Board Members
CYNTHIA WILLIAMS, FORD MOTOR COMPANY
CALSTART Board Chair
Cynthia Williams is the Global Director, Sustainability, Homologation and Compliance at Ford Motor Company. She is responsible for sustainable business plans and policies, and also handles environmental negotiations with regulatory bodies around the world.
Since joining Ford in 1992, Williams has held several positions, including Ford’s Sustainability, Environment and Safety Director in Asia Pacific; Environmental Policy Manager; Energy Planning and Compliance Manager; On-Board Diagnostics Production Compliance Programs Manager; and Assistant Director, Global Automotive Safety Office.
Prior to being elected CALSTART’s Board chair, Williams served as vice chair. She is the past chair of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers Mobile Source Policy Committee.
Williams holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University and an MBA from the University of Detroit Mercy.
CHELLE IZZI
CALSTART Board Vice Chair
Chelle Izzi is Vice President of Energy Transformation at Walmart, working to help accelerate the company’s transition to zero emissions and 100% renewable energy adoption across facilities and mobility. In this position, Izzi is responsible for distributed generation, community solar, and the energy transition to zero-emission mobility for Walmart’s customers and fleet.
Prior to joining Walmart, Izzi worked at NextEra Energy Resources, where she led the formation of NextEra Mobility, a venture focused on fleet electrification, including integrated solutions for charging infrastructure, vehicle conversion, renewables, resiliency, and energy management. Izzi helped scale one of the first demand response companies, CPower; led an innovation team for Constellation Energy; and led acquisitions and investments in residential solar, water reclamation, clean back-up power, and mobility.
In addition to her new position as vice chair, Izzi serves as chair of CALSTART’s Board Governance Committee.
Izzi holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where she focused on China studies, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
JOHN BOESEL, CALSTART
President & CEO
John Boesel is president and chief executive officer of CALSTART, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing clean, efficient solutions within the transportation sector, with the goal of significantly reducing air pollution, improving public health, and helping to mitigate the effects of global climate change. He assumed this position in 2001, having served as vice president of technology programs since 1993.
Prior to joining CALSTART, Boesel worked as a commercial banker for Wells Fargo in their corporate headquarters. He also served for nearly four years as legislative aide to California Assemblyman Sam Farr, managing energy and environmental legislation.
Boesel holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School. He serves on the UC Davis Institute for Transportation Studies Advisory Board and is a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Mobile Source Technical Review Subcommittee.
Doran Barnes, Foothill Transit
Chief Executive Officer
Doran Barnes serves as the chief executive officer of Foothill Transit. He oversees Foothill Transit’s 38-route system and manages the private contractors who operate and maintain the agency’s 360 buses. Doran became Foothill Transit’s chief executive officer in August 2003. Doran also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Access Services, the regional paratransit operator for all of Los Angeles County. Previously, he served two years as chief executive officer and general manager of Tulsa Transit in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Doran earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of California-Davis. Doran is very active in the transit industry and has previously served as Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary-Treasurer of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors. Doran serves as Immediate Past Chair of the Transit Cooperative Research Program’s Oversight and Project Selection (TOPS) Commission. In addition, he serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the California Transit Association. Doran is also active in the community serving as a member of the Planning Commission for the City of San Dimas, member of the San Dimas Chamber of Commerce board of directors, member of the Board of Directors of the East Valley Community Health Center, member of the Tennant Foundation Board of Directors, and member and Past President of the West Covina Rotary Club.
Avninder Buttar, Element Fleet Management
Senior Vice President & Head of Electrification
Avninder Buttar is the Senior Vice President and Head of Electrification for Element Fleet Management Corporation, the largest publicly traded pure-play automotive fleet manager in the world. He is an experienced electrification and decarbonization executive and a strategic leader focused on innovation and client centricity. Avninder is passionate about accelerating global decarbonization.
In his current role with Element, Avninder is responsible for all aspects of the global electrification strategy including product development, client delivery, and strategic partner engagement. He also served as the company’s Vice President, Strategy and was responsible for electric vehicle (EV) strategy and telematics, leading the successful launch of Arc by Element—an innovative and robust full-service fleet electrification offering that deploys charging, infrastructure, and energy management products to Element’s clients.
Prior to Element, Avninder served in a variety of global corporate strategy and management consulting roles and has worked across multiple industries including public transit; retail; hospitality; and testing, inspection, and certification (TIC), amongst others.
Avninder holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Industrial Engineering from Toronto Metropolitan University and an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University. Avninder is also bilingual, speaking English and Punjabi, and currently resides in the Toronto region with his wife, Puneet. Together, they are proud parents to one daughter.
BART FRANEY, NATIONAL GRID
Bart Franey has over 25 years’ experience working in various utility leadership roles and is currently serving as Vice President of National Grid’s Clean Energy Development. As head of Clean Energy Development, Bart is responsible for overseeing the work of a high performing team, dedicated to the development of innovative energy solutions and sustainable infrastructure programs that address the challenges associated with decarbonizing New York’s electric grid and the electrification of transport.
Prior to leading business development activities, Bart was head of Transmission Planning, Asset Management and Systems Data where he led engineering and data teams in the development of capital work plans and established a step change in asset data management.
Bart has first-hand experience, working for more than 10 years as Director of Regulation and Pricing, providing written and oral testimony in several state and federal rate proceedings, and testified in legislative hearings on energy related matters.
Bart received a bachelor’s degree in physics from the State University of New York at Oswego and a Master of Science in Engineering Management from Syracuse University.
YURI FREEDMAN, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS COMPANY
Mr. Freedman has broad experience in development and acquisitions of energy infrastructure assets. In his current role of Senior Director of Business Development, he manages the portfolio of growth initiatives and R&D activities of Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), the largest North American gas utility. Prior to his current role he held the position of Director of Commercial Development at Sempra LNG, and previously held the positions of Director of Infrastructure Investments and Director of Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions at Sempra Energy.
Prior to joining Sempra Energy, Mr. Freedman held the positions of Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group and Vice President at GE Energy Financial Services. He began his career as a geologist working in Arctic regions of Western Siberia on the development and construction of natural gas pipelines.
Mr. Freedman holds a MBA from the Yale School of Management and a PhD in Environmental Science and Energy Research from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
Julia Grinshpun, JP Morgan Chase
Julia Grinshpun is a financial services executive with over 18 years of experience working with middle market and corporate clients in client management, business development, credit underwriting, and portfolio management roles. She is currently an Executive Director at JP Morgan Chase, where she oversees the Clean Mobility industry vertical on the Commercial Banking Green Economy Team. In this role, she delivers capital solutions and expertise to clients who are advancing decarbonization through innovative technologies, leveraging the strength and breadth of J.P. Morgan’s banking platform.
Prior to joining JP Morgan Chase in 2021, Julia served as a Director on Wells Fargo’s renewable energy tax equity team, where she oversaw counterparty risk underwriting for a $10Bn+ portfolio of solar, wind, fuel cell, and storage investments. In this role she also worked with senior commercial banking leaders on capital deployment strategy to advance corporate sustainability goals.
Julia holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business/Economics and Spanish minor from the University of California Santa Barbara. Additionally, she is currently pursuing a graduate Sustainability Certificate from Harvard Extension School, reflecting her deep commitment to sustainable finance and her dedication to advancing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives in the financial services sector.
KAREN HAMBERG, DELOITTE LLP
CALSTART Board Chair Emeritus
Karen Hamberg joined Deloitte Canada LLP in 2022 as a Partner in the firm’s Financial Advisory practice, advising on the commercialization of climate technology across all economic sectors. She is a clean technology executive with more than 20 years experience in the deployment of clean transportation technologies and the policy/regulatory frameworks to enable growth, scale, and market leadership.
Prior to joining Deloitte, she held a range of senior executive positions at Westport Fuel Systems and has expertise in corporate strategy, market creation and development, sustainability/ESG, policy and regulatory affairs, and external communications.
Hamberg was appointed to Canada’s Industry Strategy Council in June 2020 to represent the clean technology sector and was named chair of the Clean Technology Economic Strategy Table. She advises on strategies to accelerate the deployment of made-in-Canada clean technology, scale Canadian companies, and ensure Canada’s global competitiveness in a decarbonized economy.
From 2017 to 2021, Hamberg served as chair of the CALSTART Board of Directors, and was the first non-U.S. resident, the first woman, and the youngest person to hold the post.
Hamberg holds a Master of Arts in geography and environmental studies from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario and a Bachelor of Arts in geography from Brandon University, Manitoba. She chaired the 2019 United Way of the Lower Mainland Campaign Cabinet, and serves as Vice Chair of the British Columbia Regional Advisory Board of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. In 2017, Hamberg was named to Canada’s Clean 50™ for her contributions to advance sustainability in the heavy-duty transportation sector, and in 2019 to Canada’s Clean 16TM for her leadership on more stringent clean transportation regulations in North America.
HENRIK HOLLAND, PROLOGIS
Henrik Holland is the Senior Vice President and Global Head of Prologis Mobility, where he leads the company’s strategic initiative into the emerging Mobility industry. He oversees Prologis’ robust Electric Vehicle (EV) charging offerings, uniquely positioning the company to deliver leading solutions at depots, workplaces, and charging hubs. During his tenure with Prologis, the company has delivered some of the most innovative charging projects in the logistics industry including the largest heavy duty charging depot in the United States.
Prior to joining Prologis in 2021, Henrik served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Shell Greenlots, responsible for overseeing the company’s operations, project engineering, delivery, and end-to-end customer support. With an extensive 18-year tenure at Shell, Henrik held various commercial and operational roles. Before his role as COO, he led Shell New Energies’ Electric Mobility Corporate Development efforts, including the acquisition of Greenlots. Henrik also founded Shell’s Connected Energy group, driving business development and product strategy, resulting in a pipeline of over 100MW of customer-sited distributed energy projects.
Henrik is actively involved in industry advisory roles, serving on the Electric Vehicle Working Group (EVWG) established by the U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. He also contributes to the Investor Advisory Board at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and has mentored startups through Techstars. His past affiliations include positions at the Northeast Clean Energy Council, Greentown Labs, and Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.
Henrik holds a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration and is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
CHRIS NEVERS, RIVIAN
Chris Nevers is Rivian’s Senior Director of Public Policy responsible for environmental, battery, and charging policies including regulatory development. Prior to his 4 years at Rivian, Chris’ experiences include Vice President of Energy and Environment for the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers), EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, and Chrysler. In Chris’ career he has developed, tested, calibrated (OBD2), and certified vehicles (from both the manufacturer and government side), ran a plant vehicle engineer team, has both written and led industry coalition efforts to inform federal regulation, led an OEM Domestic Affairs Team (Federal, State, and Environmental) and helped launch Rivian. Chris is also a founding Board Member of ZETA, a member of the Michigan Council on Future Mobility and Electrification and serves on the SAE International Office of Energy Strategic Advisory Council among other SAE activities. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Toledo and a masters of automotive engineering from the University of Michigan.
KATIE SLOAN, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON
Katie Sloan is vice president, Design & Field Asset Services (DFAS), at Southern California Edison. She is responsible for unifying planning and design teams across Transmission & Distribution (T&D), which includes Geomatics and the Field Accounting organization.
CHRIS STODDART, NEW FLYER OF AMERICA INC.
Chris joined New Flyer in 2007 and as President, he leads the development and execution of operational strategy and performance for New Flyer, with a heavy focus on growth and advancement in the zero-emission space. He is also responsible for driving innovation of its mobility solutions portfolio across North America, including buses, technology, and infrastructure. With over 20 years leading engineering, sustainability, and new product development in transportation, Chris has become an expert in vehicle design and Operational Excellence. Prior to New Flyer, Chris held leadership positions with General Motors and National Steel Car. A dedicated clean technology leader, Chris also serves as a longtime board member for CALSTART and is an accredited Professional Engineer.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) in Automotive Engineering Design from Kettering University, and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.