THE CLIMATE CENTER - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Chief Operating Officer

Barry joined The Climate Center in 2005 and has held positions as Deputy Director and Financial Officer. He currently leads The Climate Center's program and policy development and implementation teams. In 2018 Barry began working with a group of energy experts and advocates envisioning a more decentralized energy system that was clean, affordable, resilient, and equitable. He then championed the development of The Climate Center's Community Energy Resilience project, which has culminated in the creation of a new $170 million Community Energy Resilience investment program by the California Energy Commission in August of 2022.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Senior Scientist With Remote Sensing Systems

Carl is a Senior Scientist with Remote Sensing Systems in Santa Rosa, where he specializes in satellite-measured temperature data. Carl has served as a contributing author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world's foremost authority on global warming science. He is a member of two international working groups, the Global Climate Observing System Working Group on Atmospheric Reference Observations, and the WCRP Stratospheric Trends Working Group.

Job Titles:

• Economist
• Senior Climate Researcher

Dr. Jasmin Ansar joined The Climate Center in September of 2022 as a Senior Climate Researcher to research and develop optimal policies to address the climate change emergency at speed and scale. Dr. Ansar is an economist who began her career as a professor and has been employed in both the private and public sectors. She has been a Climate Economist at the Union of Concerned Scientists and worked on designing and advocating for effective global warming policies with particular emphasis on proposals in California. Dr. Ansar has taught Economics at the City University in London, Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Public Policy and Business, Mills College in Oakland, the Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco, UC Berkeley, and the University of British Columbia. Dr. Ansar has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Southampton, England, a Diploma/MSc. in Econometrics and Economics from the University of Southampton, England, and a B.A. in Economics with Mathematics from Sussex University, England. She lives with her husband in beautiful Sonoma County and enjoys raising chickens, growing vegetables, hiking, her grown twin daughters and two grandchildren, and trying to improve her performance on her Peloton bike.

Job Titles:

• Chief Executive Officer
• Member of the Leadership Team

Ellie Cohen, CEO of The Climate Center, is a leader in catalyzing cross-boundary, collaborative and just solutions to climate change and environmental degradation. She has received numerous honors including the Beyond Duke Alumni Award for Service and Leadership (2019), the National Park Service Pacific West Region Partnership Award (2018) and the Bay Nature Environmental Hero Award (2012). She was named one of "100 Women Taking the Lead to Save Our Planet" in the US by the National Women's History Project (2009) and she was selected to participate in the Climate Reality Project's second training with former Vice President Al Gore (2007). Most recently, Ellie served as President and CEO of Point Blue Conservation Science where she and the organization's 160+ scientists worked with hundreds of public and private partners to develop climate-smart solutions for wildlife and people. Collaborative accomplishments during her 20-year tenure at Point Blue include growing the organization five-fold to a workforce of 200 and an annual budget of $14 million; winning official Observer NGO status at the global climate policy body, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Ellie represented Point Blue in Bonn, Germany at COP23 and in Katowice, Poland at COP24); securing $100 million of conservation investments in over 2 million acres of agricultural lands (rangelands, croplands, creeks, and forests) for water, carbon sequestration, biodiversity and local communities; and, guiding 95% of the urbanized coast of California (70+ jurisdictions) in preparing for sea level rise and extreme storms. Among her collaborative leadership roles, Ellie served as an invited member of the National Adaptation Forum‘s Steering Committee, the California Adaptation Forum's Advisory Committee and the San Francisco Bay Area's Resilient by Design Research Advisory Committee. As an invited member of the National Wildlife Federation's (NWF) Climate-Smart Conservation team, Ellie co-authored the climate-smart conservation principles and communications chapter in the national "Guide to Climate-Smart Conservation, Putting Adaptation Principles into Practice." Ellie also co-founded the Bay Area Ecosystems Climate Change Consortium and served as Chair of the California Landscape Conservation Cooperative as well as the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay Habitat Joint Ventures. Born in Baltimore, Ellie received her undergraduate degree with honors in botany from Duke University. Field studies in butterfly ecology brought her to California. She later received her Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, where she was honored with the Policy Analysis Exercise Award for highly distinguished performance and the first annual Robert F. Kennedy Public Service Award. In 2001, she was awarded a fellowship to Stanford University's Graduate School of Business' Executive Program for Non-profit Leaders. Ellie volunteers as an invited member of the County of Marin Drawdown Sequestration Collaborative, an appointed member of the San Anselmo Sustainability Commission and an appointed member of the Marin Municipal Water District's E-Bike Community Advisory Committee. She and her family live in San Anselmo, California with 2 teenagers, 2 dogs and 2 cats (indoors, of course!). Ellie enjoys e-biking, birding, hiking, baseball, Broadway musicals, bassoon, landscape painting, historical fiction, cultural exchanges, Stranger Things, Bananas, Rumikub and everything climate change related.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Member of the Leadership Team
• Partner
• Treasurer of the Board

Elliot Hinds is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group in the firm's Century City office. Elliot focuses his practice on corporate and energy matters. While he is deeply engaged in energy transactions, he also works with clients in a variety of other capital-intensive industries, including manufacturing, health care, and technology. Elliot works extensively on mergers and acquisitions, debt financings, project development and finance, and joint ventures. The projects he has worked on include renewable energy (including wind, geothermal, solar, and biomass), natural gas, cogeneration and coal-fired electric power, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and bioethanol facilities. He has handled many billions of dollars of energy project finance transactions and worked on some of the first merchant facilities to be developed and/or owned in a fully deregulated environment. He represents several wind and solar energy project developers, technology companies (some of whom bridge the energy and technology sectors), manufacturers of equipment, lubricants, and other products and companies in the health care space.

Job Titles:

• Institutional Giving Manager

Emily Hendrick is an experienced fundraiser for nonprofit organizations focused on environmental issues and social justice. Before joining The Climate Center in 2021, she served as Friends of the Earth's Grant Writer, raising foundation funding for projects ranging from arctic shipping standards to China sustainable finance. Prior to that, she worked in major gifts for the Environmental Defense Fund in Colorado, and spent two years working on fundraising strategies with grassroots NGOs in Guatemala and Peru. Emily holds an M.P.A. from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and a B.A. in Environmental Policy from Middlebury College. She resides in San Francisco, serves on the board of Mayan Families, and is a Section Chair for the American Alpine Club.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Member of the Leadership Team
• Secretary of the Board
• Chief Executive Officer for the Presidio Trust

Jean S. Fraser is the Chief Executive Officer for the Presidio Trust. The Presidio Trust is a unique federal agency charged with operating the Presidio national park site in San Francisco with no taxpayer support. The Presidio Trust rehabilitates and leases the historic buildings in the Presidio to 1,400 residential and commercial tenants, using the revenue to keep the Presidio open and free for ten million annual visitors. In addition, the Trust operates the Presidio's utilities and serves as the municipal agency for the Presidio. Ms. Fraser reports to a seven-member board appointed by the President of the United States. From 2009 to 2015, Jean was the Chief of the San Mateo County Health System. The System provided all health-related functions for the County, including the county hospital (San Mateo Medical Center) and eleven outpatient clinics, Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, Environmental Health, Public Health Policy & Planning, Correctional Health, Family Health Services, Emergency Medical Services, Health Information Technology and Aging & Adult Services. Ms. Fraser also served as the Public Administrator and Public Guardian for San Mateo County. Prior to joining San Mateo County, Ms. Fraser was the Chief Executive Officer of San Francisco Health Plan, a not-for-profit health plan providing affordable health coverage to low and moderate income families in San Francisco. While CEO, Ms. Fraser championed the creation of the Healthy Kids program that provides insurance to low income children. Ms. Fraser also spearheaded the creation of Healthy San Francisco, a first-in-the-nation program to offer health coverage to all uninsured San Francisco residents. Ms. Fraser serves on the board of SPUR and has been nominated to serve on the board of KQED. Ms. Fraser's prior board service includes the California Health Information Exchange, the California Association of Health Plans, the Local Health Plans of California, Transform, and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. Ms. Fraser received her bachelor's and law degrees from Yale University.

Job Titles:

• Director of Philanthropy
• Fundraising Leader

Jeri Howland is a fundraising leader and entrepreneur who has raised millions for climate causes and education. She served for eight years as Director of Development for Rainforest Action Network; she served as Chief of Advancement at Katherine Delmar Burke School for 13 years, and as the Chief of Development to improve education for underserved children at a college-prep charter school management group, Envision Schools, and an educational reform think tank, Partners in School Education. Most recently she has been the fundraising consultant for Academy Award documentary filmmaker Louie Psihoyos (The Cove, Racing Extinction, Game Changers), POW (Protect Our Winters), Sun Valley Institute for Resilience, and Figure Skating in Harlem. She's drawn to missions that included climate change, social justice, education, and resilience. Prior to fundraising, Jeri was involved in local food system work (San Francisco Bay Area)  and teaching on an organic farm, at Putney School, in VT, her home state. She is a co-founder of San Francisco's first "certified" farmers market, sponsored by American Friends Service Committee in 1981.  This market was the seedling of today's popular farmers markets throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She also co-founded SLUG, San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners, way back in the beginning of what we know today as the food sustainability movement.  Jeri is founder and CEO of bungalow munch organic granola. It's 100% organic, wheat-free, and vegan. While she's the finisher of 21 ironman triathlons, champion of 7, she's proudest of her work/personal life balance act and never once has considered giving up her activism. Jeri is also a 7x Ironman champion, mom, grandmother, and wife. She and her husband, Jerry Edelbrock, split their time between Marin County and South Central Idaho. Jeri did her graduate studies at UC Berkeley School of Public Health for a Masters in Public Health Nutrition. Jeri has one daughter, a teacher in San Francisco and a mom of two. When Jeri is not working she enjoys the trails of Mt. Tam by foot and bike, swimming in local pools and the Bay, baking and cooking for family and friends, gardening, and reading. She serves on the Board of The Adventure Activist. Jeri considers addressing the climate crisis to be the #1 imperative of our time and came out of her own consulting business to be The Climate Center's Director of Philanthropy because of its mission to use speed and scale to ensure California, the 5th largest economy in the world, is climate-safe within 10 years and serves as a roadmap for other states and countries.

Job Titles:

• Los Angeles Regional Organizer

Jerilyn Lopez Mendoza has over 20 years of professional experience as an environmental advocate, government official and utility employee. She has built a large network of advocates and other community leaders to connect with The Climate Center. Jerilyn has served as an appointed official on the international, state and city levels, including as City of Los Angeles Harbor Commissioner and Public Works Commissioner. For her hard work in her various professional capacities, Jerilyn has been the recipient of awards from, among others, the Coalition for Clean Air as well as the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters (the Smith-Weiss Award). She earned her bachelor's degree in American Studies from Stanford University and her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Law School (bar number 187148). Jerilyn lives in the San Fernando Valley with her husband and teen daughter, where she serves on her Neighborhood Council, and they enjoy gardening, attending community cultural events and following local sports teams.

Jock worked in community health, substance abuse education, and life coaching before moving into the climate field. Previously, he started and ran a fossil fuel divestment campaign on his college campus and was a regional recruiter with 350.org for the Power Shift climate activist conference. When he's not working, he likes to trail run, play guitar at open mics, and read about psychology.

Job Titles:

• Development Manager

Julie has 15 years of administrative, financial, and executive support experience in both nonprofit and for-profit settings. Prior to The Climate Center, she worked as the accounting and office manager for Brush Creek Montessori School in Santa Rosa, CA. Prior to that, Julie served as the import logistics coordinator and the international invoice manager at All American Containers in Windsor, CA. Her favorite refuge is Lake Tahoe, where she hikes and bikes the trails with her two daughters.

Job Titles:

• Government Affairs Manager

Kendra Harris joined The Climate Center as the Government Affairs Manager in January 2024. The Government Affairs Manager is responsible for The Climate Center's policy advocacy in California, primarily focused on policymaking in Sacramento to realize the ambitious and urgently needed goals of our Climate-Safe California campaign. Kendra has worked for 20 years in government relations and public policy with experience in both the government and non-profit sectors. She is especially dedicated to policy, systems change, and programmatic efforts involving educational equity, health and human services, the welfare of women and girls, and social justice movements. She has led teams, developed and executed fundraising strategies, supported executive board members, and designed and implemented strategic advocacy plans. In addition, she has represented organizations to the media, government officials, coalition partners, and the public. She is excited to use her expertise to contribute to the significant body of climate change plans and activities underway to reduce climate-driven risks to the state's economy, environment, and human well-being. Kendra is a native of Southern California and studied at Cal State Dominguez Hills. She resides in Sacramento and enjoys traveling, cooking elaborate meals, and reading Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels.

Job Titles:

• Community Energy Resilience Director

Kurt began working at the Center in 2019. He previously founded and directed a renewable energy project development consulting firm, bringing new projects online ranging from 8 kW to 8 MW. Kurt also founded a small hydropower trade association where he lobbied successfully for regulatory reform before Congress and the Colorado legislature. Kurt also worked in the solar industry for Recurrent Energy and also for the California Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco. Kurt worked at the U.S. EPA for eleven years where he founded the EPA renewable energy program, the Green Power Partnership. Kurt started his career in 1991 working on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC as a Legislative Assistant for U.S. Rep. Richard Swett (D-NH). Kurt holds an MS in Environmental Sciences and Policy from Johns Hopkins University and an MA and BA from Stanford University.

Job Titles:

• Administrative Executive Assistant

A native Californian, Laurie-Ann grew up in San Francisco and earned a BS in Soil Science from Cal Poly. After college she taught environmental education for elementary students. For 20 years she spent her summers leading Sierra Club Service trips throughout the western US. Locally, Laurie-Ann has worked for Green Mary and Laguna Farm as well as running her own organic, vegetarian catering business. As the Administrative Executive Assistant for The Climate Center, Laurie-Ann strives to keep all the systems running smoothly and up to date, manages the donor database, and keeps track of birthdays. Laurie-Ann is very proud of getting the zoning laws changed in her town to allow for backyard chickens. She lives with her daughter at FrogSong, a vibrant co-housing community which she helped found. When not staring at a screen, Laurie-Ann enjoys hiking, backpacking, bicycling, podcasts, political activism, cooking, spending time with friends, petting her cat and playing Boggle with her daughter (who pretty much always wins).

Job Titles:

• Staff Accountant

A native of Sonoma County, Lisa has worked in the areas of non-profit administration and finance for over 30 years. During her career Lisa has been the Executive Director of Chrysalis Community Counseling Services, Accounting Manager at The Sebastopol Area Senior Center, and has provided accounting services for New Horizon School and Learning Center, The B-Rad Foundation and other local businesses. Lisa has a Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Agency Management from Sonoma State University.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board

Lisa Whitescarver has lived in Marin County with her family since 2000. She is an owner and operator of commercial real estate at North River Company San Rafael, and formerly at Hines San Francisco. Her experience includes building design, operations, debt and equity finance, and regulatory entitlements. She is currently active in implementing building upgrades that diminish the carbon footprint of Bay Area commercial buildings. Having received her bachelor's degree from Yale University, she sits on the Leadership Council of the Yale School for the Environment. She also serves on the leadership team of Carbon Neutral Kent Woodlands, a neighborhood organization aimed at building teamwork through carbon footprint reduction in neighborhood residential homes. Lisa enjoys native plant gardening, backpacking, kayaking, and spending time with her husband and four kids.

Job Titles:

• Director of Finance & Administration

Lois has over 20 years' experience as a nonprofit finance and administration professional. After graduating from Mills College in Oakland, she worked for a grant-writer in the affordable housing field before getting a job with Sonoma Land Trust as their Director of Finance & Administration. For the last seven years she has had her own consulting business helping Sonoma and Marin County nonprofits with their accounting, audits, and governance needs. Lois is an avid traveler, hiker, and lover of beauty. She loves encouraging her grandchildren to get outside and enjoy the natural world, and she is committed to a climate-safe future for them, and for all.

Job Titles:

• Chairman of the Board
• Member of the Leadership Team

Lokelani Devone is a native San Franciscan and lawyer. She has served on numerous boards for San Francisco non-profit organizations, including Grace Cathedral, The Center for Justice and Accountability, The San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and Point Blue Conservation Science. She is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Davis, and was a Visiting International Scholar at the University of Tokyo. In keeping with her family ties to Hawaii, she is an avid surfer and outrigger canoe paddler. She is a committed advocate for social justice and a sustainable, climate-safe future for all.

Job Titles:

• Senior Statewide Organizer

For the past twenty-two years, Marc Victoria has worked throughout California advancing the rights of workers, low-income communities, and communities of color. Despite coming from a very conservative family, Marc has always had organizing in his blood. The first rally he organized was an anti-nuclear proliferation rally when he was in the sixth grade. Since then, Marc helped lead the Orange County Community Table to a sweep of Congressional victories in 2018, was a lobbyist for AFSCME Local 2620 focusing on worker protection, increasing access to mental health programs, and reducing the recidivism rate for parolees, and was the Southern California political director for the California Labor Federation, where he worked to further the rights of all workers in California, union or not. Although new to working in the environmental movement, Marc has always lived a life that is tied to nature and conservation. Marc enjoys alpine climbing, organic gardening, wildlife photography, and documentary filmmaking. Marc is a father to three adult children and lives in the San Gabriel Valley with his partner, son, and two cats.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Deputy Director of PACENation

Mary Luévano currently serves as Deputy Director of PACENation, a membership organization representing the clean energy finance industry. She started her career on Capitol Hill and subsequently spent two decades as an environmental advocate with Global Green USA where she led policy campaigns on a wide range of sustainability and climate change issues. Mary has her bachelor's degree from UCLA and served on the California Coastal Commission, the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission and on the Board of GRID Alternatives Los Angeles. A native of Southern California, she frequently hikes the trails of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Job Titles:

• Community Energy Resilience Project Manager

Pamela Martinez joined The Climate Center in April of 2023 as the Community Energy Resilience Project Manager. In this role, she leads the Microgrid Equity Coalition which meets on a bi-weekly basis and advocates for environmental justice proceedings. Through her project implementation efforts, she works with community based organizations to help identify and pursue state and federal funding that advances clean energy projects in disadvantaged communities across California. These efforts aim to enhance resilience in historically underrepresented communities. Before joining The Climate Center, she worked with the United Farm Workers Foundation as the Emergency Relief Program Manager providing critical resources to farmworkers and immigrant communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. She has also been involved in several advocacy campaigns and policy initiatives on issues such as banning harmful pesticides, gender equality, and human rights. Pamela holds a B.A. in Communications from CSU Monterey Bay. She resides in Ventura and enjoys traveling, running, and hiking with her dog.

Job Titles:

• Communications Director
• Media Inquiries

Ryan Schleeter (he/him/his) joined The Climate Center in 2021, bringing nearly a decade of experience in climate and environmental communications. As Communications Director, he leads The Climate Center's brand, message, content, and digital strategies, helping to grow the movement to secure a Climate-Safe California. Prior to The Climate Center, Ryan led communications for Greenpeace USA's climate campaigns and worked for the World Resources Institute's sustainable cities program. His writing has appeared in National Geographic, Grist, and more. Ryan holds a B.A. in Geography and Hispanic Studies from Macalester College. He grew up in the Bay Area and currently lives on Ohlone land in San Francisco, California. Follow Ryan on Twitter @ryschlee.

Job Titles:

• Communications Manager

Stacey Meinzen has nineteen years of experience as a communications and research professional. She has served as a Marketing Specialist for the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program, researched proven and promising measures in reducing greenhouse gas emissions for Sonoma County's Climate Action 2020 Plan, and worked as a Program Analyst for Sonoma County's Regional Climate Protection Authority. She also worked as an intern conducting a municipal greenhouse gas inventory for the City of El Cerrito, a climate policy intern at Green For All, and worked as a Communications Correspondent for Ecocity Builders at their bi-annual conference in Istanbul.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• President and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce

Steve Nissen is the President and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which promotes the business, cultural and civic well-being of Hollywood and among other activities confers the Stars on the world famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. Simultaneously, Mr. Nissen maintains a consulting practice as head of the Nissen Consulting Group. Prior to taking his current positions, from 2008-2020 Nissen was a Senior VP at NBCUniversal, responsible for state and local government affairs- from intellectual property protection, First Amendment and film production to land use and government compliance. Mr. Nissen has been the Chair of several civic organizations in L.A., including the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Central City Association, Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., FilmLA and the L.A. BioMed (now known as The Lundquist Institute). Nissen also is one of 10 Board Members of one of California's largest charitable foundations, the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation. He has also served on the Executive Committees of the L.A. Police Foundation and Valley Industries and Commerce Association and is a Board Member of the Metropolitan YMCA. Prior to NBCUniversal, Mr. Nissen was a partner in the national law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, representing a wide range of clients from Fortune 500 companies to nonprofit entities. From 1999-2002, Nissen was a senior official with California Governor Gray Davis. Nissen served as the Governor's Interim Staff Director, Director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Research, and Senior Special Assistant for Innovation in Government. Among other tasks, he served as the Governor's liaison to the Blue Ribbon Panel on Hate Groups, chaired by former Secretary of State Warren Christopher and former California Governor George Deukmejian. Before joining Governor Davis' staff, Nissen was Executive Director of the State Bar of California, then the largest private regulatory body in the nation. He took charge in the midst of a political crisis triggered by a veto of the legislation to fund the Bar. He worked closely with then Governor Pete Wilson's office, the California Legislature and the state Supreme Court to restore funding to the State Bar while at the same time streamlining the organization's multiple functions. Prior to that, Nissen was President of Public Counsel Law Center, which he built into the country's largest pro bono law firm. Under his leadership, Public Counsel grew to a staff of some 50 dedicated individuals and a cadre of 10,000 volunteer attorneys providing over $200 million worth of legal services to children, the elderly, low-income families, and nonprofit organizations. During his tenure at Public Counsel, he was also an adjunct professor at USC School of Law. He has maintained his commitment to legal services to the indigent by serving as Co-Chair of the California State Bar Legal Services Trust Fund Commission and Standing Committee member of the American Bar Association Pro Bono and Public Service Committee. He has received numerous awards for his contributions to the community in the civic, government, nonprofit, corporate and legal sectors.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Water Policy Analyst

Susan Longville is a water policy analyst that has worked in the public and private sectors of California for decades. Susan retired from California State University, San Bernardino in 2012 where she served as the Director of the Water Resources Institute. Appointed by Governor Jerry Brown, Susan also served two terms on the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board. In 2014, Susan looked to public service and was elected to the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District in 2014, a wholesale water agency that provides imported water from the State Water Project to 800,000 residents in Southern California's Inland Empire to augment local water supplies. She has served as President and now as the senior member of the Board is focused on the completion of a Climate Resiliency and Adaptation Plan and the establishment of Headwaters Partnership with the San Bernardino National Forest.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Member of the Leadership Team
• Immediate past Board Chair
• Marketing and Communications Consultant

Susan Thomas is a marketing and communications consultant who works with organizations to build awareness and credibility for their key initiatives. She began her career as a business journalist in Silicon Valley and later founded her own public relations firm. After her firm was acquired by an international PR company, Susan ran their Global Technology Practice. Today, she works primarily with thought leaders in health care, education, and energy. As a resident of San Francisco Peninsula, Susan will help expand The Climate Center's reach beyond Sonoma County.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team
• Vice Chair of the Board
• Consultant for Community

Venise C. Curry, M.D. is a consultant for community-based organizations collectively working to increase voter engagement, build civic capacity through leadership development, and create policy and systems change in Fresno County. The intersection between medicine, environmental and social justice issues are at the core of her advocacy efforts. She has successfully managed local and statewide issue campaigns on education, healthcare access, air quality and land use policies as a resident of the Central Valley. Dr. Curry was most recently the San Joaquin Valley Regional Director for Communities for a New California Education Fund.

Job Titles:

• Engagement Manager

Vivien joined The Climate Center in September of 2023 as the first Engagement Manager. In this role, she focuses on the growth and retention of The Climate Center's community of dedicated volunteers, donors, and activists. Community engagement has been at the heart of Vivien's career. Prior to joining The Climate Center, Vivien served as the Communications Manager for Young Women's Freedom Center, a California nonprofit dedicated to ending the incarceration of young women and trans youth of all genders. Her work was focused on shifting the narrative around incarceration through digital, social, and traditional media, and providing young people with the resources they need to thrive. Prior to entering the nonprofit sector, she built engaged digital audiences at startups like FabFitFun and CLI Studios. Her work has always centered around community, and she is excited to bring this expertise to The Climate Center. Vivien holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Dance Performance from the South Carolina Honors College. When she's not working, you may find her in a dance class or curled up with a good book.

Job Titles:

• Energy and Environmental Policy Analyst, Strategic Planner
• Phase Out Polluting Fuels Program Manager

Woody Hastings is an energy and environmental policy analyst, strategic planner, and community organizer with over thirty years of experience in the non-profit, governmental, and private sectors. Woody has been with The Climate Center since 2010 when he was hired to help lead the formation of what became California's second Community Choice Agency (CCA), Sonoma Clean Power (SCP). After the launch of SCP Woody worked to expand CCA in other parts of California. In 2020, with CCA established throughout the state, Woody's focus shifted to work in the oil and gas supply side issues of extraction and refining of fossil fuels. The initiative's emphasis is on how to advance a comprehensive, coordinated, equity-centered, worker-friendly managed transition away from the production of fossil fuels in California. The initiative also includes demand-side end-use of fossil and other polluting fuels, particularly in transportation policy and building electrification. Woody received his bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies from San Francisco State University with an emphasis on sustainability and social justice. He is also a Fellow of the Leadership Institute for Just and Resilient Communities.