Alicia Barton was appointed president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on June 26, 2017. NYSERDA is a public benefit corporation that advances innovative energy solutions to improve New York State’s economy and environment.
Ms. Barton has held public and private sector leadership roles advancing clean energy projects and companies for over a decade. Immediately prior to her appointment, Ms. Barton served as co-chair of the Energy and Cleantech Practice at Foley Hoag, LLP, a global law firm based in Boston, where her practice focused on representation of clean energy companies in emerging market areas such as offshore wind and energy storage. Ms. Barton’s other private sector work included serving as chief of operations of the Global Utility business unit at SunEdison where she led teams working on utility-scale wind and solar projects.
Prior to her work in the private sector, Barton served as chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), a publicly supported agency that funds and accelerates the development of the clean energy sector. As CEO, Ms. Barton led all of MassCEC’s investments, project finance, partnerships, and commercial operations across a range of clean energy technologies, and helped make the state a national leader in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and deployment of clean technologies.
Prior to serving as CEO of MassCEC, Ms. Barton was the Deputy Commissioner for Policy and Planning for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP); Assistant Secretary for Environmental Review and Director of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) office; and Deputy General Counsel at the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA). She began her career at Foley Hoag as an associate in the firm’s environmental practice.
Ms. Barton currently serves on boards of several organizations, including Greentown Labs, the Environmental League of Massachusetts, Efficiency Forward, and the Advisory Board for the New England Women in Energy and Environment (NEWIEE).
Ms. Barton earned a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources from The Ohio State University and a juris doctor degree from Boston College Law School.
Jeff Campbell joined American Express Company in July 2013 as Chief Financial Officer, overseeing the company’s financial operations worldwide as well as the Corporate Development and Strategic Planning Group.
Jeff plays an important role in developing the strategic direction for American Express and represents the company to the financial community.Before joining American Express, Jeff was CFO of the McKesson Corporation, the largest healthcare services company in the United States. He played an essential role as McKesson grew significantly and expanded its leadership in healthcare distribution and technology.
Prior to his time at McKesson, Jeff spent 13 years at AMR Corp and its principal subsidiary American Airlines, ultimately becoming the company’s CFO in 2002. He held a variety of financial and operations positions at American, including leading the company’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa operations while based in London. He began his professional career as a certified public accountant and management consultant with Deloitte, Haskins & Sells.
Jeff has been a board member of Hexcel Corporation since 2003, where he chairs the Audit Committee. He is also a board member of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
He holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Stanford University and received his Masters of Business Administration from Harvard University in 1990.
He and his wife live in New York and have three children.
Stephen J. Girsky is Managing Partner of VectoIQ, an independent advisory firm based in New York, where he applied more than 30 years of experience working with senior corporate and board executives, labor leaders, OEM leaders, suppliers and dealers, and national and local policy makers.
Mr. Girsky served in a number of capacities at General Motors from November 2009 until July 2014 including GM Vice Chairman, having responsibility for global corporate strategy, new business development, global product planning and program management, global connected consumer/OnStar, and GM Ventures LLC, Global Research & Development and Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. Mr. Girsky served as Chairman of the Adam Opel AG Supervisory Board and was President of GM Europe for a period of time.
Mr. Girsky is a director at US Steel Corp, Brookfield Business Partners, Drive.ai, an autonomous driving software company and Valens Semiconductor Ltd., a provider of semiconductor products for the distribution of uncompressed high-definition multimedia content. He served on the General Motors Board of Directors following its emergence from bankruptcy in June 2009 until June 2016. He also served as the lead director of Dana Holdings Corp. from 2008-2009.
Mr. Girsky has also served as president of Centerbridge Industrial Partners, an affiliate of Centerbridge Partners, LP, and a multibillion dollar investment fund. Prior to Centerbridge, he was a special advisor to the CEO and CFO of General Motors Corporation from August 2005 to June 2006.
In total, Mr. Girsky has more than 25 years of automotive experience, including serving as managing director at Morgan Stanley and as senior analyst of the Morgan Stanley Global Automotive and Auto Parts Research Team. While at Morgan Stanley, he was ranked the No. 1 automotive and auto parts analyst by Institutional Investor’s “All-American Research Team” annual investor poll for 14 consecutive years. His automotive and auto parts team ranked No. 1 in the Greenwich Associates poll for 14 consecutive years as well.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, he was managing director of PaineWebber’s Automotive Group and worked as an analyst on the overseas financial staff of GM.
Mr. Girsky holds a B.S. in mathematics from the University of California at Los Angeles and a M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
Charitable and non-profit organizations that Mr. Girsky has supported over the years include the UJA-Federation of New York, Sunrise Day Camps for Children with Cancer, Focus Hope, Multiple Sclerosis, The UCLA Chancellor’s Associates Fund, Harvard Business School, Columbia University, Cornell University, the United Way, The Babies & Children’s Hospital of New York.
Richard Kauffman joined the office of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as the state’s first Chairman of Energy and Finance for New York, or ‘energy czar,’ in January 2013. On behalf of Governor Cuomo, Mr. Kauffman leads New York State’s comprehensive energy policy effort, known as Reforming the Energy Vision (REV).
REV includes regulatory reform to modernize the energy and utility industry, a ten-year commitment to support renewable energy and efficiency markets through the $5 billon Clean Energy Fund, and other initiatives including the NY-Sun solar program and NY Green Bank. Through REV, New York State has enacted a Clean Energy Standard mandating 50% of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2030. These efforts will enable greenhouse gas emission reductions of 40% by 2030.
Mr. Kauffman oversees and manages the state’s complete portfolio of energy agencies and authorities, comprised of the Department of Public Service (DPS), the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). He was appointed chair of NYSERDA’s board in June 2013.
As the state’s most senior energy official, Mr. Kauffman was New York’s lead delegate in Paris at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP21. In 2014, Mr. Kauffman was named by Fortune Magazine as one of the World’s Top 25 Eco-Innovators.
Prior to joining the Cuomo administration, Mr. Kauffman served as Senior Advisor to Secretary Steven Chu at the U.S. Department of Energy. In his private sector career, he was CEO of Good Energies, Inc., a leading investor in clean energy technologies, a partner of Goldman Sachs where he chaired the Global Financing Group, and vice chairman of Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities Business and co-head of its Banking Department.
Mr. Kauffman has served as Chairman of the Board of Levi Strauss & Co., on the boards of organizations including the Brookings Institution and the Wildlife Conservation Society, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Mr. Kauffman received a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, a master’s degree in international relations from Yale University, and a master’s in public and private management from the Yale School of Management.
Anne Pramaggiore is president and CEO of ComEd, an electric utility company delivering electricity to 3.8 million customers in Chicago and Northern Illinois.
Pramaggiore joined ComEd in 1998 to work on the company’s transition to competitive energy markets under the Illinois Consumer Choice Law of 1997. In her role as ComEd’s lead lawyer and as head of Regulatory Policy, she led major policy work around the restructuring of the Illinois electric industry.
In 2009, Pramaggiore was appointed as ComEd’s COO and became responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations on the electric grid and in customer operations. In that role, she led the company’s effort to set the legislative framework for ComEd’s smart grid build-out, a leading model nationally for modernizing one of the largest utility systems in the country.
Pramaggiore was promoted to her current position in February 2012. She is the first female to hold the post of president and CEO at the electric utility.
Pramaggiore serves as a board member of Chicago Federal Reserve Board, Motorola Solutions, Inc., Babcock and Wilcox Enterprises and several civic and community organizations.
She is a 1989 graduate of DePaul University School of Law and served as editor-in-chief of the school’s Law Review. She has a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Theater from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
On June 21, 2017, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo designated John B. Rhodes as Chair of the Public Service Commission and Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Public Service. His term began on June 21, 2017 and runs through February 1, 2021.
Prior to starting with the Commission, Mr. Rhodes served as President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). While leading NYSERDA, Mr. Rhodes was instrumental in developing innovative clean energy policies and initiatives to support Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s nation-leading strategies to combat climate change including the Clean Energy Standard for 50 percent of electricity to come from renewable energy sources by 2030 and Reforming the Energy Vision (REV), the state’s strategy to build a cleaner more resilient and affordable energy system and grow New York’s economy. He also oversaw the $5 billion Clean Energy Fund focused on stimulating investment in clean technologies like solar, wind, and energy efficiency as it supports the creation of thousands of jobs in manufacturing, engineering, and other clean tech sectors.
Mr. Rhodes brings more than 30 years of experience in business with a focus on the financial and energy industries having lived and worked internationally, including India, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina.
Prior to his appointment at NYSERDA, Mr. Rhodes served as the Director for the Center for Market Innovation at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an international environmental advocacy organization. As a member of the senior management team, he worked to channel private capital towards environmentally beneficial investments, with a focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy, green infrastructure, and sustainable food and agriculture.
Mr. Rhodes was a partner at Booz Allen Hamilton where he provided strategic consulting for clients across technology–intensive industries including energy, aerospace, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
Additionally, Mr. Rhodes serves on the boards of the New York Institute for Special Education and the American Federation for Aging Research.
Mr. Rhodes holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Princeton University and a master’s degree in management from the Yale School of Management.
Mr. Rhodes currently resides in New York City.
Carl Taylor is President and Chief Executive Officer of Avangrid Network’s two utility operating companies—New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E). In this role, Mr. Taylor is responsible for the leadership and oversight of the New York Networks businesses.
Mr. Taylor joined NYSEG in 1987, and has held many positions of increasing responsibility. Prior to accepting this role, Mr. Taylor was the Vice President of the Customer Service function for Avangrid Networks in which he was responsible for the management and leadership of all Customer Service activities. Previously, he was Vice President of Business Transformation, responsible for leading business strategy development, the business effectiveness and transformation initiative; utility electric and gas research and development; and smart grid/smart meter activities.
Mr. Taylor was President and CEO of The Energy Network, Inc., a non-utility subsidiary of Avangrid Networks. He was responsible for retail energy, merchant generation, fiber telecommunications, steam and chilled water production and sales, energy services and property management. He also served as a board member for The Energy Network and its subsidiaries.
Taylor earned a master’s degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Jan Vrins leads Navigant’s global Energy practice. He has extensive energy management consulting experience and a history of growing businesses in diverse, global markets. Jan advises executives on developing and operationalizing their strategies and achieving sustainable excellence and increased shareholder value. This covers enterprise and operational strategy, go-to-market and product development strategy, operating model design, organizational (re)structuring, business process improvement, business transformation and change management, performance management, post-merger integration, and technology strategy and implementation.
Navigant’s Global Energy practice provides consulting and research services for energy companies, government organizations, NGOs and foundations, large corporations, product manufacturers, technology companies, and investors in areas such as climate strategies and policies, energy policy and implementation, sustainability, market structures and pricing, business and operational strategy, go-to-market and product development strategy, business models and partnerships, energy efficiency and demand-side management, emerging technologies, renewables, urban energy and distributed energy resources, transmission, and grid modernization.
Since joining Navigant in 2014, Jan has guided his team to develop thought leadership, solution offerings, and capabilities to support clients as the energy industry experiences major transformation. With over 1,000 energy consulting projects each year, Navigant is at the forefront of helping clients navigate the energy transformation’s opportunities and challenges. With over 600 management consultants, Navigant has one of the largest energy consulting teams globally focused on the energy transformation. The team has developed an industry-leading framework, The Energy Cloud, which helps clients understand climate change, new opportunities in the energy market, policy and regulatory changes, changing customer needs, new technologies, strategic options, and emerging business models.
Kenneth D. Daly, CFA, is the President of the New York business of National Grid, which serves 4 million natural gas and electric customers in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, and Upstate New York.
Mr. Daly joined National Grid’s predecessor, Brooklyn Union, which later became KeySpan, in 1988 as a Management Trainee in the Customer Relations Department. Ken was recently based in London, serving for 2 years as Global Financial Controller, previously served as CFO of the US and UK gas distribution businesses, and has held numerous positions in Finance, Human Resources and Customer Relations throughout his 29 year career.
Mr. Daly graduated from St. Francis College with a BA in English and has earned both an MBA in Finance from St. John’s University and an MS in Human Resource Management from New York University. He achieved the distinguished Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2002 and recently completed the Harvard University Advanced Management Program in 2014.
Mr. Daly is a member of the (SFC) Saint Francis College Board of Trustees and has been an adjunct professor at SFC, teaching human resource, business and finance courses for 20 years. He has been the Director of the St. John’s University Executive-in-Residence Program since 1992. He is the past Chairman of the Kingsborough Community College Board of Directors and a former member of Junior Achievement Board of Directors and United Way Campaign Co-Chair. Mr. Daly is also a member of the David Rockefeller ‘Fellows Program,’ the Long Island Energeia Partnership, The NYC Partnership, Ridgewood Savings Bank, the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center Board (AERTC), the Business Council of New York State Board, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Board.
John McAvoy is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Edison Inc.
Mr. McAvoy oversees the company’s two regulated utilities, Con Edison Company of New York, and Orange and Rockland Utilities, which energize the lives of the 10 million people in its service territory. Under his leadership, Con Edison has invested more than $3 billion in renewable energy projects through its Clean Energy Businesses. Today, Con Edison is the fifth largest producer of solar energy in North America. Most recently, Mr. McAvoy oversaw the creation of Con Edison Transmission to focus on growth opportunities associated with electric transmission, and gas transmission and energy storage.
Mr. McAvoy serves on the board of directors of the American Gas Association, the Edison Electric Institute, the Partnership for New York City, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. He also serves on the board of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Mr. McAvoy holds an MBA from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Manhattan College. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Mount Saint Mary’s College, and is a graduate of the David Rockefeller Fellows Program.
Prior to becoming Chairman of Con Edison, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Orange and Rockland Utilities, and Senior Vice President of Central Operations at Con Edison of New York. Mr. McAvoy has held numerous positions in operations and engineering during his 37 years with the company.
Joe Hally is the Manager of Energy Transformation and Solutions for Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation. Within this role, Joe has the lead responsibility for developing and executing many of the responsibilities related to Central Hudson’s REV-related initiatives, including new demonstration projects such as CenHub an online customer engagement platform, Non-wires alternatives, and oversight of Central Hudson’s Energy Efficiency programs. Joe’s current responsibilities also include working with the other New York electric utilities and various stakeholders in the energy industry to develop policy positions in order to facilitate the implementation of the Reforming the Energy Vision proceeding (REV).
Joe joined Central Hudson as a Financial Analyst in 2004, and has held positions of increasing responsibility including Director of Treasury Services, Director of Strategic Planning, and Manager of Finance & Planning and Strategy where his responsibilities included oversight of Central Hudson’s annual business planning process, long-range planning activities, and facilitation and coordination of strategy development.
Joe earned a Master of Business Administration degree from The State University of New York at Albany in 2010 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from The State University of New York at Albany in 2000.
Ganesh Bell is the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) for GE Power. He joined GE in 2014 as the company’s first ever CDO and is now leading a team building solutions for the digital transformation of the electricity industry.
Recently named as one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, Bell has spent more than 20 years founding and leading technology businesses in the startup and B2B space. Prior to GE, Bell served as Chief Products Officer at ServiceSource and played a pivotal role in the company’s growth and successful IPO. As VP of Portfolio Strategy and then Product and Business Strategy at SAP, Bell lead strategic initiatives and product strategy. Prior to SAP, he led platform strategy at PeopleSoft integrating J.D. Edwards product portfolio after the company’s acquisition, then serving as Chief Software Architect. Prior to that, he created YOUcentric’s leading CRM products and led its core development to successful acquisition by J.D. Edwards.
Dr. Marnie LaVigne has spent more than 25 years in both the private and public sectors creating new products and start-up businesses, driving innovation and economic growth in technology-based companies. Her for profit experience started with co-founding health informatics businesses which resulted in growing to more than 100 employees and two initial public offerings (IPOs). She also served in lead product development positions in large corporations in managed care (Aetna), pharmaceuticals (Bristol-Myers Squibb), medical devices (Welch Allyn), and medical informatics (Medscape/MedicaLogic, now GE and WebMD).
In 2014, Dr. LaVigne became the President and CEO of Launch NY, a 27-county venture development organization that she co-founded and whose mission is to identify, support and invest in high-growth, high-impact companies and catalyze the entrepreneurial culture of Upstate New York. Previously, she led economic development and venture acceleration at UB as Associate VP for Economic Development and business lead for the NYS Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences.
Dr. LaVigne has a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and a doctorate in clinical psychology, both from the University of Rochester. She serves on numerous nonprofit, for profit, and editorial boards.
Michael L. Mosher is the President and CEO of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation, a regulated electric and natural gas utility serving approximately 300,000 electric and 80,000 gas customers in 8 counties of New York State’s Mid-Hudson Valley. Mr. Mosher was appointed to this position on April 1, 2016, and oversees 1,000 employees and a 2,600 mile service territory.
Mr. Mosher began his career with the company in 1985 as a Junior Engineer and has held various positions within Central Hudson and its affiliates over the years, the most recent being Vice President of Regulatory Affairs since 2006.
He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Union College in Schenectady, NY in 1985.
He lives in Red Hook, New York with his wife Venus and they have two children, Gedney and Summer.
Rachel previously served as the first Chief Digital Officer for both New York City and New York State, for five years from 2011-2015. She was most recently Managing Director for 1776, leading NYC operations to incubate startups in critical, regulated sectors. Earlier in her career Rachel was founder and CEO of GroundReport, a global news platform. Rachel is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, founding board member of Tech:NYC and a member of the Partnership for New York City’s Innovation Council.
Janet Joseph was appointed senior vice president for Strategy and Market Development at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on September 19, 2017. NYSERDA is a public benefit corporation that advances innovative energy solutions to improve New York State’s economy and environment.
In this role, Ms. Joseph leads Market Development portfolio activities, designing and implementing interventions that accelerate the scale and penetration of on-site, behind-the-meter energy efficiency and clean energy solutions in the commercial, industrial, government, multifamily, and single-family residential sectors. Additionally, Ms. Joseph provides organization-wide strategic guidance from policy and program development to ongoing performance management.
Ms. Joseph has held technical and leadership positions at NYSERDA for more than 25 years. She has spearheaded initiatives to develop renewable power in New York State, built a cleantech start-up industry, and explored long-term strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Prior to joining NYSERDA, Ms. Joseph was a research scientist at Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She worked on a range of energy and environmental technology and policy issues from cleaning up hazardous waste to global climate change. She also worked as an environmental management consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Joseph serves on the Boards of the Clean Energy States Alliance, New York State Center for Future Energy Systems at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Northeast Clean Energy Council Institute, the Urban Futures Lab, and is on the Smart Grid Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Ms. Joseph received the 2015 Public Service Excellence Award from the State Academy for Public Administration, and was voted as one of the top ten cleantech leaders in New York by Breaking Energy.
Ms. Joseph holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the State University of New York at Oneonta and a master’s degree in environmental chemistry from the University of Maryland, where she researched the environmental impacts of coal-fired power production.
Kathleen McCabe is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and is Head of Marketing and Business Development for the Investment Banking Division. Prior to this role, Kathleen was the Firm’s Global Head of Investor Relations.
Over her almost twenty years at Morgan Stanley, Kathleen has advised private and public companies on a broad range of transactions including leveraged buyouts, mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, financings and recapitalizations. Kathleen has worked extensively with private equity investors as well as large cap and mid-cap companies across the industrial, transportation, business services, real estate and financial services industries.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 1998, Kathleen was as Associate at BT Alex Brown in their Investment Banking Division. Kathleen serves on the Board of Trustees for the Morgan Stanley Foundation and is Co-President of the Board of Youth INC. She is a past Trustee of the George F. Baker Scholars Program at Georgetown University. Kathleen has a BA in Government from Georgetown University.
Michael Soileau brings more than 20 years of cable and telecommunications experience to his position as Vice President of Planning and Strategy for Communications, Data, and WiFi product portfolio at Comcast. In this role, he is responsible for the planning and design of initiatives for deploying Comcast technology to deliver innovative solutions in Comcast markets. He is charged with understanding market pressures and deploying appropriate technology solutions, creating new portfolio product opportunities, and driving business integration to enable a superior customer product and experience. Michael also is responsible for the 3, 5 and 10 year portfolio business roadmap.
Previously, Michael served as the Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Customer Experience at Innovative Communications, a multi-service provider (MSP) of phone, data, video and wireless for the United States Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands and St. Maarten. Prior to his assignment in the Virgin Islands, Michael spent 10 years with Comcast in various leadership roles throughout the company’s footprint. Additionally, Michael held several leadership positions at OpTel, a MSP in the multi-housing segment.
Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business from the University of Texas at Austin. This is his eighth year sitting on the board of the National Adoption Center and is also on the Steering and Advisory committee for Philadelphia Fight. He is a Trustee of Community Colleges of Philadelphia, a member of its Foundation Board, is on the board of the International Festival of Arts and Ideas and is a member of Lambda Legal’s National Leadership Council. Michael resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Caroline Angoorly is a senior energy and environmental industry executive with more than 20 years of domestic and international experience in business building, strategy, operations, project and asset management, investment, project finance, and mergers and acquisitions. She knows the energy, resources and environmental sectors, especially power and fuels markets and projects across generating technologies and clean tech, as well as environmental instruments, markets, regulation, and policy, with particular expertise in project development and finance. As COO, Ms. Angoorly is responsible for all aspects of strategy, finance and operations, and supports investment activities.
Before joining NY Green Bank, Ms. Angoorly led GreenTao LLC, a specialized business growth, project development, financing, strategy and execution firm. She was also previously head of environmental markets for North America at J.P. Morgan, held several senior executive roles at NRG Energy including SVP & Head of Development, Northeast, was vice president and general counsel at EnelGreenPower, and a partner in the Global Project Finance Group at Milbank, Tweed. Through all these roles, Ms. Angoorly has been involved in originating, structuring, negotiating, closing and managing billions of dollars of energy and infrastructure projects across the globe.
Ms. Angoorly holds geology and law honors degrees from Monash University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Melbourne Business School in Australia (partly undertaken at Columbia University in New York).