Brad has more than twenty-five years of clean energy advocacy experience with statewide and national organizations. He is the author of dozens of research reports written for statewide policy campaigns across the country and has been the architect of successful policy initiatives on renewable energy procurement requirements, low-emission vehicle standards, energy efficiency programs, and greenhouse gas regulatory frameworks. He has led CALSSA’s policy work since 2013, where he oversees all work at the CPUC and helps manage legislative initiatives. Brad has been particularly active in net metering, rate design, interconnection, power control systems, and the new construction mandate.

Dara began her career in the rooftop solar industry in 2008. She started in the field, pulling permits and hosting inspections for SolarCity (now Tesla Energy). While she has held various roles in the pre-construction process, she has been focused in the permitting and inspections space for over a decade. Prior to joining CALSSA, Dara most recently worked at Sunrun as the Director of Permitting and Inspections, where she oversaw national and local strategy to improve the process for, and success rate of, obtaining approvals from local jurisdictions to build solar systems. She acted as Sunrun's liaison while supporting the launch of SolarAPP+, an online automated plan review tool for instant permitting. Dara earned her BA in International Development Studies from UCLA, and MBA from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine. She lives in Orange County with her husband, two kids, and two dogs, and some fish.

Elise comes to the organization with more than five years of experience working for non-profits in executive and administrative roles. She is a native of Brazil and has spent several years in non-profit work in India. She has now settled in Sacramento and is eager to focus her energies on growing our Association and furthering our cause of increasing clean energy throughout California.

As Deputy Director, Josh develops, oversees and executes initiatives to build the capacity of CALSSA, through fundraising events, member engagement via our state-wide chapters, as well as other fundraising initiatives. Josh also heads CALSSA’s consumer protection work. Before joining CALSSA, Josh was the executive director of Green Corps, the nation’s preeminent environmental organizing training program. He was involved in every aspect of the program including recruiting and managing staff, fundraising, overseeing field campaigns, and crafting multi-year organizational strategic plans. He lives in Berkeley with his wife and two boys.

Kate Unger came to CALSSA with broad experience in law, policy advocacy, and editing. For CALSSA, she works on several policy areas to support and expand distributed solar and energy storage, with a focus on virtual power plants and the development of policies to enable distributed resources to provide grid services. Before joining CALSSA, she was legal director at a nonprofit public-interest law firm and advocacy organization in Los Angeles. She has served as an Assistant United States Attorney and has held several judicial clerkships. Before attending law school, she worked as an editor in the educational publishing field. She is also a volunteer advocate for clean energy and environmental sustainability. She lives in Glendale.

Kevin comes to CALSSA with experience commercializing new technological innovations through early-stage startups. This experience ranges from artificial intelligence to renewables. In these roles Kevin has worked as a jack-of-all-trades, leading engineering teams and often making sales calls. Kevin has written AI software for Uber’s self-driving vehicles, led the development of a computer vision product at a Sequoia-backed startup, and worked with solar project developers to streamline project siting and permitting. Kevin graduated from Cornell University with a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics with honors in 2020.

Meghan comes to the California Solar & Storage Association with 10+ years experience in marketing, event planning and creative direction. Her previous job was Creative & Media Director for Quick Mount PV, a leading manufacturer of solar roof mounts in California. She oversaw media planning and buying, directed all creative work and marketing communications, and produced one of the solar industry’s most popular annual events, Solar Battle of the Bands. As Marketing Director, Meghan manages marketing and promotional efforts and leads CALSSA’s efforts to continue to build a successful brand in the state of California. Meghan graduated with honors, from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2003. She lives in Sacramento with her husband and two young daughters.

Stratagem LLP

Donald primarily focuses on matters related to business and construction law, solar, green building and environmental policy. He has broad experience representing public and private clients on a multitude of contract, litigation, regulatory and general business issues. Donald co-founded the firm’s Green Business Practice Group and led the firm’s internal sustainability efforts, including becoming the first law firm to attain green business certification.

Stone Advocacy

Kim Stone is a seasoned lawyer and lobbyist. A graduate of Stanford University and Stanford law school, she has served as a state and federal prosecutor. Kim lobbied in-house for the Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC) and for Blue Shield of California, and led CJAC, a powerful trade association dedicated to fairness in the legal system. With a track record of success in both promoting affirmative legislation and killing bad bills, she is a collaborator and also a fierce advocate. Her insight and experience, along with an expert understanding of California politics and policy, allow her to provide direct, strategic advice.

Keyes & Fox LLP

Julia Kantor is a partner at Keyes & Fox LLP. Julia’s practice focuses on expanding market opportunities for distributed energy resources and other clean energy technologies, promoting community choice aggregation, and countering anti-competitive utility policies. Julia advocates to advance clients’ regulatory and policy goals in proceedings before state public utilities commissions, advises clients on regulatory interpretation and compliance matters, and works with clients to develop proposed legislation.