Board

Riza Jenkins is a Senior Consultant with ICF. Riza worked as the Vice President of Asset Management for Summit Ridge Energy (SRE), managing its growing community solar portfolio. Riza also managed Strata Solar’s Asset Management department overseeing its 900 MW portfolio of solar projects.

In addition to her participation as a board member for NCSEA, Riza is the former chair for the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion board committee and Secretary. Riza volunteers in the community serving on various school and church organizations and committees. Riza is a board member for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) Board of Education and The ArtsCenter. Riza is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University and has her JD-MBA from Howard University. Riza lives in Chapel Hill with her three children.

Ken is the Director of Industry and Innovation at FREEDM, the power systems and power electronics research center at NC State. He manages industry relationships for the Center, promote the commercialization of center developed technologies, and manage our marketing activities. Previously, Ken worked for EPRI, Advanced Energy, and in environmental consulting. His career started as an air quality regulator, shifted to energy efficiency, and now focuses on advancing research to advance electrification. He is also part of a small startup to help commercialize a microgrid control platform developed at FREEDM. Ken has always been interested in the intersection of technology, policy, and human behavior. He has undergraduate degrees from Furman University and Georgia Tech and Masters in Mechanical Engineering from UT Austin.

With 10 years of experience working in sustainability, Vanessa currently serves as the Network Manager for the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network (SSDN). In her position as Network Manager, Vanessa facilitates peer learning with monthly topic-based workgroups, membership engagement and outreach, and helps to provide the SSDN community with ongoing opportunities to build and strengthen relationships with other sustainability professionals from across the southeast.

Prior to working with SSDN, Vanessa spent seven years working with the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC where she developed their first ever sustainability program. During this time, she received a Master’s of Science in Sustainability from Lenoir-Rhyne University.

In her spare time, she loves to spend time in her garden, seeking out new rivers to swim in and hanging on her family farm in North Georgia.

Graham Lewis has more than years of experience in the North Carolina energy efficiency and clean energy marketplace through his role as Program Manager at Schneider Electric. Graham leads a team that designs, builds, and monitors energy efficiency and renewable projects with public sector customers throughout the state. In addition to his role at Schneider Electric, he also serves as Private Chair of the NC Chapter of the Energy Services Coalition, Track Manager of the Government & Institutional Buildings Track at the North Carolina State Energy Conference, and as an Advisory Board Member of the NC Public School Forum.

Graham Lewis has more than years of experience in the North Carolina energy efficiency and clean energy marketplace through his role as Program Manager at Schneider Electric. Graham leads a team that designs, builds, and monitors energy efficiency and renewable projects with public sector customers throughout the state. In addition to his role at Schneider Electric, he also serves as Private Chair of the NC Chapter of the Energy Services Coalition, Track Manager of the Government & Institutional Buildings Track at the North Carolina State Energy Conference, and as an Advisory Board Member of the NC Public School Forum.

In his current role, Hayes oversees state and local government outreach, stakeholder and supply chain engagement, and increasing brand recognition in the Southeast to help power the US economy entirely on green energy. Prior to this role, Hayes served in the administration of former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe as Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade. As Deputy Secretary, Hayes advised the Governor on policy and legislative matters related to energy, telecommunications, and economic development. During his professional career, Hayes has also worked as a Public Affairs Manager for a public affairs firm based in Richmond, in the Economic Research office of a major Virginia company, and as Executive Aide to the Governor in the administration of former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. Hayes holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the College of Charleston in South Carolina and a Masters of Business Administration from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.

For more than 15 years, Tina Clossick has used her expertise in business development, community relations, program management, sales, and marketing to foster innovation and spearhead the growth of new and existing organizations. She joined Coastal Credit Union in 2021, bringing her love of the North Carolina community, passion for building connections, and entrepreneurial spirit to her role as VP Corporate Partnerships. Prior to joining Coastal, she was the Associate Director of Development for Duke’s Fuqua School of Business from 2017-2021.

She was a primary liaison between the school, its MBA students, faculty, board and alumni, successfully promoting school programs and initiatives, and raising the profile of the institution. For the 10 years, prior to Fuqua, she founded and developed the Kidzu Children’s Museum driving the management of this educational, community-focused nonprofit growing it from a concept to a thriving entity. She is a North Carolina native, graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and is currently pursuing an MBA.

Protecting the planet has been Laura’s mission since she was 8 years old. Laura has worked as a government employee to protect ecosystems and endangered species, as a nonprofit advocate and a private citizen, holding government accountable when it has gone astray, and now as the Business Development Director for a solar company. All three efforts have been happily rewarding for different reasons, and she is tremendously enjoying her most recent solar experience because she works with a company that aligns with her values and meets amazing and uplifting people who help and inspire others every day.

Greg Lennon is the Vice President, Head Global Offshore Wind Business for the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). He has more than 25 years energy industry experience with Fortune 500 and global energy companies notably as a Strategic Planner, Developer, Start Up, Investor and Government lead. He has covered offshore wind (OSW), hydrogen, battery, EV charging, carbon capture and solar industries and investments.

He was most recently with Mitsui and Co., where he created new business for their Energy and Infrastructure Division. Prior to Mitsui, he oversaw offshore wind development activities with the Power Authority of New York and NRG Energy (held the first Offshore Wind power purchase agreement in the U.S.). While at NRG Energy he helped start and create NRG Solar, EvGo (EV charging) and Petra Nova (largest global Carbon Capture project). And held other energy lead development and operations roles with Ocean Power Technologies (first FERC licensed offshore energy device), Engie (former International Power) and Avista Corp. He has worked in various global energy markets, creating global strategic partnerships for renewable generation sources and clean infrastructure. He holds a BA degree from Saint Anselm College as well as a MA and MBA from Boston College.

Tarek Abdel-Salam is a professor of mechanical engineering and the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering and Technology at East Carolina University. Also, he is currently serving as the Director of the ECU Center for Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering. Tarek has over 32 years of experience as a thermal engineer and as an educator. He has been with ECU since 2003. His research is in the thermal-fluids area including alternative fuels, environmental management, energy storage, renewable energy, supersonic mixing and combustion in scramjet engines, fuel injection, and sprays. Tarek is an active member of multiple professional engineering societies including ASHRAE, SAE, ASME, and AIAA. He is the current Chair of the SAE Sustainable Development Committee, the Vice Chair for Operations of the AIAA Terrestrial Energy Systems Technical Committee, and the Vice Chair of the NASA/NC Space Grant Advisory Board.

Steve Kalland, Executive Director of the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center at NC State University, has over 27 years of experience in the clean energy field. Steve directs the strategic vision of the Center, including activities in renewable energy, energy efficiency, green building and clean transportation. Programs include research, technical assistance, economic development, energy policy and workforce development. Mr. Kalland currently serves on the Board of NCSEA, the Advisory Board of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) in Washington, DC and the Duke Energy (NC) State President’s Advisory Council. He is a past board member of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), the US Combined Heat and Power Association (USCHPA), and NC GreenPower. Previously, Steve was the Director for Government Relations at Xantrex Technology, Inc., Executive Director of the Maryland-DC-Virginia Solar Energy Industries Association (MDV-SEIA), and Director of State Programs and Policy at the national SEIA.

Mozine Lowe was appointed Executive Director of C4EE in 2017. Lowe currently services on several boards, including past vice chairman of the Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce, Halifax Community College Foundation board member and Conservation Trust of North Carolina board member. Because of her extensive corporate experience with telecommunications companies (AT&T and Lucent Technologies) in the areas of organizational change, team-based learning systems, team building, leadership development and work redesign, she sees how to adjust and restructure programs to fit the needs of underserved communities. Lowe has a bachelor’s degree in sociology/social work from North Carolina A&T State University. She has also completed AT&T’s two-year organization effectiveness program and is a certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator trainer. She is active in her community and in several education and community organizations, including the Lake Gaston Association and Vidant Health’s Partners in Faith. Lowe and her husband Walter have two children, Monique and Walter lll.

Usman is an electrical engineer passionate about making power from the sun! He has been involved in solar power generation since 2013. Usman is the founder, co-owner and principal engineer at 8MSolar. 8MSolar is rated as one of the top solar companies in the area. The company focuses on providing in-house engineering and best in class solar installation for the commercial, residential, government and non-profit sectors.

Outside of work, Usman is an avid golfer and a motorsport enthusiast. He loves manual transmissions, classic automobiles and enjoys high performance driving events at regional racetracks.