2022 Fl Summit Registration List

Jennifer Barenholtz has been living in Florida since 2007. In 2016, she received a Master’s in Sustainability Management from Columbia University; since then she has been working as a consultant to the sustainability and renewable industry.  Pre-Covid, Jen served as a SolSmart Advisor, providing technical assistance to reduce solar soft costs to cities and counties across Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe County supported by the DOE’s Solar Energy Technology Office.  This two year effort resulted in over 20 cities and counties improving their solar permitting process.  More recently, she has focused her efforts on developing key strategic partnerships between the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and state and local governments, universities, and non-profits in Florida and the greater Southeast in order to promote NREL’s renewable energy analysis tools and technology solutions.  In addition, Jennifer continues to actively work in the clean energy space in Florida. She was recently appointed by FLaSEIA to be the Florida campaign advisor for SolarAPP—a software tool that streamlines the permitting process for solar permits—with the long-term goal of statewide adoption.

CHAIRMAN OF THE SOLAR APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM & CHAIR OF FLASEIA'S EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Michele Boyd is the program manager of the Strategic Analysis and Institutional Support team at the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO). The team supports the development of analysis, tools, and data resources to reduce the non-hardware (soft costs) of solar energy and accelerates learning through technical assistance programs and national partnerships. Previously, she led government relations at Abengoa Solar, where she developed and implemented strategies to advance effective financing, siting, and transmission policies for solar energy. Prior to her work on solar, Michele led public interest advocacy on environmental and policy issues related to nuclear weapons disarmament, nuclear power, and nuclear waste management. Michele has two Bachelors of Science degrees in biology and in environmental science from Purdue University and a Master of Science in environmental policy from the University of Michigan. 

Greg Burns works as a financial specialist for Greentech Renewables. He has experience with third party ownership aspects, such as PPAs and leases. He primarily works in the solar loan lending space. Additionally, Greg has over a decade of experience in business development roles in the steel industry.

Daniel Chang is the Vice President of Business Development at RETC, an independent test lab for photovoltaic products and batteries where he is responsible for all sales and marketing activity. Daniel is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is a seasoned industry veteran with over 15 years of technical sales and product management experience in the solar and semiconductor industry.

Nathan Charles is Principal field application engineer at Enphase Energy. He is passionate about delivering great products that improve lifestyles and mitigate one of the greatest problems of this generation. Nathan has over has over 20 years of experience with energy technology and applications starting with the 2001 American Solar Challenge solar car race. His education includes a Masters in Sustainable Engineering from Villanova University with a focus on energy access technologies and optimization. He currently resides in Lancaster, PA.

James M. Fenton is the Director of the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC). FSEC, created in 1975 by the Florida Legislature to serve as the state’s energy research institute, is the nation’s largest and most active state-supported renewable energy and energy efficiency research institute. In addition to his duties as FSEC Director, Dr. Fenton also serves as a Professor in UCF’s Materials Science and Engineering Department.        

Lex Ford is the President of Climate First Bank, the nation's first climate-focused bank. Before Climate First Bank, Ford was Senior Vice President and Commercial Banker at Seacoast Bank and Senior Vice President and Wingman to the Chairman at First GREEN Bank. For his leadership within the local community, Ford was recognized by the Orlando Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Awards in 2017.

Paul Grana is the GM, HelioScope and Commercial at Aurora Solar. Previously, he co-founded Folsom Labs, where he led sales and marketing, helping to grow the company to thousands of installers in over 200 countries. Paul holds a BS in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Chicago, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Upon graduating from The United States Naval Academy he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He served in Training, Infantry, Artillery, Ceremonial and Reconnaissance units where he commanded four companies for over three years until an injury forced him to resign his commission. Stanley Gray founded On Track (http //ontracktampa.com/index.html), a tax-exempt not-for-profit organization established to "Sustain and Create Hope, Options, and Opportunity" for several of Tampa's Title One School attendees. He is a founding member of Naval Academy's Minority Association (https://www.usnama.org/), and the revived Urban League of Hillsborough County (https://ulhc.org/).  On April 20 U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) announced a $300K community priority grant for the Urban League of Hillsborough County’s Hands Up Program to support workforce training and paid apprenticeship programs, including in solar installation. 

Tyson Grinstead leads Sunrun's solar policy efforts in the Southeast and also works on Federal policy issues. Tyson joined Sunrun after serving as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)’s political director for the 2014 election cycle. He also served as political director for the South Carolina Republican Party’s Victory 2014 campaign and for Rep. Tom Rice (R-7-SC)’s 2012 campaign. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law, and received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Greg brings over 25 years of international corporate finance and business development experience to Calibrant Energy and Macquarie’s Green Investment Group, with a significant focus on renewable energy development, and energy and real estate management. Greg led SunPower’s & EnerNOC’s strategic enterprise engagements with the F500 and large public, federal & government entities. Greg has worked for GAF Solar, IBM Corporate Finance and Macquarie Real Estate and holds a Civil and Environmental Engineering degree from Duke University, and an MBA in International Finance from the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business.

As Building Official at Saint Lucie County, Doug has many opportunities to work with owners, designers, installers and regulators on a variety of projects. With years of experience in the construction industry, having worked on simple to complex projects, successfully installing and even designing electrical systems and bringing projects to successful completion, Doug understands the thought and work it takes to bring all of the concepts together into a successful project. He is experienced with solar systems, both PV and thermal and has been involved with the industry for many years. He sits on several UL committees and is currently involved through SEAC to develop documents that are helpful to the solar industry and increase understanding of the code requirements for designers, installers and AHJs. He has a deep understanding of electrical systems and tries to pass that knowledge on to others in order to keep our systems and installations safe.

Kendra is based in Portland, Oregon and has worked in the solar industry in a variety of roles in manufacturing, distribution, installation, and services since 2010. She participates in state and federal-level policy and advocacy as a board director at industry trade associations and non-profits. She joined EagleView’s Business Development team in March as a Customer Solutions Architect, working on partnerships within the solar industry. She’s the Vice Chair for the Manufacturing Division and leads the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Mentorship working group for SEIA. She’s a big fan of the outdoors, including biking, hiking, camping, and trail running; loves traveling and fostering pets for the Humane Society; and is a proud mom to her teenage son, Will.

Marc Lopata is President of Solar Island Energy with offices in the US and Bahamas. Marc is a licensed, Professional Engineer and NABCEP-certified photovoltaic Systems Inspector. He is the engineer-of-record of over 700 solar projects, including 20 utility PV and battery projects and 80 microgrid and energy storage projects totaling over 100 MWh of energy storage capacity. This portfolio stretches from the western US to the Eastern Caribbean, and as far afield as the Middle East. 

Marc also is a technical advisor to the World Bank, contributing author to both “Solar Under Storm” manuals, and a peer reviewer on hurricane survivability for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 

Prior to being immersed full time in the solar-energy industry, Marc held senior positions with a multinational Fortune-100 corporation, an ENR-100 engineering firm, and an internationally-recognized oceanographic research institution. His responsibilities included managing an annual construction budget of $200M for a global data center provider. 

These positions ranged from building solar-powered undersea equipment, robotics, instrumentation, and marine equipment to engineering and construction of data centers and telecom infrastructure. This diverse experience is the foundation for his expertise in solar energy, advanced technology, and energy performance of commercial buildings.

Dorothy M. Mazzarella is currently employed by the International Code Council, Inc. as the Vice President of Government Relations. In this capacity, Ms. Mazzarella works directly with the Senior Vice President of Government Relations in achieving the Department’s goals related to coalition building and national code adoption, implementation, and support of the International Codes. Ms. Mazzarella has oversight responsibilities in New York and Florida and works closely with the twelve State and Local Government Relations Managers as well Members and
Organizations nationwide.

Jack has worked in the energy storage industry for 10 years across a broad spectrum of applications and market sectors with a focus on LiFePO4 battery chemistry. He has designed systems for the military, space programs, data centers, telecom, utilities, and more. Having spent quite a bit of time working with manufacturers in China, Jack developed significant expertise in the technical requirements that must be utilized in the production of quality lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) energy storage systems (ESS). Prior to joining SimpliPhi Power, Jack was one of the founding members of a lithium battery company. Additionally, Jack has spent a good deal of time working in the mission critical sector primarily focused on large scale lithium battery solutions.

For the last 20 years, Patrick has grown and managed industry-leading consumer lending businesses, including Capital One and Toyota Financial Services. In each of his three prior COO positions, he launched and scaled successful point of purchase financing businesses, most recently in the home improvement channel.

Todd serves as Director of Sales for JinkoSolar, where leads the company’s go to market activities for Energy Storage Solutions in the US and Canada. He is a renewable energy veteran with over a decade of experience in solar and storage. Prior to joining Jinko, Todd was at Enel X where he was worked on origination of standalone storage projects for C&I customers throughout North America. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/juan-david-payares-71520834/

Julia Pyper is vice president of public affairs at GoodLeap, a leading financial technology company focused on accelerating the deployment of sustainable home solutions. She also supports the non-profit organization GivePower, which develops clean water and clean energy systems in communities around the world. Julia is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank and host of Political Climate, a podcast presented by Canary Media and the USC Schwarzenegger Institute. She recently served as the inaugural Storyteller in Residence for cleantech startup accelerator New Energy Nexus. Previously, Julia was a senior editor for Greentech Media, where she covered the global energy transition. Prior to that, she reported for E&E News, where she conducted several international projects, including in Haiti, Germany, and India. Her writing has also been published in HuffPost, Scientific American, and The New York Times.

George he is the market leader for the Clean Energy team in the Americas at Ariel Re, a Lloyd’s of London Syndicate. He has over 20 years’ experience in financial services, insurance, product development, underwriting and structuring risk management solutions for the capital markets, with focus on the “clean” technology markets for the last 12 years. Prior to joining Ariel Re in 2017, he managed Munich Re’s Special Enterprise Risks activities as a founding member of the Green Tech Solutions team here in the U.S. (New York). Previously, the Senior Vice President of Global Structured Products at the financial guaranty insurer, Radian Asset Assurance, Inc., George managed the asset-backed securities (ABS) business, he also co-founded the infrastructure finance business at Radian. George started his financial services career as an analyst at Fitch Ratings’ public and structured finance groups, and earlier in his career, he was a Legislative Director for the New York State Assembly.

A fifth generation Floridian, Natasha leads the Independent Electrical Contractors Florida West Coast Chapter and their 400+ person statewide Electrical Registered Apprentice Program. This former teacher and school principal turned her focus to promoting Registered Apprentice Programs to provide access to lucrative careers for employees and access to an educated and skilled workforce for employers.

A recovering college-for-all-enthusiast, she now sees the need and benefit for providing a balanced perspective when it comes to presenting post-secondary opportunities. She currently serves as the President of the Florida Apprenticeship Association and is on the Board of Directors for the Florida Association of Career and Technical Education.

This mother of 4 graduated from the University of Florida with her BS in Public Relations and Sport Administration and her Masters in Mass Communication and Political Campaigning after spending 7 of the best football seasons of her life in Gainesville. She bleeds Orange and Blue but admits she may have learned the most important lessons outside of the classroom. Natasha has also climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro while working for Busch Gardens as the Manager of Education, produced half time shows while working for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and created magical memories while working for Walt Disney.

Wilton Simpson is living the American Dream and works each and everyday to ensure Floridians have access to the same opportunities he’s had.   With an eye toward outcomes and problem solving, Wilton has a proven record of fighting for Florida’s hardworking families and small business owners, supporting our brave law enforcement officers and first responders, protecting our precious natural resources, and taking a stand against government overreach and job killing regulations.

Jen Szaro currently serves as President and CEO for the Association of Energy Services (AESP) a not-for-profit organization serving nearly 5,000 members throughout North America with a mission focused on facilitating the transition to a more resilient and integrated energy sector through workforce development, collaboration, and thought leadership. She also currently serves as Vice Chair of Drive Electric Florida and an Advisory Board Member for the Florida Solar Energy Center and the University of Central Florida College of Engineering and Computer Science. Prior to her current role, Jen held key leadership positions with the Smart Electric Power Alliance, Orlando Utilities Commission, and the Florida Solar Energy Center.