Board of Directors

As COO at CleanCapital, Zoe is responsible for the management and optimization of CleanCapital’s growing fleet of clean energy assets. She and her team think creatively on how to add value to each project and to grow assets under management efficiently and sustainably. Zoe also oversees corporate operations and HR for the company.

Prior to CleanCapital, Zoe’s passion for clean energy took her to Washington, D.C. to focus on public policy. At the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE), a clean energy trade association, Zoe managed the federal clean air program and assisted with the international programs at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conferences. Prior to BCSE, Zoe worked at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in the Office of Federal Sustainability overseeing federal agencies’ sustainability initiatives. She is on the Sandia National Lab Solar R&D Board, a Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI) Fellow and a 2023 PoliticsNY Power Player in Climate. Zoe has lived and studied in Dakar, Senegal and is a graduate with Honors from the University of Michigan. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her twin baby boys, husband and tuxedo cat, Hank.

Johnelle Brown serves as Operations Chief of Staff and Vice President of Operations at the American Clean Power Association (ACP), where she leads operational strategy and execution at the leading multi-technology clean energy trade association. With more than 15 years of experience spanning operations, human resources, and organizational leadership, Johnelle brings a proven track record of building high-performing teams and advancing initiatives that drive both operational excellence and inclusive workplace cultures.

Prior to her current role, Johnelle served as ACP’s Director of Operations, after holding leadership roles in human resources and operations at the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the Corn Refiners Association, where she was responsible for the full scope of HR, employee engagement, and office management. Earlier in her career, she spent over a decade in commercial real estate with EDENS and Regency Centers, managing property operations, capital budgeting, and tenant relations across multiple markets.

Throughout her career, Johnelle has demonstrated a commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, spearheading initiatives that create more supportive environments for underrepresented professionals. Her leadership focus and track record directly align with WRISE’s mission mentoring emerging professionals, championing equitable workplace policies, and driving initiatives that elevate women across the renewable energy sector.

Johnelle resides in Fairfax, VA with her wife and boy-girl twins, where she actively engages in community service and mentoring, championing opportunities for women and girls to thrive through the Fairfax City Commission for Women, James Madison University’s Women for Madison Executive Advisory Council and Girl Scout Troop 55132 troop leader.

Melissa Elkinton is Vice President of Development and a Managing Member at Belltown Power, where she brings over 20 years of experience in wind and solar energy and leads the development of Belltown’s wind portfolio.

Before joining Belltown in 2023, Melissa led energy, GIS, and engineering for wind and solar projects at Avangrid Renewables. Prior to that, she spent more than a decade at DNV, where she led teams responsible for wind and solar resource assessment and energy modeling, supporting the project financing of over 16 GW of wind capacity.

Melissa received the AWEA Technical Achievement Award in 2016 and served as the first woman to chair AWEA’s Wind Resource & Project Energy Assessment Conference (now ACP’s PEAK Conference). She holds a BS from Boise State University and an MS from UMass Amherst, both in Mechanical Engineering.

A 2006 Rudd Mayer Fellow and longtime supporter of WRISE, Melissa has volunteered as a mentor, career coach, panelist, and local chapter event organizer. She is an ardent advocate for mentoring, seeing it as one of the most effective ways to support women and gender-diverse professionals in clean energy.

Based in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two sons, Melissa loves reading, outdoor adventures, and playing basketball.

Noemí Gallardo is serving her first term on the California Energy Commission. She was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in February 2023 to serve as the CEC’s attorney member. She is the first Latina appointed as a CEC commissioner.

Gallardo joined the CEC in 2019 as its Public Advisor. She later became chief of staff for CEC Chair David Hochschild.

Before joining the Energy Commission, she was senior manager of public policy at Sunrun Inc. Her professional experiences include serving as a program fellow at the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, a consultant at Gallardo Law and Policy Consulting, an energy and telecommunications legal fellow at the Greenlining Institute, and a principal investigator at the Public Law Research Institute at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (UC Law SF, formerly known as UC Hastings). Gallardo is also a state-certified interpreter in Spanish who established and ran a translation and interpretation services business in her native Ventura County.

Commissioner Noemí Gallardo brings years of experience to the WRISE Board of Directors. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a proud mother of two. She is a first-generation college graduate who earned a Juris Doctor degree from UC Law SF, a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pepperdine University.

As Senior Vice President of Finance & Capital Markets for energyRe, Gandhi is an accomplished leader in the renewable energy industry. Asha Gandhi currently leads energyRe’s activities across finance, capital markets,  investor relations, and financial strategy.

Prior to joining energyRe, Gandhi was the Senior Managing Director of Finance at EDP Renewables North America where she oversaw the creation of financing solutions to fund EDPR NA’s growing business in excess of $7 billion through tax equity investments, cash equity divestments, and project Finance for projects in Canada and Mexico, and managed over $10 billion of operating portfolios of renewable assets, capital markets, treasury and portfolio management for EDPR NA.

Prior to EDPR NA, Gandhi actively led development projects in women’s empowerment, solid waste management and rural renewable energy projects through Indicorps and before that analyzed risk for Morgan Stanley’s Multi Asset Class.

Gandhi brings to the WRISE Board of Directors over a decade of experience in managing multi-billion-dollar portfolios and developing innovative financial strategies to support growth in the sector.

She holds a B.A. in Economics & Productions Operations Management from Drexel University and has furthered her education with executive courses at Harvard and Rice Universities.

Lauren Haller is Senior Director & Senior Legal Counsel – Operations at Pattern Energy. At Pattern, Lauren supports a $1.3 billon operating asset portfolio by delivering strategic guidance on legal issues and risk mitigation strategies in the ownership, operation, acquisition and divestiture of wind, solar and transmission facilities.

While at Pattern, Lauren spearheaded numerous diversity, equity and inclusion efforts including: (1) creating, forming and leading Blacks in Renewable Energy, which was Pattern Energy’s first racial/ethnic affinity group; (2) creating and leading Pattern Energy’s inaugural Diversity Month; (3) advocating for and serving on Pattern Energy’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council; and (4) advocating for and working on a Supplier Diversity Initiative.

Lauren has nearly 20 years of energy experience. Prior to joining Pattern Energy, Lauren worked at Hess Corporation as Legal Counsel where she provided legal and commercial advice to Global Supply Chain (Onshore, Offshore, Midstream & Information Technology) and Global Services (Real Estate & Human Resources) business units.

Prior to Hess, Lauren worked at ConocoPhillips Company (“ConocoPhillips”) as a Technology and Intellectual Property Attorney.  While at ConocoPhillips, Lauren managed an international patent portfolio where she prepared, filed, prosecuted and maintained strategic patents worldwide involving liquified natural gas, unconventional resources, artic, deepwater and oil sands technologies. Lauren additionally worked to commercially monetize the patent portfolios she managed.

Lauren earned both of her from the University of Oklahoma – receiving a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with honors (cum laude) and a Juris Doctorate.

Lauren is licensed to practice law in Texas, New York and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Lauren is involved in a number of professional and civic organizations including serving on the Board of Directors for the Houston Area Urban League; serving on the Board of Directors for the City of Houston’s Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 7; serving on the Board of Directors for the Association of Corporate Counsel – Houston Chapter; serving on the University of Oklahoma’s Dean’s Advisory Board on Diversity; a United Way of Greater Houston Project Blueprint Alumni; a Houston Young Lawyers Association Leadership Academy Alumni; and a member of the Houston (TX) Chapter of the Links, Inc., the Houston Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, a Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Jean Nelson-Houpert joins the Board with more than 25 years of leadership experience in finance, corporate accounting, and sustainable investment strategy.

She currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of Volt Energy Utility, a national minority-owned utility-scale renewable energy developer, where she oversees the company’s financial strategy and operations. She also serves as a Financial Counselor for the Sharing the Power Foundation, supporting communities disproportionately affected by climate change.

Nelson-Houpert previously served as the inaugural Chief Financial Officer and Interim CEO of the DC Green Bank, where she played a key role in establishing the institution as a financing engine for clean energy deployment and climate investment in Washington, D.C.

Her career includes leadership roles at Grant Thornton LLP and other executive finance positions. She holds a BBA in Finance from Temple University, a Master of Jurisprudence from Tulane Law School, and certifications in ESG Investing and Sustainable Management from Columbia Business School. She also serves on several advisory boards, including Village Capital and Halcyon House.

Constance Thompson, CCDP/AP, is a nationally recognized Transformational Equity Champion and clean energy leader with more than 20 years of experience driving systems change and expanding market access for historically excluded communities. She currently serves as the 2025–2027 Board Chair of Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy (WRISE), sits on the Board of The Sol-to-Sol Harvest Foundation, and serves on the Advisory Council for the Michigan Clean Energy Leadership Program. As the former Senior Vice President of Equity and Justice at the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), Thompson pioneered the industry-leading ACORE Accelerate Initiative. Her leadership forged groundbreaking public private partnerships, expanded opportunities for small and mid-sized clean energy companies, and built national momentum for equitable investment strategies that continue to shape the sector.