Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors helps keep us on our toes as we try to reduce our collective carbon footprint. They bring years of experience in energy, business and watershed science to our foundation. Their vision and practical advice help BEF take steps toward a better tomorrow.

• Aldo J. Benedetti, Director Emeritus

• Direlle R. Calica

  Direlle, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, is an attorney with the Law Office of Schaff & Clark-Deschene working on energy and economic development issues with tribes in the Pacific Northwest. She has interned at the White House and in Congress, and worked for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Senator Gordon Smith, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She earned her law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon.

• Ralph Cavanagh, Vice Chair and Founding Member

  Co-Director of the Energy Program and Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council

  Ralph, a graduate of Yale College and the Yale Law School, has been with the NRDC since 1979. He has taught law classes at Stanford, UC Berkeley, Harvard Law School and the University of Idaho's Public Utility Executives Course. From 1993-2003 he served on the U.S. Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board. He is a member of the National Commission on Energy Policy.

• Bill Drummond, Director Emeritus

• Don Frisbee, Director Emeritus, Founding Member

• Jim Lichatowich, Watershed Chair and Founding Member

  Principal, Alder Fork Consulting

  Jim, a fisheries biologist, has worked on Pacific salmon issues as a researcher, manager and scientific advisor for over 30 years, specializing in the ecology and status of salmon and steelhead and the development of restoration plans. Jim was formerly the Chief of Fisheries Research and Assistant Chief of Fisheries for the State of Oregon. He is chairman of the Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) for the Columbia River Salmon Restoration Program and has served on other independent scientific panels. Jim authored Salmon Without Rivers, a history of the Pacific salmon crisis.

• Paul Norman

  For 12 years prior to his retirement in October 2009, Mr. Norman was Senior Vice President for Power Services at Bonneville Power Administration in Portland, Oregon. For part of this period he was also responsible for BPA’s energy efficiency programs. Previous to this position he had 15 years of experience at BPA in power marketing, resource planning, strategic planning, policy analysis, and generation operations. Prior to his tenure at BPA, Mr. Norman worked as an economist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Portland performing and reviewing economic analysis of proposed flood control and hydropower projects. He serves on the Advisory Board to Western Washington University’s Clean Energy degree program. He has a B.A. in Environmental Planning from Huxley College, and completed coursework for a Masters in Economic at Portland State University.

• Jaime Pinkham, Director Emeritus

• Walt Pollock, Board Chair, Emeritus

• Stephen Reynolds

  Chief Sustainability Officer at PreferWest LLC, he advises and invests with the goal to improve the quality of life for all citizens of this Earth. Prior to associating with PreferWest, Steve Reynolds served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer for Washington-based Puget Energy and its utility subsidiary, Puget Sound Energy, from 2002 until his retirement in March of 2011. Reynolds’ four decades of experience in both the natural gas and electric power business include significant accomplishments in energy matters at the state and federal levels in North America and internationally. He was formerly CEO of Reynolds Energy International and served for 10 years as CEO of Pacific Gas Transmission Company, (now called Gas Transmission Northwest) a US interstate natural gas pipeline company connecting Canadian gas supply to West Coast markets. A California native, Reynolds has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of California-Berkeley, and a master’s in Business Administration from the University of Oregon.

• Rachel Shimshak, Secretary and Founding Member

  Director, Renewable Northwest Project

  From its inception in 1994, Rachel has been the Director of the Renewable Northwest Project, launched by a coalition focused on renewable technologies. In 1996, Rachel served on the Comprehensive Review of the Northwest Energy System. Previously, she worked for the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources, the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group, and the Public Citizen's Congress Watch in D.C. A native Oregonian, she graduated from the University of Oregon.

• Bill Towey, Founding Member

  Fish and Wildlife Policy Analyst, Colville Confederated Tribes

  Mr. Towey has been involved in watershed management within the Columbia River Basin for the past two decades. His experience includes serving as: staff biologist for the Northwest Power Planning Council, Director of the Kalispel Natural Resource Department and Policy Analyst for the Colville Confederated Tribes Fish and Wildlife Department. He was instrumental in shaping the model watershed and habitat components for the Northwest Power Planning Council's 1991 Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. Recently he co-authored a paper in the American Fisheries Society publication Fisheries describing watershed and fisheries management policies developed by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. He also serves on the Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board that provides regional leadership toward the recovery of listed anadromous fish species in the Upper Columbia River.

• Brett Wilcox, Treasurer and Founding Member

  President and CEO, Summit Power Alternative Resources

  Brett is a consultant to a number of companies. He previously was owner and President of Golden Northwest Aluminum, Inc., and manager of Northwest Energy Development, LLC. In 1985, Brett founded Northwest Aluminum Company and Northwest Aluminum Specialties, Inc. He also served as Executive Director of Direct Service Industries, Inc., and as an attorney with Preston, Ellis and Gates in Seattle. He was Vice Chairman of the Oregon Progress Board and a member of the Governors' comprehensive review of the Northwest Regional Power System. Brett earned his Bachelor's degree in Public and International Affairs from Princeton and his law degree from Stanford.

• Tom Starrs

  Managing Director, Utility & Power Plant Division, SunPower Corporation

  Tom has more than 25 years of renewable energy experience, with an emphasis on both distributed- and utility-scale solar technology. At SunPower Corporation, Tom is responsible for business development and strategic planning for the company's utility-scale solar project development business across North America. Prior to joining SunPower Corporation, Tom was Managing Director of Solar Power for Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., the U.S. arm of the global wind energy development company, where Tom launched the company's entry into solar power development in the United States. Tom has served BEF for many years, first as a consultant helping pioneer the retail green power market based on the Green Tags concept, then as Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Chief Operating Officer, and finally as CEO. Tom holds a Ph.D. from the Energy & Resources Program of the University of California, Berkeley and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall).