The Advisory Board

John Berger Ph.D. is an energy and environmental policy specialist, prize-winning author, and journalist. His career has been devoted to research, writing, consulting, institution-building, teaching, and action on a broad range of issues, especially renewable energy and climate but also encompassing energy transition policies, politics, and environmental restoration.

Ken Alex, Esq. is the Director of Project Climate at the UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy, and the environment, focusing on the most promising climate solutions and moving them more quickly to policy and scale. He is the architect of the Under2 Coalition, an international and holds a B.A. in political theory from the University of California at Santa Cruz. organization of over 200 sub-national jurisdictions representing 40 percent of world GDP, leading world action on climate change. California Lawyer named Ken an “Attorney of the Year” in 2004 for his work in energy law, and he received the ABA award for Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy in 2007 for global warming work. 

Cari A. Harris is a multifaceted leader, dedicated to driving economic, community, and organizational development. As the co-founder of the HBCU Environmental Justice Technical (HEJT) Collaborative, she focuses on sustainability, environmental justice, and economics projects. At the intersection of climate resiliency, racial equity and technology, the HEJT Collaborative is committed to empowering environmental justice (EJ) stakeholders by enhancing their research, organizational development, and decision-making capabilities through technical assistance and the use of advanced tools and systems.

Louise Bedsworth is the Executive Director at the Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment (CLEE) at the University of California, Berkeley where she also serves as a Senior Advisor to the California China Climate Institute. Before joining CLEE, Louise spent nearly a decade working for the State of California, most recently as the Executive Director of the Strategic Growth Council, a Cabinet-level State institution that brings together multiple agencies and departments to support sustainable communities

Eleanor LeCain is an advisor to US and international policymakers, candidates, and donors as well as an author and speaker about breakthrough solutions. She builds on decades of experience in government and campaigns to show practical pathways toward a better America and a new world.

Kurt Shickman is a Senior Fellow with the World Resources Institute supporting the institute’s program on heat resilience within the cities, buildings, and energy teams.  Prior to that he was a Buildings Heat Professional with KS Advisory after directing the Atlantic Council's Climate Resilience Center (ARSHT-Rock), which builds human capacity for resilience in the face of climate impacts.

Leo Kayali is the founder and  CEO of Invo Station, an innovative start-up company that is developing revolutionary autonomous, all-electric VTOL vehicles that enable passengers to surmount traffic congestion and gridlock. Prior to Invo Station, Leo founded Infinite Green Energy, which provided hardware design and programming for electric vehicles and utilities in the renewable energy sector.  Leo is an innovative executive and electrical engineer with 18+ years’ experience in high-speed PCB (printed circuit board) design, autonomous systems, and clean energy solutions.

Michael Shuman is an economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, and a leading visionary on community economics.  He is an Adjunct Professor at Bard Business School in New York City.  He is also a Senior Researcher for Council Fire, where he performs economic-development analyses for states, local governments, and businesses around North America.  He publishes a weekly newsletter on local investment called The Main Street Journal that reaches 8,000 readers.  And he serves on the boards of the American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) and the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA)

Steven Nadel joined the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy in 1989 and served as its executive director from 2001-2025. He has recently retired from ACEEE. Before becoming  executive director, Steve served as deputy director and director of ACEEE’s Utilities and Buildings programs.

Dr. Stephen Wiel, an engineer with over 60 years of experience in energy and environmental matters, is currently serving as the Chair of the Board of the Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP). The program grew out of a collaborative partnership that he initiated at LBNL in 1996 to stimulate the use of energy efficiency standards and labels worldwide. Dr. Wiel is also the former head of the Energy and Environment Division’s Energy Analysis Department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; a former Public Service Commissioner in Nevada; the past Chairman of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Conservation Committee, and a past member of the Board of Directors of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

Professor John Harte, theoretical physicist and ecologist, is Professor of the Graduate School at the University of California, Berkeley and previously held a joint pro­fes­sor­ship in the Energy and Resources Group and the Ecosys­tem Sci­ences Divi­sion of UCB’s Col­lege of Nat­ural Resources and has also taught at Yale University. He has authored over 200 sci­en­tific pub­li­ca­tions, includ­ing eight books, on top­ics includ­ing bio­di­ver­sity, cli­mate change, bio­geo­chemisty, and energy and water resources.

Dan Reicher, Esq., is an entrepreneur, investor, policymaker, lawyer and educator focused on clean energy and climate change. Reicher has served three U.S. presidents, testified before the U.S. Congress more than 50 times, led the launch of Google’s pathbreaking climate and clean energy work, oversaw a $1.2 billion annual clean energy R&D budget as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy, and co-founded the nation’s first investment firm focused exclusively on renewable energy project finance.

Professor Daniel M. Kammen is the James and Katherine Lau Distinguished Professor of Sustainability at the University of California, Berkeley, with parallel appointments in the Energy and Resources Group, the Goldman School of Public Policy, and the department of Nuclear Engineering. His work is focused on decarbonization, energy access, and climate justice. He has served as Senior Advisor for Energy Innovation at the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Kammen is a Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC.

Dan Lashof is a Senior Fellow with the World Resources Institute (WRI). He is the former director of WRI’s work in the United States across climate, energy, food, forests, water and the sustainable cities programs. This included overseeing the work of the U.S. climate team, which aims to catalyze and support just and equitable climate action by the federal government, states, cities, and businesses while promoting U.S. climate leadership internationally.