Ben Mandel

Vice President, Strategic Initiatives

Ben is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at CALSTART, leading strategic planning efforts across the organization to develop scalable and transformative programs and partnerships. These efforts are aimed at enabling CALSTART to meet its ambitious 2030 objectives related to greenhouse gas emission reduction, air quality improvement, and quality of life enhancement. Ben also oversees business development activities across the organization to strengthen partnerships with government agencies and foundations.

Prior to his current role, Ben oversaw CALSTART’s Northeast Regional Office portfolio and relationships from 2018 through 2022. During that time, he secured government contracts valued at more than $15 million from state and federal agencies to accelerate vehicle fleet electrification and adoption of workplace electric vehicle charging.

Earlier in his career, Ben led transportation and power sector initiatives at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability under Mayor Bill de Blasio. Ben holds a Master of Public Policy degree and a Master of Science degree in Energy & Resources from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematical Economics and Hispanic Literature & Culture from Brown University.