Angela Lugo-Thomas is an active community member and is a member of Soulardarity, GirlTrek, Belle Isle Concern, RicanStruction Drum & Dance Group, Keep Growing Detroit, Detroit People’s Food Co-op and the Highland Park Arts & Cultural Council.
Brian Donovan has been a community organizer for most of his life working in areas ranging from environment sustainability, campaign finance, and electoral politics.
Bridget Saunders Vial is the Work for Me, DTE! organizer with the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition. She believes that community control of our energy, centered in communities most impacted by DTE pollution and rate hikes, advances secure homes, racial and economic justice, and resilience to climate change for all of us.
Douglas Elbinger is an energy professional with an extensive record of achievement focused on marketing, public relations, team building, and exceptional customer service.
President and Chief Executive Officer of Revitalize Charging Solutions, Edward Morgan held the position of CEO of EM Computers, LLC in which he was responsible for helping EM Computers successfully launch their first store.
Gracie Wooten is a long-time resident of Highland Park and a retired Detroit Public School teacher. She continues to be involved in education as a member of the General Baker Institute which holds political education classes for the community.
As regional director, John Delurey coordinates campaigns for Vote Solar’s legislative and regulatory priorities throughout the Midwest. Prior to joining Vote Solar, John built a program for a residential solar company that enabled under served and environmental justice communities to access rooftop solar.
Dr. Jose Alfaro Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Michigan School of Environment and Sustainability. Dr. Alfaro’s work uses engineering and complex systems tools such as Agent-Based Modeling, System Dynamics, and Network Science.
Justin Schott has served as Executive Director of EcoWorks since 2015. He is an avid social entrepreneur and a recognized sustainability leader in Detroit.
Marian Kramer-Baker has been in the front lines of the welfare rights and civil rights movement from its origin in the 1960s. She is Co-chair of the National Welfare Rights Union (NWRU) an organization of, by, and for the poor in America. She is a leader in the struggle to turn water back on for low-income Highland Park and Detroit families who had their water shut off for non-payment.
Sylvia Orduño is an anti-poverty organizer with Michigan Welfare Rights Organization who’s worked for more than two decades at local, state and national levels to address unjust policies that impact low-income people.
Thomas Van Heeke is Policy Lead for Mobility and Climate Change at General Motors. In this role, Tom works to advance GM’s policy considerations related to the decarbonization of the transportation sector, as well as urban mobility issues, products, and services.
Gibran Washington is the manager of Eco-D at EcoWorks in Detroit. He holds a Masters of Science in Geology from Wayne State University and a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Wayne State University. His research experience focused on geochemistry, mineral resource exploration, GIS and data analysis has taken him throughout North America from northern Ontario to Nevada. His previous roles include serving as a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow with Detroit Public Schools in STEM education, team leader for the Student
Robert Rafson Chart House Energy founder and President has 27 years experience in environmental engineering, design, construction and operation of over 150 environmental improvement projects in the United States and abroad. Mr. Rafson has achieved recognition in energy efficiency, patented innovative soil remediation technology, gaseous emission controls and Brownfield redevelopment. He has also supervised the redevelopment of 17 contaminated properties including four superfund projects in the Chicago area and since 2006 has been developing renewable energy systems under Rafson Engineering, including the largest solar thermal system in Illinois. Mr. Rafson has authored the authoritative text “Brownfield” – Redeveloping environmentally contaminated properties, published June 1999 with McGraw-Hill. He has graduated form University of Wisconsin/Madison with a Mechanical Engineering degree. He is also a licensed Professional Engineer.
Gary Lee President and CEO of Lee & Company, LLC – Consulting Engineers Gary serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of LEE & Company, LLC. He has had a distinguished professional engineering career marked by the successful completion of hundreds of civil and environmental engineering projects for public and private clients across the United States and beyond. He has extensive experience in the preparation of independent engineering reports for financing facilities, and conducting rate studies for utilities. He has served as Principal-In-Charge and lead design engineer over a wide range of infrastructure projects that have included advanced water and wastewater treatment technologies with complex financing, permitting and regulatory compliance issues.
Tony Johnson is a Michigan native and recent graduate of Western Washington University with a Geology degree. He spent 3 incredible & intense years with Safe Passage in Guatemala City teaching, mentoring, and helping feed the children and families, once displaced by a brutal 40-year civil war, who now survive by recycling anything and everything from the national dump, once monikered “the Mine”. He brings this experience and compassion to BoR as secretary for the Board and general go-to guy when something needs to be done. He is working toward starting his own NGO in Guatemala to focus on the unaddressed issues he witnessed while working with vulnerable youth there.
Diane Van Buren has a passion for using the natural and built environment resources of Detroit. She has restored several commercial buildings in Detroit that employ solar PV, geothermal, solar thermal, and energy efficiency to supply the building’s energy needs. Her current planning focus is on redeveloping an old warehouse on a mostly vacant block of Detroit to be energy independent and redeveloped using all recycled material and renewable energy proving the concept of the circular environment and economy. In both business and volunteer communities, Diane is consistently seeking to “move the needle on solar power accessibility in Michigan. She is co-owner of D2 Solar LLC is a Detroit-based and woman-owned company. Working on solar policy and advocacy, she is co-chair of the Detroit Green Task Force Renewable Energy Committee and a board member of the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association.
