Alberto Ayala

Alberto has nearly 30 years of professional experience in industry, government, and academia. He is currently Executive Director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District and Adjunct Professor at West Virginia University. He is also former Deputy Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board. Trained as a mechanical engineer with B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Davis, Alberto has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and reports.  He is a contributor to the book “Ambient Combustion Ultrafine Particles and Health” and is working on “Three Forks in the Road, the Volkswagen diesel cheating scandal,” an upcoming book about his role in the VW case.

Don Boyajian

Don Boyajian is Lead Government Affairs Counsel at Plug Power, where he focuses on state and federal government affairs, and provides counsel on a range of regulatory and project development matters. Prior to Plug, Don served as energy and environmental counsel to the New York State Senate, where he negotiated the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Don has also served as the Regional Attorney for the northern region of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, as municipal counsel, and as a legislative assistant for Congressman Michael E. McMahon. In private practice, Don was previously an associate attorney at a multi-national law firm in the equity capital markets and leveraged finance practice groups. Don is a graduate of Cornell Law School and Colgate University.

Anna M. Caballero

Senator Anna M. Caballero is a woman of firsts. She was not only the first female Mayor elected in the 126-year history of the City of Salinas, but also the first Latina elected to represent the 28th Assembly District in 2006. In 2011, she was hired by Governor Edmund G. Brown to serve as a member of his cabinet where she served as the Secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. Secretary Caballero’s mission mirrored her 34-year career fighting for working families. Caballero’s responsibility as Secretary included the oversight of departments charged with funding affordable housing, civil rights enforcement, banking and financial transactions, consumer protection, and the licensing of three million working professionals.

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Caballero served as a member of the California State Assembly for four years, Mayor of Salinas, and Council Member for fifteen years. She carried with her local and state government expertise that made her uniquely qualified to help the Governor achieve his goals: to transform state government to be more efficient, open and transparent, and consumer, service oriented.

A graduate of UCLA law school and UC San Diego, Caballero has dedicated her professional life to families in rural California. She first put her legal acumen to work representing farm workers as an attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance. Dedicated to representing working families at a price they could afford, Caballero and two colleagues formed the law firm of Caballero, Matcham and McCarthy, opening offices in Salinas and Hollister. The firm received numerous awards for excellence during its 25-year history, and Ms. Caballero personally received the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce’s most distinguished award, the Athena, for Entrepreneurial Excellence and Commitment to the Community.

Born to a family of copper miners from Arizona, Caballero has dedicated her life to empower working families and to create opportunities for them and their children to be successful. While in the Assembly, she received numerous awards for her work in youth violence prevention, protection of local government, support for public school construction, and water reliability and sustainability.

Prior to her election to the Assembly, Caballero established a non-profit organization dedicated to youth violence prevention. Partners for Peace helped parents and youth develop stronger family bonds and encourage healthy behavior. PFP focused on supporting literacy, after school activities, early childhood development, youth employment and high school dropout prevention strategies in partnership with other organizations.

Anna Caballero is a wife, mother of three adult children and grandmother of six. She is married to Attorney Juan Uranga who is currently enjoying retirement after representing farmworkers for over 30 years.

Juan Carrillo

Assemblymember Juan Carrillo was elected to the California State Assembly in November of 2022 to represent the 39th Assembly District. He will represent portions of the northern Antelope Valley, including Palmdale, Lancaster, the eastern communities of Littlerock, Lake Los Angeles, and Sun Village, stretching into San Bernardino County to include Adelanto, Hesperia, Mountain View Acres and Victorville. 

Assemblymember Carrillo served as a member of the Palmdale City Council, advocating for affordable housing to address the homelessness crisis, increasing green space, and supporting local small businesses as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Before entering public office, Carrillo served as a city planner for 15 years — 10 of which were with the City of Palmdale. 

Juan was born and raised in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, and immigrated to Los Angeles when he was 15. He earned his Associate’s Degree in Architecture from the College of the Desert, Bachelor’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from California State Polytechnic University Pomona, and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from California State University Northridge. Juan lives with his wife in east Palmdale with their four children. 

Tyson Eckerle

Tyson Eckerle serves as the Deputy Director of Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure in the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). In this role, he focuses on coordinating resources to streamline the development of hydrogen and plug-in electric vehicle stations. Prior to joining Go Biz, Tyson served as Executive Director of Energy Independence Now (EIN), where he and his team developed the Hydrogen Network Investment Plan with input from multiple stakeholders.

Tyson holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of California, Davis and a Master of Environmental Science and Management (MESM) from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Nuray Elci, D.M.

Nuray Elci is the Vice President of Renewables in Chevron’s Americas Products business, a position she has held since September 2022.

Renewables is responsible for the commercialization of lower carbon products including Renewable/Compressed Natural Gas, Hydrogen and Sustainable Aviation Fuel for transportation, serving commercial and passenger customers. This includes $1BB in capital spend to build and expand infrastructure development of compressed natural gas and hydrogen stations and renewable natural gas projects. Renewables has all Joint Venture and partnership management in the lower carbon space including CalBio, Brightmark, Iwatani, and the now recently acquired Beyond6 JV.

During her career at Chevron, Nuray has served in several roles of increasing responsibility, including Regional Manager for Fuels; Advisor to the President of Lubricants; Operations and Services Leader in Louisville, Kentucky; Regional Manager in Canada; Base Oil Business Development; Business Architect, as well as a variety of project management, mergers and acquisitions roles.

Nuray first joined Chevron in 2004. Through the Graduate Development Program, she completed rotational assignments within our commercial organizations, mergers and acquisitions and restructuring projects.

Nuray graduated from the University of Maryland in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems and earned a Master of Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento, in 2004. She completed her Doctor of Management program in 2009 at the University of Maryland. Nuray also teaches Strategy and Marketing courses for the Dual MBA program at the University of Maryland as adjunct faculty.

Katrina Fritz

Katrina Fritz is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the California Hydrogen Business Council, the largest and longest established hydrogen trading association in the U.S. Katrina leads the organization as chief advocate and champion for advancement of hydrogen and renewable fuels sectors to achieve air quality and climate objectives.  

Over the past 20 years, Katrina has worked with business and government leaders around the world to champion air quality, decarbonization, and economic growth through the development and use of innovative technology.  She has advised global Fortune 500 companies and the public sector on business development and energy and environmental policy and regulation in distributed generation and hydrogen markets.  

She has also led U.S. state level energy policy and market development outreach for the Stationary Fuel Cell Collaborative, with the guidance of state agencies.  Katrina was appointed to the New Jersey Governor’s Fuel Cell Task Force in 2021 and has served as an expert to the European Commission on clean energy programs. Katrina has worked as an executive at UTC Power and Plug Power in business development and government relations and as an Independent Director on the Board of Advent Technologies. She has held leadership positions in numerous clean energy trade associations and advisory boards. Katrina holds a BA degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. 

Siva Gunda

Commissioner Siva Gunda is serving his first term on the California Energy Commission.

Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Gunda in February 2021 to serve as the CEC’s public member. Gunda was later appointed to Vice Chair. He is the lead commissioner on energy assessments.

Gunda served as manager of the Demand Analysis Office and deputy director for the CEC’s Energy Assessments Division which forecasts and assesses energy demands and supplies.

Before joining CEC, he served in a variety of capacities at the Energy Efficiency Institute at the University of California, Davis, including as the director of research, where he directed the institute’s operations and research portfolio.

He holds a Master of Science in mechanical and aeronautical engineering from Utah State University.

Seth Harris

Seth Harris is the director of sustainability in the Americas for Emerson, assisting customers in achieving their sustainability goals while growing the company’s sustainability initiatives and sales.

In his current role, Harris leads direct sales engagement in the Americas, establishing growth programs for the company’s sales channels, identifying opportunities to expand or enhance relevant product offerings based on customer needs, and forging partnerships in new technologies or adjacent industries that promote and advance Emerson’s sustainability strategy. Harris brings expertise in upstream oil and gas industry regulatory engagement and decarbonization initiatives, and now more broadly helps Emerson and its customers improve energy use, reduce emissions and develop and deploy innovative technologies such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage that deliver on their sustainability goals.

Since joining Emerson in 2005, Harris has worked in numerous roles, including helping customers with their digital transformation initiatives and growing the company’s software and data management business. He also held several management positions, responsible for customer sales and engagement around Emerson’s product portfolio including measurement and flow, software and valves.

Harris holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering with emphasis in bioengineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Mike Hart

Mike Hart, CEO of Sierra Energy, has over 30 years’ experience forming and running industrial companies. Mike has served as Sierra Energy’s CEO since the company was founded in 2004. He also serves as CEO of Sierra Railroad Company which has freight, passenger, and real estate divisions. Mike is a passionate environmentalist who has been named an “Environmental Hero” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a “Champion of Change” by the Obama administration. Mike actively works with public agencies, local and regional governments, academia, and private industry on regulatory and environmental issues ranging from waste processing and disposal to renewable energy production. He holds a B.A. in political science from the University of California at Davis and a certificate from the Stanford Advanced Management Program.

Joy Langford

Joy Langford is the Chief Community Benefits Officer of ARCHES H2 Hub where she oversees ARCHES commitment to $150 Million dollars in direct community investment and creation of over 220,000 jobs with a commitment to $220 million in workforce development within California’s new Hydrogen Infrastructure plan.

Joy has over 18 years’ experience as a public-private partnership liaison, assisting companies in becoming better corporate citizens through environmental and corporate responsibility initiatives.   With intricate knowledge of compliance issues as they relate to governmental agencies at the local, state, and federal government levels (such as OSHA, Cal EPA, AQMD, and CARB), Joy has helped some of America’s largest corporations face some of their toughest environmental and community problems.  She specializes in resolving complex environmental issues between companies and local communities; developing good corporate citizenship values while navigating various government rules and creating positive community initiatives.

Previously, Joy’s work included serving as the Senior Environmental Policy Advisor and Economist for a member of the Assembly for the State of California.  Prior to that, she originated and funded over $100 million worth of utility grade solar and alternative energy deals for a private equity fund, and managed and ran her own mortgage bank, facilitating a $10 million warehouse line of credit to fund home loans, primarily in the inner city of Los Angeles.

Joy was appointed by the Water replenishment District of Southern California’s Board of Directors to serve as Director of Division One in February of 2022.  She was subsequently elected to the board in an official government election in 2023 and as of 2024 is the President of Water Replenishment District, managing renewable water rights throughout Los Angeles, Long Beach and various parts of Southern California.

Joy’s most recent endeavors include consulting on light rail and energy efficient trucking solutions and implementing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations units in several California Municipalities, as well as working with local government agencies and local industry on rendering and renewable waste issues in Los Angeles County.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Joy has a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Planning from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Joy sat on the advisory board for Air Quality Management District, currently sits on the boards of Young Professionals in Energy (Los Angeles and Orange County chapters), as well as the advisory board of Climate Resolve. She is a Milken Associate, specializing in social policy and legislation. Additionally, she sits on the board of The Children’s Museum of La Habra. Ms. Langford currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Neil Navin

Neil Navin is senior vice president, engineering & major projects and chief clean fuels officer for Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), a Sempra regulated California utility. He oversees SoCalGas’ comprehensive portfolio of clean energy strategies, innovations and projects to support the utility’s role as a long-term leader enabling California’s clean energy future. Navin’s focus is on delivering tangible innovations and projects in new and growing markets, including renewable natural gas, hydrogen and fuel cells, all of which are aligned to SoCalGas’ mission, strategy and sustainability plan.

Previously, Navin was vice president of construction for SoCalGas and SDG&E.

Since joining SoCalGas in 2014, Navin has served in a number of increasingly responsible management positions, including director of major projects and director of storage risk management. Prior to this, Navin held project management positions with the Fluor and Parsons companies. His previous experience included work on sulfur recovery, gas compression processing, oil and gas production, refining, pipeline engineering, chemical weapons destruction, biogas treatment, fuel cell power generation, and petrochemical plant projects throughout the United States, Middle East and Europe.

Navin sits on the boards of Housing Works and Friends of Ballona Wetlands. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from McGill University in Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Josh Newman

State Senator Josh Newman represents the 29th Senate District, which is comprised of portions of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino Counties.

Senator Newman is Chair of the Senate’s Special Committee on Pandemic Emergency Response. He also serves on the Senate’s committees on Business & Professions; Budget & Fiscal Review; Budget Subcommittee 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor and Transportation; Elections; Labor, Public Employment & Retirement; Transportation; and Veterans Affairs.

Senator Newman is a former United States Army officer, businessperson and veterans’ advocate, and lives in Fullerton with his wife and daughter.

Cottie Petrie-Norris

Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris proudly represents California’s 73rd Assembly District, which includes the cities of Costa Mesa, Irvine, and Tustin.

Cottie Petrie-Norris is a businesswoman, mom, and community leader who was elected to the State Assembly in 2018. In the Assembly, Cottie has worked to secure millions of dollars in funding for projects across Orange County and has passed important legislation to protect the California coast, improve access to healthcare, keep our children and communities safe, and help local veterans and small businesses.

Cottie serves as the Chair of the Assembly’s Committee on Utilities and Energy and the Select Committee on Green Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Additionally, she serves on the Assembly’s Committees on Banking & Finance; Insurance; and, Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy.

Cottie and her husband, Colin are the proud parents of two sons, Dylan and Hayden, and their rescue dog, Flounder.

Tanya Peacock

Tanya Peacock is Managing Director at EcoEngineers, an international clean energy consulting firm with deep expertise in carbon life-cycle analysis. Based in Los Angeles, Tanya is responsible for expanding EcoEngineers’ energy transition practice in California. She is simultaneously leading the fast-growing hydrogen sector.

A well-known clean energy champion, Tanya currently serves as chairperson of the California Hydrogen Business Council. She has held board and leadership roles at the American Biogas Council, Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas, California Stationary Fuel Cell Collaborative, among others. Additionally, she is an expert in California’s cap-and-trade program and played a key role in the development of policies to support the production and use of clean energy in California.

Prior to joining EcoEngineers, Tanya led the California Policy and Government Affairs team at Bloom Energy focusing on decarbonization pathways, clean hydrogen opportunities, and distributed energy policy priorities. Before that, she led rates and policy teams at Sempra Energy and its subsidiary, SoCalGas.

Tanya earned a Master of Regional Planning degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a Bachelor of Arts from Mills College in Oakland, California. She is a current board member at the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters.

Rajinder Sahota

Rajinder Sahota was appointed as the Deputy Executive Officer for Climate Change and Research in spring of 2021. She is responsible for directing CARB’s scientific, technical, and policy teams as they develop and update the AB 32 Climate Change Scoping Plan to track progress and develop the pathways to achieve the state’s climate targets. She also oversees the economy-wide Cap-and-Trade Program, Low Carbon Fuels Standards, energy and climate policy, fuels programs, and critical research to advance action to improve public health and environmental protection. In Rajinder’s 19 year-career with CARB, she has worked on a variety of projects including analyzing data for children’s health studies, evaluating strategies and their impacts to reduce harmful diesel pollution from locomotives, developing the first comprehensive greenhouse gas reporting and verification regulation, developing the 2017 and 2022 Scoping Plan Updates, leading the development of the first Integrated Resource Targets under SB 350 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector, and overseeing actions to reduce emissions from the oil and gas sector and fuels sector. She has also served as a point of contact on CARB’s climate policies with other states, and subnational and international governments.

Rajinder received a B.S. and M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of California, Davis.

Tim Sasseen

Tim started work with Ballard over 20 years ago, leading the engine control software development team for the first Mercedes fuel cell buses that were deployed in public service across seven European cities.  Tim has served in Ballard’s Field Service team in Europe, coordinating field operations where these buses were delivered and deployed, and leading the Electrical Engineering design team for Ballard’s 6^th generation of fuel cell module.  Outside of Ballard, Tim has worked extensively in wind energy, where his teams designed mid-sized wind turbines, megawatt-scale power systems, and advanced power converters.

Tim earned his MBA at UCSD while working in microgrid design and renewable generation project development, before returning to Ballard in 2018 for his present position, where he directs Ballard’s market development and public affairs for North America.  In addition to the MBA, Tim has earned Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in electrical engineering from Michigan Technological University.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-r-sasseen/

Joe Sullivan

Joe Sullivan is the Director of Energy Solutions and Workforce Engagement for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 11 and the National Electrical Contractors Association of Greater Los Angeles. In this role, he advances clean energy solutions paired with workforce standards that create high road careers. Prior to joining IBEW/NECA, Joe worked in the consulting and training industry. Joe is a graduate of the University of Southern California and received his MBA from the University of Texas in Austin.

Alison Trueblood

Alison Trueblood is the General Manager – Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies for Accelera by Cummins, responsible for leading the business’s strategy and growth during the transition to zero-emissions.

Alison has held a variety of leadership roles across the engine, distribution and power generation segments at Cummins.  Her experience includes commercial management, new product development, manufacturing readiness, and delivering market share growth at incremental profitability. Most recently, as a General Manager for Europe On-highway Business, she executed Cummins’ engine system strategy to increase its European presence.

Alison earned her undergraduate degrees in Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs and French, and a Masters in French from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (USA). She also holds an MBA from Indiana University Bloomington (USA).

Frank Wolak

Mr. Wolak is the President and CEO of the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA), representing leading international and domestic companies and organizations that are advancing innovative, clean, safe, and reliable hydrogen energy technologies.

Mr. Wolak has experience in all facets of energy including executive positions both within and outside the fuel cell and hydrogen industry, including at an international energy services company, a power development and investment company, public energy resources corporation, and as management consultant providing insight to clients in emerging technology and utility segments.

Mr. Wolak holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Western New England University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Hartford.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-wolak-71a4344/

Grant Zimmerman

Grant Zimmerman is CEO and Director of Amp Americas. He joined the company as Senior Vice President of Business Development in 2015 and assumed the role of CEO in 2016.

As CEO, Grant reimagined the company’s business model by divesting its network of CNG fueling stations and creating and executing an innovative dairy RNG development strategy. Under Grant’s leadership, Amp Americas has developed some of the largest and most productive dairy biogas-to-renewable gas facilities in the country, received the first dairy waste-to-vehicle fuel pathway certified by the US EPA and by California’s Air Resources Board (CARB). During his tenure Amp has prevented 655,000 metric tons of greenhouse emissions, equivalent to removing 120,000 cars off the road for one year.

In 2019, Grant led the successful closing of Amp Americas’ second round of private equity funding and the recapitalization of Amp’s original investments delivering nearly three times return for Amp’s private equity investors in less than two years. He subsequently raised $75 million in private equity growth capital to bring the company’s unique expertise and capability in RNG development, operations, services and marketing to other biogas producers, fleets, and their capital partners. Amp Americas now operates facilities on 12 dairies, processing waste from nearly 100,000 cows.

Prior to joining Amp Americas, Grant was an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company in the Global Energy and Materials and Corporate Finance practices where he served clients in strategy and operations. Before McKinsey, Grant served in commercial and finance roles with Enron and the Enron bankruptcy estate.

Grant earned his MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, graduating with high honors. He also holds a MPA and BBA, Honors from the University of Texas at Austin.