Staff
Chris Busch, Director of Policy
chrisb at bluegreenalliance.org
Chris Busch came to the BlueGreen Alliance through the merger with the Apollo Alliance and now serves as BGA’s Director of Policy, based in the San Francisco office.
He has worked on the challenge of clean energy and climate policy since 1997. Previously, Chris served as Policy Director for the Center for Resource Solutions, Climate Economist for the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Senior Research Associate at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he worked in the Lab’s International Energy Studies Group as well as its Appliance and Lighting Standards Group. Prior to these posts, Chris also worked in politics and communications. Chris has authored numerous reports and articles, most recently Shockproofing Society, which offered new insights into the benefits of reduced vulnerability to volatile oil prices that California’s clean energy policies provide. Economic analysis had previously ignored this benefit.
Chris holds a Ph.D. in environmental economics from the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and a master’s degree in public policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy, both from the University of California, Berkeley.
Lisa Hoyos, Director of Strategic Field Initiatives
lisah at bluegreenalliance.org
Lisa Hoyos is the National Director of Strategic Field Initiatives for the BlueGreen Alliance and the California Director of the BlueGreen Apollo Alliance, based in San Francisco. She is responsible for helping to design and implement state clean energy advocacy initiatives, as well as to directing BlueGreen Apollo’s California advocacy campaigns.
Lisa has two decades of experience to working on labor and environmental issues and brings a deep understanding of California’s political and economic landscape. She has worked as a Senior Field Represenative for the national AFL-CIO, as the Political Director of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council, and as an organizer of Latino immigrant workers with SEIU’s Justice for Janitors campaign. She served, under Senator Tom Hayden, as an analyst to the California Senate Natural Resources Committee and has worked with environmental organizations including Greenpeace and the Environmental Project on Central America. In addition to her many years of U.S.-based work, Lisa worked for two years leading a globalization project with the Congress of South African Trade Unions in Johannesburg and has coordinated the prominent global fair trade network “Our World Is Not For Sale.”
Lisa serves on the board of the Labor Network for Sustainability, the California Fair Trade Coalition and Working Partnerships USA.
Amelia Klawon, Program and Operations Assistant
ameliak at bluegreenalliance.org
Amelia Klawon works at the BlueGreen Alliance as the Program and Operations Assistant. She joined the Apollo Alliance in September 2008 and is based in San Francisco.
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 earned a B.A. in psychology with a double minor in Spanish and Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona.
Brian Lombardozzi, Senior Policy Analyst
brianl at bluegreenalliance.org
Brian Lombardozzi joined the Apollo Alliance in January 2011 and serves as the Senior Policy Analyst for the BlueGreen Alliance in the Washington, D.C. office.
Prior to joining Apollo, Brian served for four years as the Policy Analyst at the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department handling transportation manufacturing, trade, domestic content, and clean transportation policies that create American jobs. During his time at the AFL-CIO, Brian also served as a Liaison to the Labor Advisory Committee on Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor and as Chief of Staff for Pennsylvania’s Zone 2 during the Labor 2008 union voter education program.
Brian received a Master’s Degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University as well as both a Bachelor’s in International Service and Spanish and Latin American Area Studies, also from American University in Washington, D.C.
Mac Lynch, Senior Manager of State and Local Affiliates
macl at bluegreenalliance.org
Mac Lynch is the BlueGreen Alliance’s Senior Manager of State and Local Affiliates and is based in the San Francisco office. He joined the Apollo Alliance in December 2007.
Before assuming his current role following the merger of the BlueGreen and Apollo Alliances, Mac served as Program Assistant, Program Associate, Interim California State Coordinator, Program and Policy Associate, and Director of State and Local Affiliates. Mac coordinates the BlueGreen/Apollo ally-hosted state and local affiliate leaders and provides ongoing project management and policy support in the field and policy departments.
Before joining Apollo, Mac worked for the Lake Champlain Basin Program in Grand Isle, Vermont and interned for Forest Watch in Montpelier, Vermont. He graduated with honors from Hamilton College with a B.A. in environmental science and communications. While at Hamilton he 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 Scottsdale, Arizona.
Ashley McCormack, Communications Assistant
ashleym at bluegreenalliance.org
Ashley McCormack came to the BlueGreen Alliance from the Apollo Alliance project and serves as the Program and Communications Assistant in the San Francisco office. Ashley began working at the Apollo Alliance in January 2011.
Previously, Ashley worked as an intern for the Portable Light Project in Boston and as the community outreach coordinator with the Alaska Conservation Foundation and the Juneau Watershed Partnership in Juneau, Alaska.
Ashley graduated from the University of Virginia with a master’s degree in public policy and a B.A. in psychology with a minor in environmental science.
Mary Raftery, Director of Major Donor Development and Special Projects
maryr at bluegreenalliance.org
Mary Raftery joined the BlueGreen Alliance as the Director of Major Donor Development and Special Relations Projects in 2011, working in the San Francisco office. She came to BlueGreen Alliance through the merger with Apollo Alliance.
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 directed 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. She joined Apollo Alliance in 2007 as the Cheif Operating Officer.
Mary graduated with honors in international relations from Brown University.
Dana Sevakis, Michigan State Coordinator
danas at bluegreenalliance.org
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, Ohio State Coordinator
shanelles at bluegreenalliance.org
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.
Advisors
Kate Gordon, Senior Policy Advisor
Kate Gordon is Vice President for Energy Policy at the Center for American Progress in Washington DC. Kate previously served as co-director of the Apollo Alliance and serves on many energy policy committees including the Midwest Agriculture Energy Network, the National Wind Coordinating Committee, and RE-AMP. Kate’s has extensive background in corporate tax policy, progressive federalism, and rural economic development. She has worked previously as an employment and consumer rights litigator at Trial Lawyers for Public Justice in Oakland, CA.
Matt Mayrl, Senior Policy Advisor, Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan (TMAP)
Matt Mayrl is the Chief of Staff for the Boston Public Works Commissioner. He served previously as Policy Director for the Apollo Alliance and 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.
