Communications Officer, Union of Concerned Scientists

Ashanti Washington is a science writer and communications strategist. Her work as a communications officer at the Union of Concerned Scientists spans from science advocacy and community organizing, to working with the news media on climate science, scientific integrity and clean energy topics. Ashanti previously worked in the press office at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and has also conducted research at the UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Joint Institute for Biological Sciences. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee and is based in Washington, D.C.

Associate Attorney, Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP

Ben Reiter is an Associate Attorney at Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP, where his practice focuses on helping states and local governments secure clean, affordable energy for their citizens. Prior to joining Spiegel, Ben represented ranchers and tribal members in Wyoming and Montana on upstream energy-related issues. In his free time, Ben enjoys learning about how renewable energy development can benefit rural communities, spending time with his dogs, and doing almost anything outdoors.

Research Associate, Center for American Progress

Bianca is currently a Research Associate on the Energy team at the Center for American Progress, where she focuses on domestic energy and climate issues as well as the intersection between climate and trade. She has an educational and research background in climate remote sensing. Bianca is an avid drawer and traveler.

Fellow, U.S. Department of Energy

Brooke Holleman is a Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy where she focuses on energy efficiency and renewable energy in the public sector, with a special interest in energy resilience for disaster preparedness. Originally from Oklahoma City, she previously worked in land remediation for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality before pursuing a dual-master’s degree in public affairs and energy resources from the University of Texas at Austin. As a former college rower, she loves being outside in the great outdoors with her fellow energy nerd fiancé, Andrew, and her rescue dog, Captain.

Policy Analyst, National Audubon Society

Chloe is a policy analyst for the National Audubon Society where she advocates for federal climate mitigation policy, including clean energy deployment. She holds an M.S. from Stanford University in Earth Systems, focused on natural resource management. Originally from California, she loves summiting big mountains, swimming in the ocean, riding her bike, and talking about DC's public transit system.

Legislative Aide, U.S. House of Representatives

Dani is a Legislative Aide in the House of Representatives and covers energy and climate. When she's not at work, Dani spends her time organizing with local DC climate justice groups. She loves biking, camping, good books, and banjo.

Analyst, U.S. Climate Policy, Environmental Defense Fund

Jake Higdon is an Analyst, U.S. Climate Policy at Environmental Defense Fund, where he works on policy design and strategy for federal climate action, with a particular focus on fairness for workers and communities in transition. Previously, Jake conducted research at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, served as a policy assistant in the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change, and helped launch digital businesses at Red Ventures. In his spare time, he advises think tank Data For Progress on climate issues, goes on day hikes in the D.C. area, and obsesses over Portland Trail Blazers basketball.

Senior Advisor for Federal Energy and Climate Policy, Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom

James Ralph is Senior Advisor for Federal Energy and Climate Change policy to California Governor Gavin Newsom. A recent transplant to Washington from California, he can be found looking for good running trails, tasty Mexican food, and fun parks for his young daughter. James spent the past five years at the California Public Utilities Commission, including as a staff attorney and as Chief of Staff to the past two Presidents of the Commission.

Associate Policy Advisor, Oxfam America

Jason Farr is an associate policy advisor for Oxfam America working on issues of clean energy access and shifting international financing towards more pro-poor clean energy investments. Previously, Jason served as a program associate at the Institute for Educational Leadership, a research assistant, and on the board of a local nonprofit that promotes food access and local agriculture. Jason holds an M.A. in Global Environmental Policy from American University and a B.A. in International Studies from Michigan State University.

Consultant, WSP

Julian is the Investor Advisory and Analytics Manager for WSP USA where he specializes in public-private partnerships (P3), infrastructure development and finance. Julian loves hiking at national parks, and listening to his toddler laugh.

Associate Consultant, Green Strategies, Inc.

As a consultant at Green Strategies, Kacey works with clients to develop strategies to engage consumers, business partners, and other stakeholders in improving the environmental impact of their products and services. Outside of the office, she enjoys dancing, hiking, and playing the ukulele.

Associate, The Brattle Group

Kasparas is an Associate at The Brattle Group with a focus on electricity sector topics such as renewable and climate policy analysis, electricity policy design, and market design. Prior to joining Brattle, Kasparas received his Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Princeton University, where he studied carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and energy policy. Kasparas is a food enthusiast, he enjoys reading about the culture and science of food, exploring new restaurants, hosting dinners with friends, and baking sourdough bread. In his spare time, he also enjoys photography and playing soccer.

Quantitative Energy Investment Analyst, Alphataraxia Management

Katherine is a quantitative energy investment analyst at Alphataraxia Management, where she leads company analysis of U.S. Northeast wholesale energy markets, designs proprietary tools, and develops data-centric investment strategies. She is also involved with Virginia Clean Energy, working on a feasibility study for a CCA power option. Originally from Boston, she now enjoys exploring DC’s restaurant scene, finding the best ClassPass exercise classes, planning her next ski trip, and working as a trivia host by night.

Electricity Associate, Rocky Mountain Institute

Katie Siegner is the Electricity Associate for Rocky Mountain Institute, where her work focuses on supporting solar innovations, researching energy transition strategies for rural electric co-ops, and facilitating diverse stakeholder groups through RMI's eLab platform. Katie has a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and a background in policy and advocacy work for various environmental non-profits. She is an avid runner, sourdough baker, traveler, and craft beer lover.

Engineering Manager, Arcadia

Kerri is an engineering manager at Arcadia where she is helping to build a platform to directly connect consumers to clean, renewable energy and to upend the utility industry. Having just moved to DC from Chicago in February, Kerri is still learning about all the fun things to do in our nation's capital, but generally enjoys traveling, reading, hot yoga, Irish dancing, and checking out new cocktail bars and restaurants.

Sr. Communications Associate, Climate Advisers Trust

Kyle Saukas is the Senior Communications Associate for Climate Advisers Trust where he focuses on executing strategic communications projects for clients and strengthening the Climate Advisers brand. Kyle is an avid

Associate Fellow, CSIS

Lachlan is an Associate Fellow in the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at CSIS where he looks at the intersection of economics, climate change and geopolitics. Lachlan is an avid movie-goer, podcast listener, magazine subscriber, and all-round cultural consumer. His favorite movie is Groundhog Day because every day is a chance to get a little bit better, and to be a little more like Bill Murray.

Director of Wholesale Operations, CleanChoice Energy

Lawrence is the Director of Wholesale Operations for CleanChoice Energy where he sets customer rates, manages financial risk, and procures renewable energy. Before he joined the energy sector Lawrence worked in diversity and inclusion as a management consultant. In the rare moment he isn't obsessing over energy markets or weather forecasts Lawrence enjoys reading science fiction and walking his charming pug.

Senior Research Analyst, The Brattle Group

Maria Castañer is a Senior Research Analyst at The Brattle Group. Maria’s work focuses on issues broadly motivated by climate change, such as electrification of transportation and heating, deep decarbonization of the power sector, and the impact these changes have on existing assets, market structures, long-term planning needs, and business models for electric utilities. Maria is originally from Barcelona, Spain. Some of her interests and hobbies include graphic design, fostering animals, and running triathlons. She is also passionate about learning languages – Maria speaks 6 languages.

Senior Engineer, Apex Clean Energy

Matt is a Wind Energy Engineer at Apex Clean Energy, where he designs utility-scale wind turbine layouts. It’s mostly data analytics, statistics, and meteorology. Most of his project sites are way off the beaten path in the gulf coast or west Texas. Hobbies and interests: Cycling, soccer, flag football, gaming, and following the 2020 election circus.

Nuclear Engineer, U.S. Navy

Matt is an officer in the US Navy where he oversees construction of the reactor plants that power the Navy’s newest class of fast attack submarines. Matt originally hails from Colorado Springs, CO, and studied mechanical engineering at Duke. Matt is currently all about volleyball, triathlons, and trying to make delicious homemade dumplings.

Development Officer - Multilateral/Bilateral, Rocky Mountain Institute

Maura Lillis is a Development Officer at Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), where she manages RMI’s increasingly wide range of multilateral and bilateral partnerships across all RMI programming. She joined RMI after seven years in Indonesia, where she consulted with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and both Indonesian and international NGOs to support technical assistance and policy reform. At ADB, she was a member of the 5-person team responsible for ADB’s $4.0 billion clean energy portfolio in Indonesia, including technical assistance for geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage, and rural energy access in Indonesia through the Sumba Iconic Island partnership. She also contributed to the strategy, design, and implementation of Indonesia’s Sustainable and Inclusive Energy Program ($1.2 billion), co-financed by ADB, World Bank, KfW and AFD. She was later the Gender & Renewable Energy Specialist for a $1 million study funded by MCC of women's economic empowerment in Indonesia's low carbon economy. Maura is fluent in French and Indonesian.

Professional Staff Member, House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Medha is a Professional Staff Member for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, in the Energy Subcommittee. Prior to joining the Committee, Medha was a Senior Research Analyst at the Smart Electric Power Alliance, where she covered a wide range of topics including demand response, transactive energy, community solar, distributed energy resources, utility business models, and regulatory challenges. Medha received her BA in Political Science from North Carolina State University, and her MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago. In her free time, she enjoys writing, hiking, and going to art museums.

Energy & Climate Program Coordinator, National Caucus of Environmental Legislators

Michael Bueno is the Energy & Climate Program Coordinator for the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. In this capacity, Michael supports state legislators in advancing policies on carbon pricing, offshore drilling, renewable energy, and clean transportation. His previous experience includes work at the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Michael was born and raised in Mission, TX, at the southern tip of the state, and graduated from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Policy. He enjoys SciFi, wry comedy, and several cups of coffee a day.

Energy and Sustainability Consultant, DC Department of General Services

Nathan Jeffay is an Energy and Sustainability Consultant at the DC Department of General Service where he works to reduce the environmental impact of the District's buildings while better serving all DC residents. DGS project work ranges from EVSE installation, to Strategic Energy Management Planning, to stormwater infrastructure. Outside of the office, Nathan can usually be found on his bike or making sawdust for his woodworking business.

Senior Fuels Researcher, International Council on Clean Transportation

Nik is a Senior Fuels Researcher at the International Council on Clean Transportation, where he uses life-cycle analysis to better understand the implications of using alternative fuels and advanced vehicle technologies for the purposes of decarbonizing the transport sector. Nik studies the techno-economics and carbon implications of a variety of fuel pathways and the policy frameworks for supporting fuel-switching. Over the last 4 years, he's been developing strategies and policies necessary to mitigate the increase in GHG emissions from the aviation sector. As part of this work, he has been nominated as a subject matter expert by the International Civil Aviation Organization to assist in the implementation of its carbon offsetting and reduction scheme under the Paris Agreement. Outside of the office, Nik spends most of his time experimenting in the kitchen or creating ceramics at the pottery studio.

Product Support Engineer, SparkMeter Inc

Parangat is an engineer at SparkMeter where he currently works on increasing supportability of their smart grid solutions. He studied different facets of energy in college and grad school and is passionate about applying his diverse skillset towards development of the sector in emerging economies. He spends most of his free time hiking, traveling, and teaching people how to pronounce his name.

AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow, U.S. Department of Energy

Rukmani Vijayaraghavan is a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow in the Water Power Technologies Office at the U.S. Department of Energy. She works on innovative financing mechanisms to support the research, development, and demonstration of marine energy and hydropower technologies. This includes work on prize competitions to accelerate the deployment of pumped storage systems, use wave energy for seawater desalination, and develop marine-energy powered ocean observing systems; executing the Powering the Blue Economy initiative to use marine renewable energy in maritime markets; developing strategies to support novel research projects in the national labs; and increase the commercialization of federally funded research. She has a Ph.D. in astrophysics, and is an expert in the evolution of galaxy clusters and associated high energy astrophysics. Her favorite thing about D.C. is the limitless free world-class museums.

International Fulbright graduate Student, American University/ Inter-American Development Bank

Sabina is an international Fulbright scholar from Argentina who defines herself on a mission towards sustainable development with transformation to low-carbon climate-resilient economies. She holds a BA in Communication Studies, an MA in International Economics and she will be graduating in May from an MPP with Energy and Environment concentration at American University.

She loves running, Bikram yoga, acrobatics, and taking dance and theatre lessons. She arrived in DC almost two years ago with her twin sister -also a Fulbright scholar!- and loves the city. She also travels frequently to NYC where she has really good friends and enjoys cycling through the Central Park and watching Broadway musicals.

Sabina is thrilled to join the CELI Fellowship and bring her enthusiasm and passion in defending our little blue planet.

Sakhi is currently seeking opportunities in energy for emerging markets or energy technology commercialization. Previously she was a Projects Engineer at AES Next, the incubation and investment arm of the AES Corporation, where she worked on new growth businesses mainly in the EV, robotics and microgrid spaces. Sakhi is from Kenya and has seen a range of animal emotion: she once saw a lion kill a zebra, and has also kissed a giraffe.