A legacy of
grassroots
campaigning.
ABOUT US
At Greenlight, we offer our network support from a unique combination of grassroots campaigners, clean energy experts, public policy professionals, communications specialists, and coalition builders. As an independent, philanthropically-funded, 501(c)3 non-profit organization, we exist to support local groups and volunteers who want to get utility-scale clean energy projects built in their communities.
With experience across the full spectrum of campaigns, our team has the skills and connections to make sure your community reaps maximum benefit from the clean energy transition.
VISION
Our vision for the future: abundant clean energy dramatically lowers U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, mitigating the pace of climate change and stopping the severe and inequitable health impacts of climate pollution. The clean energy transition further powers community revitalization across the U.S., reversing decades of disinvestment in rural areas and paving the way for the sustainable economy of the future.
FUNDING
Greenlight America is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, philanthropically funded by foundations and individuals that share our vision. We are not paid for our work by clean energy developers. You can donate to us here.
Greenlight America has a sister 501(c)4 organization, Greenlight Action.
David Alicea
Senior Regional Campaign Manager, Northeast
David is an experienced campaigner and clean energy geek. David spent the last decade at Sierra Club where he led organizing efforts to support South Fork Wind, phase out New York’s coal-fired power plants, and scale up on wind and solar energy. As the Regional Campaign Manager for the Northeast, David drives Greenlight’s campaign strategy in the region and supports partner organizations on the ground. Originally from Long Island, David lives in Rochester, NY with his wife and 7-year old daughter. Outside of work David serves on the board of the Laotian American Scholarship Foundation and Wat Pa Lao Buddhadham.
Ari Appel
Co-Founder and Chief Program Officer
Ari is a veteran campaigner with nearly two decade’s experience in politics and issue advocacy. For over a decade, Ari has built and led national advocacy campaigns to win historic clean energy and climate policy breakthroughs like the Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and pollution standards for power plants and oil and gas operations. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his family.
Alexis Buchanan Thomas
Development Director
Alexis is a skilled development professional with over 15 years of experience raising hundreds of millions of dollars for a variety of causes, including Greening Youth Foundation, International Rescue Committee, and People’s Solar Energy Fund. In her previous role, she was the Director of Development for Black Voters Matter, where she helped to shepherd the organization through unprecedented growth, building out its development department and maintaining its sustainability. Alexis lives in Atlanta with her husband, and two rescue dogs named Janet and Jackson, respectively.
Raleigh Dale
Director of Industry Engagement
With a decade of experience in political organizing and stakeholder engagement, Raleigh’s career in advocacy began in behavioral healthcare, building a nationwide network of supporters to turn out in support of initiatives promoting balanced mental healthcare. Raleigh translated these skills in grassroots organizing to the renewable energy space, focusing on bridging the gap between rural and corporate interests. She has spearheaded strategic renewable energy campaigns nationwide, securing necessary approvals to get more clean energy projects across the permitting finish line. Born and raised in East Tennessee, Raleigh now lives in Atlanta, GA.
Miranda Ehrlich
Senior Director of Campaigns
Miranda is an accomplished grassroots organizer and team leader with a passion for clean energy. She was previously the Federal Field Director for the Sierra Club, where she led the Sierra Club’s field strategy for the Inflation Reduction Act. Miranda began her career in clean energy as a community organizer working to retire coal plants, and earned a Master's Degree in Public Affairs from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In her free time, Miranda can often be found in the woods foraging for wild edible plants and mushrooms. She currently lives in San Francisco, California.
Melanie DiPalma
Clean Energy Organizer, New York
Melanie is a skilled grassroots organizer with a strong record in relationship-building and managing community events across Long Island. Before joining Greenlight, she worked on Long Island political campaigns, raising over $4.5 million for the Nassau County Executive race and building a robust volunteer network. As Event Director for the New York State Senate, Melanie organized events and partnered with local businesses to donate over 2,000 backpacks and school supplies. She’s excited to bring her passion for clean energy to Greenlight America! In her free time, she enjoys reading and perfecting her gochujang pot pie with her husband and two cats.
Kristiana Faddoul
Communications and Digital Manager
Kristiana Faddoul is a multi-faceted communicator, with just shy of a decade of environmental and clean energy advocacy experience. Before joining Greenlight, Kristiana spent five years at the Sierra Club––first as Western Media Coordinator, then later as their national Content Strategist––focusing on zero-emissions transportation, building electrification, and decarbonizing America’s grid. She earned her BA in Broadcast Journalism from Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Kristiana also holds two teaching certificates in Environmental Education from ASU and from the Arizona Association of Environmental Education. She lives in Buckeye, Arizona with her fiancé and two cats.
Jackie France
Research Analyst
Jackie is a skilled regulatory and legal researcher. Before joining Greenlight, she coordinated programs for the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance and interned at the League of Conservation Voters and National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. She holds a BA in History and Political Science and an MA in Environmental Law, both from Loyola University New Orleans, where her graduate thesis focused on the impacts of nuclear weapons testing in the Southwest. Jackie also worked as a research assistant, studying the benefits of land trusts for Indigenous tribes in Louisiana. She lives in New Orleans with her cat, Ladybug.
Jessie Giles
Senior Director of Research
Jessie is an experienced researcher and campaign strategist. Prior to joining Greenlight America, Jessie worked at Majority Action, first as Research Director, then as Chief Program Officer, to organize investors to use their ownership power over the world’s largest corporations to mitigate the risks of climate change, racial injustice, and mistreatment of workers. Jessie led the corporate research and strategy team on the Fight for $15 campaign at the SEIU, and in Australia worked in the clean technology sector, advocating for the adoption of electric vehicles. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with her family.
Casey Hogle
Senior Director of Partnerships
Casey is an experienced fundraiser, campaigner, and project manager. She was most recently part of the founding team at Indivisible, where she led fundraising to resource grassroots organizing and then oversaw campaigns, including one celebrating the Inflation Reduction Act. At Greenlight, she leads partnerships with peer organizations, clean energy industry, and donors. Originally from rural Nevada, Casey now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and 4-year-old.
Sara Horton
Senior Associate, Partnerships
Sara is a seasoned grant writer and project manager with a decade of experience working in non-profit and mission driven organizations. Prior to joining the team at Greenlight America, Sara worked in fields including academia, agriculture, arts administration, and politics. During her career, Sara has led initiatives that have raised over $7 million for assorted organizations, including for the renovation of her hometown performing arts center. When she is not working, Sara enjoys spending time with her family, working in her garden, and watching as much major and minor league baseball as possible.
Eliot Huggins
Regional Campaign Manager, Midwest
Eliot is a passionate grassroots organizer and policy advocate dedicated to fostering community collaboration. During his tenure at Dakota Resource Council, he organized a landowner legal co-op that successfully resisted a five-state pipeline project. Beyond his work in North Dakota, Eliot has experience working on electoral campaigns across Michigan. His professional background also extends to the electric vehicle (EV) sector, where he lobbied for positive EV policies and investments. Eliot is based in Grand Rapids, MI.
Renee Kim
Senior Director of Operations
Renee Kim, M.A., LL.M., has a strong background in operations and a proven track record of driving organizational growth and sustainability. Before joining Greenlight America, Renee served as Director of Operations at Black Voters Matter Fund, leading initiatives to expand organizational capacity and enhance effectiveness. She is a former Fellow of Schmidt Futures International Strategy Forum, holds a Master’s of Law in Public International Law from the University of London, a Master’s in International Security from the London Metropolitan University, and a Bachelor’s in International Affairs from Florida State University.
Ethan Kirkham
Research Analyst
Ethan is an experienced researcher and advocate in energy justice, local politics, and electric utilities. Before joining Greenlight, he developed a research program at Climate Cabinet to identify electoral opportunities within municipal utilities across the country. He also worked with the Oregon Public Utility Commission during the COVID-19 pandemic, advocating for stronger consumer protections and long-term policy changes. Ethan holds a BA in Human Geography from Aberystwyth University, where his dissertation focused on justice in climate policy. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon with his cat, Mochi, and enjoys spending his free time exploring a wide range of hobbies.
Lauren Langworthy
Senior Partnerships Manager
Lauren comes from a background in progressive rural organizing and agriculture. She brings experience building power, shifting narratives, and helping rural communities to thrive by building on shared goals and values. In previous roles, Lauren hosted the country’s largest organic and regenerative farming conference, successfully advocated for expansion grants for rural small business owners, and worked across a wide network of rural progressive partners. She’s excited to bring all of these worlds together and support everyone in finding our common ground to support rural people while envisioning a healthier energy future.
Katy Love
Communications and Digital Senior Manager
As a member and eventual leader of the digital engagement team at the Union of Concerned Scientists, Katy helped the organization grow from 225,000 supporters to half a million. She helped drive the Union of Concerned Scientists’ tactics to counter disinformation and was a founding member of the Climate Action Against Disinformation coalition. Katy has a BS in Marine Science from Long Island University and an MS in Science Journalism from Boston University. Originally from Colorado, Katy lives in Massachusetts where she can often be found glassblowing, kayaking, or learning yet another new craft.
Morgan Michel
Regional Campaign Manager, Northwest
Morgan is a seasoned campaigner and organizer deeply rooted in the Pacific Northwest. Before joining Greenlight, she organized healthcare workers to win major contract victories during the COVID-19 pandemic with SEIU 1199NW and ran field campaigns to elect environmental candidates and pass key legislation at Washington Conservation Action. Her entry into organizing was fighting fossil fuel expansion and taking action for clean energy and climate justice with 350 Seattle and other grassroots groups. Morgan is passionate about uniting economic, social, and environmental justice to fight for a better future for all of us. She lives in Washington state.
Emma Mourning
Research Analyst
Emma is an experienced researcher with a proven background in qualitative and quantitative analytics. Prior to joining Greenlight, Emma worked at Sparkfund as Operations Manager, leading the regulatory team in researching and analyzing complex federal and state licensing and tax laws surrounding clean energy financing and power sector regulations. Emma has an MSc in Geography and Environmental Policy from University College London (UCL) where she studied the acute impacts of climate disasters on global democratic systems, as well as a BA in Environmental Economics from Middlebury College in Vermont. She lives in Washington D.C. with her husband and extra-large dog.
Annie Ropeik
Communications and Digital Manager
Annie is a skilled writer and clean energy storyteller who joins Greenlight America after a 12-year career as a local journalist. She covered climate and environmental issues and helped build media collaboratives across the country, including in Alaska, the Midwest, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and New England. Her award-winning reporting on offshore wind, home electrification, energy politics, climate adaptation and environmental justice was featured on NPR programs, Inside Climate News, Grist, Canary Media and more. Originally from Maryland, Annie lives with her husband and two cats in Midcoast Maine, where she can usually be found paddling or working on rewilding her lawn.
Ilana Solomon
Founding Board Member
Ilana Solomon is the President and Founder of Solomon Strategies LLC, where she supports a range of organizations to build and lead successful campaigns to address the climate crisis. Ilana is currently supporting work of organizations including the BlueGreen Alliance, Center for American Progress, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Sierra Club. Prior to starting Solomon Strategies, Ilana worked for over a decade leading campaigns for reproductive rights, environmental, and science-based organizations including NARAL Pro-Choice America, Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Sierra Club.
Ethan Todras-Whitehill
Co-Founder and Chief Communications Officer
Ethan is a founder, social impact strategist, and communications specialist. He spent a decade as a journalist, writing for publications like The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Wired, and Marie Claire. After the 2016 election, he founded the national grassroots political organization Swing Left, which was named one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies” in 2018, and remains one of the country’s largest drivers of volunteers to get out the vote in federal elections. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts with his wife and two children.
Matt Traldi
Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Board President
Matt Traldi is one of the co-authors of the Indivisible Guide and a co-founder of the Indivisible organizations, for which he was named one of TIME Magazine’s “25 Most Influential People on the Internet” in 2017. Previously, he worked for more than a decade in the labor movement as an organizer, researcher, policy director, and Secretary-Treasurer of a local union. In 2022, he led the Democracy Defense Coalition’s election crisis boiler room, a movement-wide coalition effort involving hundreds of organizations, subsequently founding the Election Sabotage Response Network.
Mari Urbina
Founding Board Member
Marí Urbina is a progressive leader with 15 years of experience across Senate leadership, high-profile electoral campaigns, and the progressive movement. She is the Managing Director at the Indivisible Project, and before that she spent the 2016 cycle running Voto Latino’s voter engagement and national campaigns. She previously spent seven years working for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, including as a senior advisor. During the 2010, 2012 and 2014 election cycles, she served in political engagement and coalition roles for Senate races in Nevada, Colorado and for President Obama's re-election campaign in Nevada.
Michele Weindling
Regional Campaign Manager,
Southwest
Michele is a skilled political advocacy and grassroots organizing campaigner. Before joining Greenlight America, Michele served as the Political Director for Sunrise Movement, a national environmental justice organization, where she ran the last two federal election cycles and played a role in leading advocacy efforts for the Inflation Reduction Act and American Climate Corps. With seven years of experience organizing Black, brown and working class people across the country around climate, Michele is excited to learn and continue developing her skills on the Greenlight team. Michele lives in Denver, CO with her husband and their dog, Pippin.
MEET THE GREENLIGHT AMERICA TEAM
Michael Khoo
Founding Board Member
Michael Khoo is co-founder of UpShift Strategies, a strategic communications firm focused on a diversity of issues, including: climate disinformation, the financial regulation of fossil fuel companies, plastic pollution, and transhealth rights. He is co-chair of the Climate Action Against Disinformation Coalition at Friends of the Earth. With Friends of the Earth, Khoo pioneered its climate disinformation campaign in 2018, and built a 40+ organization coalition to advocate for technology policies to rein in big tech. He has published research on the intersection of climate denial and QAnon, documented the spread of climate disinformation on Facebook, and on Twitter at COP27, and written about transparency policies for social media companies and the regulation of Artificial Intelligence. Originally from Canada and of Malaysian & British descent, Michael lives in Washington, D.C.
Liz Ramey
Founding Board Member
Liz Ramey is passionate about democracy and good governance in the U.S. and around the globe, and has worked to advance that through positions with Co-Develop, the Center for Civilians in Conflict, Indivisible, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Vital Voices, the Civil Service Agency of the Government of Liberia, and the International Food Policy Research Institute. Liz holds an M.P.A. in International Affairs from Princeton University, an M.Sc. in African Studies from the University of Oxford, and a B.A. in Economics and Sociology from The George Washington University.
Matt Traldi
Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Board President
Matt Traldi is one of the co-authors of the Indivisible Guide and a co-founder of the Indivisible organizations, for which he was named one of TIME Magazine’s “25 Most Influential People on the Internet” in 2017. Previously, he worked for more than a decade in the labor movement as an organizer, researcher, policy director, and Secretary-Treasurer of a local union. In 2022, he led the Democracy Defense Coalition’s election crisis boiler room, a movement-wide coalition effort involving hundreds of organizations, subsequently founding the Election Sabotage Response Network.