serves as a trustee of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation; and has served as a trustee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  She also serves on the boards of directors of the Art Center College of Design and the Community Development Technologies Center.  She has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations for twenty years; and was a founding member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

For more than twenty years, she has served on the boards of corporations. Currently, she serves as a director of CBS Corporation, and a board member of AECOM Technology Corporation and American Funds. She was also a Los Angeles director of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Ms. Griego has maintained strong ties with UCLA since her graduation in 1975 when she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.  She is a former senior fellow of the UCLA School of Public Policy and former chair of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Advisory Board.  She currently serves on the UCLA Women’s Health Center advisory board. In 2008, she received the UCLA Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the university. 

Gail Goldberg
Boardmember
Metropolitan Water District Board
Biography

Gail Goldberg

Boardmember
Metropolitan Water District Board

S. Gail Goldberg, FAICP, served as Executive Director of the Urban Land Institute - Los Angeles from June of 2011 until February 2017.  Ms. Goldberg brought to the table not only her many years leading the planning departments of two of the world’s most significant cities, but also many years of service to ULI.

Goldberg was Director of Los Angeles City Planning Department from February 2006 through August 2010. She was responsible for organizing and directing the policies and activities of the City’s Planning Department, including the development, maintenance and implementation of all elements of the City’s General Plan as well as a range of other special zoning plans.

Prior to joining the Los Angeles Planning Department, Goldberg worked for 17 years in the City of San Diego Planning Department, serving as Planning Director from 2000 through 2005. She oversaw a planning process to update the city’s 20-year-old General Plan. The result – which became an international model for urban revitalization – was a 20-year vision for the San Diego and a long-term strategy for achieving that vision known as the “City of Villages.”

Goldberg is a native Californian and holds a degree in Urban Studies and Planning from the University of California San Diego and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners. Goldberg currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the USC Center for Sustainable Cities and the USC Price School Masters of Planning Program.  She also serves on the Advisory Board for the University of California’s District 9 Transportation Center.  Beginning in March 2019, Goldberg serves on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water District representing San Diego.

Goldberg has formerly served as an Urban Land Institute Trustee, one of two public members on the State Strategic Growth Council, Chair of the San Diego/Tijuana ULI District Council and on the Statewide Coordinating Committee for the Urban Land Institute’s California Smart Growth Initiative. She is a past President of the San Diego Chapter of the Lambda Alpha Honorary Land Economics Society.

 

 

 

 

Steve Westly
Founder and Managing Director
The Westly Group
Biography

Steve Westly

Founder and Managing Director
The Westly Group

Mr. Westly has a unique background.

He served on the faculty at Stanford’s Graduate School of business for five years.

He helped take eBay public in 1998 where he served as SVP of Marketing, Business Development, M&A and International.

In 2002, Mr. Westly was elected Controller and CFO of the State of California. He served on the boards of CalPERS and CalSTRS which invest more than $450 billion.

He founded the Westly Group in 2007, which is one of the larger smart energy and transportation venture firms in the US.  The firms has had four portfolio companies go public including Tesla Motors, where he sat on the Board of Trustees for 3 years.

John Simpson
Program Director, Water Resources Division
Marine Corps Installations West/ Marine Corps Base
Biography

John Simpson

Program Director, Water Resources Division
Marine Corps Installations West/ Marine Corps Base

John is the Water Resources Program Director for Marine Corps Installations West and the General Manager of Camp Pendleton’s Water Resources District. He is focused on the fact that the Water Security of the Dept of the Navy’s installations in the southwest equals their Mission Security which in-turn equates to National Security.

Prior to coming to Camp Pendleton, John was a Program Manager at the US General Services Administration in Washington, DC, where he founded the Facilities Management Institute (FMI.gov) - a cloud based institute developed to implement the Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act.

Prior to GSA, John was a Principal at Rocky Mountain Institute where he was the Water Practice Leader working on projects in China, Singapore, Colorado and the six cities of the Salinas Valley.

Prior to that, he spent 20 years in the US Navy - serving in the Submarine Force, Naval Diving and Salvage Community and the Civil Engineer Corps (Seabees).

John is a registered Professional Civil Engineer, and is a Doctoral Candidate in the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California, after earning his Masters degree from Stanford University and his Bachelors degree from the University of South Carolina – both in Civil and Environmental Engineering. 

John Chiang
California State Treasurer
State of California
Biography

John Chiang

California State Treasurer
State of California

John Chiang was elected on November 4, 2014, as California’s 33rd State Treasurer. As the State’s banker, he oversees trillions of dollars in transactions every year. One of his top priorities is to conduct the State’s business in the most transparent manner possible. 

Chiang sells California’s bonds, invests the State’s money and manages its cash. In addition, he manages financing authorities that help provide good-paying jobs, better schools, improved transportation, quality health care, more affordable housing and a cleaner environment. He handles those duties while sitting on the governing boards of the nation’s two largest public pension funds – the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS). 

Chiang has made transparency a top priority, believing that sharing information with taxpayers enables them to hold government officials accountable. In November 2015, he unveiled DebtWatch, a website that offers the public easy access to three decades of data related to debt issued by State and local governments. 

Prior to being elected Treasurer, Chiang served from 2007 through 2014 as State Controller, during which time he: 

  • Took steps during the Great Recession to preserve cash to meet obligations to education and bond holders. His cash management decisions – which included delaying payments and issuing IOUs -- were cited as instrumental in keeping the State’s credit rating from plunging into junk status, which saved taxpayers millions of dollars. 
  • Worked to ensure the fiscal solvency of the State’s pension plans, and was a leader in pension and corporate governance reform. He proposed a plan to address the unfunded liability of providing health and dental benefits for State retirees, and successfully sponsored legislation requiring all State pension systems to adopt disclosure policies regarding board members and placement agents. He also has sponsored bills to curb pension-spiking, require placement agents to register as lobbyists, and require CalPERS and CalSTRS board members to file more campaign contribution disclosure reports. 
  • Aggressively used his auditing authority to identify more than $9 billion in taxpayer dollars that were denied, overpaid, subject to collection, or resulted in revenues, savings and cost avoidance. 
  • Ensured that $3.1 billion in unclaimed property was returned to the rightful owners. He also led the effort to reform the State’s Unclaimed Property Program, which currently holds about $7.1 billion in bank accounts, utility deposits and other property that businesses have deemed abandoned by their owners. 

Chiang was first elected to the Board of Equalization in 1998 where he served two terms, including three years as chair. He began his career as a tax law specialist with the Internal Revenue Service and previously served as an attorney in the State Controller’s Office. 

The son of immigrant parents, Chiang graduated with honors from the University of South Florida with a degree in finance. He received his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Mike Wallace
Chief Decarbonization Officer
Persefoni
Biography

Mike Wallace

Chief Decarbonization Officer
Persefoni

Mike Wallace is an internationally recognized expert with nearly 30 years of experience in sustainability, ESG reporting/compliance, and managing social and human capital issues. He currently serves as the Chief Decarbonization Officer at Persefoni, a carbon accounting technology company, where he oversees strategic partnerships to help with the integration and application of Persefoni’s climate accounting and management platform (CMAP). Prior to joining Persefoni, Wallace was a partner at the global sustainability consultancy, ERM where he counseled clients on corporate responsibility and sustainability solutions and helped shape several strategic partnerships for ERM. In that role, Wallace also served as the Interim Executive Director for the Social & Human Capital Coalition, a multi-stakeholder project of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). His work included overseeing the establishment of the overall governance structure, technical council and global network that drove the creation of the Social & Human Capital Protocol, which was officially launched at GreenBiz 2019 by the founders WBCSD, Nasdaq, and Microsoft. Prior to ERM, Wallace was a director for the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), where he worked on foundational initiatives such as the International Integrated Reporting Council (IRRC), the European Commission proposal on corporate ESG reporting, and the UN Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative (SSEi) on ESG listing guidance.

Catherine Reheis-Boyd
President
Western States Petroleum Association
Biography

Catherine Reheis-Boyd

President
Western States Petroleum Association

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.

Coby Skye
Former Deputy Director
Los Angeles County Public Works; Blue Skye Environmental Consulting
Biography

Coby Skye

Former Deputy Director
Los Angeles County Public Works; Blue Skye Environmental Consulting

Coby Skye is Deputy Director of the Los Angeles Public Works Environmental Services Core Service Area. Coby has responsibility for the Environmental Programs, Sewer Maintenance and Fleet Management business areas.

With an annual budget of more than $3.6 billion and a workforce of 4,000 employees, Los Angeles County Public Works is the largest municipal public works agency in the United States, providing vital public infrastructure and civic services to more than 10 million people across a 4,000-square-mile service area. 

Coby has 24 years of experience with Public Works in the field of environmental programs, including environmental policy, solid waste management and recycling programs.

Coby is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of California. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Polytechnic University in New York and a Master of Public Administration degree from California State University, Long Beach.

Frank Breust
Vice President Governmental and External Affairs
BMW Group Representative Office California
Biography

Frank Breust

Vice President Governmental and External Affairs
BMW Group Representative Office California

Frank Breust is heading the government and external affairs office of the BMW Group in Sacramento, California since July 2013. In this function he coordinates corporate positioning with all relevant stakeholders in the fields of environmental, mobility and sustainability policies.

Prior to this, Mr. Breust was responsible for coordinating the political communication of the BMW Group in Munich with regard to human resources related issues as well as sustainability engagements. Mr. Breust also steered social sustainability topics in the HR strategy. Before joining the BMW Group, Mr. Breust was an officer of the German Air Force and served as an air traffic controller and in the German Military Intelligence Service for twelve years.

Frank Breust was born and grew up in Oldenburg, Germany and holds a Diploma in Business and Economics Education and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree

Marcie Edwards
Fmr. General Manager
LADWP
Biography

Marcie Edwards

Fmr. General Manager
LADWP

Marcie is a former General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), and was the first woman to lead the nation’s largest municipality. She previously managed Anaheim Public Utilities for 13 years, and was tapped to serve as the Anaheim City Manager in 2013. She also spent 25 of her earlier years working her way up the ladder at LADWP. Marcie is a former governor on the California Independent System Operator Board, and served as interim CEO of that agency during a portion of the energy crisis. She now sits on the California Wildfire Safety Advisory Board.

Jens Birkholzer
Senior Scientist
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Biography

Jens Birkholzer

Senior Scientist
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Dr. Jens Birkholzer is a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, Berkeley Lab). As an internationally recognized expert in subsurface energy applications and environmental impact assessment, he currently serves as the Director for the Energy Geosciences Division (EGD) in the Earth and Environmental Systems Area (EESA). In addition Dr. Birkholzer leads the Sustainable Energy Systems Program Domain in the Energy Geosciences Division. He received his Ph.D. in water resources, hydrology, and soil science from Aachen University of Technology in Germany in 1994. Dr. Birkholzer joined LBNL in 1994, left for a management position in his native Germany in 1999, and eventually returned to LBNL in 2001. He has over 300 scientific publications, about 100 of which are in peer-reviewed journals, in addition to numerous research reports. He serves as the Associate Editor of the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control (IJGGC) and is also on the Board of Editorial Policy Advisors for the Journal of Geomechanics for Energy and Environment (GETE).

Dr. Birkholzer’s scientific emphasis centers on understanding and modeling coupled multi-phase fluid, gas, solute and heat transport in complex subsurface systems such as or fractured rock or heterogeneous sediments. As a scientist in a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Lab, his research is related to evaluating the feasibility and environmental sustainability of subsurface energy applications, particularly the use of deep subsurface formations for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and for the storage of CO2 for geologic carbon sequestration. Using a combination of numerical, theoretical, observational and experimental approaches, he focuses on the complex couplings between thermal-hydrological-mechanical and chemical processes activated by subsurface energy manipulations.

Harlan Kelly
General Manager
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Biography

Harlan Kelly

General Manager
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

Harlan L. Kelly, Jr. has been a speaker at the Verdexchange Conference and Expo for many years, and is the General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), the third largest municipal utility in California, which provides drinking water and wastewater services to San Francisco; wholesale water to three Bay Area counties; and green hydroelectric and solar power to San Francisco’s municipal departments.  Mr. Kelly began his tenure as General Manager in 2012, and has been in San Francisco government for 35 years in various capacities including City Engineer from 1996 to 2003.  He serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, and other entities.  His writing and insights are featured in The Value of Water – A Compendium of Essays by Smart CEOs

Sanjay Ranchod
Director & Counsel, Business Development & Policy
Tesla
Biography

Sanjay Ranchod

Director & Counsel, Business Development & Policy
Tesla

Sanjay Ranchod works at Tesla, where he is Director and Counsel, Business Development and Policy. Previously, he was Vice President of Policy & Electricity Markets and Regulatory Counsel at SolarCity from 2011 through 2017. Before joining SolarCity, Ranchod represented renewable energy companies and other businesses on regulatory matters as an attorney at the Paul Hastings law firm.

Ranchod serves on the board of directors of the California Solar Energy Industries Association and as a Commissioner of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, a state agency. He served on Sierra Club’s board of directors from 2004 to 2010, and on the board of the Sierra Club Foundation from 2010 to 2016. Ranchod also served on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Center for Environmental Health / Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He received a BA from Brown University and a JD from Stanford Law School.

Joe Edmiston
Executive Director
Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy
Biography

Joe Edmiston

Executive Director
Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy

Joseph Edmiston was appointed Executive Director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy by Governor Jerry Brown in 1979. Under his leadership, the Conservancy has preserved over 60,000 acres of public parkland within and surrounding the Los Angeles Metropolitan region, in a zone extending from the edge of the Mojave Desert to the Pacific Ocean. From north to south, these areas drain into the Santa Clara River, Calleguas Creek, numerous smaller coastal watersheds in the Santa Monica Mountains, and the Los Angeles River and Rio Hondo. Joe has lectured extensively on environmental planning, park development, and urban land use. He and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, have been the recipient of numerous national awards including, most recently, the highest honor of the National Planning Association, the Daniel Burnham Award.

George Minter
Regional Vice President for External Affairs and Environmental Strategy
Southern California Gas Company
Biography

George Minter

Regional Vice President for External Affairs and Environmental Strategy
Southern California Gas Company

George Minter is currently Regional Vice President for External Affairs and Environmental Strategy for SoCalGas, the nation’s largest gas utility. He is responsible for the Company’s public affairs, community relations, and energy and environmental affairs functions. 

He’s been a long time public policy professional specializing in energy and environmental matters, policy development, communications and political advocacy. Previously, he’s been a managing principal for LA-based public affairs consulting firms, Greer/Dailey/Minter and GM Public Affairs, handling approvals for large energy and land use projects.  He began his career as a political consultant managing local, state and national political campaigns.

George has served as a board member of numerous civic associations and community organizations, has been the recipient of several awards and honors, and has been a regular speaker at state and national conferences on energy and environmental policy. 

He’s the father of two grown children, is married, and lives in Pasadena, California; and is a Phi Beta Kappa and Honors graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.

Nancy Sutley
Deputy Mayor of Energy & Sustainability
City of Los Angeles
Biography

Nancy Sutley

Deputy Mayor of Energy & Sustainability
City of Los Angeles

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.

Bob Foster
Board Member
EPCOR Utilities
Biography

Bob Foster

Board Member
EPCOR Utilities

Bob Foster has spent more than 40 years in the energy policy arena in California.  He began his career working on energy efficiency for the State Senate and then led the energy efficiency program for the California Energy Commission.  He then joined Southern California Edison working his way up in the company, eventually serving as its President from 2002 to 2006.  After retiring from SCE, he ran for and was elected Mayor of Long Beach, Ca., serving for 8 years from 2006 to 2014.  He also served as Chair of California’s Independent System Operator (CAISO) from 2011 to 2014.  He now operates Prometheus Advisors, providing consulting on energy, water, entitlements, and public policy issues. He serves on the boards of EPCOR in Edmonton Canada, the American Transmission Company in Milwaukee, and Port Solutions in Los Angeles.  Bob is an ardent baseball fan and in 1983 coached a team from Sacramento to the Little League World Series in Williamsport Pa.

Steve Berberich
President and CEO
California ISO
Biography

Steve Berberich

President and CEO
California ISO

Steve Berberich is President and Chief Executive Officer at the California Independent System Operator (ISO). 

Mr. Berberich has navigated the ISO through a series of major initiatives, including the world’s most expansive integration of renewable resources into the power grid. His vision for reducing the grid’s reliance on fossil fuels has catalyzed many significant new programs including the nation’s first Energy Imbalance Market, which welcomed several western states into the ISO’s bulk power markets. 

With over 25 years of experience in the utility, consulting, banking and finance sectors, he also holds an undergraduate degree in finance and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Tulsa. 

 

Renata Simril
President and CEO
LA84 Foundation
Biography

Renata Simril

President and CEO
LA84 Foundation

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.

Mark Pestrella
Director
Los Angeles County Public Works
Biography

Mark Pestrella

Director
Los Angeles County Public Works
Mark Pestrella is the Director of Los Angeles County Public Works. In this capacity, he serves as the County Engineer, the County Road Commissioner, and the Chief Engineer of the  Los Angeles County Flood Control District. With an annual budget of more than $2.7 billion and  a workforce of 4,000 employees, Los Angeles County Public Works is the largest municipal public  works agency in the United States, providing vital public infrastructure and civic services to more  than 10 million people across a 4,000-square-mile service area. Public Works’ diverse operations are defined within six core service areas: Water Resources, Transportation, Environmental Services, Construction Management, Developmental Services, and Emergency Management.  
 
Mr. Pestrella is a licensed civil engineer and a 34-year veteran of Public Works and has held a variety of management positions. He is a native of Southern California and attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in civil engineering with concentrations in structural engineering and water resource management.
 
Bob Sipchen
Senior Editor, California Section
Los Angeles Times
Biography

Bob Sipchen

Senior Editor, California Section
Los Angeles Times

Bob Sipchen helps edit the Los Angeles Times California Section. In 2002 he and Alex Raksin won the Pulitzer Prize for “Helping People Off the Streets,” a series of editorials on Los Angeles’ homeless mentally ill population. In 1993 he shared in the Times’ Pulitzer for its team coverage of the Los Angeles Riots.  In his many years at the Times, Sipchen has served as Sunday Opinion Editor, Senior Editor at the Los Angeles Times magazine, editor and creator of the Outdoors section, columnist, and staff writer.

From 2007 till 2015 Sipchen worked at the Sierra Club, America’s largest and most effective grassroots environmental organization, where he led a staff of up to 80 multi-media professionals and served as National Communications Director and Editor in Chief of Sierra magazine, an award-winning, 500,000- circulation bimonthly created by Sierra Club founder John Muir in 1893. 

Sipchen is an adjunct professor at Occidental College, where he teaches journalism and communications classes. He and his wife, Pam, live in Los Angeles and are the parents of three adult children. 

Dennis Luna
Managing Partner
Luna & Glushon
Biography

Dennis Luna

Managing Partner
Luna & Glushon

Dennis is the managing partner of Luna & Glushon, a firm headquartered in Century City.

Dennis is a graduate of Harvard Law School, and holds a Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Southern California, School of Petroleum Engineering.

He has served on many commissions in the City of Los Angeles, including Commissioner and Treasurer for the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, and as a Commissioner of the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department.

He is also a former Director and Member of the Executive Committee of the Economic Development Corporation of Los Angeles County.

Dennis is a frequent speaker on matters related to energy, water resources, and the economy.

Sue Minter
Executive Director
Capstone Community Action
Biography

Sue Minter

Executive Director
Capstone Community Action

Sue Minter is the Executive Director of Capstone Community Action, a regional anti-poverty non-profit in Vermont dedicated to creating resilient communities and advancing social, economic and environmental justice. In 2021 she was appointed to serve on the Vermont Climate Council, established to create the state’s climate action plan, where she co-chair of the Just Transitions Committee.

Minter has served the state of Vermont as the Secretary of the Agency of Transportation (2015), Deputy Secretary (2011-2014) and as the state’s Chief Recovery Officer (2011-2013) following the devastation from Tropical Storm Irene. Sue also served on President Obama’s White House Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience (2015) as a sub-committee co-chair and also led a Vermont disaster response team to support Colorado DOT after 2013 flooding. Minter was the Democratic candidate for Vermont Governor in 2016.

Minter’s public service included elected office as State Representative in the Vermont legislature from 2004–2010, serving as a member of the House Appropriations Committee and House Transportation Committees, when she was selected to be an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership (2009-11) and was designated as a 2008 Emerging Political Leader by the State Legislative Leadership Foundation.

A graduate of Harvard University (BA) and M.I.T. (MA in City Planning), Sue and her husband, David Goodman, live in Waterbury Center and have two adult children.

Joe Sullivan
Director of Energy Solutions
Los Angeles IBEW & NECA
Biography

Joe Sullivan

Director of Energy Solutions
Los Angeles IBEW & NECA
Jeff Morales
CEO
California High Speed Rail Authority
Biography

Jeff Morales

CEO
California High Speed Rail Authority
Jeff Morales is the Chief Executive Officer of the California High-Speed Rail Authority and has a distinguished record of experience managing large and complex transportation issues and projects. As the former Director of the California Department of Transportation, Morales managed a $10 billion program and more than 23,000 employees working to build, maintain and operate the largest state transportation system in the U.S.
 
Morales most recently was Senior Vice President of Parsons Brinckerhoff , where he worked with transportation agencies across the United States and internationally to develop and implement major capital programs and is the past executive vice president of the Chicago Transit Authority where he spearheaded major reforms at the nation’s second-largest transit agency.
 
His experience at the federal level includes serving as a member of President-Elect Obama’s transition team focusing on transportation, Vice President Al Gore’s National Performance Review, the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, the United States Department of Transportation and as U.S. Senate staff.
Paul Bunje
Principal and Senior Scientist, Energy & Environment
XPRIZE Foundation
Biography

Paul Bunje

Principal and Senior Scientist, Energy & Environment
XPRIZE Foundation

Paul Bunje is a global thought leader in bringing innovation to solve environmental grand challenges. Paul leads Energy and Environment prizes at the XPRIZE Foundation, where he brings his unique ability to bridge the gap between science and society to incentivizing solutions to diverse challenges facing our world.

Paul was the founding Executive Director of the UCLA Center for Climate Change Solutions and the Managing Director of the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability. He received his B.S. from the University of Southern California and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Hector De La Torre
Board Member
California Air Resources Board
Biography

Hector De La Torre

Board Member
California Air Resources Board

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.

Bob Hertzberg
Sr. Advisor
Mission Possible Partnership
Biography

Bob Hertzberg

Sr. Advisor
Mission Possible Partnership

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 64th 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.

Martin Adams
General Manager & Chief Engineer
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Biography

Martin Adams

General Manager & Chief Engineer
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

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.

Cecilia Estolano
CEO & Founder
Estolano Advisors and CEO of Better World Group
Biography

Cecilia Estolano

CEO & Founder
Estolano Advisors and CEO of Better World Group

Cecilia V. Estolano is a leading expert on contemporary urban planning issues, with experience in economic and workforce development, land use, environmental policy, and urban revitalization. She has worked directly with public, private, institutional, and non-profit clients to plan, finance, design, implement, and operate policy-driven programs and projects that promote sustainable solutions tailored for each community.

Cecilia is a former Chair of the Regents of the University of California and has served as President of the California Community College Board of Governors. She received an A.B. from Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges, an M.A. in Urban Planning from UCLA, and a J.D. from UC Berkeley. Prior to founding Estolano Advisors in 2011, Cecilia served as CEO of CRA/LA, practiced land use and environmental law while Of Counsel and an Associate at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, served as Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. EPA during the Clinton Administration, and served as Environmental Policy Advisor to former L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley. In addition to her work at Estolano Advisors, she became the CEO of Better World Group, an environmental strategy firm, in 2018. 

Enrique Zaldivar
CEO
Baldwin Park
Biography

Enrique Zaldivar

CEO
Baldwin Park

Enrique was at the helm of LA Sanitation & Environment (LASAN) as the Director and General Manager for over eight years. He was originally appointed in 2007, and then reappointed by Mayor Garcetti in September 2013.  LASAN is one of the largest agencies in the City of Los Angeles with nearly 3,300 employees and an annual revenue budget of over $1.1 billion. Through Mr. Zaldivar's leadership and management, LASAN oversees important environmental and infrastructure programs such as the City's Clean Water program, one of the largest in the world with its iconic flagship Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant; the Solid Resources program, which has achieved one of the highest recycling rates in the nation at 76.4% and climbing, and includes the recently implemented recycLA Franchise Initiative; and the Watershed Protection program, which is among the most innovative in the country with its use of green infrastructure for achieving water quality objectives for urban stormwater runoff, while delivering on multiple other benefits like open space, urban habitat support, and water supply. 


Under Enrique's leadership, LASAN has had some very significant accomplishments of great benefit to the City at large, such as:

  • The adoption of the Low Impact Development Ordinance (LID), which brought in the expanded participation of the private sector for achieving stormwater quality and capture;
  • Successfully implemented the Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban Ordinance; 
  • Laid the policy groundwork for the adoption of the Solid Waste Private Hauler Exclusive Franchise Initiative; 
  • Made a persuasive case to the Mayor, City Council and the ratepayers for the approval  of a 10-year Financial Rate Plan for the City's Clean Water Program, providing financial stability and efficiency to one of the most critical  infrastructure programs of the City; 
  • Placed LASAN at the forefront of the larger City's strategy for water sustainability through its recycled water and watershed protection programs in alignment with Mayor Garcetti's Executive Directive No. 5 and City Council Policies;
  • Established a full-service Customer Care Center with 24/7 coverage to address customer requests at any time, in recognition of the fact that LASAN is a 24/7 operating agency and fully integrated with the MyLA311 system;
  • Successfully made the Solid Resources Program a Full Cost Recovery service as a quasi-Enterprise Fund with full accountability to the  ratepayers;
  • Implemented the brand new Clean Streets Initiative (CSI) through the leadership of the Mayor and City Council, with the ultimate goal of making  every corner of Los Angeles a clean, livable, and sustainable environment; 
  • Established a productive and collaborative Joint Labor/Management process across the entire organization where work issues get addressed and just as importantly, a process where innovation and work efficiency are fostered and promoted. 


Originally from the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, Enrique graduated from Azusa High School in the City of Azusa, attended UCLA long enough to have Bruin blood in him, and calls himself a proud Bronco from Cal Poly Pomona where he graduated as a Civil Environmental Engineer in 1985. He has also done graduate studies there and now serves as the Vice Chair of their College of Engineering’s Dean’s Leadership Board. Enrique is active in several organizations and serves on several of their Boards, including the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), and others. He also serves on Cal Poly Pomona's School of Engineering Dean's Leadership Council where he has also been inducted into the Hall of Fame and honored as a distinguished alumni. Enrique has been honored by several organizations for his environmental leadership stewardship, including the Los Angeles Conservation Corps (LACC), Friends of Ballona Wetlands, Heal the Bay, Community Conservation Solutions, and others.  Enrique also has an interest in furthering the relationship between the U.S., Mexico and Canada by sharing industry best practices and technical exchange missions between the three countries.

Enrique started his career with the City of Los Angeles in 1985 straight out of college as an associate engineer. Twenty-two years later, he became the General Manager of LA Sanitation and Environment.

Enrique and his wife, Brenda, have three children: Enrique Jr., Alonzo, and Carina.

 

Abigale Abel
Affiliate
CityFi
Biography

Abigale Abel

Affiliate
CityFi

Abigale (Abby) Abel is a strategy and marketing professional with extensive corporate experience developing and delivering on clean energy growth strategies.

As a Cityfi Senior Associate, Abby has worked on standing-up the Colorado Smart Cities Alliance, a statewide platform designed to accelerate the adoption of innovative technology and practices to enhance the quality of life for all Coloradans. She has also served as a Strategic Advisor to the City of Aurora Smart City Strategic Planning process, and supported the roll-out of a mobility data platform to cities nationwide. 

Prior to joining Cityfi, Abby led commercial partnerships for GE Ecomagination, a cross-GE innovation platform to identify and test new technology and commercial solutions to environmental challenges. Abby also served as the Chief Marketing Officer for GE’s Renewable Energy business where her team led market analysis and strategic planning. 

Abby’s strengths are applying clear thinking, creative problem solving and a collaborative leadership style to uncover and deliver on unique marketopportunities. She is passionate about linking innovation to the urban environment in support of cleaner, more equitable and resilient communities.

Abby holds a Master of Business and Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan.  She lives in Denver, CO with her husband and two children.

Adel Hagekhalil
General Manager
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Biography

Adel Hagekhalil

General Manager
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

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.

Earl Blumenauer
Congressman, Oregon's 3rd District
US House of Representatives
Biography

Earl Blumenauer

Congressman, Oregon's 3rd District
US House of Representatives

Earl Blumenauer was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and has been a life-long resident of Oregon's 3rd Congressional District.

Through his years as a local official in the Oregon Legislature, Multnomah County Commission, and Portland’s City Council, Earl developed a national reputation for his advocacy of public transportation, land use planning, protection of the environment, and school funding.

Elected to Congress in 1996, Blumenauer has been a champion for cleaning up America’s most polluted sites and has introduced legislation to reinstate the federal Superfund tax. He is also a leader in public lands protection, in particular for protecting Oregon’s crown jewels such as Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Gorge. He is the former Vice Chair for the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and has strongly defended the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, as well as EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases in the fight against climate change. Blumenauer has also led an initiative to reform federal flood insurance policies by protecting environmentally sensitive and disaster prone areas from development, and modernizing the policies of the US Army Corps of Engineers.  His environmental priorities are geared towards helping the federal government be a better partner to local communities in improving and sustaining the health of our land and water.

Blumenauer currently sits on the Ways and Means Committee. 

Michael George
Fmr. Delta Watermaster
State of California
Biography

Michael George

Fmr. Delta Watermaster
State of California

Michael Patrick George was appointed to a four-year term as Delta Watermaster beginning in January, 2015; he was re-appointed for a second four-year term through January of 2023.  The position of Delta Watermaster was created by the 2009 Delta Reform legislation.  The Delta Watermaster is an independent officer of the State reporting jointly to the State Water Resources Control Board and the Delta Stewardship Council.  The Watermaster has statutory responsibility for administering water rights within the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta and the Suisun Marsh.  Additionally, the Delta Watermaster advises the Board and the Council on related water rights, water quality and water operations in and affecting the Delta, which is, simultaneously, a critical estuarine habitat, a vital agricultural area, and the hub of California’s water infrastructure.

Prior being appointed, Mr. George was active in western water law and policy as a water lawyer, as the CEO of a publicly traded water resource management company, as a senior executive of an investor owned water utility and as an investment banker serving both public and private entities in the water industry.  He is an honors graduate of The University of Notre Dame where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and of the Georgetown University Law Center where he was an editor of Law and Policy in International Business.  Mr. George has lectured on California water resource issues at the University of California San Diego, the University of Southern California and the University of California at Berkeley.  He is a member of the California Bar.

 

Bill Allen
President and CEO
LAEDC
Biography

Bill Allen

President and CEO
LAEDC

Bill Allen is the Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation and its subsidiary, the World Trade Center Los Angeles. Mr. Allen is also Co-Chair of the California Stewardship Network, a Vice Chair of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley and a member of the Board of Directors of the Weingart Foundation, Regional Economic Association Leaders of California Coalition, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles Coalition for the Economy and Jobs, FilmL.A., Unite L.A., and Sister Cities of Los Angeles.

Active in regional economic development for more than twenty years, Mr. Allen was the first CEO of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley from 1996-2000, and in 2000 was named California’s Civic Entrepreneur of the Year by the California Center for Regional Leadership.

Mr. Allen has served as a trustee of the University of Southern California, chair of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Chair of Film LA, and cochair of the “Shaping Tomorrow” capital campaign for the Valley Presbyterian Hospital, on whose board he served for fifteen years.

Mr. Allen was previously a television network and studio executive with nearly twenty years experience in entertainment production and management, where he supervised the development and production of hundreds of episodes of network, syndicated and cable television, as well as several highly rated TV movies and specials.

A cum laude graduate of the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California in 1979, Mr. Allen also received his Masters Degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University in 1983.

Robert Powell
Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and of Food Science and Technology
University of California, Davis
Biography

Robert Powell

Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and of Food Science and Technology
University of California, Davis

Robert Powell is a Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Food Science and Technology at the University of California Davis (1984-present). He was the Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (2002-2011); Vice Chair (2011-12) and Chair (2012-13) of the Academic Senate of the University of California; and Chair of the UC Davis Academic Senate (2008-2011).  He is the Science Advisor to the California Natural Resources Agency and the Chair of the Science and Technology Committee of Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. His research has applications to foods and fiber systems. He has over 110 peer-reviewed papers. He is a member of numerous professional organizations and a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Seleta Reynolds
General Manager
Los Angeles Department of Transportation
Biography

Seleta Reynolds

General Manager
Los Angeles Department of Transportation

Seleta Reynolds is General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), the second largest municipal transportation agency in the country. Reynolds is responsible for 1,300 employees and 52 different business lines – from parking meters to traffic signals to buses. Reynolds was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2014 to implement the Mayor’s vision of safe and sustainable transportation choices for all. Under Reynolds’ leadership, LADOT has installed hundreds of data-driven safety improvements in high needs locations, launched the largest scooter program in the world, launched the largest electric vehicle car-share program in the country, and created a first-of-its-kind digital platform to manage for-profit mobility companies. 

Reynolds is a true believer that LADOT should reflect the city that it serves. Over 90 percent of her executive team are women and people of color. Reynolds has over 20 years of transportation experience in both the public and private sectors. She served as president of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) for four years, which represents cities and transportation agencies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. She is the Board Chair and founding member of the Open Mobility Foundation (OMF), a public-private forum created to tackle technical issues surrounding emerging mobility technology. In 2019, she also joined the board of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITSA).

Jonathan Weisgall
Vice President, Government Relations
Berkshire Hathaway Energy
Biography

Jonathan Weisgall

Vice President, Government Relations
Berkshire Hathaway Energy

Jonathan Weisgall is Vice President for Government Relations for Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. He joined CalEnergy (Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s predecessor company) in 1993 as Vice President for Legislative and Regulatory Affairs. 

Weisgall also serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies and vice chairman of the Geothermal Rising’s Policy Committee. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he has taught a seminar on energy issues since 1990 and recently received the Charles Fahy Distinguished Adjunct Professor Award as outstanding adjunct professor of the year. He has also guest lectured on energy issues at Stanford Law School, Haverford, and the Johns Hopkins Environmental Science and Policy Program and its School of Advanced International Studies. He was a member of the Lithium Valley Commission and has been named one of the top Washington, DC corporate lobbyists by The Hill since 2004.

Weisgall graduated from Columbia College and from Stanford Law School. He previously practiced law in Washington, D.C. at Covington & Burling, has written several law review articles, and has published articles in Legal Times, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Policy, Johns Hopkins SAIS Review, and The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Weisgall is also the author of Operation Crossroads:  The Atomic Tests at Bikini Atoll (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1994) and the executive producer of “Radio Bikini,” which was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary in 1988.
 

Felicia Marcus
William C. Landreth Visiting Fellow
Stanford University Water in the West
Biography

Felicia Marcus

William C. Landreth Visiting Fellow
Stanford University Water in the West

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.

Jeffrey Kightlinger
General Manager & CEO
Metropolitan Water District
Biography

Jeffrey Kightlinger

General Manager & CEO
Metropolitan Water District

Jeffrey Kightlinger is general manager and chief executive officer for The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The Metropolitan Water District is the largest municipal water provider in the nation delivering an average of over 2 billion gallons of water a day to 19 million customers across Southern California.  Metropolitan serves one out of every two Californians in the six counties of Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego.

Kightlinger was appointed general manager in February 2006.  Prior to that, he served as the general counsel for the agency.

Jim Kelly
Director
S&C Electric
Biography

Jim Kelly

Director
S&C Electric

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.

Jack Baylis
President and CEO
The Baylis Group
Biography

Jack Baylis

President and CEO
The Baylis Group
Wayne Ratkovich
President and CEO
The Ratkovich Company
Biography

Wayne Ratkovich

President and CEO
The Ratkovich Company

Wayne Ratkovich is the founder and CEO of The Ratkovich Company (TRC), a Los Angeles development firm whose mission is “to profitably produce developments that improve the quality of urban life.” Specializing in urban infill and rehabilitation projects, TRC’s accomplishments range from large-scale entitlement endeavors to retail, office, entertainment and mixed-use projects. His company engages in both new development and the imaginative reuse of existing buildings including seventeen buildings that are historic landmarks.

TRC is the developer of The BLOC, a massive remodeling of the former Macy’s Plaza in downtown Los Angeles. The property consists of a 496 room Sheraton Hotel, 430,000 square feet of retail stores, a 700,000 square foot office building and parking for 2,000 cars.

TRC developed the Hercules Campus, an eleven building complex of former Hughes Aircraft Company Buildings that have historic status. The eleven buildings total 525,000 square feet and are located on 28.3 acres of land in the Playa Vista area of Los Angeles. The project was originally developed in association with Penwood Real Estate Investment Management. Seven of the buildings are now owned in association with Invesco. The project is fully leased to two tenants, Google and the advertising firm 72 and Sunny.

The firm owns and continues to develop The Alhambra, a 45-acre and 1.0 million square foot urban community consisting of office, retail and residential uses in Alhambra, California. TRC is also the developer of the prominent landmark, 5900 Wilshire, a 30-story, 491,000 square foot high-rise office tower situated directly across from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the Miracle Mile District of Los Angeles. The City of Los Angeles recently selected TRC to develop a 31-acre waterfront site as the San Pedro Public Market.

In total, Ratkovich has developed over 16.0 million square feet of office, retail, industrial and residential properties. Projects the company has to its record include: The James Oviatt Building; The Fine Arts Building; The Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre; Chapman Market; Ladera Center; an urban campus for the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising; the City of Glendale’s Alex Theatre; and a variety of high technology complexes including the Irvine Technology Center and the Von Karman Corporate Center.

As a Trustee for the Urban Land Institute, Mr. Ratkovich has served two terms as a Vice Chairman and member of its Executive Committee. He has been a member of eleven ULI committees, three times Chairman of the Awards of Excellence Jury, Chairman of an Urban Development/Mixed-Use Council, a member of the Inner City Task Force, and Chairman of ULI’s Forum on Urban Neighborhood Revitalization. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of ULI Americas.

In 2011, ULI named Ratkovich a Life Trustee, an honor given to only 13 members in the 75 year history of the 35,000 member organization. He is also a Trustee Emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Nate Lewis
Scientific Director and Principal Investigator, Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis
Department of Energy; California Institute of Technology
Biography

Nate Lewis

Scientific Director and Principal Investigator, Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis
Department of Energy; California Institute of Technology

Dr. Nathan S. Lewis is the George L. Argyros Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology and Principal Investigator in the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, the DOE’s Energy Innovation Hub in Fuels from Sunlight.

Professor Lewis is Principal Investigator of the Beckman Institute Molecular Materials Resource Center.  His research interests include artificial photosynthesis and electronic noses. Nate continues to study ways to harness sunlight and generate chemical fuel by splitting water to generate hydrogen. He is developing the electronic nose, which consists of chemically sensitive conducting polymer film capable of detecting and quantifying a broad variety of analytes. Technical details focus on light-induced electron transfer reactions, both at surfaces and in transition metal complexes, surface chemistry and photochemistry of semiconductor/liquid interfaces, novel uses of conducting organic polymers and polymer/conductor composites, and development of sensor arrays that use pattern recognition algorithms to identify odorants, mimicking the mammalian olfaction process.

Evan Birenbaum
Managing Partner
Valkyrie Security Group
Biography

Evan Birenbaum

Managing Partner
Valkyrie Security Group

An expert in the development of cross-infrastructure analytics and technology for Big Data applications, he is one of the most sought-after providers in the U.S. market for the design and development of technology tools to power e-commerce, and he has been at the forefront of the development and market application of behavioral energy efficiency technology. He was among the pioneers in developing mobile apps, including, in 2003, the development of the mobile customer relationship management (CRM) application with the German software giant SAP SE and Canadian multinational developer of enterprise software and Internet of things Research in Motion (RIM), now known as BlackBerry Limited, providing the catalyst for SAP's mobile CRM platform used by such giants as McCormick & Company. His career in technology began in high school when he worked for IBM, and while at John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, he worked for Deutsche Bank as a consultant deploying real-time trading technologies developed by Bloomberg, and in 2004 he co-founded his first technology company, SOS Technology Group, providing an array of IT services. By 2010 he was at Southern California Edison as its lead corporate strategist and company-wide program manager for Environmental Strategy and Sustainability, then in 2014 he co-founded and served as Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Executive Officer for Chai Energy. He is a leader in many organizations, including Young Professionals in Energy (LA) and Reef Check Foundation, serving as a member of the Boards of Directors of both, is on the Steering Committee of the Sustainable Business Council, and has been a featured speaker on cutting-edge technology issues at numerous forums, including SXSW Eco 2015, and VerdeXchange, 2015-2019. He is frequently quoted, or featured, in media outlets covering technology developments, such as appears in "L.A. Startup Pays Users to Save Power," Annlee Ellingson, L.A. BIZ Journal, 8/15/16, and "Can the Golden State Go Green," Anne C. Mulkern, E&E News, 3/13/17.

Mark Gold
Director of Water Scarcity Solutions
NRDC
Biography

Mark Gold

Director of Water Scarcity Solutions
NRDC

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.

Stephen Cheung
President/CEO
LA County Economic Development Council/World Trade Center-Los Angeles
Biography

Stephen Cheung

President/CEO
LA County Economic Development Council/World Trade Center-Los Angeles

Stephen Cheung is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) and its subsidiary, the World Trade Center Los Angeles (WTCLA).  As CEO of the LAEDC, Mr. Cheung brings together the capabilities of LAEDC’s mission-delivery department areas, including the Institute for Applied Economics, Business Assistance, Industry Cluster Development, Workforce Development, World Trade Center Los Angeles, Strategic Relations, Communications & Marketing, and Public Policy, into a single team that delivers the LAEDC’s critically important, public-benefit mission - Reinventing our economy to collaboratively advance growth and prosperity for all.

In 2023, Cheung was elevated to President and CEO after serving as Chief Operating Office and Executive Vice President of LAEDC, and continues in his concurrent role as President of World Trade Center Los Angeles, a title he has held since coming to the organization in 2014.  Prior to that, Cheung was the Secretary General and Managing Director of International Trade and Foreign Affairs for Los Angeles Mayors Eric Garcetti and Antonio Villaraigosa, and was responsible for managing policies and programs related to the Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles World Airports, International Affairs,  Global Trade and Clean Technology. In these roles, he was the lead organizer for the Mayors’ previous international trade missions to Mexico, China, Korea, Japan, Colombia, Chile and Brazil.  Furthermore, Cheung implemented the city’s strategic plan to make Los Angeles a global capital of clean technology by building the infrastructure to support research, development and manufacturing with key partners.

Concurrently, Cheung was the Director of International Trade for the Port of Los Angeles – the busiest container port in North America, and was responsible for developing programs to increase trade through the Port of Los Angeles, and facilitate goods movement through the Southern California region.

Cheung currently sits on the Board of Advisors of UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA Extension, Coro Southern California and Sister Cities of Los Angeles, while also serving on LA Metro’s Sustainability Council and Biz-Fed’s International Trade Committee. He also serves on the Los Angeles County Workforce Development Board.

Ashley Hand
Transportation Technology Strategist Fellow
City of Los Angeles
Biography

Ashley Hand

Transportation Technology Strategist Fellow
City of Los Angeles

Ashley Z. Hand, AIA, LEED AP BD+C was appointed to the Transportation Technology Strategist Fellow for the City of Los Angeles by Mayor Eric Garcetti in August 2015 and is charged with developing a multi-disciplinary strategy to address mobility and transportation policies and services in a rapidly changing environment. With the proliferation of emerging sharing economy technologies and the advent of autonomous vehicles, it is anticipated that new urban forms and mobility options will greatly impact this region and Ashley developing a cross-jurisdictional strategy to ensure access and equity.

Previously, Ashley served Mayor Sylvester "Sly" James as the first Chief Innovation Officer of the City of Kansas City, Missouri and the first female municipal CIO in the country. Working collaboratively across departments, Ashley focused on process improvement through strategic planning, staff involvement and the use of lean methodology and design thinking. In addition, she championed an unprecedented public-private partnership to make Kansas City the most comprehensive smart city in North America by bringing digital infrastructure to a new streetcar line in the downtown core. Prior to joining the public sector, Ashley was an architectural designer and planner for the global firm AECOM where she worked for both public and private sector clients across North America to adopt sustainable best practices and process improvement through community engagement, policy, and operational change management.

Ashley holds a BA in political science from McGill University and a Masters of Architecture from the Pratt Institute and is a registered architect in the State of Missouri. She has been recognized by the Central Exchange as a 2014 Rising Star in Technology in the inaugural STEMMy Awards, the American Institute of Architects Kansas City as the 2012 Emerging Professional of the Year, the Kansas City Business Journal as the inaugural NextGen class of 2013, and NextCity as the Vanguard Class of 2014 for urban leadership.

Rick Cole
Councilmember
City of Pasadena
Biography

Rick Cole

Councilmember
City of Pasadena

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.

Sachiko Yoshimura
Chief Executive Director
Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)
Biography

Sachiko Yoshimura

Chief Executive Director
Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)

Sachiko Yoshimura joined JETRO in April 1988. JETRO is a Japanese Government Agency under Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) that promotes trade and investment between Japan and other countries. JETRO Los Angeles supports businesses of all sizes and industries to expand their business in Japan and provides, through comprehensive research, information on current developments, the economy, and trade in Japan to support entering into the Japanese market.

Ms. Yoshimura has worked in various departments overseeing international trade fairs, research and economic analysis supporting Japanese companies, especially small and median companies looking to expand their business overseas. Most recently she served as the Director of Intellectual Property Division, helping Japanese companies to protect their intellectual properties abroad. She graduated from Sophia University in Tokyo with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature.

Eliot Abel
Senior Vice President, Corporate Clean Energy Solutions
Pivot Energy
Biography

Eliot Abel

Senior Vice President, Corporate Clean Energy Solutions
Pivot Energy
Eliot is the current Senior Vice President, Corporate Clean Energy Solutions for Pivot Energy. He previously lead commercial sales & project development at Namaste Solar, guiding the development of solar projects ranging from 50kW to 10MW. Prior to joining Namaste Solar, Eliot was the Founder and Principal of Abel Clean Energy Advisors, a consulting firm that helps commercial property owners and developers utilize innovative financing, such as C-PACE, to implement renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions that increase value, reduce operating costs, and enhance the sustainability of their properties. Earlier in his career, Eliot worked in business development roles at a UK-based thin film solar startup, GE’s global Renewable Energy business, and San Diego-based Renovate America. Eliot serves on the Boards of the Colorado Solar and Storage Association and Namaste Solar, and holds a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
 
David Fransen
Chief Strategy Officer
Next Generation Manufacturing Canada
Biography

David Fransen

Chief Strategy Officer
Next Generation Manufacturing Canada

Over his 34-year career, David has served as a senior executive in government, academia and the diplomatic corps. He provided strategic leadership across a wide range of economic policy and program sectors as a senior official at the Privy Council Office and Health Canada, as an Assistant Deputy Minister at Industry Canada, as the first Executive Director of the Institute for Quantum Computing, and as Canada’s Consul General in Los Angeles.

David is also a former Special Advisor to the President of the National Research Council, former Chair of the Waterloo Innovation Summit, and a member of the boards of Waterloo Economic Development Corporation, the Institute for Quantum Computing, and Quantum-Safe Canada. He led in the creation, and then served as a member, of the founding Board of Governors of the Council of Canadian Academies. He also served as a member of the board of directors of Canadian Commercial Corporation, the Standards Council of Canada, and as Secretary of the Minister of Industry Canada’s Expert Panel on Commercialization chaired by Joe Rotman.

David has a PhD from the University of Toronto, a BA and MA from the University of Waterloo, and a Bachelor of Theology from Canadian Mennonite University. He is currently a Fellow of the Public Policy Forum.

William Funderburk
Sr. Consultant
PermaCity Foundation
Biography

William Funderburk

Sr. Consultant
PermaCity Foundation

William Funderburk is Senior Advisor with PermaCity Foundation, a group spun out of acquisition by commercial industrial solar developer Catalyze Corporation of Permacity Corporation in 2021.   He develops renewable energy projects for PermaCity and advises development teams on legal, political, policy and finance issues

From 2013 to 2018 Mr. Funderburk served as the Vice President of the Board of Commissioners for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and he retired from litigation as managing partner in the Los Angeles office of a California business litigation and counseling firm, Castellon & Funderburk LLP, which he co founded in 1999.  Based in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, Mr. Funderburk is known for being a visionary when it comes to everything from sustainability to renewables to clean tech to water quality. Mr. Funderburk has been a key force in handling the water crisis in Los Angeles, California and around the Country including playing a lead negotiating role in the historic multiagency settlement of the Owens Lake PM-10 dust control dispute.  He also played a key role as LADWP liaison in finalizing agreements to expand the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, negotiating the cleanup of the San Fernando Valley aquifer and lead authoring of the landmark Equity Metrics Data Initiative.

Mr. Funderburk attended the Paris Climate Accords with the Los Angeles delegation to the United Nations 21st Conference of Parties (COP).  He later became the first LADWP Commissioner in history to attend a COP as a delegate in 2017 in Bonn (COP 23) and spoke in Madrid (COP 25 in 2019), Glasgow (COP 26 in 2021) and Sharm El Sheik (COP 27 in 2022) on subjects ranging from Global Youth Empowerment, LA as a blueprint for global decarbonization, neurodiversity, global youth empowerment and equity metrics.

He has advised clients on drafting environmental legislation and regulations on groundbreaking issues such as reducing lead drinking water in California, establishing net metering for stationary, hydrogen powered fuel cells and counseling early stage companies on renewables, water, air and soil remediation technologies. 

On a national level, William has counseled clients on appearances before Congress and a number of federal councils under the jurisdiction of the White House.  The agencies range from the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Departments of Energy, Interior, State, and Defense to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Mr. Funderburk has published various articles regarding California storm water regulations, clean power and distributed generation, Superfund reform and insurance recovery for environmental liabilities. He also speaks as an expert in environmental compliance, having given over 150 speeches in Washington, D.C. and California for the past three decades.

Mr. Funderburk is a member of the California State Bar and District of Columbia Bar.  He graduated from Yale University (B.A. in Engineering and Applied Science) and Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.).
 

David Jacot
Director of Efficiency Solutions
LADWP
Biography

David Jacot

Director of Efficiency Solutions
LADWP

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.

Kazuo Furukawa
Chairman
New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)
Biography

Kazuo Furukawa

Chairman
New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)

Kazuo Furukawa is chairman of NEDO, Japan’s largest public research and development management organization. His role is to guide the organisation towards achieving its twin missions of developing new energy and environmental technologies while increasing Japan’s industrial competitiveness.  Prior to NEDO, Mr. Furukawa worked for Hitachi, Ltd. serving as President and CEO of the diversified industrial conglomerate from 2006 until 2009. He has also served as the President of Information Processing Society of Japan and Vice Chairman of Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation).

Jonathan Parfrey
Executive Director
Climate Resolve
Biography

Jonathan Parfrey

Executive Director
Climate Resolve

Jonathan Parfrey is founding executive director of Climate Resolve, LA's leading climate advocacy organization. Jonathan served as a commissioner at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (2008-2013). Jonathan is a founder and Vice Chair of CicLAvia, the popular street event, as well as a founder of the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability and the statewide Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation. He served as director of the GREEN LA Coalition (2007-2011), and as the Los Angeles director of Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization Physicians for Social Responsibility (1994 to 2007). Prior to that, Jonathan directed the Orange County Catholic Worker (1987-1993). He is currently a gubernatorial appointee to the State of California Climate Adaptation Technical Advisory Committee and Vice Chair of the BizFed Institute.

Richard Katz
Commissioner
Los Angeles City Planning Commission
Biography

Richard Katz

Commissioner
Los Angeles City Planning Commission

Richard Katz was elected to the California State Assembly in 1980, serving continuously for 16 years. As Democratic Leader in 1995, Katz led the Party to majority status by winning 43 seats in the 1996 elections. California’s term limits law prohibited Katz from seeking re-election.

For 10 years, Richard Katz served as Chair of the powerful Assembly Transportation Committee. He created the Congestion Management Plan, requiring cities and counties to measure and mitigate impacts of land use decisions on their streets, highways and transit systems.

Katz was California’s lead negotiator for the landmark Colorado River Agreement between the State of California, the Federal Government, four California Water Agencies, and the six Colorado River Basin States, furthering his expertise as a negotiator on issues of statewide significance.

Katz had already played a pivotal role in renegotiating $30 billion worth of California’s Energy contracts and developing California’s Transportation Blueprint for the 21st Century, which the voters approved as Proposition 111 in 1990.

In June of 2005, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed Katz to serve with him on the Governing Board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where Katz served for 8 years. In 2008, the Mayor appointed Katz to the Metrolink Board after the horrendous Chatsworth accident, “to make sure this never happens again.” Katz served on the Metrolink Board for 7 years, focused on safety issues and leading the effort that resulted in Metrolink being the first railroad in the country to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) a state of the art life saving satellite based technology.   

When Mayor Garcetti was elected in 2013, he appointed Richard Katz to the Los Angeles City Planning Commission, where he continues to serve.

Richard Katz is the owner of a successful public policy/government relations firm, Richard Katz Consulting (RKC), Inc. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Valley Economic Alliance and on the Boards of Heal the Bay and the Jordan farmer Foundation.

A native of Los Angeles, Richard Katz lives in Studio City with his eight year-old son Mitchell Robert.

 

Pat Proano
Former Deputy Director of Transportation
Los Angeles County Department of Public Works
Biography

Pat Proano

Former Deputy Director of Transportation
Los Angeles County Department of Public Works

Pat Proano, a licensed Professional Civil Engineer in California, has a dynamic background providing leadership and coordination for Public Works projects and services in Los Angeles County.  He has worked in and/or managed nearly all facets of Public Works including environmental, transportation, and land development services, and emergency management. 

Mr. Proano has expertise in strategic planning and performance management.  He spearheaded the development and implementation of the County’s unincorporated areas’ strategic plan and served as the lead County manager for the Florence-Firestone unincorporated area.  Pat has most recently been at the forefront of developing a Sustainable Waste Management Future for Los Angeles County including efforts to integrate conversion technologies into the municipal waste system. He was instrumental in sponsoring legislation to define these technologies and develop incentives for projects in California.

With a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Masters in Public Policy and Administration from California State University in Long Beach, he has also served as an adjunct professor in the Graduate Center of Public Policy and Administration at his alma mater. 

As a fluent English and Spanish speaker, he has represented the County at various media events, has published numerous Op Eds advocating sustainability, and has been asked to speak at conferences and forums. 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Krekorian*
Councilmember, District 2
Los Angeles City Council
Biography

Paul Krekorian*

Councilmember, District 2
Los Angeles City Council

Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, Paul Krekorian has spent more than a decade in public service. Since 2010, he has served on the Los Angeles City Council where his leadership of the Budget and Finance Committee helped guide the city through the Great Recession. Paul also serves on the board of the LA County Metropolitan Transit Authority, Metrolink and the San Fernando Valley Council of Governments.

A former member of the California State Assembly, Paul is the first Armenian-American to be elected in the City of Los Angeles.

Cole Hershkowitz
Co-Founder and CEO
Chai Energy
Biography

Cole Hershkowitz

Co-Founder and CEO
Chai Energy

Cole Hershkowitz's career was born at the intersection of technology, liberal arts, and sustainability. Cole founded Chai Energy, a company that uses energy data and an intuitive user experience to show homeowners exactly where they are wasting money on their utility bill and what they can do to curb that waste.  Chai is available today throughout California.  

At Chai, Cole has brought 4 distinct products to market, patented deep machine learning technology used to decipher energy data, and raised over a million dollars from venture investors in support of technical development.    Previous to Chai, Cole led Caltech's Solar Decathlon team to a second place win in the Engineering category with an incredibly innovative smart home system that was years ahead of its time.  The home featured a first of it's kind gestural home control system that would use Machine Vision and 3d maps to allow homeowners to turn off appliances with a simple point.  Cole also spent time at Southern California Edison working not he Smart Grid Deployment and time at Alsop-Louie Partners learning about Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship.  

Tom Soto
Founder
Latimer Partners, LLC
Biography

Tom Soto

Founder
Latimer Partners, LLC

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.

Thomas Cain
Found and CEO
Sustainability Partners
Biography

Thomas Cain

Found and CEO
Sustainability Partners

Mr. Thomas Cain is CEO of Sustainability Partners LLC, a sustainable products finance company and Managing Partner of EFW Partners, a multi-strategy investment firm focused on energy, food and water.

Cain has directly invested hundreds of millions in a diverse array of young technology companies focused on sustainability including Kokam Ltd., Dow/Kokam, Townsend Advanced Energy, Sungevity, Quantum, Lime, Enerpulse, Flex Energy, Water Health International, Stem, Electratherm, Codexis, Solezyme, and Project Frog and has been a director in over 30 public and private companies. He is a frequent keynote speaker and co-authored Energy Venture Capital Best Practices.

Cain started his business career by founding Distribution Architects Int’l. (“DAI”) in 1977, which grew into one of the world’s largest supply chain and ERP software companies with offices around the world. Through both organic growth and accretive M&A, he retired as chairman of the acquisition corporation in 2001, with 2,500 employees and annual revenues of $120M. He next founded Starco Energy, an owner/operator of restored petrochemical fuel terminals, which he sold to Quintana Energy in 2006. He also founded Focus Capital Group of America, an extension of Focus Capital Group -Israel, through which 20 distressed turnarounds were accomplished and exited. One such turnaround was Evans Systems, Inc., a Texas-based public petrochemical company.

Cain is a member of WPO, founded the YPO Global Supply Chain Conference, served as chairman of their MIT Presidents Education, and group-led the Harvard Business School Presidents Education for a combined 10+ years.

Cain holds multiple patents for advanced ECM electric motors for networking and AI that are in commercial use today. As a software developer, Cain’s software has won prestigious national competitions as the Internet Computer Expo’s “Best Business Product” and the Retail Information Systems Conference’s “Best Innovation in Logistics.” He is considered the father of the modern day “DLL” architecture. DAI was DEC’s largest commercial OEM and Cain was a senior advisor for the design of DEC’s 64-bit alpha chip.

Cain’s interest in energy began in his collegiate days while serving as a consulting mathematician for Los Alamos Labs working on the analysis of magnetic flux fields in controlled fusion plasmas in an effort to directly produce electricity through neutron capture by lithium blankets. He is an alumnus of ASU with undergraduate and graduate studies in mathematics.

 

Donald Paul
Executive Director
USC Energy Institue
Biography

Donald Paul

Executive Director
USC Energy Institue

Donald Paul is the Executive Director of the USC Energy Institute, Professor of Engineering, and holds the William M. Keck Chair of Energy Resources.

The USC Energy Institute supports university-wide research, education, and workforce development initiatives with industry and governments in the areas of advanced energy systems and infrastructures.

Dr. Paul had a distinguished 33-year career with the Chevron Corporation, retiring in June 2008 as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer.  During his career, he advanced through positions of increasing responsibility in research and development, exploration and production operations, and executive management, including appointment as the president of Chevron’s Canadian subsidiary.

Dr. Paul serves as a Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. and in 2014, was re-appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Energy to the National Petroleum Council. He participates in advisory roles at several universities (including MIT, Harvard, Texas and Stanford), governments, national laboratories, oil and gas companies, utilities, and technology companies. He is frequently recruited to speak at national and international forums on the future of energy, the security of energy systems, intelligent energy infrastructures, and energy careers.

 He holds B.S., M.S., and PhD degrees from MIT and an honorary doctorate from the Colorado School of Mines. 

 

 

Mike Levin
Congressman, California's 49th District
US House of Representatives
Biography

Mike Levin

Congressman, California's 49th District
US House of Representatives

Congressman Mike Levin is proud to represent California's 49th Congressional District, which includes North County San Diego and South Orange County.

Currently serving his third term in the House of Representatives, Levin sits on the House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, where he serves as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.

Levin was raised in South Orange County and attended local elementary and junior high schools. He spent his high school years at Loyola High in Los Angeles, and went on to study at Stanford University, where he served as the student body president. Upon graduation from Stanford, Levin served as a Coro Fellow and then attended Duke University School of Law.

Prior to being elected to Congress in 2018, Levin fought for climate action while working as an environmental attorney. He also served on the board of the Center for Sustainable Energy, and co-founded Sustain OC, helping accelerate the transition toward more sustainable power generation and transportation alternatives.

As a member of Congress, some of Levin's top priorities are combating climate change, protecting our natural resources, and capitalizing on the economic benefits of a sustainable energy future. He has led legislation to transition America to zero emission vehicles, ban new offshore drilling leases along the coast of Southern California, responsibly develop renewable energy on public lands, and much more.

Another priority for Rep. Levin is increasing oversight and accountability at the decommissioning San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), and moving the spent nuclear fuel out of the region as quickly and safely as possible. Levin stood up a local task force upon arriving to Congress to formulate policy recommendations to address the hazardous waste. He is the founder and Co-Chair of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group to drive progress on the safe storage, transportation, and disposal of nuclear fuel across the country. He has also led legislation to prioritize the removal of spent nuclear fuel from environmentally sensitive sites like San Onofre, mandate resident inspectors at decommissioning nuclear power plants during sensitive activities, and fund a research and development program at the Department of Energy to find innovative solutions to spent nuclear fuel management.

Rep. Levin is also a leader on legislation to support veterans. As the grandson of a World War II veteran and the representative of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Levin is an advocate for the servicemembers and veterans who have sacrificed for our freedom. He has spoken out about the importance of protecting the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from privatization efforts, improving veterans’ health care and services, and expanding job opportunities for those who have served.

Levin is proud to lead the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. Since he became Chair, his subcommittee has become one of the most productive in Congress, with more than 50 bills to serve veterans passing into law. Levin sponsored one of the most consequential pieces of legislation signed into law for veterans in recent years, the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, which strengthened and expanded a wide range of veterans’ benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. 

Levin has also championed efforts to expand access to affordable health care, lower the cost of higher education, preserve Social Security and Medicare, prevent gun violence, enact comprehensive immigration reform, and protect a woman's right to choose. He is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and, as the grandson of immigrants from Mexico, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Levin holds town halls regularly to keep his constituents informed and answer their questions, and he has also made those town halls available as part of his podcast, Listening with Levin.

Levin lives in San Juan Capistrano with his wife, Chrissy, and their two children.
 

Jocelyn Boudreau
CEO, Co-Founder
Hortau
Biography

Jocelyn Boudreau

CEO, Co-Founder
Hortau

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Jocelyn Boudreau is the CEO of Hortau smart irrigation management systems, co-founding the company in 2002.

Mr. Boudreau holds a Bachelor of Engineering and Masters degree in soil physics from Laval University (Québec).

He has spoken at a number of regional, national and global events, including GAI AgTech Week in San Francisco and the Rural Opportunity Investment Conference at the White House in 2015.
 

VIDEO: Jocelyn Boudreau speaks about “Technology to Address the Water Challenge” at AgTech Week.
 

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Hortau is an industry leader in wireless, web-based irrigation management systems for agriculture. Hortau’s patented irrigation management solutions help growers monitor plant stress and soil moisture in real-time using soil tension, ensuring optimal crop growth while reducing water use, energy consumption and environmental impacts such as fertilizer leaching.

With U.S. operations based in San Luis Obispo, Calif., Hortau has offices, representatives and technicians throughout North America, including a Canada headquarters in Quebec.

Learn more about Hortau precision irrigation management systems at Hortau.com

Justin Siegel
Interim Faculty Director
Innovation Institute for Food and Health
Biography

Justin Siegel

Interim Faculty Director
Innovation Institute for Food and Health

Dr. Justin Siegel

Dr. Siegel’s scientific efforts are on the design and discovery of enzymes of interest to modern society. Currently he works with an international community on the development of Rosetta computational methodology for predicting and designing macromolecular structures, interactions, and functions. Using this methodology he has successfully engineered and discovered numerous enzymes catalyzing a wide range of reactions. His educational background includes a BS from UC Davis and a PhD from the University of Washington, Seattle.  He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Sloan Research Fellowship in 2014. He has also founded two companies and was recently named the Interim Faculty Director of the Innovation Institute for Food and Health.

Dr. Joshua Schank
Managing Principal
InfraStrategies
Biography

Dr. Joshua Schank

Managing Principal
InfraStrategies

Dr. Joshua Schank is a Managing Principal at InfraStrategies, a transportation and financial advisory firm, where he leads a practice focused on innovation, strategic planning, and technology. He is also a Senior Fellow in the Institute for Transportation Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Prior to joining InfraStrategies and UCLA, Dr. Schank was the first-ever Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Dr. Schank joined Metro in 2015 to establish the agency’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation (OEI), which is responsible for fostering innovations that improve mobility, equity and environmental outcomes across LA County. Dr. Schank led an office that shapes Metro’s high-level strategic vision, serving as a liaison to the academic community, designing, piloting and implementing innovative programs and policies, and engaging entrepreneurs and businesses to develop public-private-partnerships. Dr. Schank helped create and lead numerous transformative Metro projects including the Vision 2028 Strategic Plan, Metro Micro, Mobility on Demand, Metro’s Traffic Reduction Study, Better Bus, two Pre-Development Agreements for the Sepulveda Transit Corridor, a Public-Private-Partnership for the West Santa Ana Branch, and an aerial tram from Union Station to Dodger Stadium.

Dr. Schank previously served as President and CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation, a leading national transportation policy think-tank based in Washington, D.C. Prior to that he led the National Transportation Policy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center and has worked as a consultant for Parsons Brinkerhoff (now WSP) and ICF International. Dr. Schank served as Transportation Policy Advisor to Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) during the authorization of SAFETEA-LU and is the co-author of All Roads Lead to Congress: The $300 Billion Fight Over Highway Funding. Dr. Schank holds a Ph.D in Urban Planning from Columbia University, and a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He began his career working on behalf of the riders of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City and has never lost that spirit. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons.

Paula Daniels
Co-Founder and Chair
Center for Good Food Purchasing
Biography

Paula Daniels

Co-Founder and Chair
Center for Good Food Purchasing

Paula Daniels is Co- founder, Chief of What’s Next, and Chair of the Board of the Center for Good Food Purchasing, founded in July of 2015 as a national spin off from the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, which Paula founded in 2011. The Center for Good Food Purchasing uses the power of procurement to create a transparent and equitable food system that prioritizes the health and well-being of people, animals, and the environment, through the nationally-networked adoption and implementation of the Good Food Purchasing Program by major institutions. The program has received national and international acclaim, including the 2018 Future Policy Award for Scaling Up Agroecology, from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Future Council, and IFOAM Organics International.

Paula is an experienced private sector attorney who transitioned to public policy and served in several senior level positions as a government official, including: Senior Advisor, Mayor Villaraigosa of Los Angeles; Commissioner, Los Angeles Department of Public Works; Commissioner, California Water Commission; Board, California Bay-Delta Authority; Commissioner, California Coastal Commission.

Her leadership in food and water policy has received recognition through numerous academic appointments and other awards. Some recent examples: 2018, Ashoka Fellowship; September 2016, Resident Fellow of the Bellagio Center of the Rockefeller Foundation; 2015, Pritzker Environment and Sustainability Education Fellow at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability; 2013, Lee Chair in Real Estate Law and Urban Planning at the College of Environmental Design, UC Berkeley; 2012-2013, Stanton Fellowship (awarded by the Durfee Foundation). She has been adjunct faculty at UCLA since 2010 and has also had academic appointments at USC and Vermont Law School.

David Martin
Design Principal
A.C. Martin Partners
Biography

David Martin

Design Principal
A.C. Martin Partners

David C. Martin, FAIA, a third-generation architect, continues his family’s legacy of major involvement in the architectural planning and civic life of Southern California. Martin received his Bachelors of Architecture from the University of Southern California (USC) and his Masters of Architecture from Colombia University. Upon completing his formal studies, Martin spent four months on a Traveling Fellowship researching the great urban spaces of the world.

As third generation Design Principal for AC Martin Partners, a 110-year old architecture firm noted for its historic and contemporary landmark projects, David has transformed neighborhoods, academic institutions, and cities. Martin’s latest project is the 80-story high-rise hotel and office complex in the heart of Downtown – the new Wilshire Grand.

Martin is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at USC, a past President of the Southern California Chapter of the AIA, and a former Board Member of the AIA California Council. He is currently on the Boards of the Los Angeles Conservancy, USC School of Architecture and the Art Center: College of Design in Pasadena. Martin is an award-winning designer that has been recognized for his innovative, inspirational, and cutting-edge projects. David, along with his former business partner and cousin Christopher C. Martin, FAIA, have received the American Institute of Architecture (AIA), Los Angeles Chapter’s Gold Medal of Honor, for their major contribution to the built environment in the City of Los Angeles.

David is an avid watercolorist and his works have been exhibited throughout the U.S., including “On Site: Travel Sketches by Architects” at Hunter College, “line.dot – Drawing the Design Process at the Martin Design Studio” at UCLA, and “Form Follows Software: A Revolution in the Architectural Process” at USC, University of Arizona, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Currently, David along with his wife, Mary Klaus Martin, have established MADWORKSHOP, a foundation that endows innovative designers with the opportunity to freely explore their ideas from inspiration to reality.

Dean Wiberg
Biography

Dean Wiberg

Austin Collins
Principal, Utility Consulting Services
Schneider Electricity
Biography

Austin Collins

Principal, Utility Consulting Services
Schneider Electricity

Austin Collins is a Principal in Schneider Electric’s Utility Consulting Services group. He has a decade of consulting experience working with utilities, system operators, technology developers and commercial end users worldwide. Austin earned his MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia and his BA in Economics and Spanish from Davidson College.

Andrew McAllister
Commissioner
California Energy Commission
Biography

Andrew McAllister

Commissioner
California Energy Commission

Commissioner Andrew McAllister is serving his third term on the California Energy Commission.

At the Energy Commission, he leads the policy area of energy efficiency, including the Building Energy Efficiency Standards, appliance efficiency, and load management and flexibility. More broadly, he is focused on enabling modern, data-rich analytical tools to support strong clean energy policy development and program implementation.

Commissioner McAllister has worked on energy deployment and policy since the early 1990s. He has worked across the world to deploy clean, cost-effective energy solutions with counterparts ranging from tiny remote communities to the largest of utilities. He administered two of California’s signature renewable energy programs, developed and operated energy efficiency programs for utilities, and conducted a broad range of policy-related research for California and the federal government.

He is a board member and immediate past board chair of the National Association of State Energy Officials, and a board member of the Alliance to Save Energy. His deep grounding in technology, policy, and the marketplace provides him with uncommon insight on the accelerating changes taking place in California’s energy sector.

Before joining the Energy Commission, he was managing director at the California Center for Sustainable Energy. He worked with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association International, Ltd. in Central and South America, Southeast Asia, and Africa on renewable generation, load management, utility planning, and remote power projects. He was a project manager at an energy-consulting firm and an energy efficiency analyst at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Commissioner McAllister holds a master of science and a Ph.D. from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor of arts from Dartmouth College. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Ann Gray
Principal
GRAY Real Estate Advisors
Biography

Ann Gray

Principal
GRAY Real Estate Advisors

ANN E. GRAY FAIA, FRICS is principal at GRAY Real Estate Advisors where she consults to property owners, attorneys, and appraisers on complex development issues. Clients include Citibank, Sheppard Mullin, the LA Times and the Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese. She has participated in nearly one billion dollars of development over the course of her career. Prior to launching her consulting practice, Ms. Gray was Executive Director of Design Development at Paramount Pictures responsible for pre-construction activity at the 65-acre studio lot, and Vice President at Indivest, a real estate development company. Ms. Gray is founder and publisher of FORM magazine, the AEC journal in Southern California and a frequent speaker at universities and conferences. She has a B.A. in Applied Mathematics and a Masters of Architecture both from UCLA. She is a licensed real estate broker, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and in 2015 was elected to the RICS Global Governing Council. 

Robert Griffin
Vice President, Business Development
Customer First Renewables
Biography

Robert Griffin

Vice President, Business Development
Customer First Renewables

Robert (Bob) M. Griffin is Vice President, Business Development for CFR. Bob retired from the U.S. Navy with more than 36 years of public service and was selected to the Senior Executive Service in July of 2000. He served as Head of Contracts for Naval Facilities Engineering Command for 15 years and was the Executive Director of the Navy’s Renewable Program Office, tasked with the overall planning, coordination, and integration of large-scale renewable energy projects to meet the Secretary of the Navy’s goal to bring 1 GW of renewable energy in procurement to increase the Navy’s energy security and operational capability. Bob has been with CFR since 2016.

Janea A. Scott
Vice-Chair
California Energy Commission
Biography

Janea A. Scott

Vice-Chair
California Energy Commission

Janea A. Scott is vice-chair on the California Energy Commission. The Energy Commission is the State's primary energy policy and planning agency. Ms. Scott was appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in February 2013 to serve as the Commission's public member. She is the lead Commissioner on transportation and western regional planning, and last year Ms. Scott led the 2014 Integrated Energy Policy Report Update. Ms. Scott serves as the chair of the California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative, a public/private organization focused on accelerating the adoption of PEVs to meet California's economic, energy and environmental goals. She is also a member of the U.S. Department of Energy's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee.

Prior to joining the Energy Commission, Ms. Scott worked at the U.S. Department of the Interior in the Office of the Secretary as the Deputy Counselor for Renewable Energy and at Environmental Defense Fund in both the New York and Los Angeles offices as a senior attorney in the climate and air program. Ms. Scott was also an AmeriCorps member working at the San Francisco Urban Service Project from 1996-1997. Ms. Scott earned her J.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder Law School and her M.S. and B.S. in Earth Systems from Stanford University. 

Charles Bovet
Vice President Operations
BONE Structure
Biography

Charles Bovet

Vice President Operations
BONE Structure

Charles is leading BONE Structure’s expansion efforts in California and is on a constant quest for innovations that can be applied to the lagging construction industry.

Prior to joining the family business full time, he completed a Masters in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Stanford, and a BS in Structural Engineering from McGill University in Canada. During his graduate degree, Charles worked as a teaching and research assistant in Virtual Design and Construction and co-organized the Industrialized Construction initiative at Stanford to encourage knowledge exchange between students with some of the world’s most prominent companies and leading researchers of innovative construction methods.

About BONE Structure

BONE Structure® has developed and patented a technology that allows to design, manufacture and assemble residential and light commercial buildings in days with zero waste, efficiently and without compromising architectural creativity. BONE Structure buildings are healthy, energy efficient and adaptable. Since 2005, BONE Structure has partnered with architects and builders to complete over 200 custom projects across North America using its proprietary technology.

Catherine Burke
Associate Professor Emerita
USC, Sol Price School of Public Policy
Biography

Catherine Burke

Associate Professor Emerita
USC, Sol Price School of Public Policy

Catherine Burke, Ph.D., Associate Professor Emerita, University of Southern California, Sol Price School of Public Policy.  She received her doctorate in Political Science from University of California, Los Angeles with major fields in American Politics, Public Administration and Management (Business School).  She is also a graduate of Cornell University with an AB degree, government major. 

She became interested in the problem of innovation as a doctoral student and was curious as to why the planners and transportation agencies were actively trying to avoid learning about Personal Rapid Transit as then being presented by the Aerospace Corporation.  Later she wrote the book, Innovation and Public Policy:  The Case of Personal Rapid Transit, D.C. Heath and Company, Lexington Books, 1979.  The book is out of print, but can be downloaded free of charge at:  http://www.advancedtransit.net/content/innovation-and-public-policy-book

She has been a member of the Advanced Transit Association (ATRA) since its inception and has served on its Board and as President.

Dr. Burke has been a panelist and consultant to the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress and a member of the Los Angeles County Economy and Efficiency Commission.  Burke was instrumental in developing the Price School’s metropolitan simulation program.  She has been a consultant to a large public utility (Communications and Computing Services, Regulatory Policy and Affairs, Environmental Health and Safety, and Public Affairs Departments),), cities (Los Angeles and Pasadena) and county (Los Angeles) governments, an international mining and manufacturing firm based in Australia, an ISP (internet service provider), a regimental commander (Colonel) of Royal Engineer Commandos in the British Army as well as several non-profit social service organizations.

Her primary professional focus has been in the fields of organization structures, systems design, leadership and management, as well as issues of innovation.  Recently her focus has been on the issues of climate change and the need to reduce GHG emissions, which has returned her focus on the potential of Automated Transportation Networks to improve urban transportation, freight movement and inter-city travel.  Only by providing public transit, which gives full access to an urban area, will we be able to significant reduce the use of carbon based fuels for automobiles and trucks.  

Her most recent book written with Ian Macdonald and Karl Stewart is Systems Leadership:  Creating Positive Organisations, Gower Publications, Ltd., 2006.

Ruth Cox
Vice President of Power Marketing
Centauri Energy
Biography

Ruth Cox

Vice President of Power Marketing
Centauri Energy

Ruth Cox leads the marketing and sales programs for Centauri Energy LLC, a clean energy developer with solar and wind projects across the western U.S.  She brings extensive experience in strategic marketing and business development for the clean tech, computing and telecommunication industries to this position. Most recently, Ms. Cox served in a presidential appointment as the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA’s) Pacific Rim Regional Administrator, overseeing a 36-million-square-foot real estate portfolio, a $1 billion supply chain, 1,000 associates, and a budget of almost $1 billion. She also served as the GSA’s Senior Sustainability Officer and Senior Official for Executive Order 13423, “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy and Transportation Management.” In this role, she led efforts to integrate sustainability into all aspects of GSA’s operations, significantly increasing clean power consumption and energy efficiency in GSA’s buildings, reducing fossil fuel use in the Federal fleet and greening the supply chain.  Ms. Cox’s enterprise sales and marketing experience in the tech sector includes work as a marketing executive at Hewlett-Packard and Tandem Computers where she built high-growth lines of business serving the telecommunications industry. In 2004, she entered politics and government to help stimulate economic growth and improve quality of life through clean-power generation, energy efficiency and sustainable business practices.

Dan Cohee
Operations Manager
Morrow Meadows Corporation
Biography

Dan Cohee

Operations Manager
Morrow Meadows Corporation

Dan leads the design, implementation, integration and construction of advanced energy storage and distributed generation projects for PDE. He led groundbreaking projects of grid tied lithium ion energy storage for a California Municipal Utility and completed a microgrid installation which combined solar, fuel cell, clean burning generator, and energy storage. He has managed design-build of over 30 MW in DC energy storage projects. Dan also is the Principal Investigator for the ESTCP 2012 Sodium-Metal-Halide Battery Energy Storage project at 29 Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. Forbes Online recognized this project as a “Top 12 Energy Project in 2012” and is the largest military type 2B microgrid in the US. Dan led the team on PDE’s leading-edge, Smart Microgrid project at the Electrical Training Institute. The system is a first of its kind, combining energy storage, solar generation, electrical vehicle charging and building load management in one unit. This project was awarded the 2013 Los Angeles National Electrical Contractor’s Excellence Award. Dan is currently leading the design efforts for a smart microgrid project for Penn State University and recently completed the Cuisinart microgrid in the Caribbean.  This microgrid powers a reverse osmosis plant which produces between 250,000 to 300,000 gallons of water each day with solar being the sole generation source.  This is the largest installation of its kind in the region and is a potential game changer for energy policy and delivery in the region.  PDE was recently selected as EPC for the largest privately owned Net Zero Energy retrofit in the U.S.  This project features a microgrid, advanced electronics, battery storage, solar, lighting controls and a high efficiency mechanical system. Dan has just completed the Port Hueneme off grid photo voltaic and flow battery micro grid for the CEC to demonstrate how flow batteries can provide: demand charge savings, increased renewable generation on military micro grids through ramp rate control, and provide reliable power during utility outages.  Currently Dan is heading the engineering, procurement, and construction for the micro grid Test Bed for NAVFAC at the Port of Ventura.  This project will build the AC and DC backbone for NAVFAC to test and integrate technologies of today and of the future to facilitate deployments of micro grids around the world.  This project will be both grid connected and designed to island and will support Naval operations during power outages.

Prior to joining PDE, Dan was responsible for 5 western states at MCI Telecommunications (now Verizon) and successfully managed over 60 million dollars in electrical, mechanical, and control construction projects. Dan attended California State University Long Beach and holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science.

Tom Doughty
Director of Regulatory Strategy
California ISO
Biography

Tom Doughty

Director of Regulatory Strategy
California ISO

Tom Doughty is Director of Regulatory Strategy at the California ISO.  He accountable for optimizing the ISO’s interactions with the State agencies, such as the CPUC, Energy Commission, Air Board and Water Board. Prior to assuming his current role, Tom was responsible for the ISO’s customer care functions.  He is the architect behind The Voice-of-the-Customer and TouchPoint Mapping, which are among the ISO’s most successful customer partnering programs.  Tom is also the creator of the ISO’s Stakeholder Symposium, which has become the largest annual gathering of energy executives on the West Coast.  This year marks the beginning of Tom’s fourth decade in the electric industry. 

His résumé includes senior leadership positions with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Xcel Energy, and several entrepreneurial energy service providers.  25 years ago, Tom was among a small group of innovators that drove the launch of a brand new technology…electric vehicles.   We take EVs for granted now, but 25 years ago, they were nearly completely unknown.  Tom is a licensed engineer and holds degrees in engineering and business administration from UC Davis and UCLA, respectively.   

Frances Anderton
Fmr. Host and Producer
KCRW
Biography

Frances Anderton

Fmr. Host and Producer
KCRW

Frances Anderton covers architecture and design in Los Angeles, for print and broadcast. She is currently writing a book about multifamily housing in LA, entitled Common Ground. She spent many years as a host and producer at KCRW public radio station; her most recent project was a series of reports on waste, entitled Wasted: Neat Solutions to the Dirty Problem of Waste.  

Edward Randolph
Director, Energy Division
California Public Utilities Commission
Biography

Edward Randolph

Director, Energy Division
California Public Utilities Commission

The Energy Division provides technical support to the Commissioners and their offices, and the Administrative Law Judges. The Energy Division drafts resolutions for formal consideration by the Commission. Resolutions generally result from informal utility requests called Advice Letters, which are submitted by utilities to request rate and tariff adjustments. 

The Energy Division through its Federal Policy and Ratemaking Section represents the Commission in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and court proceedings. 

The Energy Division assists the Commission in its regulation of four types of Investor-Owned Utilities (IOUs): Electric, Natural Gas, Steam and Petroleum Pipeline Companies. Commissionapproved tariffs (official rates and terms of service) for these four types of IOUs are maintained by the Energy Division.

Michael Keating
Founder & CEO
Scoot Networks
Biography

Michael Keating

Founder & CEO
Scoot Networks

Michael Keating is the Founder & CEO of Scoot Networks, the largest personal electric transportation service in the United States. Michael founded Scoot to bring fast, affordable, electric transportation to cities everywhere. Prior to founding Scoot, Michael built a successful transportation software business at OpenPlans, and was a management consultant with GreenOrder and The Boston Consulting Group. Michael is a graduate of Wesleyan University, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and Harvard Business School.

Ken Devore
Director (retired), Edison SmartConnect
Southern California Edison
Biography

Ken Devore

Director (retired), Edison SmartConnect
Southern California Edison

Ken Devore serves the utility industry as a consultant, strategic advisor, and thought leader on smart grid strategic planning, development, implementation, and operations.

Ken retired from Southern California Edison (SCE) following a 26-year career that spanned executive leadership roles in Customer Service, Transmission and Distribution, Regulatory Operations, and Corporate Communications.

Ken was one of the early pioneers of the smart grid, helping develop a strategic roadmap for a smarter, safer, more reliable, and more environmentally responsible electric grid.  He served as Senior Director and program lead for SCE's $1.6 billion, award-winning advanced metering program - Edison SmartConnect®.  SmartConnect replaced 5 million traditional electric meters and associated metering systems with digital, two-way communicating smart meters, and delivered more than 30 advanced information and operations technology systems that empower SCE's customers to effectively manage their energy use and costs, while providing a solid foundation for the advancement of the smart grid.

Joseph Lyou
President & CEO
The Coalition for Clean Air
Biography

Joseph Lyou

President & CEO
The Coalition for Clean Air

Dr. Joseph K. Lyou believes everyone has the right to breathe clean air.  He has worked for more than 25 years to improve public health and environmental conditions in California’s most polluted and disadvantaged communities.  Dr. Lyou serves as President and CEO of the Coalition for Clean Air, a state-wide organization dedicated to restoring clean and healthful air to all of California.  He advocates for effective public policy and practical business solutions that reduce air pollution, protect public health, and prevent climate change.

Since 2007, Dr. Lyou has also served as the Governor’s Appointee to the South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board, the public agency responsible for improving air quality for more than 16 million people living in Southern California.

Dr. Lyou founded the California Environmental Rights Alliance in 2003 and served as Executive Director through August 2010.  He previously held management positions with the California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and the Committee to Bridge the Gap.

He received his Ph.D. from the University of California Santa Cruz in 1990.

Doug Campbell
Principal Advisor
Southern California Edison
Biography

Doug Campbell

Principal Advisor
Southern California Edison

Doug Campbell retired from Edison International (EIX) on January 18, 2016, after almost 19 years with the company.  EIX is the parent company of Southern California Edison, a regulated electric utility, and Edison Mission Group, an independent power company.  Mr. Campbell has over 30 years of experience in the utility and telecommunications industries in marketing, product development and engineering.

Prior to Edison, Mr. Campbell served as a Principal Manager in Edison’s Advanced Technology Organization which monitors, identifies, tests, and evaluates technologies that support SCE efforts to maintain a safe, reliable, affordable, and secure electric grid while empowering the customer with more options and greater control to manage their energy use.  Prior to Advanced Technology, Mr. Campbell was involved in overseeing Edison’s Energy Education Centers and lead development of the Smart Energy Experience, an immersive and interactive exhibit that allows visitors to experience the benefits of the smart grid, energy efficiency and renewable generation.  He was also involved in development and delivery of demand side management and sustainability programs for new construction.

Campbell previously worked for Itron, Inc. where he was responsible for development of automated meter reading solutions for the gas industry, expanding the product line and increasing market penetration.  He has also worked for EF Johnson and Ericsson where he was responsible for development of radio communication solutions for the utility and public safety markets.

Campbell has also previously served as Vice Chair of the Irwindale Chamber of commerce and as a trustee on the board for the Pacific Clinics Foundation. 

Heather Repenning
Executive Officer of Sustainability Policy
LA Metro
Biography

Heather Repenning

Executive Officer of Sustainability Policy
LA Metro

Heather Repenning is the Executive Officer for Sustainability Policy at LA Metro. In this role, Heather advises on and oversees policies and programs focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector and improving air and water quality through LA Metro’s operations.  Heather also serves as the Board Vice Chair for Climate Action of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  Repenning previously held the role of Vice President of the City of Los Angeles Board of Public Works. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College and has a Master’s Degree from the University of California, Irvine in Comparative Literature.   

Evan Harvey
Managing Director of Corporate Sustainability
The NASDAQ OMX Group
Biography

Evan Harvey

Managing Director of Corporate Sustainability
The NASDAQ OMX Group

Evan directs the NASDAQ OMX corporate sustainability effort, which includes gathering, analyzing, and reporting key criteria across the organization. In addition to making NASDAQ OMX more transparent, efficient, and responsible, he manages investor and issuer company outreach on corporate sustainability topics, best practices, and compliance. Evan is also responsible for the research, analysis, and disclosure of various reports, including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), and the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Communication of Progress.  He oversees media relations, sustainability partnerships, and events/sponsorships.

In the past two years, Evan has spoken at or otherwise participated in a wide variety of sustainability-related events, including the CERES INCR Summit, Ethical Business USA, SRI Conference, and GreenBiz Forum. He also co-organized the most recent UN Global Compact LEAD meeting in New York at the NASDAQ MarketSite, and was instrumental in securing NASDAQ’s acceptance into the Global Compact.

Evan joined the NASDAQ Stock Market in 2004 and ran the NASDAQ Online website – a data and thought leadership portal for C-suite executives – for many years. His background is primarily in marketing and communications, with a decade of professional experience in web strategy, content management, and data analysis disciplines.

He holds a BA and an MA from the University of Texas, and lives outside Washington DC with his wife and two children. 

Peter Peyton
International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)
Biography

Peter Peyton

International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)
Gail Kennard
President
KDG Architects
Biography

Gail Kennard

President
KDG Architects

Gail Kennard is president of Kennard Design Group (KDG), a Los Angeles architectural firm founded in 1957 by Gail’s father, the late Robert Kennard, FAIA.  KDG is the oldest African-American-owned architectural practice in the West.  Work includes public infrastructure, transportation, and other public works projects.  Since 2010, she has served on the City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission and is currently the commission’s vice-president.  She is a strong advocate for sustainable design and seeks opportunities to serve the twin goals of historic preservation and sustainability through adaptive re-use of existing structures.

Brian Watt
Business Reporter
KPCC
Biography

Brian Watt

Business Reporter
KPCC

Brian Watt covers working and entrepreneurship for KPCC. He joined the KPCC news team in 2007. Prior to that, he worked as a producer at "Marketplace," where he filed a number of his own stories and even filled in some mornings as host. Brian's work for KPCC has won numerous awards. In 2008, Brian won “First Place for Business and Financial Coverage – Broadcast” from the Los Angeles Press Club. He’s won two Golden Mike awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California, including Best Consumer/Financial Reporting in 2010. 

Doug Kim
Director of Advanced Technology
Southern California Edison
Biography

Doug Kim

Director of Advanced Technology
Southern California Edison

Doug Kim is the director of Advanced Technology, Southern California Edison’s technology evaluation organization. This Transmission and Distribution Business Unit group operates as part of the Engineering and Technical Services division and is responsible for SCE’s smart grid development, which includes advanced grid technologies, energy storage, electric transportation, and the integration of energy smart consumer products.

Before taking the helm at Advanced Technology, Mr. Kim led SCE’s Plug-In Electric Vehicle Readiness efforts to ensure SCE’s grid and services are prepared to support the integration of the many new electric vehicles being marketed by automobile manufacturers.

Prior to leading the PEV Readiness group’s activities, Mr. Kim served as general manager for Edison Carrier Solutions, a business unit of SCE that provides large capacity fiber optics-based broadband services to local and long distance telephone, alternative telecommunications service providers, wireless carriers, cable television, and internet access companies.

Kim began his tenure at Edison International (EIX), the parent company of SCE, in 1996 where he was engaged in the company’s strategic planning and new business development. He also served as an internal consultant for many of EIX’s operating units. Mr. Kim went on to manage a variety of SCE organizations where he led the assessment of new business opportunities, development of strategies, and detailed business plans.                                                                                                                          

Mr. Kim earned a Master of Business Administration degree from UCLA and his Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA.

Mark Irwin
Director, Technology Development, Advanced Technology
Southern California Edison
Biography

Mark Irwin

Director, Technology Development, Advanced Technology
Southern California Edison

As director of Technology Development, Mark Irwin leads SCE’s Energy Storage Ownership Initiative, the energy storage and transportation research and development activities, and the project management of Advanced Technology’s research portfolio.

Mr. Irwin has 30 years in the energy business, which includes 23 years with Edison International, leading teams that develop, manage or contract with significant power generation and fuel assets. 

Mr. Irwin earned an MBA in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in accounting from the University of Southern California. 

 

Andrew Kingman
Executive Vice President
Poseidon Water
Biography

Andrew Kingman

Executive Vice President
Poseidon Water
  • Mr. Kingman has over 30 years of experience in the development, construction and financing of major industrial and infrastructure capital projects including over 15 years of project development and project financing experience at Poseidon.   He is currently responsible for providing executive oversight of the Huntington Beach project development efforts and new business development opportunities.   As Poseidon's CFO, he was responsible for Poseidon's investor relations and financing, including the Carlsbad equity and debt financing and was a lead on the various project contract negotiations.
  • Before joining Poseidon, he was a vice president of AT&T Capital Corporation and General Electric Capital Corporation project finance groups, and prior to that he was a nuclear test and startup engineer for General Dynamics' submarine business.
  • B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire and an MBA from the University of Virginia's Darden School.
David Narefsky
Partner
Mayer Brown LLP
Biography

David Narefsky

Partner
Mayer Brown LLP

David Narefsky has had an active role in high-profile PPP transactions, with particular responsibility for governmental and financing aspects.

David advised the underwriters of the issuance of $400 million private activity bonds to finance a portion of the cost of construction of the Denver FasTracks Eagle P3 Project. This project was named 2010 North American Transport Deal of the Year by Project Finance Magazine and 2010 Regional Deal of the Year by The Bond Buyer. David was named a “Dealmaker of the Year” by the American Lawyer for his work on the Denver FasTracks financing.  

David is currently advising the underwriters for the issuance of up to $1.75 billion in private activity bonds to support the financing of the All Aboard Florida passenger rail network connecting Miami with Orlando.  He is also advising the Chicago Transit Authority in its efforts to implement a $2 billion design-build finance-maintain PPP project for the reconstruction of the Authority’s Red Line, the City’s main north south transit line.

David led Mayer Brown’s representation of WVB East End Partners, the winning bidder for the East End Crossing in Louisville/Southern Indiana, which was named 2014 North American Transport Deal of the Year by P3Bulletin and National Deal of the Year by The Bond Buyer.

He advised the Puerto Rico Public Private Partnerships Authority on the proposed long-term concession and lease of Luis Muñoz Marín Airport in San Juan and the City of Chicago on the proposed long-term concession and lease of Midway Airport.

He is also advised the Texas Department of Transportation on the implementation of innovative financing strategy for Grand Parkway Toll Road in the Houston metro area, including successful closing of an $850 million TIFIA loan.

Prior transactions include advising the City of Chicago on the $1.83 billion concession and lease of the Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge and on the $563 million concession and lease of the more than 9,000 space Chicago downtown underground parking garage system; Chambers USA 2007 referred to David as “one of the best public-sector lawyers in Chicago.”

A 1979 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, he served as Deputy Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago, where he managed the transactional and commercial legal work of the City, before joining Mayer Brown in 1989. His practice at Mayer Brown has included the representation of Chicago-area governments in the financing of convention center and sport stadium facilities, mass transportation projects and representation in public finance offerings.

Jill Stewart
City Editor
LA Daily News
Biography

Jill Stewart

City Editor
LA Daily News

Jill Stewart is executive director of the Coalition to Preserve LA, a non-profit dedicated to advocating for open government, strategic land-use planning, affordable housing, environmental stewardship and community empowerment. 

A lifelong, award-winning journalist and political commentator, she has an extensive background in government and politics, poverty and housing, environment and open space, and children's rights and public schools. In 2016, she jumped into political activism as campaign director for the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, a March 2017 Los Angeles ballot measure that aimed to reduce excessive developer influence over elected officials, land-use decisions and the environment.

The non-profit Coalition that arose following the March ballot measure is pursuing reform of Los Angeles city government regarding the General Plan, Community Plans and related environmental and economic impacts, as well as campaign finance reform and reform of city sustainability and housing practices.

As L.A. Weekly Managing Editor and News Editor for nine years, she was chiefly concerned with how the paper and website covered news and culture to benefit readers and society. She oversaw the print edition and laweekly.com website. Online, Jill managed the news and culture verticals and executive produced the site's videos. Joining L.A. Weekly in 2006, Jill oversaw 60 staff and freelance journalists.

She has appeared on hundreds of hours of live TV and radio, generally focused on analyzing political races, ballot and bond measures and government policies and controversies. She was a political analyst for KNX News Radio's coverage of the 2014 California gubernatorial race; for FOX-11's coverage of the 2010 California gubernatorial race, and KCAL-9’s live TV analysis of the 2005 Los Angeles mayoral race.

She has analyzed California issues for MSNBC, FOX, CSNBC and CNN, and has appeared extensively on BBC, KPCC, KCRW, KFI and KABC radio. From 1996 to 2002, Jill wrote an award-winning column for New Times-Los Angeles that analyzed the civic institutions and power players who shaped California.

Jill draws on six years as an urban affairs and government reporter at the Los Angeles Times and four years as self-syndicator of a weekly newspaper column on California statehouse politics, Capitol Punishment, which reached 1 million readers weekly. Her op-ed work frequently appeared in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

In 1998, Jill joined the non-profit Los Angeles Press Club Board of Directors and played a leading role in rebuilding the dying 100-year-old organization. She served on its board for 15 years, including as president, focused on branding the Press Club as a force for strengthening ties between journalists across all platforms.

In 1991 and 1992, she lived in Prague and wrote about the Czech transition to democracy.

Jill has twice been named top columnist at the Southern California Journalism Awards, and was honored with its Journalist of the Year nod. National honors include the American Society of Newspaper Columnist's award for best column in the U.S., and the Benjamin Fine Award for top education writing in the nation.

Jill Stewart holds a master’s degree in journalism from Stanford University.

Jacob Atalla
Vice President of Sustainability
KB Homes
Biography

Jacob Atalla

Vice President of Sustainability
KB Homes

Educated as an architect, Jacob has over 25 years of technology and green building experience. He developed KB Home’s “Double Zero” homes.  These ground-breaking homes are designed to produce as much energy as they’re expected to consume, and include energy storage.  At the same time, they recycle greywater, eliminating the need for fresh water in landscape irrigation.  Other recent projects include launching nearly 100 solar-powered communities, and building over 150 LEED certified homes.  Previously, Jacob developed KB Home’s Energy Performance Guide, which provides KB homeowners with information on the relative energy efficiency and estimated gas and electricity costs.

Jacob serves on the board of directors for Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET).  He also serves on the technical committee for Leading Builders of America, and on the advisory board for TecHome Builder.  In recent years he chaired Orange County’s Urban Land Institute’s Sustainable Communities Council. 

Rick Cameron
Director of Environmental Planning
Port of Long Beach
Biography

Rick Cameron

Director of Environmental Planning
Port of Long Beach

Richard D. “Rick” Cameron is the Managing Director of Planning and Environmental Affairs for the Port of Long Beach, California, named to the post in January 2014 by the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, governing body for the Port. 

Mr. Cameron joined the Port in 1996 as an Environmental Specialist, was promoted to Manager of Environmental Planning and named Director of the newly-created Division of Environmental Planning in 2007 before being appointed Managing Director after the retirement of 23-year Port veteran, Dr. Robert Kanter. 

As Managing Director, he oversees the Planning and Environmental Affairs Bureau that includes Environmental Planning, Master Planning, and Transportation Planning. 

As Director of Environmental Planning, he led the Division most directly responsible for the Port’s signature environmental program, the Green Port Policy, and the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan. Under the Green Port Policy, the Division coordinates programs to improve air, water and soil quality, preserve wildlife habitat and integrate sustainability into Port practices. 

Early in his Port career, as an Environmental Specialist, he worked in the areas of water quality, air quality, and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documentation. Prior experience included management of various environmental programs for the Port of Los Angeles and other clients as a Project Manager for Essentia Management Services. 

Mr. Cameron has a bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is a resident of Manhattan Beach.

Liz Crosson
Chief Sustainability, Resiliency, Innovation Officer
Metropolitan Water District
Biography

Liz Crosson

Chief Sustainability, Resiliency, Innovation Officer
Metropolitan Water District

Liz Crosson has been the Chief Sustainability, Resiliency, Innovation Officer at Metropolitan Water District since March of 2022.

Previously, Crosson was a sustainability consultant for the Los Angeles County Chief Sustainability Office, and is currently an adjunct instructor in urban sustainability at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. As director of infrastructure for the city of Los Angeles from 2018 to 2021, Crosson was Mayor Eric Garcetti’s policy lead on water, power, waste and public right of way infrastructure issues. From 2017 to 2018, she served as the city’s deputy chief sustainability officer and was the city’s first appointed water policy advisor. She served as executive director of Los Angeles Waterkeeper from 2010-2015. Liz Crosson joined Mayor Eric Garcetti's Sustainability Team as Water Policy Advisor after serving as the Executive Director of Los Angeles Waterkeeper for five years. Liz led Waterkeeper’s efforts to protect, conserve and restore Los Angeles' waterways through advocacy, community education and litigation. She previously worked with Lawyers for Clean Water, Inc. where she represented non-profit organizations in water pollution enforcement actions. She has a J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School with an emphasis in environmental law.

Frank Gehry
Founder and Partner
Gehry Partners
Biography

Frank Gehry

Founder and Partner
Gehry Partners

Raised in Toronto, Canada, Frank Gehry moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1947.  Mr. Gehry received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Southern California in 1954, and he studied City Planning at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. In subsequent years, Mr. Gehry has built an architectural career that has spanned over five decades and produced public and private buildings in America, Europe and Asia.  His work has earned Mr. Gehry several of the most significant awards in the architectural field, including the Pritzker Prize.

Notable projects include Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California; Eight Spruce Street Residential Tower located in New York City; Opus Hong Kong Residential; Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, France; the Biomuseo in Panama; and the Dr. Chau Chak Wing Building for the University of Technology, in Sydney, Australia. Current projects include: King Street Development in Toronto, Ontario; Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia; Battersea Power Station Development, London, United Kingdom; Grand Avenue Development, Los Angeles, California; Facebook Campuses in New York City, Seattle, London and Dublin; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; and the Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C. Projects under construction include the LUMA / Parc des Ateliers in Arles, France; Divan Orchestra in Berlin, Germany; the Ohr O. Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi, Mississippi, and the West Campus for Facebook in Menlo Park, California.

Photo: dbox

Mike DeNamur
Director of Sales and Marketing, Intelligent Building Technologies (Americas),
United Technologies Corporation
Biography

Mike DeNamur

Director of Sales and Marketing, Intelligent Building Technologies (Americas),
United Technologies Corporation

Mike has more than 25 years’ experience in the commercial building industry, all with a strong focus on helping facility owners achieve the benefits of sustainable, profitable and high-performance buildings. In his role as Director of Sales & Marketing for United Technologies Americas Building Solutions organization, he leads a team applying the comprehensive portfolio of UTC products and services with the goal of making the future of innovative commercial buildings a reality.

Mike started his career modeling whole-building design alternates with a focus on energy efficiency in HVAC systems. He was deeply involved in the adoption and mainstream application of BACnet and LONWORKS communication protocols – the foundations for intelligent and integrated buildings. Through numerous product management, sales leadership and strategy roles in major commercial building manufacturing and contracting organizations, he’s continued to advocate for and shape the development of intelligent and integrated buildings. His experience includes building automation, HVAC, lighting control, life safety, access, security, digital video and energy services.

Mike has been active in many building performance initiatives and received his LEED-AP credentials in 2006. He has authored articles for industry publications and has been a speaker on building performance topics at the local, regional and national level. Most recently, he has assembled multi-disciplinary teams and technologies to create innovative new solutions that enhance occupant experience, increase situational awareness and operational efficiency, and ultimately set the standard for building performance and profitability.  

When he is not addressing commercial building initiatives, Mike enjoys harnessing sustainable energy while racing sailboats on Long Island Sound.

Quote: “Together, as an industry, we can employ high performance approaches that will create a better built environment. By making smart choices in the design process we can build new, and renovate existing buildings to provide tangible financial benefits and a better experience for building occupants”. 

Richard VanSant
President and CEO
UV Pure
Biography

Richard VanSant

President and CEO
UV Pure

Rick is President and CEO of UV Pure Technologies, a Canadian environmental technology company that develops and manufactures advanced UV water disinfection technology. It has an installed base of over 14,000 applications in North America, LATAM and ASEAN countries, and the EU. 

UV Pure is a global award winner: Frost and Sullivan Best Practices, an Artemis Project Top 50 Company; Going Green Global 200, and the Canadian Drinking Water Association award for innovation. 

An aerospace version of UV Pure’s technology was chosen by Boeing onboard its new 787 Dreamliners. 

Rick is a Director of WaterTAP, Ontario’s Water Technology Acceleration Project.

Prior to UV Pure, Rick founded several public and private companies and was a member and Director of the Young Presidents’ Organization, in Toronto.

He has a degree in Astro-geophysics from Colgate University, a Masters of Education from St. Lawrence University, and is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business’ Institute of Corporate Directors program. 

Walker Wright
Director of Public Policy
SunRun
Biography

Walker Wright

Director of Public Policy
SunRun

Walker Wright is Director of Public Policy for Sunrun, America’s largest dedicated home solar company. Walker focuses on helping Western state markets attain long-term rooftop solar growth via legislative, regulatory and public opinion outcomes.  Over the years Walker has testified in numerous regulatory and legislative hearings and provided leadership within various industry trade associations. Walker also serves as public spokesperson for The Alliance for Solar Choice and is a board member to the Solar Neighbor Alliance.  Prior to Sunrun he led western policy and business development efforts for Petra Systems, the New Jersey based utility and smart grid solutions provider. Walker is a published author and researcher covering the carbon markets and solar panel performance.  Walker holds a BA from Princeton University and an Msc from The London School of Economics and Political Sciences.

Peter Luchetti
Board Member
California Infrastructure & Economic Development Bank
Biography

Peter Luchetti

Board Member
California Infrastructure & Economic Development Bank

Peter Luchetti is the founder of Table Rock Capital LLC (“TRC”) an infrastructure fund that invests in transportation, energy, social infrastructure, water & waste, and communications.

From 1994 to 2004, Mr. Luchetti was Global Head of Project Finance for Banc of America where he managed a 140- person team working in 32 countries around a $5.5 billion portfolio of private debt and equity covering all infrastructure sectors.

Mr. Luchetti was appointed by the Governor of California to the Board of the California Infrastructure Bank in October 2013 where he serves as Vice Chair. Mr. Luchetti also serves on the Board of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute (“BAEI”) as well as the portfolio companies that comprise the TRC portfolio.  He has completed 5 white papers on infrastructure and played a central role in the formation of the Marin Energy Authority (“MEA”) the first Community Choice Aggregation enterprise in California. 

Erica He
Senior Advisor, Energy Solutions
Innovation Core SEI Inc. (Sumitomo Electric)
Biography

Erica He

Senior Advisor, Energy Solutions
Innovation Core SEI Inc. (Sumitomo Electric)

Erica is the Senior Advisor, Energy Solutions, at Innovation Core SEI Inc., which is the US subsidiary of Sumitomo Electric. Erica is the former Vice President of Innovation Core SEI Inc. Erica has been leading the North America market development for Sumitomo Electric’s Smart Energy Solutions business, with a focus on energy storage. Prior to Sumitomo, Erica was the Business Development Manager at SANYO North America, where she developed new businesses and strategic partnerships in the areas of renewable energy, smart grid and consumer electronics. Erica holds a MS in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University and a BS in Electric Engineering from University College London. 

Teveia Barnes
Executive Director
California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank
Biography

Teveia Barnes

Executive Director
California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank

Teveia Barnes was appointed by Governor Brown as Executive Director of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank) on July 12, 2013.  IBank’s mission is to finance infrastructure, economic expansion, clean energy and water projects and to promote small business in California through the Small Business Finance Center.  IBank’s statutory powers include the authority to issue bonds, make loans and provide financing and credit enhancements for a variety of infrastructure, clean energy, water and economic expansion projects to state and local governments, municipalities, universities, schools and hospitals.  

Prior to joining IBank, Ms. Barnes was commissioner of the California Department of Financial Institutions, the chief state regulator of depository financial institutions responsible for the licensing, examination and supervision of banks, credit unions, savings associations, trust companies, foreign banking organizations, industrial development companies and money transmitters.  Barnes was a partner at the law firm of Foley and Lardner LLP.  Barnes worked at the Bank of America NT&SA as associate general counsel and senior vice president.

Ms. Barnes earned a Juris Doctorate from New York University School of Law in 1978 and received her BA degree in economics, political science and German studies from Rice University in 1975, where she was an Arthur B. Cohn Scholar.

Peter Marx
Former Chief Technology Officer
City of Los Angeles
Biography

Peter Marx

Former Chief Technology Officer
City of Los Angeles

Peter Marx served as the Chief Technology Officer of the City of Los Angeles from February 2014 to July 2016. In this role he handled technology-related issues across the nation's second largest city. Before joining the Mayor's Office, Marx served as the Vice President of Business Development at Qualcomm Labs, Inc., commercializing a variety of emerging technologies. Previously, Marx was the Vice President of the Technology and Digital Studio at Mattel, Inc. where the company received a Webby award, the highest award for excellence in online content. Marx managed Analog Protocol, a media-technology consultancy; served as the Chief Technology Officer for Vivendi-Universal Games and Vice President of Emerging Technologies for Universal Studios; and held engineering and producer positions at Electronic Arts. Early in his career, he served as an engineer on a variety of telemedicine, digital video, radiological imaging, and biomedicine applications for UCLA and 3M Company.

Vaughan Davies
Director of Urban Design
AECOM
Biography

Vaughan Davies

Director of Urban Design
AECOM

As an architect and urban designer, Vaughan Davies has over 25years of professional experience producing  visionary plans and designs with a solid basis in reality, both in their authenticity and in their ability to be implemented successfully – a pragmatic visionary.  Collaborating with major developers, cities, and agencies, he has demonstrated a unique ability to create significant added value for all interests involved, by creating one-of-a-kind addresses and focusing his design solutions on the establishment of a superior public realm as a unique and memorable address & amenity. Vaughan based in AECOM’s Los Angeles office has for the past 20 years has led the design and implementation efforts for many of the region’s precedent setting projects. 

Percy Haralson
Principal Manager, Advanced Technology, Field Technologies
Southern California Edison
Biography

Percy Haralson

Principal Manager, Advanced Technology, Field Technologies
Southern California Edison
Lin Midkiff
The Aerospace Corporation
Biography

Lin Midkiff

The Aerospace Corporation

Everett L. (Lin) Midkiff III has 36 years of experience in the aerospace, aviation and information systems fields. He currently supports system architecting, engineering, integration and technical analysis efforts in a variety of market sectors, including transportation, energy, and homeland security.

He joined The Aerospace Corporation in 1997, with initial responsibilities for systems engineering, operational transition support, and long-range planning for the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN).  He transitioned to the Civil and Commercial Operations group in 1998, supporting commercial space launch and advanced space vehicle concepts. In 2000, he became a private consultant for data communications, information technology and entertainment service applications in the commercial aircraft industry.  He returned to Aerospace in 2010 to focus on new initiatives in interplanetary space, automated transportation networks, and related science and technology domains.

Mr. Midkiff holds a B.A. degree in Business Administration from William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri, and an M.S. degree in Computer Science from Missouri Science & Technology (formerly the University of Missouri-Rolla).

Cathy Green
President, Division 6
Orange County Water District
Biography

Cathy Green

President, Division 6
Orange County Water District

Cathy Green was elected to the Orange County Water District (OCWD) Board of Directors in November 2010 and was re-elected in 2012. She was selected by the board to serve as its 2013 and 2014 1st vice president and as its 2015 president.

Prior to Director Green's service on OCWD's board, she was elected to two consecutive terms on the Huntington Beach City Council where she served two terms as mayor. Director Green has been involved as a council liaison and committee member on many city boards, commissions and committees.

Her community involvement includes serving as chair of the Orange County Emergency Medical Care Committee; vice chair of Finance Explorer’s/Learning for Life; and director of the Huntington Beach Hospital, Boy Scouts of America Council and American Family Housing. She is a founding member of Amigos de Bolsa Chica, three-time chair and board member of the Huntington Beach Community Clinic and served as president of the Therapeutic Riding Center. She also is a member of the Community Emergency Response Team.

Director Green is the recipient of many awards. In September 2010, she was the recipient of the Spurgeon Award, and, in 2005, she was named Woman of the Year by then State Senator John Campbell. Other awards include the 2006 United Way Excellence in Child Care Planning, the 2007 Peace Maker Award from the Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council and the Golden West College Pillar of Achievement Award. She has also been recognized as Huntington Beach’s Citizen of the Year by the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce, a Huntington Beach Soroptimist’s Woman of Distinction and a Bolsa Chica Conservancy Conservator of the Year.

Director Green is a registered nurse and holds a degree in law. As a nurse, Director Green worked in the health care areas of intensive care, student health, community health, and patient advocacy. In addition to nursing, she gained experience with a variety of environmental projects while associated with Lockhart and Associates. Director Green and her husband Peter have been residents of Huntington Beach for more than 40 years where they raised their two children Teresa and Tom.

Diarmuid O'Connell
Vice President of Business Development
Tesla Motors
Biography

Diarmuid O'Connell

Vice President of Business Development
Tesla Motors

Diarmuid joined Tesla in 2006, and currently serves as the Vice President of Business Development in which capacity he manages commercial relationships and all aspects of government affairs. Before joining Tesla, Diarmuid served as Chief of Staff for Political Military Affairs at the US State Department, where he was involved in policy and operational support to the U.S military in various theaters of operation. 

Before his tenure in Washington, Diarmuid worked in corporate strategy as a management consultant for Accenture, as a founder of educational software developer, Real Time Learning, and as a senior executive with both McCann Erickson Worldwide and Young and Rubicam. Over the course of his career, he has managed international operations, projects and marketing for such brands as Coca Cola, Gillette, and AT&T, among others. 

Diarmuid has earned a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College, a master's degree in Foreign Policy from the University of Virginia, and an MBA from Kellogg. 

Jim Lucas
Market Development Manager
SoCalGas
Biography

Jim Lucas

Market Development Manager
SoCalGas

Jim Lucas is a Market Development Manager for the Southern California Gas Company.  One of his group’s missions is to support, promote and further develop the biogas market by educating customers on the benefits of renewable natural gas and how to create value from their organic waste.  Jim’s team also manages SoCalGas’ Biogas Conditioning/Upgrading Services Tariff, the Compression Services Tariff, and the recently approved Distributed Energy Resources Tariff.  Since starting with SoCalGas over 20 years ago, Jim has held a variety of positions relating to Product Development, Project Management, Energy Efficiency, Pipeline Operations, Financial Analysis, and Engineering on both the regulated and unregulated sides of the business. 

Marissa Aho
Chief Resiliency Officer
City of Los Angeles
Biography

Marissa Aho

Chief Resiliency Officer
City of Los Angeles

Marissa Aho, AICP, serves as Chief Resilience Officer in the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, where she leads city-wide resiliency efforts, including those found in the Mayor’s “Resilience By Design” report, and as part of the 100 Resilient Cities program pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation. Marissa has 15 years of policy, planning, and project management experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors where she worked with interdisciplinary teams to find creative solutions to complex problems. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office, Marissa held senior staff positions at two Los Angeles planning and land use consulting firms. She has a BA in Political Science from American University and a Master of Planning from the University of Southern California Price School of Public Policy. She is an active member of the American Planning Association serving as AICP Commissioner, Region IV (California & Nevada) and is a member of the USC Price Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Stephen Jones
Managing Director
ITM Power
Biography

Stephen Jones

Managing Director
ITM Power
Walter Spansel
Vice President and Transmission Officer
NV Energy
Biography

Walter Spansel

Vice President and Transmission Officer
NV Energy

Walter Spansel is vice president and transmission officer, responsible for all real time operations, accountable for transmission strategy, services, system planning, engineering, asset management, operations, reliability and project delivery for NV Energy, a Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company.

Mr. Spansel was previously an executive with Southern California Edison, serving as director of transmission and also served as director of operations at Entergy Corporation, having progressed through several management assignments. He was also previously president and chief executive officer of a consulting firm and partner of an electrical engineering firm.

Mr. Spansel earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering and a master in business administration from the University of New Orleans, a Louisiana State University system school. He also participated in an Executive Development Program of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Spansel currently serves on the board of trustees of Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada and previously served on the board of directors of the North American Transmission Forum.

Randall Winston
Deputy Mayor for Infrastructure
Office of City of LA Mayor Karen Bass
Biography

Randall Winston

Deputy Mayor for Infrastructure
Office of City of LA Mayor Karen Bass

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.

Thomas Van Dyck
Managing Director, Financial Advisor
RBC Wealth Management
Biography

Thomas Van Dyck

Managing Director, Financial Advisor
RBC Wealth Management

Tom has been a leader in the field of socially-responsible investing for more than 30 years.  As Senior Vice President – Financial Advisor of the SRI Wealth Management Group at RBC Wealth Management, Tom consults on $1.5 billion of ESG-screened assets. Tom is also the founder of As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy organization, which engages corporations on environmental, human/labor rights and corporate social responsibility initiatives. In 2014 Tom was a featured guest on Bill Moyers and Company. In 2013, Tom was named one of the Financial Times’ Top 400 Financial Advisors. Tom was also a featured speaker at the TedX Wall Street conference in 2012 and provided his expertise on SRI investing for long-term safety and returns. Van Dyck graduated from Duke University in 1980 with a B.A. in Political Science. He is a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®) and holds his Series 7 and Series 66 FINRA licenses.

Jacob Lieb
Sustainability Policy Manager
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Biography

Jacob Lieb

Sustainability Policy Manager
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Jacob Lieb is currently the Sustainability Policy Manager for LA Metro where he leads the agency’s efforts to incorporate sustainability into planning and project implementation.  Jacob oversees the implementation of Metro’s Sustainability Planning Policy and First Mile/Last Mile Strategic Plan, among other efforts.  Jacob comes to Metro after a long tenure with the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).  While at SCAG Jacob was responsible for major regional planning functions including the preparation of the Sustainable Communities Strategy, the Regional Comprehensive Plan, and the Regional Housing Needs Assessment.  Jacob also participated in key legislative negotiations, including the discussions leading to the enactment of SB 375, and oversaw environmental review and compliance for multiple plan cycles.  Jacob began his career working on homeownership, homelessness, and social service issues for the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.  Jacob is a graduate of UC Berkeley.

Frank Bush
Executive Officer
Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety
Biography

Frank Bush

Executive Officer
Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety

Mr. Bush has over 26 years of experience with the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety and more than 37 years of experience in the construction industry. He holds a General Contractor’s License from the State of California and a Certification as a Combination Dwelling Inspector from the International Code Council (ICC). 

As the Executive Officer for the Department of Building and Safety (LADBS), Mr. Bush is responsible for managing operations of the department which includes approximately 1000 employees. He ensures that the LADBS mission, “to protect lives and safety of the residents and visitors of the City of Los Angeles and enhance the quality of life, housing, economic prosperity, and job creation citywide and to advise, guide, assist customers to achieve compliance with the Building, Zoning, Plumbing, Mechanical, Electrical, Disabled Access, Energy and Green codes local and State laws to Build Safe, Well and Fast”, is accomplished. 

Mr. Bush has developed and implemented numerous operational policies and procedures that have improved customer service and created many efficiencies. 

He has received numerous awards and recognition from City and State and Federal elected officials, community leaders, property owner associations, Los Angeles Police Department and other city departments for his dedication to public service and for resolving community blight issues throughout the City of Los Angeles. 

Mr. Bush began his City career as an inspector and promoted through the ranks to his current position as Executive Officer. 

Prior to his City service he was a licensed General Contractor and operated his own construction company where he was involved in new construction and remodel of large and small commercial and residential projects. 

Mr. Bush is married to Judy; they have four children and nine grandchildren. Together, they are actively involved in community service work. 

PROFESSIONAL LICENSES / CERTIFICATIONS 

• Member - California Building Officials (CALBO) 

• Certified Combination Dwelling Inspector – International Code Council 

• General Contractor – California State Contractors License Board 

• Certified Public Information Officer and Disaster Recovery – California State Training Institute 

• Certified Disaster Service Worker – California Office of Emergency Services ID#73398 / Building Inspector - CALBO 

• Certified FEMA Advanced Incident Command, Complex ICS, National ICS – Homeland Security

 

David McConnell
Vice President, Business Development, North America
Enerkem
Biography

David McConnell

Vice President, Business Development, North America
Enerkem

David McConnell joined Enerkem's management team as Vice President, Business Development, North America, in April 2015. He has over 25 years of experience in operations, sales and procurement in the solid and hazardous waste industry.

Mr. McConnell was most recently Vice President of Supply Chain at Waste Management, where he was responsible for the alignment between corporate functions and field operations in order to achieve WM’s transformation goals. In his prior position, Mr. McConnell was Area Vice President overseeing the financial and operations of the Waste Management of North Florida and Puerto Rico. The Area consisted of solid waste hauling operations, transfer stations, landfills, material recovery facilities and business development. He has held various positions in the hazardous and solid waste industry across the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico.

Mr. McConnell holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from Louisiana State University.

Jeffrey Reed
Director of Business Strategy and Development
Southern California Gas Company
Biography

Jeffrey Reed

Director of Business Strategy and Development
Southern California Gas Company

Jeffrey Reed is the Director of Business Strategy and Development for Southern California Gas Company. In that capacity he leads development of policies and initiatives aimed at supporting the development and deployment of sustainable energy solutions. In his current and prior roles Jeff has led the natural gas RD&D, energy efficiency technology transfer, venture investment and low-emission vehicle programs and he is responsible for the company’s long-range technology forecasting and strategic planning. Jeff is currently on the Leadership Council of the Los Angeles CleanTech Incubator and is a board member of the California Hydrogen Business Council. Prior to joining the Sempra utilities, Dr. Reed was a senior strategy consultant with Booz-Allen and Hamilton and Accenture, and was an officer with ABB Power Generation in Switzerland.  He holds a doctorate in engineering from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in management from Stanford University.

Nurit Katz
Chief Sustainability Officer
UCLA
Biography

Nurit Katz

Chief Sustainability Officer
UCLA

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. 

Bill Van Amburg
Senior Vice President
CALSTART
Biography

Bill Van Amburg

Senior Vice President
CALSTART

Bill is the Senior Vice President of CALSTART and leads CALSTART’s commercial truck and off-road vehicle Initiative as well as business development.  Bill has nearly 40 years of experience in technology development, commercialization and marketing.  He oversees program teams in a range of commercial vehicle demonstration, validation, incentive and policy activities, including the NAFA Sustainable Fleet Accreditation Program. He personally leads projects in fleet sustainability standards, creating national truck and bus incentives and effective fuel economy regulations.  Bill is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Anthropology, is a graduate of the Executive Management Program at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, has a certificate in brand management from Stanford and served on the founding Board of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency.

Ronen Olshansky
Co-Founder and CEO
Cross Campus
Biography

Ronen Olshansky

Co-Founder and CEO
Cross Campus

Ronen Olshansky is a co-founder and CEO of Cross Campus, a Los Angeles based real estate platform re-imagining the office experience for creative professionals through a combination of shared workspace, services, business events, and community.

Ronen’s background in finance and technology includes having worked for companies like Lehman Brothers, Arthur Andersen and JPMorgan in countries including Russia, UK, Turkey, and Brazil. He has been a founder or early stage executive in software, climate change, and real estate businesses.

Andy Lipkis
Founder & Fmr. President/Project Executive
TreePeople/Accelerate Resilience LA
Biography

Andy Lipkis

Founder & Fmr. President/Project Executive
TreePeople/Accelerate Resilience LA

Andy Lipkis has spent his life crowdsourcing climate disaster relief for emergency and long-term issues. At age 18, he founded TreePeople, and served as its president from 1974 to 2019. Lipkis is a pioneer of Urban and Community Forestry and Urban Watershed Management, the principles of which have spread across the world. He has consulted for Los Angeles, Seattle, Melbourne, Hong Kong, London and other megacities, helping plan for climate resilience and adaptation. With climate change impacts already creating a chronic emergency for cities around the world, Andy's work has demonstrated promising new ways for individuals, communities and government agencies to collaboratively reshape urban tree canopy and water infrastructure to save lives and grow a more livable future.

After retiring from TreePeople in 2019, Andy launched Accelerate Resilience L.A. (ARLA), a fiscally sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors) to inspire and enable people and local governments to equitably accelerate climate resilience in Los Angeles.

Louis Stewart
Chief Innovation Officer
City of Sacramento
Biography

Louis Stewart

Chief Innovation Officer
City of Sacramento

Louis Stewart currently serves as the City of Sacramento's first Chief Innovation Officer within the Mayor's Office for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He spent the last seven years serving as California's Deputy Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). In that capacity he oversaw the coordination and promotion of innovative programs, activities, and emerging technologies throughout California for the last seven years. He managed a robust statewide innovation-based economic development support network of regional innovation clusters called the California Innovation Hubs (iHubs). Mr. Stewart has served in the public sector for 10 years including as the Deputy Director of the Census for the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, the Assistant Deputy Director of the Field Operations Division for the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Information Technology Director for Californians for Schwarzenegger. His professional experience also includes 17 years in the private sector in sales, marketing, and information technology. 

While Mr. Stewart’s experience is vast, his greatest expertise and focus includes:

• Smart and Connected Cities
• Bio Technology
• Tech Equity
• Development of Innovation Ecosystems

Mr. Stewart is a service based leader who embodies the belief that he cannot be a success without helping others be successful. 

Mr. Stewart grew up in France and Italy, and played professional basketball in Peru and Belgium until he landed back in Sacramento. Mr. Stewart received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Santa Clara University.

Max Aram
Co-Founder and CEO
Pick My Solar
Biography

Max Aram

Co-Founder and CEO
Pick My Solar

Max Aram, Co-founder & CEO: Max is a serial entrepreneur with a diverse background including playing soccer professionally, working in Lean Management, MLM, and publishing a seasonal advertising magazine with more than 20K subscribers. 

He has a passion for renewable energy, specifically solar (triggered during his time at Fraunhofer Institute in Berlin) and was always fascinated how online marketplaces like TrueCar, Expedia and LendingTree have changed the relationship dynamic between vendors and the consumers. He is marrying these two together with Pick My Solar. This disruptive platform is solving a real problem in one of the fastest growing markets in US.

Yasutake Kojima
Director
East Japan Railway Company
Biography

Yasutake Kojima

Director
East Japan Railway Company

Yasutake Kojima is Director of Administration and Treasurer of East Japan Railway Company (JR-EAST) New York Office. He conducts overall activity of JR-EAST in both North and South America as well as administrative affairs in NY Office. JR-EAST is the leading railroad corporation in both High-Speed Rail(HSR) and commuter rails in Japan, which runs 69 lines including 5 Shinkansen (HSR in Japanese) lines; and serving over 17 million passengers a day. JR-EAST has speeded up its HSR operation up to 200 mph, and in March 14th 2015, it expands its HSR service to Hokuriku, one of the key economic region along the Sea of Japan’s coast.

Mr. Kojima has over 18 years of experience in management planning, public relations, and implementing kaizen activities in transportation depot for drivers and conductors. Prior to current position, Mr. Kojima served as executive manager of Public Relations Department in the JR-EAST Headquarters, where he represented and was responsible for Corporate Public Relations. He also conducted more than 250 staffs of train drivers and conductors when the East Japan Earthquake and great Tsunami hit and caused disaster. He also served in Management Planning Headquarter and comprehended two Mid-term corporate strategy of JR-EAST, which has consolidated revenue of 200 billion dollars.

He holds an MBA and a MA in International Management from International University of Japan (IUJ) and studied at Amos Tuck School of Business in Dartmouth on exchange. He received a BA in Policy Management at Keio University, under supervision of his thesis with Professor Takashi Fujii, former president of International Federation of Social Science Organization (IFSSO), and Professor Takao Akabane, former administrative vice-minister of Economic Planning Agency of Japan.

Pierre Sacre
Director
Schneider Electric
Biography

Pierre Sacre

Director
Schneider Electric

Pierre is responsible for developing and leading the EV charging station business for Schneider Electric across the US, Canada and Mexico. The company has been deploying over 40.000 charging station across the globe at home, at work and in public spaces.

Pierre has been with Schneider Electric since 2003 and has played a key role in developing and launching new products and solution providing better energy management for lighting and building control. He has worked across Europe until 2014 when he moved to the US. He joined the EV business as an offer manager in March 2015 and accepted the leadership role for North America in November the same year.

Prior to his employment by Schneider Electric, Pierre was a sales director for Kepen Cable in UK and Ireland where he supported the growth on IBM ACS offer via his network of distributors. Pierre also worked at Thomas & Betts in various roles within their Nevada Western and IBM ACS division. Pierre also taught as a part time lecturer at Coventry university where he worked on European research. 

Pierre has had active roles with BS, EN, IEC and NEMA standards organisation over his career. He has a BA with Hons in Arts et Sciences de la Communication from the University of Liege in Belgium.

Michael Dieden
Founder
Creative Housing Associates
Biography

Michael Dieden

Founder
Creative Housing Associates

Founded in 1997 as an alternative approach to traditional real estate development, Creative Housing Associates LLC. (CHA) is a neighborhood and transit-oriented builder. The company models itself after the historic concept of the town builder – a partner to the community and facilitator for growth and maturity in alignment with local values. Since its inception, the company has focused on building small-town downtowns near transit stations, to encourage accessibility to diverse, vibrant neighborhoods, while decreasing car use. Specifically, CHA regularly teams up with municipalities and transportation agencies in order to bring forth some of California’s most respected and tasteful civic revitalizations. In 2006, the company’s Mission Meridian Village, in South Pasadena won several coveted awards including the Congress for the New Urbanism’s Charter Award, and Best Transit Oriented Project by the Urban Land Institute. 

Currently, CHA is competing for the development rights of several TOD parcels in Southern California, including Solana Beach and Rancho Cucamonga, and in the process of developing an mixed-use, affordable housing project in Watts, Los Angeles.

Val Menotti
Chief Planning & Development Officer
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
Biography

Val Menotti

Chief Planning & Development Officer
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
Sam Polk
Founder and Executive Director
Groceryships
Biography

Sam Polk

Founder and Executive Director
Groceryships

Sam Polk is the founder and Executive Director of Groceryships, a Los Angeles non-profit working at the intersection of poverty and obesity, and co-founder of Harvest, a for-profit social enterprise that sells fresh, healthy ready-to-eat meals affordable for all ($3.50 in low-income areas, $7 in higher income areas). Prior to becoming a social entrepreneur, Sam was a hedge fund trader on Wall Street. Sam’s memoir, For The Love of Money, will be published in July 2016 by Scribner. His writing has been published in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, CNBC.com, and The Huffington Post. Sam has been featured on The Today Show, Morning Joe, CNN, Tavis Smiley, NPR, and more. He is a graduate of Columbia University and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. 

Robert Fleming
Assistant Deputy Minister, Climate Change and Environmental Policy Division
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Ontario
Biography

Robert Fleming

Assistant Deputy Minister, Climate Change and Environmental Policy Division
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Ontario

In his current role as the Assistant Deputy Minister for the Climate Change and Environmental Policy Division, Robert has championed numerous initiatives including the development of the Ontario Climate Change Directorate, the release of the Climate Change Strategy which sets out the vision for Ontario to 2050, and currently leads policy work on design elements for Ontario’s future Cap and Trade program. Robert has also been instrumental in coordinating efforts with other jurisdictions to develop a Memorandum of Understanding indicating Ontario’s intention to link to carbon markets. Robert has also been responsible for leading the development of the Great Lakes Protection Act, the Waste-Free Ontario Act, and a draft strategy, Waste-Free Ontario: Building the Circular Economy.  

Robert has worked with the Ontario Public Service for 30 years. Prior to serving  with Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, Robert worked with the Ministry of Transportation bringing with him 17 years of valuable contribution and leadership having served in various roles, including Assistant Deputy Minister of the Road User Safety Division. Robert has also held positions with Ontario’s Treasury Board, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Colleges and Universities.

Robert currently serves as a member of Environmental Planning and Protection Committee for Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.   In the past, Robert has also served as Ontario’s member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators. He was privileged to have been elected and served from 2010 to 2014, as a member of the Board of Directors for the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.

Rob holds degrees in economics and English.

Mike Hopkins
CEO
Ice Energy
Biography

Mike Hopkins

CEO
Ice Energy

Mike Hopkins is the CEO of Ice Energy (www.ice-energy.com). Ice Energy is the leading provider of thermal energy storage for the grid, with its award winning Ice Bear system deployed in more than 40 utility service territories. Ice Energy’s most recent win was an award of 16 contracts from Southern California Edison for 25.6 MW of thermal energy storage capacity.

Prior to joining Ice Energy, Mike practiced law for 18 years as a partner with Bennett Jones LLP, a pre-eminent Canadian law firm recognized internationally as a leader in the fields of energy and climate change. He specialized in the development and financing of power projects around the world, served on the firm's Executive Committee and led their Utilities Group, International Group and Independent Power Group. Mike left Bennett Jones at the end of 2002 to lead the workout of a private data center developer that resulted in its sale. After the sale of that company, Mike co-founded a geomatics company and assisted several other startups.

Mike is a member of the Board of Chancellors of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, a member of the Board of Chancellors and Past Chairman of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Canada, a member of the Board of Trustees and Past Chairman of William Sansum Diabetes Center, a member of the Board of Directors of Integrated Marine Education and Research Expeditions and a member of the Board of Directors of Orthoshop Geomatics Limited, a spin-off of the geomatics company he co-founded. He holds a BA and a law degree from the University of Ottawa, an MA (Law & Economics) from the University of Miami and an MBA from the University of Alberta.

Quay Hays
Principal and CEO
GROW Holdings LLC
Biography

Quay Hays

Principal and CEO
GROW Holdings LLC

Quay Hays has been on the forefront of renewable energy and “green” development throughout California. 

As principal and CEO of GROW Holdings LLC (Grow Renewable Organic & Water), Mr. Hays is overseeing one of the largest renewable energy-powered environmental projects in the world, the planning and development of a “green” city of 22,000 homes located on 7,200 acres in Central California which incorporates innovations in solar energy, sustainable design, technical integration and 21st century building methodology.

In addition to growing up on construction sites as the son and grandson of real estate developers, Mr. Hays has over 25 years’ experience in real estate, company capitalizations, and marketing. His real estate experiences encompass project management, entitlements, land planning, complex financings, home building, and sales and acquisitions. 

Mr. Hays is the past Chairman of the California Economic Summit’s Regulatory Reform Committee and led the Open Data team in helping the state of California establish its Open Data Policy. Mr. Hays serves on the board of the Palisades Malibu YMCA, The State of the Future Organization, and the Milken Institute’s Central Valley Initiative and is an active supporter of numerous environmental groups including The Sierra Club and NRDC. 

Mr. Hays is the author of the Life’s Golden Rules series of books, including Bottom Lines, The Golden Rules for Executive Success.

Hiromu Nishimura
Infrastructure Systems Department Manager, Business Development Department, Global Water Systems
Hitachi
Biography

Hiromu Nishimura

Infrastructure Systems Department Manager, Business Development Department, Global Water Systems
Hitachi

Hiromu Nishimura joined Hitachi in 2011, after working for thirty years at the Mitsubishi Corporation. Active in the water industry since 1998, Mr. Nishimura is an expert on business development for water projects and the management of private water companies. He served on the Board of Directors of the Manila Water Company from 2001 to 2009 and is a current member of the Board of Directors of the Malé Water and Sewerage Company.

Mr. Nishimura brings the expertise of Hitachi’s innovative Remix Water technology. An integrated sweater desalinization and sewage treatment system, Remix consumes about 36% less water and 40% less energy than conventional desalinization plants, presenting opportunities for water and energy efficiency improvements of crucial importance to California’s drought-affected water supply. 

Marc Fenigstein
Co-Founder and CEO
Alta Motors
Biography

Marc Fenigstein

Co-Founder and CEO
Alta Motors

Marc grew up building or taking things apart and being a menace to rural Ohio before straightening up his act to nab Fine Art, Engineering, and Management degrees at Dartmouth College. Marc has worked in venture capital, in strategy consulting at BCG, and at frog design inc. His products include HP's SkyRoom software, Carmanah's 1700 series solar lighting, and a couple that he isn't allowed to talk about.

Stan Tomsic
Executive Director
PortTechLA
Biography

Stan Tomsic

Executive Director
PortTechLA

Stan Tomsic is Executive Director of PortTechLA , a business commercialization and incubation center for Port related technologies in environment, energy, security/safety and transportation/logistics.  As a serial entrepreneur, Stan's experience in the technology and green/clean tech industries spans over 25 years. He was founder and co-founder of several companies where he held management, executive and CEO positions. Stan was the administrator of the Business Technology Center of Los Angeles County, an accelerator incubator for high technology entrepreneurial companies. He is a partner of ACODA Technology & Investments, LLC, a firm specializing in strategic assistance, business consulting, investments and mergers and acquisitions for technology and services companies. Stan is also a Pasadena Angel, serves as a member of the board of directors and advisors for several technology companies, and is a member of numerous professional organizations. He is chairman emeritus of the Executive Committee of the Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum, co-founder and chairman of the Business Incubation Network of Southern California (BINS) and LA Metro Director for Cleantech Open. Stan frequently presents and speaks on entrepreneurship, incubation and high tech start-ups.

Alan Jones
PG&E
Biography

Alan Jones

PG&E

Alan Jones is responsible for the growth and strategic management of Pacific Gas & Electric’s Smart Meter Network Optimization and Connected Cities programs.  Alan has over 25 years of technology management and product development experience working across a variety of industries including energy, telecommunications, semiconductor manufacturing and consumer electronics.

As a leader in the PG&E’s Meter Services and Engineering group, Alan works with our industry leading smart meter technology partners to deploy innovative solutions required to service the 10 Million customers across our geographical diverse and expansive Northern Californian service area.  Currently he is working with leading wireless telecommunication service providers, systems integrators and smart meter companies to deliver highly integrated, broad band wireless services, smart grid expansion and LED lighting solutions for cities of the future.

Vince Bertoni
Director of Planning
City of Los Angeles
Biography

Vince Bertoni

Director of Planning
City of Los Angeles

Vince Bertoni is the Director of Planning for the City of Los Angeles.  With over 30 years of professional planning experience, Vince leads the largest city planning department in the nation.  He is charged with developing policies that shape the future of the City and guide development decisions for a diverse and dynamic metropolis of over 4 million people.  Prior to arriving in Los Angeles, Vince was the Director of Planning and Community Development for the City of Pasadena where he successfully managed Pasadena’s city planning program through a General Plan update, a comprehensive visioning process that happens just once every 20 years.  He has also served as Deputy Director for the City of Los Angeles and held lead planning posts for the cities of Beverly Hills, Santa Clarita, and Malibu.

Vince is a member of the California Planning Roundtable and has held several leadership positions with the California Chapter of the American Planning Association including President, Vice President for Policy & Legislation, Director of the Los Angeles Section, and Co-Chair of the American Planning Association’s 2012 National Planning Conference.  In addition, he has served on the Board of Directors of the League of California Cities and as President of the League’s Planning & Community Development Department.  Vince has been active on statewide legislation, having served on the Housing Element Reform Working Group formed by the State Assembly and Senate and testified before the State Senate on infill real estate development strategies.

Vince has a Bachelor’s Degree in Transportation and Urban Geography from San Diego State University and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Tim Wolf
Director of Marketing, Smart Grid Solutions
Itron Inc.
Biography

Tim Wolf

Director of Marketing, Smart Grid Solutions
Itron Inc.

Tim Wolf is the Director for Marketing for Smart Grid Solutions at Itron Inc. Mr. Wolf is responsible developing strategy and overseeing Itron’s marketing programs for Itron’s electric utility customers throughout the world.  In addition, Mr. Wolf has focused a significant portion of his time over the past three years in consumer and regulatory outreach, leading Itron’s communication effort to consumers regarding product safety, smart grid technologies, their capabilities and benefits. Prior to “rejoining” Itron in 2010, Mr. Wolf spent the past nearly three years as a senior consultant at R.W. Beck, an SAIC Company, focusing on Smart Grid consulting services for both investor-owned and municipal utilities. Before that, he worked at Itron for 10 years, leading the company’s corporate marketing group. He is a frequent speaker and presenter at industry conferences, and writer in the industry trade press. 

Hayato Nakazono
Manager, Pipeline Division
JFE Engineering
Biography

Hayato Nakazono

Manager, Pipeline Division
JFE Engineering

Hayato Nakazono is a civil / environmental engineer with over 10 years of experiences in the planning, design, construction, operation and management of water supply sector. He has worked for many water related projects not only in Japan but also in several other countries, such as Canada, Vietnam, Bolivia, Jordan and South Sudan, solving the water related problems for global clients.

He is currently JFE Engineering’s team leader for SPF Projects. SPF is the special product, developed for the pipeline to secure the water supply even after the severe earthquake and ground deformation, and it is very unique in the world.

At the current, Mr. Nakazono is a member of the techinical committee of Japan Water Steel Pipe Association, the secretary of sub-committee for design method of pipeline across fault planes in Japan Society of Civil Engineers.

He has a B.S. and M.S. in civil and environmental engineering and is registered as a Professional Engineer in Japan.

Anthony Bruzzone
Associate Principal
Arup
Biography

Anthony Bruzzone

Associate Principal
Arup

Anthony Bruzzone is an Associate Principal in Arup’s San Francisco office, and is a transportation planner. His 35 years of experience includes transit service and operations planning, capital projects and airport experience. Tony’s most recent projects include a mix of transit capital projects, including busway planning, as well as supporting the on-going Bay Area Core Capacity program, which is investigating additional transit capacity in the heavily used San Francisco-Oakland corridor.  He was the project manager for a study to determine the feasibility of using solar power to operate BART rapid transit trains, and he also was the project manager for a study to identify conceptual plans – including subways – to improve LRT safety and reliability in San Francisco’s intensifying San Francisco State neighborhood.  Prior to working with Arup, Tony was AC Transit’s Manager of Service and Operations Planning where he coordinated day-to-day operations planning needs, coordinated and managed various bus corridor studies and was liaison for the $1 billion Transbay Terminal project.

Woodrow W. Clark
Founder
Clark Strategic Partners
Biography

Woodrow W. Clark

Founder
Clark Strategic Partners

Clark is an internationally recognized and respected expert, author, lecturer, public speaker and consultant on global and local solutions to climate change. His core advocacy is in the economics for smart green communities. During the 1990s he was Manager of Strategic Planning for Technology Transfer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) with the University of California and the U.S. Department of Energy. While at LLNL he served as one of the contributing scientists and experts for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He chaired the first Research Team for the UN FCCC.

His current work generates responses to climate change from governments and businesses, using public policy, science and technology, and their economics and finance methods. In 2004 he founded, and now manages, Clark Strategic Partners (CSP), a global environmental and renewable energy consulting firm using his political-economic expertise to guide, advise and implement public and private projects advancing sustainable, smart communities as well as colleges and universities, shopping malls, office buildings and film studios. In 2014, building on his mass media background (1980s), he founded Clark Mass Media Company (CM2C), which specializes in documentary, education and dramatic social issues.

Clark earned three masters degrees from different universities in Illinois and his Ph.D. at University of California, Berkeley. He has published eleven books and over 70 peer-reviewed articles, which reflect his concern for global sustainable communities. Recent authored and edited books are The Next Economics (Springer, 2012) and Global Sustainable Communities Handbook (Elsevier, 2014). And his latest coauthored books, with Grant Cooke, are The Green Industrial Revolution (Elsevier, 2014), China’s Green Industrial Revolution (in Mandarin, 2015) and Smart Green Cities (Gower, February 2016). Other books are Island Nations (Elsevier Press) with updates to Agile Energy Systems (Elsevier) and Qualitative Economics (Elsevier).

Clark also served in academic, nonprofit organizations and government and taught graduate courses in the USA and China. From 2012-2014, he was an Academic Specialist in Cross-Disciplinary Studies at UCLA and other UC Campuses including Davis and Riverside. From 1999-2000 he was a Visiting Professor of Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship at Aalborg University, Denmark, where he was also a Fulbright Fellow in 1994. Then from 2000 – 2003, he was California Governor Gray Davis’ Renewable Energy, Emerging Technologies and Finance. For 6 out of 8 years, he was Chair of the Citizens Oversight Committee (COC) for school bond funds ($334 million) in Beverly Hills, CA where he lives now with his wife, Andrea and their 8 year old son, Paxton. Clark writes regularly for the Huffington Post at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/woodrow-clark/

Emil Abdelshehid
LADWP
Biography

Emil Abdelshehid

LADWP

I graduated from the University of California Irvine, with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 2005.  I have been working with the City of Los Angeles since 2006 and with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power since 2007.  I have been working with the Smart Grid Programs since 2009 and have worked on the Smart Grid Regional Demonstration Program, a DOE project to demonstrate the various use cases of advanced technology, and to further develop these advanced technologies for practical and scalable purposes. I currently supervise the control systems applications group and am working to further develop LADWP’s Smart Grid Programs.

Emily Castor
Director of Transportation Policy
Lyft
Biography

Emily Castor

Director of Transportation Policy
Lyft

As a member of the original Lyft team, Emily has been on the front lines of ridesharing policy since the birth of the industry. She leads Lyft's partnerships with transportation agencies across the United States, integrating Lyft as a last-mile connection to public transit and a viable alternative to car ownership. Emily started her career as a transportation policy aide for a U.S. Congresswoman and later served as a financial advisor for municipal infrastructure projects. She holds an MPA from the University of Pennsylvania.

James T. Butts
Mayor
Inglewood, CA
Biography

James T. Butts

Mayor
Inglewood, CA

On February 1, 2011, James T. Butts, Jr. was sworn in as Inglewood’s 12th mayor. James Butts has  50 years of public safety and municipal government experience. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from California State University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from California Polytechnic University. Mayor Butts has held the rank of CEO, general manager or assistant general manager of three large municipal organizations. He served 19 years in the Inglewood Police Department, rising to the rank of Deputy Chief, 15 years as the Chief of Police for the City of Santa Monica, and five years as an assistant general manager for Los Angeles World Airports in charge of Public Safety and Counterterrorism, taking LAX to a NUMBER 1 ranking nationwide by the TSA in 2009. He is a 7-year Board member and past Chairman of the Los Angeles METRO Board of Directors.

In 2011, Mayor Butts negotiated with Madison Square Garden to renovate the Forum. In 2016, the Forum became the #1 concert venue in California. Mayor Butts secured the reinstatement of the then federally defunded Residential Sound Insulation Program by obtaining over $100 million in grant funding. Inglewood now operates the #1 Residential Sound Insulation Program in the country. On November 4, 2014, James T. Butts was re-elected Mayor of Inglewood with over 83% of the votes cast—the highest margin of victory in Inglewood electoral history.  He was again re-elected in 2018.

In 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, Mayor Butts was named one of the 500 most influential leaders in LA County by the Los Angeles Business Journal. His business expertise prevented bankruptcy in a city that Bond Rating agencies had ceased to rate for bond worthiness as late as 2010. Mayor Butts negotiated the return of the NFL to Southern California.  Both the Rams and Chargers played home games in Inglewood commencing the 2020 season.

In June of 2017, Mayor Butts led the City to open negotiations with the Los Angeles Clippers with the mutual intent of relocating the Clippers to Inglewood into a cutting edge NBA arena.  The Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles relocated to Inglewood from Marina Del Rey in 2019.

In 2021, the LA Philharmonic relocated its Youth Orchestra Program (YOLA) to Inglewood; YouTube opened a 6,000 seat theater in Inglewood. and the NFL Network relocated from Culver City to Inglewood; in 2022 Showtime opened 115,000 Square Feet Production Studio in the north end industrial area of the City.  In February of 2022, Super Bowl LVI was held in Inglewood and the Rams were victorious; in 2023, the NCAA Championship Bowl game will take place in Inglewood and WrestleMania will be held here as well.  By 2024, the Clippers will open a state of the art NBA arena – The Intuit Dome – in Inglewood. Finally, in 2028, the Olympic Games will open in Inglewood, California and Olympic Basketball and Swimming competitions will occur in the resurrected City of Champions. 

 

 

Tatsuya Shinkawa
Director, Market Surveillance Division, Electricity Market Surveillance Commission
Japan Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Industry
Biography

Tatsuya Shinkawa

Director, Market Surveillance Division, Electricity Market Surveillance Commission
Japan Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Industry

Tatsuya Shinkawa is Director of the Market Surveillance Division at the Electricity Market Surveillance Commission (EMSC) in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan. He has worked on electricity policy, nuclear safety policy, and economic and industrial policy at METI since 1991. Formerly, he served as Director of the Nuclear Accident Response Office at the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE), METI. Mr. Shinkawa earned his Master’s degree at Kyushu University’s Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences in Japan in 1991. He was a visiting researcher at Stanford University in 1999 and the Chief Representative in Washington, DC for Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) from 2010 to 2013.

Lee O'Dwyer
Equity Market Specialist
Bloomberg LP
Biography

Lee O'Dwyer

Equity Market Specialist
Bloomberg LP

Drawing from fifteen years of experience in traditional and alternative investments, Lee O’Dwyer helps Bloomberg clients gain maximum leverage of their terminal toward actionable strategies.

Discussing ESG data, equity fundamental valuations, earnings & idea generation tools, and portfolio analysis with top analysts and portfolio managers, O’Dwyer’s experience and communication style lets him calibrate around the varied needs and styles of clients, allowing him to interpret their comments and provide meaningful and useful support.

Originally from England, O’Dwyer is a member of the CFA® Institute and has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) designation.

Gary Breaux
Chief Financial Officer
Metropolitan Water District
Biography

Gary Breaux

Chief Financial Officer
Metropolitan Water District

Gary Breaux is the Assistant General Manager and Chief Financial Officer for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  He manages all of Metropolitan’s financial programs, including financial planning, investments, debt management, the biennial budget, and accounting operations.  He is also responsible for developing Metropolitans water rates and charges.

Prior to Metropolitan, Gary was the Director of Finance for East Bay Municipal Utility District.  He has extensive experience working for local governments since 1983.  He joined EBMUD in 1994 and was responsible for all financial areas including treasury operations, debt management, rates, internal audit, accounting and reporting, risk management, and customer and community services.  Prior to joining EBMUD, he was Director of Finance for the City of Oakland, CA.

A native of Colorado, Gary received a bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Colorado in 1977, and a master’s in Public Administration in 1987 from Virginia Commonwealth University.  He is on the Board of Governors for the California Municipal Utilities Association, and a member of the American Water Works Association.

Mateo Jaramillo
Vice President of Products and Programs for Tesla Energy
Tesla Motors
Biography

Mateo Jaramillo

Vice President of Products and Programs for Tesla Energy
Tesla Motors

As VP of Products and Programs for Tesla Energy at Tesla Motors, Mateo Jaramillo is responsible for market development, and product definition and development for the company's grid connected energy storage products. Mateo started the stationary storage effort at Tesla in 2009 and in the meantime was additionally the commercial lead on powertrain development and supply programs with Daimler and Toyota, and also started and led through the supercharger program through the first year of deployment. 

Prior to Tesla, Mateo was Chief Operating Officer and part of the founding team at Gaia Power Technologies, a pioneering distributed energy storage firm. Mateo began his career in the software industry as a product manager with Predictive Networks, an interactive TV software provider. He has an AB in Economics from Harvard and a Masters in Theology from Yale.

Chris Pak
Founder and Principal
Archeon Group
Biography

Chris Pak

Founder and Principal
Archeon Group

An award-winning architect, the founder and principal of Archeon International Group, Mr. Pak has developed Archeon into a multi-disciplined Development, Architectural, Planning, Construction Management and Project Management firm, providing comprehensive professional services to both domestic and international clients.  Strengthening its global presence, Archeon has forged strategic international alliances with many premier companies in Asia: Marubeni, Sun Wah Group, Shimizu Constructors, Hanil Cement, Asia Financial Group, Kowloon Development and more.  The firm has spearheaded notable projects in China and South-East Asia, such as the 22-story Sun Wah Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam the first major construction of its kind by an American architect since the Vietnam War. 

As a developer, Mr. Pak was a General Partner/Developer and Architect in the development of Solair, one of the first mix-use transit oriented project in Los Angeles.  The Solair is a $160 Million, 22-story development comprised of 40,000 SF of retail and 186 luxury condominiums above a MTA Subway portal.  The Solair was completed on time and on budget in May of 2009.  Currently, Mr. Pak is the principal development consultant to Jamison Services providing feasibility, planning and architectural services on numerous office building conversions to residential and new mix use residential and retail construction projects.

Domestically, Archeon has developed a reputation as a diverse, creative and results-oriented design firm.  Mr. Pak has directed both public and private sector projects for such clients as the LA Unified School District, LA County MTA, City of LA Housing Department, City of LA Community Redevelopment Agency, Belmont Village Corporation, Legacy Partners, Shamrock Holdings, Jamison Services, Atlas Capital Group, Hazens USA.  Some of the significant local projects include the renovation of the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the first hotel built in Hollywood, and the former I. Magnin Building; high-end Assisted Living Facilities throughout Southern California; designed over 2,000 units affordable housing projects for various communities; development of a 350,000 SF Wholesale Condominiums in the Fashion District, Downtown Los Angeles; and 150,000 SF Retail/Health/Sports facility in Wilshire Center, Los Angeles with the first enclosed golf driving range.

Mr. Pak actively contributes and demonstrates his leadership in various capacities with several civic, professional, and non-profit organizations.  Mr. Pak was the CEO/President of a start-up community website, Asia America Online, in 2000 and successfully launched the website in the same year.  Mr. Pak was recruited by Brainrush, an internet incubator firm in Oakland, California.  Formerly on Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, he was the first Asian-American Board Member since its inception in 1927.  Appointed by Mayor Riordan, Mr. Pak has also served the City of LA as the Chairman of the Board of Zoning Appeals, the Board of Airport Commissioners, responsible for the operations and expansion of the third busiest airport in the nation, and a Member of the Board of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, a board responsible for establishing a new system of neighborhood councils to increase government responsiveness to its citizens.  Mr. Pak served the State of California as Commissioner to the Southern California Water Quality Control Board, appointed by then Governor Gray Davis and was a Board Member of the California League of Conservation Voters, a politically influential environmental organization.  Also, Mayor James Hahn appointed Mr. Pak to the Board of Recreation and Parks Commission.  In his local community, he currently serves the Los Angeles Archdiocese as a member of the Building Commission, the Board of Governors for the Little Tokyo Service Center and has been involved as a Board Member to the Westchester YMCA, Lend-A-Hand Foundation, and Asia America Symphony.  Promoting diversity in businesses, Mr. Pak has shared his expertise as a Community Advisory Member to the National Bank of California, Southern California Edison.

Mr. Pak received his Bachelor of Architecture from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Jon Lash
Chief Operating Officer
GROW Holdings LLC
Biography

Jon Lash

Chief Operating Officer
GROW Holdings LLC

Jon Lash was the former Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Pardee Homes, and has worked in the homebuilding and residential land development industry for over 28 years. He joined Pardee Homes in 1987 and progressively held more challenging positions over his tenure, which began in the company’s commercial/industrial department. In addition to his in-depth knowledge of Pardee, Lash brought a tactical and financial methodology to the leadership team and throughout his career placed a special focus on land acquisition and disposition, as well as community development and homebuilding operations.  In his very successful career, he has been involved in acquiring over 80,000 residential lots and has  constructed over 46,000 houses, generating profits in excess of $3.5 billion.

Lash is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business, with an emphasis in real estate development and property management.  He is involved in many charitable organizations including Home Aid of America.  Jon also actively promotes and participates in the education of future industry professionals. In addition to mentoring college students who are interested in pursuing a career in real estate development, in 2010 he became the lead sponsor for the International Real Estate Case Competition, hosted annually in Southern California, which gives college students from around the world the opportunity to use their classroom knowledge to creatively solve a complex development project.

Ron Kent
Manager, Advanced Technologies, Strategy and Development
SoCalGas
Biography

Ron Kent

Manager, Advanced Technologies, Strategy and Development
SoCalGas

Ron Kent is Advanced Technologies Manager for the Southern California Gas Company, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy. In this capacity, Ron helps to develop and commercialize new low-carbon energy resources.

Current projects include the development of a variety of innovative new technologies involving solar, biological and electro-chemical renewable energy pathways, oxy-fuel power cycles for carbon capture and sequestration, and thermal energy transfer and storage.  This involves managing multiple CEC and DOE funded energy technology projects and serving as a board advisor for two start-up companies. 

Past management experience includes finance, equity investments, energy efficiency, natural gas vehicles, energy markets and regulatory affairs. 

Prior to joining the Sempra Energy utilities he was a Peace Corp volunteer and a science teacher.  He holds a B.S. degree in biological science from San Diego State University; an M.S. from the University of Kentucky; and an MBA from CalPoly, Pomona. 

Allan Emkin
Managing Principal
Meketa Investment Group
Biography

Allan Emkin

Managing Principal
Meketa Investment Group

Long a member of the consulting community, Mr. Emkin has 35 years of general consulting experience, emphasizing public plan administration and investment policy as well as international, global, and real estate investments. Mr. Emkin serves as the lead consultant to large state and municipal funds and works with some of the largest state pension funds in the United States. Mr. Emkin joined the firm in 2019 as part of the merger between Meketa and Pension Consulting Alliance (PCA) and is a member of the firm’s Board of Directors and Investment Policy Committee.

Prior to founding PCA in 1988, Mr. Emkin was a Vice President at Wilshire Associates. Prior to his work in the consulting field, Mr. Emkin worked in the California Governor’s office in the Pension Investment Unit. Before joining the Brown administration, he was a registered lobbyist for 10 years, specializing in affordable housing and other matters affecting low-income families.

Mr. Emkin earned a Bachelor of Arts in Community Law from Antioch College West

 

Deven Upadhyay
Assistant General Manager & COO
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Biography

Deven Upadhyay

Assistant General Manager & COO
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

Deven Upadhyay is the manager of the Water Resource Management Group at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. He is responsible for managing the district’s planning activities and policy guideline development related to Metropolitan’s water supply plans and integrated resources plans. He also oversees the development and implementation of Metropolitan’s resources programs for conservation, local resources projects and groundwater recovery and conjunctive use programs. In addition, he directs the management and negotiations of resource contracts related to the State Water Project and Colorado River deliveries as well as water transfers and purchases.

Upadhyay began his career with Metropolitan in 1995 as a resource specialist in the Planning and Resources Department. In 2005 he left Metropolitan to work for the Municipal Water District of Orange County as a principle on policy issues. In 2008 he returned to Metropolitan as the manager of the Budget and Financial Planning Section in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, where he managed Metropolitan’s annual budget process. He also handled the district’s process for administering rates and charges and managed business continuity and financial planning.

An avid tennis player and a devoted Angel’s baseball fan, Upadhyay earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from California State University, Fullerton and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of La Verne.

Robert Greene
Writer, Editorial Board
Los Angeles Times
Biography

Robert Greene

Writer, Editorial Board
Los Angeles Times

Robert Greene is a Los Angeles Times editorial writer covering California and Los Angeles government, politics, policy and law.

Greene previously was a staff writer for the L.A. Weekly and a reporter and associate editor for the Metropolitan News-Enterprise. Prior to becoming a journalist, he was an attorney in Los Angeles. He is a resident of Highland Park and a graduate of USC and Georgetown University Law School.

Gwynne Pugh
Principal
Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio
Biography

Gwynne Pugh

Principal
Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio

Gwynne Pugh has been practicing architecture, planning, civil, structural, and design engineering since 1971. He launched Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio in 2010 after leading Pugh + Scarpa Architects for 22 years. During his time as Principal, the firm received over 20 national and international awards, including the AIA National and State Architecture Firm of the Year Award in 2010, and six AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Project Awards, in addition to numerous local awards. 

Gwynne became a Fellow of the AIA in 2010. He has served as the Chair of the Santa Monica Planning Commission and the President of the Planning Department of the League of California Cities. Gwynne has been on the AIA|LA board for the last three years, was the past Chair of its Political Outreach Committee, and is currently a Representative to the AIA California Council.

Jonathan Plowe
Managing Director
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Biography

Jonathan Plowe

Managing Director
Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Jonathan Plowe is a managing director in the Cross Asset Solutions & Strategies Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, responsible for coordinating across the bank’s Global Banking & Markets platform to develop, originate and distribute funding and investment structures for all client segments, with emphasis on new business initiatives, corporate strategies, and new energy & infrastructure solutions.  Prior to joining Merrill Lynch in 1997, Plowe was an attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom, focusing on corporate taxation, structured finance, mergers & acquisitions, and financial products.  Plowe holds a J.D. degree from The George Washington University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University.

Heather Sanders
Principal Manager, Integrated Grid Strategy & Engagement
Southern California Edison
Biography

Heather Sanders

Principal Manager, Integrated Grid Strategy & Engagement
Southern California Edison

Heather Sanders joined Southern California Edison in August 2015.   Within electric system planning, her team is focused on strategic direction and engagement to realize the 21st century integrated grid.  Before joining SCE, she held multiple roles at the California Independent System Operator in regulatory policy and smart grid technology and strategy.  While at the ISO, she jointly led several road mapping efforts with the CPUC and CEC.  These roadmaps outline needed actions to advance California energy and environment objectives with publications focused on Energy Storage, Demand response and Energy Efficiency, and Vehicle Grid Integration available at: http://www.caiso.com/informed/Pages/CleanGrid/default.aspx.  She holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from South Dakota School of Mines & Technology and a MBA from the University of Utah.

David Nahai
Partner
Lewis Brisbois LLP
Biography

David Nahai

Partner
Lewis Brisbois LLP

David Nahai is a recognized expert in energy, water, and real estate matters. 

He has served as the General Manager and Commission President of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), Chairman of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board, and Senior Advisor to the Clinton Climate Initiative. 

Currently, he is the President of David Nahai Consulting Services, Inc., which advises clients in the water and energy sectors, a Partner at the Lewis Brisbois law firm and co-chair of its water, real estate, and energy practice areas, and a Managing Partner at AQORA Capital Management Company, LLC, a growth capital firm focusing on the water and sustainability industries. 

As the CEO and Commission President of the LADWP, the largest municipal utility in the United States, he led an overall transformation of the utility, including the origination of the City’s Water Supply Plan; the attainment of historic reductions in water consumption; and the expansion of the utility’s renewable energy portfolio and energy efficiency programs. 

In his capacity as a member and Chairman the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board, Mr. Nahai served in the administrations of 3 California Governors. The Regional Water Board oversees an area with over 11 million residents. 

Cris Liban
Executive Officer, Environmental Compliance and Sustainability
Metro
Biography

Cris Liban

Executive Officer, Environmental Compliance and Sustainability
Metro

Dr. Cris B. Liban, P.E. is LA Metro’s Executive Officer, Environmental Compliance and Sustainability.  Cris oversees LA Metro’s internationally recognized Environmental, Sustainability, and Energy initiatives.  A published author and national speaker, he is also very involved with transportation and environmental industry and research activities particularly as Chair of several American Public Transportation Association sub-committees; Member of the Transportation Research Board ADC60 Resource Conservation and Recovery Committee; Chair of two National Academies’ Transportation Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) studies related to Climate Change Impacts to transit; and a Member of the National Cooperative Highways Research Program (NCHRP) study to determine a lifecycle and cost framework to determine climate change solutions implementation.  He is also a Commissioner in the City of Los Angeles Board of Transportation Commissioners.  This past year, he was also appointed to the Los Angeles County Beach Commission, which oversees all LA County Beach activities including environmental, transportation, and construction issues.  Cris has degrees in geology (magna cum laude), civil and environmental engineering, and environmental science and engineering.

Jon Healey
Deputy Editor, Editorial Board
Los Angeles Times
Biography

Jon Healey

Deputy Editor, Editorial Board
Los Angeles Times

Jon Healey is Deputy Editorial Page Editor at the Los Angeles Times, which means he is one of a nameless, faceless group writing screeds that, technically speaking, reflect the views of the publisher (whoever that happens to be at the time). In addition to editing, his main contributions to the editorial page are pieces about the economy, technology, intellectual property, regulation, and general business issues. He also writes for two of The Times’ blogs, Tech Now (infequently) and Opinion L.A. (less infrequently). Prior to his joining the editorial board, Healey covered technology news for The Times, the San Jose Mercury News and various other publications.

Barbara Romero
Executive Director
LA Sanitation & Environment
Biography

Barbara Romero

Executive Director
LA Sanitation & Environment

Barbara Romero is Executive Director of LA City Sanitation & Environment having served as Deputy Mayor of City Services in the office of Mayor Eric Garcetti since March 2015 after serving as a Board of Public Works Commissioner. 

Romero spent a decade working for the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, where she was Chief of Urban Projects and the Watershed Planning Division. As the liaison to local, state, and federal legislators on park planning issues, Romero handled legislative policies and project funding strategies, and managed millions of dollars for urban park projects. She also focused on identifying, developing and implementing multiple park development, restoration, and acquisition projects primarily in urban areas along the Upper Los Angeles River and tributaries.

She currently serves as a Board Member for the Valley Presbyterian Hospital and has previously served on the boards of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy the L.A. River Revitalization Corporation. In addition, she was a member of the Los Angeles Planning Commission and previously worked for the L.A. Conservation Corps and Building Up Los Angeles, where she led an AmeriCorps program to develop school and community gardens and mural projects with high school and college students in East L.A.

Romero grew up in the East L.A. community of Boyle Heights. She holds a B.A. from UCLA.

Timothy O'Connor
Senior Director, Senior Attorney
Environmental Defense Fund
Biography

Timothy O'Connor

Senior Director, Senior Attorney
Environmental Defense Fund

Tim O’Connor is a Senior Director and Senior Attorney in Environmental Defense Fund’s Energy Program in California.  Since joining EDF in 2007, he has been involved at state regulatory agencies and the legislature on climate and clean energy initiatives, with particular focus on oil and gas production and delivery, clean energy, cap-and-trade, transportation fuels and clean vehicles. During this time, Mr. O’Connor has also managed EDF’s participation in both state and federal courts in California on issues related to climate change, fuels and energy. Prior to joining EDF, Tim was a senior governmental compliance inspector at heavy industrial facilities, including petroleum refineries and power plants, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Chris Rico
Director of Innovation
Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation
Biography

Chris Rico

Director of Innovation
Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation

In his role as Director of Innovation for the LAEDC, Chris Rico leads the continued development of an innovation program for LA County, where he works to build broad external support and provide thought leadership and strategic direction for the mission of the Innovate LA program, as well as its goals and priorities. In October he produced the 160 event Innovation Week(s). Chris has extensive experience creating, producing and executing projects. He honed his creative skills during a successful career in film and television development and production in Hollywood. This experience, along with his passion for social change, led him to the political arena where he worked with Arianna Huffington as a state organizer, Moveon.org as a lead organizer, and as campaign director for a ballot initiative to promote water conservation and sustainability. Recently, Chris consulted for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on ActivateED, a campaign of leading education organizations to positively impact student achievement. Chris’s campaign experience and innovative approach to digital and social media have precipitated exponential growth in visibility for every project he leads. Chris is a graduate of Duke University, He is also a licensed special needs educator in California. www.innovate.la

Jacob Lipa
Founder and Principal
Lipa Consulting
Biography

Jacob Lipa

Founder and Principal
Lipa Consulting

Jacob provides consulting services to CEOs and Board of Directors of growing real estate development companies as well as international start-up companies and others wanting to enter the US market. Developed and founded the Back Home Initiative (BHI) program supported by City of Los Angeles, Councilman Blumenfield and others.  BHI combines support for homeowners in lower income areas of the County, housing for low acuity homeless individuals and families who need long-term high-quality housing that are less expensive and that can be built and occupied within less than 6 months. 
Presently, supporting an Israeli company that has joint a US company to build a plant in Arizona to produce and sell green hydrogen.

From 2012 to 2019, Jacob was the CEO of Micropolitan, a Residential Real Estate Company developing, owning, and operating multifamily housing projects. Micropolitan has developed successfully residential apartment buildings combining market rate and low-income units in TOD areas in Los Angeles. The company prides itself in constructing its buildings at high architectural standards, excellent interiors, plenty amenities and all of them permitted, constructed and occupied on an accelerated schedules.

In 2002, Jacob became the President of Psomas, a leading consulting and engineering and environmental firm serving public and private clients throughout the Western United States with its headquarters office in downtown Los Angeles.  The firm specialized in land planning, design of all infrastructure needs, transportation, natural resources management, survey and construction services for the land development, water and wastewater, gas, transportation, and energy markets.  Psomas was rated nationally as one of the top engineering companies with offices throughout California, Utah, Arizona and Colorado.  Under Mr. Lipa’s direction, Psomas established a reputation as an expert in sustainable design, transit-oriented development programs and efficient construction methods. 

In 2009, Jacob, as the President of Psomas, in partnership with FMG, founded PsomasFMG to provide turn-key solar solutions to commercial clients such as municipalities, school, hospitals and any other tax-exempt clients. The idea was to design, finance, construct and maintain solar systems for clients at virtually no upfront cost to them under Power Purchase Agreements (PPA).  Within less than 3 years, PsomasFMG became the largest Distributed Generation company in Southern California providing services to schools, public facilities and industrial sites. During that time, Jacob, as the Chairman of LABC, lead together with the Mayor of Los Angeles the introduction and successful implementation of the Feed and Tariff (FIT) in Los Angeles.          

Alex Helou
Assistant Director
City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation
Biography

Alex Helou

Assistant Director
City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation

Mr. Helou is an Assistant Director of the City of Los Angeles, Bureau of Sanitation. At this position, Mr. Helou heads the Solid Resources Group that is responsible for managing solid waste for the entire City of Los Angeles, including collection, transport, and processing of source separated recyclables, green materials, and municipal solid waste from 750,000 residential customers. 

Mr. Helou leads a workforce of over 1,300 employees in 5 Divisions, with annual operating budget of 180 million dollars. Mr. Helou is in charge of implementing many key solid waste management strategies to help the City of Los Angeles achieve Zero Waste by 2025, including the Solid Waste Integrated Resources Plan and the Commercial Franchise System. The City has exceeded the 75% diversion rate and continues moving toward the zero waste goal. 

A 22-year veteran of the City of Los Angeles, Mr. Helou is a registered Chemical Engineer with a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering. 

Josh Roper
Vice President of Advanced Metering Infrastructure
Silver Spring Networks
Biography

Josh Roper

Vice President of Advanced Metering Infrastructure
Silver Spring Networks

Josh Roper is the Vice President of Advanced Metering Infrastructure for Silver Spring Networks, delivering networking, hardware, and software solutions that comprise the foundation of the Smart Grid.  Josh has spent more than 20 years in the utility industry.  Early in his career, Josh served in several distribution engineering, account management, and project management roles at Dallas-based TU Electric, which has since become Oncor.  His background also includes product management leadership positions at Siebel Systems and SAP. 

Josh holds a BSEE from Rice University and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Gavin Purchas
Director, California Clean Energy Program
Environmental Defense Fund
Biography

Gavin Purchas

Director, California Clean Energy Program
Environmental Defense Fund
Jerilyn López Mendoza
Program Manager, Environmental Affairs
SoCalGas
Biography

Jerilyn López Mendoza

Program Manager, Environmental Affairs
SoCalGas

Jerilyn López Mendoza is an environmental affairs program manager for So Cal Gas, coordinating California Air Resources Board policy for the utility.  In positions prior to this, she served as a commissioner of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works, and vice president of the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners.  Ms. Mendoza’s tenure as Harbor Commissioner at the Port of Los Angeles, from 2005 to 2010, coincided with the development and implementation of the first-ever in the world port-related “Clean Air Action Plan,” as well as the Clean Truck Program.  She is currently a President Obama appointee to the Joint Public Advisory Committee to the Commission on Environmental Cooperation, which advises the federal EPA on environmental issues affecting the continent of North America.  Ms. Mendoza also worked as a policy director and staff attorney at the Environmental Justice Project Office of Environmental Defense Fund in Los Angeles from 2000 to 2009, after earning her law degree at the UCLA School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.  

Alejandro Zamorano
Clean Energy and Advanced Transport Specialist
Bloomberg New Energy Finance
Biography

Alejandro Zamorano

Clean Energy and Advanced Transport Specialist
Bloomberg New Energy Finance

As Bloomberg New Energy Finance's Clean Energy and Advanced Transport Specialist in San Francisco, Alejandro conducts research relating to transport and clean energy markets globally. His focus is on electric vehicles, storage technology, advanced fuels and chemicals, refuelling infrastructure deployment, and new vehicle technologies. 

Alejandro previously tracked and examined various bioenergy technologies, in both the commercial and private sectors, examining feedstock; conversion and capital costs; compliance credits; and revenues from final product distribution. He also measured production and distribution margins as well as investment trends. 

Alejandro holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana; and a Master of International Energy Management and Policy from Columbia University in New York City. He has been an analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance since 2010. 

Jeff Joyner, Esq.
Co-Founder; Partner
UScooter; E4 Mobility Alliance; Greenberg Traurig
Biography

Jeff Joyner, Esq.

Co-Founder; Partner
UScooter; E4 Mobility Alliance; Greenberg Traurig

Jeff Joyner is Co-Founder of Uscooter and the e4 Mobility Alliance and has been on the Leadership Council of the Los Angeles CleanTech Incubator (LACI), Board of Directors for CleanTech Los Angeles, Advisory Board of the U.S.-China CleanTech Center, among other CleanTech ventures and organizations.

Jeff has been very active in serving as a co-founder, advisor and outside general counsel at Greenberg Traurig to CleanTech businesses whose goals are start-up funding, operations, intellectual property protection, licensing, incentives, grants, strategic partnerships, acquisition, public offerings, among others. In this role, Jeff uses his vast experience in venture capital, government affairs, intellectual property, licensing, enforcement and litigation.  Jeff advises and is a limited partner of one of the first clean technology venture funds that focuses on clean energy, water, agriculture and materials.  He also advises other companies using technologies for transit, solar, wind, biomass, solar thermal, waste-to-energy, green building material, transportation, infrastructure and smart grid projects, among others.

Jeff was named one of the 75 Top IP Litigators in California by the Daily Journal, selected by Super Lawyers magazine, ranking him in the top 2.5 percent of Southern California lawyers, selected by Forbes as one of "America's Premier Lawyers," and listed IAM Magazine’s "The IAM Patent 1000 – Litigation" and World Trademark Review’s "WTR 1000."

Ron Galperin
City Controller
City of Los Angeles
Biography

Ron Galperin

City Controller
City of Los Angeles

Ron Galperin serves as Controller of the City of Los Angeles -- working as the watchdog for L.A.'s taxpayers. Controller Galperin oversees a team conducting independent audits, managing the City's payroll and disbursements, preparing reports on the City’s finances, pursuing waste and fraud, providing information about the City's finances and operations online -- and focusing on modernization, management and metrics.

Leading a Data Revolution

As Controller, Galperin launched ControlPanel.LA, the City’s first open data portal -- featuring the City’s checkbook, details on the goods and services the City buys, assets and liabilities, employee compensation, operating indicators and much more. Because of these efforts, L.A. was named the No. 1 Digital City according to the U.S. City Open Data Census. Likewise, Government Technology Magazine recently named Controller Galperin to its list of the Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers of 2015.

Results-Oriented Audits

Under Galperin’s leadership, the Controller’s office has issued numerous financial and performance audits focused on improving the efficiency and accountability of City government -- and on delivering quality City services. Audits conducted by the Controller are helping to improve street services, how the City handles foreclosure properties, cable fees, funds for the arts, management of the City's many special funds, worker's compensation costs, development fees, airport operations -- and much more.

One of the Controller’s priorities has been to make the Dept. of Water and Power more transparent and responsive to ratepayers. He created UtilityPanel.LA, a data portal featuring key financial data about DWP spending and payroll. The Controller’s office conducted audits of the utility’s Joint Training Institute and Joint Safety Institute and released an Industrial, Economic and Administrative Survey of the DWP, with specific recommendations for structural reforms and creation of performance dashboards.

Background

Prior to his being elected as Controller in 2013, Galperin built a reputation as a leading voice for government reform. He is the first Neighborhood Council member elected to city-wide office in Los Angeles. As an officer of his neighborhood council, he advocated for quality of life improvements and more responsible neighborhood planning. He also developed and taught “L.A. City Government 101” to new neighborhood council members throughout the city and served as a council budget advocate.

Controller Galperin has long promoted cutting waste and developing programs to help businesses create jobs. As Chair of the Los Angeles Commission on Revenue Efficiency, he worked to develop new revenue sources and budget savings to deliver more services to residents and businesses. He also served as President of the City's Quality & Productivity Commission.

Galperin brings to the Controller job more than twenty years of experience as a transactional and litigation attorney and small business owner. He received his J.D. from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and his undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis. He lives in West Los Angeles with his husband, Rabbi Zachary Shapiro, and their dog, Daisy.

Mark Stout
Vice President, Development Engineering
Amber Kinetics
Biography

Mark Stout

Vice President, Development Engineering
Amber Kinetics

Mark Stout, Vice President, Development Engineering at Amber Kinetics, has served the renewable power and computer technology industries for two decades. He joined the Amber Kinetics team in January 2015.

In his role at Amber Kinetics, Mark has been instrumental in the siting, lease negotiations, financial modeling, Energy Storage Agreement negotiations, and civil and electrical engineering for a 50 MW/200 MWh portfolio of flywheel energy storage projects. He also oversees project management for the Amber Kinetics flywheel demonstration project with Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO), which became operational in January 2018.

Before joining Amber Kinetics, Mark served in various roles in utility-scale solar PV project development, including site identification and acquisition, permitting, PV technology assessment, and generation modeling for CalRENEW-1, the first PV project to be awarded a utility PPA under the California RPS and the first to be interconnected to California’s transmission grid. He also led a project development team for three 20 MW PV projects in Kings County, California, and was on the project development team for a 150 MW site in San Luis Valley, Colorado, which now has a 50 MW first phase in operation. He has over 900 MW of solar PV and energy storage project experience, including development and operational projects.

Mark graduated summa cum laude in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois-Urbana and earned a Master’s degree in Energy and Resources from UC Berkeley.

 

Paul Relis
Senior Vice President
CR&R Waste Services
Biography

Paul Relis

Senior Vice President
CR&R Waste Services
David Buczkowski
Senior Director - Major Projects
Southern California Gas Company
Biography

David Buczkowski

Senior Director - Major Projects
Southern California Gas Company

David Buczkowski is Senior Director of Major Projects for Southern California Gas Company. Buczkowski joined Southern California Gas in 2011 following a successful 10-year career with Fluor, a multinational engineering and construction firm where he directed project teams for large and complex energy infrastructure projects.

Prior to his time at Fluor, Buczkowski held the role of project manager for Parsons, an engineering, construction, technical, and management services firm, and worked for five years as a project and startup engineer for Shell Oil Company.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois.

Tensho Takemori
Partner
Gehry Partners
Biography

Tensho Takemori

Partner
Gehry Partners

Tensho Takemori graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1988 with a Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture. For one year following graduation, Mr. Takemori worked for The Adkins Association, a small firm in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Takemori continued his education at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received a Masters in Architecture in 1992. After graduating, Mr. Takemori joined Gehry Partners, and has been involved in a range of project types over the past 20+ years. 

PROJECT EXPERIENCE 

Mr. Takemori’s experience with Gehry Partners includes the following projects: 

  • GRAND AVENUE MIXED-USE – Los Angeles, CA; 1,000,000sf mixed-use project including hotel, residential apartments and condominiums, and retail. Involvement was on the second phase re-submission of the concept design in 2013. 
  • ALEXANDERPLATZ RESIDENTIAL and HOTEL – Berln, Germany; a competition for a 47,500sm project including a 150 room 4-star hotel, and 250 apartments. High-rise residential is unique for Berlin, and for this location. The design supports the goals of the 1993 master plan for the Alexanderplatz, and creates a new regional marker on the east side of the platz. 
  • BELMONTE HOTEL and MUSEUM - Belmonte, Portugal; a 22,600sm project comprised of a 110 room hotel and 6,600sm museum. In addition to rooms, the hotel would have banquet and meeting facilities, restaurant, café, spa/fitness, with pools spread out in landscaped gardens. The museum will capture the Jewish history of the local area, and would contain a gastronomy center, multi-purpose hall, and 500 seat auditorium. 
  • ADELAIDE RESIDENCE – Santa Monica, CA; 9,000sf private residence. House will be built without conventional air conditioning and heating. A detailed computer sustainability analysis was performed to establish a strategy that uses geothermal wells, radiant floor heating/cooling, a sophisticated ventilation system with shading and solar chimney, photovoltaics, and solar water heating. 
  • NATIONAL ART MUSEUM OF CHINA – Beijing, China; three phase competition for 128,600sm state-of-the-art national art museum. Located in the new cultural complex within the Beijing Olympic Park. Project included galleries, retail and dining, 5 auditoriums, an art institute, an art research facilities, and support services for the museum. 
  • OCEAN AVENUE MIXED-USE PROJECT – Santa Monica, CA; a 300,000gsf mixed-use complex located in downtown Santa Monica, containing a 120 room boutique hotel, meeting facilities, spa, retail and dining, residential, below grade parking, and an observation deck. Two existing landmarked residential buildings are to be incorporated into a new museum complex that will also include a new building and new public open space. 
  • NBC STUDIO LOT REDEVELOPMENT – Burbank, CA; the 37 acre site currently houses 1,050,000 sf of area for NBC Studios. The project transforms the site from a 
  • single user studio lot to an independent television studio lot with multiple tenants, adding 1 million gsf in additional sound stages, office, production space, and other support facilities. 
  • OPUS HONG KONG – Hong Kong; the project is located on the Mid-level of the Peak. It consists of twelve luxury residential units: two garden duplexes on the lower levels, and 10 super-flat units of 5000 plus SF each in a single tower above. 
  • MAGGIE’S CENTER HONG KONG – Hong Kong; 320sm care center. Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre is intended to provide a calming environment for cancer patients and their family members. The building includes a small reception area, several offices and physical therapy rooms, a library, a terrace, and a kitchen. 
  • MAKE-IT-RIGHT FOUNDATION HOUSE – New Orleans, Louisiana; duplex residential house for the Make-It-Right Foundation, 900sf each. Make-It-Right is a non-profit foundation committed to redeveloping housing in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The Lower Ninth Ward was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in August, 2004. 
  • MARINA TOWER – Abu Dhabi, UAE; new commercial office tower of approximately 68,000 square meters, with retail areas at the base. The first project to be built in the Marina District of Saadiyat Island, the forty story, 195m tall building will become the visual marker for all entering the island over the Shiek Kalifa bridge. 
  • NEW CAMPUS GLASGOW – Glasgow, Scotland; a competition for the master re-planning of 78,000 square meters for the City and River campuses of the Glasgow Metropolitan College. 
  • SAADIYAT BEACH GOLF CLUB – Abu Dhabi, UAE; new facilities of approximately 20,000 square meters including a golf clubhouse, restaurants, meeting and banquet facilities, a small boutique hotel, gym, spa, and detached villas. 
  • ANAHEIM REGIONAL TRANSPORTION INTERMODAL CENTER – Anaheim, California; a competition for a new multi-phased project centered on a transportation terminal for high-speed rail and ground transportation in Orange County. Surrounding development would include commercial, retail, cultural, housing, and a rehabilitation of the Santa Ana Riverbed. Total development area of approximately 3 million square feet on a 15 acre site. 
  • MOSCOW HOTEL – Moscow, Russia; 180 room boutique hotel on the Garden Ring in central Moscow. 20,000sm total area with facilities including restaurants, meeting facilities, and retail. 
  • SERGIEV POSAD HOTEL – Sergiev Posad, Moscow District, Russia; 150 room luxury hotel located directly adjacent to the Trinity-Sergiev Lavra. 25,000sm total area with facilities including villas, restaurants, and a spa. 
  • BROOKLYN ARENA – Brooklyn, New York; a new state-of-the-art multi-use 18,000 seat arena for the Nets professional basketball team of approximately 850,000 square feet, connected to public transportation through a large enclosed public urban room. 
  • ATLANTIS SENTOSA IR – Singapore, Singapore; a competition for a 340,000 square meter Integrated Resort on Sentosa Island in Singapore for the Singapore Tourism Board. The project included an aquarium, a glass covered conservatory and amphitheater, a casino, a convention center, four hotels, a spa, an 11 acre waterpark, 40 restaurants, and waterfront promenade. 
  • BROOKLYN ATLANTIC YARDS – Brooklyn, New York; an 8,000,000 plus square foot masterplan on 22 acres over 7 city blocks in Brooklyn at the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. The project includes a new multi-use arena, two commercial buildings, fourteen residential buildings, and more than eight acres of publicly accessible open space. 
  • PARQUE MAYER -- Lisbon, Portugal; a 500,000 square foot neighborhood redevelopment project including the design and construction of a multi-use performing arts center, a museum, a hotel, residential apartments, and retail shops. 
  • CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART -- Washington, DC; the expansion of an existing museum of fine arts and an associated school of design, involving the renovation of an existing 140,000 square foot facility and the design and construction of a new 140,000 square foot facility, including galleries, studios, and related support spaces. 
  • MILLENNIUM PARK MUSIC PAVILION -- Chicago, Illinois; an open air music pavilion accommodating approximately 9000 visitors and including an orchestra stage house, a choral terrace, warm-up rooms and ancillary support areas. 
  • VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM EXPANSION -- Weil am Rhein, Germany; an expansion to an existing museum originally designed by Gehry Partners. 
  • CONDE NAST CAFETERIA -- New York, New York; an 8,200 square foot, 260 seat corporate dining room including food preparation and serving areas. 
  • SCHMIDT MUSEUM OF COCA-COLA MEMORABILIA -- Elizabethtown, Kentucky; a 90,000 square foot museum including exhibition areas, administrative areas and support areas. 
  • DZ BANK BUILDING -- Berlin, Germany; a 20,000 square meter mixed-use office and residential building adjacent to the Brandenburg Gate. 
  • DER NEUE ZOLLHOF -- Düsseldorf, Germany; a 28,000 square meter office development in three distinct buildings located on the Rhine River. 
  • ÜSTRA TOWER -- Hanover, Germany; a 20,000 square foot mid-rise office building. 
  • TELLURIDE RESIDENCE -- Telluride, Colorado; a 6,000 square foot private residence. 
  • UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI CENTER FOR MOLECULAR STUDIES – Cincinnati, Ohio; a 132,000 square foot state-of-the-art laboratory building for 
  • neuroscience and cancer research, including laboratory spaces, classrooms, administrative offices, and mechanical and storage spaces. 
  • THE LEWIS RESIDENCE -- Cleveland, Ohio; a 25,000 square foot private residence designed in collaboration with Philip Johnson and several internationally recognized artists. 
  • WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL -- Los Angeles, California; a 2,400 seat concert hall with extensive back stage areas, practice rooms, a pre-concert area, a choral room, an underground parking garage, a café, a retail store and a garden. 

EDUCATION 

University of California, Los Angeles, Master of Architecture, 1992 

University of Colorado, Boulder, Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture, 1988 

REGISTRATION 

Registered and licensed in the State of California 

NCARB Registered

Steve Glenn
Founder and CEO
LivingHomes, LLC
Biography

Steve Glenn

Founder and CEO
LivingHomes, LLC

Steve Glenn is the founder and CEO of LivingHomes, LLC (www.livinghomes.net), a premier developer of modern, prefabricated homes that combine world-class architecture with an unparalleled commitment to healthy and sustainable construction. The first LivingHome, designed by Ray Kappe, FAIA, was installed in eight hours. It was the first home in the nation to be certified LEED Platinum. Thirteen LivingHomes have been certified LEED Platinum and one LEED Gold, making the company one of the most experienced designers of homes at the highest level of LEED certification. LivingHomes are available in standard or customized configurations to builders, developers and individuals. LivingHomes have garnered significant industry recognition including the AIA’s top sustainable award, Green Builder Magazine’s Home of Year, Business 2.0 “World’s 11 Coolest Products”, and Business Week’s “Architectural Wonders of the World.” LivingHomes are available in standard or customized configurations to builders, developers and individuals. In addition to design, LivingHomes is current in production on our first development, a community of six single family LivingHomes and a commercial space in Los Angeles, and we’re working on affordable housing communities for Make It Right, at the Ft. Peck Indian Reservation in Montana and for an East LA non-profit in Los Angeles. Before LivingHomes, Glenn worked with the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) and managed the development of a $220 million program in Mozambique, the first program CHAI launched in Africa. Glenn is founder and former Chairman and CEO of PeopleLink, a leading provider of enterprise ecommunity solutions, which raised $35 million from AT&T Ventures, GE, Goldman Sachs, idealab and others. Glenn was a founding partner of idealab, a business incubation firm that raised $1 billion and that founded or invested in a number of successful companies including GoTo/Overture (OVER), NetZero/United Online (UNTD), CitySearch (TMCS), Tickets.com (TKTS), eToys and CarsDirect. Glenn worked for Walt Disney Imagineering as co-director of the Virtual Reality Studio. Glenn co-founded Clearview Software, which was sold to Apple Computer where Glenn later served as a marketing specialist. He holds a bachelor’s degree with honors from Brown University, studied Urban Planning at Harvard Graduate School of Design, and was a Coro Fellow. Glenn is a co-founder and chair of the Sustainable Business Council, www.sustainablebc.org, co-founder of the Kaia Parker Dance Endowment, www.kaiaparker.org, and a co-founder and former board member of Hope Street Group, www.hopestreetgroup.org and the Brown University Entrepreneur Forum, www.brownep.org. He was a a Judge for the US Energy Department's 2013 Solar Decathlon competition, www.solardecathlon.gov. Glenn was named the Clean Tech CEO of the Year by Clean Tech Week; Environmental Entrepreneur of the Year by LA City Council/Faith2Green; and Greatest Person of the Day by Huffington Post. Glenn holds two patents and wrote the treatment, produced and acted in a small part in the critically panned but commercially successful “Good Luck Chuck”, which starred Jessica Alba and Dane Cook.