Marlon Boarnet

Dr. Marlon Boarnet, Professor of Public Policy and Chair of the Urban Planning & Spatial Analysis Department, is a renowned authority on urban economics, urban growth patterns, transportation, and regional science. He is an expert in transportation and land use, and has served on the National Research Council committee that authored “Driving and the Built Environment.”

His research focuses on land use and transportation; links between land use and travel behavior and associated implications for public health and greenhouse gas emissions; urban growth patterns; and the economic impacts of transportation infrastructure.

Marlon Boarnet has published extensively in leading journals such as Regional Science and Urban Economics, Environment and Behavior, Urban Studies, Journal of Urban Economics, Journal of Planning Education and Research, National Tax Journal, and Journal of the American Planning Association and is also co-author of Travel by Design: The Influence of Urban Form on Travel (Oxford University Press, 2001).

For twelve years, Dr. Boarnet co-edited the Journal of Regional Science, is an associate editor of the Journal of the American Planning Association, and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Planning Literature, Journal of Transport and Land Use, Transport Policy, and previously on Papers in Regional Science.

In recognition for lifetime scholarly achievement, Dr. Boarnet is fellow of both the Regional Science Association International and the Weimer School of the Homer Hoyt Institute for Real Estate. He serves as vice-president/president-elect of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (2017-2019).

He has been an Executive Committee Member for the National Center for Sustainable Transportation since 2014 and has acted as principal investigator on over 1.8 million dollars of funded research, supported by agencies that include the U.S. and California Departments of Transportation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Policy Research Center, the California Air Resources Board, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Phil Chen

Phil Chen is a venture investor and entrepreneur. As an investor, he’s invested and exited in several unicorns such as Scopely, Databricks, Shopify, Beats, Soundhound while heading the corp development at HTC, Horizons Ventures, billionaire Li Ka Shing’s venture arm, and Race Capital. At Presence Capital, the fund has exited 10+ companies to the likes of Google (North), Intel (Eonite), Qualcomm (Augmented Pixels), Niantic (Escher Reality), Discord (Byte), Epic (Harmonix), Roblox (Loom), Adobe (Urdu). As an operator, he’s shipped over 100M+ Phones including the first Android phone in 2009, founded the HTC VR group, and the Exodus (the first mobile phone with a built-in hardware wallet) during his time at HTC. Phil is currently the CEO of the New Taipei Kings, a professional basketball team featuring Jeremy Lin in Taiwan, and the CEO of Cold Electric, a battery company building the electric grid 2.0.

Karen Douglas

CPUC Commissioner

Commissioner Douglas was previously Senior Advisor for Energy in the Office of Governor Newsom since 2022. She was a California Energy Commission Member from 2008 to 2022. She was Director of the California Climate Initiative for the Environmental Defense Fund from 2005 to 2008. She held several positions at the Planning and Conservation League from 2001 to 2005, including Acting Executive Director and General Counsel. Commissioner Douglas earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School and a Master of Public Policy degree in Environmental Policy from the University of Colorado Boulder.

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.          

Ryan Pfaff

EVP, GRID- AND DISTRIBUTION-SCALE POWER EDF RENEWABLES, NORTH AMERICA

Ryan Pfaff leads EDF Renewables’ Grid- and Distribution-Scale Power activities in North America across multiple technologies, including solar, on- and offshore wind, energy storage, and hydrogen. With over 25 years of international renewable energy and finance experience, he has played a key role in the commercialization of over 12 GW of renewable generation facilities globally.

Prior to joining EDF Renewables in 2012, Mr. Pfaff served in a variety of roles with the AES Corporation over the course of seven years, most recently VP & Head of Global Wind Development. Other AES roles included, VP – North America Business Development, Managing Director – Renewable Generation, and serving on AES’ Global Development Steering Committee.

Mr. Pfaff began his energy career in 1997 with privately-held IPP SeaWest Windpower, where he was a key member of the management team responsible for the turnaround and sale of SeaWest to AES in 2005. Prior to joining the energy industry, Mr. Pfaff worked in commercial banking with Credit Suisse First Boston and Union Bank of California (now US Bank).

Mr. Pfaff holds a B.S. in Business Administration, concentration in Finance, from San Diego State University. He serves on both the Board and Executive Committee of the Solar Energy Industries Association, as well as Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, an EDFR/Shell joint venture.

Greg McWilliams

Chief Policy Officer
FivePoint 

Greg McWilliams oversees all public policy initiatives for FivePoint Holdings, LLC, one of the largest developers of mixed-use communities in coastal California. FivePoint owns and manages FivePoint Valencia (formerly known as Newhall Ranch®) in Los Angeles County, Great Park Neighborhoods® in Irvine, and Candlestick® and The San Francisco Shipyard® in the City of San Francisco. The company’s mixed-used communities combine residential, commercial, retail, educational, and recreational elements with public amenities, including civic areas for parks and open space. Statewide, FivePoint plans to introduce approximately 40,000 residential homes and 23 million square feet of commercial space. FivePoint communities are projected to generate tens of thousands of temporary and permanent jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity to California.

In his previous role as President of The Newhall Land and Farming Company (which would later become part of FivePoint), McWilliams managed the entitlement, planning and development for Newhall Ranch and the final phases of Valencia. 

Earlier in his career, McWilliams was as an executive at Lennar. His most recent roles included Regional President of Lennar Urban Communities in California and President of Lennar Communities in the Bay Area, where he managed complex development projects. 

McWilliams serves as Chairman of the Southern California Association of Governments’ Global Land Use/Economic Council. He is also on the Executive Board and is a former Chairman of the Southern California Leadership Council, which includes two former California Governors and provides a common voice on major public policies critical to economic vitality, job growth and quality of life in Southern California.

McWilliams is on the Board of Directors of the California Business Roundtable, California Chamber of Commerce, California Building Industry Association, the Greater Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles Business Council, the Building Industry Association of Southern California and the CORO Foundation. He is also on the Board of Trustees at California Institute of the Arts.

Gene Seroka

Executive Director

Gene Seroka is the Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest container port in North America. Confirmed by Los Angeles City Council in June 2014, the Port has experienced a series of historic, record-breaking performances since his appointment.

As Executive Director, Seroka interacts with a wide range of stakeholders, including Port customers around the globe, industry partners, elected and appointed officials at all levels, business leaders and local residents. A respected global trade expert, Seroka has advocated for rules-based trade agreements that benefit American exporters and manufacturers.

Since the pandemic-induced buying surge generated by American consumers in the second half of 2020, the Port of Los Angeles has eclipsed multiple monthly cargo records and recorded eight out of 10 highest-performing quarters in its 115-year history. The Port set two new milestones for the Western Hemisphere in June 2021 as the first port to process 10 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in a 12-month period and in May 2021 the first port to process 1 million TEUs in a single month.

Seroka has distinguished himself as a leader throughout his illustrious career in shipping, global logistics and executive management. He received the esteemed Stanley T. Olafson Award from the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce in 2023, recognizing his work in the world trade industry and leadership of the nation’s busiest container port. The Containerization & Intermodal Institute named Seroka the 2021 recipient of the Connie Award, one the most coveted honors in the maritime industry. Lloyd’s List has recognized Seroka as the preeminent source on the supply chain, which earned him a spot in the 2021 Top 100 most influential people in shipping. Also in 2021, the Inland Empire Economic Partnership honored Seroka with its Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing decades of leadership and accomplishments in the supply chain, logistics and maritime industry. Seroka has been named one of the most influential people in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal and featured on the LA500 list each year since 2016.

In 2020, Supply Chain Dive named Seroka Executive of the Year for his leadership throughout the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, Seroka—who lived in China during the 2002-2004 SARS epidemic—led the Port’s response to the global health crisis, keeping cargo flowing as an essential service to the nation. In March 2020, former Mayor Eric Garcetti named Seroka the Chief Logistics Officer for the City of Los Angeles, while concurrently serving as the Port’s Executive Director.

As chief of America’s top port, he is responsible for managing a $2 billion budget, advancing major capital projects, growing trade volume and promoting innovative, sustainable practices that strengthen the region’s economy. Under his direction, the Port has taken a leadership role in adopting cutting-edge technologies to improve the reliability, predictability and efficiency of the flow of cargo across global seaborne trade. In 2017, Seroka oversaw the Port’s launch of the first-of-its-kind digital information portal, Port Optimizer™, and has championed for ports around the world to share critical supply chain data and analytics.

While serving as Executive Director, Seroka has been appointed to serve on four federal committees to enhance the speed and efficiency of cargo movement and supply chain optimization, including the U.S. Department of Commerce Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness, U.S. Maritime Administration Marine Transportation System National Advisory Committee, Federal Maritime Commission Supply Chain Innovation Team and U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation’s former Port Performance Freight Statistics Working Group. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors for the California Association of Port Authorities, American Association of Port Authorities and Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority.

Seroka’s footing in the maritime industry was established as a sales support representative at American President Lines (APL) Limited’s Cincinnati office in 1988. After several key overseas positions in China, Indonesia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, he returned to the U.S. in 2010 to become President – Americas for the shipping line in Phoenix where he managed APL’s Liner Shipping business, including 1,000 employees, and was responsible for all commercial, port terminal, intermodal, land transportation and labor activities throughout the region.

Seroka holds an MBA and Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of New Orleans.

Mary Powell

Chief Executive Officer

Mary has served as chief executive officer of Sunrun (Nasdaq: RUN), the nation’s leading home solar, battery storage, and energy services company, since August 2021. In 2018, Mary joined Sunrun’s Board of Directors, where she continues to serve as a member of the board. From 2008-2019, Mary served as the president and chief executive officer of Green Mountain Power Corporation (formerly NYSE: GMP), an electric services company that serves 75 percent of the State of Vermont’s residential and business customers. At GMP, Mary successfully executed strategies to drive increased customer satisfaction and growth, delivered on an ambitious energy vision to provide low-carbon, low-cost and highly reliable power to Vermonters, and positioned the company as a leading energy transformation business. Mary’s previous roles at GMP include serving as senior vice president and chief operations officer from 2001-2008, and as senior vice president of Customer and Organizational Development from 1999-2001. Mary is nationally recognized for her work disrupting the energy sector and has received numerous industry awards, including being named Utility Dive’s 2019 Executive of the Year and one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2016. Prior to joining GMP in 1998, Mary held executive roles within the banking industry, and served in state government. Mary currently serves on the board of directors of CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB), a global IT and business consulting services firm, and recently served on the board of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. (NYSE: HE), the largest utility in Hawaii. She has also served on the boards of a number of other privately held companies and nonprofits. Mary also previously chaired the board of Climate Change Crisis Real Impact | Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: CLII), a former special-purpose acquisition corporation that combined with EVgo Services and enabled the fast charging network for electric vehicles to become a publicly listed company. Mary enjoys spending time on her farm with her husband Mark, daughter Alex, their five dogs and a couple dozen barn animals.

Jonathan Port

Jonathan Port is the founder and CEO of PermaCity, a leading solar energy design company that designs, constructs and installs photovoltaic energy systems for commercial, governmental and residential customers.

Mr. Port sees himself as a sustainable designer and planner on a mission to accelerate the pace of society’s transformation from harmful fossil fuels to a green energy future. His firm’s proprietary product, the solar strap system, is helping clients save money, energy and the planet.

Prior to founding PermaCity, Mr. Port was CEO of a multi-million dollar independent green utility provider. He has also served as vice president for a retail real estate development company and as an associate consultant on the planning staff of Economics Research Associates where he worked on the California High Speed Rail feasibility study.

Mr. Port holds a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning and Sustainable Development from Auckland University in New Zealand and a Bachelor of Science degree in City and Regional Planning from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Veronica Padilla

Veronica Padilla-Campos grew up in Sun Valley, moved to Sylmar for 10 years with her husband and 3-year-old daughter and now lives in Santa Clarita. She is also a proud stepmom to two special needs boys. She has a bachelor’s degree from UCLA in Geography and Environmental Studies and a master’s in urban planning from UCLA as well. She has experience working in the government sector interning at the housing department for the City of LA and the private sector doing GIS work and writing EIR’s, but she has enjoyed serving in the non-profit sector the most. Today, she is the Executive Director of Pacoima Beautiful, and environmental justice organization. She is proud to serve the community she grew up in while leading projects of our founding mothers which set the grassroots foundation that our historically women led organization has stood by for the past 22 years.

She served as a City of Los Angeles Planning Commissioner for five years leading such projects as, Mobility Element, West Adams, Baldwin Hills, Leimert Community Plan Update, Citywide Sign Ordinance, Update to the SF Zones, including the new R1 Variation Zones, Parks Fees Update, Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones, LA Football Club Stadium in Exposition Park, LGBT McCadden Homeless Project in Hollywood, Frank Gehry 8150 Sunset Project in Hollywood, Paramount Pictures Master Plan in Hollywood, Martin Expo Town Center Project in West Los Angeles, Providence Holy Cross Hospital Campus Expansion in Tarzana, NoHo West Mixed-Use Project, Crossroads Hollywood, Trident Modernization – West Los Angeles, Promenade 2035 in Warner Center, ICON Sherman Oaks at the Sunkist Building, Downtown Flower Market Development, Arts District Center Project, and Rose Hills Court 100 Percent Affordable Housing Project in East Los Angeles.

She also has the honor of sitting on the Measure W – Watershed Council for the Upper LA River and the Measure A Oversight Committee.

Her overall goal is to build People Power and improve the welfare of her community members by creating equitable, healthy, and safe neighborhoods.

Karla Nemeth

Karla Nemeth was appointed Director of the California Department of Water Resources by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. on January 10, 2018 and was reappointed by Governor Gavin Newsom on June 28, 2019.

Nemeth oversees the Department and it’s 4,000 employees whose mission it is to manage and protect California’s water resources. In cooperation with other agencies, DWR manages California’s water resources to benefit the state’s people, and to protect, restore, and enhance the natural and human environments. Nemeth focuses on preparing the Department and state to adapt to more extreme weather as a result of climate change – investing in aging and green infrastructure, better management of groundwater supplies, and various programs to improve local water resilience. Nemeth is committed to ensuring a workplace that reflects the values of diversity, equity and inclusion and one that provides programs and services that meet the needs of California’s diverse population.

Prior to joining DWR, Nemeth worked at the California Natural Resources Agency as Governor Brown’s deputy secretary and senior advisor for water policy since 2014. She was the Bay Delta Conservation Plan project manager from 2009 to 2014.

Prior to her work in natural resources management, Nemeth lived, worked and traveled extensively in eastern Europe promoting the development of democratic institutions.  In 2010 Nemeth traveled to the Philippines as an election monitor. She is passionate about good government and serving the public. 

Nemeth received a bachelor’s degree in political science and Latin American studies from the University of California at San Diego, and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington.

Nemeth grew up in San Diego, California where she learned to love baseball, the Pacific Ocean, and the eastern Sierra.

Mary D. Nichols

Mary D. Nichols is widely recognized for a career as one of the world’s most important environmental regulators. Nichols was appointed as Chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) under Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. (1975–82 and 2010–18), Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (2007–2010) and Governor Gavin Newsom (2019–2020). As chair of CARB, California’s powerful air-pollution and climate regulatory agency, she led California’s leading battle to cut smog and carbon emissions. Under Nichols’ leadership, CARB enacted the first comprehensive cap on industrial greenhouse gas emissions by any major regulatory agency in the world. Nichols and CARB also crafted and enforced regulations that slashed air pollution from cars and light trucks by over 99%, paved the way for a new generation of advanced biofuels, and created the roadmap for a transition to a fully electrified transportation system. Currently, Nichols is a faculty member at the UCLA School of Law, affiliated with the Emmett Institute. She holds the positions of Vice-Chair at the China-California Climate Center and Co-Chair of the Coalition for Reimagined Mobility. Additionally, she is a Fellow at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Michael Northrop

Michael Northrop is the program director for the Sustainable Development grantmaking program at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund where he focuses on energy and climate change. Northrop also teaches a spring semester course on environmental policy campaigns at the Yale School of Environment and serves on the board of Inside Climate News. Previously, he was executive director of Ashoka, an international development organization that supports “public sector entrepreneurs” and an analyst at First Boston, an investment bank in New York City. Northrop has a Master of Public Administration from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, where he was an English major as an undergraduate.

H. David Nahai

David Nahai is a recognized expert in real estate, renewable energy and water matters. In his private sector roles, he is a principal of:

• David Nahai Associates, Inc., a law firm specializing in real estate, environmental, corporate, and commercial matters.
• David Nahai Consulting Services, Inc. a firm that advises public and private entities on real estate, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and water matters.

He currently also serves as Vice-Chair of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and is the Chairman of the Los Angeles Business Council. Mr. Nahai has also served as the Commission President and General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and Senior Advisor to the Clinton Climate Initiative.

Before returning to the private sector, Mr. Nahai served as the General Manager and Commission President of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the largest municipal utility in the United States. In this capacity, Mr. Nahai oversaw more than 9,000 employees and an annual budget of over $4.5 billion. He was the President of the LADWP Board of Commissioners prior to becoming GM. Mr. Nahai led an overall transformation of the LADWP that included the unprecedented expansion of the utility’s renewable energy portfolio, the origination and execution of the City’s groundbreaking Water Supply Plan, the attainment of historic reductions in water consumption in the City; and the launch and implementation of water and power infrastructure improvement programs.
Following his departure from LADWP, Mr. Nahai became Senior Advisor to the Clinton Climate Initiative, a division of the Clinton Foundation. The mission of the Clinton Climate Initiative is to bring about the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale through specific project partnerships with governments around the world.

In addition to his expertise in the energy field, Mr. Nahai is widely recognized as an expert on water issues. He has many years of service on the Regional Water Quality Control Board, which safeguards the quality of surface, ground and coastal waters in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, an area with over 11 million residents. In this capacity, Mr. Nahai has served in the administrations of four separate California Governors. Mr. Nahai served four terms as Chairman
of the Water Board.

Mr. Nahai is a published author. His book “Commercial Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreements in California – a Beginner’s Guide” was published by Thompson-Reuters. In addition, Mr. Nahai co-authored “Inside the Minds; Strategies for Green Real Estate Law”, also published by Thompson-Reuters. Nahai has contributed opinion pieces to publications such as the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Daily News, the Huffington Post, and the Jewish
1
Journal. He is a frequent speaker and radio guest regarding real estate, energy, water, and climate change issues.
In addition to the Los Angeles Business Council, Mr. Nahai currently sits on the boards of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, LAANE, Climate Resolve and the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. He also Chairs the Business Advisory Council for the Superintendent at the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Mr. Nahai holds graduate and post-graduate degrees in law from the London School of Economics and the University of California at Berkeley, and was a Visiting Scholar at Berkeley.

Hector De La Torre

Hector De La Torre is the Executive Director of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, a joint powers authority of 27 cities and several unincorporated communities in southeast Los Angeles (LA) County created to address regional issues of transportation, environment, housing and homelessness, and economic development. He is also a member of the board at LA Care, the largest public nonprofit health plan in the United States, and a trustee at his alma mater Occidental College in LA.

De La Torre served in the California State Assembly from 2004 to 2010, representing the largely Latino 50th District in southeast LA County. He chaired the Budget Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, the Rules Committee and helped create and chair the Accountability and Administrative Review Committee during his tenure. De La Torre was recently the Executive Director of the nonprofit Gasol Foundation focused on children’s wellness, and the national non-profit Transamerica Center for Health Studies. Prior to his service in the Assembly, he served as Mayor and as a member of the South Gate City Council, Judicial Administrator in the LA Superior Court, chief of staff to the Deputy Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration, and a teacher at Edison Junior High in south LA.

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

Nicole Neeman Brady

Board Vice President

Nicole Neeman Brady is a business leader with deep roots in public service in water and power throughout California. She was elected Vice President of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners on July 11, 2023, after serving as a Commissioner since 2019. 

Ms. Neeman Brady was most recently the CEO of Sustainable Development Acquisition I Corp, a firm whose mission was to identify and partner with a growth-oriented company to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Ms. Neeman Brady was also a fund manager, the COO and oversaw investments in energy and water treatment at Renewable Resources Group, a Los Angeles based investment firm that that specializes in food and agriculture, water, conservation, and renewable energy in the US and internationally. 

Prior to her role at Renewable Resources Group, Ms. Neeman Brady was president of Edison Water Resources, a subsidiary of Edison International that she created to pursue water purification and recycling opportunities on a distributed basis. After completing a strategic analysis of water market dynamics, Neeman Brady built and grew Edison Water Resources, and ultimately, sold its projects and assets in early 2017. 

Prior to Edison Water, Neeman Brady worked in various operational and leadership roles within Southern California Edison, one of the nation’s largest electric utilities and a subsidiary of Edison International. She was Director of Energy Procurement where she was responsible for $5 billion per year in energy contracting including power, natural gas and emissions trading. 

Earlier in her Edison career, Neeman Brady served as Director of Renewable and Alternative Power Contracts, and Manager of Strategic Projects. Before joining Edison, Neeman Brady worked in consulting for McKinsey & Co, strategic planning for Twentieth Century Fox, and private equity for Goldman Sachs. 

Nicole currently serves on several private and public boards. In addition to LADWP, she is a Board Member of California Resources Corporation (NYSE: CRC), a Board Member of the private companies Blue Ocean Mariculture and Mitigation Investment Holdings, and a Board Director for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. 

She holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees, with honors, in architecture and in economics from Brown University and a Master of Business Administration degree, with distinction, from Harvard Business School.    

Jason Barrett

Jason believes using the sun’s energy is key to keeping the planet safe for future generations. Prior to his sales and commercial tax equity roles at GAF Energy, he served as Chief Commercial Officer of Sol-Wind as well as a founding partner of Paladin Strategic Partners and has an extensive background in structured finance and asset management with senior positions at firms including Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Fannie Mae, Morgan Stanley and the Hartford Insurance Group. He has a BBA in Finance and International Business from Howard University where he was a Trustee and ITT Hartford Scholar and an MBA from Cornell University where he was a Robert Toigo Fellow. His favorite roof is the one on the Westmont Industries Distribution Center at the Port of LA, which has 50,000 solar panels on it (that he led the financing for).

Chelle-Izzi

Chelle Izzi is Vice President of Energy Transformation at Walmart, working to help accelerate the company’s transition to zero emissions and 100% renewable energy adoption across facilities and mobility. In this position, Izzi is responsible for distributed generation, community solar, and the energy transition to zero-emission mobility for Walmart’s customers and fleet.

Prior to joining Walmart, Izzi worked at NextEra Energy Resources, where she led the formation of NextEra Mobility, a venture focused on fleet electrification, including integrated solutions for charging infrastructure, vehicle conversion, renewables, resiliency, and energy management. Izzi helped scale one of the first demand response companies, CPower; led an innovation team for Constellation Energy; and led acquisitions and investments in residential solar, water reclamation, clean back-up power, and mobility.

In addition to her new position as vice chair, Izzi serves as chair of CALSTART’s Board Governance Committee.

 Izzi holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where she focused on China studies, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Cary Kottler

Chief Development Officer

Mr. Kottler serves as the Chief Development Officer of Pattern Energy. In this role, he oversees Pattern’s business development activities, encompassing the wind, solar, transmission, storage and green fuels sectors. These efforts include the creation and evaluation of new growth opportunities as well as advancing Pattern’s development pipeline through all phases of development, commercialization and into construction.

Prior to joining Pattern, Mr. Kottler served as executive vice president of Clean Line Energy. He held a number of roles at Clean Line across the development, commercial and legal sectors, with responsibilities encompassing project development, state and federal permitting processes, FERC matters, corporate compliance, financing arrangements and commercial agreements.

Previously, Mr. Kottler was a corporate attorney for Vinson & Elkins, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, project development and private equity investments in the energy and power sector, both domestically and internationally.

Fran Pavley

Fran Pavley served 29 years in elected office. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Pavley was elected the first mayor of Agoura Hills in 1982, and served 14 years in the California Assembly and the State Senate. Former State Senator Pavley authored landmark climate policies (AB 1493, AB 32, SB 32, and others) that have created a market for innovation and investment in clean energy and vehicles, which have helped clean up our air, grow the economy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As chair of the Senate’s Natural Resources and Water Committee, she was able to pass the  state’s first Sustainable Groundwater Management bill.  She also promoted policies to protect our ocean, forests, and watersheds, and adopt measures to protect our water quality. Preserving and restoring natural habitats to benefit people, wildlife, and to reduce climate impacts, continues to be top priority for former Senator Pavley. 


She is now working as the Environmental Policy Director for the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and serves on several state and local boards and committees including the Santa Monica Conservancy and Wildlife Conservation Board.

Sammy Roth

Sammy Roth covers energy for the Los Angeles Times and writes the weekly Boiling Point newsletter. He previously reported for the Desert Sun and USA Today, where he focused on renewable energy, climate change, electric utilities and public lands. He grew up in Westwood and would very much like to see the Dodgers win the World Series again.

Anselmo Collins

Senior Asst. General Manager, Water System

Anselmo G. Collins is the Senior Assistant General Manager of the Water System for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). As one of the largest and most complex municipal water systems in the world, the Los Angeles Water System has an annual operating budget of $1.5 billion and serves high quality drinking water to over 4 million people in a 472 square-mile area. Mr. Collins leads an organization of more than 2,400 employees.

Mr. Collins has over 30 years of experience with LADWP. His experience has been both in engineering and managerial capacities involving planning, designing, construction, project management, construction management, procurement, operations, and maintenance.

Mr. Collins most recently served as Director of the Water Operations Division where he was responsible for Water System operations and maintenance activities of water transmission and treatment facilities in the Metropolitan-Los Angeles Area, as well as those of the Los Angeles Aqueduct system. Mr. Collins also oversaw the Owens Lake Dust Mitigation Program and managed Water System’s property issues and real estate holdings.

Previously, Mr. Collins served as Assistant Director of Water Operations Division. Before joining Water Operations Division, he was the Assistant Director of Water Engineering and Technical Services Division, and Acting Director of Supply Chain Services.

Mr. Collins received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from California State University Northridge and a Master of Business Administration degree from Pepperdine University. Mr. Collins is a registered Civil Engineer in the State of California.

As Senior Assistant General Manager of the Water System, Mr. Collins follows in a long line of successful and accomplished professionals, including Mr. William Mullholland and others who built the water system that reliably delivers water today to over four million Angelenos. He has the responsibility for serving as leader and steward of the vast system that LADWP operates to provide water service to our City.

Carol Folt

Dr. Carol L. Folt is the twelfth president of USC and holds the Robert C. Packard President’s Chair.

She is a collaborative academic leader and a life scientist with faculty appointments in marine and environmental biology, civil and environmental engineering, and preventive medicine.

President Folt always puts students first and is committed to the pursuit of academic excellence and innovation throughout the university. She has set an ambitious course for USC, especially with regard to enhancing access and affordability, promoting sustainability, and building a culture of trust and accountability. Her leadership during the pandemic has drawn praise for its focus on protecting both the USC campus and the broader Los Angeles community, and for supporting the rapid development of novel and effective remote teaching strategies.

President Folt previously served as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She began her career as a university leader at Dartmouth, serving as a dean, provost, and was the first woman to serve as president while mentoring students, continuing to publish extensively, and leading several major centers focused on the environment and human health. As a distinguished scientist, President Folt’s pioneering research on the effects of dietary mercury and arsenic on human and ecosystem health led to numerous national and global policy changes and consumption advisories.

President Folt earned her bachelor’s degree in aquatic biology and a master’s degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her doctorate in ecology from the University of California, Davis.

Liz Crosson

Liz Crosson is the chief sustainability, resiliency and innovation officer for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. She is responsible for developing a district-wide sustainability and resiliency strategy that includes efforts to reduce Metropolitan’s carbon footprint and adapt to immediate climate change impacts. Crosson develops and pursues strategies, programs and policies to advance environmental outcomes that address energy use, conservation, pollution, environmental justice, and climate resilience. She also drives initiatives to foster innovation.

Crosson joined Metropolitan in March 2022 after serving as an advisor to the Los Angeles County Chief Sustainability Office and the county’s 88 cities on pressing sustainability and climate issues. She also served as Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s director of infrastructure and was the mayor’s chief policy liaison to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the five bureaus under the city’s Department of Public Works. She also previously served as the city’s deputy chief sustainability officer and the mayor’s first appointed water policy advisor.

From 2010-2015, Crosson was the executive director of Los Angeles Waterkeeper, a nonprofit organization that protects and restores waterways throughout Los Angeles County through Clean Water Act enforcement, advocacy, restoration and community action.

Crosson earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental science, policy and management from the University of California-Berkeley; a master’s degree in biology from Southern Oregon University; and a juris doctorate from Lewis & Clark Law School, where she graduated with honors, with a certificate in environmental law.

Carlo Bertani

Carlo Bertani is an environmental subject matter expert with over fifteen years of experience working for government, large corporations, and small businesses to create and accomplish their environmental sustainability goals. Over the past two years, he has worked within the Sustainability Team at Maersk, overseeing the decarbonization portfolio in North America and primarily focusing on decarbonizing heavy-duty transportation. He is starting to transition to a new role within the company and will be leading renewable energy procurement and development in North and South America across all Maersk business units. 

Prior to Maersk, Carlo spent eight years at Walmart corporate working in the operational sustainability space, implementing water resilience and waste reduction programs. Before Walmart, he spent five years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an environmental scientist remediating petroleum contaminated sites on Tribal Reservations and inspecting underground storage tanks in the Pacific Northwest. He studied Environmental Policy and Environmental Science at the University of Washington in Seattle and is also a Federal Aviation Administration certified jet mechanic and a U.S. Coast Guard certified boat operator.

When not on the clock, you can typically find him cooking, gardening, hiking, traveling, and spending time with his three little dudes and amazing partner (and breadwinner), Ellie. He currently resides in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Chanel Parson

Director
Electrification, Southern California Edison (SCE)

Chanel Parson is responsible for progressing SCE’s vision for a Clean Energy Future through the electrification of vehicles and buildings. Her portfolio includes over $1 billion in programs that address key barriers to electrification – availability, affordability, and awareness. Her portfolio also includes strategy, program development, business development and partnerships, and codes and standards.

Prior to this role, Chanel was the executive responsible for SCE’s Advanced Energy Solutions portfolio of programs and its 5 million customer accounts for customer solar, battery storage, energy efficiency, and demand response programs.

With over 17 years of utility experience, Chanel has led teams in training, transmission and distribution operations, project management, regulatory, safety, and customer service.

Chanel has earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UCLA, a Master of Arts in Organizational Behavior and Program Evaluation from Claremont Graduate University, and a Master of Business Administration from UCLA Anderson School of Management.