September 28th and 29th 2022, 10am-5pm (PST)
Sierra Club
An influential thought leader in clean energy and environmental advocacy, McKenna Dunbar is renowned for their unwavering commitment to environmental justice and equitable clean energy transitions. As a key figure and social entrepreneur in the non-profit sector, Dunbar spearheads initiatives dedicated to reducing fossil fuel dependence and advancing the electric sector by championing building electrification. Dunbar's exceptional advocacy and social impact initiatives prioritizes frontline and rural communities, skillfully navigating the complex interplay between environmental justice, green workforce development, and net-zero building policy initiatives. Their impactful work has garnered numerous prestigious accolades, including the 2023 Aspen Institute Future Leader, 2022 Truman Scholarship Finalist, 2022 ACEEE Linda Latham Scholar, 2022 BECC Fellow, 2022 Greenbuild Host Committee Scholar, 2022 LinkedIn Top Voice in Social Impact, 2022 + 2023 EPA Environmental Justice Video Challenge Winner, and 2021 Udall Scholar, among others.
Asset Manager Planning Office for Urban Affairs
Mary Wambui is an affordable housing asset manager for the Planning Office For Urban Affairs (POUA) a non-profit social justice ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. Her expertise ranges from preservation of affordable housing assets through property, and portfolio repositioning to maximizing performance through capital planning, green and sustainable design, rehabilitation, debt restructuring and building stake holder relationships. Mary also serves the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as Councilor in the Energy Efficiency Advisory Council (EEAC) a state body that directs the energy efficiency vision for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She is also a co-chair of the EEAC Energy Equity Working Group, a co-lead for communities at Browning the Green Space an organization that Enhances Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the Clean Energy Industry and Beyond, Mary is involved in the leadership of other community based organizations and a sought out speaker on issues of energy equity.
East Coast Sales Manager at Fortress Power
Michael Gibson is an Electrical Engineering graduate from the University of Delaware. He has 20+ years’ experience in the electrical power distribution industry. Presently, he is Fortress Power’s Director of Commercial and Industrial solutions. Over the course of his career, he has work in the residential, OEM, industrial and project construction markets in the Philadelphia area. With his electrical distribution experience, he has been able to transition seamlessly into renewable energy. He believes that there is enough sun for all of us to shine. Having energy storage coupled with your renewable energy system adds resiliency, reliability and increases security for the customer.
Chief Sustainability Officer of the City of Atlanta, CEO of ReSolve Consulting & Founder of the Good Energy Project
Chandra Farley is an activist at heart and credits her parents with instilling a sense of duty always to do what she can to advance justice and fairness. With a passion for elevating the connection between environmental justice, strong communities, and our daily lives, Chandra continues to build upon a career foundation in the design and construction industry. Currently, Chandra serves as the CEO of ReSolve, an energy justice consulting practice with a mission to increase the impact of energy and utility initiatives by centering equity. Chandra also founded the “Good Energy Project” with a vision to connect the transformational power of Black Women to the movement for equitable clean energy. Chandra also recently completed a historic run for the Georgia Public Service Commission.
New Market Initiative Director at Elevate
Angelina Benson-Glanz is the Director of Special Projects at Elevate, a nonprofit organization that designs and implements programs that reduce costs, protect people and the environment, and ensure the benefits of clean and efficient energy use reach those who need them most. In this role, she leads Elevate’s role in the design, development, and implementation of the Justice40 Accelerator for community organizations working at the frontlines of climate and environmental crises. She oversees business development in California as well as engagements directly with affordable housing developers to integrate energy and water efficiency into new construction, rehabs, and on-going operations.
Co-Director at Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition
Marnese Jackson is an Environmental and Climate Justice activist, advocate, trainer and educator from Pontiac, Michigan where she is a mother of two children London and Dawson. Marnese was previously with the Mothers Out Front in December 2018 as the Frontline Organizing Program Manager where she focused on building the base of Mothers in Frontline communities. During this time, Marnese was the staff liaison to US Climate Action Network, staff Equity Team and BIPOC Affinity Team member. Marnese also managed the Youth Global Climate Strike (2019) and Earth Day Live (2020). She is the former Midwest and Great Plain States Regional Organizer for the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program. She was the Weatherization Coordinator for Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency and Energy Outreach Specialist for the Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office. Marnese is the membership chairperson of the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition and a Environmental and Climate Justice chairperson of the NAACP Northern Oakland County Branch. Marnese was appointed in 2021 to the Governor Whitmer’s Michigan Council on Climate Solutions.
Staff Researcher at Redwood Energy
Anissa Stull has conducted research on various decarbonization technologies in both residential and commercial spaces. She has worked on the heat pump water heating for Redwood Energy's Commercial Retrofit and is currently working on the Power Optimizer Calculator for Redwood Energy. She is a recent Environmental Resources Engineering graduate from California Polytechnic University, Humboldt.
Taġiuġmiullu Nunamiullu Housing Authority
Maintenance for TNHA and a Building Manager for a sub-set of units
Maintenance Manager & Safety Officer at Taġiuġmiullu Nunamiullu Housing Authority
Maintenance Service Manager of TNHA. He Has years of experience in Field Service for Fiber Optics Communication equipment, Field Service and Refurbishment of Imaging and print processing equipment prior to Facility Maintenance and Housing Maintenance.
Executive Director at the Mid-Hudson Energy Transition
Jasmine Graham (she/they) is a passionate advocate for a healthy, sustainable, and just world. She is currently the Executive Director at Mid-Hudson Energy Transition, where she is advancing an equitable, local renewable energy transition in the Hudson Valley of New York. Prior to that, she served as the Senior Equity and Affordability Advisor at the Building Decarbonization Coalition, the Energy Justice Policy Manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, and the Program Manager for New York’s first and largest Community Choice Aggregation at Sustainable Westchester. Jasmine was also appointed to New York City's Climate Mobilization Advisory Board and Sustainability Advisory Board, where she provided recommendations to the City on their building decarbonization laws and climate plans.
Director at Partner Energy
Mr. Collins is a licensed architect and a LEED Accredited Professional, and is currently a Director at Partner Energy, in charge of the Sustainability team providing design consulting, and project management for projects pursuing green certification such as LEED, GreenPoint Rated and others. He has over twenty years of experience in architecture, urban design, and sustainable design consulting. Mr. Collins has led the completion of more than 50 Green certified projects including LEED Platinum and Net-Zero projects for new buildings and existing construction for Partner Energy clients. In addition to his professional experience, Mr. Collins is the President of the Southern California Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (SoCalNOMA), on the Homefree Champions Advisory Board for the Healthy Buildings Network, a member of the AIA-LA committee on Affordable Housing, and was the founding Co-Chair of the US Green Building Council Long Beach Branch.
President of Networkers, SCE
Kimberly started her career with SCE in 2014 as a Government Affairs Specialist in Local Public Affairs (LPA), where she developed strategic plans for working with key external stakeholders while managing the company’s franchise agreements with local jurisdictions within SCE’s service area. In 2020, Kimberly moved to Customer Service as an Quality Assurance Advisor responsible for implementing projects and strategies through planning, data guidance, and support on cross-functional teams for high-risk CPUC Energy Regulated Compliance Programs. In her current role, Kimberly is developing the strategy and narrative for the Community & Climate Equity team within CP&S, doing what she loves most, engaging and educating SCE’s customers in our hard-to-reach communities.
Senior Manager of Policy & External Relations at Acterra
Jared has extensive experience directing and organizing issue specific campaigns. He has worked on issues ranging from stopping the routine use of antibiotics on factory farms to lobbying state legislators for campaign finance reform. Most recently, Jared has directed Acterra policy campaigns on expanding access to EV charging, building electrification, and food system reform.
Director of Environmental Justice and Equity for World Resources Institute
Carla Walker is the Director of Environmental Justice and Equity for World Resources Institute-US. In this role, she provides leadership to WRI-United States' work around equity, environmental justice, and just transition in the context of climate change to expand visibility and impact, and influence decision makers to advance solutions for today’s environmental challenges. Previously, Carla worked for NRDC as the Climate Advisor for the city of Cincinnati through the Bloomberg Philanthropies American Cities Climate Challenge. She led the city’s work on creating energy efficiency programs for low-income families living in multi-family structures, public education initiatives on electric vehicles, building out the city’s EV charging infrastructure, and facilitated community workshops for the city’s engagement in the Groundworks USA Climate Safe Neighborhoods initiative.
Program Consultant at Frontier Energy, Inc.
Mikela Topey is an environmental and economic justice advocate working to ensure energy-efficient and decarbonizing technologies are accessible to all. As a Senior Program Consultant with Frontier Energy, Inc., she supports investor-owned utilities (IOUs), community choice aggregators (CCAs), regional energy networks (RENs), and local governments with program development and program implementation. Her areas of focus include codes and standards; workforce, education, and training; contractor outreach and management; and community engagement.
Section Manager at Con Edison, Energy Efficiency Commercial Programs Delivery
Christianna has more than 10 years of experience in utility energy efficiency programs in the small business, multifamily and residential sectors. Currently, she is a Section Manager in Program Delivery and Customer Engagement in the Energy Efficiency department at New York’s Con Edison Utility. Her team provides energy efficiency and Clean Heat solutions to the largest energy customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York. She ensures that processes and systems are designed to facilitate and expedite the completion of complex equipment installation projects and incentive payments to customers. Christianna also advocates for inclusiveness and diversity in the workplace. She serves as an organizational leader for Con Edison’s initiative to support managers in recruiting and hiring practices that promote diversity. She is a founding member and on the executive team of Con Edison’s employee resource group Blacks United In Leadership and Development (BUILD). The group educates employees about the culture of Black employees through shared cultural and networking experiences.
Founder and CEO of Gemini Energy Solutions
Anthony Kinslow II, Ph.D., is the Founder & CEO of Gemini Energy Solutions. Gemini democratizes the small commercial energy audit sector, creating affordable investment-grade energy audits and supporting efforts to drastically increase workforce diversity in the energy efficiency sector. Dr. Kinslow II is also a consultant for Clean Energy Works. This nonprofit organization seeks to accelerate private capital utility investments in inclusive clean energy solutions at the grid edge. He also lectures at Stanford University, where he co-teaches two courses Racial Equity in Energy and Quest for an Inclusive Clean Energy Economy.
Director of Strategic Community Initiatives at Eco Works
Briana is the Director of Strategic Community Initiatives at EcoWorks, and has almost 20 years of experience as an Energy and Sustainability Program Manager & Administrator in strategic business planning, organizational development, nonprofit management, process improvement, and project management. Prior to Ecoworks, she consulted with the Chadwell Group and Headstrong Consulting, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati Law School.
Founder & Executive Director, Lighthouse Silicon Valley
Renowned author, visionary and speaker, Quency Phillips has been building brands and cultivating communities for nearly 25 years; his brand is in a league of its own. Strong relationships and recognition for brand innovation in sports, philanthropy and not-for-profits have shaped his career. As Founder and Executive Director for Lighthouse Silicon Valley, Phillips oversees a network of over 125 organizations united to bring justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion to the region. Prior to this, he worked as part of Google Development Ventures, LISC, and helped establish the $500M Bay’s Future Fund. Over his dynamic career he has established relationships across business, entertainment, and sports - including the NBA, WNBA and the NFL. A proud Northwestern University graduate, he holds two engineering degrees, and numerous credentials and accolades across industries. He is the proud father of a 2-year old girl who goes by “ZYP”.
Project advisor for FNPA, and is the founder of Sustainable Project Partners Consulting Inc
Dave is a project advisor for FNPA, and is the founder of Sustainable Project Partners Consulting Inc., an energy and sustainability consulting firm based in Calgary. He has spent the last 9 years in the renewable energy and energy storage industry, working on residential, commercial, and utility scale projects throughout Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean. As a consultant, he recently led development of 60MW of battery energy storage projects in Alberta, and completed a Smart Grid Study of Canada for a European Federal Government. Prior to starting his company, he worked at Saturn Power Inc. and led development of the Highfield Solar Project, Saskatchewan’s first utility scale solar project. While at Saturn Power, he also developed a portfolio of seven utility scale solar projects in Texas, Bermuda’s largest solar project, and many other utility scale solar projects in North America. He graduated with a degree in Environment & Business from the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment. Dave has given numerous guest lectures to students about sustainable energy at the University of Calgary, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, and Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.
Director of Policy Partnerships and Equitable Electrification for Rewiring America
Jamal is the Director of Policy Partnerships and Equitable Electrification for Rewiring America. Previously, he led the energy and climate initiatives at Green & Healthy Homes Initiative and worked with states and localities across the country to advance electrification, healthy housing, and energy efficiency programs and policies. He has multiple publications outlining pathways to promoting equity by retrofitting our existing housing stock to be healthy, energy-efficient, all-electric, and affordable. He is a Young, Gifted, & Green 40 under 40 award recipient for his leadership in Environmental Justice.
CEO of the TNHA
Griffin Hagle is the CEO of the TNHA, serving Alaska’s remote North Slope. Having been introduced to building science as a weatherization installer in his hometown of Medford, Oregon in 2006, and later working as an energy auditor and program administrator, he is professionally committed to buildings and energy systems that deliver the security and prosperity people everywhere deserve.
The Building Decarbonization Coalition (BDC) unites building industry stakeholders with energy providers, environmental organizations and local governments to power our nation's homes and workspaces with clean energy. Please find more information about BDC at buildingdecarb.org
