Staff

Peter Rothstein, President

Peter is President of the New England Clean Energy Council and has many years of venture, entrepreneurial, executive and deal experience across the cleantech venture market. Previously, Peter was part of the Flagship Ventures team, a leading seed and early stage venture capital firm in Cambridge Massachusetts, and founder of Allegro Strategy, a consultant, advisor and interim executive with early-stage cleantech start-ups. Peter has been in early-stage deal or executive roles with a number of cleantech companies, including Mascoma, Planar Energy Devices, Ze-gen, Novomer, Boston-Power, and Mechanology. Peter is actively involved in a range of leading cleantech and entrepreneurial organizations, including the National Renewable Energy Lab’s VC Advisory Board, catalyst to MIT Deshpande Center solar and energy storage MIT projects, and a Board member of the Cleantech Open.

Andrew Wilson, Executive Director, NECEC Institute

Andrew is Executive Director of the NECEC Institute, joining the organization in November of 2011. Prior to the NECEC Institute, Andrew was the President and CEO of SpectraWatt, a solar cell manufacturing firm in New York, which he led from inception as a new business venture inside of Intel Corporation through its spin-out and growth. Prior to developing and leading the solar enterprise, Andrew spent 12 years at Intel in various strategic finance and general management roles. In addition, Andrew is active in the Clean Tech Open, serves on the Board of Directors of The Solar Energy Consortium in New York, and has served as strategic advisor to numerous clean-tech startups.

Andrew graduated with a BA from Tufts University and an MBA, with Honors, from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. 

 

Kitty Kennedy, Vice President of Operations and Membership

Kitty is VP, Operations and Membership of the New England Clean Energy Council, having joined the organization in May 2012.  She has over two decades experience managing professional organizations. Most recently as CEO, she oversaw the strategic development of one of the largest societies within the investment industry, the Boston Security Analysts Society.  Prior to that, Kitty helped manage a large trade association in the real estate industry, located in Boston. Her career also includes management of thousands of events, establishing and maintaining key partnerships, marketing to global audiences, and building brand awareness. 

Kitty is a graduate of Emerson College with a degree in Communications.  

Janet Gail Besser, Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs

Janet brings deep expertise and credibility to lead NECEC’s policy and government relations efforts. Most recently she was Vice President of Regulatory Strategy and Policy at National Grid, and previously was Chair of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. Janet has been in senior roles in the Massachusetts Energy Office and New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission, and has been an executive and expert consultant on electricity markets, transmission, policy and economics at two leading consulting firms: Analysis Group and Lexecon. She also brings experience as policy director for a DC-based national independent power industry association, and is a nationally recognized expert on a wide range of energy policy issues with deep relationships across the industry.

Jennifer Donahue, Communications Director

Jennifer is Communications Director for the NECEC, handling outreach to promote the clean energy industry.

Jennifer has covered national and New England politics since 1989 as a journalist and academic. She has taught politics at Suffolk University and Gettysburg College, and as a Harvard University Institute of Politics Fellow. From 2002 to 2009, Jennifer worked at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College and was instrumental to its growth and branding. 

As a journalist, Jennifer covered the 2000 presidential race for a New Hampshire TV station, and as an on-air analyst for MSNBC. She covered the 1996 race for CNN and the 1992 presidential race for C-SPAN. Jennifer has appeared on every major broadcast network news show, as well as CNN, MSNBC, FOX, NPR, and the BBC. 

From 1992 to 1996, Jennifer worked as a press secretary for U.S. Senator Hank Brown. She is a graduate of Cornell University.

Kimberly Herb, Innovation Program Manager

Kim is Innovation Program Manager at the NECEC Institute, joining the company in January 2012. She brings experience as a business owner and policy analyst and many years of expertise in the clean energy industry. Until recently she was the Principal of Cork Tree Consulting, an energy and climate policy consulting firm in Durango, Colorado, where she worked in the areas of regional energy policy, clean energy pricing, demand side management, climate change adaptation, and clean energy program evaluation. As the Innovation Program Manager, she will be working on implementing components of the Institute’s Cleantech Innovations New England program.


She has a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a certificate in Energy Analysis and Policy from the Gaylord Nelson School for Environmental Studies, as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy from St. John’s College. Kim currently serves on the STAR Community Index Energy and Climate Technical Advisory Committee and previously served as the chair of the Smart Energy Committee of the Sustainability Alliance of Southwest Colorado.

Scott Szycher, Membership and Events Manager

Scott is the Membership and Events Manager of the New England Clean Energy Council, joining the organization in January of 2012. He previously served as the Assistant Director of the Green Alliance, a PR and marketing firm for sustainable businesses in Eastern New England, including those in the clean energy and energy efficiency sectors. Prior to that, Scott worked as a marketing writer for AECOM, a global environmental engineering and consulting firm, where he promoted major renewable energy, sustainable development, and remediation projects. He has also held various sales and marketing positions in the financial services, pharmaceuticals, wireless communications, and health & wellness industries. 

Charity Pennock, Segment Development Program Manager & Rhode Island State Coordinator

Charity is the Segment Development Program Manager and the Rhode Island State Coordinator of the New England Clean Energy Council, joining the organization in October of 2012. Charity has spent much of her career focused on the intersection of economic development and clean technology. 

Prior to joining NECEC, Charity worked as a Clean Technology Fellow for Southern Growth Policies Board (SGPB) and the Project Coordinator for the Southeast Agriculture & Forestry Energy Resources Alliance (SAFER). In both of these roles, Charity managed multi-state networks, conducted original research on clean technology business development at the state level, and facilitated SGPB and SAFER’s work towards the development of the clean economy in 14 states across the Southeast United States.  

Charity holds an MA in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a BA in History with a minor in Economic Development from Covenant College.


Abbey Strauss, Senior Associate, Communications & Programs 

Abbey is a Senior Associate at the New England Clean Energy Council. She is responsible for email communications and marketing, and maintains the Clean Energy Council's blog and Twitter accounts. Abbey joined the Clean Energy Council in 2010, and formerly coordinated workforce development and employer engagement initiatives, including the Clean Energy Careers Education & Training Directory, and served as the Clean Energy Council contact for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Internship Opportunity. Previously, Abbey has held assistant positions in both the Smith College Office of Human Resources and the Graduate College Admissions Office at the University of Vermont. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from Smith College.
   

 

Kevin Doyle, Workforce Development Committee Co-Chair

Kevin Doyle is an independent consultant and Principal of Green Economy, partnering with other professionals to offer “green” labor market information research; facilitation (meetings, roundtables, staff/management retreats, planning sessions); strategic planning for “green” agencies, businesses, organizations and coalitions; professional, leadership and career development training; programmatic and organizational evaluation; and management consulting and executive coaching.

 

 

Committee Co-Chairs

 

Workforce Development Committee
Kevin Doyle, Green Economy, Co-Chair 
Wanda Reindorf, Co-Chair 

Policy Committee
Dan Bosley, NECEC Government Relations Executive
Jordan Lane Gilmore, Policy Advisor

Co-chairs:
Steve Cowell, Conservation Services Group
Berl Hartman, E2

Services
Legal Counsel: Foley Hoag, Mintz Levin