Our Experts

Sylvie Ashford

Schneider Sustainable Energy Fellow, Western Region, Climate & Clean Energy Program

Sylvie Ashford works on building decarbonization, electricity planning, and other clean energy issues in California. Prior to joining NRDC, she worked as a research assistant at policy think tanks in the Bay Area and Washington, D.C., and completed her capstone…

John Bailey

Senior Advocate, Federal and State Transportation, People & Communities Program

John Bailey has over two decades of experience as an advocate for sustainable and equitable communities at the national, state, and local levels. Bailey works to ensure that transportation investments and policies benefit people of all ages, abilities, and incomes…

Ralph Cavanagh

Energy Co-Director, Climate & Clean Energy Program

Since joining NRDC in 1979, Ralph Cavanagh has focused on removing barriers to cost-effective energy efficiency and on the role that electric and natural gas utilities can play in leading a clean energy transition. From 1993 to 2003, he served…

Catherine Cox Blair

Director, SPARCC, Resilient Communities, People & Communities Program

Catherine Cox Blair provides communities with technical assistance and expertise regarding city-led innovation and the forging of private-public partnerships. Prior to joining NRDC, she worked at Reconnecting America, where she managed sustainable-development projects in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver, and Atlanta and…

Donna De Costanzo

Director, Eastern Region, Climate & Clean Energy Program

Donna De Costanzo advocates for the implementation of policies that increase energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment as well as promote sustainable communities and smart growth, with a primary focus on New York State and New York City. Prior to…

Julia de Lamare

Western Equitable Building Decarbonization Advocate, Climate & Clean Energy Program

Julia de Lamare champions policies that advance the equitable decarbonization of buildings, including building codes, utility regulation, performance standards, and air quality regulations with an emphasis on equity needs and affordability. Prior to joining NRDC, de Lamare was a senior…

Hilary Firestone

Senior Policy Advisor, City Energy Project, Resilient Communities, People & Communities Program

As a senior city policy expert for the City Energy Project, a collaboration between NRDC and the Institute for Market Transformation, Hilary Firestone works to advance policies and programs that cut energy waste in large buildings and make American cities…

Ericka Flores

Advocate, Clean Energy & Equity, Climate & Clean Energy Program

Ericka Flores provides technical and advocacy expertise for local and state-level equitable building decarbonization, building energy efficiency, and energy equity policies, programs, and initiatives. She works to develop and strengthen partnerships with diverse groups to collectively build a strong, inclusive…

Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins

Director, Policy & Partnerships, People & Communities Program

Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins champions public policy solutions that promote economic, social, and environmental benefits for communities. She fosters strategic partnerships to advance federal campaigns, coalition efforts, social equity, and climate justice. She also coordinates NRDC's effort in advancing a federal…

Laura Goldberg

Midwest Director, Energy Equity and Affordability, People & Communities Program

Laura Goldberg oversees NRDC's Midwest strategy for energy equity and affordability. This includes increasing energy efficiency, clean energy, and equitable climate solutions in affordable housing and underserved communities across the region, especially in low-income communities and communities of color. She…

Dr. David B. Goldstein

Energy Co-Director, Climate & Clean Energy Program

David B. Goldstein has worked on energy efficiency and energy policy since the early 1970s. He currently codirects NRDC’s Energy program. Goldstein has been instrumental in the development of energy efficiency standards for new buildings and appliances that are currently…

Eric A. Goldstein

Senior Attorney and Director, New York City Environment, People & Communities Program

More than three decades ago, Eric Goldstein helped create NRDC’s Urban program and spearheaded the nationwide public campaign to get lead out of gasoline. Since then, he has been one of New York’s leading environmental advocates on such issues as…

Ashok Gupta

Senior Energy Economist, Climate & Clean Energy Program

Ashok Gupta focuses on policies relating to global warming, energy efficiency, renewables, sustainable building design, smart growth, and transportation. During former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration, Gupta served as NRDC’s representative to the Mayor’s Sustainability Advisory Board and Energy…

Becky Hammer

Deputy Director, Federal Water Policy; Senior Attorney, Nature Program

Becky Hammer focuses on stormwater runoff, green infrastructure, low-impact development, water-pollution permitting issues, and climate change preparedness. Before joining NRDC in 2009, she interned at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Hammer is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law…

Darby Hoover

Senior Resource Specialist, Food Waste Initiatives, Health and Food, People & Communities Program

Darby Hoover specializes in issues related to food waste reduction, composting, anaerobic digestion, plastics, zero waste, recycling, paper industry reform, and sustainable packaging. Her primary focus at NRDC is helping to create strategies to improve the efficiency of the food…

Mark Izeman

New York Regional Senior Strategist and Senior Attorney, People & Communities Program

Mark Izeman has worked at NRDC for 25 years on a wide range of environmental and public health issues, primarily in the greater New York–Northeast region. He has focused on such issues as local food, recycling, natural gas drilling, drinking…

Sabrina Johnson

Senior Advocate, Housing Policy, People & Communities Program

Sabrina Johnson champions more equitable federal housing policy and programs, in partnership with national advocates that represent disenfranchised communities and low-income residents. Johnson serves on both NRDC’s national policy and building decarbonization teams. Her current focus includes building resilient communities…

Madeline Keating

City Strategist, People & Communities Program

Madeline Keating is a core member of the Food Waste team, where her work is focused on implementation of city-level solutions and strategies for food waste prevention, surplus food rescue, and food scrap recycling. Keating approaches food waste work with…

Caroline Keicher

Director, City Energy Project and Policy Advisor, Buildings and Energy, People & Communities Program

Caroline Keicher directs the City Energy Project, a national initiative to create healthier and more prosperous American cities by improving the energy efficiency of buildings. She also works across cities in the American Cities Climate Challenge to advance energy efficiency…

Kit Kennedy

Managing Director, Climate & Clean Energy Program

Kit Kennedy leads NRDC's state and regional climate and clean energy advocacy across the United States with more than thirty years of experience as an environmental and clean energy attorney and advocate. She directed the Environmental Protection Bureau at the…