Girish has more than 28 years of experience in California utilities, most recently serving as the General Manager of Riverside Public Utilities (RPU). While at RPU, Girish initiated a number of innovative and collaborative processes focused on rebuilding aging water and electrical infrastructure, utilizing advanced technology to improve service delivery and customer satisfaction, developing the workforce to meet new skills needed in the utility of the future, and developing business models for the utility to adapt and thrive in an uncertain environment.

Girish got his start in public power as an analyst at the City of Pasadena Department of Water and Power. He then moved to Santa Clara County to work for City of Palo Alto Utilities as a Resource Planner. While at City of Palo Alto Utilities, Girish gained increasing levels of responsibility and moved into management as the Manager of Supply Resources, and eventually Assistant Director of Utilities, Resource Management.  

Girish became the General Manager of City of Alameda, Alameda Municipal Power (AMP) in 2007. As General Manager of AMP, Girish led a series of changes that resulted in AMP’s #1 rating in residential customer satisfaction after years of steady improvement, bond-rating increase from A- to A+, and selling a failing telecom system to end years of financial losses.

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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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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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Prior to SVCE, Aimee held positions focused on solar technology and policy, climate policy, emerging technologies and strategic planning at EDF Innovation Lab, Pacific Gas & Electric, City of Palo Alto Utilities, Global Environmental Institute (Beijing, China) and the U.S. Department of Energy. Aimee has a BSE in materials science from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and a PhD in physics from Imperial College in London.

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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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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 resiliency 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 helped to launch 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 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, Eric worked for the California ISO in various departments including New Resource Implementation, Renewable Integration, and Market and Infrastructure Policy. His focus since 2017 was on the integration of energy storage and DERs in the CAISO wholesale market. He was the policy lead for the Energy Storage and Distributed Energy Resources Initiative and introduced various new products and enhancements to one of the first wholesale markets integrating demand response and energy storage resources.

In his free time, Eric enjoys exploring the outdoors whether it is hiking, rock climbing, or trail running.

Eric is originally from the Los Angeles area and holds a B.S. in Environmental Policy and Planning from the University of California, Davis.

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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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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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Prior to joining SVCE in June 2018, Monica worked for the City of Palo Alto Utilities for over 30 years. Her first years focused on the development, implementation and evaluation of water, gas and electric demand-side management programs and measures. Her focus for the past 20 years, however was on managing Palo Alto’s electric supply portfolio and developing policies consistent with Palo Alto’s environmental sustainability and financial goals. Monica was instrumental in developing and implementing Palo Alto’s Carbon Neutral Plan in 2013, one of the first carbon-neutral policies 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. Throughout her career with Palo Alto, Monica participated in several strategic planning efforts including serving as the project manager of the most recently approved strategic plan in 2017.

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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Prior to joining the SVCE team, Vanessa worked with the City of Cupertino’s Sustainability Division to implement their Climate Action Plan and conduct outreach to residents, businesses, and schools. She received a B.S. in Environmental Science from Santa Clara University.

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Hilary joins SVCE from Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc. located in San Francisco where she was involved in several projects including greenhouse gas emissions modeling, rate design, energy resource valuation and regulatory briefings. Hilary earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland and a Masters of Environmental Science from Yale, where she majored in energy economics.

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Prior to joining SVCE, John developed a broad-based knowledge of various renewable energy and energy efficiency measures. Most recently, he worked for local fuel cell manufacturer, Bloom Energy, as the Incentives Operation Program Manager. Before that, he was in Washington DC running the Account Management team and developing programs for the DC Sustainable Energy Utility to support the largest energy users in the Capital with energy efficiency, solar, and workforce development. He was a Program Manager on the California Solar Initiative (CSI) for the Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE) servicing the San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) territory. His solar knowledge came from selling solar directly to residential and commercial customers as well to contractors across the US. He began his energy career more than 15 years ago managing channel sales for a micro-wind turbine manufacturer. He is a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) and received his undergraduate degree from UCLA.

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Ian worked for nine years on the Pacific Gas & Electric Energy Policy & Procurement team in a variety of roles including portfolio management strategy, real-time asset management and CAISO market design project management. Prior to joining Pacific Gas & Electric, Ian was an investment banking associate for an international investment bank.

In his free time, Ian enjoys playing and teaching tennis, reading about 20th-century history, and learning new recipes for his low carb diet. Ian was born and raised in New Orleans and has a B.A. in economics from Harvard University.

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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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