Bernadette Del Chiaro came to the California Solar & Storage Association in July 2013 and has built the organization into the largest clean energy business group in the state. Prior to her work with CALSSA, Ms. Del Chiaro served as the Director of Clean Energy and Global Warming Programs at Environment California as well as the Western States Regional Director for Environment America. Since 2002, Bernadette has been a leading voice on many California clean energy initiatives including the Million Solar Roofs Initiative (SB 1), the Solar Water Heating Initiative (AB 1470), the continued expansion of Net Energy Metering, the establishment of streamlined solar permitting (AB 2188), and the expansion of consumer incentives for energy storage (SB 700). She's authored several clean energy reports and has been quoted widely in the media including MSNBC, NPR, BBC, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and dozens of local and trade outlets. Del Chiaro, a California native, graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1995. She lives in Sacramento with her husband and two children.

Brad has over twenty 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. He was the architect of the nation’s strictest state policy on existing coal-fired power plants, the Healthy Air Act, and has led initiatives for low-emission vehicle standards, greenhouse gas reduction frameworks, renewable energy mandates, and many other clean energy policies. He has been with CALSSA since 2013.

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.

Justin joins CALSSA with over eight years of experience in membership and business development as the director of operations and business development for the California Cannabis Industry Association where he successfully oversaw membership, partnerships, and association operations. As the new membership director of CALSSA, Justin will lead efforts to expand membership and enhance relationships with current members. With his track record in advocacy and business development, Justin is poised to drive CALSSA's growth and mission to promote solar energy and energy storage in the state. Justin's passion for sustainability and commitment to advancing the industry make him a valuable addition to the CALSSA team. He resides in Sacramento.

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

Tim Lindl develops, advances and defends regulatory policies empowering customers and communities to choose the source of their electricity. His practice centers on community choice aggregation and customer-based resources such as solar, energy storage and combined heat and power. His work includes administrative hearings, workshops and policymaking in a number of different state and federal jurisdictions. His experience, which put him in a hearing room at the California Public Utilities Commission three days after he passed the bar in 2009, gives Mr. Lindl a wide breadth of skills.