Speakers

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  Carrie Meek Gallagher

  • NYS Department of Public Service | Director, Long Island Office
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Carrie Meek Gallagher



• NYS Department of Public Service

  Director, Long Island Office

As Director of the New York State Department of Public Service Long Island Office (LIO), Carrie Meek Gallagher and her regional staff will provide increased regulatory oversight of LIPA and PSEG Long Island and ensure fair and reasonable electric rates for ratepayers, while also safeguarding access to secure, resilient, reliable, and sustainable electric, gas, water, and telecommunications services in the region. Part of this increased oversight will include enhanced outreach to consumers, businesses, and stakeholders. Concurrently, the LIO will facilitate development of the clean energy infrastructure in the region that is needed to implement the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

Most recently, Carrie held the position of Acting Deputy Secretary to the Governor for Energy and Environment, serving as a member of the Executive Chamber under the direction of the Director of State Operations overseeing all phases of government operations and policy management within the Energy and Environment Portfolio.

Previously, Carrie served as the Regional Director for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), overseeing a staff of 188 personnel with responsibility for implementing environmental conservation programs throughout Long Island. She has also served as the Chief Sustainability Officer for the Suffolk County Water Authority; the Suffolk County Commissioner of the Department of Environment and Energy; Deputy Director of Planning for Suffolk County; the inaugural director of the Long Island Index; headed the Nassau County Economic Development Resource Center; and developed Sustainable Long Island’s Brownfields Redevelopment program.

She holds a B.A. in Sustainable Development and Latin American Studies from Amherst College, an M.S. in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Maryland at College Park, and an MBA from the Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University. She has been recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council LI Chapter “Leader of the Year” (2021), Long Island Contractors Association Road Warriors “Natural Born Leader” (Spring 2021), City and State “Long Island Heroes” (November 2020), Town of Brookhaven Women’s Recognition in Government (2012), Networking “A Leading Long Island Environmentalist (August 2011), and Long Island Business “40 Under 40” (2003).

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  Glenn Vickers

  • MRV Group (MWBE) Supplier Diversity + Development | Managing Director and Founder
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Glenn Vickers



• MRV Group (MWBE) Supplier Diversity + Development

  Managing Director and Founder

Glenn Vickers is Managing Director and Founder of MRV Group, a national supplier diversity and development firm based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Under his leadership, MRV’s team works directly with public-private partners to provide equitable commercial, industrial, and community-based service and product solutions.

Applying MRV’s strategies in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ), MRV specializes in development, infrastructure supply chain diversity, and community inclusion across various industries.

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  Jen Becker

  • Wind Institute Development at New Jersey Economic Development Authority | Managing Director
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Jen Becker



• Wind Institute Development at New Jersey Economic Development Authority

  Managing Director

Jen Becker is the Managing Director of Wind Institute Development at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), where she leads New Jersey’s efforts on offshore wind workforce training, education, research, and innovation. She has 25 years of experience conducting research, developing public policy, and crafting programs to advance sustainable development, particularly around issues of green jobs, clean energy, ports, and manufacturing. Currently, she also teaches at Pratt Institute’s Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment and is the Co-Chair of the Women in Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy NJ Chapter.

Prior to joining the NJEDA, she led numerous consulting projects, including for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, Karp Strategies, and the Pratt Center for Community Development. Previously, Jen served as the Chief Sustainability Manager at the New York Power Authority and as Vice President of Clean Energy and Sustainability at the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Jen also has experience working at several non-profit organizations.

She holds a B.A from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a M.S. in City and Regional Planning from Pratt Institute.

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  Jessica Dealy

  • NYSERDA | Senior Policy Advisor
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Jessica Dealy



• NYSERDA

  Senior Policy Advisor

As a Senior Policy Advisor for Offshore Wind at NYSERDA, Jessica Dealy leads Stakeholder Outreach as well as Workforce Development Liaison efforts for New York State’s Offshore Wind Program. She has nearly 10 years of experience working in wind energy development.

Her prior experience includes working with onshore wind developers OwnEnergy and EDF Renewables. In 2018, Jessica entered the offshore wind industry when she joined Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind as its External Affairs Lead. She managed community partnerships, stakeholder engagement, public relations, and government relations for the developer and was a part of their successful 1.5-gigawatt New Jersey project award. Prior to her career in renewable energy, Ms. Dealy worked as an award-winning on-air meteorologist and news reporter.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Meteorology/Climatology and a master’s degree in Environmental Geoscience from Mississippi State University.

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  Maria Vargas

  • US Department of Energy | Senior Program Advisor
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Maria Vargas



• US Department of Energy

  Senior Program Advisor

Maria T. Vargas is a Senior Program Advisor at the Department of Energy and the Director of DOE’s Better Buildings Initiative, including the newly launched Better Climate Challenge. Through this leadership platform, DOE works with hundreds of chief executive officers, state and local leaders, and university presidents who have committed to ambitious energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals and sharing their strategies as models for others to follow.

Ms. Vargas also spearheads DOE’s leadership of the C3E Initiative. Through C3E (Clean Energy, Education and Empowerment), DOE works to advance women’s leadership in clean energy.

Prior to her work at DOE, Ms. Vargas was the Brand Manager for the ENERGY STAR program for almost 20 years while at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She has been involved in policy work on the issues of ozone depletion, global climate change, and related environmental and energy issues since 1985. Ms. Vargas received a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, PA) in Political Science and Economics and a master’s degree from the University of Oregon (Eugene, Oregon) and was inducted in the Energy Efficiency Hall of Fame in 2014.

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  Nse Esema

  • NYC Economic Development Corporation | Vice President, Smart & Sustainable Cities
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Nse Esema



• NYC Economic Development Corporation

  Vice President, Smart & Sustainable Cities

Nse Esema (she/her/hers) is currently the Vice President, Smart & Sustainable Cities, at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). She designs and implements programmatic and strategic efforts to catalyze emerging sectors, develop inclusive industry ecosystems, and advance equitable economic development. Currently, her work is heavily focused on the Offshore Wind industry. She is committed to designing and implementing strategies that support NYC in growing into a leading position in the burgeoning OSW landscape in the U.S. in a manner that ensures women, low-income populations, and people of color equitably share in the benefits of the industry.

Prior to NYCEDC, Nse worked with city governments in Africa and North America in developing and implementing multi-stakeholder resilience-building strategies. Nse earned a Master of City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She lives in the Bronx, N.Y., with her husband and two kids.