510-665-1501 x11
Click here to email Jodi.
Jodi joined Rising Sun Energy Center in 2006. Under her management, Rising Sun has evolved from a modest renewable energy education center into a leading green workforce development and retrofit services organization.
Jodi is a leading expert on the green economy, youth employment frameworks, sustainable social enterprise models and workforce development. Under her leadership, Rising Sun Energy Center has developed innovative green training and employment models that are held as exemplars in both the national and international community. Jodi has participated in several policy groups, conferences, and task forces, and has been featured in the media, where she has shared her expertise on how environmental investments can create green jobs for disadvantaged communities while improving environmental quality for everyone.
Most recently, Jodi has been asked to present as a panel member at Greenlining’s Economic Summit on Jobs Creation: New Models and Old Myths, at UCS Price School of Public Policy Bay Area Policy Forum on Environmental Sustainability and Green Jobs, and at the Presidio Graduate School on Social Enterprise Models: Challenges and Rewards.
Jodi is a thoughtful leader and administrator with over 14 years of experience. She specializes in managing staff and programs using consensus building and conflict resolution, developing curricula, evaluating and analyzing outcomes, change management, and researching program methodology and effectiveness. Born in South Africa and a former resident of Australia, Israel and Mexico, Jodi considers herself a global citizen. She has committed much of her life to social justice and sustainability, and is dedicated to solving issues of social inequality and environmental degradation through innovative, proactive approaches. Jodi is a UC Berkeley graduate in Peace and Conflict Studies and holdsan MBA from the Presidio GraduateSchool in Sustainable Management.
Deputy Director, Rising Sun Energy Center
510-665-1501 x12
Click here to email Alison.
Alison joined Rising Sun in 2010. Alison brings a diverse skill set developed over 17 years in administration and program development both in England and America. Over the course of her career, she has distinguished herself as a driving force behind improving operations, team development and financial controls. Alison has developed vocational training programs with an aim to transition youth into full time employment. She specializes in program monitoring and evaluation, using systemic thinking and strategic planning to build programs that encourage innovation and personal/professional development.
Throughout her career and volunteer work, Alison has been committed to working towards providing education and training specific to the individual. She believes that our mission to create green career pathways for youth and for adults with barriers to employment can help provide the skills they need to be competitive in the green job market place. Alison holds a BA in History and Social Economics from Manchester University, UK.
Operations Manager, Rising Sun Energy Center
510-665-1501 x13
Click here to email
Eric.
Eric joined the Rising Sun Energy team in March 2012 as Operations Manager, and is responsible for day to day support of programs, financial tracking, HR, inventory and office services and administration. He is a graduate of the Ohio University School of Journalism in Athens, Ohio and has worked in the non-profit sector most of his career, serving as Office Manager for a national museum services organization, Executive Officer for two community advisory boards to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and most recently closed out a decade as Operations Manager for the Museum of Performance & Design in San Francisco. Eric is a screenwriter and playwright by night, and occasional thespian.
510-665-1501 x20
Click here to email Tee.
Tee joined Rising Sun in March 2011. He was born in India and moved to America in 2005. Tee has 15 years of accounting experience nine of which were in India working as an auditor for an NGO charitable trust primarily auditing schools and hospitals. After moving to America Tee worked for distribution companies, non-profits and local government and is currently enjoying his time at Rising Sun.
Tee has a BA in Accounting and enjoys spending his free time cooking, walking and is an avid cricketer.
510-665-1501 x22
Click here to email Rebecca.
Rebecca joined the Rising Sun team in September 2011. She has over a decade of experience in program management, developing, implementing and evaluating educational and job training programs serving under-resourced teens in the Berkeley community. Rebecca’s early professional background includes direct service work with youth and adults as a counselor, facilitator, community educator, naturalist, and instructor, in varied fields including outdoor education, wilderness adventure, and reproductive and mental health.
Rebecca earned a BA in Biology with a concentration in Environmental Studies from Williams College, and a MSW from San Jose State University with a credential in school social work. Rising Sun provides Rebecca with the unique opportunity to integrate her education, experience and passion for sustainability and social justice.
510-665-1501 x14
Click here to email Heather.
Heather joined Rising Sun in June 2007 as the Oakland High Site Manager for the CYES Program. She first learned about CYES as a client and again while volunteering at Oakland High School. She loved the program so much she returned as an Area Director for two additional summers while completing her Bachelors of Science at UC Berkeley. In Fall 2009, she was promoted to the CYES Program Director position and took on the responsibilities of funding recruitment, training, hiring and logistics for the CYES Program.
Heather graduated from UC Berkeley in May 2009, receiving a Bachelors of Science in Molecular Environmental Biology with a concentration in Human and Environmental Health. She has always been passionate about environmental issues and youth development, volunteering in many science classrooms, school gardens, and outdoor camps. Working for Rising Sun aligns with her interest in the complex relationship between humans and both the built and natural environment.
510-665-1501 x21
Click here to email Julia.
Julia joined Rising Sun in 2012, and oversees Rising Sun's youth programs, including CYES, LIFT, and Youth Council. Julia has worked across industries in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors; her focus has been economic and community development and building collaborative public-private partnerships. Prior to Rising Sun, she ran the Connecticut Efficient Healthy Homes Initiative, a DOE-funded weatherization program that provided residential energy efficiency, health, and safety upgrades to low-income families statewide, while sustaining green jobs. Julia graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern University, and is an alumna of the Coro Fellows Program in Leadership and Public Affairs in St. Louis. In her free time, Julia loves to cook, read, and explore the outdoors with her husband and their pug, Pancake.
510-665-1501 x15
Click here to email Natesha.
Natesha joined Rising Sun in 2009 as the CYES Program Manager. She received a BS in Psychology from Florida A&M University and has an MS in Organizational Management from the School for International Training. In her current role, Natesha draws upon her background in youth counseling and development, as well as her experience in community work as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Namibia. As a CYES Program Manager, Natesha’s responsibilities include recruitment, training, hiring, logistics, staff supervision and program development and evaluation. Natesha is the key program manager for the Youth Council.
510-665-1501 x16
Click here to email Christina.
Christina joined Rising Sun in early 2009. She began as the CYES Lead Marketing Intern for the Spring 2009 season, progressed to become the SmartSolar Outreach Coordinator, and was eventually promoted to Operations Manager. She is now the Marketing Manager for both the CYES program and the other great programs and services of Rising Sun Energy Center. She loves that working for such a robust, mission-driven, youth and environment oriented organization makes her job of marketing its programs a breeze.
Christina graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in Mass Communications and a minor in Education. She has worked heavily with youth in the past through summer camps and mentoring programs. She also previously worked for An Taisce's (the National Trust for Ireland) Green Home program in Dublin, Ireland, which sparked her love for conservation and sustainability. Her interests are youth, education, the environment, meeting new people and traveling to new places. She is also the proud owner of Buddy, the effervescent Rising Sun office dog.
510-776-6370
Click here to email Adrian.
Adrian first worked with Rising Sun Energy Center as a PG&E marketing and outreach intern during the summers of 2008 and 2009. After graduating from Saint Mary’s College, Adrian returned as the outreach coordinator for the Livermore site during the summer of 2010. Adrian was then hired as a co-manager for the Green Bridge Academy (formerly known as East Bay Green Job Corps) in October 2010 for his expertise in community outreach and ability to lead and adequately train youth in sustainability. Adrian also oversees the LIFT program.
Armed with a major in business with a concentration in marketing, Adrian is determined to work for a company that shares his “moral compass and had a quantifiable positive impact on society." Adrian’s passion for youth development and sustainability is fired by his past experiences with youth empowerment programs and personal mission to create a healthier more conscious generation of Americans. Rising Sun Energy Center, as Adrian puts it, “provides the environment for young individuals to better themselves holistically through training in life skills, general education and sustainability”.
510-665-1501 x23
Click here to email Travers.
Travers joined Rising Sun in early 2011 as a Site Manager in San Mateo. Currently, Travers is a CYES Program Manager and is responsible for year-round operations. In the summer, his job transitions to Area Director, where he oversees and supervises CYES sites in five cities in the East Bay and Marin County. Travers has a BS in Biology from UC Santa Barbara, and a MS from Oxford University in Biodiversity Conservation & Management. Travers's background is in environmental biology and ecology, with a focus on sustainable wildlife conservation, and he has prior work experience in the youth education field.
510-665-1501 x18
Click here to email
Elena.
Elena Foshay joined Rising Sun in July 2010. She has been actively engaged in the green jobs movement for more than five years, and previously worked as Research Associate for the Apollo Alliance national office. While at Apollo, Elena was deeply involved with national and state policies that invested in green jobs and green workforce development. Elena also did research for the Labor Center at the University of California, Berkeley, where she conducted a study in Contra Costa County of opportunities in the green economy for cities and training programs. She has published several papers on strategies for job creation and for ensuring that green jobs are quality jobs.
Elena’s roots are in community-based work and youth development, and she has more than a decade of experience in both the United States and Latin America. She has a strong commitment to helping young people and adults access the knowledge, opportunities and resources they need to grow and succeed while helping make the world a better, more sustainable place. She earned a Master's in Social Welfare and a MA in International and Area Studies, both from the University of California, Berkeley.
510-665-1501 x17
Click here to email
George.
George joined Rising Sun in 2008 to assist with the Energy Partners Program. As Program Manager, he oversaw a team of Energy Specialists who performed comprehensive energy audits and educations for income-qualified Bay Area residences. George is now the Training and Employment Manager of the Green Energy Training Services Program (GETS), Rising Sun's green workforce training program for adults with barriers to employment.
George moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 2007 and brings a wealth of program design and program management experience. After graduating from California State University Northridge with a degree in Recreation Program Management, he worked for several years in the Recreation field as an experiential educator and a group facilitator. After watching "An Inconvenient Truth", he made a personal and professional choice to focus his talents, training and enthusiasm on solving global climate destabilization.
Since joining Rising Sun Energy Center, George has greatly expanded his Building Science knowledge through numerous trainings and, in 2010, George became a Building Performance Institute (BPI) certified Building Analyst. George lives with his wife (Christine) and sons (Paul & Jonathan) in Richmond. They have 2 cats (Bill and Nibbles) and a dog (Jack).
510-665-1501 x19
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Melvin.
Melvin joined the Rising Sun team in July of 2011. Melvin is a Graduate of Arizona State University where he received his BA in psychology. He has more than 8 years experience as a Case Manager, helping individuals and families obtain housing, employment, shelter, and clothing. Melvin has also taught life skills classes where clients learn about parenting, resume building, healthy boundaries, professionalism, and budgeting. Melvin has dedicated himself to becoming a resource to the community and loves to help everyone he encounters. Providing outreach and advocacy to people from all backgrounds is Melvin's biggest passion, and he continues to set goals and strategies of how he can do more to reach out to others.
510-647-8000
Click here to email
Ryan.
Ryan joined the Rising Sun team in 2012. Ryan has over 10 years of experience in program/project development and management, training and relationship management in both the public and non-profit sectors. During the course of his career Ryan has established himself as a stellar business development expert with a talent for developing profitable partnerships. Ryan is a results driven leader with experience in strategic, technical, and operational initiatives.
Ryan's professional career has been dedicated to helping people move forward in their lives and believes deeply in Rising Sun's mission and vision. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Social Science from Notre Dame de Namur University and is a member of the San Mateo County Workforce Development Board. In his free time, he is the lead singer a Bay Area Top 40 cover band.
510-647-8182
Click here to email Stephen.
Stephen Clark is the General Building Contractor for Rising Sun Energy Center. His skill set includes inspecting and recommending energy saving measures as well as many years of hands-on installation experience. From wilderness log homes in the frigid interior of Alaska to tropical heat in Hawaii and the damp foggy coast of a California community, Stephen has real world experience in all climate conditions. In addition Stephen has experience with installing primitive solar hot water systems in developing countries and high tech solar electric panels on yachts.
As a senior general building contractor, BPI certified Building Analyst and a certified home inspector, Stephen brings more than 30 years of hands-on journeyman experience to the building industry. Stephen’s value on communications skills helps him easily communicate to clients so they can understand new energy efficiency technology and processes and how to take care of their home so it truly becomes “Home Sweet Home”.
Stephen completed post graduate studies at IASHS, speaks numerous languages, has experience teaching in the elder and youth communities, and has led workshops in the ancient art of Indian Tantra for 20 years. Stephen is the founder of Paradise Property Repairs and Paradise Property Inspections and his community service work includes advising in the commercial development of Pt. Molate Naval Base for the City of Richmond, founding member of the Pt. San Pablo Preservation Society, and Chairman of the Ketchikan Senior Citizens Center.
510-647-8182
Click here to email Christine.
Christine officially joined Rising Sun in July 2011. Having completed GETS (Green Energy Training Services) in the summer of 2010 and having enjoyed the experience so much that she transitioned into volunteering for the organization, permanent employment was the next logical career move. She has a deep respect for the organization and its programs and recognized immediately the hope GETS inspired in those participants with barriers to employment.
Christine attended Northeastern University in Boston and Goldsmiths College in London. After working as a clerical worker at Yale University, she became involved in her union (Local 34) and was later hired to the UNITE HERE! organizing staff where she worked on several campaigns to advance workers rights and “A New Social Contract”. In her work as a community leader and union organizer, Christine has been recognized for her commitment and dedication to social justice, her ability to share and communicate a vision, her ability to build relationships and to empower, challenge and motivate people through the process of identifying goals and common interests while fostering collaboration and unity. She is respected for her ability to build community and form alliances all while raising three beautiful children and being a loving wife.
510-647-8182
Click here to email Doron.
Doron is excited and proud to be working at Rising Sun. He has a strong appreciation for the work that the Rising Sun Energy Services team does and is an enthusiastic member of the team.
After encouragement from his aunt, Doron attended GETS training in July 2010. After graduating, he began working at Rising Sun Energy Services as one of the first crew members. He sees the sustainable energy movement growing and is continuing to gain knowledge by attending specialized certification courses, which will provide him the opportunity to expand his job expertise and help in offering the best service possible to the Rising Sun Energy Services clients.
Doron is a certified BPI Building Analyst, BPI Envelope Professional and Green Point Advisor. He brings experience in green building, truck driving, sales and management. Doron was born in Israel and came to the Bay Area in 2002. He enjoys people, loves traveling, family, friends, basketball and snowboarding.
Keane Ahern, Jesse Cabrera, Oryan Berdick, and Gage Hart
See also: Board Members
See also: Interns
