Valerie Thorsen (She/Her)

Director of the San Joaquin Valley Regional Office
CA/PST (GMT-8)

Work History

Prior to joining CALSTART, Valerie managed the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s Air Permitting team, ensuring high quality streamlined permits and managing the development of programs and tools for the broader department. She also worked as a consultant at Environmental Resources Management where she focused on environmental compliance in the PA-WV-OH tri-state area.

As the Director of the San Joaquin Valley Regional Office, Valerie Thorsen focuses on spurring transportation acceleration decarbonization initiatives that will improve air quality, especially for negatively impacted communities. She manages large scale zero-emission projects implementing facility-wide vehicle, equipment, and infrastructure technologies.

Valerie also spearheads projects that collaborate across both public and private sectors of transit, utilities, and schools. She sets immense importance on collaboration between planners, implementers, and industry in the region to collectively move the needle toward reducing emissions.

Education & Certifications

• B.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida
• M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon
• M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon

Work Approach

Acknowledging the vast opportunities within transportation subsectors like innovative mobility, transit, and goods movement is crucial. Leveraging subject matter experts in these fields and actively listening to community and environmental needs can significantly enhance successful zero-emission technology deployments. By aggregating and amplifying these insights, we can pave the way for much-needed solutions.