Stephen K Brown II
2024 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Readiness Workshop
Wednesday, September 18, 1:00 - 4:00 PM
Founder & Board Officer
Clean Energy Fund of Texas, Inc.
Stephen is the Chief Network Officer at the Coalition for Green Capital, where he focuses on connecting the bank to members of the consortium, develops new consortium members, and establishes relationships with community groups. His career spans more than 20 years of government relations, public affairs and green finance experience.
Stephen began his career in the Clinton White House as an intern in the Office of Legislative Affairs. He assisted that division in their efforts to advance President Clinton’s congressional priorities. He left there to join the staff of U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and later became the budget analyst for then House Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Sylvester Turner. In 2003, he joined the American Heart Association – Texas Affiliate as its Vice President of Public Advocacy. There, he guided AHA through one of its best legislative sessions and was recognized as one of three most influential non-profit lobbyists in Texas from 2005 to 2007.
Stephen later built Capital Assets Energy LLC, a successful clean energy development consulting firm that specialized in financing retrofits of commercial, non-profit and multi-family properties with energy efficient and renewable energy improvements. He also founded the Clean Energy Fund of Texas Inc (TxCEF) which focused on making the green economy affordable and just for all Texans.
Stephen holds a B.A. in political science from North Carolina A&T State University, and an M.B.A. from Rice University. He currently resides in Houston, TX with his wife and two sons. He is an avid tennis player and member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.
Steve is currently the President of Capital Assets Energy LLC, a successful clean energy development consulting firm that specializes in financing retrofits of commercial, non-profit and multi-family properties with energy efficient and renewable energy improvements. To date, Capital Assets has secured close to $5 million in capital for energy efficient/renewable energy retrofits throughout Texas through the C-PACE program. Capital Assets has also helped to develop over 500 MWs of utility scale solar, assists local governments on their green energy procurement strategies, and organizes communities around environmental justice.
Steve is also the Founder and Board Chairman of the Clean Energy Fund of Texas Inc (TxCEF). TxCEF is focused on making the emerging green economy affordable and just for all Texans. We believe that an equitable transition to clean energy will help to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis, eliminate energy poverty, create green jobs and catalyze economic development opportunities in historically under-resourced communities.
Lori DeWine
2024 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Readiness Workshop
Wednesday, September 18, 1:00 - 4:00 PM
Managing Director
Council of Development Finance Agencies
Lori DeWine is Managing Director of the Knowledge & Networks Division at the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) where she oversees the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, and Revolving Loan Fund programs. With over 20 years of experience in education, affordable housing, and finance, Lori brings a wealth of expertise to her role.
Before joining CDFA, Lori served as Vice President at a nationwide mortgage company and as Chief Operating Officer of a local credit union. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Arts in Education and Adult Learning. In addition to her professional responsibilities, Lori enjoys teaching as an adjunct faculty member at Sinclair Community College.
Donna Gambrell
2024 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Readiness Workshop
Wednesday, September 18, 1:00 - 4:00 PM
President and Chief Executive Officer
Appalachian Community Capital
As President & CEO of Appalachian Community Capital, Donna J. Gambrell is responsible for attracting and directing investments to Community Development Financial Institutions (or CDFIs) and other mission-driven lenders in Appalachia. These lenders, in turn, use the investments to make loans to small business owners, including to minority- and women-owned businesses, in underserved communities throughout the region. Since it began lending in 2015, ACC has deployed over $32 million to help finance renewable energy projects, manufacturing sites, elder care facilities, restaurants, ecotourism, and downtown redevelopment, among other projects.
Ms. Gambrell serves on several CDFI boards. She is also the board chair of the African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs, a 501(c)(3) organization comprised of over 70 executives that was formed in 2018 to identify solutions to closing the racial wealth gap in the communities served by the members.
Krystal Langholz
2024 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Readiness Workshop
Wednesday, September 18, 1:00 - 4:00 PM
Chief Community Officer
Calvert Impact Capital
Krystal is the Chief Community Officer of Climate United, leading the team dedicated to community and stakeholder engagement, capacity building and predevelopment programs, and impact measurement and management.
Krystal has dedicated her career to bringing inclusive economic growth to low-income, rural, and Native communities. Krystal served as a Director of Strategy for Calvert Impact, where she helped develop new products and developed thought leadership content for the organization. In addition to designing and informing the Community Engagement and Accountability strategy for Climate United, Krystal led the creation of the technical services program for the Mission Driven Bank Fund and assisted in the development of the Fund’s Impact Measurement and Management.
Prior to Calvert Impact, Krystal served as the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Strategy and Capitalization of the Oweesta Corporation, a national Native CDFI intermediary. Before her time at Oweesta, Krystal served as the founding Executive Director of Hunkpati Investments, a certified Native CDFI on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation in South Dakota. (Colorado State, M.A., Luther College, B.A.). She lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with her husband and two children.
Jonathan Morgenstein
2024 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Readiness Workshop
Wednesday, September 18, 1:00 - 4:00 PM
Senior Researcher
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Jonathan Morgenstein joined the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in July 2018. As a Senior Project Manager, his work has significantly focused on supporting under-resourced communities’ efforts to attain equitable clean energy access, and in particular access to affordable financing. He also leads NREL’s partnership development efforts with sub-federal jurisdictions in the mid-Atlantic. Additionally, Jonathan plays a leading role in U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s, NREL-led Community Power Accelerator (CPA) program scaling up deployment of community-benefiting, distributed solar nationally, and particularly to the benefit of low-income and disadvantaged communities.
In August 2019 and in June 2024 Jonathan was part of teams named NREL’s “Team of the Month”, and in August 2023, he won NREL’s “President’s Award for Exceptional Performance.”
In June 2024 Jonathan retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Marine Corps Reserves, where he had served since 1991. In 2023 he also was appointed to his third, 2-year term, by the Arlington, Virginia County Board, as a Commissioner on the Board’s advisory Climate Change, Energy and Environment (C2E2) Commission.
Education:
M.B.A., Business Strategy, Marketing, Sustainability, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2015
Battery-Based Photovoltaic Systems Certificate, Solar Energy International, Paonia, CO, 2014
M.A., International Policy Studies, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, 2002
M.A. in Teaching, Secondary Social Studies, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 1997
B.A. Government, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1994
Noelle Sheets
2024 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Readiness Workshop
Wednesday, September 18, 1:00 - 4:00 PM
Vice President, CDFA and Executive Director, CDFA Foundation
Council of Development Finance Agencies
Noelle Sheets is Vice President overseeing the Knowledge & Networks Division at the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA), and Executive Director of the CDFA Foundation. She plays a pivotal role in shaping CDFA's future direction and ensuring the organization remains at the forefront of development finance.
Ms. Sheets came to CDFA in 2019, bringing with her more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit association management gained through positions at SSTI, the National Association of the Remodeling Industry of Central Ohio, and the Girl Scouts of Ohio's Heartland.
As VP of the Knowledge & Networks Division, Ms. Sheets implements strategies to expand, energize, and optimize CDFA’s portfolio of work including the CDFA Training Institute, CDFA Advisory Services, membership, sponsorship, and event activities.
As Executive Director of the CDFA Foundation, Ms. Sheets designs and coordinates the Foundation’s activities, focusing on creating equitable and inclusive opportunities for socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and communities involved in the development finance industry. She is deeply passionate about the Foundation’s mission and actively champions initiatives such as the CDFA Foundation Scholarship Program and the Caren S. Franzini Fellowship Program.
She is skilled at connecting with people authentically and positively, leading to effective collaboration and shared success. Ms. Sheets holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Relations from Capital University.