Lisa Ann Pinkerton
Founder and Chairwoman

Lisa Ann Pinkerton is founder of Women In Cleantech & Sustainability, a San Francisco Bay Area group dedicated to the advancement of women in various environmental and technology sectors.  She is also Founder and President of Technica Communications, where she handles marketing, social media, content production and public relations for cleantech and biotech startups.  Additionally, Lisa Ann is Co-Founder and Marketing Chair for the Global Cleantech Cluster Association, an international speaker and moderator and documentary filmmaker.  Lisa Ann is a former award-winning broadcast journalist who reported for National Public Radio, PBS Television, WPXI-NBC, American Public Media, and Free Speech TV.

SARA EVE FUENTES
VICE CHAIRWOMAN

Sara Fuentes is the Founder and President of SmartWaste. With 10 years of experience in the Waste and Recycling Industry, Sara is a leader in abating commercial waste. A passionate advocate for women and a tenacious leader, Sara is setting out to alter the cleantech landscape and finding her own niche. Sara draws on her experience working as an educator and Vice-Chair of the Women in CleanTech and Sustainability organization, where she is an impactful mentor and friend.

Smart Waste is a Minority Women-owned and operated start-up with a focus on Waste Technologies, Waste Systems and Vendor Management for Zero Waste programs. Our core values are Transparency, Circularity, and People. Transparency to establish trust. Circularity to explore and validate the downstream community. People are the heart of sustainability. Our Impact will influence our communities to practice a zero-waste lifestyle. We are looking to work with companies that are in alignment with our values and goals.

KIRPA GREWAL
VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR

Kirpa is one of the WCS Board of Directors who is the Co-Chair of the Volunteerism Committee and Executive Committee member, supporting all the WCS committees. 

She is an environmentalist working to protect important ecosystems and the services they provide. She connects people with the environment to affect global change.

Originally from the Bay Area in California, she completed her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California Santa Cruz and has gained an M.Sc. Hydrology & Water Security from the University of Oklahoma. Kirpa is based in Grenada in the Caribbean, where she works on sustainable natural resource management, conservation, and economic development initiatives. She leads fundraising and finance for MOBY (a social enterprise), is a Youth Ocean Leader with Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA), a Volunteer Researcher at Ocean Spirit (leatherback sea turtle research), and is a conservation diver at Aquanauts Explorer.

She goes on weekly coastal cleanups with her dog, Ziggy, to clear trash from local waterways and bring awareness to the marine litter problem. Kirpa enjoys conducting scientific research (water sampling, microplastic pollution), climate stewardship, gardening, hiking, scuba diving, biking, writing, live music, and adventuring in nature.

JULIE BUSCH
BOARD SECRETARY

Julie is the Board Secretary for Women in Cleantech & Sustainability (WCS) and the President of Product Rehab. She is a customer-centric executive with 20+ years of experience identifying new revenue opportunities for Fortune 500 companies in technology, health, and financial services. She is a strategist, a visionary, and a diplomat with a polished and proven approach to leading and motivating key stakeholders to leverage customer voice data, inclusiveness, and objectivity. She holds an MBA from George Washington University.

Anita Gavini
Finance Committee

Anita is currently a Business Development Manager for a local environmental services firm.  Her prior experience spans over 10 years in various supply chain operations and strategy positions at Ford Motor Company and Target Corporation, as well as management consulting.  Passionate about sustainability from both a social and environmental perspective, Anita volunteers actively with the GRID Alternatives International Program (energy access/sustainable development) as well as the North South Foundation (educational programming).  She holds a Masters in Sustainability from Harvard University Extension School, a MBA from Duke University, and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Distribution Management from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  In her free time she loves to hike, travel, and compete on a local dragon boat team.  ​

Robin Milshtein
Membership Committee, Business Development

Robin is an engineer turned investment and business development leader in climate tech, and is an avid proponent of engaging women in STEM careers and tough tech companies. As Director of Business Development at New Sun Road, Robin leads commercial activities related to microgrid control, monitoring and optimization. Over her career spanning multiple companies, Robin has served in a variety of functions including R&D, business development, sales, strategic marketing, and corporate venture capital. At the corporate venture arm of Saint-Gobain she led investments in early stage startups related to the industrial energy transition. She holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Union College and an MS in Materials Science & Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Ellie Read
Career Development Committee Co-Chair

Ellie is the Certification Director at Climate Neutral, a nonprofit tech startup working to decarbonize the corporate sector by setting rigorous standards for climate action and helping brands measure, offset, and reduce their carbon emissions. She graduated with an MBA in Sustainable Solutions from Presidio Graduate School, where her studies focused on climate finance, corporate sustainability, and opportunities to use technology to accelerate the energy transition. Ellie’s experience spans corporate sustainability and social impact programs and she brings a wealth of experience from her work as a Product Manager at a healthtech startup in areas such as process development, cross-functional collaboration, and change management. She holds a BS in Human Biology from Brown University. In her free time, Ellie enjoys spending time outdoors hiking, skiing, and paddle boarding.

Tracy Huynh
Marketing Committee Co-Chair

Tracy is a licensed Professional Engineer and currently a Senior Associate at RMI’s Carbon-Free Building Program where she leverages her expertise in structural engineering, mass timber construction and Life Cycle Assessment analyses to focus on reducing carbon embodied in building materials. Before that, she worked in New York City as a structural engineer and project manager specializing in complex, freeform structures, mass timber buildings and sustainable designs that were structurally efficient and optimized material use. She later moved to Vancouver, BC and led the research, development, and prototyping of prefabricated mass timber building components to support the advancement of industrialized construction. She earned her B.Sc. Degree in Civil Engineering at Rice University and her M.Sc. Degree in Civil Engineering at Princeton University. She’s an avid defender for social and environmental justice and leverages her leadership to advocate for positive change.

Lael Giebel
Events Committee Co-Chair

Lael has 13 years of sustainability experience, and is currently the Director of Global Sustainability at KnowBe4, where she manages the organization’s global sustainability program across 12 countries. Inspired by her lifelong passion for environmental conservation, she became a LEED AP in 2009, and received her MBA in Sustainability in 2011. As a certified TRUE Advisor, Lael is trained in zero waste management to help organizations meet waste goals and cut their carbon footprint. She is also an Envision Sustainability Professional, Green Globes Professional, and Certified Climate Change Ambassador. She is interested in holistic approaches to sustainability that integrate environmentally friendly practices into all facets of life and livelihoods.

Caroline Trowbridge
Europe Chapter Co-Chair

Caroline has five years of experience in renewable energy finance, having worked on a wide range of infrastructure assets including C&I energy efficiency retrofits at an early-stage start-up, Metrus Energy, and utility-scale solar, wind, and battery storage at an established developer, Leeward Renewable Energy. Caroline is now focused on offshore wind at Ørsted as a Senior Financial Analyst.

Alongside her day job, Caroline is passionate about helping women advance their cleantech careers. She has sat on the board of Women in Cleantech and Sustainability for three years as the Co-Chair of the Events Committee, introducing virtual programming during the pandemic, hosting industry experts, and moderating panels in San Francisco. Caroline moved to Copenhagen in 2022 and is now leading the launch of WCS in Europe.

She holds a BA in Mathematics from Middlebury College.

Anna Yee
Entrepreneurship Committee Co-Chair

Anna Yee is currently a contractor to the Department of Energy, where she supports the innovation and commercialization of emerging climate technologies through public funds and public-private collaboration. With five years of experience in climate tech incubation and acceleration, she brings a unique insight into program design and strategy to support entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. Anna is passionate about expanding women representation and leadership in the innovation space, both amongst entrepreneurs and investors. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Oregon.

Kathleen O’Melinn
Board Member

Kathleen leads corporate environmental initiatives for a public sector organization of 5,000 employees based in British Columbia, Canada. She manages sustainability reporting, ESG strategy and supports the social impact strategy. Kathleen is part of a nimble team that act as intrapreneurs within a well-established organization, collaborating with cross-functional teams, the government and stewardship organizations to set targets and build strategies. She is well versed in developing and growing tailored environmental programs and graduated with her MBA in Sustainable Business Practices from the University of Oregon in 2018.

Joanna Rogers
Board Member

With 15+ years of experience in B2B marketing, Joanna Rogers has a diverse background working for companies in the healthcare, commercial real estate, and renewable energy sectors. Currently, she is the Vice President, Marketing at Terrasmart, where she is responsible for marketing and product strategies that drive customer satisfaction, revenue growth, and advance Terrasmart’s mission of powering people, partners, and the world forward. Over the course of her career, Joanna has acted on her passion for the advancement of woman, having built and led leadership development programs and resource groups at multiple companies to help women advance in their careers and make the path easier for those that follow. As the marketing co-chair for WCS, she is thrilled to be able to tell the stories that promote WCS’ position as a thought leader and compelling organization for women to gain the tools to build their careers in cleantech and sustainability. Joanna graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor’s degree in International Economics.

Oakley Jennings-Fast
Volunteer Committee Co-Chair

Oakley received her Chemical and Biological Engineering undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and began her career working for BASF in the chemical manufacturing industry. Inspired to shift her career, she founded her own consulting company, Level Up Planet, and served as the Director of Circular Economy for Smart Waste USA. In her free time, Oakley volunteers as a board member for Women in Cleantech and Sustainability and produces a podcast called Trash Magic!