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Panama Bartholomy
Executive Director Panama previously was the European Director of the Investor Confidence Project on behalf of the Environmental Defense Fund and has worked for the California Legislature, the California Energy Commission, the California State Architect and California Conservation Corps. He has worked on climate solutions in over 30 countries, and presented at and collaborated on products from the United Nations, the International Energy Agency and the European Commission. |
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Johanna Partin
Deputy Director Prior to her appointment as Deputy Director, Ms. Partin was the Founding Director of the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance. She is the former North American Regional Director of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and Senior Environmental Policy Advisor to former San Francisco Mayors Gavin Newsom and Edward Lee. |
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Lisa Dix
New York Director Prior to joining the BDC, Ms. Dix served as the Senior Campaign Manager of the Sierra Club’s groundbreaking ‘Beyond Coal,’ campaign, where her leadership was instrumental in ending the use of coal fired power plants in New York State. A longtime and vigorous advocate for renewable energy, Ms. Dix helped launch the state’s Offshore Wind Master Plan, committing New York State to generate 9,000 gigawatts of electricity from wind, the nation’s largest amount of wind generated energy. |
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Jose Torres
California Director Prior to BDC, Mr. Torres worked as California Environmental Justice Alliance's Energy Equity Program Manager, where he oversaw their energy legislative, regulatory, and implementation work. He also worked at the California Energy Commission’s Office of Governmental Affairs and at both the California State Assembly and Senate. His career in public service started as a California Senate Fellow in the Office of Senator Alex Padilla. |
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Jessica Leader
Director of Strategic Outreach Prior to joining the BDC, Ms. Leader served as the Corporate Communications Manager for Sunrun, the national leader in home solar and energy services. Prior to Sunrun, Ms. Leader served as the Communications Director for FreeWire Technologies and as the Director of Eco, Wellness and Social Responsibility Partnerships for the HuffPost Partner Studio. |
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Romy Banks
Director of Operations Prior to joining BDC, Romy was the Chief Operating Officer for the Waters Center for Systems Thinking, a gold standard provider of systems thinking resources worldwide. Prior to Waters Center, Romy worked for a variety of nonprofit organizations where she developed an extensive background in nonprofit operations, financial management, board governance, HR Management, fundraising and event management. |
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Matt Rusteika
Director of Market Transformation Matt comes to the BDC from leading the Buildings Initiative at Acadia Center, a Northeast regional clean energy research and advocacy nonprofit based in Maine. Matt has also worked with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where he helped to integrate electrification into the Mass Save programs for the first time, and was a candidate for public office. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, two sons, and dog. |
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Amy Rider
Director of Policy Acceleration Prior to BDC, Ms. Rider was a Principal at Archamy Consulting, a sustainability consulting firm. She has held positions with local government agencies, an electric utility, and consulting firms. Her work has focused on advancing building science and optimizing climate action through policy, knowledge sharing, behavior change, and technology implementation. |
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Friday Apaliski
Interim Communications Director Prior to BDC, Mrs. Apaliski ran her own consulting business Sustainability Concierge helping people update every aspect of their home life toward sustainability. Previous to that she was the head of marketing at the San Francisco Department of the Environment where she worked with multiple sectors to develop measurable campaigns big and small. Before focusing on the environment, she spent eight years in the advertising industry working to help brands reach and engage their desired audiences. |
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Luis Amezcua
Senior California Policy & Campaign Manager Prior to joining BDC, Luis served as a Senior Campaign Representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in California, where he provided leadership on local and state policies that increased renewable energy development to phase out gas-fired power plants. This work included shepherding projects through the approval and permitting process, while working with a broad range of stakeholders to ensure the projects fostered community benefits. Separately, Luis has served on various boards and public commissions on issues relating to energy, housing, and land use. He currently lives in Los Angeles. |
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Robin Tung
California Communications Manager Prior to joining BDC, Robin served as Communications Manager for the Santa Monica Conservancy where she developed and implemented strategic communications for advocacy, fundraising, membership, and programs. She has also taught college-level writing and contributed to contemporary arts publications. She holds a MFA in writing from the Johns Hopkins University and a BA in literature and writing from UC San Diego. She lives in Los Angeles with her daughter. |
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Brian Barnacle
Senior Manager of Strategy and Development Brian is the Coalition’s Senior Manager of Strategy and Development. He focuses on the intersection of technology, policy, and supply chain strategy, working closely with internal teams and industry experts to improve existing initiatives, expand into new markets, and forge new partnerships. Prior to working with the Coalition, Brian managed business development and sales operations at Energy Solutions, an employee-owned clean energy consulting company. |
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Ashleigh Spurgeon
Membership Manager Ashleigh plays a critical role in supporting the Coalition's growth, including the execution of a comprehensive membership and fundraising strategy, engaging and expanding the Coalition's membership base. Ashleigh is passionate about member engagement, ensuring that Coalition members have authentic opportunities for learning, connection and collaboration. Prior to joining the Coalition, Ashleigh was the Manager of Marketing and Member Services for a major energy industry trade organization. In addition to her work with the Coalition, Ashleigh currently serves on the Board of the International PTen Haratoma Tumor Syndrome (PHTS) Foundation. |
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Jasmine Graham
New York Senior Policy and Campaign Manager Prior to joining the BDC, Jasmine served as the Energy Justice Policy Manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, where they were responsible for strengthening and advancing the organization's energy policy to ensure a just and equitable clean energy transition in New York. Prior to WE ACT, Jasmine managed New York State's first and largest Community Choice Aggregation at Sustainable Westchester. Jasmine is currently appointed to New York City's Climate Mobilization Advisory Board, which presents implementation recommendations for NYC's landmark building decarbonization legislation, Local Law 97. |
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Daniel Han
Consumer Campaigns Intern Prior to joining the BDC, Daniel graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a degree in Environmental Engineering. Throughout his undergraduate career, he worked on water and wastewater recycling projects, as well as chemical recycling of polystyrene waste. Currently, he is pursuing a Postgraduate Diploma focusing on Digital Marketing after discovering that his true strengths lie in building strong relationships. |
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Noah Cordoba
Program Coordinator, Kitchen Electrification Prior to joining BDC, Noah was a fellow with Easy Bay Community Energy where he supported community energy efficiency. He designed and implemented kitchen electrification programs to expose people to the idea of electric cooking and match them with incentive dollars to help them make the move. Noah has a background in nonprofit communications, fundraising, and environmental psychology. Outside of the electric kitchen, Noah loves traveling to new places, hiking, surfing, and eating a questionable amount of tofu. |
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Kristin George Bagdanov
Manager of Policy Research and Knowledge Sharing Kristin helps build the relational infrastructure for the broader building decarbonization movement. She holds a PhD from University of California, Davis, where she studied the relationship between energy transitions, cultural production, and social movements, and an MFA from Colorado State University. She has previously worked for non-profit housing and healthcare organizations that serve vulnerable communities. She is also a published author and currently lives in Sacramento, CA. |
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Lawrence Garber
Local Government Associate Prior to joining BDC, Lawrence worked with the Sustainability Program at the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG). He has served as an environmental science educator in Yosemite National Park, a high school teacher in Austin, Texas, and a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone and Namibia. He has a Masters in International Environmental Policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and a BS from the University of Michigan. He currently lives in Irvine, CA. |
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Justin Pearson
Development Associate Justin's professional background spans development, policy communications and international relations. He holds a BS in International Relations and an MS in Government from the University of the West Indies in his native Jamaica, in addition to an MA in Urban & Public Affairs from the University of San Francisco. His approach to climate change is rooted in environmental justice and the importance of local community voices to equitably embrace the future. |
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Nicole Schiller
Operations Associate Prior to joining the BDC, Nicole spent the last several years in the tech startup world working in Human Resources and as an Executive Assistant. She worked most recently as Operations Manager at Semperis, where her focus was on new hire onboarding and employee experience. Nicole is working toward achieving a PHR certification in Human Resources. She resides in Queens, NY and enjoys spending time with her family, making natural homemade soap, and volunteering at a local animal shelter. |
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Erich Fleck
Campaign Coordinator, The Switch is On Erich is a Master's in Public Administration candidate at Presidio Graduate School in the Bay Area. He has previously worked for non-profit climate action organizations, emphasizing outreach and connecting people to support tools. Working at BDC is a pivot from a 14-year career making wine and cider worldwide, including six years of service in the U.S. Army as a Korean linguist. He currently lives in San Luis Obispo County, CA, with his partner Heather, and son, Otto. |