RAP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Principal and India and Global Opportunities Program Director
Alejandro Hernandez oversees RAP's work advising Indian central and state authorities and coordinates RAP's engagement with multilateral initiatives and other jurisdictions beyond the organization's core regions.
Before joining RAP in 2022, Hernandez was the head of the Renewable Integration and Secure Electricity Unit at the International Energy Agency, leading the agency's work on electricity market design, decarbonization strategies for the power sector and electricity security. A significant part of this work was to provide sound analysis and advice to policymakers in IEA association countries, including Brazil, China, Thailand and India.
Previously, Alejandro Hernandez served in the Mexican government from 2013 to 2017 as managing director at the Energy Ministry, where he was part of the core team designing and implementing an ambitious reform for the power sector. The effort resulted in the opening of the Mexican wholesale electricity market and in a significant deployment of renewable energy in the country.
Hernandez's career in the Mexican government also included positions as senior advisor to the finance vice minister from 2011 to 2013 and as deputy chief economist at the Mexican antitrust authority, COFECE, from 2007 to 2011.
He holds a master's and a doctorate in economics from Toulouse School of Economics in France and a bachelor's degree, also in economics, from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México.
A native of Mexico, Alejandro Hernandez speaks fluent Spanish, English and French.
How Alejandro Hernandez is Energizing Change
Alessandro Celestino oversees day-to-day planning, management, and coordination of activities for RAP's Europe team. He also plays a pivotal role in the development and implementation of the team's strategy. Celestino is an experienced project manager and expert in EU fundraising and bidding. He has supervised and managed a wide portfolio of multi-stakeholder projects in the field of climate change and environmental protection, working in China, Germany, Italy, and Belgium.
Prior to joining RAP, Alessandro Celestino held several positions with the Italian Ministry for the Environment, gathering in-depth experience over the course of more than a decade. He began his work in Brussels, providing EU relations and EU grant support. Celestino then moved to Beijing to act as project supervisor, before serving as program manager for the Sino-Italian Cooperation Program for Environmental Protection, a program jointly managed with the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China with a budget of 180M euro over 10 years.
Alessandro Celestino holds an undergraduate degree in foreign languages and literature from Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" and earned a master's degree in international management of cultural and not-for-profit organisations from Università degli Studi di Genova. He also holds a certificate from the University of International Business and Economics of Beijing (China), where he completed advanced training in business development and Mandarin Chinese. In addition to his mother tongue of Italian, he speaks fluent German, English and French, and has reached an upper intermediate level in Chinese.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chairman of the Board of Directors
- Consultant
Amanda Ormond is a consultant specializing in advancing policies and technologies that will transition Western U.S. energy generation and the grid to a low-carbon electric system. She serves as the managing director of the Western Grid Group and provides services to a wide range of other public and private organizations. She has worked in energy and public policy for 30 years in Arizona and the West. Prior to starting her consulting firm in 2001, Ormond served for seven years as director of the Arizona Energy Office, where she was responsible for developing state policy and promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy and alternative fueled vehicles. She also held various positions at the state energy office, a division of the Arizona Department of Commerce.
Amanda Ormond is a seasoned communicator who strives to identify and implement collaborative solutions to develop the Western United States' vast renewable energy resources and the transmission to bring these resources to market. She holds a bachelor's degree in environmental earth science from Mary Washington College.
As a senior associate in Berlin, Andreas Jahn focuses on issues relating to the German "Energiewende", or energy transition, helping develop and advance regulatory options for a carbon-neutral power sector, including demand-side resources and tariff design. He also supports RAP's work throughout Europe. Jahn has extensive experience with power markets and regulation, as well as knowledge of the German national political arena.
Prior to joining RAP, Jahn was responsible for all energy policy and regulatory matters as the director of regulatory affairs at lekker Energie, a German electricity and gas provider. Through his work as a senior expert for the Association of New Energy Suppliers, he gained valuable insight into political decision-making processes and legislative procedures. He was also a member of the Federal Ministry of Economics' task force on legislation to implement grid regulation in Germany.
Andreas Jahn has extensive knowledge of the technical, environmental, and political aspects of energy markets through his degree in environmental science from Leeuwarden (Netherlands) and Bingen (Germany).
In addition to his native German, Andreas speaks fluent English and advanced Spanish.
How Andreas Jahn is Energizing Change
As a member of RAP's team in Europe, Bram Claeys focuses on the future of distribution system operators, market reform and maximising the potential of the Clean Energy for All Europeans package.
Before joining RAP in 2020, Claeys was the director general of the Organisation for Sustainable Energy (ODE) in Belgium. Besides managerial and public engagement tasks, his personal focus was on system adequacy and sector coupling. He was a member of the Advisory Council of the Belgian federal Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation and the User's Group with the transmission system operator Elia. He served as an expert in tariff design working groups with the Flemish energy regulator.
In the U.S., Bram Claeys served as the renewable energy policy director for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. His role was to help maintain the state's clean energy leadership through analysis and development of cutting-edge renewable energy policies, with a focus on renewable energy procurement and renewable heating and cooling.
Claeys is a chemist by training (University of Ghent, Belgium) with additional degrees in environmental management from the University of Brussels and international cooperation from the University of Ghent.
Brenda Hausauer coordinates the work of RAP's U.S. team, which provides expertise on the power and gas sectors in the states. Ms. Hausauer supports the U.S. program director on management and planning issues, and leads the operational and administrative work related to the U.S. team. She joined RAP in 2007 as a research and policy analyst, providing analysis for many publications, conducting research, and contributing to team projects.
Earlier in her career, she worked as a policy analyst and planner for the Vermont Department of Public Service, developing the state's Comprehensive Energy Plan. Hausauer also served as a local zoning and planning administrator, as well as a researcher and writer for several Vermont-based energy and land use planning nonprofits.
Brenda Hausauer earned a bachelor's in English from Luther College and a master's in environmental philosophy from Colorado State University.
How Brenda Hausauer is Energizing Change
Job Titles:
- General Counsel
- Senior Associate
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Co - Founder and Former Director
Chi Gao supports RAP's research and outreach in China, especially on topics such as electricity market design, resource adequacy and renewable energy integration. He works with partner organizations and scholars to advance RAP's mission.
Gao joined RAP in 2022 after graduating from his master's program, where he worked with Dr. Michael Davidson and scholars at Tsinghua University on modeling China's renewable energy pathway for a successful transition toward its 2060 carbon neutrality goal. During his study, Gao also interned with the Southeast Asia program at the Stimson Center, where he worked on issues related to the energy, water and food nexus in the Greater Mekong Subregion using geospatial methods.
Chi Gao earned a master's degree in Chinese economic and political affairs with a Chinese environment concentration from the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego. He received groundwork training in the politics of energy systems and a suite of quantitative methods that support energy systems analysis: econometrics, optimization methods for power system planning, and geospatial analysis. He also holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science from UC San Diego.
How Chi Gao is Energizing Change
Job Titles:
- Principal and U.S. Program Director
Dara Torre provides project coordination and operational support for RAP's U.S. team. She serves as project manager for a variety of U.S. projects, assists with grants management and provides logistical and administrative support for the team. Torre brings 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, including study administration and grants management for the Colorado AIDS Clinical Trials Unit. Since settling in Vermont in 2000, she has been engaged in local resilience and community building as a municipal official, grant writer and volunteer board member. In 2023, Dara Torre began serving in the Vermont General Assembly as a state representative. She joined RAP in 2016.
Torre graduated from Oberlin College with a bachelor's in history and a minor in government. She holds a certificate in nonprofit management from Marlboro College and recently received a certificate in climate change and public health from Yale School of Public Health.
How Dara Torre is Energizing Change
David Farnsworth advises regulators and advocates on clean energy and environmental policy and regulation. He also supports the work of energy efficiency and environmental advocates around the country.
Prior to working with RAP, he served as a hearing officer and staff attorney with the Vermont Public Service Board from 1995 to 2008. From 2003 to 2008, Farnsworth was a member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Staff Working Group.
Farnsworth was co-chair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' (NARUC) Staff Subcommittee to the Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment from 2004 to 2005; vice-chair of the NARUC Staff Subcommittee to the Committee on Natural Gas from 2000 to 2002; and served as a staff member of the NARUC Task Force on Climate Policy.
He has also worked internationally as a regulatory consultant providing training on legal and policy issues to relevant ministries and regulatory commissions in Slovakia, Romania, Mozambique, Swaziland and Tanzania.
David Farnsworth earned a bachelor's degree from Colby College, along with his juris doctor and master of studies in environmental law from Vermont Law School.
How David Farnsworth is Energizing Change
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Co - Founder and Interim CEO
Deborah Bynum provides strategic communications and publications support to RAP's Europe programme. Bynum works closely with RAP's authors to develop research reports and the materials to disseminate them. She guides public outreach efforts in both English and German to advance power sector policy and provide best practices to policymakers, regulators and other audience groups. Previously, she served as communications coordinator, supporting communications, technology and internal training.
Bynum joined RAP in 2011, bringing more than 20 years of administrative, operational, language and communications experience. Her previous roles included translation and administrative support with a German law firm, a maritime software company, a global services organisation and The British Council.
Deborah Bynum holds a bachelor's degree in German from Western Michigan University and studied at the Free University of Berlin as well. After earning her degree, she lived in Germany for 13 years, where she learned fluent German and conversational French.
How Deborah Bynum is Energizing Change
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Treasurer
- Treasurer of the Board of Directors
Doug Ogden is an attorney and private clean energy investor. He focuses on public and private equity as a principal at North Ridge Investment Management and commercial real estate as a partner at Marin & Montecito Country Marts.
Ogden served as executive vice president of the Energy Foundation in San Francisco and director of the China Sustainable Energy Program in Beijing. Previously, he practiced environmental law and litigation with the Seattle law firm Foster Pepper & Shefelman and taught for two academic years at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China.
Doug Ogden holds a master's in public administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, a juris doctor from the University of Washington (editor, Washington Law Review) and a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford.
Duncan Gibb advises on the technologies, policies and data needed to switch to clean heating. He leads RAP's European work on the economics of heat pumps and has published multiple papers, notably on economics and policy, the Renewable Energy Directive and cold-climate heat pumps. Duncan joined RAP's Europe team in 2022 with more than 10 years' experience in energy research and policy analysis.
Prior to joining RAP, Gibb was a lead analyst and project manager at REN21 in Paris, a global network on renewable energy, where his focus was on writing and publishing the influential Renewables Global Status Report. His work analysed worldwide trends and developments in renewable energy policy, markets and industries and contemporary issues, including system integration of renewables. At REN21, he published several major reports, including a study on renewable heating and cooling policy written with the International Renewable Energy Agency and the International Energy Agency. He also has served as co-author, advisor and reviewer to multiple international energy publications.
Duncan Gibb previously worked at the German Aerospace Center in Stuttgart, where he coordinated the center's research on thermal energy storage within international research networks. Prior to that, he carried out technical research on thin-film solar cells at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg, Germany.
He is an engineer by training, holding a Master of Science in renewable energy management from the University of Freiburg and a Bachelor of Chemical and Process Engineering from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.
A native Canadian, Duncan speaks fluent English, French and German.
How Duncan Gibb is Energizing Change
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Member of the Board of Directors
Frank Tugwell is a consultant specializing in renewable energy, energy policy, nonprofit management, and global development. From 1999 to 2013, he served as president and CEO of Winrock International, a global development nonprofit that implements energy, environment, and rural development projects. Prior to joining Winrock, he served as executive director of the Heinz Endowments, a foundation that makes grants in the environment, human services, education, urban affairs, and the art sectors.
Tugwell began his career as an academic, serving as a professor at Pomona College and Claremont Graduate School. He subsequently became involved full-time in energy policy work, first as senior policy analyst for energy and materials at the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) and then as deputy assistant administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where he was responsible for global energy assistance activities. He also founded and led the Environmental Enterprises Assistance Fund, a nonprofit focusing on small and medium-sized environmental companies in developing countries. He worked as a consultant to Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) on strategic planning related to renewable energy.
Frank Tugwell's research and writing focuses on energy technology and policy. He is the author of The Energy Crisis and the American Political Economy: Politics and Markets in the Management of Natural Resources (Stanford Press), and has written widely on biomass energy systems for developing countries.
He holds a bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degree from Columbia University.
Job Titles:
- Communications & Operations Senior Associate 高级项目运营与传播主管
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Board Member for the California Solar
- President of Nextracker Inc
Howard Wenger is passionate about enabling a clean all-electric future powered by a 100% renewable grid and distributed generation. He has worked for more than 35 years in the solar and utility power field and has served in leadership and board positions of industry-leading companies.
Wenger currently serves as President of Nextracker Inc., the leading provider of solar tracker and software solutions used in utility-scale and distributed generation projects. He founded Wenger Ventures in 2017, an active clean power venture capital fund which has invested in over twenty companies and clean energy funds.
Howard Wenger served as President of Solaria Corporation from 2020-2021 and as a Board Director from 2019 to 2022. Other experience includes 15 years as President at SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR), President and CEO of SunPower Systems, and as Executive Vice President and board director at PowerLight Corporation, a leading commercial and large-scale solar power company acquired by SunPower in 2007. Wenger also held management positions at Pacific Gas & Electric Company of San Francisco, AstroPower Corporation (acquired by GE), and Pacific Energy Group, a company he co-founded.
During his career, Howard Wenger has led and scaled companies, driven the establishment of public policies to mainstream solar including the first solar net metering law in the United States (California, 1994), written, or co-authored more than 75 clean-energy papers and reports, and written software programs and tools that are still used today to design and engineer solar power systems.
Wenger currently serves as a board member for the California Solar and Storage Association and the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), and as a trustee for the University of California at Santa Barbara. Wenger holds a bachelor's degree in environmental studies from the UCSB, and a master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Job Titles:
- Principal and European Programme Director
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Provost
Joanna Lewis is Provost's Distinguished Associate Professor of energy and environment and director of the Science, Technology and International Affairs Program (STIA) at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. She has over two decades of experience working on international climate and clean energy policy with a focus on China. At Georgetown Ms. Lewis runs the Clean Energy and Climate Research Group and leads several dialogues facilitating U.S.- China climate change engagement. Lewis is also a faculty affiliate in the China Energy Group at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Lewis' new book, Cooperating for the Climate: Learning from International Partnerships in China's Clean Energy Sector was recently released by MIT Press. She is also the author of the award-winning book Green Innovation in China and was a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report. Lewis has worked for a number of governmental and non-governmental organizations including the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, the Asia Society and the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and has been a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the East-West Center.
Joanna Lewis holds master's and doctorate degrees in energy and resources from the University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor's degree in environmental science and policy from Duke University.
Job Titles:
- Global Human Resources Manager
Louise Sunderland is managing principal within RAP's European program, sharing responsibility for the overall direction and management of RAP's work in Europe with the European Program Director. Louise is an expert in demand-side energy policies and energy justice, with 15 years' experience working on energy efficiency, buildings decarbonization, energy pricing and energy poverty.
Louise leads our work in Europe on ensuring the energy transition benefits lower income and otherwise excluded households, supporting the whole team to fulfil this aim. She also leads RAP's ongoing work to support the introduction of minimum energy performance standards, which are regulations to improve the performance of existing buildings, both at European and national level. Throughout her career, Louise has worked closely with industry, the nonprofit sector and policymakers on clean energy transition policy development, most recently for the UK Green Building Council. She is an external expert for the European Commission and has served as an expert witness to provide evidence to the United Kingdom's House of Lords. Before moving into the energy field, she spent her early career working in international development and community development.
Sunderland earned a master of science from Imperial College London in environmental technologies and received the BP Prize for Strategic Thinking. She also holds a master of arts and an undergraduate degree in English.
How Louise Sunderland is Energizing Change
As RAP's accountant, Lynn Boynton works in partnership with RAP's finance director to create and maintain the financial systems and procedures required for internal decision-making and external reporting. She is responsible for day-to-day transactions, payroll, banking, grant accounting, audit support and systems maintenance.
Through her own business, which she established in 1999, Lynn Boynton provides bookkeeping and accounting services to several small business clients, in addition to RAP. Over the years, she has worked with both for-profit and not-for-profit clients. Prior to establishing her own business, she managed a small credit union, with responsibilities ranging from making deposits to approving mortgages and serving on the credit committee.
Boynton holds a bachelor's degree in business, with a minor in economics, from Castleton State College.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Architect at Yale
- Consultant at McKinsey & Co
Macky McCleary is a former utility, insurance and environmental regulator; a clean energy entrepreneur; and a transformation and organization leader.
Trained as an architect at Yale and a consultant at McKinsey & Co., McCleary is now director of energy, sustainability and infrastructure at Guidehouse. He drives innovation for clients in the converging industry sectors of energy, finance, telecommunications, government, infrastructure and transportation. He has combined expertise in innovation, strategy, operations, branding, consumer and behavioral insights, and business development.
Macky McCleary's experience in state government includes leadership roles in the Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and the state's Department of Business Regulation, and in the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in architecture and design from Yale College and a Master of Architecture from Yale University.
Marion Santini joined RAP's Europe team in early 2020 to support its work on energy efficiency and electrification. In her first years with RAP, she provided insights into the development of EU energy policies, and conducted research on new instruments for heat decarbonization.
She has a deep knowledge of the European Union's energy efficiency legislation, which she acquired during her work for the Secretariat of The Coalition for Energy Savings, a Brussels-based advocacy group. As senior consultant for Stefan Scheuer SPRL, she led the coalition's advocacy efforts during the Clean Energy for All Europeans legislative process, coordinating with industry and civil society organisations. During those years she also conducted several projects on EU climate and energy legislation for other clients.
Earlier, Santini supported World Wide Fund for Nature in coordinating and developing its climate-related business partnerships across the world. She also worked in Cambodia, where she led the communication team of Nexus, a nonprofit providing access to finance for clean energy and water solutions in Asia.
Marion Santini holds a master's degree in European policies from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques of Strasbourg (France), where she completed her undergraduate degree in political science. She also holds an undergraduate degree in economics and management from Université Pierre Mendes France - Grenoble 2.
In addition to her native tongue, French, Marion speaks English fluently and has a basic understanding of German and Italian.
How Marion Santini is Energizing Change
Mark LeBel has more than a decade of experience working on the overlapping economics and law of energy and environmental policy in the United States. As a member of RAP's U.S. team, he focuses on regulatory reforms for electric and gas utilities, including rate design and utility business model reform. LeBel served as the editor of Electric Cost Allocation for a New Era and is the co-author of the policy briefs, Smart Rate Design for Distributed Energy Resources, Under Pressure: Gas Utility Regulation for a Time of Transition, A Clean Heat Standard for Massachusetts, and Demand Charges: What Are They Good For?.
Before joining RAP, LeBel was a staff attorney at Acadia Center, working on electric utility reform and broader clean energy issues across the Northeast. During this time, he participated extensively in a wide range of utility policy dockets and served as an expert witness in several rate cases on rate design and electric vehicle policy. In addition, he was a member of the Massachusetts Zero Emission Vehicle Commission.
Mark LeBel holds a Juris Doctor with honors from New York University School of Law and a bachelor's degree with honors in applied mathematics with a focus in economics from Harvard College. Prior to law school, he worked at NERA Economic Consulting, where he undertook a range of energy and environmental analyses, including modeling of national cap-and-trade programs and regional electric dispatch modeling.
How Mark LeBel is Energizing Change
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Program Director
Job Titles:
- Vice Chair
- Vice Chair of the Board of Directors
- Professor
- Vice Chair of the European Environment
Miranda A. Schreurs is a professor of environment and climate policy in the School of Governance, Technical University of Munich. Her research focuses on the governance of climate change, low-carbon energy transitions, and sustainable development in Germany and the European Union, the United States and East Asia.
Schreurs is vice chair of the European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils (and was formerly chair); international director of the board of the Institute of Global Environmental Strategies (Japan); a member of the Advisory Board of the Swiss National Foundation's NSF Research Program 71 on the Swiss Energy Transition; and co-chair of the National Committee to Monitor the Nuclear Waste Management Site Location Search in Germany. She has served on numerous governmental advisory bodies in Asia - including the China Council for Environment and Development - and Europe, advising on energy transition, climate governance and sustainable development.
She has published widely on environmental and energy matters in leading academic presses, for policymakers, and for more general audiences. In addition, Miranda Schreurs is a member of the Advisory Council for the Sustainable Development of Catalonia (CADS).
She holds a doctorate from the University of Michigan.
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant
- Office Manager
As executive assistant, Molly Caballero provides administrative support to members of RAP's leadership team, mainly the chief executive officer, chief operating officer and director of communications. Caballero manages team calendars and schedules meetings and conferences. She also works closely with the development team to assist in grants management, tracking and outreach.
Before joining RAP in 2020, Molly Caballero served as office manager of TeamWorks Media, a content creation studio in Chicago. Her office experience extends into the legal sphere, having worked both as a legal administrative assistant at Equity Residential and a legal library assistant at Locke Lord LLP.
She earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Monika Morawiecka focuses on general power system transformation design and implementation in Europe, with special attention to the Central and Eastern region as well as offshore wind policy and regulation. With her extensive experience in formulating and implementing sectoral strategies within a regulatory context, she helps advance fair and efficient regulatory frameworks for the clean energy transition.
Ms. Morawiecka brought more than 15 years of energy industry experience to RAP. From 2006 through 2021, she was positioned at the heart of energy transition dilemmas in Poland, helping PGE Polish Energy Group on its way towards carbon neutrality. As head of group strategy for many years, she was responsible for qualitative and quantitative analysis processes, including long-term scenario planning supported by detailed energy sector modelling, as well as regulatory and government affairs. Then, in her three years as chief executive officer of PGE Baltica, the newly established business line within PGE group dedicated to developing offshore wind projects, she was at the forefront of Poland's energy transition.
Ms. Morawiecka had for many years been involved in wider energy sector issues as a member of the Management Board at the Polish Electricity Association, developing and implementing crucial regulatory and stakeholder management initiatives.
Prior to her time at PGE, she worked as a management consultant advising clients in the gas and electricity sector on tariff design, consolidation strategies, restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions.
She holds a master's in finance and banking from Warsaw School of Economics as well as the Master in International Management degree from CEMS, the global alliance in management education.
In addition to her native Polish, she speaks fluent English and decent German.
How Monika Morawiecka is Energizing Change
With more than 30 years of experience in environmental and energy policy, Nancy Seidman works with RAP's U.S. team to advise policymakers, advocates, and other utility sector participants on the intersection of environmental and energy policies. Her work focuses primarily on climate change, air quality policy, and the benefits of energy efficiency.
Until December 2016, she was the assistant commissioner for the Bureau of Air and Waste at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), where she managed three divisions. In one of the divisions, Seidman worked on air quality regulatory and monitoring programs, climate and energy policy and regulations, including implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. She also represented MassDEP on the Mass Energy Efficiency Advisory Council. Nancy Seidman has managed programs covering solid and hazardous waste permitting, policy, compliance, enforcement, and monitoring, other toxic pollutant reduction programs, and a range of fiscal and data operations. In her more than 20 years with MassDEP, Seidman served as the deputy assistant commissioner for climate strategies, division director for transportation and consumer programs, and deputy director for air program planning. Nancy Seidman also served as the president of the National Association for Clean Air Agencies (NACAA) and co-chaired the agency's mobile source and fuels committee from 2002 through 2016.
Prior to joining MassDEP, Seidman worked for the United States Environmental Protection Agency in the New England regional office and for the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM).
Nancy Seidman holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University and a master's of business administration in public management from Boston University.
How Nancy Seidman is Energizing Change
As chief operating officer, Noelle MacKay oversees all aspects of RAP's operations to support and enhance the organization's creative and collaborative culture. She leads implementation of strategic planning; identifies needs and opportunities for development; and recommends strategies, resources, and business models to improve outcomes and impact. MacKay also oversees human resources, information technology, finance, and communications.
Before joining RAP, MacKay was the director of the Community and Economic Development Office for the city of Burlington, Vermont. There she helped shepherd several development projects that will transform the city's downtown and waterfront. She also supported the growth of diversity and restorative justice programs in partnership with the school district.
Noelle MacKay earlier served almost six years as commissioner of the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development. In that role she led community and economic development recovery efforts after Tropical Storm Irene in 2011; worked to restructure and stabilize staffing to enhance customer service and communication; and directed efforts to update the state's smart growth designation programs and land use regulations.
Her career began in the nonprofit sector focusing on land use, community, and the environment. She served as the executive director of Smart Growth Vermont and as deputy director of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association in New Jersey.
Noelle MacKay earned a master's degree in environmental studies from Dalhousie University in Canada and was awarded an Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship. She holds a bachelor's degree in science from Mount Allison University in Canada.
Job Titles:
- Grants and Contracts Associate
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Peter Bradford is a former member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and former chair of the Maine and New York utility commissions. He taught energy policy and law at Vermont Law School and at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He is the author of Fragile Structures: A Story of Oil Refineries, National Security, and the Coast of Maine and has written many articles on utility regulation in the U.S. and other countries.
He is one of Vermont's two representatives on the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission. He is vice chair of the board of the Union of Concerned Scientists. He served on a panel advising the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on how best to replace the Chernobyl nuclear power plants in Ukraine. He also participated in a 1968 Ralph Nader-sponsored study of the Federal Trade Commission: The Nader Report on the Federal Trade Commission.
Peter Bradford is a 1964 graduate of Yale University and received his law degree from Yale Law School in 1968.
How Peter Bradford is Energizing Change
Raphael Breit joined RAP in January of 2023, bringing his expertise in policy analysis and utility regulation to the U.S. team. Breit supports RAP's work on energy and environmental policy issues and delivers thought leadership on clean energy.
Before joining RAP, Raphael Breit worked as a policy and research analyst at Earthworks, an environmental advocacy organization. He helped design and implement organizational efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from upstream oil and natural gas facilities through stronger regulations and better regulation enforcement. He also worked as a project manager at the management consulting firm Kauffman & Associates, where he helped federal agencies and American Indian tribes enhance the reach and effectiveness of social sector organizations in the tribal community.
Breit received a master's degree in public policy from George Washington University and a bachelor's degree in political science from Union College.
How Raphael Breit is Energizing Change
Job Titles:
- Communications Director
- Development Manager
Richard Cowart has deep experience on state and national energy and environmental issues in the U.S., across Europe, in China, and several other nations, with a particular focus on climate policy for the past decade. He launched and directed RAP's Europe program from 2009-2018. He served for a decade on the Executive Committee of the International Energy Agency's demand-side management program, and was appointed to three terms as chair of the Electricity Advisory Committee of the United States Department of Energy. His recent work focuses on power markets, climate policy, and energy efficiency programs throughout Europe.
A highly-experienced regulator, Cowart served as commissioner and chair of the Vermont Public Service Board from 1986 to 1999. He was elected president of the New England Conference of Public Utility Commissioners and chair of the U.S. Regulators' Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment. He also served for four years as chair of the National Council on Competition and the Electric Industry, the association of the state and federal officials and legislators responsible for power sector reform in the United States.
Cowart has worked closely with industry as a member of the Board of the Electric Power Research Institute, and now serves on the Environmental Advisory Committee of the New York Independent System Operator and is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation.
Richard Cowart was previously assistant professor and director of the Program in Planning and Law at the University of California (UC), Berkeley (1980-85), and executive officer and general counsel of the Vermont Environmental Board (1978-80). He received his bachelor's degree from the Honors College at Davidson College and his juris doctor and master of city planning degrees from the UC Berkeley, where he was editor-in-chief of the Ecology Law Quarterly, a leading journal of environmental law and policy.
How Richard Cowart is Energizing Change
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Specialist
Richard Lowes is a specialist in the technology and policy associated with heating and is based within RAP's Europe programme. He joined RAP in 2021 with over 10 years' heat policy experience in industry, academia and working with policymakers. Richard currently coordinates much of RAP's work on clean heating in Europe and globally, and as part of this, co-chairs the Clean Heat Forum international policy network.
After earning an advanced degree in energy policy, Lowes worked for UK energy company SSE before moving on to gas transporter SGN, where he led the company's work on policy and public affairs. In 2014 he moved to the University of Exeter, where he completed a doctorate alongside various heat-focused research projects. He also lectured on energy policy. Since 2019, he has been a non-executive director of the Scottish government's heat decarbonisation programme board.
Richard Lowes has a track record of delivering high-impact heat decarbonisation research and remains a research fellow at the University of Exeter. He has provided oral evidence to multiple UK parliamentary select committees, was an expert advisor to the National Audit Office inquiry into Great Britain's Renewable Heat Incentive, and was an advocate for sustainable heating at the 2020 Climate Assembly UK.
He holds a first class honours degree in geography and environmental management, in addition to his master's (with distinction) in energy policy and doctorate in the development of UK sustainable heating policy.
How Richard Lowes is Energizing Change
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Innovation
Ronny Sandoval works with regulators and other energy stakeholders to develop strategies, best practices and thought leadership on issues that increase the efficiency of the electric system and maximize opportunities for the energy transition. He has extensive experience working across major segments of the utility industry including transmission planning, distribution engineering, distributed energy resources, grid modernization and customer engagement.
Before joining RAP, Sandoval led various strategic efforts with energy stakeholders to modernize the energy system as business strategy manager at Accenture, regulatory director at Vote Solar and president at ROS Energy Strategies.
Ronny Sandoval managed national efforts to modernize the electric grid through direct intervention in regulatory proceedings, partnerships and effective communications as senior director at Environmental Defense Fund. He also led various efforts in developing long-range system plans and expanding the role of distributed energy resources to meet the ongoing energy needs of customers at Con Edison.
Ronny Sandoval sits on the board of directors of Interstate Renewable Energy Council and previously served on the GridWise Alliance board of directors.
Sandoval holds a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from New York University and a Bachelor of Engineering in electrical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. He earned a Master of Business Administration from New York University Stern School of Business.
How Ronny Sandoval is Energizing Change
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Energy Analyst
As a member of RAP's U.S. team, Shawn Enterline is an energy analyst who specializes in energy efficiency and integrated resource planning (IRP).
Before joining RAP, Enterline worked for a series of investor-owned and municipal utilities including Green Mountain Power, Burlington Electric Department and Pacific Gas and Electric where he gained expertise in power and gas marketing, portfolio management and utility financial and regulatory affairs. He has also worked as a consultant to clients throughout North America as an employee of Dunsky Energy Consulting and the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation.
Shawn Enterline holds bachelor's and master's degrees in mineral economics from The Pennsylvania State University.
How Shawn Enterline is Energizing Change
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor, Consultant and Deputy Chief for India and Global Opportunities
Job Titles:
- Communications Coordinator
Steena Williams provides support and resources to RAP's storytellers. She also stewards information-sharing systems and the RAP organizational voice.
Before joining RAP in 2022, Williams provided project management and communications coordination for nonprofit organizations in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Most recently, she provided reproductive health education with Youth Services of Tulsa and shepherded the program into a virtual modality during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to that, she spent a decade as a liaison among four nonprofits sharing community space, harmonizing programs and communications for a diverse set of audiences. Williams also provided program development and administrative support for a senior living facility and its enrichment community.
Steena volunteers as a coordinator for the International Geek Girl Pen Pal Club and its annual virtual events.
Williams holds a degree in theological studies from Hanover College in Indiana.
How Steena Williams is Energizing Change
Job Titles:
- Digital Communications Associate
Wang Xuan provides research and analysis on clean energy strategies to our China team, with a focus on demand response, renewable energy integration, air quality management, and distributed generation. As a member of our China team, she provides project management and research support, working closely with local government, RAP's partner organizations, and research institutes.
Wang came to RAP in 2011 after an internship with the Energy Foundation China, where she served as a project associate working on energy efficiency projects in China's industrial and buildings sectors.
Wang Xuan earned a master's degree in sustainable development from Paris Dauphine University and a second master's degree in energy economics and environmental politics from the National Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology (affiliated with the French Atomic Energy Commission). She also holds a bachelor's degree in land management from China Agricultural University. In addition, Wang participates in cultural exchanges and related activities. She has worked with both Chinese and international nongovernmental organizations, including the French Community, the China Institute in Paris, the Chinese Federation for Corporate Social Responsibility, and the Centre of International Business Ethics in Beijing.
How Wang Xuan is Energizing Change
Yannick "Nick" Georges oversees operational logistics to improve the global efficiency of RAP and supports RAP's chief operating officer. He administers human resources, including benefits and recruiting, and manages all aspects of RAP's day-to-day IT needs on both the hardware and software side.
Prior to joining RAP, Nick Georges was the payroll manager and grant administrator for Dealer.com, a fast-growing Vermont tech company, where he managed the day-to-day payroll needs for more than 800 employees, along with multimillion dollar state grants. Georges also served the Northlands Job Corps Center for over 12 years. He started as an accountant, soon took on the IT operations, and was then promoted to finance supervisor for the education and vocational training center.
Georges received his bachelor's in business administration with a concentration in accounting and minor in statistics from Castleton State College.