OUR TEAM
Staff
Kirk Anne Taylor
Kirk Anne joined CAPS as Executive Director in 2022. She comes to CAPS with more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit management, education, and sustainability.
Meet Kirk Anne
Executive Director
Bill Kelly
Director of Energy & Sustainability Programs, CAPS Founder
Bill is a professional engineer with 25 years of experience working in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy management.
Meet Bill
Juli Miller
Rory Brown
Development Director
Rory joined CAPS as Development Director in July 2024. She comes to CAPS with more than 21 years of experience fundraising experience as both a consultant and director.
Meet Rory
Rhyane Shanley
Rhyane joined CAPS in 2023 and manages the Energy & Sustainability Program in Porterville Unified School District where she supports CAPS interns in developing and implementing an ambitious climate action plan for the district.
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Program Manager
Renée Solari
Senior Project Manager
Renée joined CAPS in 2023 as a senior project manager. Renée has a passion for all things eco-friendly and brings 15 years in education program management and 20 years in the solar industry to her role with CAPS.
Meet Renée
Program Manager
Juli joined CAPS in September 2024 as the Program Manager for Northern Californian school districts. In this role, she focuses on connecting a growing number of student interns with community partners to build more sustainable school districts.
Meet Juli
Board of Directors
Laurie Smith
Board Member, Development Committee Chair
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Laurie is Managing Partner at Chris Turzo and Associates, an executive recruiting firm specializing in renewable energy and decarbonization. Laurie's previous roles include Conservation Director for the Washington Wilderness Coalition, organizing environmental injustice campaigns with the Sierra Club, and a Project Manager for Exloco, where she helped evaluate and fund rural groups working in collaboration with their local communities on natural resource issues.
Raymond Wang
CAPS Alumnx Board Member
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Raymond joined CAPS in October 2024 as a Board Member and alumni of CAPS’s partnership with the Petaluma City Schools District. As a recent high school graduate, he brings his experience working with other students and how best to assist in their development in conjunction with CAPS’s goals. From founding and leading his own STEM education organization to researching hydrogen fuel cell technology, Raymond has a heavy background in both nonprofit development and environmental science. As a student from Northern California, he found a passion for sustainability through his volunteer work in fire evacuation shelters—a frequent occurrence in the area. Whether it be through leading students in grassroot environmental campaigning or creating sustainability curriculum, he is heavily committed to promoting eco-friendly choices in all sectors and levels. In pursuit of this objective, Raymond is studying at Columbia University, where he seeks to deepen his expertise and play an active role in shaping a sustainable future.
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Kevin Schwartz
Secretary
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Kevin Schwartz is a recently retired partner from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) after a 25+ year career focused on helping organizations improve their operations to scale and grow. He is a long-time advocate of youth development and ClimateTech innovation and serves as a Limited Partner with Voyager Ventures, a leading venture fund focused exclusively on startups driving the decarbonization revolution. For ~7 years, Kevin served as Treasurer and Board Member for Justice Outside (formerly Youth Outside) as it grew from a small non-profit startup focused in Northern California with annual income of <$100,000 to a thriving national entity bringing in and deploying annual grants and donations of $2–5M. He lives with his family (and dog) in the Oakland, CA area and loves spending time in the great outdoors, particularly Yosemite National Park.
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Keith Coleman
Board Member
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Keith’s service as a distinguished visiting scholar for mediaX at Stanford University focused on interdisciplinary thought leadership. A governmental affairs, ed tech, and economic research intermediary, Keith’s role advances strategy examining the nexus between policy and innovation. Keith serves as a board trustee of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, on the Executive Board of the LA County School Teachers Association, and as a member of the Delegate Assembly for the CA School Boards Association.
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Laura Rodriguez
Board Member
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Laura Rodriguez is an Equity, Justice, Inclusion consultant supporting the non-profit and philanthropic sectors to transform their strategies, shift culture, and build authentic relationships with their communities. Laura is also a professional coach, supporting individuals from executive leaders to entry level professionals engage in the deep self-reflection and personal growth necessary to advance equity and inclusion with mindfulness, courage, humility, and personal accountability. Laura’s previous roles include Chief Program Officer, Director of Programs, and Program Officer at Justice Outside; working on equitable access to the outdoors, environmental justice, and trust-based philanthropy. Prior to that, she was Program Manager, and Career Counselor at the SEIU-UHW West & Joint Employer Education Fund, supporting healthcare workers to pursue their career goals and access higher education for career mobility.
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Taylor Simonich
CAPS Alumnx Board Member
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Taylor Simonich is obtaining her B.S. in Environmental Science from UCLA and will graduate in the spring of 2025. She first got involved with CAPS in 2019 as a student intern in the PUSD program. This experience shaped her career objectives, and after graduation, she hopes to obtain a role in sustainability consulting or environmental education.
At UCLA, Taylor interned with the USDA Forest Service, conducted marine and terrestrial research in Australia, led projects as a consultant and project manager for Clean Consulting, and served as the president of Peaks & Professors. In her free time, Taylor enjoys hiking, cooking, and attending concerts.
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Mikayla Hart
Vice President
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Mikayla Hart is a Founding Partner and Chief Sustainability Officer at Congruence Capital, working to redefine impact investing in public markets by demonstrating that sustainability and financial returns are congruent objectives. Mikayla previously spent a decade in corporate sustainability strategy consulting, leading Accenture's North America's practice, advising Fortune 500 companies on strategic sustainable value creation, and publishing various pieces of thought leadership alongside organizations such as the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Matt Rhodes
Treasurer
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The chief financial officer at Watermark, Matt’s most recent role was vice president, corporate finance, and treasurer, and he previously served as head of finance for the ProConnect Group business unit and led investor relations and corporate finance, planning, and analysis.
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Alisa MacAvoy
Governance & Nominating Committee Chair, & CAPS Founder
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Alisa is a founder of CAPS and the Region 5 Director to the California School Boards Association. With over 30 years of experience advocating for public education, human health, and the environment, Alisa has notably passed a facilities bond measure for her local school district to help make energy efficiency upgrades and implement solar power. She began her professional career at the US Environmental Protection Agency and later started volunteering in her daughters’ schools. Fourteen years ago, she was elected to the Redwood City School District Board.
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Roman Stearns
Board Member
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Roman is the founder and executive director of Scaling Student Success. After 10 years serving as a public school teacher, Roman has spent the past 20+ years successfully directing large-scale, multi-faceted projects and partnerships focused on systemic educational transformation in California, designed to make real-world learning the norm for the vast majority of students.
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Ben Wilson
President
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With over 30 years at the intersection of public health and technology in general and nonprofit management, sales and marketing, and product management, Ben is the VP of sales and marketing at Together Senior Health, which strives to improve the lives of people with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
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Advisory Council
Merrian Borgeson
Senior Scientist at the NRDC
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Merrian is one of California’s leading scientists and policy experts working to create a safe and affordable zero-emission energy system. Merrian specializes in designing policies to achieve significant emissions reductions from buildings, transportation, and the power sector. She is a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
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Allen Brown
CAPS Founder
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Allen is a founder of CAPS. Since 2019, Allen has helped to lead CAPS development. He has over 20 years of professional experience promoting the development of solar power and has worked on creating solar projects for K-12 school districts.
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Cindy Brown
Director of Pathways for Porterville Unified School District
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Cindy is the director of pathways for Porterville Unified School District. She has 35 years of experience in education, including leading her school district in their district-wide implementation of Linked Learning Pathways Program and securing over $46 million in grant funding through private companies.
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Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez
Deputy Director at Californians Together
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Xilonin is the Deputy Director for Californians Together, where she provides educators with tools and resources to foster a safe and inclusive learning environment for immigrant and refugee students. Xilonin is a trustee of the Azusa Unified School District in east Los Angeles County and the daughter of a Mexican immigrant. She has been an active member of the California School Boards Association (CSBA), having served as President-elect, Vice President, and on the CSBA Board of Directors representing the greater San Gabriel Valley.
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David Hochschild
Chair of the California Energy Commission
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David is chair of the California Energy Commission, appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in February 2019. David’s career has spanned public service, environmental advocacy, and the private sector. David is a founder of the Vote Solar Initiative, a 60,000-member advocacy organization promoting solar policies at the local, state, and federal levels.
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Founder of Raise Ready Kids & GreatSchools, Inc.
Bill Jackson
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Bill founded Raise Ready Kids, which helps families raise kids with the skills and character strengths they will need to thrive as adults. He also serves as an entrepreneur-in-residence at New Profit, where he co-leads the Postsecondary Innovation for Equity Initiative. Previously, Bill founded and served as CEO of GreatSchools, the nation’s leading guide to K-12 schools and education.
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Joel Schatz
Global Futurist & Entrepreneur
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Joel is an accomplished entrepreneur and global futurist with extensive expertise in climate change, data integration, global telecommunications, renewable energy, and environmental policy. Joel served as an energy adviser to the Governor of Oregon and was the founder and director of the first state government energy planning office in the United States.
Estefanía Pihen González
Chief of Education and Learning at California Academy of Sciences
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Estefanía has worked in sustainability education for over 15 years. Her previous experiences include founding and operating a K-12 green school and working as a research intern at the Institute for the Built Environment. Estefanía has served as Program Director for CAPS from 2023-2024.
Michael Schmier
Chief Product Officer at Study.com
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Michael is the chief product officer at Study.com, with over 25 years of experience in growing businesses and product platforms across various technologies, industries, and company stages. Michael is responsible for the company's product vision and strategy to address the needs of all Study.com learners, from college and high school students to test prep, homeschoolers, and teachers.
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Haydn Wain-Lowe
Associate at Boston Consulting Group
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Haydn is an Associate at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consultancy firm that partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges.
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