- Speakers
- Speakers for VX2018
Speakers for VX2018
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Dennis McGinn
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.
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Kevin Payne
Kevin M. Payne is chief executive officer 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.
Prior to his current role, Payne was senior vice president of Customer Service for SCE. In that role, he was responsible for SCE’s customer products and services, customer engagement and call center operations, demand-side management programs, field services, account management and advanced metering.
During his 30 years with SCE, Payne has held various leadership positions, including: vice president of Engineering & Technical Services, overseeing the planning, engineering and designing of SCE’s transmission and distribution systems; vice president of Information Technology & Business Integration, responsible for the delivery of technology services to business units within SCE; and vice president of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), where he led a comprehensive five-year half-billion-dollar program to implement SAP-integrated systems and streamline the company's business operations. He was also director of Renewable and Alternative Power and director of Major Customer Technical Support. He began his career with SCE in 1986 in the Engineering and Construction department managing power plant retrofit and other engineering projects.
Payne serves as a member of the Electric Innovation Management Committee of the Edison Electric Institute.
Payne has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a registered professional engineer.
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Liz Crosson
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.
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Karen Hamberg
Ms. Hamberg joined Westport in 2001 and was appointed Vice President, Sustainable Energy Futures in 2012 and Vice-President, Strategy in 2013. Westport Fuel Systems engineers, manufactures, and supplies advanced clean-burning engines, systems, and components that enable the deployment of low-carbon fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen, and renewable natural gas (RNG). Headquartered in Vancouver, Westport Fuel Systems serves customers in more than 70 countries with leading global transportation brands. Karen’s current portfolio includes responsibilities for Corporate Strategy, Market and Competitive Intelligence, Sustainability and Environmental Performance, and Government and Regulatory Affairs.
Ms. Hamberg holds a Master of Arts degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba. Karen is also Chair of the Board of Directors of Calstart in Pasadena, California, an organization accelerating the growth of a clean transportation technologies industry and a Board Member of the Van Horne Institute at the University of Calgary. Karen was named to Canada’s Clean 50™ in 2017 for her contributions to advance sustainability in the transportation sector. She is currently serving on the Government of Canada’s Economic Strategy Table on Clean Technology tasked with driving transformative innovation and clean growth across all business sectors of the economy.
An active volunteer, Karen is also Vice-Chair of the United Way of the Lower Mainland’s Campaign Cabinet for 2018 leading the organization’s annual fundraising campaign.
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Caroline Choi
Caroline Choi is senior vice president of Regulatory Affairs for Southern California Edison (SCE). In this role, she is responsible for the Company’s regulatory strategy and policy at the national and state levels, including regulatory affairs, regulatory operations and environmental affairs.
Choi previously served as vice president of Energy and Environmental Policy. Prior to joining SCE in 2012, Choi was executive director of Environmental Services & Strategy at Progress Energy; she served the company in various roles, including director, Energy Policy & Strategy, and manager, Federal Public Affairs.
Choi is active in national policy and community engagement, where she serves as Chairman of the Board of the Smart Electric Power Alliance, a nationwide organization that supports utilities in the implementation and deployment of clean energy and distributed resources. She also serves as a board member of the Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund and the National Forest Foundation. Choi holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Dartmouth College.
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Eamon Ryan
Eamon Ryan was elected to represent Dublin Bay South in the 2016 General Election.
He was born in Dublin and raised in Dundrum and Dartry. He studied commerce in UCD before taking a job managing a marketing course in the university’s School of Business. He went on to found a cycling tourism company, Irish Cycling Safaris, in the late 1980's and in 1996 won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. The business still trades successfully as Cycling Safaris.
He was the founding chairperson of the Dublin Cycling Campaign and began his political career as a Dublin City Councillor for the Rathgar – Rathmines ward. He then went on to serve both as a TD for Dublin South and as a Government Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
In recent years, Eamon has worked for a European climate organisation (www.e3g.org) and chaired the digital policy group in the Institute of International and European Affairs (www.iiea.com). He is currently leader of the Green Party/Comhaontas Glas (www.greenparty.ie) and is married to writer Victoria White, they have four children.
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Stephen Polechronis
Mr. Polechronis is a transportation industry executive and project manager with extensive transit project management experience, including development, design, and construction of light rail, heavy rail subway, and commuter rail projects. His project management experience includes complex multi disciplinary assignments at all stages of project development from concept to commissioning.
Concurrent with his project work, Mr. Polechronis has held a number of executive positions with AECOM Transportation including his current assignment as AECOM’s Transportation Regional Business Line Leader in Greater Southern California and Nevada. Previously, Mr. Polechronis had responsibility for the development of AECOM’s Latin American transportation initiative, business development in AECOM’s Western Region, was Director of West Program Management, West Coast Unit Manager, Western United States Transit Director, and West Coast Regional Manager of Business Development. He has held positions with both P&L and business development responsibility.
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Dr. Joshua Schank
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.
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Walter N. Marks III
Mr. Marks is the President and has headed up his family real estate and asset management company for the past 30 years, which is focused on fee owned commercial and retail properties all located in the greater Los Angeles area. Most of the assets are among the highly developed areas of Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Culver City, and notably the Helms Bakery campus.
As a fifth generation Californian, Wally has deep community roots and pursues engagement with various civic and philanthropic endeavors.
Graduate of UC Berkeley with a BS in Engineering.
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Doug Otto
Doug Otto has served on the LBCC Board of Trustees since 2004 and the CCCT Board since 2009. In 2010 he co-chaired the CCLC’s Commission on the Future of Community Colleges and was instrumental in bringing the ACCT Governance Institute for Student Success to California. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and helps community colleges address issues through the IEPI Program. He is immediate past president of the CCCT Board and immediate past chair of the CCLC Board of Directors. He has been very active in his community of Long Beach serving as chair of both the Long Beach Strategic Plan 2010 and the Planning Commission as well as many other organizations and boards. He is a founding board member of the Aquarium of the Pacific, architect of the Aquarium Campus Master Plan and currently is vice chair of the Board of Directors.
Professionally he is a successful trial attorney with more than 100 jury trials to verdict. He was named Long Beach’s Lawyer of the Year in 2015 and Small Firm Lawyer of the Year by the California State Bar in 2011.
He received his B.A. from Stanford University and M.A. jointly from Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University in New York and a J.D. from the University of Chicago.
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Colleen Quinn
Colleen Quinn is a seasoned executive leader and government strategist with 30 years’ experience in government, business and non-profit sectors. She has served in the highest level government and political appointed positions, as well as a senior corporate officer and senior non-profit management and advocacy roles. These include California Governor Jerry Brown, the Partnership for New York City, Insight Communications, Pacific Telesis and the Revlon Foundation. Colleen has a B.A. from UC Berkeley and a JD from the University of California, Hastings College of Law and participated as a CORO Fellow in Los Angeles.
Colleen has led ChargePoint’s regulatory and government market development activities since 2010. She leads the Company’s advocacy issues at the Federal, State and Local arenas. Ms. Quinn serves on many organizations and stakeholder groups in the Electric Vehicle Industry including: Executive Committee of the California Plug In Electric Vehicle Collaborative; Founder and Chair of the Electric Vehicle Charging Association; Executive Committee and Board member of the Electric Drive Transportation Association; Gubernatorial appointee the Massachusetts ZEV Commission; Maryland Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Council; Chair of the National Electric Manufacturers Association EV Charging Government Relations committee. Ms. Quinn represented ChargePoint at COP 21 in Paris accepting the United Nations Momentum for Change Award.
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Yufu Cheng
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Leneyde Chavez
Leneyde Chavez joined Carollo 7 years ago. “Leny” leads the Government Affairs and Community Engagement efforts for Carollo in the Los Angeles market and functions as the assistant project manager for strategic projects including the Program Management Support Services (TOS SN53), City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, Los Angeles, CA which currently administers 19 projects in the City of Los Angeles. She works directly with the Executive Management of LASAN addressing issues important to the water future of the City of LA.
Leny is involved in high-level strategic conversations related to stormwater capture, recycled water, potable reuse, upcoming technology and the overall strategic challenges facing LASAN. This dynamic project addresses emerging issues for LASAN related to regulatory challenges and mandates, changes in the consumer’s use of LASAN's services, demand for new services, increased requests for information from the public, and support of the Mayor’s and Council’s various environmental initiatives, directives, and motions. Leny applies her government relations expertise, her knowledge of local politics and policy, and her ability to establish open communication with a wide variety of stakeholders to the benefit of her clients.
Leny was born in Honduras, and has lived in the Los Angeles area for over 22 years. She earned a B.A. in Political Science and a M.A. in Urban Planning from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. She is the proud mother of 3 boys.
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James Villeneuve
James Villeneuve was appointed Consul General of Canada, Los Angeles in February 2014. He is Canada's senior representative in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada.
Prior to his appointment, Mr. Villeneuve worked for Anheuser Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewing company and the parent company of Labatt Breweries, for more than 27 years. He started with Labatt in Toronto in sales and marketing and was later transferred to Vancouver, where he was regional director of government affairs for Western Canada.
In 1995, Mr. Villeneuve returned to Toronto to manage Labatt’s rebranding initiative and to run the company’s corporate and sports properties. He later became director of corporate affairs and then vice-president of corporate affairs for Canada. From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Villeneuve worked in Brussels to lead InBev’s global corporate affairs practice. After InBev purchased Anheuser Busch in 2009, Mr. Villeneuve moved to St. Louis to lead the company’s North American corporate affairs department.
Mr. Villeneuve has served on many boards during his career, including the Toronto Economic Development Commission, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the 2008 Toronto Olympic Bid, the Granville Island Trust, the Association of Canadian Advertisers, Carleton University, the Canadian Club, Teach for America, the United Way and the Regional Chamber and Growth Association in St. Louis. He received a Bachelor’s degree from Carleton University in 1985.
Mr. Villeneuve is married to Kim Walker-Villeneuve and they have two children, Grace and Andrew.
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John Onderdonk
John Onderdonk serves as the Senior Director of Facilities Services and Integrated Planning as well as the Chief Sustainability Officer at the California Institute of Technology. In this capacity, he is responsible for the executive leadership of campus planning, energy and utility services, procurement and material management, critical research logistics and sustainability programs.
At Caltech, John has led efforts to de-carbonize campus utilities, plan for infrastructure resilience and adaptive capacity, and integrate 17MW of distributed generation. He has supervised the execution of a $15M energy efficiency fund, served as the lead sustainability advisor for 12 capital projects and coordinated the deployment of a work management and asset tracking system. John also leads the Institute’s regulatory affairs with regard to energy, water, carbon and regional planning.
Prior to joining Caltech, John served as the Southwest Regional Manager for AIG Environmental where he managed environmental risk on behalf of corporate and brownfield redevelopment clients.
John holds a Masters in Corporate Environmental Management from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Science and Economics from the University of Oregon. John is a LEED Accredited Professional in Building Design + Construction and a Certified Carbon Reduction Manager.
John is the chair of the Los Angeles County Chief Sustainability Officer’s Taskforce and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management.
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Andy Lipkis
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.
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Eva Pauly-Bowles
Eva Pauly-Bowles, born in Poitiers France, graduated in 2010 with a double MBA, MSc in Business management from the Bordeaux (KEDGE) Business School in France and the Strathclyde Business School in Glasgow, UK.
She initially worked for a French gas and energy company, Europlasma developing new biogas renewables known as CHO Power. In June 2010, she Joined Ciel et Terre group developing floating PV projects in over 10 countries including the largest worldwide floating PV power plant grid connected in Japan.
She started the Japanese subsidiary, Ciel et Terre Japan in Tokyo, and was their Representative Director from June 2013 to December 2014 developing an autonomous Japanese team. Thereafter she accompanied the UK subsidiary in developing Floating Solar UK ltd, which developed 11 MWp of floating PV projects within a year.
Since February 2016, she has been managing the new US subsidiary group, Ciel et Terre USA Inc, which is fully dedicated to the US market. With more than 7 years of experience in the specialized field of floating solar, she has provided technical and financial expertise to the achievements of more than 85 MWp of grid connected floating PV plants worldwide, and more than 200 MWp worldwide of floating PV projects under development.
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Traci Minamide, PE, BCEE
Traci serves as Chief Operating Officer for City of Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment (LASAN), a department of over 3,500 employees with an annual revenue of over $1billion. She has been with the City for over 30 years serving in many capacities, including wastewater treatment, water reclamation, biosolids, water planning, environmental regulations, stormwater management, and solid resources.
Traci holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from Loyola Marymount University, and certification in Executive Management for State and Local Government from Harvard University. She is also a licensed professional Civil Engineer in the State of California and a Board Certified Environmental Engineer through the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. She is past President of the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) and currently serves on the Board of the Southern California Alliance of POTWs (SCAP). Traci also served as a member of the State of California’s Advisory Panel on Direct Potable Reuse.
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Dan Feitelberg
After serving the University of California as Vice Chancellor of Planning and Budget at the Merced campus, Dan joined KPMG in 2017 to help lead its California government and national social infrastructure practice. At UC Merced, Dan led the Merced 2020 Project, a $1.3 billion investment in higher education in the San Joaquin Valley. The project was named the Project Finance International Americas P3 Deal of the Year and the North American Social Infrastructure Deal of the Year by IJGlobal. With thirteen years of investment banking experience, Dan has also helped raise debt capital for governments in taxable and tax-exempt capital markets.
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Minh Le
Minh Le serves as the General Manager for Energy and Environmental Services for the County of Los Angeles’ Internal Service Department. His team manages the County’s energy assets as well as regional energy programs. Prior to this role, he served at the Office of Management and Budget and US Department of Energy where he led the SunShot Initiative. Minh also worked in the private sector in solar and semiconductor manufacturing. He earned his SM and SB degrees from MIT.
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Rorie Skei
Rorie Skei has been involved in Southern California open space preservation and parkland issues for over 40 years.
As Chief Deputy Director for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, Ms. Skei oversees acquisition, park development, and watershed planning staff; partnerships with local, state, and federal governments; and resource protection of the 75,000 acres of parkland that have been preserved for the public to date. She also serves ex officio as the Chief Deputy Executive Officer of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA), a joint powers agency; and is Deputy Executive Officer for seven other joint powers authorities in which the Conservancy is a member. She is a sworn park ranger with MRCA. Since 1981, she has been the appointed public member and is the current chairperson of the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency, a joint powers agency between the City of Thousand Oaks and the Conejo Recreation and Park District.
Ms. Skei has long been a California native plant enthusiast and has maintained her home native garden in Thousand Oaks for many years.
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Jim Kelly
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.
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Martin Adams
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.
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Michael Jones
Michael is President of The Maritime Alliance (TMA) – a non-profit industry association founded in 2007. Its Mission Statement is “Promoting Sustainable, Science-Based Ocean & Water Industries”. Originally focused on San Diego – the largest US BlueTech cluster – it has a growing number of members nationally and internationally. TMA is a Strategic Partner with the US Dept. of Commerce and organizer of the 1st ever US Maritime Technology Export Initiative. TMA is helping promote the creation of regional clusters globally and in 2017 helped form the BlueTech Cluster Alliance with 9 leading BlueTech clusters from 7 countries.
Michael has a BA from the University of Arizona and MA from Johns Hopkins University “School of Advanced International Studies” (SAIS) in Washington, DC. He sits on the Board of Directors of several organizations and is non-resident Senior Fellow focused on the Blue Economy at The Foreign Policy Institute at SAIS.
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Terry O'Day
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Jonathan Rosenthal
Jonathan Rosenthal is a serial entrepreneur. He has repeatedly conceived of a world different than that which existed and launched companies to harness macro industry change. Each new venture was designed to capture opportunity, as markets adapted to transformation.
In 1983 he recognized the inevitable upheaval in transportation that would come after deregulation of the airline industry and the end of the Civil Aeronautics Board. In anticipation, Rosenthal launched his first company – NetAir International. He foresaw the realignment of airline networks from point to-point service to a hub-and-spoke system and the difficulties that would befall time sensitive executives. The solution was to disrupt the fragmented jet charter business by building the first multi-city on demand jet charter company, providing immediate access through centralized dispatch, standardized training, national accounts, and uniform branding.
That which now seems obvious wasn’t easy to evangelize in ‘83. But with the help of active investors Jay Chiat, Linden Blue, Wally Schirra, Honorable John Lindsay, Hycliff Ventures and others NetAir was born. As Chairman and CEO Mr. Rosenthal grew NetAir into the largest certificated non-scheduled carrier in the U.S with 18 flight centers and over 100 jets providing “random access” transportation to 1,700 cities. A public offering in 1985 helped spur growth, and in 1989 Rosenthal successfully exited with a sale of his shares to a private equity investor at a time when rival NetJets had a dozen aircraft.
Again seizing upon transformation, in 1990 Rosenthal saw the proliferation junk bonds of the 80’s creating distressed opportunities. Rosenthal launched Saybrook Partners, a merchant bank specializing in complex municipal and corporate turnarounds and restructurings. Timing was fortuitous, resulting in more than $200 billion in transactions across nearly 100 platform entities (1990-2006), including Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Orange County, Adelphia, Kmart, Foster Wheeler, and United Airlines.
The success of SRA provided impetus to launch a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and ultimately 9 closed end funds across 4 strategies, deploying capital for institutional investors. In 2007 Rosenthal recognized the transformative impact of the internet on the supply chain and began to focus on principal investing. 9 years later Saybrook Corporate Opportunity Funds (SCOF) has 2 institutional closed end private equity vehicles, and has invested approximately $300 million of discretionary equity in 21 core investments with 11 realizations.
Rosenthal currently serves as Chairman of TTSI, one of the largest port trucking companies in the Los Angeles / Long Beach Harbor; Taylored Services, a bi-costal mid-size third party logistics provider (3PL) operating approximately 1.5 million square feet of warehouse, and Accretive Solutions, a finance and accounting staffing and consultancy firm with approximately 800 professionals in 11 cities. He is the Founder / Chairman / CEO of the Los Angeles Harbor Performance Enhancement Center, and a technology data management start-up, WherehouseIT.com.
Rosenthal was recently appointed by the U.S. Department of Transportation to the Marine Transportation System National Advisory Committee, and by the Mayor of Los Angeles to the Los Angeles Sustainable Freight Advisory Committee. Mr. Rosenthal was elected by his peers to the International Board of Trustees of the Turnaround Management Association. He is the Founding Chairman of the Harvard Graduate School Leadership Institute, and is on the Board of Directors of the University of Southern California, Center for Supply Chain Management. Rosenthal is the immediate past Chairman of the Los Angeles chapter of Young President’s Organization (YPOg) and is currently a member of the WPO Pacific Regional Board. He has lectured in the area of transformational change at the University of Chicago, UCLA, and Harvard College. He is a Member of the Colorado, New York, and Federal bar associations, and is married with 2 children.
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Jim Wunderman
Jim Wunderman is President and CEO of the Bay Area Council, a CEO-led public policy and advocacy organization formed in 1945 that works to make the Bay Area the most innovative, globally competitive, and sustainable region in the world. Since becoming CEO in 2004, Wunderman has honed the Council’s regionalist approach to advocacy in key areas that impact the Bay Area’s economy and competitiveness, including: business climate, housing, transportation, workforce, water, energy, communications, education, gender equity and cyber security. In 2015, he was named one of the Top 100 movers and shakers in California politics.
Wunderman has led the Council’s efforts to advocate for billions of dollars in federal, state and regional funding for major transportation projects completed or currently under construction. He has worked to expand the Council’s leadership outside the region, including opening an office in Sacramento and overseas offices in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing, and partnering with the state to reopen the California-China Trade Office. Wunderman positioned the Council to lead in developing an innovative early education program – Talk, Read, Sing -- and partnering with The Clinton Foundation to introduce it nationally. Under his leadership, the Council’s advocacy helped win important statewide education reform through local control funding. Wunderman has continued to play a key role in efforts to achieve consensus-based solutions to California’s water challenges, and is leading the region’s business community in the effort to make sure the economy is a primary driver of planning and regional sustainability efforts.
Prior to his work at the Bay Area Council, Wunderman’s career from 1984 to 2004 was split between both the private and public sectors. He served as Chief of Staff to San Francisco Mayor Frank M. Jordan from 1992-95, following five years of work for Mayor Dianne Feinstein. From 1997-2004 he served as Senior Vice President for External Affairs at Providian Financial Corporation. He also served as Vice President and General Manager of two major waste collection, disposal and recycling firms in the Bay Area under its parent, Recology, Inc.
Wunderman has served on numerous Boards and Commissions. He currently serves on the University of California Business Executive Council, the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) Board, the State of California’s International Trade and Investment Advisory Council, the Too Small to Fail Advisory Council, California-China Trade and Investment Advisory Board, ChinaFisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics, Bridge Housing Board of Directors, Sierra Energy, TMG Partners, the East Bay Zoological Society Foundation, the Chabot Space & Science Center Foundation Leadership Council, the Human Needs Project, Ready Nation Advisory Board, and the SF Bay Restoration Authority. He also serves on the Transit Sustainability Project Steering Committee, the Clean Energy Working Group, EDA East Bay Economic Development Alliance, the REAL Coalition, and the Super Bowl Host Committee.
Wunderman is a Visiting Professor at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University, Majoring in Political Science, and received an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration from Kingsborough College, City University of New York. He has four children and resides in Contra Costa County.
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Patrick Condon
Patrick has over 25 years of experience in sustainable urban design: first as a professional city planner and then as a teacher and researcher. Patrick started his academic career in 1985 at the University of Minnesota before moving to the University of British Columbia in 1992. After acting as the director of the landscape architecture program, he became the James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Liveable Environments. In that capacity he has worked to advance sustainable urban design in scores of jurisdictions in the US, Canada, and Australia. Patrick has also led the Sustainability by Design project by the Design Centre for Sustainability. For over 20 years, the Design Centre and James Taylor Chair worked on a variety of projects and books to contribute to healthier and more sustainable urban landscapes.
Recognizing the need for collaboration as a fundamental part of designing sustainable communities, Patrick has pioneered public engagement methods. He has successfully focused attention on how to make systemic change in the way cities are built and operated, notably in his East Clayton project in Surrey, BC. More recently, he and his research partners collaborated with the City of North Vancouver to produce a 100-year plan to make the city carbon-neutral by 2107. Patrick and his partners received the Canadian Institute of Planners Award for Planning Excellence and the BC Union of Municipalities Award of Excellence for this work.
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Ana Lasso
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Dan Cohee
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.
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Sean Chigusa
Dr. Sean Chigusa is a President and Chief Executive Officer at TATSUNO North America, INC., which is the US subsidiary of TATSUNO Corporation (Tokyo, Japan) and supervises all aspects of the hydrogen infrastructure equipment business, operations, and activities in North America. He has more than 25 years of experience in the automotive industry include Fuel Cell Technology for FCV. Prior to joining TATSUNO, Sean served for four years as Senior Manager of the Kobelco Compressors America, where he provided leadership for the business development for hydrogen station equipment in North America. Sean works with ISO/TC 197 (hydrogen technology) working groups as U.S. delegation, SAE Fuel Cell Interface Task Force and CSA/HGV as committee member for build code and standard of hydrogen station related technology. He also works with HySUT (The Association of Hydrogen Supply and Utilization Technology - Tokyo, Japan) as technical program adviser. He makes a significant contribution to build a great relation in hydrogen technology between United States and Japan. Sean has more than over 25 years of automotive advanced technology research in research experience in Toyota Motor Corporation (United States and Japan) such as the intelligent diagnostic system for Li-ion battery life prediction, Fuel Cell System diagnostic system using artificial intelligence technique.
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David Alexander
David Alexander is the Director of Information Security at Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the nation’s largest municipal utility. He continues to evolve a comprehensive Information Security Program. With over 20 years of IT and power operations experience, Mr. Alexander has levied his extensive technical and business operation experience to apply sound IT Security practices while meeting the demanding business requirements of the power industry. He is also responsible for the development and coordination of LADWP’s strategic and tactical IT security planning initiatives to reduce risks, respond to incidents, and limit exposure to liability that may result in financial and image loss to the utility.
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Jacquelyn Birdsall
Jacquelyn Birdsall is a Senior Engineer in the Fuel Cell Development Department of Toyota Motor North America Research and Development specializing in hydrogen infrastructure, high pressure hydrogen systems and associated standards and regulations. She also serves as a technical spokesperson for the Toyota Mirai and has been in numerous publications including Car and Driver and the Wall Street Journal.
Birdsall has held several roles in the automotive industry prior to joining Toyota in 2012 with over fourteen years of experience in hydrogen, including a thirteen-month assignment at the Toyota Motor Corporation Global Headquarters in Japan.
In addition to her activities in hydrogen, Birdsall takes personal interest in promoting STEM learning and diversity within the industry. She is a board member of Women Influencing and Impacting Toyota and in 2015 was honored by the Manufacturing Institute as an Emerging Leader and by Automotive News as Rising Star.
Birdsall received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering University (previously General Motors Institute).
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Rick Cole
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.
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Thomas Aujero Small
Small’s work with the city focused on excellence in urban planning, sustainable design and mobility, including initiating and leading the Transit Oriented District Visioning process. He led efforts to win grants from the Mayor’s Innovation Project, the Harvard Behavioral Insight Group, and the National Institute for Civil Discourse, for programs to enhance public outreach for neighborhood planning and alternative modes of transportation. He represented the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus of the League of California Cities on their Housing and Economic Development Policy Committee. At a national level, he has participated in the US Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities, the New American Leaders and Local Progress, all based in Washington, D.C.
He has been featured in the New York Times, the LA Times, NPR and the Washington Post, and on CNBC. He is often invited to speak internationally, including recent keynotes at the International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure with the American Society of Civil Engineers, and for the RAND Corporation at the international conference on Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty. As an architectural writer and consultant, he worked on projects in urban and sustainable design and planning, development and historic preservation in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He moderated design award juries in New York and Copenhagen, and taught Sustainability for Organizational Change at UCLA. He studied at Yale, the University of Paris, and the Columbia School of Journalism, and speaks four languages. He lives with his wife Joanna Brody, and their two children and two giant sheep dogs, in the sustainably designed, often published Culver City home that they built in 2007.
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Alejandro Zamorano
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.
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Wendell McCain
Mr. McCain is a Co-Managing Director of Onset Capital and Capital Partner of Floating Solar Solutions, LLC. In addition, he serves as the Chairman of Onset Capital Partners, a global asset management firm that works with the Onset Capital team.
Mr. McCain serves on the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian National African Art Museum and is on the Board of Trustees for the NC Nature Conservancy, UNC College of Arts and Sciences, UNC Civil Rights Center and North Carolina Central University. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Union Independent School.
Mr. McCain received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School, where he was a Toigo Fellow and a Bachelors of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar.
Prior to Onset Capital, Mr. McCain was the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Parish Capital Advisors, a global private equity firm with $2 billion under management. He has spent the last twenty years focused on alternative asset classes and has also experienced the private equity business from the perspective of advisor, direct investor, and limited partner. Prior to founding Parish Capital, Mr. McCain served as Vice President at BancBoston Ventures, where his group managed a $600 million diversified private equity portfolio, and he managed a direct investment portfolio of eleven companies and four limited partnerships. Mr. McCain was active as a board member or board observer of seven of those companies. Mr. McCain aggressively sourced new investment opportunities and reviewed over two hundred opportunities annually.
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Danny Kennedy
Danny Kennedy leads the California Clean Energy Fund, connecting entrepreneurs everywhere to capital to build an abundant clean energy economy that benefits all. He is also the President of CalCharge, a public private partnership with the National Labs and universities of California, unions and companies, working to advance energy storage.
Kennedy co-founded Sungevity, the company that created remote solar design, and Powerhouse, solar’s premier incubator and accelerator. He was the original backer of Mosaic, the $1B solar loan provider, and remains on the Board of Powerhive, a solar mini-utility in Kenya and Sunergise, a solar-as-a-service business out of Fiji and the EnergyLabAustralia. He is also Director of nonprofits VoteSolar and Power for All. Kennedy authored the book Rooftop Revolution: How Solar Power Can Save Our Economy – and Our Planet – from Dirty Energy in 2012. Prior to starting Sungevity, he worked at Greenpeace and other groups on climate and energy issues for 20 years.
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Dr. Sandra Whitehouse
Dr. Sandra Whitehouse is a consultant who has served for over twenty-five years as an ocean policy advisor to multiple organizations and institutions, using her marine science expertise to advise clients on a variety of issues including how to advance ocean health and sustainably develop coastal and offshore projects. Her clients have included Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations and other Nonprofit Organizations, a state agency, legislative body and private companies. Currently she serves as the Senior Policy Advisor to Ocean Conservancy, the Chief Scientific Officer for AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles and as a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council. Dr. Whitehouse holds a B.S. from Yale University and a Ph.D. in biological oceanography from the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island
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Jonathan Bishop
Jonathan has served as Chief Deputy Director at the State Water Board since 2007, where he oversees Water Quality, Financial Assistance, Monitoring and Assessment, and Data Management, amongst other responsibilities. Jonathan worked for the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board for 23 years before being named as Executive Director of the regional board in 2004. Jonathan received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Environmental Engineering with an emphasis in water quality from Humboldt State University.
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Bob Foster
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.
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Carla Peterman
Carla J. Peterman is Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer for PG&E Corporation, the parent company of Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
Peterman has spent her career focused on California's energy policy and regulatory landscape. At PG&E, she oversees the company's regulatory, legislative, sustainability, and charitable strategies, all focused on delivering for the customers and communities that PG&E serves in Northern and Central California.
Prior to joining PG&E in 2021, Peterman served as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Regulatory Affairs at Southern California Edison. Before that she served a six-year term as a Commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
A steadfast proponent of clean energy, at the CPUC Peterman led the adoption of the first utility energy storage mandate in the country, the approval of nearly $1 billion of utility investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, the adoption of utility energy efficiency goals and business plans, and the implementation of California's Renewables Portfolio Standard.
Before her CPUC appointment, Peterman served on the California Energy Commission, where she was the lead commissioner for renewables, transportation, and natural gas. She also is a former board member of The Utility Reform Network, an organization that represents consumers before the CPUC and California Legislature.
In 2019, Governor Newsom appointed her to chair the Commission on Catastrophic Wildfire Cost and Recovery. She currently serves as a member of the Federal Reserve of San Francisco Economic Advisory Council. She has also served on various other boards, including the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), NARUC's Energy Resources and Environment Committee (Vice-Chair), and the external advisory board for Sandia National Laboratories’ Energy and Homeland Security Portfolio.
Peterman holds a BA from Howard University, a PhD in energy and resources from the University of California, Berkeley, and MS and MBA degrees from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
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David Hochschild
David Hochschild was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in February 2013. He fills the environmental position on the five-member Commission where four of the five members by law are required to have professional training in specific areas - engineering or physical science, environmental protection, economics, and law.
Commissioner Hochschild’s career has spanned public service, environmental advocacy and the private sector. He first got involved in the solar energy field in 2001 in San Francisco as a Special Assistant to Mayor Willie Brown where he launched a citywide $100 million initiative to put solar panels on public buildings. He went on to co-found the Vote Solar Initiative, a 60,000-member advocacy organization promoting solar policies at the local, state and federal level. He served as executive director of a national consortium of leading solar manufacturers and worked for five years at Solaria, a solar company in Silicon Valley. In 2007-2008, he served as a commissioner at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
For his work to advance clean energy, Commissioner Hochschild was awarded the Sierra Club’s Trailblazer Award, the American Lung Association’s Clean Air Hero Award and the Department of Energy’s Million Solar Roof True Champion Award. Commissioner Hochschild holds a B.A. degree from Swarthmore College and a Masters of Public Policy degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and was a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs.
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Andrée-Lise Méthot
Andrée-Lise Méthot is the Founder and Managing Partner of Cycle Capital Management, an impact investor and the most active cleantech venture capital platform in Canada. She has over 25 years of experience in venture capital, management and engineering. In the last few years, she has fundraised almost $400M from strategic and industrial players and she recently closed a fund with a strategic institutional investor in China.
Andrée-Lise serves on many boards of directors for public and private companies, including some of CCM’s portfolio companies. She is the co-founder and Chair of the Ecofuel Accelerator, for which she also championed the Ecofuel Fund. She sits on the Board of directors of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), Transition énergétique Québec (TEQ) and Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI). She also co-founded Écotech Québec, the Quebec cleantech cluster and SWITCH, the Alliance for a green economy.
Andrée-Lise sits on the North-American advisory Board of the Cleantech Group, the selection committee of Bloomberg’s New Energy Finance’s New Energy Pioneers, the Private Sector Advisory Board for the Networks of Centres of Excellence of Canada and the External Advisory Committee to the Vice Principal Research and International Relations at McGill University. She co-chaired a Task Force under the auspices of the UNEP and the SETAC on the Life Cycle Initiative. She sat on various recognition committees, including the Grand prix du Génie Québécois, the Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards, and the EY Entrepreneur of the Year contest.
Andrée-Lise was recognized as one of Canada’s Clean16, named one of the Top 20 cleantech investors by CleanTechnica and amongst the most influential women in sustainable development and in the cleantech industry by Corporate Knight.
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Cecilia Estolano
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.
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Brian Jordan
Brian is a Vice President at Tetra Tech, a leading provider of consulting and engineering services, and an active leader in the environmental, water, and infrastructure sectors. He has over two and a half decades of experience and holds a variety of executive management responsibilities for the firm’s Water and Infrastructure business in the United States. Brian also serves on the strategy and leadership team for several of Tetra Tech’s strategic investments, including their One Water and Digital Water initiatives.
Tetra Tech’s Digital Water initiative focuses on technology and IT/OT-enabled investments to differentiate the company through pioneering services centered on data, analytics, hardware, and software solutions. Tetra Tech’s One Water solutions provide access to safe, abundant water supplies; effective treatment of stormwater and wastewater; flood control and restoration tools; and state-of-the-art watershed protection approaches to assess, protect, and restore our water bodies.
Brian is a licensed Professional Engineer in California and his technical experience spans a wide range of water, environment, and infrastructure projects throughout North America including planning, design, and construction activities. He has served in leadership roles on program management assignments involving capital facilities of over ten billion dollars.
Brian has been active in professional associations his entire career. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and has been elected or appointed to the role of President, Chair, or Vice Chair for over a half-dozen different industry associations. This provides him with unique knowledge of regulatory and policy issues that utilities are facing and detailed insights into the latest industry trends.
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James Simonelli
James Simonelli is the Executive Director of the California Metals Coalition. For 20 years he has represented the state’s metalworking sector, which consists of nearly 4,000 businesses employing over 350,000 Californians.
He served as the organization’s chief lobbyist for 15 years, authoring several pieces of legislation into law. He currently runs two metals storm water compliance groups, and is co‐Chair of Sacramento’s WATER Coalition.
Most recently he served as project lead for the state’s first fuel cell generation system at an aluminum ingot manufacturer, and was project lead with UCLA and the Japan Industry Federation to find lead free alternatives for potable water system components.
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Michael Kadish
Michael has been the Executive Director of GLA since 2013 and previously served as one of the founding Directors of its Board. Prior to his involvement with GRID, Michael worked in a variety of government and campaign roles including Policy Director for the New York City Council Member representing Lower Manhattan after 9/11, Policy Director on the 2008 Obama campaign and Director of Public and Consumer Affairs for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Michael currently sits on the Board of the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters. He also holds a BA from Columbia University and a Masters Degree in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
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Carl Stills
Carl has over 40 years of utility industry experience managing energy for California’s sixth largest utility, the Imperial Irrigation District, as the Energy Manager and the Portfolio Management Officer. During his tenure at the utility, Carl initiated strategic project management, implemented processes that saved hundreds of millions in costs, and oversaw the implementation of battery storage projects. As a member of the Geothermal Energy Association board, Carl helped initiate the use of renewable energy as a catalyst for addressing the Salton Sea environmental issues.
Carl is the Vice President of Imperial Valley Development and Storage Integration for 8minutenergy. He oversees the development of renewable projects in Imperial Valley and works with 8minutenergy’s storage team to bring energy storage projects to fruition.
Carl has over 40 years of utility industry experience managing energy for California’s sixth largest utility, the Imperial Irrigation District, as the Energy Manager and the Portfolio Management Officer. During his tenure at the utility, Carl initiated strategic project management, implemented processes that saved hundreds of millions in costs, and oversaw the implementation of battery storage projects. As a member of the Geothermal Energy Association board, Carl helped initiate the use of renewable energy as a catalyst for addressing the Salton Sea environmental issues.
Carl is the Vice President of Imperial Valley Development and Storage Integration for 8minutenergy. He oversees the development of renewable projects in Imperial Valley and works with 8minutenergy’s storage team to bring energy storage projects to fruition.
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Robert Griffin
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.
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Naomi Kelly
Naomi Maria Kelly is San Francisco’s City Administrator, the highest-ranking non-elected official of San Francisco City and County government. In this capacity, Ms. Kelly oversees the General Services Agency consisting of 25 departments, divisions, and programs that include the Public Works Department, Department of Technology, Office of Contract Administration/Purchasing, Real Estate, County Clerk, Fleet Management, Convention Facilities, Animal Care and Control, Medical Examiner, and Treasure Island. She is responsible for a 2,700-strong workforce, and an annual budget of nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars.
Ms. Kelly is strongly committed to strengthening the local economy; ensuring the efficacy of government services; increasing the City’s safety and resiliency; and optimizing the City’s capital planning and infrastructure. Since her appointment and re-appointment by Mayor Edwin Lee in 2012 and 2017, her accomplishments include:
- The appointment of City and County leaders such as: Public Works Department Director; Director of Real Estate; Chief Information Officer and Department of Technology Director; Mayor’s Office on Disability Director; Animal Care and Control Director; City Hall Events Director; Treasure Island Director; Contract Monitoring Division Director; Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement Director, Office of Short Term Rentals Director; Purchaser; Chief Medical Examiner, Deputy City Administrator, and Chief Resilience Officer;
- The launching or absorbing of new programs such as: Committee on Information Technology (COIT); Office of Short Term Rentals; Contract Monitoring Division; and Earthquake Safety Improvement Program / Office of Resilience and Recovery;
- The creation of a Budget and Planning team to improve budgeting, financial management, policy analysis, and program evaluation, and to utilize financial models for citywide work order programs and the elimination of structural deficits;
- Service on numerous boards and committees including:
- Capital Planning Committee: As Chair of this Committee, Ms. Kelly oversees a $35 billion, 10-year capital plan for the long-term safety, accessibility and modernization of San Francisco’s public infrastructure and facilities; sea level rise planning, and securing bond approvals in the areas of public health and transportation;
- Committee on Information and Technology (COIT): As Chair, Ms. Kelly oversees 5-year communication technology (ICT) plans, budgets and projects for all City departments;
- Workforce Investment San Francisco (WISF) Board: WISF is responsible for creating strategic workforce connections among industry, business, labor, educational institutions, and community based organizations to serve the needs of workers and employers in the region, and to support the City’s vision for economic competitiveness;
- SF Community Investment Fund (SFCIF) Board: SFCIF is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation that serves as a community development entity to apply for a new market tax credits allocation from the U.S. Treasury to help underserved communities, and provide private capital investment to projects that may not otherwise be completed; and
- Mayor’s “Our Children, Our Families” Council: The Council is responsible for developing a five-year plan to coordinate available resources and services for data-sharing between the City and schools to better serve families, children and youth in the City. The Council will also create, maintain and make available an inventory of all citywide services for children and youth, including state and federally funded programs.
- Oversight and management of major private-public partnerships such as the celebration of the San Francisco City Hall Centennial, and the Bay Area Women’s Summit;
- Coordination of efforts to re-envision San Francisco’s public housing policy by conducting various stakeholders’ meetings to identify the challenges and issues facing public housing, and make recommendations to help improve the Housing Authority;
- Strategic direction and management of initiatives in the areas of public housing, community benefits, local business development, earthquake safety and disaster preparedness, Local Hiring Ordinance, Digital Services, and renewable diesel;
- Oversight and management of Moscone Convention Facilities expansion, new Medical Examiner’s Office building, Animal Care Shelter, Central Shop relocation, and 1500 Mission Street project;
- Authorization of same-sex marriage license issuances at San Francisco City Hall in late June 2013 just hours after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the State of California to lift a 4.5 year freeze;
- Facilitation of major program accomplishments, such as:
- Treasure Island development: completed first land transfer, new ramps, Naval remediation, increased commercial leasing and business activity, readied Yerba Buena Island for new construction;
- Convention Facilities: renegotiated contract with significantly improved terms to increase revenue, transparency, and capital contribution;
- Fleet (3 fleets of multiple vehicles and more than 500 users): expanded use of telematics, and launched Vehicle on Demand System (VoDS).
Prior to her City Administrator position, Ms. Kelly was appointed City Purchaser and Director of the Office of Contract Administration by Mayor Gavin Newsom. She previously served as Special Assistant in the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, and the Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs, under Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. She also served as the City’s Executive Director of the Taxicab Commission.
Ms. Kelly, a native San Franciscan, is the first woman and African American to serve as City Administrator of the City and County of San Francisco. She received her undergraduate and law degrees, respectively, from New York University, and the University of San Francisco. Ms. Kelly is a member of the California State Bar. She and her husband, Harlan L. Kelly, Jr., General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and their two sons reside in San Francisco.
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Enrique Zaldivar
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.
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Laura Renger
Laura Renger is the Principal Manager of Air & Climate in the Regulatory Affairs organization at Southern California Edison (SCE). In this position, Laura leads a team responsible for the utility’s regulatory and legislative policy concerning air quality, climate change and transportation electrification. As the regulatory lead for transportation electrification programs, Laura routinely speaks to a wide-variety of audiences, including conferences and industry events domestically and internationally. She has testified twice before California Public Utilities Commission concerning the implementation of the transportation electrification provisions of SB 350 and serves as SCE’s lead for the transportation electrification proposal that was filed at the CPUC on January 20, 2017.
Prior to this position, Laura was a Senior Attorney in the SCE Law Department, primarily focusing on air quality, climate, safety, and transmission project licensing. She is the immediate past chair of the Environmental Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the current Treasurer of Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles. Laura also serves as the Secretary of CalSTART (an organization dedicated to the growth of the clean transportation industry) and as the Treasurer of the California Electric Transportation Coalition (a non-profit association dedicated to the promotion of economic growth, clean air, fuel diversity and energy independence through the use of electric transportation). Laura holds a B.A. from Occidental College and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. She lives in Los Alamitos, California with her husband and ten-year-old son, Jack.
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Yuri Freedman
Yuri has broad experience in development and acquisition of energy infrastructure assets. In his current role of Senior Director of Business Development, he manages the portfolio of low carbon growth projects and R&D activities of Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), the largest North American gas utility. Prior to his current role he held the position of Director of Commercial Development for Sempra LNG, and previously held the positions of Director of Infrastructure Investments at Sempra Renewables and Director of Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions at Sempra Energy.
Prior to joining Sempra Energy, Yuri held the positions of Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group and Vice President at GE Energy Financial Services.
Yuri serves on the board of CALSTART. He holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a PhD in Environmental Science and Energy Research from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
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Robert Garcia
Dr. Robert Garcia is an accomplished educator and the 28th Mayor of Long Beach. He was elected on June 3rd, 2014, becoming the youngest person ever to hold that office. Robert has taken a leadership role in balancing the city budget, reforming pensions, expanding park space, and investing in technology, and is committed to moving Long Beach forward by attracting tech and green jobs, creating new educational partnerships, and rebuilding our aging streets, sidewalks and alleys.
Robert has been a member public policy and communications faculty at the University of Southern California, and taught Communication Studies at both Cal State Long Beach and Long Beach City College. His passion for education led him to pursue a Doctorate in Higher Education, which he was awarded in 2010 after publishing his dissertation on California's Master Plan for Education. Robert also holds a Masters Degree in Communication Management from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies from California State University, Long Beach.
In 2007, Robert co-founded and launched the Long Beach Post, a Long Beach based media website and newspaper. By the time he left the company 2013, the small business had grown into an important source for community information and has over 45,000 online subscribers. As First District Councilmember, a position he held from 2009-2014, Robert served as the Chair of the Long Beach Public Safety Committee and the Long Beach Housing Authority, and on both the Federal Legislative and State Legislative Council Committees. He also served on the California Coastal Commission from January, 2013 until taking office as Mayor of Long Beach.
Robert was born in Lima, Peru, and immigrated to the United States at age 5 with his family. He grew up in Covina, California and was raised by three strong women in his life - his mother, grandmother and aunt. Robert was the first person in his family to attend and graduate college. While at CSULB, Robert was elected student body president.
Robert has been named one of Long Beach's "Most Innovative Minds" by Long Beach Magazine, to the Advocate Magazine's 40 Under 40 List in 2010, and to Instinct Magazine's Leading Men in 2009. He was the receipient of the 2014 Vanguard Leadership award from Equality California. Robert lives in downtown Long Beach.
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Marcie Edwards
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.
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Aura Vasquez
Ms. Aura Vasquez was appointed to the Board of Water and Power Commissioners by Mayor Eric Garcetti and confirmed by the Los Angeles City Council on May 3, 2017. Her term continues through June 30, 2020. Ms. Vasquez is an organizer, advocate, and activist for environmental and social justice issues with more than 10 years of experience in New York, Washington D.C, and California. A native of Colombia, she brings her experiences as a Latina immigrant, woman of color and successful environmental leader to many issues concerning frontline communities.
Ms. Vasquez is the Climate Justice Director for the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) where she oversees the 14 organizations that carry out CPD’s national climate justice efforts. She also represents CPD on national committees such as the Ready for 100% campaign, the People's Climate March, and the U.S. Climate Action Network.
Since moving to California to continue her career in advocacy, policy, and social change, Ms. Vasquez has advocated for state and federal immigrant rights with the PICO Network, helped spearhead the ban of single use plastic bags in Los Angeles, pass the California Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act (SB 350), and establish the Feed-in Tariff Initiative – the largest rooftop solar program in the country. As an organizer with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, Ms. Vasquez was instrumental in securing an announcement by former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to make Los Angeles the largest U.S. city to go coal-free by 2025. Ms. Vasquez also serves as board member of the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters.
Through her appointment on the Board of Water and Power Commissioners, Ms. Vasquez will focus on policies that make the municipal utility more equitable, inclusive and sustainable.
She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Lehman College in New York City and recently graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education’s Leadership, Organizing and Action program.
Ms. Vasquez is a thorough world traveler and enjoys learning about diverse cultures. Growing up, she trained as a professional dancer and to this day continues to dance and appreciates music and arts festivals.
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Bob Wieckowski
Former California State Senator Bob Wieckowski chaired the Budget Subcommittee 2 on Resources, Environmental Protection, Energy and Transportation. He was the first Californian to chair the Council of State Governments West Energy and Environment Committee and currently serves on its Executive Committee. He is a state leader in advocating for climate adaptation programs and has participated on many international, state and regional panels examining green infrastructure investments.
His former Senate District includes several clean energy companies that are helping California improve both its economy and its environment.
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Ron Galperin
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.
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Noah Perch-Ahern
Noah Perch-Ahern, a Partner in Greenberg Glusker's Environmental Department, maintains a broad national environmental and energy practice involving complex litigation, regulatory counsel, and transactional matters. Noah is known as one of the leading environmental lawyers of his generation and is often tapped to work on complicated matters without an easy solution. Having developed specialized knowledge across the wide field of environmental law, Noah employs his skills and knowledge in a variety of contexts. He has significant litigation experience and has tried jury and bench trials. At the same time, Noah regularly helps clients devise solutions to difficult regulatory problems, represents clients in connection with administrative proceedings, assists clients with deals and development projects, and represents energy-focused startup companies. Noah augments his practice through his leadership in a variety of organizations focusing on environmental and energy issues, through which he works with key decision-makers of environmental and energy regulatory initiatives. He has a J.D., magna cum laude, from Tulane University Law School and a B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of New Hampshire.
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Varun Sivaram
Varun Sivaram is the Philip D. Reed fellow for science and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, a nonresident fellow at the Columbia University Center for Global Energy Policy, and a member of the advisory boards for the Stanford University Woods Institute for the Environment and Precourt Institute for Energy. Forbes named him one of the 30 under 30 in Law and Policy, Grist selected him as one of the top 50 leaders in sustainability, and Klout ranked him as one of the top 5 global thought leaders on solar energy. He is the author of the book, Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet (MIT University Press, March 2018).
Dr. Sivaram also serves as strategic advisor to the office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Reforming the Energy Vision, and he was formerly a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he counseled Fortune 500 companies on adapting to the modern competitive landscape in energy. Prior to this role, he served as senior advisor for energy and water policy to the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, and oversaw the city’s Department of Water and Power.
Dr. Sivaram’s work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, the Journal of Applied Physics, the Journal of Physical Chemistry, Nature, Nature Energy, Nature Climate Change, Scientific American, and Issues in Science and Technology. He has also given talks around the world, including at the Aspen Ideas Festival and World Economic Forum. A Truman and a Rhodes scholar, he holds degrees from Stanford University in engineering physics and international relations, with honors in international security. Dr. Sivaram holds a PhD in condensed matter physics from St. John’s College, Oxford University, where he developed third-generation solar photovoltaic coatings for building-integrated applications. He lives in Washington, DC.
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Diane Wittenberg
Wittenberg was executive director at the California Plug-in Electric Vehicle Collaborative from 2010 to 2012. She was executive director at the Climate Registry from 2007 to 2010 and president of the California Climate Action Registry from 2001 to 2006. Wittenberg held multiple positions at Edison International from 1985 to 2000, including vice president of corporate communications, president of Edison EV, president of the Edison Utility Alliances and vice president of corporate communications at Southern California Edison.
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Mark Pruner
Mark Pruner serves as the chair to the Delta Protection Advisory Committee (DPAC), the statutory advisory body to the Delta Protection Commission (DPC). The DPAC is composed of 15 members representing diverse interests within the Delta, including agriculture, flood control, water resources, habitat and conservation, recreation, residents, water exports, state and federal agencies, and the public. Many of the policies, projects and ideas across the spectrum of interests affecting the Delta come before the DPAC for input and recommendation to the DPC for possible action.
Pruner also serves as the chair of the Board of Commissioners of the Clarksburg Fire Protection District, is a founder of North Delta C.A.R.E.S., a volunteer Delta advocacy organization, and serves in various other community leadership roles in the Delta, where he and his family have lived for over 20 years. Pruner is a fifth generation Californian, from a farming family background, is a Judge pro tem with the Sacramento Superior Court, and is an attorney in private practice emphasizing real property and business matters.
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Robert Weisenmiller
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.
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Irene Burga
Prior to joining EDF, Irene worked on creating and implementing policies and programs that cut energy waste, boost local economies, and reduce harmful pollution in cities for NRDC’s City Energy Project.
During her time in law school, Irene held several internships, including at the South Coast Air Quality Management District, where she supported prosecutors in air quality enforcement cases.
Irene also spent a semester at the Conservation Law Foundation organizing and educating environmental justice communities about the harmful health effects of air pollution.
Additionally, Irene has experience in employment law and policy from her time working at the Greater Boston Legal Services and Bet Tzedek Legal Services, where she represented indigent workers against employers who had committed wage and hour violations and had failed to provide proper meal and rest breaks.
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Michael George
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.
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John Emerson
John Emerson is a global relationship manager and vice chairman of Capital Group International, Inc. He has 16 years of industry experience, all with Capital Group. He was most recently the United States ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2015, John was awarded the State Department's Susan M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service, which is given annually to one non-career ambassador. Prior to accepting the ambassador posting, John was president of Private Client Services for the Capital Group Companies. Before joining Capital, he was deputy assistant to President Clinton where he coordinated his economic conferences, served as the president’s liaison to the nation’s governors, and led the administration’s efforts to obtain congressional approval of the GATT Uruguay Round Agreement and the extension of China’s MFN trading status. Before that, John served as Los Angeles Chief Deputy City Attorney, and was a partner in the law firm of Manatt, Phelps, Rothenberg, and Phillips. Additionally, he was appointed by President Obama to serve on his Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. He holds an honorary doctor of laws degree from Hamilton College, a juris doctorate degree from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Hamilton College. John is based in Los Angeles.
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Angela Konert
Angela Konert has been heading the Government and External Affairs Office of the BMW Group in Sacramento, California since April 2017. In this function she coordinates corporate positioning with all relevant stakeholders in the fields of environmental, mobility and sustainability policies in CA, OR and WA.
Prior to this, Ms. Konert was responsible for coordinating the political communication of the BMW Group in Munich with regards to human resources related issues as well as sustainability engagements and electric mobility. In collaboration with the markets worldwide Ms. Konert managed the communication activities with key opinion leaders, government representatives as well as city officials to promote policies fostering the uptake of electric vehicles. She started her career at BMW Group in London working at the Representative Office for the UK and Ireland representing the BMW Group in a broad range of bodies and initiatives covering the whole range of relevant policy issues.
Angela Konert grew up in Hannover, Northern Germany and holds a Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA) and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from both the London School of Economics and the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.
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Erica He
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.
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Susan Kennedy
Before starting a groundbreaking energy storage company, Susan served for two decades at the highest levels of state and federal government, most recently as chief of staff to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, cabinet secretary and deputy chief of staff to Governor Gray Davis and communications director for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. She served from 2003-2006 on California’s Public Utilities Commission, regulating the state’s investor-owned electric utilities, telecommunications providers and private water companies.
In her numerous government roles, Susan was at the center of many of California’s groundbreaking environmental policies, including the carbon reduction mandate and cap-and- trade program under AB 32, the Low-Carbon Fuel Standard, auto emission standards and Renewable Portfolio Standard. She coordinated the State’s emergency demand response efforts during the energy crisis of 2000-2001 and as a member of the PUC she authored what was then the largest energy efficiency program in utility history.
Susan’s company, Advanced Microgrid Solutions, is on the leading edge of a complete transformation of the electric grid. Using advanced energy storage systems, AMS is creating the first fleet of Hybrid Electric BuildingsÒ in the world, turning portfolios of commercial and industrial buildings into virtual power plants for Southern California Edison. In 2014 her company won the first major contract in the world to use these advanced energy storage technologies on a large scale to replace capacity from the retired facility at San Onofre nuclear facility. AMS is consistently listed as one of the top clean tech companies to watch in the US.
She holds a B.A. in Management from Saint Mary’s College of California.
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Eric Corey Freed
Eric Corey Freed is an award-winning architect, author, and global speaker. As Sustainability Disruptor for Morrison Hershfield, he identifies solutions to problems most teams didn't know were holding them back. He was Founding Principal of organicARCHITECT, a visionary design leader in biophilic and regenerative design.
His past roles include Vice President of the International Living Future Institute and Chief Community Officer of EcoDistricts, both nonprofits pushing innovative new paradigms for deep green buildings and communities.
Eric is the author of 11 books, including "Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies.” In 2012, he was named one of the 25 "Best Green Architecture Firms" in the US, and one of the "Top 10 Most Influential Green Architects." In 2017, he was named one of Build's American Architecture Top 25. He holds a prestigious LEED Fellow award from the US Green Building Council.
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Manuel Pastor
Dr. Manuel Pastor is Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. He directs the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) and USC's Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII) and is the inaugural holder of the Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change at USC.
Recognized for his work at the intersection of the academy and activism, he received the Wally Marks Changemaker of the Year Award from the Liberty Hill Foundation for his many research partnerships with social justice organizations. His current research is looking at the last several decades of economic, social, and environmental transformations in California – and what they can tell us about the road ahead for the U.S.
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Vince Bertoni
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.
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Liang Downey
Liang works for IBM as a Business Executive for IBM’s Energy, Environment & Utilities Global Industry. She leads the development of IOT, analytics and cognitive computing solutions for IBM’s customers and partners, to help them create new offerings in the changing energy landscape, better balance the distributed energy supply and demand, eliminate energy waste and promote sustainability. Her professional experience spans over 20 years in consulting, management and technology incubation across the energy, transportation and wireless computing industries. For 5 years at a renewable energy microgrid start up, she helped the company grow, from business strategy, partnership to licensing company’s IP. Liang was one of the key initiators for the IEEE Humanitarian Technology Challenge (HTC) in 2009. HTC aimed at enabling remote villages that lack access to electricity by deploying a solar Trailer to light up and digitize the dark homes village by village. HTC has since evolved into an award Winning IEEE Smart Village program today.
Ms. Downey is an Adcom member of the IEEE TEMS Society 2016-2020 and the Region 4 Chair for Women In Engineering. She earned a Master Degree in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University in New York, with GPA 4.0/4.0. She received her MBA in Finance from Wayne State University in Dec. 2014.
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Jerry Meral
Dr. Gerald (Jerry) Meral is the director of the California Water Program at the Natural Heritage Institute. He works on funding for California water, Delta infrastructure, and a variety of other California water programs. He formerly served as Deputy Director of the California Department of Water Resources, Deputy Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, Executive Director of the Planning and Conservation Director, and Staff Scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund. He has placed 9 initiatives on the California statewide ballot, and has been involved in many statewide ballot measures affecting California water, parks, wildlife, health, and transportation. He has a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of California, Berkeley. He serves as the campaign director of the Water Supply and Water Quality Initiative Bond Act of November 2018 campaign.
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Erik Takayesu
Erik Takayesu is the Director of Electric System Planning for Southern California Edison. The organizations he currently oversees include Grid Modernization, Distribution and Transmission System Planning and Engineering, Distribution Automation, Power Quality, Generation Interconnection Planning and Studies. He has held various roles at SCE, including managing Grid Operations, Reliability Engineering, and Asset Management. As part of modernizing the electric grid, Erik has been instrumental in leading the efforts to develop SCE’s Distribution Resource Plan. His organization is also developing the strategy for enabling the electric grid to integrate Distributed Energy Resources. Erik has a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the California State University at Long Beach, is a licensed PE, and holds his master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University.
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Michelle Boehm
As Southern California Regional Director for the California High-Speed Rail Authority, Michelle Boehm oversees strategy, stakeholder outreach, and related elements of project development for over 300 miles of the planned all electric High Speed Rail system in the Southern California Region’s five project sections: Bakersfield to Palmdale, Palmdale to Burbank, Burbank to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Anaheim and Los Angeles to San Diego.
Michelle Boehm brings nearly 20 years of experience in both public and private sectors in transportation planning and policy analysis. Before joining the Authority, she was a Vice President with one of the largest Architectural and Engineering firms in the Country. In that role, Boehm was the regional manager responsible for overseeing business development, strategic planning, and public agency and community outreach for projects throughout Southern California.
Over the course of her career Boehm has proven her ability as an industry leader working with business and legislative stakeholders on the high-speed rail project, and as a business manager and strategic planner, having developed strategy for transportation, water, geotechnical, structural, and environmental engineering and planning practice development and projects.
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William Funderburk
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.).
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Harlan Kelly
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.
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Dean Florez
Dean Florez is a proven leader in the air quality arena having served as the past Chairman of the California Senate Select Committee on Air Quality. While in the Senate, he authored a series of ground-breaking anti-pollution laws focused on the San Joaquin Valley's dirty air and repealed the agriculture industry's historic exemption from air operating permits that had lasted for 63 years.
Sen. Florez served in the California Assembly from 1998 to 2002 and in the Senate from 2002 to 2010, representing the Central Valley including Bakersfield, Fresno and 18 other cities. Sen. Florez is now President and CEO of Balance Public Relations which specializes in education and technology.
Senator Florez also served as the Senate's appointee to the Committee on Awards for Innovation in Higher Education and served as President of the Twenty Million Minds Foundation. Florez is a thought leader on higher education issues and has been a featured speaker at the New York Times and White House.
A former investment banker, Sen. Florez received his MBA from Harvard in 1993. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from UCLA, where he also served as Student Body President.
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Drew Torbin
Drew Torbin is Co-Founder and CEO of Black Bear Energy Inc., a buyer’s agent for renewable energy and clean technology. Mr. Torbin launched Black Bear to accelerate the adoption of clean energy amongst commercial properties, and in less than three years has helped clients procure over 50 projects. Prior to starting Black Bear, Mr. Torbin founded and led the renewable energy group at Prologis, where during his tenure the group deployed over 120 megawatts of distributed solar projects. Before Prologis, Mr. Torbin was an analyst at Litchfield Capital Management, LLC, a U.S. equity long/short hedge fund.
Mr. Torbin holds a B.S. from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh. He is also a graduate of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Energy Executive Leadership Program and served on the Colorado New Energy Improvement District board.
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George Minter
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.
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Marissa Christiansen
Marissa Christiansen is the Executive Director of Friends of the LA River (FOLAR). Prior to FOLAR, she held roles in policy, advocacy and development at XPRIZE and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, among others. Her deep abiding love for LA began at USC where she earned her Master’s in Urban Planning [fight on]. Her inner compass and lifelong passion for counter-culture has magnetized her to the nonprofit world. A proud California native, her primary inspiration is the beauty and power of our natural landscape. To help guide the movement centered on LA’s most diversely textured and inconspicuously beautiful resource is basically her dream come true.
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Felicia Marcus
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.
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Clare Fox
Clare Fox has served as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council (LAFPC) since 2015. In this role, she supports and collaborates with a large network of public, private, non-profit and community leaders to catalyze policy and systems change for a sustainable and fair food system. Clare joined the staff of the LA Food Policy Council in 2011, eventually serving as the Director of Policy and Innovation. Since then, she has led numerous programs and legislative wins leading to improved access to healthy food for low-income residents, improved conditions for food workers, and improved coordination among food agencies and stakeholders. Previously, she created and led a food access investment program at the City of Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA-LA), piloted in South Los Angeles in partnership with Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and a coalition of community-based organizations and residents. In her first career, she was a radio producer at National Public Radio and Youth Radio, where she taught radio and media production to young people throughout Los Angeles – from Boyle Heights to Inglewood. She currently serves on Mayor Garcetti’s Los Angeles Promise Zone Leadership Council, the Board of Directors for LA Compost, chair of the women’s committee of CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice), and was a founding board member of Critical Mass Dance Company. She has a bachelors of arts in Critical Social Thought from Mount Holyoke College, a Masters in Urban Planning from UCLA and all her work is informed by a lifelong commitment to social and racial justice.
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Jacob Lipa
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.
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David Ryu
Los Angeles City Councilmember David E. Ryu represents the 4th Council District which includes the neighborhoods of Sherman Oaks, Toluca Lake, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, Silverlake, Miracle Mile, Hancock Park, Windsor Square, Larchmont and a portion of Koreatown. Ryu studied economics at UCLA; Public Policy and Administration at Rutgers; won a prestigious United Nations graduate internship; and was a Netkal Fellow at USC’s School of Social Work.
As Senior Deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke, he worked for years on issues like public health, housing, children and family services, transportation and senior services. He helped oversee the County budget and worked for a time as a Special Investigator for the Auditor-Controller, rooting out waste and fraudulent expenditures. Ryu returned to the non-profit world and served as Director of Development and Public Affairs at one of Los Angeles’s largest non-profit health care providers: Kedren Acute Psychiatric Hospital and Community Health Center.
On July 1st, 2015 Ryu became the first Korean American to serve on the LA City Council and only the second Asian American.
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Ruben Dagstanyan
Ruben Dagstanyan joined Tabuchi Electric in June of 2017, and currently serves as Executive Vice President and CTO. For the past several years Ruben has been involved in renewable energy related projects and products. He joined Tabuchi Electric to lead the company’s effort in developing and bringing to the market residential, as well as commercial inverters in North America.
Prior to joining Tabuchi Electric Ruben was with Panasonic serving as Vice President, Eco Solutions Group for Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company (PESCO). In his recent years with PESCO he had been responsible for developing new technological solutions, systems architecture and product portfolios in PESCO's Eco sector with a heavy emphasis in the solar plus storage and micro-grid space. Just prior to becoming VP, Ruben headed Engineering, Project Management and Operations Departments as part of then PESCO's Eco Group's EPC activities at the commercial scale. Under his leadership, the Eco Group implemented in excess of 200MW solar generation plants since 2011.
Prior to Panasonic, Ruben worked for seven years at the Sony Systems Development Center with responsibilities ranging from Implementation Project Manager, deploying DirecTV Japan multi-channel satellite broadcast system, to Senior Systems Architect providing systems solutions for clients interested in digital content management and digital rights management. He was responsible for various solutions related to the broadcasting industry.
Ruben has a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from Riga Polytechnic Institute, Latvia. He is passionate about performance cars, cooking, and watchmaking, and currently resides in California.
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Carl Muhlstein
Carl Muhlstein, International Director, is based in JLL's Downtown Los Angeles office. Active in Los Angeles commercial real estate for more than 30 years, Carl's background includes all forms of tenant, landlord, and investment related assignments with a special emphasis on the entertainment industry, creative office and development. Carl has served in senior positions with Cushman & Wakefield, Cushman Realty Corporation, Insignia/ESG Capital Advisors and Tishman Speyer Properties.
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Larry Kosmont
Mr. Larry J. Kosmont, CRE® is Chairman and CEO of Kosmont Companies, which he founded in 1986. Kosmont Companies is an industry leader in public/private real estate/land use transactions, public finance, and economic development. In 1990, he founded Kosmont Realty, a real estate brokerage firm and subsequently, launched Kosmont Transactions Services, Inc. dba Kosmont Financial Services which sources financing for public/private projects, P3 initiatives, and infrastructure funding. He is a co-principal of California Golden Fund, a USCIS approved EB-5 Regional Center.
Mr. Kosmont’s over 35-year career encompasses public/private financial structuring, negotiation, development, and management of real estate and public finance transactions exceeding $12B. He has assisted hundreds of local government agencies in public finance and real estate matters ranging from large-scale economic development programs to site-specific real estate strategies and projects. He has guided over 1,000 private sector projects in obtaining public approvals, structuring deal terms, and securing public/private financing.
Mr. Kosmont served as Interim City Administrator, City Manager, Director of Community Development, and Redevelopment Director in the cities of Montebello. Santa Monica, Seal Beach, Bell Gardens, and Burbank.
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Sheba Hafiz
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Robert Greene
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.
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Justin Erbacci
Justin Erbacci was appointed Chief Innovation and Technology Officer (CITO) and Deputy Executive Director in July 2016. Justin is responsible for identifying potential innovative technologies and processes and bringing them to fruition to help transform these airports. He also is responsible for the overall Information Technology vision, strategy and operations for Los Angeles International (LAX) and Van Nuys general aviation airports.
Prior to his appointment with LAWA, he served as Vice President of Customer Experience & Technology for Star Alliance Services GmbH, a global airline network comprised of 28 airlines. Additionally, Justin served as the Director of Global Product Management for Credit Suisse, and as a Manager of Business Planning and Technology at United Airlines. Justin also served as a senior IT consultant for firms including Reese McMahon LLC, Cambridge Management Consultants, and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
Prior to consulting, he practiced law as a civil rights defense litigator. Justin earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Vienna School of Economics/Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University of Chicago’s School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Loyola University of Chicago.
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Richard Maullin
Richard Maullin is a founding partner (1981) of Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates. (FM3), a public opinion research and strategy company. He was the California Deputy Secretary of State from 1971 to 1974, and he served as Chairman of the California Energy Commission from 1975 through 1979. Dr. Maullin is currently the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the California Independent System Operator Corporation which operates California’s electricity markets and the electric grid. From 1980 to 1985, Dr. Maullin was President and Chief Executive Officer of MCR Geothermal Corporation. Dr. Maullin was also a member of the Social Science Research Staff at the RAND Corporation from 1965 through 1971, specializing in Latin American politics and economics.
Richard Maullin was born in Los Angeles, California and received his bachelor’s (with honors 1962), master’s (1964) and PhD (1972) degrees in Political Science from UCLA. He has recently retired from FM3.
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Irma Muñoz
Irma R. Muñoz is the Founder/President of Mujeres de la Tierra an environmental equity non-profit focused on healing La Madre Tierra and re-defining the traditional “green” dialogue in Los Angeles, California.
Irma firmly believes in the power of one and that community action starts with individual participation. She believes that the families and residents of the neighborhood should have the power and right to lead/own their issues and determine what’s best for them, their families and community.
She currently serves on the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Board of Directors as an appointee of the Mayor of Los Angeles and is a Governor’s appointee to the Los Angeles County Regional Water Quality Control Board.
She has held many positions in the public sector and the position she is most proud of is being a presidential appointee with the Clinton Administration serving in Washington D.C. with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
She earned her BA from the University of California, San Diego and her Juris Doctorate from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California.
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Mark Bozigian
Mark Bozigian has been with the City of Lancaster for over 22 years, serving as City Manager since 2008. Prior to that, he served as Assistant City Manager, Redevelopment Director, Assistant to the City Manager, and Transportation Programs Coordinator. In total, Mr. Bozigian has been in the public sector for approximately 25 years.
Mr. Bozigian’s primary areas of emphasis have been public safety, economic development, redevelopment, transportation, neighborhood revitalization, budgeting, government relations, and grant funding. Prior to his employment with the City, Mr. Bozigian was employed by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) for three years in the Capital Planning and Programming Department. In that time, he directed many MTA programs including the MTA Call for Projects competitive grants program. During his last year at the MTA, he was the Director of the agency’s Long Range Financial Planning Section.
Prior to his work in the public sector, Mr. Bozigian worked for twelve years in the private sector. He began his professional career at Hughes Aircraft Company. During his ten years at Hughes Aircraft, he held various management positions including that of Business Manager for two laser production programs.
Mr. Bozigian also has experience as a realtor and as a partner in a small business and holds both a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University. He and his wife live in the Antelope Valley and have two adult children.
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Darrell Steinberg*
Darrell Steinberg is Mayor of the City of Sacramento. Prior, Darrell was a California State Senator representing the Sacramento Region (6th District) in the state legislature for 14 years, including the last 6 as the President of the Senate. Before he was elected to the Assembly in 1998, Darrell also served on the Sacramento City Council for 6 years.
During his legislative tenure, Darrell worked on agreements that protected California's water supply, overhauled workers compensation laws, revamped zoning rules to combat urban sprawl and global warming, enhanced workplace safety, tackled school dropout rates, and reduced governmental red tape to benefit the economy. He led the charge in passing pension reform that eliminated flagrant abuses of the system. Darrell aided in sending AB 900 to the governor to expedite the legal process for large scale environmentally sustainable projects, and also introduced SB 946 to mandate insurance companies cover treatment of people with autism and related disorders. He is well known for his commitment to mental health, authoring the legislation that became Proposition 63 to provide greater funding for mental health care. He is recognized in Sacramento and with the leadership of the National Basketball Association for securing the passage of SB 743 that made changes to the California Environmental Quality Act, allowing the Kings’ arena to be built in downtown Sacramento. In the 2013/2014 session, he authored bills on insurance (SB 476), political reform (SB 477), medical practice (SB 670), flood protection (SB 753), redevelopment (SB 1129), and the statewide ballot initiative process (SB 1253), a measure strongly supported by former Chief Justice Ron George.
Darrell is also the Founder and Board Chair of The Steinberg Institute for Advancing Mental Health Policy.
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Jay Ziegler
On April 3, 2023, Jay Ziegler was appointed to a four-year term as Delta Watermaster for the State Water Resources Control Board.
Prior to being appointed, Mr. Ziegler was the Director of External Affairs and Policy for The Nature Conservancy (TNC). During his 12 years at the conservancy, he led the agency’s policy engagements on water, climate strategies, biodiversity protection and environmental funding initiatives. Prior to joining TNC, he was a partner in the interdisciplinary public affairs firm, Ziegler Associates, where he focused on land use, water policy, renewable energy, and permitting and mitigation matters. Previously, he served in multiple roles at state and federal natural resource agencies, including intergovernmental affairs with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, where he focused on endangered species, public lands, water, and natural resource management issues across the West.
The position of Delta Watermaster was created by the 2009 Delta Reform Act. The Delta Watermaster is an independent office of the State of California 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 matters relating to water rights, water quality, habitat and land use across this vital estuary, agricultural and recreational area, and the hub of California’s water conveyance infrastructure.
He is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, serves on several non-profit boards, and resides in Davis, California with his wife, Carri.
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Peter Wijsman
In November 2008 Mr. Wijsman was transferred from ARCADIS' Dutch operating company to the United States to expand the company's water resources opertations in California. Based in San Francisco, he has a special focus in business development on water resources management for San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. After having enjoyed education in both the Netherlands and the US Mr. Wijsman is a perfect fit to form a knowledge bridge on water management between the two countries. In addtion to his focus in California he is involved in US nation wide strategic growth initiatives in climate change adaptation, intelligent flood protection systems and sustainable urban development.
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Mike Markus
Michael (Mike) R. Markus is the general manager of the Orange County Water District (OCWD; the District). With more than 36 years of experience, Mike is well known for his expertise in large project implementation and water resource management. During his 26-year career at the District, Mike was responsible for managing the implementation of the $480 million Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS), the largest planned indirect potable reuse project in the world. The GWRS has won many awards including the 2008 Stockholm Industry Water Award, 2009 ASCE Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award, 2014 U.S. Water Prize and the 2014 Lee Kuan Yew Prize. Mike was named one of the Top 25 Newsmakers of 2007 by the Engineering News-Record, Top 25 Industry Leaders of 2014 by Water & Wastewater International and received the international 2009 Säid Khoury Award for Engineering Construction Excellence. He currently serves on the board of directors of the American Academy of Water Resource Engineers, the California Section of the WateReuse Association and the WateReuse Research Foundation. Mike obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and a Master of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Southern California. He is a registered civil engineer in the state of California.
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Sylvain Castonguay
Sylvain Castonguay is a mechanical engineer with both bachelor and master’s degree from University of Sherbrooke, in Quebec, Canada. He has been involved in hybrid and electric vehicles since 2001. He started his first company in 2002 before accepting a position as technical director at the Center for Electric Vehicle Experimentation in 2004 where he led several technical projects, from adoption of Segways to hybrid urban buses. At the Center he was responsible for assembling a talented technical team responsible for building electric vehicle prototypes for NovaBus, Lion Buses, LTS Marine, and Nordco as well as working for customers such as Renault, Via Motors, Cities of Montreal, Laval, Quebec City and more. In 2014, he received the Medal of the National assembly of Quebec for his work on electrification of transportation.
In 2015, he founded Nordresa and now leads a team of passionate people developing, manufacturing and commercializing electric powertrains for commercial trucks. Thanks to a state of the art automotive grade battery, Nordresa is capable of offering the best electric alternative for vehicles based on two of the most popular chassis: the Ford E-450 and the Isuzu N Series. Nordresa’s technology has been implemented by a major Canadian parcel delivery company and is now commercially available both in Canada and the USA. With existing incentives, this technology can be implemented with a rapid return on investment from 2 to 4 years and with an immediate 85% reduction in maintenance cost. The company uses automotive proven components, direct drive power trains and offers the best value for the commercial truck market.
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Dan Sturges
Dan Sturges is a leading transportation designer, entrepreneur, and educator. Early in Dan’s career, he designed and commercialized the first Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV), and led the charge to create a new “right-sized” vehicle category for local trip needs. In 1998, Dan launched the first New Mobility program in North America, while working with the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC-Davis, focusing on the future of smart multi-mobility systems. Since then, Dan has spent several decades focusing on the future of urban mobility and working for a diverse number of companies / organizations that includes: Southern California Metropolitan Planning Organizations (SCAG, SANDAG, SBCCOG). He has supported General Motors, Ford, Daimler, Nissan Future Lab, Disney, Segway, V-Ride, Fehr & Peers, NRDC and Rocky Mountain Institute, among others. Dan was named one of 40 top designers in the U.S. by ID Magazine, and served on the Transportation Research Board for 10 years as a member of the New Public Transportation committee.
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Clare DeBriere*
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Albert Cheung
Albert manages the global research team at Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), the leading provider of independent research on transformation in the energy sector. Albert’s group is responsible for BNEF’s research in renewable energy, energy storage, energy smart technologies and advanced transport, as well as cross-sector modelling. Albert joined BNEF in 2009 and has previously led the company’s product management group, as well as its energy smart technologies analyst team. Albert holds a MEng in Electrical and Information Engineering from the University of Cambridge.
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Jonathan Weisgall
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.
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Woodie Tescher
Woodie Tescher, Principal, for PlaceWorks, is recognized for his leadership in advancing the principles of placemaking, sustainability, health, environmental justice, and smart growth in the development of policy and regulatory planning documents for communities throughout the state. His experience is represented by general plans for the cities of Pasadena, Sacramento, Los Angeles (Framework Plan), Newport Beach, West Hollywood; Redondo Beach, Temple City, La Habra, and Corona; specific plans for Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, Temple City’s Crossroads District, Long Beach’s East Village Arts District, and San Gabriel’s Valley Boulevard Neighborhoods; framework plan for the integrated development of the 10th campus of the University of California at Merced and surrounding community; and transit-oriented community plans for Santa Monica’s Bergamot Mixed-Use Creative District, Jefferson-La Cienega Boulevards’ Metro Exposition Light Rail Line station area, and Laguna Niguel’s Amtrak Station Gateway. He currently is leading the station planning team for the Palmdale to Burbank segment of the California High Speed Rail Project.
Mr. Tescher is the Immediate Past President of the California Planning Roundtable and recipient of the American Planning Association California Chapter’s Distinguished Planner Award, the Planner Emeritus Network’s Award of Honor, and UCLA Extension’s Distinguished Instructor Award. He serves as an Adjunct Instructor for the Masters of Planning Program in USC’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. He received a Master of Architecture, Urban Design from UCLA and Bachelor of Architecture from USC.
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Gary Gero
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors appointed Gary Gero to be the County’s first Chief Sustainability Officer in November 2016. His duties include: building and launching the largest community choice energy program in California; creating a countywide sustainability plan that addresses regional environmental, economic, and equity issues; and serving as the key environmental advisor to the Board of Supervisors.
Gary previously served as the President of the Climate Action Reserve, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Los Angeles and operating across North America. He now serves as the Vice-Chair on its Board of Directors. He has also served on the CFTC’s Energy and Environmental Markets Committee, the board of California Invasive Plant Council, and the Glendale City Planning Commission.
Gary’s career includes many years in local government including having served as the Assistant General Manager for the City of Los Angeles Environmental Affairs Department. He also worked for several years at the LADWP where he oversaw energy efficiency, renewable energy, and distributed generation programs.
Gary earned his Master's degree from the London School of Economics and his undergraduate degrees from the University of California at Berkeley.
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Bill Hanway
Bill is an Executive Vice President and the Global Sports Leader at AECOM, the global design, infrastructure and construction services firm. Trained as an architect, Bill’s work focuses on large scale regeneration projects, major sports events planning, and sports venue design. He works closely with politicians, civic leaders and key stakeholders to leverage the capital investment required to host a major sports event to both help regenerate areas of cities that are socio-economically challenged as well as delivering catalysts for future development.
He currently leads the AECOM team for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and served as the Director of Venues and Infrastructure during the candidate city bid phase. Previously, he led the AECOM team that delivered the London 2012 Games and Legacy masterplan as well as the Rio 2016 Games and Legacy masterplan. He also served as an advisor to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Tokyo 2020.
Other recent projects include the Golden 1 arena for the Sacramento Kings – the first LEED Platinum sports facility in the world.
He has a Masters of Architecture degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.
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Norma Garcia
Norma E. Garcia was appointed the new Chief Deputy Director for the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation. Ms. Garcia is the first woman to serve as Chief Deputy Director since the Department was created on July 1, 1944.
In her role as Chief Deputy Director, she will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Department with a $186 million budget, more than 1,600 full-time employees and 6,477 registered volunteers.
Ms. Garcia has been with the Department for nine years and, prior to her new appointment, held the position of Deputy Director of the Department’s Planning and Development Agency. She has led the work of the Department in planning, acquisition, development, and asset management of 180 park facilities, 71,249 acres of parkland and 210 miles of trails. Most recently, she served as a principal leader for key region-wide initiatives such as the Countywide Park Needs Assessment, the Master Plan for Magic Johnson Park, and the transformation of Puente Hills Landfill to a County regional park.
Ms. Garcia earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning, both from the University of California, Los Angeles.
She fills the position held by previous Chief Deputy Director, John Wicker, who was appointed Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation on March 29, 2016.
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Kelli Bernard
Kelli Bernard is chief executive for the Los Angeles Metro+ region of AECOM, a premier, fully integrated global infrastructure firm headquartered in Los Angeles.
With more than 2,000 employees in the Los Angeles and Southern California area, Kelli is responsible for building on AECOM’s strategies to deliver its integrated services to meet the infrastructure and business needs of public and private sector clients. Her extensive background in economic development and deep relationships in the Southern California region are valuable assets as AECOM looks to enhance its market presence. AECOM is the largest company headquartered in Los Angeles.
Kelli has more than 20 years of experience in economic development, land use planning, housing, redevelopment and public affairs. She also has in-depth knowledge of public/private partnerships, public finance and infrastructure investment.
Prior to joining AECOM, Kelli served as the deputy mayor of economic development for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. In this role as the city’s top economic advisor, Kelli championed business growth, economic development and job creation in Los Angeles. She managed eight city departments including the Los Angeles World Airports and the Port of Los Angeles, with combined budgets of more than $6 billion and more than 7,000 employees.
Kelli was also responsible for the development and implementation of the city’s International Trade policy, and was instrumental in the overseeing Garcetti’s Asia Trade Mission, where she led a delegation of business leaders to China, South Korea and Japan. She gave the keynote address at the 2015 Kaohsiung International Harbor Cities Conference which explored strategies for transforming industrial port cities through urban innovation, infrastructure investment, and land use redevelopment.
Prior to her position as deputy mayor, she was director of economic development at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest municipality in the United States, where she led the department’s Clean Technology Initiative that culminated in the development of the $40M La Kretz Innovation Campus.
Earlier in her career, Kelli worked as director of planning and economic development for Mayor Garcetti when he served as president of the Los Angeles City Council. In this role, she oversaw key development activities, including the $110 million Emerson College and the $390 million mixed-used Columbia Square projects.
Kelli is a commissioner for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), an organization created in 1993 to address the challenges of homelessness in Los Angeles. She also serves on the boards for the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce and Town Hall Los Angeles.
Kelli holds a master’s degree in Urban Planning from University of California, Los Angeles, and a BA in Sociology from University of California, Berkeley.
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Melanie Nutter
Melanie Nutter is the Principal of Nutter Consulting and provides sustainability and smart cities strategy development and implementation for cities, foundations and companies. Prior to this role, Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed Melanie as the Director of the San Francisco Department of Environment where she continued to serve for Mayor Edwin Lee through February 2014.
Nutter led the Department, which helps all San Francisco residents and businesses take an active role in protecting the urban environment, develops "first in the nation" policy initiatives, conducts outreach and education on sustainable practices, and runs innovative environmental programs including on zero waste, green building, climate and energy, toxics reduction and clean transportation.
During her tenure, San Francisco achieved an 80% waste diversion rate, reduced its carbon emissions to 14.5% below 1990 levels and was named the Greenest City in North America by Siemens and the Economist Intelligence Unit. Under Nutter’s leadership, the Department expanded its focus on community outreach and engagement, released an updated Climate Action Strategy, launched a citywide adaptation effort and started a biodiversity program. Nutter also championed smart city strategies to help the City meet its sustainability goals.
From 2005-2010, Nutter served as the Deputy District Director for the U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, where she helped managed the Speaker’s district office and advised on local policy issues.
Nutter is a frequent speaker on urban sustainability and smart cities, having presented at TEDx, South by Southwest Eco, the Urban Environmental Accords Summit, GreenBiz’s VERGE conference, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and the Smart Cities World Congress, among other events. She has been featured as a contributor on CNN.com and the Today Show.
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Larsh Johnson
As Chief Technology Officer at Stem, Larsh Johnson is leading hardware and software engineering to meet the needs of Stem’s C&I, utility, and energy market customers.
Prior to joining Stem, Larsh was Chief Technology Officer at Siemens Digital Grid, where he led technology development teams on products spanning from consumer metering, demand response and analytics to control center software and grid automation. He joined Siemens via the acquisition of eMeter, a Bay Area software company of which he was a co-founder and responsible for innovation and development of meter data management, analytics, and advanced smart grid applications.
Prior to eMeter, he co-founded CellNet Data Systems, a pioneer in wireless networks for smart metering and distribution automation and now a unit of Landis+Gyr.
Larsh was a founding member of the DOE’s Gridwise Architecture Council (GWAC) and remains a Member Emeritus. He earned a B.S. and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
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Randall Winston
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.
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Herb Wesson
Herb J. Wesson, Jr. has served as the President of the Los Angeles City Council since November 2011 and has represented Council District 10 since 2005. Wesson is the first African American to hold the position of Council President in the city’s history and has been re-elected three times to lead the city’s legislative body. During his tenure as Council President, Wesson has presided over monumental policy initiatives making Los Angeles a better place to live, work and raise a family. Not only have local policy initiatives —which include raising the minimum wage, pension reform and consolidating city elections to increase voter turnout— positively affected local residents, but in many cases the city’s actions have spurred state and national response and served as a model for similar policies.
Wesson chairs several committees including the Rules, Elections, Intergovernmental Relations, and Neighborhoods (REIRN) Committee, Board of Referred Powers and the Ad Hoc Committee on the 2024 Summer Olympics. He is the Vice Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Comprehensive Job Creation. As chair of REIRN, Wesson has facilitated the empowerment of Neighborhood Councils while finding new and innovative ways to engage the public and promote civic engagement.
Council President Wesson has been happily married to Fabian Wesson for more than 35 years and is the proud father of four sons- Douglas, P.J., Herb III, and Justin. Wesson is grandfather to three grandchildren- Patrick, Maileah, and Tatiana. When Council President Wesson is not spoiling his grandchildren, you can find him on the links with his wife. He is a graduate of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
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David Jacot
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.
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Brian Fraser
Brian Fraser has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with over 25 years of experience in the water and wastewater treatment industry. He is currently leading MAI’s Ceramic Flat Sheet Membrane team’s business development activities for the Americas. Under his direction, they are focused on providing solutions for water reuse applications including direct and indirect potable reuse as well as industrial water reuse and recycle. Prior to MAI, Brian worked with many different innovative treatment technologies on projects around the world providing unique solutions to various water issues.
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Mary Patton
Mary Patton is a seasoned business executive and veteran cannabis activist whose professional career path has taken her from award-winning marketing campaigns, working with clients such as Intel and Sun Microsystems for L!VE Marketing, to high profile entertainment industry positions with KZOK FM Radio, Harpo Studios, Rhino Entertainment, and Amoeba Music, before settling full-time into the cannabis industry with a focus on policy reform and business development.
What began as a volunteer passion project in the early 1990s, eventually became a life’s mission when she left her career in media, marketing and entertainment, to join a top cannabis policy organization, The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) as Director of VIP Relations in 2008. Combining business savvy with her production, marketing and communications skills, Ms. Patton enlisted and engaged high-profile celebrity advocates to speak out on cannabis prohibition, organized star-studded fundraising events and helped to change the social narrative and attitudes surrounding marijuana to advance the legalization movement. After leaving MPP, Mary worked with Gov. Gary Johnson’s Our America Initiative, then joined his campaign team on his 2012 run for President of the United States. Since 2010, Ms. Patton has been a sought-after cannabis industry consultant, lending her expertise and advice to state policy initiatives and cannabis industry start-ups, many of which have gone on to become some of the top companies in the cannabis industry. A key area of focus in Ms. Patton's work revolves around guiding her clients into compliance while implementing responsible and sustainable business practices.
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Renata Simril*
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.
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Katherine Perez
Katharine Aguilar Perez is the Los Angeles Cities Leader and Principal with Arup. She is an expert in urban planning, transportation, and stakeholder engagement. In the planning and land use field, she is highly regarded for developing complex public participation strategies that require collaboration among multi-cultural communities. With her background in community development, private real estate development, transportation policy and urban planning, she is recognized as a leader in the planning and development fields and speaks at conferences throughout the country.
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Michael Kelly
Michael H. Kelly currently serves as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Coalition for the Economy & Jobs, a non-profit organization comprised of leaders in the business, labor, academia and non-profit sectors dedicated to ensuring a path for economic growth and the creation and retention of quality jobs in the greater Los Angeles region.
Prior to working with the Los Angeles Coalition, Mr. Kelly has worked in a number of high-level positions, both in the private sector and with California State government. He recently served as the Manager of California Government Relations for the Boeing Company, a multi-billion dollar publicly traded company in charge of managing Federal, State and Local government relations and political activities throughout California. Additionally he helped coordinate government relations support at each of the company’s site operations.
In the public sector Mr. Kelly had the distinction of being appointed by both Governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Film Commission, where he served as Deputy Director, successfully spearheading both Governors’ policies and initiatives to retain and attract motion picture production to California.
Prior to his appointment to the Film Commission, Mr. Kelly served in a variety of capacities for Governor Davis, first as an aide to then Lt. Governor Davis, a Special Assistant for Internal and External Affairs throughout the 1997-1998 gubernatorial campaign, transition to office, and first year and a half of the new administration. Mr. Kelly was a trusted advisor to the Governor and the primary contact for the Governor and his staff, elected officials and business leaders on numerous administration and political issues.
In 1999, Mr. Kelly was appointed Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Cabinet Affairs to work as a liaison between the Governor’s Office and the assigned Governmental Agencies and Departments, responsible for the Department of Industrial Relations; Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency; Department of Food and Agriculture; Environmental Protection Agency; Business, Transportation and Housing Agency; Resources Agency, and the Secretary of State and Consumer Services Agency.
He currently serves on the board of directors of the Center for Sustainable Energy, chair of the FUSE Corps L.A. Advisory Committee, the chair of the Philanthropic Foundation for California State University, Dominguez Hills, and a member of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator’s Diversity in Entrepreneurship Committee, the Pacific Council on International Relations, a partner at Saving The West, advisory board member for WorkingNation, as well as an adviser to Transmosis. He was also the recipient of the EnCorps Teachers Program 2010 “Torchbearer of the Year” Award.
Michael received an Economics Degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. He was a Dean’s Merit Scholar at USC.
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Robb Whitaker
Robb Whitaker has worked in the field of water resources engineering and planning for over 30 years. He has wide ranging experience with water distribution infrastructure, water supply forecasting, and groundwater basin management.
Robb is the General Manager of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD), a regional groundwater agency that manages two major groundwater basins located in southern Los Angeles County. These basins provide half of the total water supply for four million residents in 43 cities within the WRD service area. During his 25 years at WRD, Robb has developed and implemented many projects and programs to increase the safety and reliability of the Central and West Coast Groundwater Basins.
Mr. Whitaker received a B.S. in Civil Engineering with emphasis in Water Resources from the University of Southern California. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of California.
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Brian Swett
Brian Swett is a Principal in Arup’s Boston office and serves as Director of Cities and Sustainable Real Estate. In this role, Brian leads the work of Arup in the Americas to integrate its advisory services with its key strengths in design, engineering and planning, delivered in the city context. He is a nationally recognized leader in climate change and sustainability strategy with over a decade of leadership experience in municipal government, real estate development, federal government, and non-profit sectors. Brian brings a breadth of experience on the government and private sides of sustainable urban development and management that allows him to deliver integrated and actionable strategies and solutions for major clients.
Prior to joining Arup, Brian served as Chief of Environment, Energy and Open Space for the City of Boston. Encompassing 400+ employees and a $40 million budget, Brian led a variety of major policy initiatives; launched Greenovate Boston and Climate Ready Boston; and led the 2015 update to the City’s Climate Action Plan. Under his leadership, Boston was recognized by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) as the #1 city in the country for energy efficiency policies and programs in their 2013 and 2015 biennial rankings.
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Kathleen Brown
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.
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RADM Yancy Lindsey
Rear Adm. Yancy B. Lindsey is a native of Phoenix, Arizona. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of California at Berkeley where he received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He also holds a Master of Military Science from Marine Corps University and a Master of Science in Global Leadership from the University of San Diego. In addition, he completed a Federal Executive Fellowship at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Lindsey was commissioned through Aviation Officer Candidate School in October 1986 and designated a naval aviator in December 1987.
Lindsey's sea duty assignments have included Antarctic Development Squadron (VXE) 6 flying LC-130 aircraft and twice with Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 113 flying the E-2C Hawkeye. During these tours of duty, he completed three deployments to Antarctica and two deployments to the Arabian Gulf aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).
Ashore, Lindsey served on the Joint Staff (J6); at Commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet; with the U.S. European Command staff in Stuttgart, Germany; as chief of staff to the Commander, Navy Region Southwest; and most recently as executive assistant to the assistant secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment.
Lindsey commanded the VAW-117 Wallbangers, earning the Battle Efficiency Award and completing an Arabian Gulf deployment aboard USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He also commanded Naval Base Coronado, a consortium of eight Navy installations. Lindsey was the 89th Commandant of Naval District Washington, June 2015 to August 2016. He assumed command of Navy Region Southwest in September 2016.
His decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, four Legions of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, four Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals, Joint Service Achievement Medal and three Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals.
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Steven Powell
Steven Powell is president and chief executive officer of Southern California Edison, one of the nation’s largest investor-owned electric utilities, safely delivering reliable, clean and affordable power to more than 15 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.
Previously, Powell served as executive vice president, Operations, where he led many of SCE’s operations groups — including Transmission & Distribution, Customer Service, Safety, Security, and Business Resiliency, and Operational Services.
Powell has held a variety of positions of progressing responsibility since joining the company in 2000, including senior vice president of Strategy, Planning and Operational Performance, where he developed SCE’s long-term strategy, identifying and executing strategic projects, prioritizing technology development, integrated resource planning and driving operational improvements. He has also held leadership positions in resource planning and strategy, gas and power procurement and SCE’s plug-in electric vehicle readiness efforts.
Powell serves as chair of the Research Advisory Committee for the Electric Power Research Institute, co-chair of the Edison Electric Institute Wildfire Task Force and is a representative for the Southern California Leadership Council, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Council, Western Electric Industry Leaders and is on the California Science Center Foundation board of trustees.
He has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles and received his MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.
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Mark Pestrella
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Paul Relis
Paul Relis is Senior Vice President of CR&R Incorporated, an environmental services company that provide recycling and waste services to 40 cities in Southern California. He leads the company’s efforts to develop technology to convert the organic fraction of the municipal solid waste stream to renewable natural gas, a zero carbon fuel, and soil products for California agriculture. This technology will be the first of its kind in the United States. In this capacity Relis works closely with the state’s major regulatory agencies, environmental organizations, industry associations and local government.
Prior to his private sector position, Mr. Relis served as an executive in the California Environmental Protection Agency as the Governor’s environmental appointee to the California Integrated Waste Management Board (now CalRecycle). He oversaw California’s solid waste system, including recycling composting, landfills and incinerators, working closely with the state’s other major regulatory agencies including the California Air Resources Board, the California Energy Commission, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Commerce. He was a U.S. Information Services Speaker to the People’s Republic of China and Germany.
In 1970, while still a student at UCSB, Relis was at the forefront of the fledgling environmental movement. He became the first Executive Director of the Community Environmental Council, an NGO that pioneered recycling, waste minimization, renewable energy and sustainable agriculture. Forty years later the Council is working on a multi-decade effort to wean the region from its dependency on fossil fuels.
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Angelina Galiteva
Angelina M. Galiteva is the Founder and Board Chair of Renewables 100 Policy Institute, an organization dedicated to accelerating the global transition to 100% renewable energy for all sectors. In 2011 Governor Jerry Brown appointed Ms. Galiteva to the California Independent Systems Operator Board (CAISO), one of the largest transmission operators in the World. On October 2020 Angelina became the first Female Chair of the CAISO Board of Governors and in March 2023 Governor Newsom reappointed Ms. Galiteva to serve her 4th term on the Board. Over the last year, Ms. Galiteva has been leading California’s Statewide Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES) initiative focused on accelerating the decarbonization of the 4th largest economy. Angelina also serves as Chairperson of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE) and is a Founding Board Member of the Global Clean Energy Desalination Alliance. Ms. Galiteva is an expert in strategic issues related to renewable energy, new technology development and implementation, optimizing power system resiliency and efficiency, as well as overall sustainability and environmental policy programs for public and private entities. As such she is frequently sent as a US State Department representative expert on renewable energy and power grid resiliency and reliability issues. In addition, Ms. Galiteva is founder and principal of NEOptions, Inc., a renewable energy product and project development firm. Previously, Ms. Galiteva was the Executive Director of Strategic Planning for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), overseeing the utility's renewable energy program, she also worked at the New York Power Authority. Ms. Galiteva is an attorney with a JD Degree and Master’s in International and Energy Law.
Angelina has overseen numerous utility scale renewable energy, bulk storage, combined heat and power project developments, including distributed generation and microgrid specific installations. She has experience structuring electric vehicle to grid programs, accelerating the development and deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell infrastructure as well as financing large scale renewable power project development both in the US and abroad.
Ms. Galiteva holds a JD and LLM Degrees in Energy and Environmental Law from Pace University School of Law and is a globally recognized expert in the area of designing regulatory structures and programs to support the development of carbon free technologies and the transition to a reliable, resilient carbon free future.
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Andy Mannle
Andy leads a team at Promise Energy that helps clients make smarter, healthier, more profitable projects by financing, designing, and installing sustainable solutions. Collaborating with many green building teams, architects, and energy modelers, Andy has designed solar systems for dozens of LEED and Zero Net Energy projects serving thousands of units of multifamily housing. Andy is a frequent speaker on issues of energy efficiency and sustainability, and an advisor on Sustainable Building Methods for industry leaders and state policymakers. He has 10 years experience working with clients on green design and innovation, environmental policy, climate change, clean energy, energy efficiency, and other sustainable solutions. His writing has been published in numerous publications dedicated to sustainability.
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Elva Yanez
Elva has experience in policy advocacy, strategic planning, civic engagement and communications for non-profit organizations, government agencies and foundations in the areas of public policy, urban parks, public health, land use and the built environment. She has a long history of involvement in community-driven policy initiatives in both the public health and environmental arenas. She has served as director of the Center for Health and Parks at the Trust for Public Land; grant liaison officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's SmokeLess States national initiative; deputy director of the RWJF Policy Advocacy on Tobacco and Health initiative; and senior associate director at Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights (ANR). She has been active in numerous local and statewide efforts to enhance access to parks and open space. Elva was appointed to the California State Parks and Recreation Commission in 2011 by Governor Jerry Brown.
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Steve Sullivan
Steve Sullivan retired from Edison International (EIX) on October 1, 2013, after 35 years with the company. Edison is the parent company of Southern California Edison, a regulated electric utility.
As an executive of SCE, Mr. Sullivan led two of its largest organizations dedicated to serving government customers: first as Director of Local Public Affairs, and second as Director of Government & Institutions within the Customer Service organization.
After retiring from SCE, Mr. Sullivan has remained active in the utility space by providing consultative services to companies, and in some instances has taken a “hands-on” role with start-up companies, especially with those that provide cutting-edge technologies and/or play a role in shaping public policy issues affecting the electric industry in California. Some of his recent business ventures include:
Advanced Rail Energy Storage (2014 to 2019)
Sullivan served as COO of ARES, a firm pioneering the use of electric locomotive technology for large-scale energy storage. By providing a completely non-polluting and low-cost solution the need for grid scale storage and grid stability, ARES will allow America and the world to successfully and reliably integrate unprecedented amounts of clean energy. ARES anticipates bringing its first large-scale project (50 megawatts) on-line in 2020.
ICE ENERGY (2014 to 2017)
Sullivan served as an advisor to the Ice Energy Board. Ice Energy is the leading provider of smart grid-enabled, distributed energy storage to the utility industry. It delivers cost-effective solutions at grid-scale to reduce peak demand, improve energy system efficiency and reliability, and transform the way the utility system operates.
BUSINESS RADAR (2014 to 2015)
Sullivan served as a board member of iRestore, Business Radar. IRestore provides first responders (e.g. police and fire) with an intelligent mobile service that can instantly connect and communicate with local utilities – the iRestores product and protocols helps utility workers assess damage to the electric grid and respond more effectively to emergencies.
EMPIRE WATER (2014 to 2018)
Sullivan, a former minority owner of Empire Water Corporation (EWC). EWC formed in 2008 to purchase assets of the West Riverside Canal Company (WRCC) and the 350” Mutual Water Company, located in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Both Companies were formed in 1888, and have operated more or less continuously since that time. EWC owns and manages the only private canal in the region, in addition to owning and/or controlling significant water resources. For over 100 years, the WRCC transported roughly 10,000 acre-feet/year of water from San Bernardino to Riverside County.
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Andréa Traber
Andréa Traber contributes over 25 years of experience as Project Architect and Principal on numerous green building projects, sustainable master plans, climate action plans and energy programs to the Integral Group team. Throughout her career, Andréa has dedicated herself as an industry leader in sustainability and resilience having served on numerous committees and Boards. As Sustainability + Resilient Design Leader, Andréa focuses on accelerating innovation and our collective response to climate change through sustainable master planning, resilient community design strategy, high-value and performance-driven building design, and low-carbon, net zero development. She works with clients in the public, institutional and private sectors.
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Pierre Moreau
Before being elected for the first time in 2003, Pierre Moreau worked as a lawyer specializing in the field of municipal law for over 20 years. As well as being an elected member of Quebec’s National Assembly for more than 10 years, Minister Moreau has held numerous offices: Chief Government Whip, Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, Minister of Transport, Minister of Municipal Affairs, Acting Minister of Public Security, Minister of Education, Minister of Finance and President of the Treasury Board. On October 11th 2017, he became Quebec’s 30th Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.
Quebec is fortunate in that it can rely on green, diversified and abundant energy resources. This guarantees a great quality of life for its citizens and creates business opportunities for Quebecers around the world. It also enables the Quebec government to pursue its strong commitment to combatting climate change and set ambitious objectives moving towards a greener economy. In Minister Moreau’s mind, the way forward is clear: we must change our ways of doing things and innovation and solidarity are key.
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Barbara Romero
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.
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Dr. Joseph Cevetello
Dr. Joseph Cevetello, a Fulbright Scholar and nationally recognized technology leader, is Chief Information Officer for the City of Santa Monica, California. He is responsible for the city’s information technology infrastructure, services, and delivery strategies, and for ensuring an exceptional digital experience for Santa Monica’s citizens, visitors, and businesses. He directs operations to support 2,300 staff, 93,000 citizens, 51 staff, and $39million in technology.
Prior to the City of Santa Monica, Dr. Cevetello was Assistant Chief Information Officer, Information Technology Services at the University of Southern California. In this role, he directed strategy, vision, and operations for USC’s Technology Enhanced Learning Organization and provided leadership toward fulfilling the strategic goals for educational technology set forth in USC’s academic plan. He had primary responsibility for a $5million per annum initiative to build and support physical and virtual learning spaces to enhance learning, teaching, research, and outreach on campus, in the community, and at a distance. In 2013, the Chronicle of Higher Education recognized him as one of the Top 100 Technology Innovators in higher education.
Before joining USC, Joseph consulted with KPMG for the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. As Engagement Manager and Lead Consultant, he designed and documented the information technology strategy for this landmark undertaking; the largest university project in the 21st century (Cost $12.5 billon). Upon opening in September 2009, KAUST became one of the largest endowed universities in the world and is targeted to be amongst the top five universities for science and technology in five to ten years.
From 2005-2009, Dr. Cevetello was Senior Director Academic Technology and Deputy CIO at Loyola Marymount University. Joseph provided strategic leadership and vision in support of online learning infrastructure, policy, and faculty integration of technology in their teaching and research. As Deputy CIO he was responsible for $16 million operating budget, and the transformation of customer support and service initiatives.
Prior to joining LMU, Joseph was a consultant to a number of higher-education institutions and organizations including the University of Chicago, Harvard University, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Austrian National Bank, and the World Bank.
Dr. Cevetello received his masters and his doctorate from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. His research and teaching interests encompass how online learning technologies affect adult learner and teacher interaction/collaboration, how media influence student and faculty perspectives of learning and their roles, and how the use of technology impacts organizational effectiveness, communication, and change. At Harvard and MIT he instructed courses on Adult Development, Educational Philosophy, Education for Social Change, and the History of Education Technology.
From 1995-2002, Dr. Cevetello was an instructor and coordinator for information technology in the MPA Masters program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has received numerous grants and fellowships including: the Perry Chapman Prize (2013), James N. Snitzler Scholarship, Harvard University (2001), Action for Children's Television (ACT) Fellowship (1999), and the Spencer Research Apprentice Grant (1998), where he conducted a study of qualitative research methodology for technology use in organizations.
From 1988-1990, Joseph was a Fulbright Scholar in Vienna, Austria. In the early 1990’s, Dr. Cevetello began to experiment with the use of educational technology in his role as senior communications lecturer at the Vienna based Austrian Bankers' College International. ABCi was a widely recognized and influential professional development program that provided bankers and businesspeople from twenty countries of the former Eastern-Bloc with cutting edge business knowledge.
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Panama Bartholomy
Forging partnerships among varying disciplines and stakeholders, Panama Bartholomy has managed and facilitated the creation and implementation of some of the largest climate and energy programs in the United States. Panama’s work focuses on finding policy and program solutions for communities facing energy efficiency, renewable energy, land use and climate change challenges. Panama combines frontline experience with state and local government policy and has dealt extensively in the regulatory and utility arenas.
Previously, Panama was the Advisor on Energy and Natural Resources to California Assembly Speaker John A. Perez where he oversaw the State of California’s energy and environmental legislation and budget. He earlier served as Deputy Director of the California Energy Commission’s Efficiency and Renewables Division and advisor for Chairmen Douglas and Pfannenstiel, worked for the California Conservation Corps on vocational environmental education, and ran the Sustainable Schools program for the Division of the State Architect. Panama served on the City of Sacramento Planning Commission and the County of Sacramento Environmental Commission, and is a former board member on the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and past president of the Northern California Chapter of the USGBC.
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Ryan McCarthy
Ryan is the Science and Technology Policy Advisor to the Chair at the California Air Resources Board (CARB). He is a leader in shaping California’s efforts to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote zero emission vehicles, and reduce emissions of methane and other short-lived climate pollutants. Prior to his appointment at CARB by Governor Jerry Brown in 2011, McCarthy was a Science and Technology Policy Fellow in the office of California Assembly Member Wilmer Amina Carter. Ryan received his master’s and doctorate degrees in civil and environmental engineering from UC Davis and bachelor’s degree in structural engineering from UC San Diego.
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Nancy Barba
Nancy Barba is a Senior Program Manager with Frontier Energy, Inc. Ms. Barba works with utilities and government clients to deliver energy efficiency program design and management, stakeholder and client engagement, and community outreach. Her ability to manage diverse priorities and effective communication skills contribute to her engaged, results-driven leadership. She has worked closely with financial authorities, Regional Energy Networks, and Community Choice Energy implementers leading in program design, implementation, marketing and outreach, financing, measurement and reporting.
Ms. Barba has experience working in both sustainability education and project management. She collaborated in the design of several successful pilots under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants that are were later funded by the CPUC. Besides program design, Ms. Barba manages costs, schedules, and performance of component projects, while working to ensure the ultimate success and adoption of programs.
As a Los Angeles native, she is actively engaged and committed to a sustainable and equitable future – locally, regionally and globally.
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Doane Liu
In March 2017, Doane Liu was appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles City Tourism Department (CTD), formerly the Department of Convention and Tourism Development, with the goal to further enhance and increase Los Angeles’ prominence and attraction as a world class tourist and convention destination.
Liu joined the CTD after serving as Deputy Executive Director and Chief of Staff at the Port of Los Angeles, where he was the second in command at the busiest container port in North America and head of the Port’s External Affairs Bureau.
Before the Port, Liu was Deputy Mayor for the City of Los Angeles. He managed the Mayor's Office of City Services and helped the Mayor oversee 15 City Departments, including the Los Angeles Department Water and Power, Public Works, Transportation, Recreation and Parks, Public Library, and LA Zoo. He also established the Great Streets Studio and LA RiverWorks in the Mayor’s Office. A first-generation Korean-American, Liu also was a liaison in the Mayor’s Office to the Korean-American community in Los Angeles.
Liu was previously Chief of Staff for Councilman Joe Buscaino and served as Chief of Staff for Councilwoman Janice Hahn, Deputy Mayor for Mayor James K. Hahn and District Director for Congresswoman Jane Harman. He was also Senior Vice President of Government Banking at JP Morgan Chase and Vice President in the Real Estate Industries Group at Security Pacific National Bank.
Liu currently serves on the boards of AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Fleet Week Foundation, and Sister Cities of Los Angeles. He has previously served on the boards of the LA24 Olympic Bid Committee, LA County Business Federation, Harbor Interfaith Shelter, Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, Mary Star of the Sea High School, and Holy Trinity School.
Liu graduated from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania and received an MBA from University of Southern California. He and his wife have four grown children and have lived in San Pedro for nearly 30 years.
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Mark Ridley-Thomas
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.
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Benoit Lacroix
Mr. Lacroix holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from ÉTS university and has a long track record of data analysis and vehicle optimisation, both in testing environments and on the field. Since the inception of Effenco, Mr. Lacroix focused on working directly with end users to improve the performances and driving experience of the technology. Mr. Lacroix is currently in charge of the sales orientation and marketing strategy at Effenco.
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Akira Chiba
Akira Chiba assumed the post of Consul General of Japan, Los Angeles, in July, 2016. Born in Tehran, Iran, he is a third-generation career diplomat, after his father and grandfather before him. During his several decades career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), he has spent eight years in China, and the remainder of his overseas postings in Switzerland, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States. The post of Consul General in Los Angeles is his third US tour. During assignments in Tokyo, Chiba has been charged with legal affairs, grant aid and economic cooperation portfolios, in addition to Oceanian regional affairs and several years as MOFA's Assistant Press Secretary to the international media. He has written journal articles on Japan's global relations, and authored numerous texts, many published both in Japanese and Chinese on a wide variety of topics, from Japan-Sino relations to the intricacies of working with the US Congress. He is a graduate of the Law Faculty of Tokyo University, attended Peking University in China, and graduated with an M.A. in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley.
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Jon Liberzon
Jon Liberzon is Vice President at Tomorrow Water (BKT), an Anaheim-based firm with over 10-years’ experience in developing and delivering advanced water and wastewater treatment technologies for municipal and industrial clients. Prior to joining Tomorrow Water, Jon consulted for a range of industrial and multinational clients including the World Bank, Technoserve, DFAT and Digested Organics. From 2012-2017, he was director of water technologies at Algal Scientific. Jon also has experience working on drinking water and agricultural development projects in least developed countries (LDCs), including Haiti and Vanuatu. Jon holds a Masters from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and a Bachelors degree from the University of Michigan.
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Stephen Cheung
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.
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Karen Douglas
Originally appointed to the California Energy Commission in February 2008 and in December 2012, filling the Attorney position on the five-member Commission. Served as Chair from February 2009 to February 201. Lead Commissioner on power plant siting, compliance and enforcement and the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan.
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Mitch Moore
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Robert Powell
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.
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Bradley Shuckhart
Mr. Shuckhart directs the day-to-day development and construction activities of Freehold Communities within the state of California. Prior to joining Freehold, Mr. Shuckhart served as Vice President of Land Acquisitions at SunCal Companies, a privately-held real-estate developer of residential and commercial properties in the US. Over the course his career, Mr. Shuckhart has led the acquisition and development of more than a dozen master-planned communities in California, Nevada, and Texas, with a total sellout value in excess of $2 billion. Mr. Shuckhart has extensive experience with every aspect of land development, including acquisitions, entitlements, and, dispositions.
Mr. Shuckhart is a graduate of Pomona College and earned his MBA from USC’s Marshall School of Business with an emphasis on real estate finance.
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Mickey Kantor
Mickey Kantor concentrates his practice on corporate and financial international transactions. He has extensive experience in market access issues, as well as the expansion of client activities in foreign markets through trade, direct investment, joint ventures, and strategic business alliances.
Prior to joining Mayer Brown, Mickey was the United States Secretary of Commerce (1996-1997) and the United States Trade Representative (1993-1996). He has been called “arguably the finest trade negotiator in the world” (Chambers Global 2006) and is said to be “blessed with fantastic political insights and connections” (Chambers USA2007).
He was recognized in The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers-Trade & Customs 2009. Among them any awards and honors he has received are the following: the Order of the Southern Cross Award by The Government of Brazil, 2001, the William O. Douglas Award by the Constitutional Rights Foundation, the Thomas Jefferson Distinguished Public Service Medal from the Center for the Study of the Presidency, the Albert Schweitzer Leadership Award from the Hugh O'Brien Youth Foundation, and Elihu Root Distinguished Lecturer, Council on Foreign Relations.
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Dan Lafferty
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Candice Yu
Candice Yu is passionate about bringing clean energy technologies to market. She currently leads policy affairs, strategic planning, and utility business development at Mercedes-Benz Energy, a subsidiary of Daimler providing energy products and solutions. Candice began her career in the energy industry working for two of the largest electric utilities in the country, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric. She then brought her knowledge of wholesale energy markets to renewable developer SunEdison, where she developed solar plus storage projects. Candice received her Master of International Affairs from the School of Global Policy & Strategy at University of California, San Diego.
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Gail Goldberg
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.
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Josh Boone
Josh Boone is the director of Veloz. Previously, Boone was the deputy executive director of the California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative upon which Veloz was founded. He lead all Veloz development efforts to foster the initial concept, including directing work efforts to give the organization a name, brand, visual identity, philosophy and workplan while also spearheading board development.
At the PEV Collaborative, Boone advised the executive director and chair in development and implementation of the strategic plan, goals and policies to accelerate the electric car market in California. He was responsible for day-to-day operational strategy across all programs, including guidance to staff. He maintained strong relationships with members, led business development activities and initiated on-trend, innovative member meeting content.
Boone holds MS and BS degrees from the University of California, Davis, and has authored several scientific publications. He and his wife have three children and drive electric.
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Timothy McOsker
Timothy B. McOsker is a lifelong San Pedro resident and an attorney with over three decades of experience in government, regulatory and land development matters. Tim has had a long history of serving San Pedro, the city of Los Angeles and the State of California in numerous leadership roles, including as chief of staff for former Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and as Hahn’s Chief Deputy City Attorney. Before serving in the City of Los Angeles, Tim served as City Attorney to various jurisdictions in Southern California.
Prior to being appointed CEO on Feb. 1, 2018, Tim represented AltaSea in critical legal matters
including the 2017 lease renegotiations with the Port of Los Angeles. His deep experience in land development, environmental issues, permitting, municipal law, and contracts will be crucial as AltaSea embarks on an ambitious next stage
of expansion and development of its 35 acre campus.
Tim is currently the chairman of the board of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce and a board member of Harbor Interfaith Services. McOsker is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and UCLA School of Law.
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Peter Marx
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.
Yair Crane
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Joe Edmiston
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.
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Liam Denning
Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy, mining and commodities, based in New York. He previously was editor of the Wall Street Journal's “Heard on the Street” column and wrote for the Financial Times' Lex column. Prior to journalism, he worked in the natural resources team in Goldman Sachs’ investment banking division in London and as a consultant at KPMG.
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Madeline Janis
Madeline Janis is the Executive Director of Jobs to Move America, an organization that she helped to found in 2013. Previously, she co-founded and served as national policy director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE). Under her stewardship as executive director from 1993 to 2012, LAANE became an influential leader in the effort to build a new economy based on good jobs, thriving communities and a healthy environment.
From 2002 to 2012, Ms. Janis served as a volunteer commissioner of the City of Los Angeles’ Community Redevelopment Agency.
Over the past three decades, she has led numerous economic, social and environmental justice campaigns in California. She has provided training and assistance to community organizations and unions in dozens of cities across the country, and is widely regarded as an innovator in devising strategies to create good jobs and healthy communities.
Ms. Janis has received many honors, including being a Durfee Foundation Stanton Fellow (2014-15), a Senior Fellow at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, the UCLA Law School’s Antonia Hernandez Public Interest Award, and commendations from the Los Angeles City Council and the California Assembly and Senate. She received degrees from UCLA Law School and Amherst College in Massachusetts and was granted an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Amherst College in 2013.
Ms. Janis also served as executive director of the Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN) from 1989 to 1993 and, as an attorney, represented tenants and homeless people in slum housing litigation, and advocated for homeless disabled people who had been denied government benefits. She also worked for two years at the law firm of Latham & Watkins on commercial litigation and land use matters, representing many large companies throughout Los Angeles.
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Phillip Washington
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.
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Jeff Bleich
Jeff Bleich currently serves as the Chief Legal Officer and Chief Risk Officer of Cruise LLC. He previously served as a Special Master for the U.S. Courts, arbitrator, and as the chair of the boards of PG&E Co. and Nuix USG, Inc. He formerly served as special counsel to President Obama in the White House, and as the 24th U.S. Ambassador to Australia from 2009 to 2013.
After receiving his B.A. in political science, magna cum laude, Bleich earned an M.P.P. from Harvard with highest honors in 1986, and a J.D. from the UC Berkeley School of Law with highest honors in 1989. At Berkeley, he served as editor-in-chief of the California Law Review. He clerked for Judge Abner Mikva on the D.C. Circuit and Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist on the U.S. Supreme Court, before clerking at the international tribunal in the Hague.
Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Bleich was a partner for 17 years at Munger, Tolles & Olson in San Francisco, where he handled many significant pro bono civil rights matters, and was recognized as one of the nation’s top lawyers. He holds, or has held, several other leadership positions, including as chair of the Fulbright Board, chair of the California State University Board of Trustees, president of the California State Bar, president of the Bar Association of San Francisco and president of the Barristers Club of San Francisco. In 1998, he was appointed by President Clinton to serve as director of the White House Commission on Youth Violence following the tragic Columbine shootings.
In recognition of his service, Bleich has received some of the nation’s top honors, including the highest awards for a non-career ambassador by the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Director of National Intelligence. In 2009, the City of San Francisco named a day in his honor. Bleich holds honorary degrees from San Francisco State University, Griffith University, and Flinders University in Adelaide, which in 2019 named for him the Jeff Bleich Centre for U.S. Alliance Studies in Digital Technology, Security, and Governance.
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Adel Hagekhalil
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.
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Aslak De Silva
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Jack Baylis
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Liane Randolph
Liane Randolph has spent most of her career in public service, specializing in environmental law and policy, effective administration, and a commitment to transparency and public process. She was appointed Chair of the California Air Resources Board by Governor Gavin Newsom in December 2020. Starting in 2015, Randolph served six years as a Commissioner at the California Public Utilities Commission and managed numerous decisions on energy efficiency, integrated energy resource planning, and regulation of transportation network companies, as well as spearheading significant Commission policy reforms. Prior to the PUC, Randolph served from 2011 to 2014 as Deputy Secretary and General Counsel at the California Natural Resources Agency, where she worked on a wide variety of legal and policy issues, including work on the Klamath Dam Removal agreement, CEQA guidelines, and the Agency’s first Tribal Consultation Policy. Randolph’s first role with the State was as Chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission from 2003 to 2007. Her work at the state level builds on experience with local government that she gained while practicing municipal law as a contract City Attorney for the Cities of San Leandro and Suisun City. Randolph earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and lives in Oakland with her husband and family. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, running, and reading.
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Justin Erlich
Justin Erlich is Uber's Global Head of Policy for Autonomous Vehicles, Urban Aviation, and Freight. He spent the previous two years on the leadership team of former California Attorney General (now Senator) Kamala Harris overseeing technology policy, strategy, and operations. Prior to that role, he worked as a strategy consultant for McKinsey & Co. focused on the future of cities within the Public Sector and Sustainability practices. He has also clerked for a federal judge on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He has a law degree from NYU and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard.
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Evan Birenbaum
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.
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Daniel A. Mazmanian
Dr. Mazmanian was the founding Director of the Bedrosian Center on Governance, from 2005-2012. He is a professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Academic Director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. He served as the school’s Ione L. Piper Dean and Professor from 2000-2005. Before coming to USC, he served as dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation since 1994.
Dr. Mazmanian is a widely published scholar in the field of policy implementation and environmental policy. His current research focuses on the transition to sustainable communities. He is recipient of the Aaron Wildavsky Enduring Contribution Award from the American Political Science Association and the Thomas R. Dye Service Award from the Policy Studies Organization. Dr. Mazmanian served as executive director of the “Report of the California Adaptation Advisory Panel to the State of California,” in 2009-2010, and a member of the “Task Force on Environmental Governance of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development,” in 2005-2006. He is past president of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration.
He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Washington University and both his M.A. and B.A. in Political Science from San Francisco State University.
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Steve Westly
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.
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Steven Fabijanski
Steven Fabijanski is founder, President and CEO of Agrisoma Biosciences, one of Canada’s leading Cleantech companies. Agrisoma has commercialized a new class of sustainable agricultural products, an Industrial oilseed crop called Carinata that is grown using certified sustainable production practices to produce “Carbon-Negative” second generation renewable diesel and aviation fuels. Agrisoma started powering the commercial transportation industry with Carinata in Canada in 2013, and in 2014 Agrisoma was recognized with Canada’s Gold Leaf Award as “Company of the Year”, recognizing the innovation achieved in renewable and clean energy and for the pioneering work in conducting the world’s first 100% biojet flight in Canada. Agrisoma now operates globally with commercial activities in North America, South America, Europe and Australia.
Prior to founding Agrisoma, Steven held various positions in agribusiness, including senior roles in research management and corporate development, domestically and internationally.
Steven holds a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor Degree in Biology from the University of Miami.
Steven is active in supporting public policy on sustainable agriculture and cleantech and has served with multiple organizations active in this area including as a member of the AgWest Bio Inc. Board of Directors, Chair of the Industrial and Agriculture Advisory Board of Biotech Canada, member of the Energy Panel of the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, member of the Strategic Advisory Panel of BioFuels.net Canada and actively participates in the development and promotion of policy initiatives for the agricultural and renewable energy sector.
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V. John White
V. John White has been a writer, commentator, advocate, and leader of the green energy movement in California for 35 years. He is executive director of CEERT, the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies in Sacramento, and principal of the environmental and energy lobbying practice, V. John White Associates, representing public interest environmental and local government organizations, and new energy technology companies.
White's career has been devoted to air quality improvement and clean energy development. As chief consultant to the California Assembly Subcommittee on Air Quality, he became the leading legislative expert on air quality technology and regulation, helping to draft the California Clean Air Act and subsequent clean air and energy statutes.
In 1990 he co-founded CEERT, which has become the premier energy advocacy voice for key environmental public interest groups and clean energy technology companies. He played a central role in the passage of the Pavley Clean Car bill, AB 32, and many of California’s renewable energy incentive and regulatory programs.
He serves on a number of nonprofit boards and organizations.
John is a graduate of U.C. Riverside – Political Science
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Sunita Satyapal*
Director for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office and coordinates activities across offices for the U.S. DOE Hydrogen Program, Sunita Satyapal is responsible for more than $1.6 billion in hydrogen and fuel cell research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) activities within the office and for coordinating more than $9.5 billion in hydrogen activities across DOE. In addition, she led the development of the national clean hydrogen strategy and roadmap and serves as the Director for the Hydrogen Interagency Taskforce, which includes a dozen agencies and is co-chaired by the Deputy Secretary of Energy and the White House Deputy National Climate Advisor. She has more than two and a half decades of experience across industry, academia, and government, including at United Technologies managing RDD&D and business development, and as a visiting professor.
Dr. Satyapal also coordinates international hydrogen activities as Vice-Chair of the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy, a partnership among over 25 countries to accelerate progress in hydrogen, and is the U.S. co-lead for hydrogen efforts within the Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University and did postdoctoral work in Applied and Engineering Physics at Cornell University. She has numerous publications, including in Scientific American, 10 patents, and several recognitions including a Meritorious Presidential Rank Award in 2015, a Distinguished Presidential Rank Award in 2022, and selected as an Ambassador for C3E, the Clean Energy Education & Empowerment Initiative, to advance the leadership of women in clean energy.
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Hiroshi Katayama
Deputy Director, Advanced Energy Systems and Structure Division/ Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Strategy Office, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)
Hiroshi Katayama is the Deputy Director responsible for the energy policy focusing on new technologies including hydrogen and fuel cells as well as batteries and distributed energy resources. His mission is to promote Japan’s energy transition towards low carbon, sustainable and secure energy systems. He is responsible for a number of R&D and demonstration projects with over $300 million annual budget. As a main editor he recently led the formulation of “Basic Hydrogen Strategy” by the Ministerial Council on Renewable Energy, Hydrogen and Related Issues in December 2017.
He is a technical official of METI with a Master of Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology, and a Master of Public Administration from London School of Economics. Over 10 years, he was engaged in policy planning and coordination in several divisions including information technology policy, intellectual property policy and energy policy.
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A.G. Kawamura
A.G. Kawamura is a third generation produce grower and shipper from Orange County, California. From 2003 to 2010 he served as the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. He is founding co-chair of Solutions from the Land (solutionsfromtheland.org), a nationally recognized non-profit that is developing innovative and sustainable climate smart collaborations for 21st century agriculture. He serves on multiple boards and advisory committees including the Farm Foundation Board; Western Growers Board and former Chair; Ag Advisory Committee for the Chicago Council; Bipartisan Policy Center, Ag & Forestry task force; Southern California Water Coalition, Executive Committee.
For over 40 years Mr. Kawamura has pursued a lifelong goal to work towards an end to hunger and malnutrition. Locally, he is founding chair of Solutions For Urban Ag (SFUA.org). He has worked closely with Regional Food Banks and stakeholders to create exciting urban ag projects that focus on nutrition, hunger, education and advanced food systems. As a progressive farmer, Mr. Kawamura has a lifetime of experience working within the shrinking rural and urban boundaries of Southern California. A.G. graduated with a BA from UC Berkeley and was a member of Class XX of the Calif. Ag Leadership Program.
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Miguel Santana
Miguel A. Santana has over 30 years of experience leading numerous fiscal, legislative, political, and community issues. He served as President and C.E.O. of Fairplex since 2016, a nonprofit community benefit regional organization based in Pomona, CA. Previously, Miguel was the City Administrative Officer for the City of Los Angeles, where he oversaw the City’s $9 billion budget and designed the City’s first comprehensive homeless strategy, resulting in a $1.2 billion voter-approved housing bond and a doubling of the City’s general fund investment on programs to end homelessness. Prior to joining the City, Miguel served as one of five Deputy Chief Executive Officers for Los Angeles County, overseeing all social service programs supporting children, families, veterans and persons experiencing homelessness.
Miguel was appointed President & C.E.O. of the Weingart Foundation in 2021. He engages in numerous civic efforts to create a more equitable Southern California region, including serving as Chair of the Committee for Greater L.A. He also serves on numerous nonprofit boards, including the Whittier College Board of Trustees.
Miguel has a B.A. in Sociology and Latin American Studies from Whittier College and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University.
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Richard Bruckner
Richard Bruckner is a senior land use specialist in Mayer Brown’s Los Angeles office. Prior to joining Mayer Brown, Richard was director of Los Angeles County’s Department of Regional Planning, which provides advance planning, current planning and land use regulation enforcement for the unincorporated area of the county, which has a population of approximately one million. Prior to that, he was the director of planning and development for the City of Pasadena, with responsibilities in citywide economic development, planning, building, code enforcement, cultural affairs, real estate and the management of eight redevelopment projects areas. Previous to his work for Pasadena, he served as the deputy executive director of the Community Development Department for the City of Anaheim, California.
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Hayato Nakazono
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.
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Dean Kubani
Dean Kubani is the Chief Sustainability Officer and Assistant Director of Public Works for the City of Santa Monica. Since 1994 Dean has directed the ongoing development, implementation and evaluation of the Santa Monica Sustainable City Program, and he currently oversees the City’s efforts related to sustainability, climate change, energy, water, and sustainable business and community programs. As the Assistant Director of Public Works Dean is also responsible for the City’s Water Utility, Architectural Services Division, Civil Engineering Division and Office of Sustainability and the Environment. He lectures on sustainability at universities throughout the country, and has presented information about Santa Monica’s programs at state, national and international conferences. Dean has served on the advisory boards of the International Sustainability Indicators Network, the University of Southern California Center for Sustainable Cities, the Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability, and several non-profit organizations. Dean is also past president of the Board of Trustees of Ocean Charter School in Marina del Rey, CA and past president of the Board of Directors for Co-opportunity, a cooperatively-owned natural foods store located in Santa Monica. Prior to his employment at the City of Santa Monica, Dean worked as a Policy Analyst in the non-profit sector and was a Project Manager for an environmental engineering firm in Southern California. He lives in Santa Monica with his wife and two daughters.
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Mark Gold
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.
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Dr. Kelly Sanders
Dr. Kelly T. Sanders is an Assistant Professor in the University of Southern California’s Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her research aims to ease tensions between human and natural systems through technical, regulatory and market intervention, with particular emphasis on reducing the environmental impacts of providing energy and water services.
She has authored more than two dozen publications and has given dozens of invited talks on topics at the intersection of engineering, science, and policy. Sanders has been recognized in Forbes’ 30 under 30 in Energy and MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35 for her contributions to the energy field. Her research and commentary have been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times, Forbes, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and Scientific American.
Sanders received her B.S. in Bioengineering from the Pennsylvania State University, as well M.S.E and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Environmental Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, respectively. She teaches classes related to energy and the environment.
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Chris Higgins
Chris has worked in public finance for nearly 20 years and currently serves as the head of the western region water utility practice.
Chris has extensive industry experience having worked with a number of water utilities including, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, San Diego County Water Authority, Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, East Bay Municipal Utility District, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California Department of Water Resources, Colorado Springs Utilities and Las Vegas Valley Water District amongst others.
Chris has lead and participated in roughly $30bn in public infrastructure financings over the course of his career including tax-exempt and taxable municipal bond offerings and project financings.
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Robyn Beavers
Robyn Beavers started her career as an energy efficiency consultant and then moved on to become the founding member of Google’s Green Business & Operations strategy team. In this role she delivered several green strategic programs including the country's largest corporate solar installation at the time, energy efficiency retrofits for Google's global offices, employee incentive programs, and the creation of a large scale renewable energy investment program. While pursuing her MBA, Robyn served as a Fellow for the Department of Energy. In 2011, she joined Vestas Wind Systems where she created WindMade, a global NGO that issues the first global consumer label for brands and products made with wind energy. She then joined DEKA Research & Engineering to commercialize their various distributed water and power technologies. Her most recent corporate involvement has been as Sn VP for NRG Energy. She holds both a B.S. in Civil Engineering and an MBA from Stanford University.
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Mark Nydam
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Jeffrey Kightlinger
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.
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David Fransen
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.
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Amanda Eaken
As an advocate for sustainable urban planning, Amanda Eaken focuses on slashing transportation-related pollution. She played a key role in the formulation and implementation of California's 2008 Sustainable Communities Act, which gives regions funding and incentives to develop emission-reducing strategies. Before joining NRDC, Eaken managed affordable-housing construction for a nonprofit developer in San Francisco. She holds a bachelor's in environmental and evolutionary biology from Dartmouth College and a master's in transportation and land-use planning from the University of California, Berkeley. She is based in San Francisco.
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Brian Maragno
Brian is the Director of Nissan’s Electric Vehicle Sales, Marketing and Infrastructure business in the United States. Having worked in the automotive industry for 17 years in a variety of sales operations and marketing functions, Brian leads a team focused on driving electric vehicle adoption by building customer awareness and delivering high quality electric vehicle products and services. His first foray into electric vehicles starting in 2009 as Nissan’s EV sales operations program manager responsible for the US launch of the Nissan LEAF, the world’s first mass-market, 100% electric vehicle. In this capacity, Brian led the development and deployment of the sales, service, and technical training requirements to sell and service EVs through Nissan’s 1,000+ US dealerships. After the initial LEAF launch in 2010, Brian became the model line marketing manager for the LEAF, where he led Nissan’s marketing efforts to launch the first US built LEAF in 2013. After 3 years managing Nissan’s business relationship with its largest dealer groups in the US, Brian returned to electric vehicles in 2016 to run Nissan’s electric vehicle and infrastructure marketing and sales operations. Brian earned a Bachelor of Science from LaSalle University and is a graduate of Nissan’s Executive Leadership Program from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.
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Michael Picker
Michael Picker was named President of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on December 23, 2014, by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., who first appointed President Picker as a Commissioner on January 29, 2014. Prior to his appointment, President Picker was Senior Advisor for Renewable Energy in the Office of the Governor from 2009 to 2014. He was a principal at Lincoln Crow Strategic Communications from 2000 to 2009, Deputy Treasurer in the Office of the California State Treasurer from 1998 to 1999, Chief of Staff to Sacramento Mayor Joe Serna Jr. from 1992 to 1999, and Deputy Assistant for toxic substance control in the Office of the Governor from 1981 to 1982. He was a member of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District Board of Directors from 2012-2014. President Picker is a former lecturer at UCLA’s Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, and instructor at Occidental College’s Urban and Environmental Policies Institute. He holds an MBA from UC Davis, specializing in marketing, social marketing, and nonprofit management.
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Brenda A. Levin, FAIA
Architect Brenda A. Levin, FAIA, has touched the historic and cultural spirit and complexity of Los Angeles, significantly shaping the city we know. For over 20 years her architecture and urban planning firm, Levin & Associates Architects, has pioneered, in collaboration with innovative developers, the process of preserving and re-defining the riches of the city. The success of this effort helped to catalyze the preservation movement in Los Angeles. Among the landmarks she has helped to preserve and revitalize are Grand Central and Chapman markets; the Oviatt, Fine Arts and Bradbury buildings; the Wiltern Theater, and City Hall. In process are Griffith Observatory, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings at Barnsdall Art Park, and the Japanese American National Museum’s National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, among others.
In addition to her work in preservation, some of her most significant projects have been the adaptive re-use and design of new buildings on school campuses and in the cultural and social realms. Ms. Levin believes that her work is obligated to both inform—and be informed—by the context—and by the audience. On the campus, Levin has created Johnson Student Center and Samuelson Pavilion at Occidental College; Malott Commons at Scripps College; St. James’ Elementary School; and, a campus master plan, the Math-Science, and the Music, Dance and Athletic Center buildings at Oakwood School, a private secondary school.
In the spring 2000, the Boone Gallery designed by Levin opened at The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino and an art museum at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Levin’s housing projects include the nationally-recognized Downtown Women’s Center for mentally-ill, homeless women in downtown Los Angeles, and the Adams Congress affordable apartments in the city’s South-Central neighborhood.
Born in the New York metropolitan area, Levin studied design and painting at Carnegie-Mellon University, and graduated with a degree in graphic design from New York University in 1968. She earned a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in 1976. Moving to Los Angeles in 1976, she first worked with the legendary architect John Lautner.
Brenda Levin was elevated to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1997. She and the firm have been honored by a number of organizations, including the Urban Land Institute, American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles Conservancy, City of Los Angeles, State of California, the National Association of Women Business Owners, and NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund. A 256-page monograph presenting Ms Levin’s ideas and work and entitled Brenda Levin, Levin & Associates Architects: Los Angeles was published in the spring, 2001.
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Joe Sullivan
Joe Sullivan is the Director of Energy Solutions and Workforce Engagement for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 11 and the National Electrical Contractors Association of Greater Los Angeles. In this role, he advances clean energy solutions paired with workforce standards that create high-road careers. Prior to joining IBEW/NECA, Joe worked in the consulting and training industry. Joe is a graduate of the University of Southern California and received his MBA from the University of Texas in Austin.
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Sidney Bomer
Mr. Sidney Bomer has been with the City of Houston for over 26 years, starting out as a Plant Operator Trainee to his current position of Public Works Operations Manager. In his role, Mr. Bomer oversees Capital Improvement Projects, budgets, service contracts, and resource management, including coordination and management of the operations and bio-solids management of 7 EPA and TCEQ Permitted Class “A” Waste Water Treatment Plants of which one is a Dryer Facility and one is a Lime Application Facility plus 8 TCEQ Permitted Class “B” Waste Water Treatment Plants. Mr. Bomer leads a team of highly talented staff experienced in disaster recovery and relief and with expertise in recovery efforts after hurricanes, tropical storms, and floods. Mr. Bomer is the President of the Texas Water Utility Association – Gulf Area District Chapter for 3 years and also a member of the Sam Houston Water Utility District for many years. He is currently serving as the newly elected Vice Chair on the Board for the Texas Water Utility Association - Southeast Regional School held annually in Beaumont, Texas, aiming at training Public Officials, engineers, laboratory personnel, operators and mechanics in Water and Wastewater as well as prepare them for regulated required license testing. Mr. Bomer received the “Operator of the Year” award during the WEFTEC 2017 conference in Chicago.
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Martha Welborne
Martha Welborne is a nationally-recognized leader in urban development. Her exceptional career as a civic and organizational change-maker has spanned the country, with a focus on complex development and mobility management in Los Angeles. With experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, Martha has spearheaded some of Los Angeles’ most innovative public transportation and revitalization projects in recent history—including the installation of the county’s first rapid bus lines and the redevelopment of the Grand Avenue corridor.
Prior to joining HR&A, Martha was the Senior Vice President of Corporate Real Estate for the Walt Disney Company, where she oversaw all corporate real estate development, design, construction; asset and portfolio management; and facilities support and services. From 2010-2016, Martha served as the Chief Planning Officer at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Responsible for planning the long-range mobility future of the county, Martha led a staff of more than 200 to accelerate the delivery of voter-approved projects funded by Measure R and execute strategic initiatives, such as the Master Plan of the historic Union Station property. From 2001-2011, Martha was the Managing Director of the Grand Avenue Committee, a public/private initiative involving both the City and County of Los Angeles to spur cultural and mixed-use private development on Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles, including the redevelopment of Grand Park.
Martha began her career as an architect and planner, working on both individual building design and large-scale projects as an associate partner of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP and a principal of Sasaki Associates, Inc. She has served on the board of the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority and as President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Martha is a former member of MIT’s Visiting Committee for the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, the Board of the Community Foundation Land Trust, and the Board of Councilors for USC’s School of Architecture and for KUSC.
In addition to her role as Senior Advisor at HR&A, Martha will also serve as Project Director of LA Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies, LLC, the first permanent public transit link to Dodger’s Stadium since it was built nearly 60 years ago.
Martha earned a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Notre Dame, and Master’s degrees in both Architecture and City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was also a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects.
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Sara Neff
Sara Neff is the Head of Sustainability, Lendlease Americas, where she provides leadership and management oversight in developing, implementing and driving Lendlease's corporate sustainability framework in the Americas region. Prior to that role, she served as Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Kilroy Realty Corporation. Under her leadership, Kilroy has been recognized as a leader among publicly traded real estate companies on sustainability in the Americas by GRESB for seven of the last eight years as well as being recognized by NAREIT, and achieved carbon neutral operations at the end of 2020. She is a LEED Fellow and holds a BS from Stanford and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
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Michelle Sullivan, ASLA
Michelle Sullivan, ASLA, has focused on ecologically and culturally sensitive design in her three decades of landscape architecture. Her strength is a broad understanding of design with specific knowledge in horticulture, materials, and construction. She is an ever-present leader in the firm and mentor to our project teams. In addition, she manages large visitor-oriented projects such as Dodger Stadium’s improvements as well as biodiverse projects such as the Nature Gardens at Los Angeles County Natural History Museum and UCLA’s Mildred Matthias Botanical Garden. Michelle’s work focuses on connecting the public to the natural environment, and on making nature’s restorative and beautiful qualities tangible through design. Michelle is both a landscape architect and certified arborist.
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Mel Levine
Mel Levine is counsel in the Century City office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He served as a member of the United States Congress from 1983 until 1993 and as a member of the California Assembly from 1977 to 1982. He is a member of the California bar and the District of Columbia bar.
Mr. Levine’s practice concentrates on counseling clients on the Public Policy aspects of complex domestic and international transactions. His clients have included companies involved in a range of industries, including banking, transportation, high technology, energy, entertainment, health care, defense, manufacturing, construction and telecommunications.
Mr. Levine was named one of the “100 Most Influential” lawyers in California and has been consistently recognized by his peers as one of The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Administrative and Regulatory Law, most recently in their 2019 publication. The Los Angeles Business Journal has listed him repeatedly, as one of the “500 Most Influential People in Los Angeles.” Mr. Levine is the President of the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners, on the Advisory Board of the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California (Berkeley), and a Director of the Pacific Council on International Policy. Mr. Levine has served as U.S. Chair of the U.S.-Israel-Palestinian “Anti-Incitement” committee established by the Wye Plantation peace agreement, as a Presidential appointee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, as a U.S. government appointee to the U.S. – Israel Science and Technology Advisory Commission as President of the American Friends of the (Yitzhak) Rabin Center in Israel, and as Board Chair of the Los Angeles Police Foundation.
Mr. Levine’s Congressional committee assignments included the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its subcommittees on International Economic Policy and Trade, Europe and the Middle East, and Asia; the Committee on the Judiciary and its subcommittee on Intellectual Property; and the Committee on the Interior and Insular Affairs. Mr. Levine was especially engaged in U.S. foreign policy involving international trade and Middle East policy. He served as Chair of the House Task Force on Exports. He also served as co-chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and chair of the Democratic Caucus Task Force on Latin America. Mr. Levine founded and co-chaired Rebuild America, an educational foundation to improve American competitiveness by increasing support for high-technology industries, improving education and rebuilding infrastructure. Between 1993 and 1997, Mr. Levine served, at the request of Vice President Gore, as co-President of Builders for Peace, the private sector effort to assist the Middle East peace process.
Mr. Levine received his law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1969, a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University in 1966, and a bachelor’s degree cum laude from the University of California at Berkeley in 1964.
Mr. Levine is married to journalist Connie Bruck, a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. They have four children, Adam Levine, Jake Levine, Cara Levine and Ari Schlossberg.
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Edgar Westerhof
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Richard Bloom
Richard Bloom was first elected to the 50th District of the California State Assembly in 2012 where he proudly represents the communities of Agoura Hills, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Hollywood, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Topanga, West Hollywood, and West Los Angeles. Shortly after his election, Assemblymember Richard Bloom was appointed to the Chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Resources and Transportation where he quickly established himself as a leader on one of the biggest issues facing this generation - climate change. As Chair, Assemblymember Bloom has pushed for increasing renewable energy development and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and promoting smart and sustainable planning that expands affordable housing and reduces traffic congestion and commute times. Through his leadership, Assemblymember Bloom has made reducing our carbon footprint and enhancing the quality of life now and for future generations a core mission of the committee. As a steward of the environment, Assemblymember Bloom also helped establish the most stringent protections in the country against the dangers of hydraulic fracking and pushed for improved rail safety and oil spill response preparedness in light of the exponential growth of oil imports by rail. Assemblymember Bloom also introduced the strongest protections in the country against the use of rodenticides which are harming wildlife at alarming levels and against the use of plastic microbeads in personal care products that are contaminating our rivers, streams, and oceans.
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Jill Stewart
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.
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Manjeet Ranu
Manjeet Ranu is a Senior Executive Officer for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), leading the Long Range Transportation Planning and Mobility Corridors Department. This department is responsible for the long range plan that guides the programming of a half-trillion dollars in transportation improvements, service operations and system maintenance in Los Angeles County over a 40-year period. He also leads the planning, design and environmental clearance of new high capacity transit corridors, along with regionally-significant active transportation corridors, with a combined capital valuation exceeding $30 billion. Mr. Ranu has 21 years of public and private sector planning experience in the Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver and Tucson regions. He also has community leadership experience, having co-authored a land use ballot measure in San Diego, which passed with 71 percent of the vote. Mr. Ranu holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Master of Public Administration and Master of Urban and Regional Planning degrees from the University of Colorado at Denver. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and Urban Land Institute. Manjeet is an avid mountain biker and cyclist, and a long-time user of transit.
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Rick Cameron
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.
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Dan Richard
Dan Richard of Piedmont, has been a principal of Dan Richard Advisors since 2010. He was managing partner and co-founder of Heritage Oak Capital Partners, an infrastructure finance firm, from 2007 to 2009 and was senior vice president of public policy and governmental relations at Pacific Gas and Electric Company from 1997 to 2006.
Richard was an elected member of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District from 1992 to 2004, where he served twice as president of the Board. At the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, Richard led efforts to secure $4 billion in capital for system rehabilitation projects, the transit system’s expansion to the San Francisco Airport and seismic retrofit programs.
Richard was a principal at Morse, Richard, Weisenmiller & Associates from 1986 to 1996, a firm serving the independent power industry and project finance lending community. He was vice president of Independent Power Corporation from 1983 to 1986. Richard served as Governor Brown’s deputy legal affairs secretary from 1982 to 1983 and deputy assistant for science and technology from 1978 to 1979. He was advisor to the chairman of the California Energy Commission from 1978 to 1982.
Richard began his career at National Aeronautics and Space Administration, where he was assistant to the deputy associate administrator from 1972 to 1978. Richard received his Juris Doctor degree from McGeorge School of Law.
Appointed by the Governor.
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Laura Genao
Laura Genao is the Managing Director of State Regulatory Affairs for Southern California Edison. In that role, she leads the company’s San Francisco office, which advocates on issues pending before the CPUC, including rates, transmission siting, safety, and procurement policy. Prior to taking the position in San Francisco, Laura was based in the company’s Rosemead office and was the manager of Regulatory and Legislative Matters in the Renewable and Alternative Power group. There she coordinated the development of the company’s policies with regard to renewable electricity and alternative power. An attorney by training, Laura began her career at Southern California Edison as a regulatory attorney working on issues such as long-term procurement planning, issues surrounding cost recovery for new generation, cost of capital, and development of a regulatory framework for greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
Laura received her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law and an undergraduate degree in History and Literature from Harvard College. Before becoming an attorney, Laura was a member of Teach for America, where she taught middle and high school English, Spanish, and Journalism in Pasadena, California. She also spent a few years as a newspaper reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, where she was part of a team of reporters nominated for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize.
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Bob Hertzberg
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.
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Mary Nichols
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.
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Yehudi Gaffen
Yehudi “Gaf” Gaffen takes a vested interest in delivering complex projects that power vibrant communities. He has more than 35 years of construction and program management experience and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Construction Management from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He immigrated to San Diego in 1979 to work in real estate development with Sunroad Enterprises. In 1987, he and his wife founded Gafcon, Inc. and under his leadership as CEO it has grown into a globally respected program and construction management consulting firm. It has been responsible for the success of hundreds of projects including high profile projects such as: The City of San Diego North Embarcadero Visionary Plan; the Port of Los Angeles Waterfront and Promenade; AltaSea, a $135 million adaptive reuse at the Port of Los Angeles the Redevelopment of the Los Angeles Forum; and $46.25 billion in education bond programs throughout San Diego and Los Angeles. In 2016, the Unified Port of San Diego awarded the $1.2B redevelopment of Seaport Village to Protea Waterfront Development with Gaf as the active Managing Partner. He will steward the project to its successful completion by providing leadership and direction for the strategy and execution with Gafcon, Inc. providing program management services.
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Bill Allen
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.
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Katy Yaroslavsky
Katy Yaroslavsky serves as Councilwoman for Los Angeles’ Fifth City Council District, representing neighborhoods and communities she has been a part of nearly her entire life. Elected in 2022, CM Yaroslavsky, currently serves as Chair of the City Council’s Energy & Environment committee, Vice-Chair of the Ad Hoc Olympics committee, and is a member of the Budget & Finance, Planning & Land Use Management, and Transportation committees.
Advocating for a sustainable and liveable Los Angeles has been at the center of Councilwoman Yaroslavsky’s career. Prior to her election, she served as a senior policy advisor to LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, where she created LA County’s first Office of Sustainability, and led the development, negotiation, and adoption by voters of Measure W, one of the largest infrastructure and jobs programs in our region’s history. She helped create the Clean Power Alliance — a coalition of thirty-two local cities and counties that serves over 3 million ratepayers and is the largest provider of green power in the nation. Councilwoman Yaroslavsky previously served as General Counsel to the Climate Action Reserve, a leading environmental non-profit focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Councilwoman Yaroslavsky is guided by the belief that the biggest challenges our City is facing – homelessness, generational poverty, racial injustice, climate change, a declining quality of life, and an economy that doesn’t work for most Angelenos – are all intersectional. She believes that these issues will only be solved by doing the hard work of building coalitions, fighting for equity in city services, and initiating authentic, inclusive, and thorough community engagement.
A graduate of public schools, including UC Berkeley and UCLA Law School, Councilwoman Yaroslavsky currently resides in Mid City with her husband Dave, their three children, and their cats.
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Justin X. Thompson
Justin X. Thompson is a partner advising commercial and industrial developers, investors, lenders and property owners on all aspects of real estate transactions— including financing, development, leasing, loan restructurings, land exchanges, sale-leasebacks, property management arrangements and joint ventures
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Andrew McAllister
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.
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Dr. Kimberly Budil
Kim Budil is the Vice President for National Laboratories at the University of California (UC), Office of the President. She is responsible for the University's management oversight of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Kim serves as an Executive Committee Governor on the Boards of Governors of the Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC and the Los Alamos National Security, LLC, the managing contractors for LLNL and LANL. In addition, she is a member of the LBNL Advisory Board and chairs the LBNL Contract Assurance Council.
Kim was formerly the N Program Manager in the Global Security Principal Directorate at LLNL. She was responsible for the nuclear counterterrorism program including device assessment, pre- and post-detonation nuclear forensics, nuclear incident response and reachback, and nuclear detection and countermeasures research. She served twice as a detailee in Washington, DC, first spending 2 years at NNSA in the Office of Defense Science and then, most recently, nearly 2 years as a Senior Adviser to the Under Secretary for Science at the Department of Energy.
She has a B.S. in Physics from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Science/Engineering from the University of California, Davis.
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Paula Daniels
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.
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Catherine Reheis-Boyd
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.
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Adam Krantz
Adam Krantz is currently CEO of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), where he has served in a number of positions since May 2001. Mr. Krantz directs an unparalleled team in Washington, DC, that advocates on behalf of the nation’s public clean water agencies on an array of regulatory, legislative, legal and communication initiatives geared toward ensuring sustainable clean water agencies and a move toward the Utility of the Future.
Prior to his position at NACWA, Mr. Krantz was an associate editor/reporter at Inside Washington Publishers where his work focused on covering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s and Congress’s national water quality initiatives. Before entering the environmental arena, Mr. Krantz worked as an attorney in the Washington, D.C. law firm, Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky on litigation matters.
Mr. Krantz served three years as the President of the Federal Water Quality Association and also served as the first Vice President of the Clean Water America Alliance (now the U.S. Water Alliance). Mr. Krantz has degrees from Columbia University in New York City, the American University’s Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., and the University of Chicago. He is a member of both the District of Columbia and Maryland Bar.
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Martin Hermann
Martin is a serial entrepreneur with 26 years of experience in the solar, clean-tech and high-tech industries, who has closed business transactions in excess of $5.3B. He founded 8minutenergy, which is now among the largest independent developers of solar PV in the U.S. with a portfolio of more than 5,500 MWs and a track record of 1,500 MWs in executed PPAs.
Martin also developed a 100 MW solar PV module manufacturing plant as Chief Strategy Officer with Advent Solar. Prior to his engagement in renewables, he owned a semiconductor tools company for 10 years, which he sold to Intel in 2001. For six years after the acquisition, Martin served on the executive management team with Intel’s wireless business group.
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Seleta Reynolds
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).
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Dale Gauthier
Mr. Gauthier has been with AECOM for the last nine years and has over 35 years of energy and power experience. As the Los Angeles Regional Business Line Leader for Power, Energy & Industrial, Mr. Gauthier is responsible for the marketing, development, and execution of AECOM Power & Industrial Projects in the LA Metro Area. Most recently, Mr. Gauthier was AECOM’s Renewable Market Segment Leader for the Western United States and developed and managed annual revenue exceeding $41 million in design, procurement, and construction content for solar projects. Some of the more recent projects that have or are in development under the leadership of Mr. Gauthier are the Techren Solar Nevada 300 MW solar PV project located in Boulder City, Nevada; the Siyathemba Solar 50 MW solar park in South Africa, CSU Fullerton 4.5 MW cogeneration plant, and Beacon Solar, a 200 MW project in Kern County California, and LADWP’s Pine Tree 10 MW project. Mr. Gauthier has provided development and design expertise to both utility and distributed renewable and fossil fuel projects worldwide, providing project design and execution leadership. Prior to that role, Mr. Gauthier led our Energy Efficiency Project Development Team for the Western United States.
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Robert Jernigan
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Marissa Aho
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.
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Angela George-Moody
Angela George-Moody is a Deputy Director with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. She has been with the County for over 24 years. She has extensive governmental experience in water resource planning, construction management and transportation planning.
Angela currently manages the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, which is responsible for providing regional flood risk management and stormwater conservation and recharge in the County; the Los Angeles County Waterworks Districts, which provides water supply to over 250,000 people; and implementation of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Municipal Permit for both the Flood Control District and Unincorporated County Areas. Over the course of her career, Angela has been instrumental in many major water initiatives dealing with flood risk management and stormwater quality.
Angela is a registered civil engineer with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Davis.
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David Peterson
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Christine Harada
Biden-Harris Administration Presidential appointee Christine Harada serves as the Executive Director of the Permitting Council. As Executive Director, Harada assists Permitting Council member agencies in managing a portfolio of nearly $100 billion in large-scale infrastructure projects—most of which are renewable energy, coastal restoration, and electricity transmission projects. She assists Federal agencies in developing and implementing comprehensive, project-specific timetables for all required infrastructure permitting reviews and authorizations for FAST-41 covered infrastructure projects, advancing the administration's infrastructure agenda to rebuild the economy.
Harada brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in the public and private sectors to the Permitting Council. Harada was most recently the Vice President for Government Affairs at Heliogen, a California-based renewable energy technology company. Previously, she served as the President of i(x) investments, a company focused on impact-driven investments in critical areas such as renewable energy, green real estate development, and accessible smart and sustainable housing. She was a Partner with Ridge-Lane Limited Partners, an advisory firm of experts in private sector innovation, investment capital, and government policy that works with companies pursuing social and environmental impact, along with financial performance.
As the former Federal Chief Sustainability Officer under President Barack Obama, Harada oversaw all federal sustainability-related initiatives in energy, vehicle fleets, and acquisitions. She also served as the Acting Chief of Staff, the Associate Administrator of Government-wide Policy, and Chief Acquisition Officer at the U.S. General Services Administration.
Harada has worked as a Senior Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin and as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group and Booz Allen Hamilton. She holds a master's degree in international studies from the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and an MBA in finance from the Wharton School at Penn. Additionally, she has a master's degree from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in aeronautics and astronautics.
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Dr. Zeynep Erdal
Dr. Zeynep Erdal, PE is a water industry executive, technology developer and project manager with over 20 years of hands-on experience in business development and implementation of water reclamation, resource recovery, water recycling, and advanced technologies, organics-to-energy systems, energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste solids treatment and handling, greenhouse gases, renewable energy, as well as regulatory and policy issues, resource recovery, and sustainable solutions metrics and implementation through process development, piloting, modeling and design. She has led policy development and advocacy to further solutions dealing with climate change resiliency and carbon management issues. She holds leadership positions on advisory boards in collaboration with public and private representatives, research and technical practice committees. Her extensive project development and implementation experience covers development, design, construction and commissioning of water and energy projects.
As the Los Angeles Regional Business Line Leader for Water, Dr. Erdal is currently responsible for the marketing, development and execution of AECOM Water projects, and manages the Water Business P&L in LA Metro region covering Southern California, Las Vegas and Hawaii.
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Kazuo Furukawa
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).
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Paul Relis
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Masahiko Takei
Masahiko Takei is a career official of Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), assigned to the Los Angeles Consulate General of Japan as the Consul leading infrastructure and transportation issues. A civil engineer by training, Takei has tackled issues as varied as highway planning and construction management, airport planning, enhancing bicycle infrastructure, and the challenging task of creating seawalls to mitigate disaster risk in tsunami-prone Japan. Takei is a graduate of the Engineering Department of Hokkaido University.