PASADENA, Calif. ­– Representing international industry, government, utility, sustainability and innovation leaders in clean transportation, the CALSTART Board of Directors will retain its Chair while welcoming in a new Vice Chair and Board Secretary.

The Board unanimously voted to retain Karen Hamberg, Vice President of Government Relations at Westport Fuel Systems, as its esteemed Chair. Westport Fuel Systems, headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia engineers, manufactures and supplies advanced clean-burning engines, systems, and components that enable the deployment of low-carbon fuels. Ms. Hamberg was named to Canada’s Clean50^TM in 2016 and Canada’s Clean16^TM in 2018 for her contributions to advance clean transportation policy and regulatory frameworks. She is a member of the Government of Canada’s Economic Strategy Table on Clean Technology and is Chair of the United Way of the Lower Mainland’s 2019 Campaign Cabinet

“Karen has been a tremendous board chair, helping us improve our organization during a period of rapid growth,” said CALSTART CEO and President John Boesel.

The new Vice Chair of CALSTART’s Board is Laura Renger, Principal Manager of Air and Climate Policy at Southern California Edison. Ms. Renger is responsible for the utility’s regulatory and legislative policy concerning air quality, climate change and transportation electrification.

Scott Phillippi, Senior Director Automotive Maintenance and Engineering International Operations for UPS, is now Board Secretary. Mr. Phillippi is responsible for UPS’s international fleet maintenance operations, automotive engineering, global advanced propulsion projects and fleet related sustainability issues.

“The mission of the CALSTART Board of Directors is to identify and implement strategies and make the connections needed to accelerate the growth of the clean transportation sector,” said Boesel. “As leaders in the utility, public policy, private and sustainability sectors, Laura and Scott will play critical roles in supporting the development and deployment of clean technology solutions that support our nation’s economic, health, climate and leadership interests.”

It was also announced that longtime CALSTART Board member, Puon Penn, Executive Vice President and Head of Technology Capital at Wells Fargo, would be stepping down from the Board after many years of distinguished service.

“The CALSTART Board of Directors is extremely appreciative of Puon Penn’s tireless contributions over the past decade. CALSTART is on an exciting growth trajectory today in large part due to the thoughtful and wise guidance that Puon provided. We are pleased that Puon will continue to be involved with the organization as a member of the CALSTART Investor Council,” said Chair Hamberg.

CALSTART | Changing transportation for good

A national nonprofit consortium with offices in New York, Michigan, Colorado and California, CALSTART partners with 200+ member company and agency innovators to build a prosperous, efficient and clean high-tech transportation industry. We knock out barriers to modernization and the adoption of clean vehicles. CALSTART is changing transportation for good.