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Meredith Alexander joined CALSTART as Policy Director in 2019. She focuses on California Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, while also expanding CALSTART’s regulatory and utility-focused work to other states. Meredith joined CALSTART after a long career in the public sector. As a Senior Analyst at the California Public Utilities Commission for many years, Meredith led proceedings on resource adequacy and renewables integration, and served as a liaison to the California ISO. At the CPUC, Meredith published numerous white papers and policy proposals on renewable integration and capacity market issues. Meredith previously worked on policy at SMUD, and served in Governor Brown’s administration as the Special Assistant to the Cal-EPA Secretary. At the beginning of her career she worked with the automotive industry through the ENERGY STAR program at U.S.EPA. Meredith earned her J.D. and Certificate in Environmental Law from Lewis & Clark Law School, and a Bachelors from Tulane University. She is a member of the Colorado Bar.

Elected in 2016 to represent California’s 3rd Senate District, Sen. Bill Dodd is a fifth-generation Californian and lifelong resident of the district, where he grew up on a small family farm in Napa County. The district includes all of Napa and Solano counties and portions of Contra Costa, Sacramento, Sonoma and Yolo counties. Sen. Dodd serves as the chair of the Governmental Organization Committee and is a member of the Transportation Committee, the Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee and the Insurance Committee. He is co-chair of the Senate Select Committee on California’s Wine Industry and the Legislative Delta Caucus.

Dr. Daniel Swain is a climate scientist focused on the dynamics and impacts of extreme events–including droughts, floods, storms, and wildfires–on a warming planet. Daniel holds joint appointments as a research scientist within UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, a research fellow in the Capacity Center for Climate and Weather Extremes at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and as the California Climate Fellow at The Nature Conservancy. Daniel engages extensively with journalists and other partners, serving as a climate and weather science liaison to print, radio, television, and web media outlets. Daniel also authors the Weather West blog, which provides real-time perspectives on California weather and climate. He can be found on Twitter (@Weather_West).

Heather Cooley joined the Pacific Institute in 2004 and currently serves as Director of Research. She conducts and oversees research on an array of water issues, such as sustainable water use and management, the connections between water and energy, and the impacts of climate change on water resources. Prior to joining the Pacific Institute, she worked at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory studying climate and land use change and carbon cycling. Heather received a B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology and a Master’s degree in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley. She has served on the California Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Task Force, the California Urban Stakeholder Committee, and the California Urban Water Conservation Council’s Board of Directors.

Gabe Ruiz is a graduate of Sonoma State University and lifelong resident of Monterey County. His professional background is in the agricultural industry working with growers directly in the field. Gabe joined Central Coast Community Energy (CCCE) in August 2020 as a Key Accounts Specialist. Gabe manages Key Accounts within Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito County and works with all agricultural customers in CCCE’s service territory. He is the agency’s liaison to the Farm Bureaus, Vintners’ Associations, and other agriculture-related organizations within CCCE’s service territory. Gabe leads the outreach to customers around CCCE’s Ag Electrification Programs, which has committed over $1.1 million to its agricultural customers.

Supervisor Eddie Valero, first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2018, serves as Tulare County Supervisor representing District 4, which includes the unincorporated communities of Badger, Cutler-Orosi, Elderwood, Goshen, Ivanhoe, London, Monson-Sultana, Seville, Traver, and Yettem. The cities represented in District 4 include Dinuba, Woodlake, and a portion of Visalia. He has been working with the greater North County to positively impact at-risk youth, particularly fatherless young men, throughout the Central Valley. Supervisor Valero’s education in City and Regional Planning along with public service experiences over the years have prepared him to serve District 4. He is a servant leader who believes in community voice and collaboration while valuing ideas and interests.

Amanda Monaco works as a Policy Coordinator – Water Programs and helps communities organize and fight for their rights to equitable access to drinking water and wastewater services and sustainable groundwater management with the Leadership Counsel. She is from Gainesville, Florida, and attended the University of Florida, where she got her B.A. in Political Science and also studied Latin American Studies, Sustainability Studies and Anthropology. She received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., where she studied human rights, environmental, corporate and trade law. Before working with Leadership Counsel, she was an ally for communities fighting environmental injustices in Latin America with several nonprofits based in D.C. and Mexico City.

Dr. Robert C. Wilkinson is Adjunct Professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, and Senior Lecturer Emeritus in the Environmental Studies Program, at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The focus of Dr. Wilkinson’s teaching, research, and consulting is on water, energy, and climate policy. Dr. Wilkinson is a Senior Fellow with the California Council for Science and Technology. He co-chairs the U.S. Sustainable and Resilient Resources Roundtable, advises government agencies, NGOs, and businesses in the US and abroad, and he serves on a number of advisory boards. Dr. Wilkinson served as coordinator for the California Region for the US Global Change Research Program and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for the first US climate assessment. In 1990, Dr. Wilkinson established and directed the Graduate Program in Environmental Science and Policy at the Central European University based in Budapest, Hungary.

Martha Davis retired from her position as Assistant General Manager/Executive Manager for Policy Development at the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA) in 2017. During her 17 year tenure, Ms. Davis led many of the Agency’s award-winning planning and green programs including initiatives promoting water efficiency, renewable energy, stormwater capture, green infrastructure, recycled water and climate resiliency. Previously, Ms. Davis served as the Executive Director for Californians and the Land (1998-2000) and for the Mono Lake Committee (1984-1996). Under her leadership, the Mono Lake campaign culminated in an unanimous landmark public trust decision by the State Water Resources Control Board to protect Mono Lake. She currently serves on the boards for the Mono Lake Committee, Community Water Center, and the Rose Foundation Grassroots Fund and on the Steering Committee for the California Water Data Consortium.

Hunter Stern plays a key role for IBEW Local 1245 members by developing and coordinating local, state and federal energy and worker-friendly policy. Mr. Stern is responsible for protecting the interests of his members employed by Pacific Gas and Electric Company, NV Energy, Sacramento Municipal Utility District and 35 other utilities in California and Nevada, as well as workers for line and line clearance tree trimming contractors employed by these utilities.  Stern joined Local 1245 in 1994, and has built an extensive knowledge of state and federal legislative and regulatory issues and the design and implementation of clean energy policies.  In addition, he works with a wide variety of organizations to facilitate stakeholder and grassroots support for initiatives that create and support good-paying jobs, while providing clean, reliable and affordable energy to California and Nevada utility customers.