Staff

Cathy Calfo joined the Apollo Alliance in November 2007, having served for the past decade as California’s Deputy State Treasurer and as a senior advisor to the former State Treasurer, launching some of the most innovative policy initiatives in the country, including the Green Wave which invested nearly $1.5 billion in renewable energy, cutting edge environmental technologies, and environmentally responsible companies; and Smart Investments and the Double Bottom Line, that redirected state funding to revitalize urban neighborhoods, curb sprawl and promote energy-efficient and sustainable development practices. A leader in her home community of Santa Cruz California, Cathy served as a founding member of the city’s commission for the prevention of violence against women, for five years on the city planning commission and as a member of the board of directors of Above the Line, a shelter for homeless youth. She has three sons — seven year-old Elijah; Kris, who recently graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz; and Kaj, who attends Sonoma State University.

Kate Gordon was one of Apollo’s first staffers, joining in 2004 as the director of the Apollo Strategy Center, the policy arm of Apollo formerly housed at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS). She then served as Apollo’s national program director before her promotion to co-director in mid-2008. Kate’s new role as senior policy advisor was prompted by her appointment in June 2009 to senior vice president for energy programs at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., one of the premier energy policy positions in the country. Kate is nationally recognized for her work on the intersection of clean energy and economic development policy, and especially for helping to shape the modern definition of “green-collar jobs” as “well-paid, career track jobs that contribute directly to preserving or enhancing environmental quality.” She serves or has served on many boards and steering committees including RE-AMP, Clean Wisconsin, the Midwest Agriculture Energy Network, the National Wind Coordinating Committee, and the National Green Industries Policy Retreat. Kate has a long history of working on economic justice and labor issues. At COWS, along with her energy work, Kate focused on corporate tax policy, progressive federalism, and rural economic development. Prior to that she served as an employment and consumer rights litigator at Trial Lawyers for Public Justice in Oakland, California; in earlier years she worked as a tenant organizer and housing advocate in San Francisco. She is a primary or co-author on most of Apollo’s major reports, including The New Apollo Program, Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities, Greener Pathways, and the New Energy series. She is also the author of several published articles on contract fairness, federal preemption, mandatory arbitration litigation, and regional economic development.
Kate earned a JD and Masters in city planning from the University of California, Berkeley.

Before joining Apollo Alliance, Andrea Bazemore was a government affair associate for Capitol Assets, which provides experience in legislative and administrative matters to assist clients in responding to opportunities and challenges at all levels of government. She supported the group’s lobbying activities at the Indiana General Assembly and before executive branch agencies. Andrea’s recent focus was coalition building on health care policy and local government at the Indiana state house. Ms. Bazemore a recent graduate of Indiana University School of Law Indianapolis as well as being admitted into the Indiana Bar in May 2009. During her undergraduate at Indiana University, Andrea served as senator in the Student Activities Board. She was co-organizer for Freedom’s Answer, a nationwide nonpartisan voter registration program aimed toward college students. By participating in the Freedom’s Answer program, it helped further efforts toward registering as many students on IU campus and nationwide. In her spare time, Andrea is a avid equestrian rider competing around the Midwest.

Paul Blank has spent more than ten years providing senior strategic counsel and management for online, political and public affairs campaigns. Most recently, Paul served as national deputy campaign manager, in charge of day-to-day operations, for John Edwards’ presidential campaign. Prior to that, Paul founded and managed the WakeUpWalMart.com campaign, the fastest growing online, grassroots campaign for corporate responsibility in America, with over 431,000 supporters. Paul also served as national political director for Howard Dean’s historic 2004 presidential campaign and has worked on high-profile public affairs campaigns such as Fortune 500 company Qualcomm’s worldwide campaign for 3G telecommunications rights. Paul has been a frequent speaker on the power of the Internet and politics and has appeared in Fortune Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and on the Today Show, Fox News, and 20/20, in addition to many other media outlets.

Andrea joined Apollo in July 2009 after working for two years at the University of California, Berkeley, Center for Labor Research and Education, where she studied the impact of climate change policies on jobs and workers. Previously, Andrea worked as the campaigns director for the human rights and environmental organization, Global Exchange. She also served as the executive director of the San Francisco-based media advocacy organization Media Alliance. Andrea is a life-long peace and justice advocate who has two decades of experience writing, organizing, lobbying, and getting media attention for issues such as housing rights, Fair Trade, and the Iraq war. She has a B.A. from Yale University and an M.S.W. from U.C. Berkeley.

Since joining the Apollo Alliance as Research Associate in September 2008, Elena has written numerous policy briefs, memos, and data points on green economic development, job quality standards, workforce development, and energy policy. She has been deeply involved with the Apollo Alliance’s work to inform Congress and the public about clean energy and green-collar job provisions in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and has prepared a number of memos and presentations on opportunities related to its implementation. Prior to joining Apollo she did research for the Labor Center at the University of California, Berkeley, where she conducted a study in Contra Costa County on opportunities in the green economy for cities and training programs, and published a paper on strategies for ensuring that green jobs are quality jobs. Elena’s roots are in community-based work and youth development, and she has experience in the United States and Latin America. She earned an MSW in Social Welfare and a MA in International and Area Studies, both from the University of California, Berkeley.

Sam Haswell, Communications Director
haswell at apolloalliance.org

Sam Haswell, a marketing, communications, and media specialist with a decade of public and private sector experience, joined the Apollo Alliance in April 2009. From 2006-2009, Sam was the director of communications for Rainforest Action Network (RAN), where he oversaw all of the organization’s communications strategies and platforms, and supervised a five-member staff. Prior to joining RAN, Sam directed communications and media strategy for Oceana Inc.’s successful campaign to convince Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines to install advanced wastewater treatment systems fleet-wide and also helped launch the organization’s Stop Seafood Contamination campaign. Earlier in his career, Sam served as press secretary to former U.S. Senator Mark Dayton and as deputy communications director for Minnesota U.S. Senate candidate Mike Ciresi. Sam earned a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Colorado in Boulder, and studied literature and philosophy at the University of Uppsala in Sweden.

Amelia Klawon, Executive Assistant
amelia at apolloalliance.org

Amelia Klawon joined the Apollo Alliance in September 2008. Previously, Amelia served as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer in Tucson, Arizona and an AmeriCorps National Service volunteer in East Palo Alto, California. As a VISTA volunteer, Amelia developed community volunteer care giving programs to serve elders, and co-authored a manual on how to develop and sustain such programs. She also developed and implemented a volunteer program for the new East Palo Alto YMCA and helped plan and lead a conference for young women of color. Amelia began at Apollo as a program intern before accepting her new assignment as executive assistant to Co-Director Cathy Calfo. She earned a B.A. in psychology with a double minor in Spanish and Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona. Among her many accomplishments as a student was planning and organizing a program of daily and weekly workshops to assist incoming at-risk freshmen to strengthen their life and academic skills.

John “Mac” Lynch joined the Apollo Alliance in December 2007 as Program Assistant. He was promoted to Program Associate in December 2008, before being named Interim CA State Coordinator in July 2009. Mac organized Newark’s Green Future Summit in 2008 and provides ongoing project management, policy support and organizing functions in the program department. Before joining Apollo, Mac worked as Education and Outreach Intern for the Lake Champlain Basin Program in Grand Isle, Vermont; and as Outreach Intern for Forest Watch in Montpelier. He graduated with honors from Hamilton College with a B.A. in environmental science and communications. While at Hamilton Mac co-led the Hamilton Environmental Action Group and continues his involvement as an active member of Graduates for a Greener Hamilton. Mac also studied smart growth and sustainable land use at the University of Otago in New Zealand and contributed as a student and volunteer to the Arcosanti urban planning experiment in Scotsdale, Arizona.

Matt Mayrl recently rejoined the Apollo Alliance to serve as its national Policy Director after spending the previous three years on the east coast. Most recently, Matt worked for the city of Boston in the Mayor’s Office and Office of Administration and Finance. In this role, he advised the City’s Chief Financial and Operating Officer on operational and financial management topics, as well as building the City’s first performance management website. Matt was one of Apollo’s first staffers, helping to build the Apollo Strategy Center and coauthoring New Energy for States and New Energy for Cities while working for the Apollo Strategy Center housed at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS). Also while at COWS, he established himself as a national expert on one the country’s fastest growing economic development finance programs – tax increment financing (TIF). Through his work with the City of Boston, Apollo and on TIF issues, Matt has developed expertise in public finance, government management, and energy and economic development policy. Matt holds a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, as well as a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

After working for ten years in Sacramento as a field staff member, then legislative director for the statewide environmental group, CALPIRG (now Environment California), Mary left to direct a non-profit health organization in San Diego. Mary then began consulting with organizations such as the Audubon Society and Physicians for Social Responsibility on program start-ups, organizational development and strategic planning. She also served as the development director for The Rockefeller Family Fund’s Technology Project and later at Stanford’s performing arts program, Stanford Lively Arts. Mary went on to become the executive director for the Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts, an organization spearheading interdisciplinary university-wide programs. Mary graduated with honors in international relations from Brown University.

Ron Ruggiero joined the Apollo Alliance in September 2008 after more than 15 years of organizing, representation, and negotiation experience in the labor movement. He is a graduate of the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute. In 1997, he was awarded the SEIU Western Region Organizer of the Year. After organizing thousands of workers across the country, he began representing workers and negotiating contracts, including unique partnership efforts between labor and management within Kaiser Permanente. Most recently, as staff director at SEIU Local 49, he helped lead a local-wide revitalization effort. This culminated in the local being awarded “Most Improved Local” for member political engagement by the international. In 2007, he joined an ad hoc environmental committee within SEIU and helped launch the “Negotiating Green” handbook. He also began attending local Apollo Alliance meetings in Oregon. He liked what he saw. “It is clear to me that building the clean energy economy can both solve the climate crisis and help us solve our inequality crisis by revitalizing family wage-paying jobs in the United States.” Ron enjoys hiking and camping with his wife, Cindy, and their two young sons, Justus and Zade. He holds a B.A. in sociology from the University of California, Davis.

Dana Sevakis joined the Apollo Alliance in April 2009. A Michigan native, Dana began her organizing career while attending the University of Colorado at Boulder where she helped direct the local chapter of the Rainforest Action Network. During that time she worked on a campaign to convince Home Depot and other major home improvement retailers to not sell products made from old-growth and rainforest timber. The successful campaign earned the Boulder chapter national recognition. After graduating in 2000 with a B.A. degree in environmental studies, Dana joined the Chicago Recycling Coalition to improve the city’s “Blue Bag” recycling program. She also worked for Chicago Jobs with Justice, a labor-community coalition engaged in strengthening worker’s rights. In 2004, Dana returned to the Detroit area as a member of the political and communications staff for SEIU Local 3, a Midwest regional “Justice for Janitors” local. During the 2008 national election, she was a consultant for Michigan Voice, a state group that coordinated civic engagement organizations, and America Votes, a national organization focused on mobilizing voters.

Shanelle Smith joined the Apollo Alliance in April 2009. As an undergraduate at Kent State University, Shanelle was leader in the university’s NAACP chapter. She was recently named a 2009 Ohio Political Leaders Fellow by the Center For Progressive Leadership, joining 45 other outstanding young leaders in the center’s inaugural class of Ohio fellows. Shanelle interned at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. Shanelle, a native of Perrysburg who was raised in a strong union family, earned a B.A. in political science from Kent State University and is completing an M.A. in political science from the University of Toledo.

Joe Thomas, who was raised in St. Louis, Missouri spent three years as an organizer in the Show Me state before joining the Apollo Alliance in May 2009. Even before he graduated magna cum laude in 2007 with a B.A. in English literature from Washington University, Joe was a trainer in grassroots organizing with the United States Students Association, teaching college students how to build effective direct action organizations on campus. He also was the student youth co-chair for the St. Louis Area Chapter of Jobs with Justice, focusing on connecting students to community, labor, and religious organizations. After graduation, Joe was a deputy field organizer with Missouri Campaign for Change, and served in a number of organizing and office staff positions with Missouri Jobs With Justice, a coalition of community, labor, student, and religious groups committed to economic justice that grew out of the St. Louis chapter.