Stephen Miller, Strategic Energy Innovations, Deputy Director

At SEI, Stephen’s primary focus is on workforce development and higher education sustainability initiatives, including serving as the Director of SEI’s statewide Energize Colleges and Climate Corps Programs. Before SEI, Stephen worked to implement US Department of Energy programs out of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Office, in support of energy-sustainable communities and the market adoption of solar energy across a seven-state region.

Stephen Miller holds a master’s degree in business administration from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, and an undergraduate degree in business from The Pennsylvania State University. Stephen also has studied in Salamanca, Spain, in addition to a number of South American cities as a result of his interest in Spanish language and culture.

Jake Pollack, Strategic Energy Innovations, Associate Program Manager

Jake’s primary focus at SEI is on higher education and post-graduate workforce development. He manages programs that train students and professionals in the fields of climate resilience, campus sustainability, and community-based applied learning programs.

Previously, Jake has worked in international settings in higher education, mentoring and training students in aspects of sustainability ranging from cross-cultural communication to organizational transformation. Though his work in the field began in ecovillages and grassroots centers of innovation, he is now interested in the scale of cities and cultivating a cross-sector platform for professionals who wish to accelerate and incubate projects that address our most significant sustainability challenges.

Carina Anttila-Suarez, Professor, Skyline College

Professor Carina Anttila-Suarez joined Skyline College as a full-time faculty member in January of 2013. At Skyline she is the faculty lead for the Sustainability Ambassador Network (SAN) while teaching courses in Environmental Science and Biology. Since 2012 she has served as the Chair of the Teaching Section for the Botanical Society of America. Professor Anttila-Suarez has a PhD in Biology and was a NOAA SeaGrant Fellow at Bodega Marine Laboratory where she published on invasive species. As an Arctic and Alpine Field Biologist in a joint project between University of Eastern Finland (Joensuu) and the University of Idaho (School of Natural Resources), her dissertation was on hybridization, biodiversity and ecology of vascular plants in diverse habitats impacted by man. Prior to Skyline, Carina was a tenured faculty member at San Jose City College and served as interim Dean of Math, Science and Engineering at SJCC’s sister campus, Evergreen Valley College.

Evelyn Young Spath, Executive Assistant to the President, CSU Bakersfield

Evelyn Young Spath has served for 11 years as the Executive Assistant to the President at California State University, Bakersfield. She is the chief support and a primary liaison to the President and is responsible for the executive management and operational excellence of the Office of the President. As a member of the President’s Cabinet, Dr. Young Spath works collegially with fellow members of the executive leadership team and advisory committees on institutional planning, governance, and policy development and implementation. She serves as the President’s liaison for environmental sustainability and champions recycling and alternate transportation initiatives on campus, including ‘Runner Ride, CSUB’s bike share program. She earned a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Fresno State University, a Master’s in Public Administration from CSU Bakersfield, and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from the University of California, Irvine.

Colleen McCormick, Director of Sustainability, UC Merced

Colleen McCormick serves as the leader and director of UC Merced’s sustainability efforts to foster a culture of sustainability among students, faculty, and staff. In this role she identifies and prioritizes areas for institutional sustainability efforts; plans and develops short and long range goals; and engages campus leaders to foster sustainability broadly across campus. Previously she served as Director of the Office of Sustainability at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis where she worked towards developing a coherent, campus-wide sustainability program by coordinating academic, research, operations and student activities. There she developed and managed a program including: environmental stewardship; energy conservation; applied environmental science and policy research; environmental literacy and community outreach. She promoted a culture of sustainability throughout campus and connected with the local community to educate and enrich it.

Jon Caffery, Project Director for Prop39, TAACCCT, and Energize Colleges at College of the Desert

Jon Caffery is the project director for Prop39 for the Inland Empire/Desert Region. The mission of the Proposition 39 Clean Energy Workforce Development Program is to contribute to the State’s job growth and economic vitality through regional training programs resulting in the measureable and successful transition of CTE students from community colleges to careers in the Energy, Construction and Utilities sector. Jon was the founder and owner of Caffery Electric Inc. and First Priority Mortgage, Inc. from 1985 to 2007. He moved his family to Hawaii in 2011 and began work for the University of Hawaii at Leeward Community College as a grants administrator while concurrently earning a bachelor degree at Colorado Christian University in business administration and a master degree in education at Auburn University. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in educational leadership and management from Capella University.