Bringing mobility equity, jobs and the environmental benefits of electric transportation to California with an emphasis on communities most impacted by air pollution and economic disparity.
Ugonne is the Program Manager for ETcommunity. Prior to her start at ETc, she worked as a Program Manager for the Greater Sacramento Urban League. Ugonne received a bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Finance from the University of California, Riverside (UCR). While at UCR, she was the Head Student Manager for the Division 1 Women’s Basketball Team for four consecutive years and a Sports Communication Intern for their Athletic Department.
Ugonne has a love for sustainable and second hand fashion. She uses her platform to promote thrifting and vintage retail.
Eileen Wenger Tutt
Eileen Tutt currently serves as the executive director of the Electric Transportation Community Development Corporation (ETcommunity). She also serves as executive director of the California Electric Transportation Coalition (CalETC). Under her leadership, CalETC has been at the forefront of shaping a policy landscape in California that attracts electric vehicles to the state in unprecedented numbers and transitions the goods and people movement sectors to run on clean electricity. CalETC has also informed the California policy landscape with robust analytics that prove the benefits of transportation electrification to California’s economy, environment, consumers and electricity grid. These benefits accrue to all Californians, whether or not they own or operate electric vehicle technologies. Eileen hopes to bring these experiences to her new role in ETcommunity, ensuring that all communities benefit from electric vehicles, particularly those most adversely impacted by pollution and economic disparity.
Prior to becoming the Executive Director of the California Electric Transportation Coalition, Eileen served as Deputy Secretary for the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA). Prior to her time at Cal/EPA, Eileen worked for the California Air Resources Board, an agency within Cal/EPA. In her ten years at the Air Resources Board, Eileen helped develop regulations and programs that have placed the State of California at the forefront of environmental protection. Throughout her government career, Eileen worked closely with members of the Legislature and their staff to represent the position of the Administration and present the technical findings and stakeholder positions responsibly. She has a long history of working collaboratively with the Governor's Office, members and staff of the Legislature, representatives from various state agencies and members of the business and environmental community to find solutions to tough policy challenges.
Kent Leacock
Kent Leacock is the Sr. Director of Government Relations & Public Policy for Proterra. In this role he has full responsibility for government/regulatory affairs, public policy, advocacy, grant oversight and strategic relationship building across the US. Prior to Proterra, Leacock was responsible for external affairs at Acorn Energy, Inc., a holding company whose portfolio companies manufacture utility grid and energy security related products. Leacock also spent a decade as a senior executive with AT&T and Comcast in the East, Midwest and West. During his last four years he concentrated on policy strategy, municipal contract negotiations and government relations. Leacock received his undergraduate degree from Brown University and a Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University.
Alberto Ayala
Alberto Ayala has nearly 30 years of experience as an environmental professional, including having championed some of California’s most far-reaching public policies for clean transportation and low-carbon development. He is the Air Pollution Control Officer and Executive Director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. Prior to the Air District, Alberto served at the California Air Resources Board, most recently as Deputy Executive Officer; was a professor at West Virginia University, where he still holds an adjunct appointment; and a Design Engineer with Teledyne. He is actively engaged in several organizations and Boards, has published extensively in leading journals, is an internationally recognized speaker, and lectures occasionally in English or Spanish in the U.S. and abroad. Alberto holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in engineering from the University of California, Davis and interned with GE Global Research Center in New York, the California Energy Commission, and the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory at UC Davis.
Paul Lau
As Chief Grid Strategy & Operations Officer, Paul Lau is responsible for the operations of SMUD’s power markets, transmission and distribution grids, including the Balancing Authority of Northern California (BANC), the development of a holistic smart grid strategy and SMUD’s research & development programs. Departments under his direction include Energy Trading & Contracts, Grid Operations, Grid Planning, Energy Strategy, Research & Development, Distribution System Operations, and Resources & New Business Strategy. He is the executive sponsor for SMUD’s deployment of advanced metering infrastructure and smart grid initiatives.
Lau has over 30 years of utility experience and is a registered professional electrical engineer in the State of California and received his bachelor’s degree in electrical power engineering from California State University, Sacramento. Lau is an Executive Board Member & Commissioner of the Transmission Agency of Northern California and the Balancing Authority of Northern California. He also serves as Executive Board Member for California State University Foundation, Sacramento, Los Rios Community College Foundation and the Sacramento Asian Chamber of Commerce.
Simon Mui
SIMON MUI is a senior scientist at NRDC and directs its advocacy and research on clean vehicles and fuels in California. Prior to joining NRDC, Mui worked in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, where he coauthored studies on plug-in electric vehicles and climate-mitigation strategies. He has also served as a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and worked as an engineer developing lithium-ion batteries for a startup company.
Simon, a native of California, holds two bachelor’s degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, a master’s in technology and policy, and a PhD in materials engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Caroline Choi
Caroline Choi is senior vice president of Corporate Affairs at Southern California Edison (SCE), one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, and its parent company, Edison International. Choi is responsible for overseeing Government Affairs, Public Affairs, Corporate Communications and Corporate Philanthropy on national, state and local levels.
Previously, Choi served as senior vice president of Regulatory Affairs at SCE. In that role, she was responsible for the company’s regulatory strategy and policy at the national and state levels, including regulatory affairs, regulatory operations and environmental affairs.
Choi previously was vice president of Energy and Environmental Policy at SCE, where she oversaw the analysis of energy and environmental policies; development of a long-term environmental, energy and technology strategy for SCE; and management of regulatory efforts at the California Public Utilities Commission and other state energy and environmental agencies.
Before joining SCE in 2012, Choi was executive director of Environmental Services & Strategy at Progress Energy (now Duke Energy), where she was responsible for leading environmental permitting, compliance and policy. She served the company in various roles, including director, Energy Policy & Strategy, and manager, Federal Public Affairs.
Choi is active in national policy and community engagement, where she serves on the executive board of the Smart Electric Power Alliance, a nationwide organization that supports utilities in the implementation and deployment of clean energy and distributed resources. She also chairs the board of Veloz, a non-profit dedicated to accelerating the shift to electric transportation through public-private collaboration and public engagement. In addition, she serves on the boards of the Electric Transportation Community Development Corporation, Los Angeles Business Council and National Forest Foundation.
Choi holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Dartmouth College.
Fran Pavley
Fran Pavley served 29 years in elected office. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Pavley was elected the first mayor of Agoura Hills in 1982, and served 14 years in the California Assembly and the State Senate. Former State Senator Pavley authored landmark climate policies (AB 1493, AB 32, SB 32, and others) that have created a market for innovation and investment in clean energy and vehicles, which have helped clean up our air, grow the economy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As chair of the Senate’s Natural Resources and Water Committee, she was able to pass the state’s first sustainable Groundwater Management Act, promote policies to protect our ocean and watersheds, and adopt measures to create more sustainable local water supplies.
She is working as the Environmental Policy Director for the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and serves on several state and local advisory boards and committees.