As a passionate energy industry leader with over 15 years of experience, Lindsay Roe drives digital transformation and innovation in the oil and gas sector while championing balanced, practical solutions for a sustainable future. She is Director of Digital Innovation at Core Laboratories and President and Interim CEO of  Allies in Energy.

Lindsay is committed to fostering collaboration, driving innovation, and facilitating the exchange of ideas to address the complex challenges faced by the energy sector.

Malaika Ventures General Partner and Browning the Green Space (BGS) Co-Founder, President, and Executive Director Kerry Bowie has 25 years of experience in private, public, and nonprofit management.

Kerry previously served as Associate Commissioner and Director of Brownfields & Environmental Justice at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) in both the Patrick and Baker Administrations and worked as a manager in Facilities, Environmental, Safety, and Health at Texas Instruments (TI's) Research & Development Fab in Texas (Dallas); and grew up in a fenceline community in Alabama (Anniston). In addition to Malaika and BGS, Kerry serves as Managing Partner at Msaada Partners, a Boston-based consultancy providing technical assistance to promote social impact in communities of color. Kerry also co-founded the Majira Project to address the lack of diversity in the traditional entrepreneurial ecosystem and the disparity in resources available that he observed while working in various entrepreneurship programs across Boston.

Kerry holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, an MSE in environmental engineering from the University of Michigan, and an SB in environmental engineering science from MIT.

Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones is a native Texan and proud Latina who grew up on the U.S.-Mexico border. She is the daughter of teachers, who taught her the importance of education, hard work, and serving others—values that have defined her and which she now brings to the office of County Commissioner for Precinct 4.

Upon graduating with honors from Harvard University, she began her career as an 8th and 10th-grade teacher at two of the lowest-income public schools in the country. She then attended Yale Law School, where she led the Latino Law Students’ Association's public service initiatives and provided pro-bono assistance to survivors of domestic abuse and juvenile offenders.

Commissioner Briones returned to Texas to practice law at Vinson & Elkins LLP, then served as General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer of the Laura & John Arnold Foundation, a major national philanthropic nonprofit. She next became the Judge of Harris County Civil Court at Law No. 4. Judge Briones was the highest-rated Harris County Civil Court at Law Judge in the 2019 Houston Bar Association (HBA) Judicial Evaluation Poll and won the 2020 HBA Judicial Preference Poll. Briones co-founded the statewide nonprofit Texas Latinx Judges and serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center.

She and her husband, Adán, live in Houston with their three daughters and worship at St. Ambrose Catholic Church.

Jean Becker was chief of staff for George H.W. Bush from March 1, 1994, until his death on November 30, 2018. She supervised his office operations in both Houston, Texas, and Kennebunkport, Maine, overseeing such events as the opening of the George Bush Presidential Library Center in 1997 and the commissioning of the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier in January 2009 and coordinating his special projects such as the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. She took a leave of absence in 1999 to edit and research All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings.

Previously, Ms. Becker served as deputy press secretary to First Lady Barbara Bush from 1989 to 1992. After the 1992 election, she moved to Houston to help Mrs. Bush edit and research her autobiography, Barbara Bush, A Memoir. She later assisted Mrs. Bush with a follow-up book, Reflections, published in 2003.

Before joining the Bush White House staff in 1989, Ms. Becker was a newspaper reporter for 10 years, including a four-year stint at USA Today where her duties included covering the 1988 presidential election and a Page One editor.

She’s the editor of Pearls of Wisdom by Barbara Bush and author of the New York Times bestseller The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story of George H.W. Bush’s Post Presidency. Her most recent book, Character Matters: And Other Life Lessons from George H.W. Bush, was published in April 2024.

Ms. Becker grew up on a family farm in Martinsburg, Missouri, and was valedictorian at her country high school. She graduated from the University of Missouri in 1978 with a bachelor’s in journalism and a bachelor’s in arts with a major in political science. She was inducted into the Mizzou Hall of Fame in 2021.

She is a member of the board of directors for Points of Light and the George and Barbara Bush Foundation. She is also a member of the advisory boards of the George Bush Library Center, the George Bush School of Government and Public Service, and the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy.

Jean is a co-founder of Civil Dialogues with Linda Lorelle. 

She lives in Houston, Texas.

Karl Pettersen spent nearly 30 years as a recognized leader in finance and sustainability in the US, Europe, and Latin America. Karl was nominated as Sustainability Leader of the Year at Amsterdam's 2023 World Sustainability Awards. He was the Chief Sustainability Officer for the Americas at a leading global investment bank in New York. 

Karl is also a recognized thought leader and advisor for Fortune 100 companies, having built deep relationships over several decades advising these companies on some of their most complex financial risk situations. He is an innovator, having written some of the most influential credit risk methodologies in the market today and having built models for risk measurement and pricing used by some of the world’s largest companies.

Pat Wood III has been the chief executive of the Hunt Energy Network since February 2019. Best known for his role in setting up competitive utility markets while serving as chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas and of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Pat is an evangelist for the decentralized, decarbonized, democratized, and digitized future of power. At the Hunt Energy Network, Wood and his team are deploying a distributed power asset portfolio across Texas.  They have 140 MW of operational assets; by 2026, the team expects a portfolio of 1,000 MWs of batteries and peaker generation attached to the ERCOT power grid.

Earlier in his career, Pat was an associate project engineer with oil and gas producer Arco Indonesia in Jakarta. He was an attorney with global law firm Baker & Botts and legal counsel to the chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas. Pat has served on the boards of many publicly traded companies: Board Chairman of independent power producer Dynegy, a lead independent director of solar pioneer SunPower Corp., and a director of energy infrastructure contractor Quanta Services, natural gas producer Memorial Resource Development, Inc., wind blade fabricator TPI Composites and small modular nuclear reactor sponsor Spring Valley Acquisition Corp (NuScale).  He was a founding member of the Texas A&M Smart Grid Council, chairman of Irish wind developer Airtricity’s North American Advisory Committee, Executive board member for Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star, and a member of the National Petroleum Council.

Pat is presently chairman of Luma, the joint venture rebuilding and operating Puerto Rico’s electric power system.  He is on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s External Advisory Council. Pat is a Texas Aggie and a Harvard lawyer.  He and his wife, Kathleen, are the parents of four sons, so there is never a dull moment.

Juliana Garaizar is a Founding Partner at Energy Tech Nexus. A Board Member of the Angel Capital Association, Juliana is a Lead Investor of the Portfolia Rising America Fund. She is also an Advisory Board Member of the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator, the Latinx Startup Alliance, the Houston Diversity Fund, the Investors of Color network, the French Tech and Impulse4women.

Juliana was previously Chief Development and Investment Officer for Greentown Labs, the Texas Medical Center Venture Fund Director, and the Managing Director of the Houston Angel Network.  Juliana obtained an MBA at the London Business School and Haas School of Business in Berkeley, specializing in Entrepreneurship.

Juliana is co-chair of this year's inaugural Houston Energy & Climate Week.

Theo Wilson is a founding member of the Denver Slam Nuba team and winner of the National Poetry Slam, the world’s largest Slam Poetry event. He began his speaking career in the N.A.A.C.P. at 15, and has always had a passion for social justice.  He attended Florida A&M University, where he obtained his B.A. in Theater Performance. 

Theo returned to Denver and is now Shop Talk Live, Inc.'s Executive Director.  The organization uses the barbershop as a staging ground for community dialogue and healing.  After viral video success beginning in 2015, Theo grew his social media following to well over 70,000 people. 

Due to audience demand, he published his first book in 2017, “The Law of Action.” The book addresses some misconceptions about the law of attraction and direct action's role in manifestation. It can be found on Amazon.com or his website, TheoWilson.net.

In 2017, his TED Talk, “A Black Man Goes Undercover in the Alt-Right,” was seen worldwide, amassing over 17 million views. Theo hosts The History Channel’s hit series, “I Was There.”  He has been featured on Good Morning America, BuzzFeed, CNN, Good Day Canada, and TV One.

The modern architect of the energy workforce, Katie Mehnert, is the Chief Executive Officer of ALLY Energy™, a community that accelerates connections, jobs, and skills using generative AI. 

Ms. Mehnert has held global leadership roles with BP and Shell in safety and environment during financial crises, spills, divestment, and globalization. Her early career included assignments with Duke Energy, Entergy, and Enron. Her corporate path drove her to entrepreneurship to help energy companies prepare for the looming talent shortage and workforce needs to address energy poverty and climate change.

She was appointed Ambassador to the United States Department of Energy in 2020 during the Trump Administration and has testified before Congress on the clean energy workforce of the future. She was re-appointed by the Biden Administration to the National Petroleum Council.

Ms. Mehnert is a speaker, author, and trusted source in the energy industry. She has been published in Scientific American, Forbes, The Hill, CNBC, and CNN. Her first book, Grow with the Flow, was published in 2020. She co-authored Everyday Superheroes: Women in Energy, a children’s book on energy careers. Mrs. Mehnert has also appeared in Hot Money, a documentary produced by Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges and retired NATO General Wesley Clark, which discusses the financial complexities of climate change and finance.  She also produced Dirty Nasty People, a film on the future of the energy workforce with NOV.

Katie graduated from Louisiana State University, completed Rice University's Executive Energy program, and graduated from the University of Texas LBJ Campaign School for Women.  She serves on the Advisory Board of the American Conservation Coalition and serves on the board of Allies in Energy, a nonprofit focused on energy and climate literacy. She is a five-time World Major marathoner, a wife to Mark, and a mom to a 13-year-old daughter, Ally.  

Angela Blanchard is known locally, nationally, and internationally as a well-respected thought leader, expert practitioner, educator, and speaker. Blanchard’s proven track record for revitalizing neighborhoods and leveraging diversity stems from her unique approach: building on strengths rather than focusing on deficits, empowering people to maximize their skills and talents, and operating a nonprofit with the efficiency and innovation of a major corporation. Her highly successful framework for community development, Appreciative Community Building, has been a catalyst for neighborhood investment and transformation. She works with leaders in cities worldwide as they address complex challenges in communities undergoing upheaval.

Blanchard’s breakthrough achievements in community development and disaster have received numerous accolades: elite awards from top institutions, three invitations to the Obama White House, and extensive press coverage including the New York Times, Places Journal, Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Washington Post, Yahoo News, NPR, Fast Company, The Houston Chronicle, and BBC among many others.

Angela Blanchard is a visionary leader for evolutionary change. For more than 30 years, she was the driving force behind a highly acclaimed nonprofit organization that has impacted and transformed neighborhoods across Greater Houston. BakerRipley, a leader in the community development sector, brings resources, education, and connections to more than half a million hardworking residents to keep the region a place of welcome and opportunity.

James W. Keyes is known internationally as a business and social change agent. Currently spearheading several new initiatives, his career has included serving as CEO of two Fortune 500 companies (Blockbuster Inc. and 7-Eleven), and creating a strategic consumer product collaboration with Walmart.

He is the founder of the Education is Freedom Foundation and the recent author of his book Education is Freedom: The Future is in Your Hands.

Dr. Kelly Burks-Copes currently serves as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Galveston District’s interim Program Manager for the recently authorized Coastal Texas Protection and Restoration Project. This $34-billion megaproject will provide coastal risk reduction and ecosystem restoration along a significant portion of the Texas coast. The megaproject represents the largest-ever civil works project undertaken by USACE in its nearly 250-year history.

Additionally, Dr. Burks-Copes serves as the Chief of the Programs Support Branch in the District’s mega projects division. In this capacity, she manages the schedule, budget, and public outreach for the Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay Program (S2G), a $4.4B civil Works program focused on increasing the storm resiliency of the upper Texas coast.

With nearly 30 years of experience in Civil Works and military construction projects, Dr. Burks-Copes specializes in hybridizing engineering and environmental strategies to tackle tough coastal storm risk management, flood damage reduction, navigation, and ecosystem restoration problems.

Early in her career, she worked for the USACE’s Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), where she developed practical ways to transfer research and technology to the field. Most notably, she provided R&D support for post-Superstorm Sandy recovery initiatives for the North Atlantic Coastal Comprehensive Study (NACCS) and was the Project Manager for a Strategic Environmental R&D Program project quantifying coastal storm and sea level rise risks to Naval Station Norfolk.

Dr. Burks-Copes’ awards include two Army Civilian Service Awards, an Army Superior Civilian Service Award, five individual Commander’s awards, five R&D Achievement awards, and the Outstanding Planning Achievement Award for the NACCS study in 2014. She is also a graduate of the Eckerd College Leadership Development Program.

She holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Biology and earned her Doctorate in 2015 by double majoring in Interdisciplinary Ecology and urban/Rural planning from the University of Florida.

Dr. Burks-Copes was also an instructor for the Association of Climate Change Officers, teaching courses on sea level rise, coastal infrastructure, and climate hazards. She has written over 20 peer-reviewed reports and papers on ecosystem restoration, engineering with nature, and climate change topics.

Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorti is the Vice President of Energy and Innovation at the University of Houston. Prior to his current position, Krishnamoorti served as interim Vice President for research and technology transfer for UH and the UH System.

During his tenure at the university, he has served as chair of the UH Cullen College of Engineeringʼs chemical and biomolecular engineering department, associate dean of research for engineering, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering with affiliated appointments as professor of petroleum engineering and professor of chemistry.

Kyle Wiley is Co-Founder at Connector Labs focused on government relations and cross-industry collaboration.

Kyle has a strong background in government, where he served as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Energy, focusing on industry engagement while promoting technology transfer and commercialization. Previously, Kyle was a Federal Relations Advisor at Barnes & Thornburg, an AmLaw 100 firm.

He holds an M.A. in Management, a B.A. in Political Science, and a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Fundraising. Currently, Kyle serves on the Board of Directors for GET: Global Energy Transition, Data4America and is a Mentor at The Fund for American Studies and IAI Catalyst

Darin Rice is general manager in Chevron New Energies with responsibility for providing the strategic direction for the global hydrogen business line to help accelerate Chevron’s lower carbon business prospects by bringing understanding of markets and customer segments. He focuses on articulating the customer value proposition and collaborates across the business line to help mature opportunities of customer solutions in the hydrogen transportation, power, industrial, and other difficult-to-abate sectors.

Darin joined Chevron in 2013 and has held a variety of roles throughout his career, and around the world, in process engineering and technology, manufacturing, value chain optimization, planning, strategy and change management including roles in operations and commercial leadership. He possesses extensive experience in the Oil and Gas industry having also worked for Atlantic Richfield and British Petroleum.

Darin holds a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from U.C. Davis and is based out of Chevron’s headquarters in San Ramon, California.

Hailing from Pattison in Waller County, Stan Kitzman is currently serving as the State Representative for Texas House District 85. With territory along the famous Brazos, San Bernard, and Colorado rivers, HD 85 covers a large portion of Austin's Original Colony, including the colonial capital of Texas, San Felipe de Austin. The district serves Austin, Colorado, Fayette, Waller, Wharton, and a portion of Fort Bend counties.

Representative Kitzman is a sixth-generation Texan and descendant of Stephen F. Austin’s “Old Three Hundred," who were among the original grantees of land from Mexico in early 1820s Texas.

As a first-term legislator, Representative Kitzman served on the Natural Resources Committee, the Agriculture and Livestock Committee, and the Resolutions Calendars Committee. He was elected by his peers to serve on the House Republican Caucus Policy Committee. In the 88th Legislature, Kitzman was an advocate for protecting Texas production agriculture, the future of Texas water, Agricultural Extension, and ending the trafficking of children through Texas and our rural communities. After the session, Kitzman was rated the 7th most effective legislative member in the Texas House of Representatives.

Retired after serving for 21 years in the Texas Army National Guard, Kitzman deployed three times to support Operation Iraqi Freedom and was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, Bronze Star Medal, and the Texas Faithful Service Medal.

Representative Kitzman is a Board Member of the Texas Water Conservation Association, past Board Member of the National Guard Association of Texas, Past President of the West I-10 Chamber of Commerce, Past Master of Brookshire Lodge #1066, and Past Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars – Post 4007. He was a founding member and former President of the Waller County Veterans Memorial, former Board Member of Waller County Crime Stoppers, and a Past President of the Waller County Sheriff’s Office Training Advisory Board.

Kitzman is an Eagle Scout and is a member of several organizations, including the Brookshire-Pattison Lions Club, Shriners, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Texas Aggie Band Association, Texas Aggie Corps of Cadets Association, Texas A&M Association of Former Students, National Rifle Association, and Texas State Rifle Association.

Representative Kitzman is a small business owner, former Waller County Commissioner, and a retired public school teacher. He graduated from Royal High School and earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Systems Management from Texas A&M University.

Maxine is the Public Diplomacy Team Lead for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Energy Resources (ENR).  The bureau takes the U.S. government's lead on international energy diplomacy.  

ENR focuses on energy security, clean energy, and expanding and diversifying the supply chains for clean energy technologies.

Maxine has worked on public policy and public diplomacy for much of her career, focusing on technology commercialization, economic development in emerging economies, international technology policy, international education policy and teacher training, and currently - international energy policy.  

Maxine has a Ph.D. in public policy from George Mason University, an M.A. in International Economics and Social Change and Development from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a B.A. in International Relations, French, and Spanish from Tufts University. After university, Maxine served for two years in Cameroon, West Africa, with the United States Peace Corps.