LED AND SUPPORTED BY

U. S. Climate Alliance Secretariat

ACTING Executive Director & POLICY DIRECTOR

Taryn Finnessey is the Acting Executive Director and Policy Director of the U.S. Climate Alliance, where she helps to advance the climate and clean energy policy priorities of the Alliance’s Governors and their offices, supports the secretariat policy team in creating comprehensive policy solutions, and helps set coalition-wide strategy. Immediately prior to this role, Ms. Finnessey served as a Sr. Policy Advisor with the Alliance focused on reducing emissions of short-lived climate pollutants, and increasing equity in the transition to a clean energy economy. Prior to joining the Alliance she served as the Senior Climate Change Specialist for the State of Colorado, in this role she was responsible for coordinating Colorado’s climate change efforts across state agencies to integrate scientific and policy innovations that increase Colorado’s ability to reduce emissions and address climate change impacts, including establishing Colorado as a national and international leader on drought resilience.

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Reema Bzeih is a Research Assistant with the U.S Climate Alliance, where she provides research, analysis, and administrative support on a wide range of climate and clean energy issues to support Alliance states in developing and implementing climate policy. Reema's past experiences consist of environmental policy analysis, climate change research and program coordination for several organizations and groups that include Climate-XChange; the Office of U.S Congresswoman Katie Porter; the United Nations and the University of California Carbon Neutrality Initiative. She obtained both her Master's in Public Policy and Bachelor's in Environmental Science from the University of California, Irvine (UCI).

FEDERAL policy analyst

Hayden Flanery is a Federal Policy Analyst with the U.S. Climate Alliance. She primarily assists with federal legislative relations and natural and working lands policy. She recently graduated with an MSc in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics, with a focus in comparative climate policy and political economy. Prior to this degree, she spent two years working for the U.S. House of Representatives on the Budget Committee and for Rep. John Yarmuth in his personal office and on his campaigns in 2018 and 2020, as well as 6 months with the Sunrise Movement as a State Lead and Organizing Fellow, where she organized local stakeholders in Kentucky to support a Green New Deal.

SENIOR POLICY ANALYST

Kareem Hammoud is a Senior Policy Analyst with the U.S. Climate Alliance, where he broadly supports the Alliance’s climate policy research and analysis and manages the Alliance’s state policy tracking initiatives. He also supports state efforts to reduce emissions from the industrial sector and finance the transition to a low-carbon economy. Before joining the Alliance, Kareem completed a Master of Environmental Management at the Yale School of Environment, where he specialized in environmental policy analysis, clean energy systems, and industrial ecology. While at Yale, he worked on multiple projects that identified and quantified top decarbonization policies for implementation by U.S. actors, including the 2019 America's Pledge report. Kareem previously performed ESG research for a San Francisco mutual fund and obtained a B.S. in Environmental Science from U.C. Berkeley.

HEAD OF PROGRAMS & ANALYSIS

Kristin Igusky is the Head of Programs & Analysis for the U.S. Climate Alliance. In this role she supports the secretariat’s team that delivers programs, policy research, and analysis work aimed at helping states move their climate policy priorities forward. She also supports Alliance states in improving state greenhouse gas emissions inventories and projections, as well as the application of the social cost of greenhouse gases.  Previously, Ms. Igusky served as an Associate with the U.S. Climate Initiative at the World Resources Institute.  In this role, she led research and analysis of clean energy and climate policies at the state, federal, and local levels. This included identifying how states can meet their Clean Power Plan targets, tracking U.S. progress towards its 2020 and 2025 emissions reduction goals, and developing analytical approaches to aggregate the sectoral impact of state, city and corporate climate and energy actions. Prior to her work at WRI, Ms. Igusky worked on SAIC’s Climate Change Services team where she focused on a wide-range of GHG management projects for federal government agencies, local governments, and private sector entities.

senior policy advisor, natural and working lands and resilience

Jenn Phillips is a Senior Policy Advisor with the U.S. Climate Alliance, where she leads the Alliance’s natural and working lands and resilience work. Prior to this role, Ms. Phillips worked in the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) as a Senior Scientist on Climate. In this role, she worked on OPR’s Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program, supported the advancement of key science and data initiatives to support the state’s climate goals, and worked at the interagency level to strengthen California’s natural and working lands goals. Prior to OPR she worked at the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) and led OPC’s work on climate impacts on the ocean and coast, including on sea level rise and ocean acidification. Before OPC, Ms. Phillips worked in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator’s Office in Washington, D.C. as a Knauss Marine Policy Fellow and as key staff to the Administrator.  

Policy Analyst, Natural and Working Lands

Lily Colburn is a Policy Analyst, Natural and Working Lands, with the U.S. Climate Alliance. She conducts research and analysis on climate and natural and working lands issues to support Alliance states in developing and implementing climate policy. Prior to joining the Alliance, Lily was a Financial Analysis Intern with the Natural Infrastructure Initiative at the World Resources Institute (WRI). Lily holds a Master of Environmental Management degree from the Yale School of the Environment, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). 

SENIOR POLIcy advisor, state climate & energy

Andrew Sand is a Senior Policy Advisor with the U.S. Climate Alliance, where he supports Alliance states in the development and implementation of policies to reduce emissions from the power sector. In addition, he provides technical support to Alliance states on state priorities across end use sectors. Prior to this role, Mr. Sand served as the Deputy Director of the Colorado Energy Office where he oversaw the office’s clean energy and transportation policy development and program implementation, operations, and personnel. He previously served in several other policy roles with the office focused on legislative and regulatory affairs. Mr. Sand also has experience with clean energy finance, previously serving as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Colorado New Energy Improvement District administering Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy in the state. Prior to working for the CEO, he held energy and natural resources roles supporting elected officials at the Colorado General Assembly and the U.S. Senate. He earned a bachelor's degree from Messiah College and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado Denver. 

SENIOR POLIcy advisor, Transportation

Mark Teschauer is a Senior Policy Advisor with the U.S. Climate Alliance, where he leads the Alliance’s transportation work. Prior to this role, Mr. Teschauer worked with WSP USA as a Senior Consultant where he supported transportation agencies such as the California High-Speed Rail Authority develop, integrate, and implement climate and sustainability programs as part of their work, and supported industry research efforts in sustainable transportation planning and programming for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Prior to WSP USA, he worked at the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) where he led APTA’s sustainability initiatives and was the lead editor of its greenhouse gas emissions quantification methodology. He holds a M.S. in Community and Regional Planning and a M.S. in Sustainable Design from the University of Texas at Austin, and a B.M. in Music History from the University of Cincinnati.

special assistant

Lucia Lombardo is a Special Assistant with the U.S. Climate Alliance, where she supports the operational work of the Alliance and strategy development. She most recently served as the Sustainable Infrastructure Fellow at CDP. She holds a Master of Law and Diplomacy (MALD) with concentrations in International Environment and Resource Policy and Negotiation and Conflict Resolution from The Fletcher School at Tufts University. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs from the Georgia Institute of Technology.  

program manager

Katie Thomas is a Program Manager with the U.S. Climate Alliance where she manages a grant program to help build state capacity to design and implement climate policy.  Prior to this role, Ms. Thomas worked for more than 13 years at the National Academies, most recently as a Senior Program Officer for the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate. In this role, she managed committees of scientific experts to deliberate and come to consensus on climate-related issues and produce comprehensive reports that help steer decision-making in Congress, at federal agencies, and in the larger science and policy communities. During her career at the National Academies, Ms. Thomas managed a number of high-profile studies including a research agenda for negative emissions technologies, an assessment of the science of extreme weather event attribution, and recommendations for improving quantification of anthropogenic methane emissions. She holds an M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. from the University of Michigan.

communications director

Evan Westrup is the Communications Director of the U.S. Climate Alliance, where he shapes and guides strategic communications, media engagement, and member state support. Mr. Westrup was both press secretary and communications director to California Governor Jerry Brown from 2013 to 2019, serving as the administration's chief media strategist and spokesperson. Prior to this role, he was Deputy Press Secretary to Brown in the California Governor's Office, on his 2010 gubernatorial campaign and at the California Department of Justice. Mr. Westrup previously served as Deputy Youth Vote Director on President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign in New Mexico, Associate Communications Director to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and an aide to a member of Scottish Parliament. Mr. Westrup started his career as a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs and as a California Executive Fellow. He is a German Marshall Fund Marshall Memorial Fellow and an advisor to the California-China Climate Institute at UC Berkeley. 

chief of staff

Hari Vutukuru is the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Climate Alliance, where he advises the Executive Director on strategy execution, operations, and impact. Prior to this role, Mr. Vutukuru served as the Director of Operations at the Food Bank For New York City, one of the nation’s largest hunger-relief organizations with a network of approximately 1,200 emergency and community food providers, including soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, day care centers, as well as senior, youth, and rehabilitation centers. In this role, he was responsible for supporting the organization’s food acquisition & distribution activities, administrative services & business operations, grant management, and technology innovation functions. Mr. Vutukuru has also previously held positions at Success Academy Charter Schools and Everytown For Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action. In addition to his full-time role at the Alliance, Mr. Vutukuru serves as a Logistics Officer in the United States Army National Guard. He earned his B.A. from the University of Michigan, his M.A. from New York University, and is currently a part-time evening J.D. candidate at Georgetown University Law Center.

Secretariat housed at

The United Nations Foundation