Mary Nichols is the Chair of The California Air Resources Board, where she occupies the attorney seat. She has served on the Board under Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. (1975-82 and 2010-18), Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (2007-2010) and Governor Gavin Newsom (2019—present.)  She also served as California’s Secretary for Natural Resources (1999-2003), appointed by Gov. Gray Davis. When not working for the State of California, Mary was a senior staff attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council; Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Regulation, in the administration of President William Jefferson Clinton; and headed the Institute of Environment and Sustainability at UCLA. Over a career as an environmental lawyer spanning over 45 years, Mary Nichols has played a key role in California and the nation’s progress toward healthy air. She has also led the Board in crafting California’s internationally recognized climate action plan.

Robert Bollinger After a childhood of drawing cars and dreaming of his own car company, Robert Bollinger attended Carnegie Mellon and earned a degree in Industrial Design. Planning to further his education at an automotive design grad school, he instead found himself in New York City working his way up the advertising ladder, eventually becoming a creative director. He put those skills to use when he partnered with a friend to help grow a lucrative hair care company. With the successful sale of that business, Robert took a break from the New York scene and moved north to the Catskill Mountains to enjoy country life and co-start a grass-fed cattle farm. After months of farming Robert discovered the shortcomings of one of the most instrumental tools of the trade – the pickup truck. Determined to make a better truck, the childhood dream kicked back in and Bollinger Motors was born.

Ali Zaidi was appointed Deputy Secretary for Energy and Environment and Chairman of Climate Policy and Finance in 2020.  Mr. Zaidi leads the Governor’s efforts on all aspects of climate policy and finance, including implementation of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, infrastructure and innovation programs, and sustainable finance initiatives. Mr. Zaidi previously served as a Precourt Scholar and Adjunct Professor at Stanford University and as an attorney in private practice. While in private practice, Mr. Zaidi co-founded Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy, a first-of-a-kind initiative to connect sustainability-focused startups with pro bonolegal services. For eight years, Mr. Zaidi served in key economic and environmental policy roles in the Obama-Biden Administration. In 2014, President Obama appointed him Associate Director at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  He holds an A.B. and J.D. from Harvard University and Georgetown University, where he was editor of the Georgetown Law Journal (GLJ) and executive editor of GLJ’s Annual Review of Criminal Procedure.

Bob Keefe is E2’s Executive Director, overseeing E2’s work across the country and coordinating E2’s staff and chapters stretching from Boston to San Diego. Bob speaks regularly about the economic benefits of smart environmental policies; the clean energy economy; jobs and related issues, and has been widely quoted in publications nationwide. Prior to joining E2 in 2011, Bob spent more than 20 years as a political, business and environmental journalist. He served as the chief Washington correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; as a California-based national reporter for Cox Newspapers/Cox News Service; as technology editor for the Austin (Tx) American-Statesman and as a business and investigative reporter for the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times. Bob also co-founded a technology news Web site and has co-authored or edited several business-related books. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was a fellow at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.