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Fiona Ma, CPA
State Treasurer at Office of the California State TreasurerFiona Ma is California’s 34th State Treasurer. She was elected on November 6, 2018 with more votes (7,825,587) than any other candidate for treasurer in the state's history. She is the first woman of color and the first woman Certified Public Accountant (CPA) elected to the position. The State Treasurer’s Office was created in the California Constitution in 1849. It provides financing for schools, roads, housing, recycling and waste management, hospitals, public facilities, and other crucial infrastructure projects that better the lives of residents. California is the world’s fifth-largest economy and Treasurer Ma is the state’s primary banker. Her office processes more than $2 trillion in payments within a typical year. She provides transparency and oversight for the government’s investment portfolio and accounts, as well as for the state’s surplus funds. Treasurer Ma oversees an investment portfolio of more than $102 billion, approximately $20 billion of which are local government funds. She serves as agent for sale for all State bonds, and is trustee on over $100 billion of outstanding debt.
Jigar Shah
Director, Loan Programs Office of U.S. Department of EnergyJigar Shah is the Director for the Loan Programs Office at the U.S. Department of Energy. In his role, Shah leads and directs the Loan program Office focused on building a bridge to commercial financing for technologies that are ready to scale the transition to a global clean energy economy.
Jigar Shah was most recently co-founder and President at Generate Capital, where he focused on helping entrepreneurs accelerate decarbonization solutions through the use of low-cost infrastructure-as-a service financing. Prior to Generate Capital, Shah founded SunEdison, a company that pioneered “pay as you save” solar financing. After SunEdison, Shah served as the founding CEO of the Carbon War Room, a global non-profit founded by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Unite to help entrepreneurs address climate change. Originally from Illinois, Shah holds a B.S. from the University of Illinois-UC and an MBA from the University of Maryland College Park.
Patricia Lock Dawson
Mayor at City of RiversidePatricia Lock Dawson was elected the 18th Mayor of Riverside in November 2020, following nine years of service on the Riverside Unified School District Board of Trustees. Her election makes history as she is the first University of California, Riverside alumna to hold Riverside’s mayoral position and the second woman elected Mayor in Riverside’s 150-year history.
A Riverside native and small business owner, Mayor Lock Dawson is Principal and Owner of PLD Consulting, which assists organizations with land use, governmental affairs and strategic planning. She has been instrumental in passing legislation to secure tens of millions of dollars in state and federal funds for regional conservation, habitat, and infrastructure projects. She has served at every level of government and has held many local and state leadership roles.
Since the 1990s, Mayor Lock Dawson has been a champion for the Santa Ana River. She led the Santa Ana River Partnership, a regional coalition of three counties, twenty-four cities and a variety of nonprofits in Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange Counties. Adding to her dedication to Riverside’s natural landscape, she also established the Santa Ana River Trust, a non-profit community-involvement program and in 2014 assisted in the crafting of legislation to create the Santa Ana River Conservancy.
Mayor Lock Dawson has spent most of her career in public service, working to better the lives of her fellow community members. In addition to her service on the Riverside Unified School District Board of Trustees (2011-2020), Mayor Lock Dawson also worked for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the California State Legislature.
A passionate advocate for the delivery of mental health services, Mayor Lock Dawson is a three-time gubernatorial appointee to the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, serving as Vice-Chairperson for this board that oversees all behavioral science professionals in California. Her appointments are noteworthy as few state board members are appointed and subsequently reappointed by governors from different political parties.
As a committed community member, Mayor Lock Dawson has served as Chairperson for the city’s Planning Commission, President of the Inland Chapter of California Women Lead, and has served on the boards of the California Water Education Foundation, Riverside Art Museum, National Charity League and UCR Alumni Board of Directors, among others.
Honored for her service many times, Mayor Lock Dawson was recognized by The Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce as the Leadership Riverside Distinguished Alumni of the Year. Assemblymember Jose Medina named her a 61st District Woman of Distinction; Keep Riverside Clean and Beautiful presented her with its Lady Bird Johnson Award; and she was honored as Appointee of the Year by California Women Lead.
Mayor Lock Dawson received her Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of California, Riverside and her Master of Science degree in wildlife ecology from the University of Washington, in Seattle. She and her husband Scott have three children.
Mark Takano
Member of Congress at U.S. House of RepresentativesFor more than twenty years, Mark Takano has worked to improve the lives of Riverside County residents, both as an elected official and as a teacher at Rialto High School.
Born and raised in Riverside, Mark's commitment to public service began at an early age. His family roots in Riverside go back to his grandparents who, along with his parents, were removed from their respective homes and sent to Japanese American Internment camps during World War II. After the war, these two families settled in Riverside County to rebuild their lives.
Mark attended La Sierra High School in the Alvord Unified School District, and in 1979 he graduated as the school's valedictorian. Mark attended Harvard College and received his bachelor's degree in Government in 1983. As a student, he bussed tables to help make ends meet. During his senior year, he organized a transcontinental bicycle ride to benefit the international development agency Oxfam America.
Upon graduation, Mark returned home to Riverside and began teaching in the Rialto Unified School District in 1988. As a classroom teacher, Mark confronted the challenges in our public education system daily.
In 1990, Mark was elected to the Riverside Community College District's Board of Trustees. At RCC, Mark worked with Republicans and Democrats to improve higher education for young people and job training opportunities for adults seeking to learn a new skill or start a new career. He was elected Board President in 1991 and helped the Board and the District gain stability and direction amid serious fiscal challenges.
In 2012, Mark became the first openly gay person of color to be elected to Congress.
Mark Takano represents the people of Riverside, Moreno Valley, Jurupa Valley and Perris in the United States House of Representatives. He serves as Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and as a member of the Education and the Workforce Committee.
Hon. Steven S. Cliff, Ph.D.
Executive Officer at California Air Resources Board (CARB)Dr. Steven Cliff was appointed by CARB as Executive Officer in Summer 2022. As Executive Officer, Cliff works with the Board to enact programs to reduce air and climate pollution. He oversees the work of approximately 1,800 employees and a budget of $2.7 billion.
Dr. Cliff was most recently the 16th Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), where he oversaw the nation’s vehicle safety agency that sets vehicle safety standards, identifies safety defects and manages recalls, and educates Americans to help them travel safely. NHTSA’s work also includes establishing fuel economy regulations and helping facilitate the testing and deployment of advanced vehicle technologies including Automated Driving Systems. Cliff was appointed to NHTSA by President Biden in January 2021 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2022.
Cliff brings an extensive scientific and regulatory background to his leadership role at CARB. Prior to his appointment to NHTSA, Cliff served as a Deputy Executive Officer at CARB, where he first joined the staff in 2008 as an Air Pollution Specialist. Since then, he held a variety of positions at the agency, eventually overseeing its climate program. From 2014 to 2016, Cliff was appointed by then Governor Brown to the California Department of Transportation as Assistant Director for Sustainability. He returned to CARB in 2016 when Governor Brown appointed him senior advisor to CARB’s Chair.
Cliff played an active role at the University of California, Davis for nearly two decades. In 2001, he joined the school’s Department of Applied Sciences as a research professor, later becoming affiliated with the school’s Air Quality Research Center. Through the years, he has supported independent air quality and climate research programs while balancing his time at CARB and Caltrans, including being an approved program coordinator at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Advanced Light Source.
Cliff received a bachelor’s degree and doctorate in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego. He then completed a postdoc on atmospheric sciences at the University of California, Davis’ Department of Land, Air and Water Resources.
Tara Lynn Gray
Director of California Governor's Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA)Tara Lynn Gray was sworn in on April 26, 2021, as the 5th Director of the California Office of the Small Business Advocate. She serves as the voice for California's 4.2 million small businesses in the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development.
Under Director Gray's leadership, the California Office of the Small Business Advocate focuses on helping to bring about Governor Newsom's California for All vision through further development of the state’s small business ecosystem and by ensuring that questions about equity and inclusion are the starting point for all of the state's small business programs.
Gray’s first model of economic development was learned in her grandmother’s beauty shop. Her grandmother instinctively understood that her patrons needed credit as well as beauty services and she let them pay after services were rendered. This way, she kept the money circulating in the Black community and built a community of trust. She also imbued her granddaughter with her sense of compassion and indelible determination.
Running her own business for two decades, working with two small business development centers, and running a business association and a foundation has given Director Gray the requisite experience and expertise to advocate for small businesses.
Immediately prior to her appointment by Governor Newsom, Director Gray led the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce (FMBCC) and Chamber Foundation (FMBCF) as CEO. In her adopted city of Fresno, Director Gray engaged, educated, and empowered small businesses across California’s Central Valley. At the same time, she became deeply engaged in community service, leading the initiative "Betting Big on Small Businesses Owned by Women and People of Color" on behalf of the DRIVE Investment Plan, with the goal of increasing economic mobility for entrepreneurs in disinvested neighborhoods.
Closing opportunity gaps, the role of women and BIPOC business leaders, and diversity in procurement opportunities are recurrent themes in her advocacy work. She has also led green economy initiatives, employment & training programs, and working to advance electric vehicle ownership.
Rinaldo Brutoco
Founder, President & CEO of H2 Clipper, Inc.Rinaldo Brutoco has been an international leader in advancing the nature of good corporate governance, corporate accountability, transparency, and ways that corporations can fulfill their social compact by providing goods and services that the public needs and wants in appropriate, and financially prudent ways.
In 1987 Rinaldo founded the World Business Academy, a nonprofit think tank and action incubator that explores the role of business in relation to critical moral, environmental, and social issues of our time. The Academy's focal point is the role business can and should play in solving humanity's largest challenges with a focus on climate change and energy security as one of the most important threats to human survival. The work being done in the think tank led Rinaldo to co-author a book published in 2007— ‘Freedom from Mideast Oil’. Its final chapter Rinaldo lays out the case for why Hydrogen is the only possible carbon free replacement for fossil fuel.
Within the next year the Academy included in its research analysis of the biggest bottlenecks to realizing the Hydrogen Economy. The research yielded a clear answer: Transportation. Rinaldo incorporated H2C (H2Clipper) on June 10, 2011 and was granted the first patent December 25, 2012.
H2C is committed to accelerating the hydrogen economy by providing a breakthrough in the transportation and infrastructure required to bring green hydrogen to market now at a price that is competitive with fossil fuel. H2C provides the only integrated solution for both long-haul transportation of vast quantities of energy dense liquid hydrogen and last-mile distribution of gaseous hydrogen.
Rinaldo obtained a degree with highest honors in Economics and Philosophy in 1968 from Santa Clara University and a Juris Doctorate, Order of the Coif, from UCLA School of Law in 1971. He has also served with numerous nonprofit mission-driven organizations including the Gorbachev Foundation, National Peace Academy, and the Chopra Foundation.
Michael Backstrom
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs at Southern California EdisonMichael Backstrom is vice president of Regulatory Affairs for Southern California Edison, one of the nation’s largest electric utilities. He is responsible at the national and state levels for the company’s regulatory strategy and operations, resource planning and environmental affairs.
Backstrom joined SCE in 2005 as an attorney in the legal department, responsible for regulatory proceedings before the California Public Utilities Commission. He has held several leadership positions, including vice president of Regulatory Policy, managing director of Energy and Environmental Policy, director of Customer Experience and director of the Office of the CEO. In addition, he was a manager of federal policy in SCE’s Washington, D.C. office.
Previously, Backstrom was an associate in the Los Angeles office of Howrey LLP, where his practice focused on commercial litigation.
Backstrom serves as a board member of the Alliance for Transportation Electrification and executive committee member of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Pepperdine University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California.
Mario Cordero
Executive Director of Port of Long BeachMario Cordero, an international maritime industry leader, Long Beach resident and attorney, is Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach, California, named to the post by the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners in May 2017.
Beginning in 2003, Mr. Cordero served as a member, vice president and president of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners for eight years, before resigning to accept President Barack Obama’s appointment to the Federal Maritime Commission in 2011. He served on the FMC until May 2017 and was FMC Chairman from April 2013 to January 2017.
As Executive Director, Mr. Cordero reports to the Board and leads the Port’s Harbor Department staff of more than 500 with a budget of $622 million for the 2022 fiscal year.
He is the Port’s representative to the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority Governing Board and the Governing Board of the Intermodal Container Transfer Facility-Joint Powers Authority. Mr. Cordero was elected to a two-year term as Chairman of the Board for the American Association of Port Authorities in 2020 following a term as Vice Chairman, and previously served as an Executive Board member on AAPA’s Latin American delegation. He sits on the L.A. County Economic Resiliency Task Force – charged with helping guide the County’s approach to reopening as the region emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic – as chair of the Commodities and Goods Movement sector working group.
In 2021, Mr. Cordero was appointed by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to serve on the bank’s Los Angeles branch seven-member board of directors and, for the third consecutive year, was named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “LA500” list of the city’s most influential civic leaders.
Mr. Cordero has practiced law for more than 30 years, specializing in workers’ compensation cases. He holds a law degree from the University of Santa Clara and a Bachelor of Science in political science from California State University, Long Beach.
He has taught Political Science at Long Beach City College, focusing on California politics, and served on the City of Long Beach Community Development Commission. He also was Vice Chair of the City-commissioned Long Beach Ethics Task Force that developed a Code of Ethics for Long Beach City employees, as well as elected and appointed City officials.
Tyson Eckerle
Deputy Director of Zero Emission Vehicle Market Development at Governor's Office of Business and Economic DevelopmentTyson Eckerle serves as the Deputy Director of Zero Emission Vehicle Market Development in the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (Go Biz). In this role, he leads a team focused on scaling the zero emission vehicle market by organizing stakeholder efforts to remove market barriers, create opportunities, and streamline development. Prior to joining Go Biz, Tyson served as Executive Director of Energy Independence Now, a non-profit dedicated to action-oriented solutions to petroleum dependence and climate change.
Tyson holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of California, Davis and a Master of Environmental Science and Management (MESM) from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Angelina Galiteva
California ISO at Board of GovernorsGov. Gavin Newsom reappointed Angelina Galiteva, of Fountain Valley, on March 4, 2020 to a third term on the California Independent System Operator (ISO) Board of Governors that expires on December 31, 2022.
Ms. Galiteva is currently President for NEOptions, Inc., a renewable energy and new technology product design and project development firm. Her industry experience includes serving as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and head of its Green LA, Environmental Affairs and New Product Development Organization. While at the municipal utility, she was responsible for strategic positioning and the environmental compliance departments. Her career includes working with the California ISO and Power Exchange on their initial launches and she also worked as a power analyst for the New York Power Authority.
Ms. Galiteva graduated from Pace University School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree in 1993 and a LL.M. degree in 1994 in Environmental and Energy Law. She specialized in electric utility strategic policy analysis and decision-making focusing on pending industry transition and deregulation issues.
Ms. Galiteva works to advance the deployment of renewable energy and distributed energy technologies worldwide. She also serves as Chairperson of the World Council for Renewable Energy, where she is one of the spokespersons, among other duties.
Tom Searles
Director of Jurupa Valley Technology CenterTom brings over forty years of experience in all aspects of real estate including development, project management, consulting, brokerage, financing (equity and debt), property and asset management, design and entitlement in California. Since 1978, Tom has been directly involved as principal development partner and/or development manager in over 7,000,000 square feet of industrial real estate development. In addition, Tom has structured over $1B in debt and equity financing.
Tom holds a degree in Real Estate Finance and Urban Economics from USC and has taught real estate and development and finance at University of California at Irvine.
Tom has served as on the executive board of the USC Marshall School of Business Partners; Emeritus Chairman of the Board of the USC Davis School of Gerontology, USC Board of Governors (5 years), USC Parents Association President; Vice President, Orange Public Library Foundation (17 years).
Matt Horton
Director, Accelerator for America & Senior Advisor of Milken InstituteMatt Horton is a director at the Milken Institute’s Center for Regional Economics and California Center. In this capacity, he interacts with government officials, business leaders, and other key stakeholders in directing statewide programming and policy initiatives. Horton’s programmatic work identifies a variety of financial tools, public policies, and collaborative models that leaders can deploy to increase investments in education, community development, housing, human capital, and place-based economic development. Previously, Horton worked for the Southern California Association of Governments, the nation’s largest metropolitan planning organization. There, Horton served as the primary point of contact for external and government affairs, coordinating regional policy development with elected officials as well as sub regional, state, and federal stakeholders. In this role, he developed plans with leaders across Southern California to address growth, build resiliency, and improve quality of life.
Despina Niehaus
Director of Strategy at Southern California Gas CompanyDespina Niehaus joined SoCalGas in January 2021 as the Director of Strategic Planning. She leads the analytical work and strategy development of the company’s business transformation and
decarbonization strategy. Prior to joining SoCalGas, Despina held previous roles at SDG&E in Strategic Planning and Regulatory Affairs. Despina holds a BA in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, and a JD from California Western School of Law. She is a member of the State Bar of California.
Hilary Norton
Commissioner at California Transportation Commission and FASTLinkDTLAHilary Norton is the Chairwoman Emeritus of the California Transportation Commission (CTC) and Executive Director of FASTLinkDTLA, the Transportation Management Organization for Downtown Los Angeles.
Hilary was appointed to the CTC by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2019, and elected Chair of the CTC in August 2020. Hilary concluded her second term as Chair on February 28th, 2022. She brings over 30 years of experience in transportation and community development to her Commission role. Ms. Norton’s primary goals as CTC Chair include investing over $5 billion in annual SB1 gas tax and other funds into California’s transportation infrastructure system in order to improve outcomes in equity, mobility across numerous modes, safety, environment/climate change resilience, and economic growth.
As the Executive Director of FASTLinkDTLA – a new Transportation Management Organization (TMO) for Downtown LA (DTLA)– with a goal of reducing single occupant vehicle (SOV) trips in DTLA by 75% by 2030. To achieve this goal, FASTLinkDTLA TMO connects employers and residents to transit, micro-transit and on-demand shuttles, AVP parking, walking and biking options and advocates for new mobility options to be funded to travel to and within DTLA. Through FASTLinkDTLA, Ms. Norton launched one of the first ever in LA County micro-transit systems, connecting travelers through the flexLA multi-mobility app, and connecting new on-demand wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAV), transit, vanpools, carpools, scooters, bike share, biking and walking. FASTLinkDTLA enthusiastically supports the proposed LA Streetcar for DTLA, as well as new Metro rail and bus service planned for DTLA such as the Regional Connector, West Santa Ana Branch and Sixth Street/Arts District Station on the Metro Red/Purple Line.
As Fixing Angelenos Stuck in Traffic (FAST)’s founding Executive Director since 2008, Ms. Norton mobilized a diverse coalition of business, labor, civic groups, educational institutions and transit organizations to support policy and infrastructure improvements to LA’s mobility, livability and economic prosperity. FAST’s primary focuses: 1) Mobility Hubs – carshare, bikeshare, bike parking, EV charging and traveler services at transit stations, job and education centers; 2) comprehensive arterial improvements to improve travel time, encourage mode shift, and promote safety and transit connectivity; 3) Metro ExpressLanes expansion throughout LA County, creating the Metro ExpressLanes Business Roundtable to support the I-110/I-10 pilot corridors; 4) Expanding LA County’s bus rapid transit (BRT) network, especially in her neighborhood of Eagle Rock; and 5) Revitalizing the Arts District in DTLA with new mobility options: the Sixth Street/ Arts District Metro Station, and Sixth Street Viaduct / Sixth Street Park -- the largest bridge reconstruction project in LA’s history, adding bicycle and pedestrian lanes, and connections to the LA River and the Metro Red/Purple Line.
Ms. Norton is President and Managing Partner of Effect Strategies, a full-service strategic communications firm, with clients ranging from biotech/life sciences to innovations in service delivery, clean buildings, and mobility.
Erika Pham
Director of Strategy and Business Development at Mote HydrogenMs. Pham holds a degree in mechanical engineering and has 12 years of experience in the oil, gas and alternative fuels industry. She has successfully managed 30+ alternative energy projects through all phases, from contract execution to commissioning, most notably for hydrogen fueling projects for Orange County Transit Authority and the electrolysis production and fueling facility for Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District, both of which received funding through U.S. Department of Transportation grants. Currently at Mote, she oversees strategic partnerships, DEI efforts, Grant and RFP opportunities, and business development efforts to build a strong pipeline of projects.
Tom Soto
Founder and Managing Partner of Latimer Partners, LLCI am a long-time investor in the impact sector. I was born & raised in East LA County & Pomona, California to two of the state’s most well-respected Latino Civil Rights leaders. My father was Assemblyman Phil Soto, the first Latino elected to the state legislature in 1962. My late mother was Nell Soto, my dad’s campaign manager & the mother to their six children. She was a long time advocate supporting farm worker rights, the environment and labor. She too served the last ten years of her life as a member and leader in the California State Senate.
I have owned four PE funds, and now manage our family investment office, Latimer Partners, LLC with my husband of 18 years, Todd Soto. I’ve stood at the dovetail of energy, tech, cloud based and IoT platforms, renewable energy, and over many Fourth Industrial Revolution driven platforms where technology contributes to improving the human condition using AI, fintech, and blockchain, all well challenging LP’s and tech platforms to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion. Between contributing to climate change initiatives; Clean Air Act Standards and forcing the removal of diesel from municipal procurement processes across the country and the need to decarbonize our economy, this all to promote a political process and regulatory framework needed to establish a clean economy driving the planet into a future of prosperity and abundance.
I am former Chairman of the New America Alliance, the national Latino business initiative seeking to increase access to capital for diverse fund managers; I am a founder and Vice Chair of the LA Clean Tech Incubator and Trustee of the California Science Center and Trustee of the NRDC. I'm also appointee to the California Lithium Valley Commission. After selling my fund, Craton Equity Partners to TCW in 2013, I was the Managing Director of Alternatives at the $198b fund and was an Investment Committee Member of TCW Alternatives. Under mine and my colleagues’ leadership, the TCW alternatives platform grew from $300m in AUM to $10.3b in three years. I am a former member of the board of trustees of the Redwood Mutual Fund, owned by Aspiration where I am a former Sr. Advisor, the country’s fastest growing online bank and financial services platform.
I am a two-time appointee of President Clinton and was the Team Lead for The Executive Office of the President’s Transition Team for the White House Council on Environmental Quality for President Elect Obama and a founding member of the Executive Council for Clean Energy for Biden. We live in Los Angeles, with our thirteen year old son.