First elected in 2012, NYS Assemblymember Patricia Fahy represents the City of Albany and the Towns of Bethlehem, Guilderland, and New Scotland. A leading advocate for job creation, environmental conservation, and quality education, Pat has been the prime sponsor of over 100 bills--59 of which have been signed into law including: providing critical cost saving measures for municipalities to own and update streetlights; ensuring access to quality legal representation for all New Yorkers while lifting an expensive unfunded mandate off the counties by reforming Indigent Legal Services (ILS); banning all firearm bump stock devices; creating the first statewide trails master plan; and examining modification or replacement of part(s) of I-787 in downtown Albany to expand waterfront access and development.

Pat has also introduced legislation that protects residents and businesses from potential petroleum disasters; funding universal pre-K transportation; protects consumer credit from the impact of data breaches; implements net neutrality principles; and expands L.E.A.D.

Pat serves on six committees, including Environmental Conservation, Higher Education, Transportation, Children and Families, and Tourism. She is the Vice-Chair of the Majority Steering Committee, which officially helps set the State Assembly’s overall priorities. Pat was awarded Freshman Legislator of the Year by the New York State School Boards Association during her first term in office and the Advocate for Choice award by Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood. In 2017, she was awarded the “Promoting Excellence in Mandated Representation” Award by the New York State Bar Association for her ILS legislation funding and creating caseload standards. In 2019, I received the New York Library Association’s (NYLA) Senator Hugh Farley Award for help securing a $20 million restoration of capital funding, and the New York State Industries for the Disabled’s (NYSID) Legislative Champion Award for work on behalf of individuals living with developmental disabilities.

Dr. William Acker is a well-known and highly-regarded scientist, business leader and entrepreneur in the field of energy. He currently serves as the first Executive Director of NY-BEST, the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium. Under his leadership, NY-BEST has grown its membership to more than 180 companies, created the BEST Test and Commercialization Center and new battery prototyping capabilities, and has performed pioneering work in advancing markets, policy, technology and product development. Dr. Acker is an active and influential voice for energy storage industry in New York State’s groundbreaking Reforming the Energy Vision initiative and he is leading the industry’s participation in the State’s Energy Storage Roadmap initiative.

Dr. Acker’s more than 25-year career in energy includes management and leadership roles with Optiwind, MTI and MTI MicroFuel Cells, Plug Power and Texaco. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Future Energy Systems at RPI, the RIT Battery Prototyping Center, and the Southern Tier Clean Energy Incubator. He received a Ph.D, in Applied Physics and Engineering from Yale University and a B.S. in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic University.

Jamin leads business development efforts at Sunkeeper Solar. Prior to co-founding Sunkeeper Solar, Jamin led the On-Site Generation division at Bright Power and directed all aspects of consulting, engineering, project management, procurement and permitting for all distributed generation projects. Growing up in Brooklyn and spending many years working locally Jamin has an in-depth understanding of permitting and working in New York City. Jamin has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University.

Betta Broad is working on the transition to a clean energy economy in New York. A native New Yorker, Betta has been an advocate for social justice, peace and sustainability for over two decades. Her first campaign was organizing for “Justice for Janitors” on her college campus. She then worked for a labor union, on campaigns to oppose unfair free trade agreements and to repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws. As Deputy Director of Earth Day Initiative, she organized the major Earth Day festivals in NYC for five years before joining the campaign to ban fracking. She co-produced a series of videos called “Love NY: don’t frack it up!” and worked with advocates across the state to successfully ban fracking in New York. While working for Catskill Mountainkeeper she created the RenewableNY program that subsequently received a $1.8 million award from NYSERDA to expand Solarize campaigns across 15 counties.

Charles Callaway is a resident of West Harlem. As the Director of Organizing at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Charles taps into many years of empowerment programs throughout Harlem. Charles has played a key role in organizing residents around significant issues in the Harlem community. He worked with Harlem residents on the Columbia University expansion and 125th Street rezoning by developing their capacity to advocate for their own communities. Charles has been working with the Mother Clara Hale Community Taskforce and the MTA to build the first green bus depot in Harlem. Charles has recruited and trained over 200 people in 30 hours of OSHA and 32 hours of asbestos handling class. More than 78 community members are now working in the construction field because of the trainings. Charles has helped the community understand the importance of advocating on its own behalf.

Jon Carbjal has been accelerating the clean energy transition for over 15 years by developing battery storage solutions throughout the northeast and abroad. Jon is NineDot Energy's Director of Product Development. He spends his days piecing together technical, commercial and regulatory innovations needed to deploy more battery storage and other flexible grid services that support the electrification of everything. His work primarily focuses on community-scale1-5 MW front of the meter energy storage projects in downstate New York.

Before joining NineDot Energy, Jon was the Energy Storage Director at 174 Power Global launching a C&I storage solution in Connecticut and contributing to the development of a first of its kind 100MW storage plant in northern Queens. Jon was also a Technical Sales Manager at EnelX leading a cross functional Application Engineering team that designed and built dozens of commercial-scale battery storage solutions throughout New York and Ontario. Jon holds a Masters degree in Sustainability Management degree from Columbia University and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.

Lindsay Cherry has worked in the energy and environmental space for the last ten years; today, she is Market Intelligence and Policy Manager for Hanwha Q CELLS. She started her career at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), working in the Oceans Program and Climate and Health Program. Since entering the industry, she has worked on energy and sustainability policies in New York, microgrid policies in Puerto Rico, and the clean energy certificates program in Mexico.

Prior to joining Q CELLS, Lindsay was a solar analyst with Wood Mackenzie (formerly Greentech Media Research), focusing on solar technology and system pricing. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Boston University and a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University, where she concentrated in energy and environmental policy

Jonathan Cohen, Policy Director, NYSEIA. Jonathan joined the leadership of the Long Island Solar & Storage Alliance in January 2020. He has worked in the solar industry since 2014 and currently serves as Policy Director for NYSEIA. Previously he was Government Liaison for SUNation Solar Systems, a solar provider on Long Island.

Jonathan brings 25 years of public policy advocacy experience, and has served his community as a civic leader for his entire adult life, including as an Executive Board member of the Manorville Chamber of Commerce. Prior to his career in the solar industry, Jonathan worked in the medical field for 17 years, including as District EMS Supervisor at Mastic Beach Ambulance. He resides in Manorville, NY with his wife Carolyn, daughter Emma, and son Zachary.

Annika Colston founded AC Power to bring unique vision to solar PV project development and management on landfill and brownfield sites. Annika has been developing alternative energy projects for nearly two decades and has experience across all aspects of project development. She has worked with all stakeholders needed to make alternative energy projects successful. These stakeholders include governments, local municipalities, Fortune 500 companies, landowners, utilities, and more. The breadth of her experience makes her capable of solving conflicts and bringing teams together to ensure success.

Annika has a unique ability to bring projects to operation on time and within budget. Ms. Colston has been a senior manager of four start-up companies that sourced private and public capital to drive investment in environmentally and socially beneficial projects. Annika has a long track record of successfully taking projects through the entire development process including origination, contract negotiations, due diligence, financing and investor approvals, permitting, structuring off-take agreements, equipment procurement, construction contracting, and operations.

Prior to AC Power, Annika was Vice President at PV Navigator where she originated and developed over 50 MW of solar projects on landfills and brownfields. From 2011 to 2014, Ms. Colston was President of C2i Methane where she developed and sold a portfolio of landfill gas to energy projects. Ms. Colston's work experience includes entities that were market leaders such as E+Co, which invested seed capital in sustainable development projects in Africa using innovative investment structures; EcoSecurities, a first of its kind company marketing Kyoto Protocol projects globally; and Blue Source, the largest carbon credit portfolio in the US.

Kat is Director of Interconnection Policy for Borrego—a solar and storage developer specializing in distribution generation and utility scale projects across the United States. Kat advocates for improved interconnection processes and policies that enable and unlock renewable energy development and has a keen interest in ensuring that we are proactively planning for infrastructure needs at the transmission and distribution level that will integrate renewable resources. Prior to her role at Borrego Kat worked at the northeast utility, National Grid, for over a decade and specialized in transmission interconnection and services.

Zack Dufresne is the executive director of NYSEIA, with a background in renewable energy policy & market analysis and trade association management. Prior to joining NYSEIA, Zack performed in-depth clean energy policy analysis and contributed to energy market forecasting for distributed energy resources in various states across the Northeast U.S. as Principal Analyst at Sustainable Energy Advantage, LLC (SEA). He also brings expertise from his role as Director of Membership Services at the Alliance for Clean Energy New York (ACE NY), where he worked extensively with renewable energy developers and environmental advocates to track and shape policy to support the rapid growth of renewable energy in New York State.

Zack has a B.A. in Political Science from University at Albany with a minor in Sustainability and is pursuing a M.P.A. in Environmental Policy at Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy

Ten-year-plus solar executive committed to the growth, profitability and organizational effectiveness of Greentech Renewables. Highly experienced in thought leadership, general management, new market development, financial services, strategic partnerships, supply chain optimization, policy, and building effective teams.

Emilie Flanagan is the Chief Executive Officer at Carson Power, a New York–based developer focused on the clean energy transition of the State of New York. At Carson, she leads the day-to-day operations of the business and guides the overall vision of the business. Prior to founding Carson Power in March 2021, she was the Director of Project Development for Emerging Markets at Borrego Solar, where she led the incubation of new solar and storage development businesses across the US, primarily DG in the Mid-Atlantic and utility-scale in New York. Prior to this role, Emilie was a community solar project developer for Borrego in New York and originated over 200 MW of solar projects that have now reached PTO.

David Gahl is SEIA’s Senior Director of State Policy, East where he works on regulatory and legislative matters in Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York and provides senior-level oversight on important cross-cutting solar policy issues across the Eastern states.

Prior to joining SEIA, David worked at the Pace Energy and Climate Center at Pace University’s Law School, where he was deeply involved in New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision effort. Prior to Pace, David held various positions at Environmental Advocates of New York, New York State’s leading environmental advocacy organization. In these roles, he managed aspects of the organization’s policy analysis, advocacy and communications work.

David lives outside Albany, New York with his wife and two daughters.

Noah Ginsburg joined NYSEIA as Executive Director in early 2023. In this role, he is charged with advancing the solar industry in New York through policy/advocacy, public education, member capacity-building, and strategic initiatives.

Prior to NYSEIA, Noah spent seven years as a program director at Solar One, a nonprofit organization that expands access to the benefits of clean energy to all New Yorkers through education, solar technical assistance, and workforce development. While at Solar One, Noah built a robust program and strong team that developed more than 800 solar projects, primarily on affordable housing. From 2021-2022, he also served on the board of NYSEIA and chaired the NYC Policy Committee. From 2009-2011 Noah was a Solar Ombudsman at the City University of New York, working to identify and address barriers to solar in New York City. In 2011 Noah moved to California to work as data analyst and technologist with diverse solar companies including Sungevity, Sunrun and OnGrid. While in California Noah volunteered as a Team Leader on more than 40 solar installations with GRID Alternatives, a non-profit solar installer that serves low-income homeowners, and earned his NABCEP PV installation certification in 2014. Noah holds a bachelor's degree in Renewable Energy from the CUNY Baccalaureate program/Hunter College. He is passionate about accelerating local solar adoption while expanding equitable access to the benefits of clean energy.

Doreen M. Harris is president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), a public benefit corporation that advances innovative energy solutions to improve New York State’s economy and environment.

Ms. Harris has held public and private sector leadership roles advancing clean energy projects and engineering companies for more than 20 years. During her 10 years of public service, she has held executive, technical, and policy positions at NYSERDA, most recently as the Vice President of Large-Scale Renewables. While at NYSERDA, she has overseen the State’s nation-leading advancement of renewable resources under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and Clean Energy Standard. Ms. Harris also spearheaded the strategic development of New York’s offshore wind resource, including the execution of the State’s offshore wind master plan. She was also instrumental in advancing and implementing the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act, which will modernize the siting of large-scale renewable energy projects across New York.

Before embarking on a career in public service, Ms. Harris spent more than a decade in the energy sector, serving in management and engineering roles. She began her career at Alcoa Advanced Technologies and Optimization Technologies in engineering roles associated with consulting and project management. Prior to joining NYSERDA, she served as Project Director for Global Water Technologies, Inc., where she led a multi-year initiative to develop and commercialize energy savings and water treatment technologies.

She currently serves on the boards of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, Alliance to Save Energy, Clean Energy States Alliance, National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, NY CREATES, NY BEST, and is a member of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Leadership Council. Ms. Harris earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester
and a Master of Business Administration from the University at Albany.

Paul, Principal of Segue Sustainable Infrastructure has over eight years of renewable energy finance and development experience to the team at Segue. He joins from the Structured Finance team at Cypress Creek Renewables, where he led take-out financing (sale and retain) transactions totaling over 500 MW across over sixty solar PV projects. His experience spans all aspects of transactions, including financial modeling, power marketing, EPC partnerships, strategic procurement, sale/retain bid processes, and transaction document negotiation. In addition to take-out financing, Paul raised over $40m of development capital for Cypress Creek, supporting over 120 community solar projects.

Prior to his role at Cypress Creek, Paul originated and managed new business opportunities for Safari Energy, a leading provider of behind-the-meter solar PV for leading retail property owners. Paul’s work at Safari included origination and management of over 25 MW of rooftop and parking canopy PV projects for publicly-traded retail REITs, including arranging landlord-tenant PPAs selling clean energy to three of the largest retailers in the US.

John Little is the Senior Advisor of Finance at the Long Island Power Authority, the not-for-profit public power utility on Long Island whose purpose is to serve our 1 million+ customers and the community by providing clean, reliable, and affordable energy to Long Island and the Rockaways. John has served various roles in his career with LIPA including Director of Rates and Vice President of Planning and Strategy and has been responsible for establishing LIPA’s rates and revenue requirements, developing tariff-related programs and services, guiding its sales forecasting and load research efforts, and providing policy direction for many of LIPA’s customer-facing strategies and initiatives. John’s 40+ year career has also included consulting on rate, cost of service and financial planning at numerous investor-owned electric and gas utilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Patrick McClellan is policy director for the New York League of Conservation Voters, where he has worked on clean air and water, renewable energy, and climate change policy since 2017. Prior to joining NYLCV, Patrick worked on central staff for the New York City Council, where he focused on climate issues. He has a BA in politics from NYU and an MPA in public policy analysis from NYU Wagner. He lives In Brooklyn with his wife and two sons.

Twiggy Mendenhall is a Policy Associate for CleanCapital, a diversified clean energy investment platform that has assembled one of the largest portfolios of operating solar assets in the country. In her role at CleanCapital, Twiggy advances the distributed solar + storage market through policy/advocacy efforts, including engaging key stakeholders, local elected officials, community leaders, trade associations, working groups, and community organizations.

Prior to joining CleanCapital, Twiggy was a Policy Manager for Ecogy Energy, a Brooklyn-based developer, financier, and owner-operator of distributed generation projects across nine states, D.C., and the Caribbean focused on rooftop, parking lot canopy, and brownfield development projects. Many projects of which advocated for and prioritized LMI subscribership. Her journey to the clean energy sector started as Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) Solar Pipeline Trainee by Elevate Energy, partnered with Millennium Solar Electric and the City Colleges of Chicago to deliver solar installer and career training to communities in Chicago. Twiggy holds a B.S. in Sustainability Management from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF). In her free time, Twiggy enjoys traveling to state and national parks, playing basketball, and spending time with family.

Austin Perea is a Manager, New York Policy and Market Development for the Arcadia. Prior to joining Arcadia, Austin worked at The Boston Consulting Group, where he supported the energy practice as a research associate. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in economics and political science and a minor in Middle Eastern studies from the University of New Hampshire.

Dennis Phayre is a C&I corporate solar developer with PowerFlex, LLC., a subsidiary EDF Renewables North America (EDFR). Prior to joining the PowerFlex team, Dennis was a founding member of EnterSolar, a leading corporate onsite solar developer headquartered in NYC. EDFR completed its acquisition of EnterSolar in January 2021. Dennis has over 15 years of experience in the New York C&I market.

Dennis’s work also includes policy development, often in cooperation with NYSEIA, SEIA, and NY-BEST. Through his policy efforts Dennis, seeks to better understand and shape the complex markets into which he sells. He has served as a “Collaborator” on the PSC’s original VDER proceedings and continues to serve as a member of its Interconnection Policy Working Group (IPWG) today.

While his work focuses largely on onsite solar projects from 1 MW AC to 5 MW AC, including rooftop, ground, carports, storage, and EVSE, Dennis has also developed many MWs of RNM/CDG projects across New York State.

Gregory Randolph oversees Investment Administration and Portfolio Management at NY Green Bank.

Prior to NY Green Bank, Mr. Randolph spent 16 years focusing on project finance, capital markets, energy mergers and acquisitions, and opportunities in the energy and power industries at Greenhill & Company. Mr. Randolph was also the Managing Director in the energy and power group of Goldman Sachs where he ran the Project Finance and Midstream Energy Groups. Prior to his 12 years at Goldman Sachs, he worked in the project finance group at Salomon Brothers. Mr. Randolph started his career as an analyst at J.P. Morgan.

Mr. Randolph graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University in 1981 with a degree in economics and received an MBA from the Wharton School in 1987.

Mark Richardson is the President and CEO of U.S. Light Energy. USLE has developed and completed over 35 MW of CDG as of October 2021, with 150 MW under construction and in development. With 1 GW of opportunities in the USLE New York pipeline, the company is currently working on a variety of solar development projects including: Community Distributed Generation, Remote Net Metering, Small Utility, Demand Reduction, and Solar plus Energy Storage solutions.

For the past two years, USLE has ranked sixth on the Solar Power World Top Solar Contractors list for NY Solar Developers. President and CEO Mark Richardson is highly regarded as an expert in his field, and routinely works with policymakers, the public service commission, and members of the New York State legislature in advocacy for the solar DG industry, responsible land use, and sound business regulations.

Rob Ritchie is the Director of Energy Storage at Nexamp, where he leads energy storage strategy, technology evaluation, and project analysis. In this role, he works closely with internal and external stakeholders on strategic planning to build and grow Nexamp’s energy storage business. In prior roles at Nexamp, he developed over 150 MWh of energy storage across projects ranging from behind the meter and microgrid to front of the meter applications. Prior to joining Nexamp, Rob was a Program Manager of Distributed Generation at National Grid, managing interconnection upgrade projects across New England. Rob holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and Master’s degree in Energy Science and Engineering, with a concentration in Energy Management and Policy, from the University of Pennsylvania.

Stephan Roundtree, Jr. is the Northeast Director for Vote Solar, where he works to promote ambitious and socially just solar policy in New England and New York. Prior to joining Vote Solar, Stephan worked as an advocate and community lawyer with WE ACT for Environmental Justice in Harlem, NYC. There, he fought for more inclusive solar and energy efficiency policies in Albany and at City Hall. Stephan also co-designed a first-in-the-nation solarize campaign for a dense urban community in Northern Manhattan, and negotiated construction and local hiring contracts for the project based on community values and input.

Originally from the Town of Dunstable, Massachusetts, Stephan holds a B.A. in History from Boston College, a J.D. from Northeastern School of Law, and a Master's in Environmental Policy from Vermont Law School. In his spare time Stephan enjoys sailing, skiing, and social distancing on his bike, though his passion for energy justice is equaled only by his love of birdwatching and Boston sports.

In 2014 David Sandbank joined NYSERDA to run Governor Cuomo’s $1 billion NY-Sun initiative and has overseen the largest year-over-year growth of solar in New York State. David’s experience as a solar developer brought real market experience and industry perspective a true market driven private / public partnership. Since David has joined NYSERDA he focused on programmatic efficiency, lowering costs for solar developers and making solar available for all New Yorkers. As a result, New York has risen in the ranks nationally with 2018 being the strongest year yet jumping from twelve to sixth in the nation for completed capacity, while building the largest pipeline in its history at a time when national solar trends were dipping. The results have drawn more industry to focus in the state ranking New York 4th in the nation with nearly 12,000 solar jobs. In addition to building solar capacity David has assured that the solar projects are built to code and operate safely by conceptualizing and launching the NYSERDA Quality Solar Installer designation which is now being adopted across the authority for different technologies.

David has also played an integral role in working the Department of Public Service to transition to a value stack tariff providing more accurate price signals encouraging DER’s to be designed/located where it helps alleviate future infrastructure grid investment. Prior to joining NYSERDA, Sandbank worked as a solar developer, helping a start-up grow to more than one hundred employees and oversaw company operations, marketing, engineering and installation teams. In November 2013, Sandbank was elected vice-president of the New York Solar Energy Industries Association to actively work with government agencies, policy makers and utility companies to help advance the solar industry in New York.

David co-founded EmPower in 2003 to make solar the dominant energy source in New York and beyond, and is dedicated to accelerating activities to achieve this goal. As CEO, David is responsible for leading and managing the company along with the management committee. David’s day to day includes commercial business development, battery system sales, community solar projects and managing the SunPower Master Dealer partnership.

As an advocate, David conducts outreach to build support for clean energy amongst political, community, business and religious leaders, and the public at large. David has testified before the United States Congress Science Committee about the DOE Solar Decathlon and solar energy, and has been involved with numerous TV, print, internet, radio and documentary interviews.

David is a current board member of Vision Long Island. He has a Master of Science in Energy Management from the New York Institute of Technology, where he received the Faculty Award for outstanding achievement, and co-led the 2005 Solar Decathlon solar-hydrogen zero energy home project.

He has a BA in Economics from the University of Vermont, where he received the Freeman Saltus Award in Economics. David was a North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) Photovoltaic Installer. David started his career as an Institutional Equity Advisor at Merrill Lynch where he sold Japanese equities to large U.S.-based investors.

For more than two decades, Marie Schnitzer has dedicated her career to renewable and sustainable energy. She started in fuel cell development and hydrogen generation. From there, she turned to consulting in utility scale wind and solar. Since joining National Grid more than three years ago, she’s focused on non-wire alternatives and energy storage. Now, as Ombudsperson for NY Distributed Generation, her work enables projects decreasing the carbon footprint in New York and throughout the world. She does this, she says, to help leave her daughter – and millions of other daughters and sons – a better world.

Kevin Schulte founded GreenSpark with his best friends in 2002 and was named CEO in 2008. By 2015 he had led the company to 11th fastest growing business in Rochester and reached the top spot on the Rochester Chamber of Commerce’s Fastest Growing Companies in 2017. He provides the leadership, vision and passion that drives the growth and success for the company. Kevin serves on the boards of the Amicus Solar Cooperative and New York’s Alliance for Clean Energy (ACENY). Kevin has been recognized locally, statewide and nationally for his contributions to the growth of the distributed wind industry, including being named the inaugural recipient of the Community Wind Innovator Award in 2011. While Kevin’s leadership can be calculated in megawatts he would point to being named Rochester’s Top Workplace in 2017 as his highest professional accomplishment. Kevin’s vision of a creating a values led, mission driven company is contagious and resulted in not only the top workplace award, but also in receiving The Leadership Award from Rochester’s Top Workplaces – as voted upon by the entire team at GreenSpark.

Basil Seggos was appointed DEC Commissioner in October 2015, leading an agency of over 3,000 professionals. As the longest serving DEC Commissioner, he oversees programs that promote a clean, healthy and accessible environment, including: protecting and restoring New York's air, lands and waters, combatting climate change, enforcing State environmental laws and regulations, responding to natural and man-made disasters, and supporting world-class outdoor recreation on state lands and waters, including hunting, fishing, hiking and paddling.

Commissioner Seggos advises the Governor on environmental policy and issues. He also serves on a variety of boards, including as chair of the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC), chair of the Hudson River Park Trust, the Adirondack Park Agency (APA), Delaware River Basin Commission, the Great Lakes Commission, the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA), the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, NYS Energy Planning Board, and others.

Denise Sheehan serves as a Senior Advisor to the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY-BEST). In her role, Ms. Sheehan provides advice and assistance on NY-BEST’s strategic direction, policy issues, and operational management, including member relations, communications, and program development. Ms. Sheehan has more than 30 years of management experience in the government and non-profit sectors. She previously served for 10 years at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, including two years as Commissioner, where she oversaw the operations of the State’s chief environmental regulatory agency.

Ms. Sheehan also served as the Executive Director of The Climate Registry, an international non-profit membership organization focused on assisting companies in reducing their carbon emissions and becoming more sustainable. Her experience also includes 10 years at the NYS Division of the Budget where she was responsible for overseeing the State’s environmental and energy budgets.

Drew Smith is a Sales Engineer at Smarter Grid Solutions. Drew has worked in all aspects of the renewable energy industry including finance, product, and business development. He is passionate about helping utilities, developers, and independent power producers add renewable energy to the energy mix. He has a Master in Public Policy from Georgetown University and a Bachelor in Accounting & Finance from the University of Kentucky.

Genevieve represents various developers—including those for large commercial, housing, and renewable energy projects—in all aspects of project development, including obtaining local and state permits, land use and zoning approvals, and environmental review under SEQRA. In addition, she assists solar and wind energy clients with the RPTL 487 process and obtaining financial assistance from industrial development agencies. She has also represented individuals and businesses before state and federal agencies in enforcement actions regarding alleged violations of environmental laws, including consent orders with the EPA and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

Tom is Director of Transmission for Renewables on National Grid’s Clean Energy Development team, focused on developing infrastructure to efficiently enable the Clean Energy Transition for New York. Tom previously managed a team of engineers called “Distributed Integrated Planning” at National Grid, focused on solving unique planning and engineering challenges associated with the Clean Energy Transition (including enabling DER). After obtaining degrees in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering at RPI, he spent a year developing novel hybrid supercapacitor technology at a start-up before joining National Grid. Tom has experience with Non-Wires Alternatives, T&D planning, Microgrid planning, Rate Case development, and Energy Storage strategy, and will be completing a law degree next year.

Ahmar Zaman joined New Energy Equity in 2021. Ahmar has been involved in the solar industry for more than 15 years and brings valuable insight having experienced the entirety of the industry’s evolution, and through various cycles. Most recently, he served as CFO of one of the largest US PV/Storage O&M service firms which he helped grow from a single vertical to covering four industry verticals while tripling assets under management. His career began at UBS Investment Bank as an equity research analyst, one of only three covering the Solar industry at the time. As Chief Financial Officer, Ahmar is responsible for supporting rapid growth by managing the internal and external financial functions of New Energy Equity and its subsidiaries. He received his B.S. in Finance, from Arizona State University and his MBA from Babson College.