Vote Solar is a fiscally sponsored project of the Tides Center and The Advocacy 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 (Board Chair)
Before joining SunPower Corporation, Ed was a senior manager at Sharp, one of the world’s largest solar panel producers. He was previously the Assistant General Manager for Power Policy for San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and as such was responsible for running the city’s electricity network and implementing a $100 million solar energy bond. He also served as Director of the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District and as Director of the Pace Law School Energy Project.
Aimee Christensen, Principal & Founder, Christensen Global Strategies
Aimée has worked at the intersections of environment, human rights, and development for nearly two decades. She worked with Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, to develop strategy, guide early initiatives, and build the team working on global warming. She was Executive Director of Environment2004, informing the American public about the impacts of federal environmental policy. She also developed and executed Latin American energy policy at the U.S. Department of Energy. She is a graduate of Stanford Law School.
Arthur Haubenstock, Chief Counsel & Director of Regulatory Affairs, BrightSource Energy
Aurthur is responsible for a wide variety of renewable energy legal and policy issues at BrightSource Energy, a leading developer of large-scale solar power plants. Arthur also serves as President of the Large-scale Solar Association.
David Hochschild, VP of External Relations, Solaria
After co-founding the Vote Solar Initiative 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 PV module manufacturer.
Rose McKinney-James, Managing Principal, McKinney-James & Assoc.
Rose is Managing Principal of McKinney-James & Associates and Energy Works Consulting, providing public policy, workforce development and government affairs consulting services in energy, education and the environment. She is former Chair of the Nevada Renewable Energy Task Force and participated as a renewable energy expert for the National Energy Policy Initiative. Following her five year tenure as a Commissioner with the Nevada Public Service Commission, she also served as the first Director of the Nevada Department of Business and Industry. Today she is a member of the board at the Energy Foundation, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), and the Nature Conservancy, among others.
JP Ross, VP of Strategic Relations, Sungevity
JP was Vote Solar’s policy director for several years, before joining Sungevity, an innovative solar energy system design and installation company. JP has a masters degree in renewable energy from UC Berkeley’s acclaimed Energy and Resources Group.
Board Members Emeriti:
Julie Blunden, VP, Public Policy & Corporate Communications, SunPower
Since 2005, Julie has led public relations, financial relations, public policy and market development for SunPower. She was previously a consultant at KEMA-XENERGY on energy markets and policy to industry, utilities and governments. In that role, Julie supported the Schwarzenegger administration in developing the Million Solar Roofs Initiative. Prior to that, she co-founded Green Mountain Energy, a national retail electric supplier of renewable power. She has an MBA from Stanford and an AB in engineering and environmental studies from Dartmouth. She currently serves on the boards of the Center for Resource Solutions and the Real Goods Solar Living Institute.
Elliot Hoffman, Co-Founder & 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.
Julia Levin, former California Energy Commissioner
Before her appointment to the California Energy Commission, Ms. Levin directed Audubon’s global warming campaign since early 2007. Prior to that she was Audubon’s California Policy Director, working to develop statewide guidelines on wind power and wildlife protection. Before Audubon, Julia was the California Policy Coordinator for the Union of Concerned Scientists where she helped establish the California Climate Registry and the California Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). Julia has her B.A. from Brown University and her J.D. from UC, Hastings College of Law.
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.
Dr. Thomas Starrs, Managing Director of Utilities and Power Plants, SunPower
Prior to joining SunPower, Tom was Managing Director of Iberdrola Renewables and President of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. He also served as 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 is on the Boards of the American Solar Energy Society (Chairman) and the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies.
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 has also served as Executive Director of the International Forum on Globalization, the Director of Sustainability for the City of Oakland, and a member of San Francisco’s Environment Commission.
Kimia Mizany, Director of Business Development, Solar Depot
Kimia is a director at Solar Depot, a national wholesale distributor and system integrator of solar electric and solar thermal systems. She also currently serves on the Board of the California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA). Her prior experience includes advocacy at an environmental non-profit as well as energy policy work with the California State Senate. She holds B.S. degrees in Environmental Studies and Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.