Board of Directors
For dates of upcoming Meetings of the Board of Directors, click here.
For our Governing Documents, click here.
Linda Adams, Chair
Former Secretary for Environmental Protection
California Environmental Protection Agency
Partner, Clean Tech Advocates
Peter M. Miller, Secretary
Senior Scientist
Natural Resources Defense Council
Jeffrey Kightlinger, Treasurer
General Manager
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Jan Schori, Audit Committee Chair
Retired General Manager
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
Randy Armstrong
Environmental Issues Director
Shell Oil Company
Dr. Francisco Barnes
President
National Institute of Ecology (INE), Mexico
Jason Clay
Senior Vice President Market Transformation
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
Steve Corneli
Senior Vice President, Market and Climate Policy
NRG Energy
Cynthia Cory
Director, Environmental Affairs
California Farm Bureau Federation
Peter Liu
Founder & Vice Chairman
New Resource Bank
James Mack
Head of the British Columbia Climate Action Secretariat
Ministry of Environment
Nancy McFadden
Executive Secretary for Legislation, Appointments and Policy
Office of the Governor
State of California
Betsy Moler
Retired Executive Vice President, Government Affairs and Policy
Exelon Corporation
Former Chair
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Tim Profeta
Director, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Senior Associate Dean
Duke University
Dr. Stephan Schwartzman
Director, Tropical Forest Policy
Environmental Defense Fund
Biographies
Linda Adams, Chair
Former Secretary for Environmental Protection
California Environmental Protection Agency
Partner, Clean Tech Advocates
Linda S. Adams, former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, is a founding partner of Clean Tech Advocates, a firm dedicated to promoting innovative technologies.
Prior to forming this new team in the private sector, Linda served in cabinet-level positions with three governors during her distinguished career with the State of California. Ms. Adams held key positions in both the Executive and Legislative branches during her many years in public service.
In 2006, Ms. Adams was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as Secretary of the California Environmental Agency (CalEPA), the first woman to serve in that position. Immediately upon her appointment, she was designated the governor’s lead negotiator on AB 32, California’s ground breaking climate change and clean energy measure. When Governor Jerry Brown was elected in 2010, Linda was asked to continue as Secretary of CalEPA and to assist in the transition.
Ms. Adams holds the position of the chair of the Climate Action Reserve, North America’s premier carbon registry. She also serves on the boards of the Pacific Forest Trust, the Delta Vision Foundation, the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance, and is the founding President of R 20-Regions of Climate Action.
Peter M. Miller, Secretary
Senior Scientist
Natural Resources Defense Council
Peter Miller is a Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) with over 25 years experience in energy and climate policy. His work is focused on California energy policy, AB32 implementation, GHG emissions accounting and offsets. He is currently a boardmember of the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) and has served on the California Board for Energy Efficiency and on both Independent Review Panels evaluating the Public Interest Energy Research program at the California Energy Commission. Mr. Miller has degrees from Dartmouth College and Reed College. He is married to Anne Schonfield, has two children, and lives in Berkeley.
Jeffrey Kightlinger, Treasurer
General Manager
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Jeffrey Kightlinger is General Manager and Chief Executive Officer for The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. As General Manager, he is responsible for directing the activities of the District to fulfill Metropolitan’s mission of delivering high-quality water to 19 million residents in Southern California. The General Manager reports directly to the Board of Directors and provides leadership and management of the District’s public policies and strategic initiatives, assets and resources, and all administrative, operational and financial activities for Metropolitan. Prior to his appointment in 2006 as General Manager, he was General Counsel for the District directing the legal affairs of Metropolitan. Before joining Metropolitan in 1995, Mr. Kightlinger was in private legal practice representing a number of public agencies on environmental issues. He is a Governor’s appointee to California’s Bay Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force – Stakeholders Committee and a board member on the UCLA Continuing Education Sustainability Advisory Board, among other activities. Mr. Kightlinger earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley and a law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law.
Jan Schori, Audit Committee Chair
Retired General Manager
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
Jan Schori is of counsel to the law firm Downey Brand LLP in Sacramento, CA. She is the former general manager and chief executive officer of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), the nation’s sixth largest publicly owned electric utility. During her 14 year tenure as CEO, the utility earned a strong reputation for its renewable energy and energy efficiency programs as well as the national number one ranking in commercial customer satisfaction by JD Power & Associates. Prior to serving as CEO she spent 15 years on the legal staff at SMUD, the last 5 as general counsel. She is past chair of the American Public Power Association, the Large Public Power Council, and the California Municipal Utilities Association. She is also past chair of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and served on the board of the Alliance to Save Energy. She was elected in 2009 to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) board as an independent trustee. NERC is responsible for the reliability of the US and Canadian bulk power grid. She continues to serve on the board of the Climate Action Reserve which develops protocols and tracks greenhouse gas reduction projects, and the board of Cal CEF Innovations, whose goal is to design and pilot business models, financial products and public policies that accelerate adoption of clean energy technologies.
Randy Armstrong
Environmental Issues Director
Shell Oil Company
James Randolph (Randy) Armstrong, Jr., Environmental Issues Director for Shell Oil Company, began his career with Shell in 1975. Mr. Armstrong has over 30 years environmental experience and has held various technical assignments in operations, engineering, health, safety and environmental. Mr. Armstrong has compliance and engineering experience in air, water and waste. He has been involved in environmental issues ranging from the Great Lake’s Basin study in the mid 70’s to his present role of coordinating Shell’s US activities on Climate Change. Past activities have included hazardous waste incinerator testing, biotreater design, groundwater recovery activities, landfill operations, and the implementation of Clean Air Act requirements. Mr. Armstrong is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University with a BS in Chemical Engineering. Randy is married, has two sons and resides in Kingwood, Texas.
Francisco Barnes Regueiro, Ph.D.
President
National Institute of Ecology, Government of Mexico
Dr. Francisco Barnes is a Chemical Engineer from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). He earned a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1997 and doctorate in energy and environmental policy from Imperial College, London University in 2001.
Dr. Barnes was a partner at McKinsey & Company where he served as a consultant from 2001 until his appointment to serve as the President of the National Institute of Ecology in February 2011. Throughout his career at McKinsey, Dr. Barnes was been part of the company’s global leadership in sustainability and energy practices advising governments, NGOs and private and public sector companies throughout Latin America in the areas of energy, climate change (mitigation and adaptation), water, oil, and other key issues.
As a consultant, he specialized in developing strategies for low‐carbon growth, adaptation to climate change, energy and other sustainable development issues, such as water pollution and solid waste. He has also served as a visiting professor at Boston University and participated in multiple international forums on environmental and energy policy. Dr. Barnes has received numerous awards for his academic work and is a published author with several articles in magazines .
Jason Clay
Senior Vice President Market Transformation
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
Jason gets things done on a global scale. His ideas are changing the way governments, foundations, researchers, and NGOs identify and address risks and opportunities for their work. He brings people together to improve environmentally sensitive practices in agriculture and aquaculture. Jason’s goal is to create global standards for producing and using raw materials, particularly in terms of carbon and water. He has convened industry roundtables of retailers, buyers, producers and environmentalists to reduce the key impacts of producing soy, cotton, sugarcane, salmon, shrimp, mollusks, catfish and tilapia. “We now have 10 to 25 percent of global production and buyers sitting at the table for each commodity.”
Jason ran a family farm, taught at Harvard and Yale, worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and spent more than 25 years working with human rights and environmental organizations before joining WWF in 1999. His favorite flavor of ice cream is Ben & Jerry’s Rainforest Crunch, which he helped create – with sustainably harvested ingredients – after meeting “Ben” at a fundraiser featuring the Grateful Dead.
Steve Corneli
Senior Vice President, Market and Climate Policy
NRG Energy
Steve Corneli is NRG Energy’s Senior Vice President, Market and Climate Policy. He is responsible for developing and advocating Company positions regarding climate change policy, and for integrating emerging climate policies with NRG’s commercial, power development, and energy market activities. He is active in the United States Climate Action Partnership and works directly with Congress and others to develop and pass national climate change legislation. Mr. Corneli previously served as NRG’s Vice President of Regulatory and Government Affairs and as its Director of Regulatory Policy.
Prior to joining NRG, Mr. Corneli served in the Minnesota Attorney General’s office as an energy policy analyst and then as the manager of the office’s utility consumer advocate division. He then worked at the law firm of Leonard, Street and Deinard on behalf of utility and independent power producer clients, and was an adjunct faculty member of the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Earlier in his career, he operated a 600 acre family farm in Wisconsin for more than a decade.
Mr. Corneli has a master’s degree in public affairs from the Humphrey Institute with a concentration in energy, environment and technology policy. He also has a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. John’s College and did coursework in the University of Minnesota’s doctoral program in Applied Economics.
Cynthia Cory
Director, Environmental Affairs
California Farm Bureau Federation
Cynthia L. Cory is the Director of Environmental Affairs for the California Farm Bureau Federation. She has worked on a wide variety of state and national agricultural issues for the Farm Bureau over the past twenty-one years. Her current focus is air quality and climate change but she also works on biotechnology and invasive species/pest prevention, eradication and control issues. Previously, she worked for several private and public organizations over a ten-year period on short and long-term agronomic research projects throughout Africa. Ms. Cory has a M.S. in International Agricultural Development (emphasis Agronomy/Genetics) and a B.S. in Agronomy.
Peter Liu
Founder & Vice Chairman
New Resource Bank
Peter Liu founded the New Resource Bank after nearly two decades of experience in the banking and energy industries. Mr. Liu had been a Senior Vice President and Vice President, respectively, of Credit Suisse First Boston and the Chase Manhattan Bank, where he completed $6 billion in financing transactions as well as provided corporate and strategic advisory planning. He has been a private investor and strategic advisor to several clean energy technology companies and currently serves on the Clean Technology Investment Advisory Boards of the California Public Employees Retirement System and the California Teachers’ Retirement System, respectively the largest and the 3rd largest pension funds in the United States. He is the co-founder and Vice-Chair of the China-US Energy Efficiency Alliance and serves on the board of the Roots of Change Fund.
James Mack
Head of the British Columbia Climate Action Secretariat
Ministry of Environment
James Mack is the Head of the BC Climate Action Secretariat in the Ministry of Environment. The Secretariat leads change to achieve the Province of British Columbia’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and is comprised of a strong team of committed and knowledgeable people with expertise in key areas of climate action including: carbon neutral operations, transportation and energy policy, research, and strategic partnerships. Prior to joining the Secretariat, Mr. Mack worked in Ottawa for the Government of Canada on a variety of environmental, social and economic development issues. This has included work at the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, the Privy Council Office, and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
Nancy McFadden
Executive Secretary for Legislation, Appointments and Policy
Office of the Governor
State of California
Nancy McFadden is Executive Secretary for Legislation, Appointments and Policy in the Office of California Governor Jerry Brown. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President of Public Affairs for PG&E Corporation where she was responsible for managing the company’s federal, state and local government relations, and philanthropic and community initiatives, while helping guide its efforts to be a national environmental leader. Before joining PG&E, Ms. McFadden spent nearly two decades as a key legal, policy, and political strategist in Washington, DC and Sacramento, most recently as senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to Governor Gray Davis. Prior to working in Sacramento, Ms. McFadden served for eight years in the Clinton Administration as deputy chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore and general counsel for the US Department of Transportation. Ms. McFadden started her career practicing law with the firm of O’Melveny and Myers. Ms. McFadden has been appointed by the California State Senate and two governors to serve on the California Medical Assistance Commission. Ms. McFadden has a JD from the University of Virginia and a bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University. She is a member of the Board of Trustees for the California Museum for History, Women and the Arts and the Women’s Foundation of California.
Betsy Moler
Retired Executive Vice President, Government Affairs and Policy
Exelon Corporation
Former Chair
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Betsy Moler recently retired from Exelon Corporation where she served as Executive Vice President, Government Affairs and Policy. She headed the company’s Washington, DC office for 10+ years. She joined Exelon (formerly Unicom) in January, 2000. During 1999 she was a partner in the law firm of Vinson & Elkins and a member of the Unicom Board of Directors. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Schlumberger Limited, the world’s leading oil field service company.
Ms. Moler is a nationally recognized energy policy expert, with particular emphasis on electricity markets, transmission policy, and climate change. She was responsible for all aspects of Exelon’s federal government affairs initiatives. She led Exelon’s team on climate change policy issues.
Ms. Moler had a long career in government service. She was a staff member on Capitol Hill for 20 years. She served as Senior Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources from 1976 to 1988 under Senators Henry M. (“Scoop”) Jackson and J. Bennett Johnston.
She was appointed by three different Presidents (Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton) and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a Member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from 1988-1997. In 1993, President Clinton designated her as Chair of the Commission. Under her leadership FERC adopted a landmark initiative (Order Nos. 888 and 889) to require utilities to open their transmission lines on an equal access basis to their competitors, paving the way for robust wholesale competitive electricity markets.
In June 1997 she was appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate to serve as the Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). At DOE she served as the Chief Operating Officer. As COO she managed the day-to-day operation of a $16 billion budget with more than 10,000 federal employees and over 100,000 contract employees.
She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from American University in Washington, DC, and a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University, also in Washington. She is married to Thomas B. Williams, and has two children, Blake and Eleanor Williams, who are both college students.
Tim Profeta
Director, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Senior Associate Dean
Duke University
Tim Profeta came to Duke on June 1, 2005, as founding director of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. Prior to his arrival, he served as Counsel for the Environment to Senator Joseph Lieberman. As Lieberman’s counsel, Mr. Profeta was a principal architect of the Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship Act of 2003. He also represented Lieberman in legislative negotiations pertaining to environmental and energy issues, as well as coordinating the senator’s energy and environmental portfolio during his runs for national office. Mr. Profeta has served as a visiting lecturer at Duke Law School, where he taught a weekly seminar on the evolution of environmental law and the Endangered Species Act. Before joining Lieberman’s staff, he was a law clerk for Judge Paul L. Friedman, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Dr. Stephan Schwartzman
Director, Tropical Forest Policy
Environmental Defense Fund
Anthropologist Steve Schwartzman lived with the Panará tribe in Mato Grosso, Brazil for a year and a half in the early 1980s and learned their unwritten language. He subsequently defended his PhD thesis on the group at the University of Chicago. Dr. Schwartzman worked closely with the emerging Amazon rubber tappers’ movement in the western Amazon starting in 1985, and twice brought rubber tapper leader Chico Mendes to the United States. Since 1991, Dr. Schwartzman has worked with the Panará people, and NGO partner the Instituto Socioambiental, to help the Panará in their successful effort to recover 495,000 hectares of their traditional territory and ensure its legal recognition and protection.
Since 2002, Dr. Schwartzman has worked with grassroots groups and NGOs for the creation of a reserve mosaic in the Terra do Meio region of the Amazon state of Pará. Between 2004 and 2008 the Brazilian government, in response to civil society advocacy, created ~8 million ha. of new parks and extractive reserves in the lawless frontier region. This established a continuous corridor of indigenous lands and conservation units of 26 million ha. in the Xingu river basin, the largest tropical forest reserves corridor in the world. Dr. Schwartzman leads EDF’s work with a consortium of Brazilian NGOs, grassroots organizations, government agencies and indigenous and traditional communities to implement and protect the reserves.
Dr. Schwartzman also initiated EDF’s efforts to create large-scale incentives for tropical countries to reduce their deforestation through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and in the emerging US emissions control regime, with Brazilian and other international partners. He leads EDF’s international work on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries.