Vote Solar Initiative Board of Advisors
Vote Solar is a fiscally sponsored project of both the Tides Center and Tsunami Fund, and as such we are responsible to the Tides Center's Board of Directors. In addition, Vote Solar has an active Board of Advisors that focuses on strategy and policy.
Ed Smeloff, Senior Manager for Utility Sales, Sunpower Corp (Board Chair). Ed has a long history with renewable energy policy and project development. Before taking a job with Sunpower, he was a senior manager at Sharp, one of the world’s largest producer of solar panels. Previously, Ed was Assistant General Manager for Power Policy for San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and as such, responsible for running the city’s electricity network and implementing the $100 million solar energy bond. He also served as Director of the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District, where he played an instrumental role in making Sacramento the most solarized city in America. He is also the former director of the Pace Law School Energy Project.
Julie Blunden, Vice President of External Affairs, SunPower Corporation. Ms. Blunden helped the company, a subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor, go public--one of the largest technology IPOs in 2005. Previously, as a VP of KEMA-XENERGY, Ms. Blunden lead the team of ten firms providing all technical and policy consulting to the California Energy Commission’s Renewable Energy Program--responsible for implementation of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard, including development of the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WREGIS), as well as the state solar programs including development of the Governor’s Million Solar Systems initiative. Julie was also a founding officer of Green Mountain Energy.
Aimee Christensen, Principal and Founder, Christensen Global Strategies LLC. A graduate of Stanford Law School, Aimee has served in senior positions in the US DOE, was Deputy Chair for Climate and Energy for the Clinton Global Initiative, was Google.org’s first hire for its climate team, and was Executive Director of Environment2004.
Randy Hayes, Climate Policy Officer, World Future Council. Randy is recognized internationally as an environmental leader, best known as the founder and first director of the Rainforest Action Network. He is also the past Executive Director of the International Forum on Globalization, was Director of Sustainability for the City of Oakland, and serves on San Francisco’s Environment Commission.
David Hochschild, VP External Relations, Solaria. After co-founding the Vote Solar Initative and serving as Director of Policy for four years, David became
Executive Director of PV NOW, a trade association representing the world’s largest solar manufacturers, and is now VP of Solaria, a concentrating PV company.
Elliot Hoffman, Co-Founder and CEO, New Voice of Business. After 27 years as the co-founder and CEO of Just Desserts, a company he built into one of the most widely respected companies and brands in the San Francisco Bay Area, Elliot launched a new enterprise: the New Voice of Business, a non-partisan, non-ideological organization of business people devoted to responsible and pragmatic economic and energy solutions, policies and priorities and to the exploration of the emerging role of business in the 21st century.
Wally McOuat, Energy Consultant. Wally crafted the fiscal model that was at the heart of the San Francisco solar bond’s success. A seasoned energy consultant, Wally is the founder and a principal of HMH Resources, Inc., a firm specializing in energy-related strategic planning and analysis. HMH and its predecessor corporations have played a significant role in over $1 billion of projects currently operating or under construction. Most of these were cogeneration, energy efficiency or renewable energy projects, and many of them were project-financed. Wally has served on several non-profit boards and is a former chair of the Marin County Planning Commission.
JP Ross, VP Strategic Relations, Sungevity. JP was Vote Solar’s policy director for several years, before joining Sungevity, a solar start-up. JP has a masters from UC Berkeley’s acclaimed Energy and Resources Group.
Dr. Thomas Starrs, Managing Director, Solar, PPM Energy. Prior to joining PPM, Tom was President of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, and Executive Vice President for Sales and Marketing and a member of the Board of Directors of RWE Schott Solar Inc., the world’s fifth largest manufacturer of solar photovoltaic cells and modules. Tom also spent seven years as co-founder and principal of Kelso Starrs & Associates LLC, an energy consulting firm focusing on the design and implementation of policies and programs to support renewable energy development, with an emphasis on solar and wind energy. Tom serves on the Boards of the American Solar Energy Society (as Chairman), and the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies.