From Funding to Impact: EJ Fireside Chat

Speakers Bio

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  Adrian Rehn

  Project Leader @Valley Vision

  Adrian joined Valley Vision in 2014 as an Intern, supporting projects to deploy broadband to the underserved, advance an equitable food system, and align workforce development and jobs programs. Today he manages Valley Vision’s ‘Clean Economy’ portfolio, which includes the Cleaner Air Partnership, an initiative that has existed since 1986 to improve air quality across the 6-County Sacramento region, and more recent efforts (since 2017) to facilitate community-led air protection efforts in North and South Sacramento. Adrian also leads some of Valley Vision’s communications activities.
  
  

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  Aubrey Burgess

  Environmental Project Manager @Clarity, former Love My Air Program Manager @ City and County of Denver
  

  Aubrey Burgess is an Environmental Project Manager with Clarity, where she helps entities scope and scale high-impact air quality monitoring networks. Aubrey resides in Denver, Colorado and previously led the Love My Air  program for  the City and County of Denver (DDPHE), leading outreach with principals, teachers, and parents that brought 40 public schools into the program. Prior to her air quality work at DDPHE, Aubrey worked in the sustainability space focusing on climate action planning, community engagement, and environmental education.
  

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  Cecilia Mejia

  Program Coordinator @Brightline Defense

  Cecilia Mejia coordinates Brightline’s Construction on Ramp Program and the Brightline Air Quality Monitoring Program. Cecilia is a recent graduate of the University of California, Berkeley where she majored in Conservation and Resource Studies. At UC Berkeley, Cecilia was the earth week associate at the Student Environmental Resource Center and a research associate for a zero waste research lab to help develop a zero waste guide for the university. Cecilia is interested in the intersection of environmental justice and gender as well as equitable environmental restoration. She hopes to develop her community-building skills on a deeper level to empower communities that are affected by environmental injustices.
  

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  Michael Flagg

  Principal Air Quality Specialist @Bay Area Air Quality Management District

  Michael Flagg currently works as a principal air quality specialist at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) in the Ambient Air Quality Analysis Office Section and focuses on data analysis and air monitoring network design that supports both regulatory air monitoring decision making and community-led sensor network projects. He is also the technical lead for the Bay Air Center, which is an independent third-party contract that provides in-kind technical support to community groups conducting air monitoring. Prior to joining BAAQMD, Michael worked at the U.S EPA Region 9 for 10 years, where he served as a national expert on air monitoring, quality assurance & quality control, the exceptional events rule, and air quality data analysis supporting federal policy decisions and regulatory actions.
  

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  Trinity Vang

  Air Quality Organizer and Policy Researcher @Brightline Defense

  Trinity Vang supports the administration of the Brightline Air Quality Monitoring Program and conducts policy research around offshore wind. Her passion for environmental justice stems from seeing her community's struggle for basic needs in her hometown of Fresno, California. She previously interned with Brightinline as a Policy Fellow in 2020. After graduating from the University of San Francisco, she worked with California Common Cause to ensure federal, state, and local redistricting processes included the voices of disenfranchised communities. She aspires to learn from community members and to utilize policy to empower environmental justice communities.
  
  

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  Sean Wihera (Moderator)

  VP of Business Development & Partnerships @Clarity Movement

  Sean Wihera is the VP of Business Development & Partnerships at Clarity Movement, a California-based startup providing next-generation air quality management solutions to governments and businesses around the world. Since joining Clarity Movement in 2017, Sean has led Clarity's network deployments into more than 70 countries across 6 continents with numerous government, community, and industrial partners. Prior to joining Clarity Movement, Sean was a Program Manager with the Energy Technologies Area of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) and the Founding Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Berkeley Cleantech University Prize (CUP) at the University of California Berkeley.