Jisung Park, President & Co-Founder
PhD Candidate in Economics, Harvard University
MSc in Development Economics, MSc in Environmental Change and Management, Oxford University
BA in Economics and Political Science, Columbia University
Jisung Park is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Fielding School of Public Health and UCLA.
A native of Lawrence, Kansas, and Seoul, South Korea, Jisung received his undergraduate education in economics and political science from Columbia University (’09), and attended Masters programs in Environmental Change and Management (’10) and Development Economics (’11) at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship (New York, 2009). In his free time, he most enjoys hiking in nature, playing pick-up basketball, and appreciating the company of family and friends.
James Hacker, Treasurer
MPA, Syracuse University
BA in International Affairs and Economics, The George Washington University
James is currently a policy analyst for the California Legislature. He is a graduate of George Washington University and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, where he was the Alvin L. Alm Scholar in Environmental Policy, the L. Edgar Prina Scholar in Journalism for the Public Interest, and a Research Associate in the Center for Environmental Policy and Administration. Prior to Maxwell, James worked as a management consultant with Deloitte Consulting, where he specialized in energy management, sustainable infrastructure, and human capital. He has been involved with Sense & Sustainability since 2010, and served as Editor-in-Chief from 2013 to 2014. His work has appeared on Bloomberg.com, S&S, and EnvironmentalLeader.com. In his free time you can find him reading, running, camping, or hanging off the side of a mountain somewhere.
Ratna Gill, Secretary of the Board
BA in Economics, Harvard College
Ratna Gill is a Coordinator for Collective Impact at Living Cities, a non-profit collaborative of 18 of the largest financial institutions in the U.S. that does research on what it will take to achieve dramatically better results for-low income people at a faster pace. She captures learnings from projects implemented in cities across the country to share lessons learned with the organization and the urban development field as a whole.
Prior to her work with Living Cities, Ratna was the Chief of Staff of Sense & Sustainability. Ratna has worked with the Business Outreach Center Network in Brooklyn, the Environmental Defense Fund in Boston, The Nature Conservancy in Bogotá, and the urban development think tank Centro Mario Molina in Mexico City. With a deep interest in issues affecting children and youth, Ratna took a gap year before college during which she interned with Sasha Bruce Youthwork in Washington, D.C., taught Latin at her high school in Virginia, and worked to expand Gyaan Ghar, a learning center she established in 2008 to provide supplementary education to low-income youth in Ludhiana, India.
A. Patrick Behrer
PhD Candidate in Public Policy, Harvard University
MS in Resource Economics, Colorado State University
PgDip in Environmental Management & Policy, Victoria University of Wellington
BA in Economics, Harvard University
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Patrick is currently a PhD Candidate in Public Policy at Harvard University, where he was an EPA Fellow (STAR) and is a Harvard Environmental Economics Fellow (HEEP). His focus area is Environmental and Resource Economics and his research focuses on the interaction between the environment and economic development.
Prior to coming to Harvard Patrick completed a masters degree in resource economics at Colorado State University and served as a research assistant in the Water & Energy for the Environment Lab (WE3) at Carnegie Mellon examining water usage in hydraulic fracturing in the United States. Prior to enrolling in Colorado State, Patrick spent a year in New Zealand on a Fulbright Fellowship focusing on the intersection of water, clean energy development, and economic growth. A 2009 graduate of Harvard, his free time is occupied by skiing or backpacking around New England.
Caroline Park
BA in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Harvard College
Caroline hails from the tiny town of Whippany, New Jersey. She is currently at the University of Melbourne on a U.S. Fulbright Anne Wexler Scholarship in Public Policy. During her undergraduate years, she studied metabolic syndrome at the Cowan Laboratory of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. As a Herchel Smith Fellow in 2016, she focused on the effects of maternal malnutrition on fetal development. An avid traveler, Caroline has worked on various humanitarian projects throughout Southeast Asia and southern Africa. When she is not working, she can be found jogging around town, eating something spicy, or rooting for the New York Mets.
Sarah Davidson
BA in Political Science, Colorado College
Sarah Davidson is a Senior Associate at NY Green Bank where she provides investment, portfolio management, and operations support while focusing on communications and external affairs.
Prior to NY Green Bank, Ms. Davidson was a special assistant to Richard Kauffman, Chairman of Energy and Finance for the State of New York. She supported the Chairman in developing and implementing a strategic plan to scale up clean energy, enhance New York’s competitiveness for clean energy business, and make the State’s energy systems more resilient and reliable.
Ms. Davidson holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Colorado College. She also serves on the advisory boards of the Environmental Film Festival and the S.S. Columbia Project.
Butch Frey
BA in Political Science, Miami University of Ohio
Butch is an organizer, advocate and activist. He most recently served as the GOTV Director for the Kentucky Democratic Party, after working in multiple senior roles on Clay Pell for Governor in Providence, RI during the 2014 election cycle. Growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, he was inspired to the join the Obama campaign in 2007, and worked as a field organizer on the primary and general election campaigns. From 2010-2011, Butch served as Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Small Business Administration. He joined the Department of Energy in the fall of 2011 as an advisor to the Under Secretary of Nuclear Security, before becoming a Special Assistant for Public Engagement for the Secretary of Energy. In the 2012 election, Butch returned to the Obama reelection campaign as the Regional GOTV Director for Cincinnati, OH. After leaving the Administration, he went on to help establish Spark Clean Energy in 2013 with colleagues, and continues working to help young people find solutions to our generation’s toughest problems. He continues to serve on the Board of Directors of Spark, as well as the faculty of Institute for Compassionate Leadership. Butch holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Miami University of Ohio. Finally, he is passionate about good food, great music, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Sarah Jane Maxted
BA in Public Policy and Cultural Anthropology, Duke University
Sarah Jane Maxted is an industry cluster and innovation ecosystem specialist with 10 years of professional experience in research, business development and project management. She has spent significant time in the energy and environmental sector, including oil and gas, power and utilities, energy efficiency and renewable energy. She has led research and analysis and business development efforts for both public and private sector entities including Deloitte’s energy practice and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and DOE National Laboratories. She developed and ran the inaugural U.S. Department of Energy National Clean Energy Business Plan; helping 750+ start-ups form and 70 ventures that have raised over $40M in follow-on funding.
Currently, she is the Executive Director for MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (MIT REAP); focusing on economic growth for specific global regions through innovation-driven entrepreneurship. Most recently, she managed Harvard Business School’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness (ISC) U.S. Cluster Mapping Project; focusing on broader industry cluster growth and regional economic development under the direction of Professor Michael Porter. Outside of formal engagements listed below, she also strategically advises and independently contracts to energy start-up companies as well as incubator/accelerators and prize/challenge initiatives globally.
Originally from Colorado, she went to Duke University where she double majored in Energy Policy and Cultural Anthropology; Minor in Dance. She has also spent significant time in Washington, D.C. working for President Obama’s Administration.
Helen D. Silver
Helen D. Silver is an attorney specializing in environmental and sustainability issues, in particular climate change. She currently serves as President of the Board of Directors for Biodiversity for a Livable Climate, a non-profit organization that she co-founded. She has worked with national and regional nonprofits to develop and advocate for effective climate change and other environmental policies in a wide variety of contexts, including with U.S. EPA. She has served on subgroups of the Clean Air Act federal advisory group and other stakeholder groups charged with developing policy recommendations. Helen also has significant expertise with respect to carbon accounting policies, in particular with respect to biomass and biofuels policies. She has represented nonprofits in ensuing litigation before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, advised private sector companies on environmental policy and compliance issues, and worked with countries to resolve international environmental disputes, including before the International Court of Justice. In her free time, Helen enjoys fly fishing, hiking, cooking, and visiting farmers markets.