Meet Our Team

Aaron has been in Information Technology for 20 years and in the utility industry for the last 15 years. As Director of IT Operations at the Electric Reliability of Council of Texas (ERCOT), Aaron was responsible for the multi-data center IT operations of ERCOT’s real-time grid and market systems, deregulated retail market systems, Enterprise Data Warehouse, systems integration, and market settlement systems. In other roles at ERCOT he led business/technology alignment, IT strategy development, program financial management for the Texas Nodal Market Implementation, IT stakeholder relationship management, and the IT divisional project office.

Prior to ERCOT, Aaron was responsible for managing the relationship between IT and utility business units at Aquila, Inc., working with utility and IT leaders to ensure that IT services were aligned with business objectives and that IT was positioned to support their needs.

Phone: 202.871.7414     Email: [email protected]

Andrew joined SEPA in September 2022 and works with data from many aspects of the organization to help coworkers and SEPA members get as much information as possible from our datasets. He will assist in finalizing the UTC Report Cards and managing SEPA’s salesforce environment. Before joining SEPA he completed a Master’s in Biology at Wesleyan University and studied Earth & Environmental Science during his undergraduate degree.

In his free time, Andrew is an avid outdoorsman with a passion for nature, backpacking, biking, and skiing.

Andrew Jerdonek is an experienced non-profit management professional who has worked in the medical, pharmaceutical, and energy industries. A former Executive Director of the American College of Medical Quality, and Director, Education for Solar Power Events, Andrew has a keen interest in leading collaborative, boundary-spanning initiatives that work to define and improve the quality and productivity of the industries they serve.

Andrew earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Mary Washington and is a Certified Association Executive.

Phone: 202.602.6583     Email: [email protected]

Anita Bonner Joined SEPA in January, 2015 as a Finance and Operations Associate to ensure the daily operations at SEPA, run smoothly.

With more than 15 years of experience in the Administrative arena, prior experience includes being the Administrative Assistant for one of the most recognize Volunteer Programs in the nation – the “President’s Volunteer Service Awards” and Anita was also a recipient of the award – with more than 4000 hours of volunteer service.

Anita also held positions with the Meltech Corporation, US Department of Labor, State Farm Insurance, US Courts, National Urban League and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Anita has also volunteered her time at Martha’s Table and DC Central Kitchen. Anita truly enjoys helping others – wherever and whenever she can.

The highlight(s) of Anita’s life are her grandkids (and shoes)

Phone: 202.559.1536     Email: [email protected]

Ann joined SEPA in December 2021. She supports all aspects of the Utility Transformation Challenge along with other research and advisory services on utility sector decarbonization.

Ann brings nine years of research expertise. Previously, she served as a research and evaluation project manager at Opinion Dynamics (advising utilities and stakeholders on energy efficiency, customer engagement, and other topics), and as an economic analyst at Abt Associates (supporting environmental policy development via quantitative modeling).

She holds a M.S. in Resource Economics & Policy from the University of Maine and a B.S. in Biology from Bates College. Based in Massachusetts, Ann spends her free time gardening and exploring New England with her family.

Ayomide joined SEPA in November 2019, and is responsible for maintaining financial reports and records. He has years of experience in accounting services for both private and public organizations. He has a B.Sc. Accounting from the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria, and is an Associate Member, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. He is currently studying to upgrade this to CPA. His personal interests include volunteering his services in financial aspects for his church and spending time with family.

Phone: 202.869.4384     Email: [email protected]

Brittany joined SEPA in June 2021 as a Research and Industry Strategy Analyst after having worked on a collaborative Microgrid Tariff whitepaper with SEPA. In her role, Brittany supports SEPA’s research projects on topics including distribution resource planning and managed electric vehicle charging. Prior to joining SEPA, she interned for Newport Consulting on projects pertaining to microgrid business models, net-metering tariff revisions, and transmission & distribution surveys.

Brittany holds a MS in Energy Systems Management from the University of San Francisco and a BS/MS in Biotechnology from the University of Nevada, Reno. In her free time, Brittany can often be found reading, hiking in the mountains around Lake Tahoe, and enjoying botanical gardens.

Phone: 202.595.1147     Email: [email protected]

Carina joined SEPA in January of 2023. She works across the organization as a writer and copy editor to help communicate technical topics clearly and concisely to a broad range of audiences. Carina joins SEPA from E4TheFuture, where she advocated for policies supporting the residential energy efficiency sector.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Colby College, where she completed an interdisciplinary major with a focus on environmental policy and public health.

Outside of work Carina enjoys hiking, cross-country skiing, and rock climbing.

Carolyn joined SEPA in March 2021 as an analyst after having worked as an intern on SEPA’s Regional Microgrids for Resilience Study with the Kentucky Office of Energy Policy. In her role, she supports federal research projects, state resiliency efforts, and utility electrification program development. Carolyn enjoys utilizing GIS analysis to evaluate spatial data, identify locations of vulnerability in the grid, and inform solution development.

Prior to joining SEPA, Carolyn attended the University of North Carolina Wilmington where she received her B.S. in Environmental Science with minors in sustainability and geospatial technologies in 2020. She is currently pursuing her M.S. in Energy Policy and Climate at Johns Hopkins University. In her free time, Carolyn enjoys camping, hiking, DIY projects, and collecting sea glass at the beach.

Phone: 202.688.3146     Email: [email protected]

Charisse joined SEPA in 2013. As manager of member services, she leads all administrative components of membership. She’s accountable for developing and implementing procedures to ensure accuracy of membership records including member engagement, trends, and overall integrity. Prior to SEPA, Charisse served as Membership & Sponsorship Account Manager for the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA). She also held the position of Membership Specialist for the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).

Charisse brings more than 15 years of membership services experience to SEPA.

Phone: 202.559.2024     Email: [email protected]

Cynthia Hunt Jaehne is the Senior Director of Programs and Events and oversees SEPA’s conferences, RE+ events, executive programs, working group communities, and online learning. Cynthia’s experience includes strategic planning, project management, education program development, and member engagement. She understands the technologies, approaches, and deployment of clean energy assets to reach a carbon-free future and the power of collaboration of key stakeholders to achieve the energy transition.

Prior to joining SEPA, Cynthia was a Project Manager for Morse Associates, Inc. a consultancy in Washington, DC where Cynthia gained more than 10 years of experience managing utility-scale solar PV and CSP studies and initiatives for a number of clients both in the U.S. and internationally.

Outside of her professional work and interests, Cynthia’s family and dogs keep her busy. She is a comedy-loving movie nerd, a voracious reader, and a classically trained pianist who should practice more.

Phone: 202.595.1148     Email: [email protected]

Daisy Chung joined SEPA in 2014. She focuses on utility deployment at the distribution level, with specialty in asset management and operations & maintenance. She also collaborates with industry stakeholders such as electric service providers and integrators.

Daisy comes with seven years of thin‐films engineering, process implementation, as well as technical knowledge transfer experience from Samsung. Through her global experience, she specialized in system start‐ups, qualification, standardization, and failure and root-cause analysis through Six Sigma data analytics and system monitoring strategies.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, with minors in Business Foundation and Chinese Language from the University of Texas; she is also an honor’s graduate of the Master in International Public Affairs program, specializing in Energy Analysis and Policy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Longhorns and badgers play nicely together in her household.

Phone: 202.559.2027     Email: [email protected]

Damali started her role as a contractor with SEPA in August 2021 and became an official SEPA employee in August 2022. Damali assists the marketing department with website maintenance and administration and email marketing.

Damali has a Bachelors of Arts degree in Mass Communications and Public Relations from Virginia State University. She has previous experience with social media marketing for small businesses, event assistance, and fundraising for non-profit organizations.

Damali is a new mom who lives in Washington DC with her partner and infant daughter. She has a keen interest in holistic wellness and enjoys taking walks, yoga, reading, and traveling.

Denise joined SEPA in May 2023. With 25 years of customer service, she finds a meaningful purpose in helping people help the world. Prior to joining SEPA, she spent the last two years at a biotechnology research company working as a transformation, strategy, and continuous process improvement consultant in Quality and Regulatory. She has five years of utility experience working with distributed energy resources and operations at Tucson Electric Power, where she worked to inspect solar and battery storage systems. That led her to be a part of a process to harmonize utility standards locally and statewide in Arizona. She has served in financial and project management roles for different industries such as government, non-profit, corporate, and construction.

Denise has a Bachelor of Organizational Management and a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Arizona Global Campus.

Denise lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her daughter and mother. She enjoys a work-life balance with health and wellness activities. In her free time, she practices as a licensed massage therapist for family and friends. Her new hobby is learning how to conquer her fear of heights at the rock-climbing gym.

Devyn (she/her) joined in April of 2023 and is working to elevate SEPA’s social media presence and assist in creating SEPA TV productions. She also supports the MarCom team with various engagement efforts.

Prior to joining the SEPA team, Devyn worked for large, science-based institutions as a climate communications specialist and as a social media manager for small businesses.

Outside work, Devyn is an avid CrossFitter and enjoys exploring new sushi bars.

Drake joined SEPA in November 2021, and works on the Electrification team. Prior to joining SEPA he worked at the Arizona Corporation Commission on a broad range of utility regulatory filings. Most notably he led the Commission’s work on developing a policy statement and implementation plan for expanding electric vehicles, electric vehicle infrastructure, and the electrification of the transportation sector in Arizona.

Drake holds a B.S. in Sustainability and a P.S.M. in Solar Energy Engineering & Commercialization from Arizona State University.

Drake is a lifelong resident of Phoenix, Arizona and outside of work he enjoys playing volleyball, hiking at sunset, and visiting the beautiful national parks around the country.

Elizabeth started her role as a contractor with SEPA in September 2022 and became an official SEPA employee in January 2023. She directs her enthusiasm at promoting user enablement & providing technical support across SEPA’s network of cloud-based applications.

Elizabeth is a business process analyst with 18 years of experience working across multiple business sectors in various industries. She specializes in business process mapping, analytics, and technical writing. She acquired Microsoft and JavaScript certifications and has an unsurpassable organizational skillset and a genuine love of technology.

Raised a competitive athlete, Elizabeth enjoyed teaching barre into adulthood until an injury forced her early retirement. She continues her yoga practice and remains active as a volunteer within the animal rescue community. She is also an intensely loyal, if not occasionally terrifying, fan of professional ice hockey. Go Bruins!

Ella joined SEPA in August 2022, and brings nearly a decade of experience in public relations and strategic marketing to businesses in a variety of industries. She works to shape the marketing strategy and execution for SEPA research products, educational programming, and engagement initiatives.

Ella holds an MH in Public Relations from Tiffin University, and has assisted transitions towards audience engagement success and growth as well as cross-department project management.

She is an avid sci-fi reader who enjoys the outdoors and resides in Greenville, SC with her dog, Jones.

Fatima joined SEPA in April of 2022. In her role, she’s responsible for providing superior member experience and customer service, including supporting the SEPA Membership team renewal and retention process. A graduate of William Paterson University, Fatima received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and English. She has years of experience in various customer service roles and experience as a freelance writer for numerous publications and organizations.

Frank Grace graduated from Virginia Tech in 2009 with a major in public relations and a minor in political science. Prior to joining SEPA, Frank interned on Capitol Hill for Congressman Connolly’s office. He also interned for Senator Whitehouse in 2007 and for Morgan Stanley in 2006.

Phone: 202.280.1557     Email: [email protected]

Garrett joined SEPA in 2021 as Principal, Electrification. He leads SEPAs work focused on the beneficial electrification of transportation and buildings. Garrett collaborates with the other SEPA focus area teams to help utilities and other stakeholders navigate a smooth transition to a highly electrified and low-carbon future.

Prior to joining SEPA, Garrett spent 8 years working at Rocky Mountain Institute. While at RMI, he built and led the electricity program in India that works to accelerate the integration of electric vehicles and clean energy portfolios. During his tenure at RMI, Garrett managed the Fleet Electrification program, co-led the EV-Grid initiative, and was deeply engaged in work related to energy storage, distributed solar, and load flexibility. He has extensive expertise in technical and business model aspects of EV charging infrastructure, EV-specific tariff design, energy storage, and demand side flexibility.

Garrett holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Santa Clara University and a MS and Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Engineering from Columbia University.

Garrett is passionate about the environment and is an enthusiastic snowboarder, mountain biker, and general lover of the outdoors. He resides in the small town of Carbondale, Colorado with his wife Amy and his toddler son Noah.

Phone: 202.379.1615     Email: [email protected]

Heather joined the SEPA team in August 2021.  Heather provides support to the Senior Director, Programming and other SEPA staff members in the development of high-quality online and in-person business, networking, and professional development programs for SEPA members and attendees.

Heather brings her background in technology, meetings and events, and education to her role at SEPA. She has a B.S. and M.S. in Hospitality Management from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She is also a part-time instructor at UNLV, educating future leaders in the meetings industry.

When not working, Heather can be found enjoying the outdoors with her family.

Phone: 202.869.4388     Email: [email protected]

Janne joined SEPA in January 2023 as a Research and Industry Strategy Analyst. In her role, she supports research projects on topics including distributed energy resources and building electrification. Before joining SEPA, Janne worked as a GIS Support Analyst with Arizona Public Services and interned with RE+ Events.

Janne holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geoscience and Environmental Studies from Hobart & William Smith Colleges. In her free time, Janne enjoys cooking, playing soccer, and traveling.

Jared joined SEPA in 2017. In his role, he develops strategic plans for programs, products, and service offerings for utility and industry stakeholder members and clients that facilitate the integration of distributed energy resources, non-wires alternatives and microgrids onto the modern grid. Jared leads SEPA’s Microgrids Working Group and co-led D.C. Public Service Commission’s grid modernization working groups.

Prior to joining SEPA, he spent several years working as an environmental engineer and consultant for utility, municipal and commercial clients in the energy and water sectors.

He has a MS, Energy Policy and Climate from Johns Hopkins University, and a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Outside of business hours, Jared enjoys skiing, hiking and spending time in the great outdoors.

Phone: (202) 609-8938     Email: [email protected]