California climate legislative debrief for 2023 and a look forward to 2024

Ms. McClain-Hill is an active attorney. She was elected President of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners in July of 2020 after serving as Board Vice President since September of 2018. In her work as a highly regarded and widely respected attorney, Ms. McClain-Hill oversees and manages complex legal and public policy issues for clients as managing director of Strategic Counsel PLC. She is lauded as an astute and skillful public policy strategist with an outstanding record of service and accomplishment on a significant array of public-sector and non-profit boards and commissions. Ms. McClain-Hill previously served for two years as a mayoral appointee on the City of Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners beginning in August 2016. Over the past three decades, she was appointed to serve on the City’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), California Coastal Commission, California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), CalEPA Environmental Justice Advisory Working Group, and Los Angeles City Small and Local Business Advisory Commission.

María Elena was born into a family of eleven children with migrant worker parents who experienced the hardships that migrant laborers suffer. María Elena earned her degree from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California, where she became involved in the Chicano Movement. She entered the labor movement as an organizer for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and earned a law degree from the People’s College of Law. María Elena has been the Executive Vice President of UNITE-HERE International and the first woman Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, the second-largest labor council in the country. She has also served on the National AFL-CIO Executive Council, the California State Coastal Commission, the Democratic National Committee as Vice Chair, and the Barack Obama Presidential Campaign as National Co-Chair.

Michael is responsible for maintaining relationships with local, regional, state, federal and international policymakers. He leads broad-based advocacy at the local, regional, state, and federal level to establish partnerships, grow funding streams, and demonstrate LACI’s integral role in the region. Michael also manages the Leadership Council and the Innovation Hub Los Angeles (iHubLA).

Barry joined The Climate Center in 2005 and has held positions as Deputy Director and Financial Officer. He currently leads The Climate Center’s program and policy development and implementation teams. In 2018 Barry began working with a group of energy experts and advocates envisioning a more decentralized energy system that was clean, affordable, resilient, and equitable. He then championed the development of The Climate Center’s Community Energy Resilience project, which has culminated in the creation of a new $170 million Community Energy Resilience investment program by the California Energy Commission in August of 2022.

Jerilyn Lopez Mendoza has over 20 years of professional experience as an environmental advocate, government official and utility employee. She has built a large network of advocates and other community leaders to connect with The Climate Center. Jerilyn has served as an appointed official on the international, state and city levels, including as City of Los Angeles Harbor Commissioner and Public Works Commissioner. Jerilyn has been the recipient of awards from, among others, the Coalition for Clean Air and the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters (the Smith-Weiss Award). She earned her bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Stanford University and her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Law School (bar number 187148).