Girish has more than 29 years of experience in California utilities, including serving as the General Manager of Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) and Alameda Municipal Power (AMP) and as an Assistant General Manager for the City of Palo Alto Utilities. His professional education includes a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from UCLA and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Anna University in India.

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Poonum joins SVCE from the California Public Utilities Commission’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) Program, where she developed policy, implemented statute and evaluated legislative proposals to assess impact on the RPS Program and state decarbonization goals. She also managed development of the RPS Data dashboard and visualization tool for staff and the public.

Previously, Poonum held positions focused on assessment of innovative energy technologies, energy policy, microgrid R&D and energy industry data collection, analysis and forecasting at the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Point Carbon North America (acquired by Thompson Reuters) and Arthur D. Little, Inc. (Energy Practice acquired by Navigant Consulting). She started her Federal service as a Presidential Management Fellow.

Poonum earned BS and BA degrees in Chemical Engineering and International Relations from Tufts University and dual MS degrees in Technology Policy and Environmental Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Poonum is a mentor to entrepreneurs developing energy enterprises through Santa Clara University’s Global Social Benefit Institute. She previously served on the Board of Women in Cleantech and Sustainability.

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Jessamyn’s background is in nuclear physics and astrophysics research. She has bachelor’s degrees in physics and astrophysics from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in physics from MIT.

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Previously, Kevin held positions focused on sustainability, alternative transportation, green building, and renewable energy project development, with both public and private organizations around the Bay Area. Kevin recently worked for the County of Santa Clara, Vote Solar, the City of San Jose, and the DaimlerChrysler Corporation. Kevin’s early professional career was spent at Accenture, developing enterprise resource planning software.

Kevin earned a BS degree in Civil / Environmental Engineering from Stanford University and dual MS degrees in City & Regional Planning and Transportation Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.

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Immediately prior to joining SVCE, Don served as Executive Director of Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s Smart Energy Enterprise Development Initiative (SEEDZ), involving a regional coalition of leading business, governmental, institutional and utility stakeholders focused on advancing energy system performance and sustainability in Silicon Valley. Projects included workplace and destination electric vehicle charging infrastructure, regional power quality monitoring, distributed energy storage and community-based renewable energy programs.

Don’s private sector background includes 22 years with Accenture. As a Managing Partner, he was instrumental in building and leading the firm’s business systems integration consulting practice in Silicon Valley.  He also co-founded and led AltaTerra Research, a market research and consulting firm focused on clean technology solutions for the enterprise marketplace.

Within the community, Don helped define and launch the Bay Area Climate Collaborative, a region-wide public-private partnership addressing regional sustainability goals. In his hometown of Los Altos, California, he serves on the City’s Environmental Commission, and is a past Chair and Vice-Chair.

Don received a Masters Degree in Engineering Management from Stanford University, and Bachelor’s Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California at Davis.

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Prior to joining Silicon Valley Clean Energy, Bena was the Intergovernmental Relations Director for the City of San Jose, the 10^th largest city in the United States. While at the City of San Jose, she engaged on and advocated for a vast variety of municipal policy issues at the regional, state and federal levels ranging from homelessness, pandemic mitigation and response, and clean energy.

Bena was also the Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s Senior Vice President of Transportation, Housing and Health. During her more than a decade at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Bena worked on many diverse projects and programs including a successful 2008 Measure B campaign that secured operations funding for BART to Silicon Valley to tours of transit-oriented development in many communities in Silicon Valley. Bena graduated from Wellesley College with a major in English and a minor in Astronomy.

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Prior to working for SVCE, Melicia served as the Director of Policy covering California policy issues at Sunrun, the nation’s largest residential solar and storage provider. Melicia also spent over a decade working at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) where she oversaw the California Solar Initiative, the Self-Generation Incentive Program – which provides incentives for distributed energy resources. Melicia helped lead the development of the CPUC’s energy storage procurement target and oversaw the CPUC’s transportation electrification policies and programs and policies related to disadvantaged communities.

Melicia has an MBA from the University of San Francisco and a B.A. from UC Berkeley. 

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Prior to joining SVCE, Jessica served as an AmeriCorps Civicspark Fellow for the City of Woodland. As a Fellow she was responsible for implementing the City’s Climate Action Plan while creating a framework for reporting and analysis.

Jessica holds a B.A. in Geography with a minor in Environmental Science & Policy from California State University, Long Beach.

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Zoe has over a decade of experience leading regional decarbonization and resilience initiatives. She served as Sustainability Manager for the County of Santa Clara, as Associate Director of the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability, and co-founded the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA.

Zoe has a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from UCLA where she focused on regional approached to climate action. She also earned a Leadership in Sustainability certificate from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.

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Rebecca holds an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Southern California. Prior to joining SVCE, Rebecca worked as an electric vehicle research fellow at the Natural Resources Defense Council, and as a student project engineer at the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County.

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Prior to joining SVCE, Pamela served as Communications Specialist for Prospect Silicon Valley where she was responsible for developing messaging, collateral, managing the website, coordinating events and social media content.

Pamela worked as an account executive for Westbound Communications, a public relations agency conducting community and digital outreach, special events and marketing for the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project. Pamela also served as Director of Communications and Marketing for Orange County Coastkeeper, a clean water non-profit organization. Pamela earned bachelor’s degrees in political science and drama, with a minor in global sustainability from UC Irvine.

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In addition to working on the SVCE team, Matt helps with Morgan Hill’s Climate Action Plan development and writes about science. He has a M.Sc. in Science Communication from Dublin City University and a B.A. in Astrophysics and Philosophy from UC Berkeley.

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Colleen joined SVCE as a Climate Corps Fellow after graduating from UC Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Environmental Science and a concentration in Anthropology and Marine Processes. She brings along experience working with outreach for the UC Carbon Neutrality Initiative and the campus Climate Action Plan, natural reserve management with the UC Natural Reserve System and environmental education with the UCSB R.E.E.F.

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Thomas graduated from Sonoma State University in the spring of 2017 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Energy Management & Design.  Prior to joining SVCE, he worked as an intern in the Power Services Department at Sonoma Clean Power overseeing energy and capacity contracts, settlement details, and compliance filings.

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Owen is entering his senior year at Concordia University Irvine, studying Finance and Business Data Analytics. He also completed a minor in Communication Studies. Owen also works with a virtual education company, assisting students in Data Analytics, Web Development, and Digital Marketing as an Academic Support Specialist.

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Since joining SVCE in 2018, Monica and her group have negotiated and executed over one billion dollars in long-term power purchase agreements for renewable resources including six solar plus storage contracts. Monica is also leading the effort on behalf of SVCE and seven other CCAs to acquire long-duration storage to help with the integration of intermittent resources and in support of the California grid.

Prior to joining SVCE, Monica worked for the City of Palo Alto Utilities for over 30 years. Monica was instrumental in developing and implementing Palo Alto’s Carbon Neutral Plan in 2013, the first carbon-neutral policy adopted for a municipal utility in California. Monica also represented Palo Alto at several joint action agencies, including the Northern California Power Agency and the Transmission Agency of Northern California and oversaw the contract with Palo Alto’s largest supplier – Western Area Power Administration.

Monica has held several volunteer positions within her community of Fremont and was an active participant of Alameda County’s steering committee to form East Bay Community Energy (EBCE). Monica continues to volunteer with EBCE and currently serves on its Community Advisory Committee bringing both an energy professional and ratepayer perspective.

Monica holds a B.S. in Business from California State University East Bay.

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Peyton comes to Silicon Valley Clean Energy most recently from SolarCity where he served in a range of sales, account management, and technical support roles. He is most proud of having deployed over a megawatt of solar capacity in his time there. A life-long resident of the South County, Peyton attended San Jose State University and earned a B.A. in Philosophy.

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Michaela joined SVCE after graduating from California State University, Fullerton with a B.A. in Public Relations and Public Administration. She brings communications experience from freelance work with Algalita, a non-profit committed to solving the plastic pollution crisis. Additional experience includes her work with Think Together, a non-profit dedicated to changing the odds for kids, and work with local campaign management while in Orange County.

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Andrea earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from San Jose State University.

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Amrit’s prior experiences include serving as Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Senior Director, Market and Credit Risk Management and Senior Director, Revenue Requirements and Rates. Amrit also worked at startup companies and provided strategic consulting in areas of risk management and utility operations. Amrit has an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BS in Managerial Economics from the University of California, Davis.

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Prior to SVCE, Justin worked at City of Palo Alto Utilities on demand side management program design, management and evaluation. Justin has a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from California Polytechnic State University and a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from Stanford University.

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Nik brings over 20 years of IT experience. He has worked for a large Silicon Valley tech company for the past 16 years performing many different roles, most recently as IT manager. Nik earned his bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University.

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