Leadership

Meet the people of Cool Davis!

The Cool Davis Board of Directors, staff and lead volunteers form the core leadership for the Cool Davis' Campaigns and Coalition.  Our role is to support and promote the mission of Cool Davis in the community.

The board meets monthly and may be made up of as many as 15 members who have rotating 3-year terms.  The board has 4 active committees: Governance, Community Relations and Fundraising, Operations, & Programs.  These board committees welcome non-board members to help with board level activities and planning.

Would You Like to Join a Board Committee or Become a Board Member? We are always looking for new active members who can represent the many experiences, neighborhoods and local knowledge coming from our whole community!

Contact me if you are interested in joining us in rewarding and important work !

Jason Bone, President

board@cooldavis.org.

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Board of Directors

Jason Bone

Jason Bone, President

Jason Bone works as a consultant helping organizations use geospatial technology to collect, organize, and share information with their user base. He enjoys the challenge of building a better workflow and/or tool(s) to simplify, visualize, and liberate information so that others can make better informed decisions. Jason has a B.S in Geology from UC Riverside and an MBA from UC Davis.

Jason is a Northern California native and has lived in Davis since 2011. He was drawn to Davis by its amazing greenbelts, college town feel, and its family oriented community. He has two children and enjoys camping, hiking, soccer and coaching his kids in their many sports.

Jason is our board president.

Lisa Baker is being recognized by the Women's Caucus of the League of California Cities. COURTESY

Lisa Baker, Vice-President

Lisa Baker has served several roles with Cool Davis over the years and is now returning to inform our efforts with her unique combination of lived experience and professional expertise.

Lisa is a "tireless advocate working at the forefront of some of the most pressing issues facing her community. Her activism encompasses issues such as housing, social equality, and climate change. Her efforts to provide affordable housing, connect residents with social services, improve social equity, and address issues related to climate change have had a profound and positive impact on our district." (John Garamendi - Congressional record)

Lisa is a bit of a rock star, receiving several awards of late. In 2019 alone, she received one of a small collection of California Congressional District 3 Woman of the Year awards presented by Congressman John Garamendi, a Women’s Caucus of the League of California Cities Women of Persistence award, and a CEO Today USA award.

Lisa also won an Eco Hero award from Cool Davis in 2016 and has served on our Council of Advisors for several years, in addition to a short stint as Cool Davis Coalition chair.

Cool Davis is happy to have her aboard!

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Kristin Heinemeier, Secretary

Kristin Heinemeier has been a mechanical engineer for over 30 years. She recently started working as Senior Engineer at Frontier Energy (formerly Davis Energy Group), after working for over 10 years at the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center.

Kristin has been a volunteer with Cool Davis for over 7 years, helping out with the Festival, revising the Cool Homes checklist, canvassing neighborhoods to assess awareness of Cool Davis, and helping to plan the Residential HVAC and Community Ambassadors programs.  In the community, she serves as a leader of the GreenFaith Action Team at the Lutheran Church of the Incarnation, and founder of the Davis Women Energy Associates. She was awarded a Cool Davis Eco-Hero award in 2014.

Kristin’s work actually has focused on closing the gap between the way we think building systems work (like complex supervisory air conditioner control systems) and how they work in the real world (like building operators with wire cutters). Her work integrates engineering analysis with behavioral understanding to tailor technologies, processes, programs, and best practices to encourage and support purposeful decision-making around energy in buildings.

Kristin has a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and a PhD in Building Science, both from UC Berkeley.

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Matt Price, Treasurer

Matt Price is a CPA at Carbahal and Company, where he assists clients with tax return preparation, tax planning, financial statement preparation, and bookkeeping. Matt has a bachelor’s degree in Classical Civilizations from UC Berkeley, and a certificate of achievement in Accounting from Santa Monica College.

Matt’s previous experience includes seven years as a music producer in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and three years as a music teacher at the Bay Area Video Coalition.

Matt grew up in Davis, recently returning to live the city in 2015. He enjoys music, riding bikes, and playing soccer.

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Julie Haney

Julie Haney is a licensed architect and earned her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1990. While attending Cal Poly Julie’s interest focused on sustainable design, she studied Village Homes and energy efficient architecture. While at Cal Poly she was also a founding member of the campus recycling coalition and alternative energy club. Julie’s 4th year of architecture school was spent in Denmark studying energy efficient design and lighting.

Inspired by the Danish bicycle culture, Julie and her husband, Bill Dakin, moved to Davis in 1992. She founded JMH Architecture in 2004 and focused on residential remodeling and energy efficient design. Julie’s interest in cohousing led to her being the architect for the Glacier Circle Senior Cohousing Community in Davis.

Julie enjoys living in an energy efficient solar home, creating mixed media sculptures, collage, painting, taking pictures, going on long walks, hiking, gardening, cooking, biking, skiing, camping, and going on adventures.   Being on the Cool Davis Board is one way that she feels she can contribute locally to help protect the environment and work towards a more sustainable global future.

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Kelsey Fortune

Kelsey Fortune was raised to believe everyone should play an active role in shaping their community. Kelsey moved to Davis nine years ago to pursue a PhD in Economics and was determined to live in accordance with her values for respect, inclusion, and sustainability. She uses her bicycle as her main form of transportation, volunteers as the Associate Director of Purple Tree Café, and is on the Bike Davis board as well as Cool Davis.

Faced with a climate emergency that threatens to exacerbate already unacceptable levels of inequality and is currently degrading our environment, Kelsey believes our diverse and compassionate community is our greatest strength.

Her work as an economist primarily focuses on energy, transportation, and climate policy, including means testing for California's Clean Vehicle Rebate Project, exploring how policy varies for individuals or households based on their income. Kelsey utilizes the variation in the size of rebates available to estimate the impact of subsidies on electric vehicle adoption.

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Ken Kirsch

Ken Kirsch has over 30 years of experience in residential remodeling. His work in the trades began while still a student at UC Davis. Ken graduated from UCD with a degree in Studio Arts and put his liberal arts education to use as a carpenter working in the Bay Area. Over the years, remodeling became as much of a passion for Ken as his artistic pursuits. Creative solutions were always part of a remodeler’s job description and a thoughtful approach to building presented another opportunity to have a positive influence on every day life.

Ken and his wife Ellen relocated their growing family to Davis in 2001 and then started MAK Design+Build in 2003. Ken is a member of two national trade organizations, Remodeler’s Advantage and the National Association of Remodeling Industry. He is also a member of the Davis Downtown Business Association, the Davis Chamber of Commerce, Ken lists himself as a member of Cool Davis on his business site, a sure sign that he's committed to our mission of implementing the City of Davis’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.

Ken earned his certification as a green-building professional through the non-profit organization Build It Green. Ken also served on the Shrem Museum Artfriends executive board and currently serves on the board of the Pence Gallery.

For fun, he loves working on his golf game, playing ultimate Frisbee, trying out new cooking recipes, and exercising his creativity with the occasional illustration, oil painting, or watercolor.

Ken officially joined the Cool Davis board at the April meeting. We are super excited to have his expertise and experience to help us better serve our community!

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Johannes Troost

Johannes Troost is retired from a career in Education and Human Services. His work included both policy development and program design, implementation, and evaluation. He received a B.A. in Political Science and an M.Ed from the University of Vermont.

He has lived in Davis since 1986 and is a life-long hiker and backpacker. He enjoys the people, opportunities, resources, and diverse ecosystems the region provides for continued learning. While being a data driven person, he believes the things that matter the most often cannot be measured.

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Rekha Vaitla

Rekha Vaitla is an Investment Officer with the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) and prior to that was the Director of Public Market Investments at the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer. In both of these roles, Rekha has led and supported sustainability and investment stewardship on behalf of large institutional investment portfolios while simultaneously working to foster a business community more attentive to sustainable long-term growth. Rekha is deeply passionate about sustainability and her prior experience at the local and federal levels of government has led her to focus her career around the intersection of impact, sustainability, and government.

Rekha was born and raised in Chicago, IL and is an alumna of Carnegie Mellon University, with a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management and University of Pittsburgh. She’s excited to be involved with Cool Davis to play a more active role in the community and leverage her experience to further the mission of Cool Davis.

Kerry Daane Loux

Kerry Daane Loux, City of Davis Liaison

As the City of Davis Sustainability Coordinator Kerry Daane Loux is the liaison to the Cool Davis Board.  She is a licensed Landscape Architect and an accredited LEED design professional. She first moved to Davis to to pursue a degree in Environmental Planning and Management from UCD and then returned in 1992 to raise her family.

Kerry says that Davis has been a wonderful ‘home town’ to raise her three daughters and manage her own business. Volunteerism has always been a priority for her, including gardening in the schools, serving as a Master Gardener and UC Davis Arboretum Naturalist, and as a Davis Odd Fellow member.  Kerry first got involved in Cool Davis by co-chairing the Cool Davis Festival in 2012 & 2013.

Staff & Lead Volunteers

Chris Granger, Executive Director of Cool Davis. Photo credit Yvonne Hunter.

Chris Granger

Chris Granger has led Cool Davis since 2013.  She is a graduate of UC Davis in Applied Behavioral Sciences (now Community Development).  She also holds an MBA from Fresno State, with an emphasis in non-profit management.

Chris has worked in Oakland, Sacramento, Boston, Fresno and Davis as a program coordinator, public policy advocate, and executive director for nonprofit social services and advocacy organizations.  The organizations she has served include Catholic Charities of California (statewide), Women’s Institute for Housing and Economic Development (in Boston), Habitat for Humanity and other organizations (in Fresno), STEAC (in Davis), Y-Me National Breast Cancer Org (Northern CA Affiliate) and now Cool Davis.   She has lead staff and volunteers advocating for and serving immigrants & refugees, mentally ill & homeless, low-income households, people with breast cancer, and now households facing climate change.

Chris has been active for years in many Davis community organizations especially those serving Davis schools. She is a trained Master Gardener. In addition to her role with Cool Davis, she currently serves on the Invisible Council of Elders for ACME Theatre Company and the board of the Davis Farm to School program.

Leslie Crenna

Leslie Crenna

Leslie Crenna brings decades of practiced skills to the Cool Davis Communications Manager position including editing, outreach, writing, and training. After majoring in Linguistics at UCSC and earning a full teaching credential from SFSU, Leslie began her professional life as a classroom teacher. She got some real chops as a project editor with Oryx Press in Phoenix, and freelanced for years as she homeschooled her two daughters from kindergarten to third grade. She is editor-in-chief, managing editor, volunteer coordinator, webmistress, social media poster-in-chief, and so much more.

Leslie is experienced in a wide range of "living lightly" strategies including rainwater catchment, greywater, composting, vermiculture, sheet mulching for lawn replacement, low impact recreation, yoga practice, and fiscal greening.

Leslie started volunteering with Cool Davis the moment she arrived in Davis in 2012 primarily offering up her expertise in writing and community engagement. She led a school-based sustainable community garden in the Sierra Foothills before arriving.

Leslie is a certified multiple subjects teacher and a lifelong genealogist and family historian. She has participated in trainings with Blue Barrel Systems and the American Rainwater Capture Systems Association. She is a Level 2 Certified Greywater designer and installer through Greywater Action.

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Marsha Baird

Marsha Baird is our Lead Database Manager and serves on the Valley Clean Energy Community Advisory Committee. She spent 20+ years in market research, writing and analyzing surveys, before her current life as mom and volunteer extraordinaire.

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Brandon Rueda

Brandon Rueda is our Campaign Coordinator responsible for planning and implementation of campaign activities with households at neighborhood and community organization levels, as well as training and directing volunteers to work with households to reduce household-based greenhouse gas emissions.

Brandon has a wide range of experiences including production assistance with Lucas Film; onboarding with Grindstone Communications Solutions; public education, hazard mitigation planning, and grants research with the City of Woodland Fire Department; and customer service with Adventist Health. After graduating from Davis High School, playing on the Water Polo team, Brandon majored in Philosophy with a concentration in Ethics and Society at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Brandon is adaptable, with attention to detail and an acute sense of critical analysis and problem solving, and excels at communicating to reach desired outcomes. Brandon is motivated to contribute in the Campaign Coordinator role using his analytical education and the diverse settings of his work experience. He was also a swim instructor with Aquadarts back in Davis; you can look for his family brick at the City of Davis community pool on B Street adjacent to City Hall!

Past Board Members

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Bapu Vaitla

Bapu Vaitla is member of the City of Davis Social Services Commission and a fellow studying gender inequality with Data2x, an initiative housed in the United Nations Foundation. His core interest is the relationship between social cooperation and the well-being of children and young people. He studies why people decide to work together (or not) for mutual benefit, and the effects of these decisions on public policy, political movements, and ultimately the lives of children and youth.

Bapu was born in India and grew up in California. He holds a BA in Nature and Culture and an MS in International Agricultural Development from UC Davis, and a PhD in international relations/political economy from Tufts University. He has received a Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellowship, a Fulbright Scholarship, and a postdoctoral fellowship from Harvard University

Mike McCormick

Michael McCormick

Michael McCormick first learned about City of Davis energy codes, greenbelts and bike paths as an example of best practices as part of graduate school in urban planning. As an active transportation enthusiast and new Davis resident, he is proud to be part of this community -- the history and the future that Davis is helping to create.

As someone who works on California, regional, and local climate policy, Michael understands the importance of local leadership. California and the nation continue to use local action as the inspiration for larger systemic change.

Michael believes that just as California has led the country and the world down a path to faster and more effective environmental policy, Davis has the potential to influence California, the nation, and the world.

Living in Davis has allowed Michael to weave bicycling into his daily commute and life. His daughter is a few years into bicycling, and she loves that feeling of freedom and excitement as much as he did when he was a child.

Michael is the President of Farallon Strategies, a Special Advisor to the Local Government Commission, and a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum. Michael is an American Institute Certified Planner (AICP) who works on climate change and land use as a career, but it’s also his personal passion.

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Dick and Carol Bourne

Dick Bourne’s education includes a liberal arts degree from Amherst College and mechanical engineering degrees from West Virginia University (BS) and Stanford University (MS).

Dick formed a proprietorship in 1979 that grew to become Davis Energy Group (DEG) in 1981. As founding president, Dick led DEG’s product development efforts.

After 25 years with DEG, Dick joined UC Davis in 2006 to form the Western Cooling Efficiency Center. He retired from UCD in 2009 and in 2010 became part-owner of Integrated Comfort, Inc. to focus on the market opportunity for DualCool, a patented cooling efficiency product. Dick holds 21 US patents.  He enjoys various combinations of family, friends, bicycling, swimming, and travels with his wife Carol.

Carol Bourne earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Massachusetts, and practiced nursing for most of her working career as an RN.  She worked as a hospital nurse in Morgantown, West Virginia, Palo Alto, California, Lincoln Nebraska, and Woodland California, and also as a home health nurse in Woodland.

Taking a respite from nursing with three children at home, Carol formed Perch Works soon after the Bournes moved to Davis in 1978.  Her firm manufactured and marketed artistic, award-winning children’s furniture until she returned to nursing in 1989.  Carol’s many passions include family events, cooking, bicycle touring, sustainability, and travels with her husband Dick.

Larry Greene

Larry Greene

Larry Greene is the recently retired Executive Director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. Larry has a Bachelor’s Degree in Science Education from NC State University, and Master’s Degrees in Logistics Management from Florida Institute of Technology and Human Resources Education from Boston University.

Larry is a Past-President of the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association (CAPCOA) and has served as a permanent member on the CAPCOA Board of Directors and on the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA) Board of Directors as Co-Chair of the Global Warming Committee and he is a past co-president of NACAA.

Larry retired in 1995 from a 23 year career with the US Army where his main focus was in logistics and petroleum operations. He and his wife Beverly live in North North Davis (Springlake).

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Chris Soderquist

Chris Soderquist is the founder and director of Davis-based New Energy Assets, a solar project developer and investment advisor, and RepowerYolo, a solar group purchase program. He has 25 years experience founding, managing, advising, capitalizing, and selling companies in the clean-tech, high-tech, professional services and private equity industries.

Previously, Chris co-founded and directed Octus Energy, Crescendo, Sierra Energy, and two business incubators: Venture Lab and Technology Development Center.

In addition to being a member of the Cool Davis Board of Directors, Chris is a Davis Roots mentor, a board member with Inventopia and Davis Downtown, and a former board member of Sierra Energy, the Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy, Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance, UC Davis Connect, Comstock’s magazine, and the UC Davis Graduate School of Management Alumni Association.

Chris earned a B.S from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and an MBA from UC Davis.

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Judy Moores

Judy Moores has loved being outside and teaching others about the natural world since childhood. In college, she studied biology. As a young woman and later as a mother, she worked to co-found two science museums, and also led the effort to make the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis a Green Sanctuary.
Judy has long been concerned about the negative impacts of humans on the planet, from extractive industries to polluted land, air and water, to the extinction of species due to global warming. With each new devastating climate report, she becomes more determined to help Davis reduce its carbon footprint, adapt to the changing climate, and improve the quality of life for all. Judy co-founded Cool Davis to help implement the City of Davis’ Climate Action and Adaptation Plan goals of carbon neutrality by 2050. Since then the target has been moved up to 2040. She invites/urges all Davisites to join Cool Davis and work with us to make Davis a model of sustainable living. Judy is also a great vegetarian and vegan cook.

Lynne Nittler applies her teaching skills to the task of lowering our ghg emissions.

Lynne Nittler

Lynne Nittler joined Cool Davis before it became official, first serving as secretary of the board. After 33 years as a secondary English teacher and K-12 writing doordinator in the Vacaville school district, Lynne looked forward to a quiet retirement of gardening, hiking, and serving in Village Homes where she has lived since its beginning in 1976. However, as climate change became increasingly ominous, she felt compelled to devote herself to our necessary transformation from fossil fuel dependency to sustainable living. She wrote, “I’ve always been an environmentalist, but I never imagined the threat of climate change that confronts us now. For me, slowing climate change is a moral issue. Serving on the board is one tangible way I can respond.”
In her work on the board as as a volunteer, Lynne found herself in familiar territory organizing workshops, writing articles, and developing materials such as the Cool Solutions tree and the Renter’s Guide to Sustainable Living. Lynne hoped to see Cool Davis reach a point of financial maturity when she left the board so it could support a strong public outreach program.

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Jessica Jones

Jessica has a decade of experience working on environmental and social policies and programs for educational institutions and local government.

Jessica is passionate about sustainability and has focused her efforts on making institutions more environmentally friendly. She has a wide array of environmental policy and community engagement experience. While a student at Santa Rosa Junior College Jessica spearheaded an effort to have the superintendent sign an international declaration of sustainability. While a student at UC Davis she worked with a trustee to develop and adopt the first Environmental Purchasing Guideline for the Sonoma County Office of Education. Other efforts have included helping Sonoma County ban plastic bags and advocating for community choice aggregation. Jessica has also had the opportunity to serve as an intern with CalRecycle, where she created a webpage on Environmental Procurement Resources for Schools.

Jessica graduated with high honors from UC Davis and a Bachelors of Science in Community and Regional Development with an emphasis in Environmental Policy.

Jessica foermly served as the assistant deputy for Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor. She now studies Community and Regional Planning at The University of Texas at Austin.

Lynne King joined Cool Davis as Board Treasurer in 2016.

Lynne King

Lynne King moved to Davis in December of 2015 to be closer to her daughter and their growing family. She has spent the majority of her life in Southern California where she worked as a bookkeeper and project manager for sustainable businesses, including a solar company and another that spearheaded the water conversation efforts of the 1990s.

Despite always living in a city, Lynne has always been passionate about the environment, growing up camping and spending lots of time at the beach. Lynne is excited to be a part of Cool Davis because she wants to see our world improve for her grandchildren.

Lynne also supports her daughter's sustainable honey business, Sola Bee Farms. She enjoys living on their 160 acre solar-powered farm just outside of town, where she gets a front row seat to the beautiful elements of Yolo County that Cool Davis works so hard to protect.

Bill Heinicke

Bill Heinicke

As a school facility planner, Bill knows the impact our built environment can have on our actions – and vice versa.

As the a father of a teenage daughter, he also knows that the Cool Davis’s message can and must include communication with the youth of our community.

He believes their response will be inspiring to us all.

Bill was honored to be nominated and happy to join the Cool Davis Board. He likes the focus on action right here in our town.

While we are working on a global issue, Bill knows the solution starts with each one of us and the individual measures we can take to reduce our personal climate impact. Cool Davis provides information and support as we all do our part.