CALSTART Elects New Board Officers
Organization Selects New Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary
PASADENA, Calif. – CALSTART is pleased to announce the election of three highly respected professionals in the field of clean transportation to leadership roles on its Board of Directors. Taking over as new Board chair is Ford Motor Company’s Cynthia Williams, with the vice chair role being filled by Walmart’s Chelle Izzi. Board member Andrei Greenawalt of Via assumes the duties of Board secretary.
Cynthia Williams, who replaces Katie Sloan of Southern California Edison as Board chair, 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 that body as vice chair. She is the past chair of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers Mobile Source Policy Committee. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University and an MBA from the University of Detroit Mercy.
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 the chair of the CALSTART Board Governance Committee. She 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.
Andrei Greenawalt is Executive Vice President and Head of Global Policy at Via, and was elected to the CALSTART Board in November 2022. Prior to joining Via, Greenawalt worked on regulatory and policy issues at the White House from 2009-14, including as Policy Advisor in the Office of the Chief of Staff and as Associate Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. He also served in the White House offices of Cabinet Affairs and Legislative Affairs. Greenawalt is a graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School, served as a law clerk to two federal judges and worked for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform.
“Cynthia, Izzi and Andrei are excellent choices to lead CALSTART’s Board of Directors. Their considerable experience and expertise in the industry will be of tremendous benefit to us in achieving our clean transportation goals ,” said CALSTART President and CEO John Boesel. “We also greatly appreciate Katie Sloane’s leadership as Board chair for the past two years. Under her guidance, the organization grew by more than 30% and advanced its position globally as a leader in the effort to build the zero-emission commercial vehicle sector.”
About CALSTART
A nonprofit consortium with offices in New York, Michigan, Colorado, California and central Europe and partners world-wide, CALSTART works with 300+ member company and agency innovators to build a prosperous, efficient, and clean high-tech transportation industry. We overcome barriers to modernization and the adoption of clean vehicles. CALSTART is changing transportation for good.