Conference Advisory Board
Tim Psomas, PE
Chairman
Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure
Former Chairman
Psomas Engineering and the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC)
Paul Krekorian
Councilmember, District 2 // Los Angeles City Council
Devoted to public service throughout his adult life, Paul Krekorian’s career has been defined by his proven record of successful, results-oriented leadership in state government, local government, public education and in the private sector. His career in politics, however, was born of humble beginnings in the San Fernando Valley. After attending Cleveland High School in Reseda, Paul graduated from USC and went on to law school at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall. For twenty years, Paul practiced business litigation and intellectual property law before serving on the Board of Education in Burbank.
In 2006, Paul was elected to the California State Assembly, representing the communities of Burbank, Glendale and the east San Fernando Valley in Sacramento, where his record included a string of environmentally conscious bills from increasing the state’s stock of renewable energy to reducing pollution in our oceans. Most recently, Paul was elected to lead Los Angeles' second City Council district in 2009. In L.A., Paul has continued his successful green advocacy while leading the charge to revamp the city’s neighborhood council system, which he has consistently lauded as a way of “bringing greater democratization and neighborhood empowerment to this city’s governance.”
Tim Psomas, PE
Chairman // Institute for Sustainable InfrastructureFormer Chairman // Psomas Engineering and the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC)
Osamu Onodera
Director
Japan New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, Silicon Valley
David Jacot
Energy Efficiency Director // LADWP
David Jacot, P.E., is the Director of Energy Efficiency for the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP). LADWP operates the third-largest portfolio of energy efficiency programs in California ($130M per year), 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. 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 Cal Poly Pomona, as well as 15 years of experience designing high performance building systems, modeling building energy performance, and managing energy efficiency programs.
Carla Peterman
Commissioner // California Public Utilities Commission
Carla Peterman was appointed to the California Energy Commission by Governor Jerry Brown in January 2011 and began work in March 2011. Commissioner Peterman currently presides over the Energy Commission's Renewables Committee and is the Associate Member on the Electricity and Natural Gas Committee and Transportation Committee. Ms. Peterman has conducted extensive research on solar photovoltaic markets and climate change at the University of California Energy Institute at Haas from 2006-2011 and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from 2008 to 2010. Ms. Peterman also served on the board of directors for The Utility Reform Network (TURN) from 2008-2011, most recently as Board Treasurer.
Ms. Peterman will complete her doctoral studies this year in Energy and Resources at the University of California Berkeley; she holds a BA in history from Howard University, a MSC in environmental change and management, and an MBA from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
Osamu Onodera
Director // Japan New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, Silicon Valley
Bob Foster
Mayor // City of Long BeachChair // ISO Board of Governors
Mayor Bob Foster was elected as the 27th mayor of Long Beach in 2006 and re-elected in 2010.
Mayor Foster served as president of Southern California Edison before his retirement in 2006 after more than 20 years with the company. As an Edison executive, Mayor Foster led California’s largest electric company through the 1999 energy crisis. During Mayor Foster’s tenure, Edison developed the largest renewable, clean energy programs in the United States.
He began his public service career as a staff member for the California Energy Commission where he helped create the first statewide energy efficiency standards that are still enforced today.
He was appointed as the Environment Committee chair in 2008, elected to the Advisory Board in 2009 and the Board of Trustees in 2010 for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Mayor Foster to the Board of Governors for the California Independent Systems Operators (ISO) in 2010.
Jerry Meral
California Natural Resources Agency // Deputy Secretary
Gerald Meral, Ph.D. was appointed Natural Resources Agency deputy secretary for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) on Jan. 19, 2011. Dr. Meral will be charged with guiding completion of the BDCP to restore the Bay-Delta ecosystem and create water supply reliability for California. In addition, he will also be responsible for the development of any revenue and funding proposals necessary to complete the plan.
Dr. Meral was executive director of the Planning and Conservation League from 1983 to 2003. He previously served as deputy director of the California Department of Water Resources from 1975 to 1983 under Governor Brown, and director of the western water program of the Environmental Defense Fund from 1971 to 1975. Dr. Meral holds a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of California, Berkeley. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan. He lives in Inverness, Calif. with his wife Barbara.
Varun Sivaram
Senior Advisor, Energy and Water // Office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Robyn Beavers
Director of Commercialization // DEKA Research & Development
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 has recently joined DEKA Research & Engineering to commercialize their various distributed water and power technologies. She holds both a B.S. in Civil Engineering and an MBA from Stanford University.
Jim Kelly
Former Senior VP // Southern California Edison
Jim Kelly retired from Southern California Edison after almost 38 years of service with the Company. He is now Managing Director of The Power of Leadership, a non-profit venture dedicated to promoting the value of technical education to young people. He also serves as a CEO, director, advisor or consultant to a number of firms and agencies in the technology and utility fields.
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 100,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines spread across a 50,000-square-mile service area. Mr. Kelly was responsible for an annual budget of over $2.5 billion.
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.
Bob Hertzberg
California Assembly Speaker Emeritus // Mayer Brown LLP
Robert M. Hertzberg was twice unanimously elected Speaker of the California State Assembly (2000 – 2002). Currently, Mr. Hertzberg is Vice-Chair of the Los Angeles office of Mayer Brown LLP, an international Law firm with offices around the globe. He is also co-founder of G24 Innovations based in Cardiff, Wales which manufactures a new type of lightweight and flexible solar cell that generates power in any light, even in indoor conditions.
His work with G24i and as Co-founder of Renewable Capital, has made him an active entrepreneur and leader in global policy on renewable energy. The Guardian (UK) named him as one of the “50 People Who Could Save the Planet” and his company won the World Bank Award, for Lighting Africa, for a project in Rwanda. CNBC European Business recognized G24i as one of its TOP 100 Low-Carbon Pioneers. Mr Hertzberg has appeared on CBS Evening News, CNN, BBC, Nightline, as in articles in The Economist, and Fortune Small Business. A previous solar company in Los Angeles won the 2005 Wall Street Journal Innovation of the Year Award in the field of energy.
For his entire life, Bob has had a deep interest in public policy and politics. The Los Angeles Times said this about Bob Hertzberg: He is a high-velocity wonk; he loves BIG ideas and will flesh out every one of them if you give him the chance.” Among his many involvements, he chaired the transition team for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and served on the transition team of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He serves on the Boards of The Public Policy Institute of California, The Board of Counselors for the USC School of Policy, Planning and Development, (where he also served as a Keston Fellow on Infrastructure), The Board of Visitors for the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine, The Rose Institute at Claremont, The Los Angeles World Affairs Council, The Pacific Council and is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations.
Mr. Hertzberg was named to replace Leon Panetta, as Co-Chair of California Forward, a non-partisan group focused on repairing the dysfunction of California Government. He also serves on The Think Long Committee of California.
He is a Magna Cum Laude Graduate of The University of Redlands (1976) and received his JD from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (1979).
Won-Sok Yun
Director General and Chief Trade Commissioner // KOTRA- Los Angeles
Diane Wittenberg
Executive Director and Chairman // Plug-in Vehicle Collaborative
Anthony Ravitz
Real Estate and Workplace Services, Green Team Lead // Google
David Fransen
Consul General // Consul General of Canada, Los Angeles
Zev Yaroslavsky
Supervisor, 3rd District // Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Bill Allen
President and CEO // LAEDC
Bill Allen is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation and its subsidiary, the World Trade Center Association Los Angeles – Long Beach. Mr. Allen is also the 2012 Board Chair of Film L.A., a Vice Chair of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, and the Board Secretary for the Valley Presbyterian Hospital. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Weingart Foundation, International Economic Development Council, California Stewardship Network, Regional Economic Association Leaders of California Coalition, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles Coalition for the Economy and Jobs, Unite L.A., and the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California.
Jean-Phillipe Brisson
Partner, Environmental, Land and Resources Department
Latham & Watkins LLP
Allan Emkin
Founder and Managing Director // Pension Consulting Alliance
Zhihang Chi
Vice President and General Manager // Air China, North America
Mark Ridley-Thomas
Supervisor, 2nd District // Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Jean-Phillipe Brisson
Partner, Environmental, Land and Resources Department // Latham & Watkins LLP
JP Brisson is a partner in Latham & Watkins’s Environmental, Land and Resources Department and Vice-Chair of its Air Quality and Climate Change Practice. He has close to fifteen years of experience advising oil and gas, industrial and financial institution clients on a range of environmental-related matters including carbon finance, renewable energy and commodities and is ranked by Chambers for his work in this area. He was previously Vice President in Goldman Sachs’ Global Commodities business where he established Goldman’s US carbon trading desk.
James Goldstene
Executive Officer // California Air Resources Board
James N. Goldstene is the Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board. The Board has 11 members appointed by the Governor and is responsible for promoting and protecting the public health and ecological resources of California through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering the effects of its actions on the state’s economy. To achieve this goal, the Executive Officer oversees the development and implementation of regulations and policies adopted by the Board and represents the ARB before the Legislature and in a wide variety of state, regional, national and international forums. The California Air Resources Board has more than 1300 employees.
Goldstene was appointed Executive Officer in October 2007. Since then the Board has passed major rules to reduce diesel emissions from trucks, construction equipment and ships. It also adopted a comprehensive plan to reduce global warming pollutants under AB 32, California’s pioneering climate change legislation, and developed a range of measures and regulations to implement this plan, including the groundbreaking Low Carbon Fuel Standard and the establishment of a greenhouse gas emissions-trading program. In 2008 the Obama administration adopted California’s standard for greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles as the standard for the entire nation. Currently, ARB is working with the U.S. EPA and the Department of Transportation to develop more stringent standards for vehicles from model year 2018 to 2025.
Prior to his appointment as Executive Officer, Goldstene served first as a specialist to coordinate the Board's involvement in California's Smog Check program. Later, as Senior Advisor to the Board's Office of Climate Change, he was also responsible for providing policy guidance and direction for the implementation of AB 32.
Prior to joining the Board, Goldstene served as Deputy Chief at the California Department of Consumer Affairs' Bureau of Automotive Repair, the agency responsible for regulating automotive repair dealers and running the state's Smog Check program. His career history also includes key management positions with the Bureau of Barbering and Cosmetology, the State Contractors License Board, the California Pollution Control Financing Authority and other financing authorities in the Office of the State Treasurer. Goldstene served as Lieutenant Governor Leo McCarthy's environmental advisor in the early 1990s.
Goldstene also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Clean Air Agencies and is currently co-chair of the Western Climate Initiative Executive Committee.
Goldstene holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Government from California State University, Sacramento, where he served as part-time faculty in the Government Department for many years. As part of his graduate studies, he completed a year studying in the Department of Politics at the University of Bristol in England. Goldstene taught American government and political theory at California State University, Sacramento for many years.
Mike Rosenfeld
Vice Consul // British Consulate-General; UK Trade & Investment
Kristin Eberhard
Legal Director, Western Energy & Climate Projects, Energy & Transportation Program
NRDC
Kristin Eberhard
Legal Director, Western Energy & Climate Projects, Energy & Transportation Program // NRDC
Kristin Eberhard is the Legal Director of Western Energy and Climate Projects in NRDC’s energy program. Ms. Eberhard leads NRDC's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California and throughout the West. She has taught "Climate Change Law" at Stanford Law School and "Energy Law" at UCLA Law School. In the past, Ms. Eberhard has worked as a litigator at a private law firm, as an energy consultant for PG&E, and conducting independent research on renewable energy and sustainable building practices in rural areas of Latin America. She graduated cum laude from the Duke University School of Law, while concurrently earning a Masters of Environmental Management from Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment. She also holds a B.A. in Science, Technology and Society, with interdisciplinary honors in Environmental Science and Technology Policy, from Stanford University.
Terry O'Day
Regional Director // eVgo/ NRG
Mr. O’Day is Director of California Business Development for NRG EV Services and Councilmember in the City of Santa Monica.
NRG EV Services provides affordable, comprehensive charging plans and charging networks that provide range confidence throughout the metropolitan areas where eVgo operates. The parent company, NRG Energy, is a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 Company that owns and operates one of the country's largest and most diverse power generation portfolios. The company has committed over $35 million in capital to develop the infrastructure required for electric vehicles to achieve market success.
Mr. O’Day was elected to the Santa Monica City Council in November 2010. Prior to his appointment, he was Chair of the city’s Planning Commission. The City has 90,000 residents, a $650 million annual budget, 1,700 employees and a AAA credit rating. Mr. O’Day led a six-year process to update the City’s General Plan – the leading example of environmental land use planning in the state, reducing per capita greenhouse gas emissions from land use by 31 percent by 2030.
Previously, Mr. O’Day was Executive Director of Environment Now foundation. Founded by the family of Frank and Luanne Wells in 1989, Environment Now is known as a strategic, entrepreneurial, activist leader in California, having founded more than a dozen lasting, successful organizations like the Waterkeepers in California and Mexico and Energy Independence Now. Mr. O’Day’s achievements included founding ten Waterkeeper programs now defending over 1,000 miles of coastline, developing an alliance that led to a $40 billion transit initiative in L.A. County in 2008, and protecting hundreds of thousands of forestland acres throughout the state. His two predecessors departed the foundation to become Secretaries of the California Natural Resources and the California Environmental Protection Agencies, respectively.
He is co-founder of Move LA, a collaboration of business, labor and environmental organizations, including the LA Area Chamber of Commerce, the LA Business Federation, LA County AFL-CIO, Building Trades Council of LA and Orange Counties. Move LA devised Measure R, which raised $40 billion in new funding for transit and transportation investment through a half-cent sales tax approved by LA County voters in November 2008 with 68 percent of the vote. Mr. O’Day signed the ballot argument in favor of Measure R that was distributed to all LA County voters.
Mr. O’Day is also past president of EV Rental Cars, a company he co-founded in 1998. It was the first rental company in the United States to offer only environmental vehicles, such as hybrid, natural gas, and electric cars to the general public. It served fifteen airports in six states and more than 500,000 customers, with over 700 cars, broadening access to clean fuel vehicles and developing markets for new sustainable technologies. Terry and his partners earned awards from the Coalition for Clean Air, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Council on Economic Priorities. They were featured in Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Business Week.
Mr. O’Day has advised sustainable technology companies addressing solar, wind, and conventional energy production, manufacturing, electric vehicles, natural gas vehicles, and logistics, as well as public agencies including the Metropolitan Water District. He holds an MBA from The UCLA Anderson School of Management and completed the Coro Public Affairs Fellows Program in Los Angeles. He received a BA with honors in Public Policy at Stanford University, with a thesis addressing public finance and demand management of electricity. He has been active with community organizations throughout California and Mexico, including Coro Southern California, the USC Center for Sustainable Cities, the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, Human Rights Watch California Committee, Environmental Entrepreneurs, the Weingart Center and as the Board Chair of the Coalition for Clean Air.
Cecilia Estolano
Co-Founder // ELP Advisors
Cecilia V. Estolano is a member of Estolano LeSar Perez Advisors LLC (ELP Advisors) which provides consulting services to public agencies, foundations, business associations and other stakeholders seeking to grow thriving, healthy and vibrant communities. ELP Advisors offers a range of services, including strategic planning; design and implementation of stakeholder engagement processes; sustainable economic development; community planning; business cluster and sector strategies; business development and retention strategies; transit-oriented development planning, green workforce development strategies and project management.
Ms. Estolano, a land use and environmental lawyer, is an expert in CEQA requirements and was formerly a Senior Policy Advisor with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She was also formerly the Chief Strategist of State and Local Initiatives for Green For All, a national organization that advocates for broad access and opportunity in the clean-energy economy. Ms. Estolano oversaw Green For All's State and Local Initiatives and the Capital Access Program and was charged with spearheading the organization's effort to scale public-private partnerships as a means to grow family-supporting green jobs in cities across the United States, particularly in under-served communities. Ms. Estolano previously served as Chief Executive Officer of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA). Under Ms. Estolano's tenure, CRA/LA was the largest redevelopment agency in California, with an annual budget of over $726 million and a work program covering 32 project areas.
Michael Bissonette
Senior Vice President and General Manager // AeroVironment
Jonathan Weisgall
Vice President // Mid-American Energy
Jonathan Weisgall is Vice President for Legislative and Regulatory Affairs for MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Geothermal Energy Association. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he has taught a seminar on energy issues since 1990, and he has also guest lectured on energy issues at Stanford Law School, Haverford, and the Johns Hopkins Environmental Science and Policy Program. Mr. 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, SAIS Review, and The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Mike Wallace
Director // Global Reporting Initiative
Mike Wallace is the Director of the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Focal Point USA. GRI is a non-profit organization that promotes economic sustainability and provides all companies and organizations with a comprehensive sustainability reporting framework. GRI is the most widely used sustainability reporting framework in the world, with over 80% of the Global 250 using GRI when they report on sustainability. GRI’s Focal Point USA was officially launched in January 2011 at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and is responsible for supporting the growth and quality of sustainability reporting in the US.
Mike Wallace has almost 20-years of international experience advising corporations, non-profits and government agencies in the development and implementation of sustainability programs. He initially gained his sustainability expertise while working for ERM in Australia. This expertise was expanded during his time with BSR, and was refined while running his own advisory services firm in California. He started with GRI in the fall of 2009 at its Secretariat in Amsterdam. By the fall of 2010 he had established GRI’s Focal Point USA and relocated to New York.
He is a recognized expert in the field, with a unique specialization in the intersection of sustainability and corporate governance. In addition to speaking globally on the topic of sustainability, Mike has given expert testimony to the European Commission, the US Securities & Exchange Commission, and a range of business associations like the US Business Roundtable and the National Association of Corporate Directors. Mike has been recognized for his expertise in the field by his inclusion in the NACD’s 2011 Directorship 100, and in Trust Across America’s 2010 Top 100 Thought Leaders. He has authored numerous articles on the topic and was a contributor to Climate Change – a Guide to Carbon Law & Practice.
Ron Nichols
General Manager // LADWP
Ron Nichols is General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Under his leadership, in two years LADWP has more than doubled the utility’s commitment to energy efficiency, doubled the pace of funding rebates for customer-installed solar, and started an aggressive new solar feed-in tariff program while meeting 20% renewable energy delivered to its power customers. Similarly, LADWP has adopted expanded goals to reduce reliance on imported water to meet LA water customer needs through increased water conservation, clean-up of contaminated ground water, stormwater capture and recycled water. These changes are underway while maintaining among the lowest customer rates for water and power in California.
Felicia Marcus
Board Member // California State Water Resources Control Board
Jun Niimi
Consul General // Japanese Consulate, Los Angeles
Consul General Niimi joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1979 after graduating from Tokyo University’s Faculty of Law. His previous international assignments were in England, Kenya, France, Iran, Russia, and Thailand. At Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Tokyo, he has served as Director of the Overseas Public Relations Division, Director of the Consular Policy Division, Director of the Overseas Establishments Division, and as Assistant Vice-Minister. The post of Consul General at Los Angeles is his first assignment in the United States.
