Vote Solar Announces Three New Hires to Grow Advocacy Capacity Across the U.S.

Solar Advocacy Group Launches into New Year with the Addition of Katie Ottenweller, Lavannya Pulluveetil Barrera, and Meghan Long

Vote Solar, a national non-profit advocacy organization working at the state level to bring solar energy to the mainstream, today announced the addition of three new hires, bringing total organizational growth to 25% over the last year. The new hires are: Katie Ottenweller, Southeast Director, Lavannya Pulluveetil Barrera, Access and Equity Program Manager, and Meghan Long, Development Coordinator.

“America’s rapid transition to renewable energy is good for our pocketbooks and critical for our health,” said Adam Browning, executive director at Vote Solar. “Our state-based approach is making great strides, but many challenges remain. We are excited to welcome three talented and passionate individuals to our growing roster of advocates rising to those challenges through deep policy expertise and public engagement.”

Beginning January 22, Katie Ottenweller will add legal, regulatory and policy capacity to Vote Solar’s southeast advocacy team, where she will initially focus on advancing solar markets in Georgia and Florida. Katie joins Vote Solar from Southern Environmental Law Center, where she served as a senior attorney, led the Solar Initiative, and gained extensive regulatory experience working collaboratively with utilities, environmental advocacy groups, and other renewable energy interests to advance distributed energy. Katie will be based in Atlanta.

Lavannya joins Vote Solar’s access and equity program, where she will focus on expanding and deepening equity outreach and partnerships. Lavannya previously served as the Tom Graff Diversity Fellow at Environmental Defense Fund and has a background in research, organizing, and partnership-building. Lavannya will be based in Chicago.

Meghan Long will support Vote Solar’s fundraising strategy, helping to further grow the organization’s capacity to advance solar policy in more states nationwide. She joins Vote Solar from Crisis Support Services of Alameda County, where she organized programs and events to raise resources for suicide prevention initiatives. Meghan will be based in Oakland.

These new hires bring Vote Solar’s total staff size to 29 individuals located throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, and West.