Grid Forward Board of Directors

The Grid Forward Board of Directors represents the diversity of stakeholders: utility, industry solution providers, professional services, education, government and non-profits.

Experience that guides our mission to promote and accelerate grid innovation

Our Board of Directors manages the business and financial affairs and strategic direction of the organization as outlined in the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws. Members of the Board have relevant leadership experience in the energy and utility industry, so their contributions will help support the organization’s mission of promoting and accelerating grid innovation. Board Members serve three-year terms.

Nominations from among members in good standing are considered by the Nominating Committee when notice is provided to the Executive Director, Secretary, or other members of the Nominating Committee in writing. Candidates are voted on by the Board of Directors. The slate of renewing and incoming members elected by the Board is then voted on by the membership in the Annual Meeting. Board meetings are generally scheduled quarterly. The Board may fill vacancies from resignation or other changes. Typically 2-4 members are elected each year.

Emeka Anyanwu

Seattle City Light (2020-26)

Emeka Anyanwu became CEO of Lincoln Electric System (LES) – the municipal public utility serving Lincoln, Nebraska and surrounding communities – in January 2024. Prior to LES, he served as Energy Innovation & Resources officer at Seattle City Light, one of the nation’s largest community-owned, not-for-profit utilities. In that role, he was responsible for leading strategic functions that included utility technology (IT/OT), information security, electrification, grid modernization, and current and future power resource strategy. Earlier in his career, Emeka spent 16 years at Kansas City Power & Light (now Evergy) in various roles, starting out as a Distribution Engineer, moving into progressive leadership roles in T&D operations. He has served on industry Boards including the Public Power Council, the Public Generating Pool, and Energy Northwest. Recent awards for him include the SEPA’s Individual 2021 Power Player of the Year and the Energy Thought Summit’s 2023 Thought Leader of the Year.

Luis D’Acosta

Uplight (2023-27)

Luis is the CEO of Uplight, the technology partner of energy providers transitioning to a decarbonized future. A recognized leader across the energy ecosystem, he joined the organization in September 2022 to help scale Uplight’s market leading grid edge customer engagement, enrollment, and load flexibility platform. Prior to joining Uplight, Luis was the global head of Schneider Electric’s Digital Energy business, where he worked to accelerate the digitization of power networks by building and implementing new technology solutions. Having worked on all sides of the utility industry, Luis has vast global experience running software businesses, scaling startups, and leading growth and customer engagement initiatives.

Julie Desimone

Treasurer

Moss & Adams (2019-25)

Julie leads the Power & Utilities National Practice for Moss Adams LLP, and has been providing auditing, accounting, and consulting services since 2000. Some of her specific areas of focus include: advanced utility accounting, regulatory assets and liabilities, technical auditing (including single audits), contracting, business feasibility studies, internal control evaluation, litigation support, and relationship management. Julie currently serves on the Moss Adams’s Executive Council, training and development committee, audit task force, and recruiting program. In addition, she serves as an AICPA peer reviewer and is a regular speaker on technical and operational issues related to the energy and utility industry.

Jackie Flowers

Tacoma Public Utilities (2020-25)

Jackie assumed the role of CEO/Director of Tacoma Public Utilities on August 1, 2018, the first female to be permanently appointed to the position. She is active in implementation strategies associated with TPUs utility modernization vision with the goal of integrating technology and fostering innovation to deliver affordable, flexible, secure, resilient, and sustainable power and water services. Jackie spent 13 years as general manager of Idaho Falls Power. During her tenure, the utility participated in the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration project, exploring benefits of smart grid technology in seven key areas. A Registered Professional Civil Engineer, she has 27 years of professional experience, 19 of which have involved managing public utilities. She has long list of organizations she has been involved with, serving on many boards and often in leadership positions.

Hanna Grene

Microsoft (2022-2023)

Hanna Grene, Director for Energy and Sustainability at Microsoft, is an energy and technology executive with over 14 years of leadership experience in strategic planning, operations, marketing, policy, and business development. She has worked closely with federal agencies, governments, utilities, and C&I clients worldwide to fund and execute renewable energy and grid resilience projects. At Microsoft, Hanna leads strategy and partnerships across the Power and Utilities market in the Americas and works closely with Fortune 500 executives and policymakers to accelerate investment and innovation in a decarbonized, secure, resilient, and affordable energy system. Prior to joining the Microsoft team in 2021, Hanna was the Chief of Commercial Development for PXiSE Energy Solutions, where she helped the organization complete 800MW of renewable energy and microgrid projects across three continents and seven countries. As the Director of Policy at the Center for Sustainable Energy, Grene led corporate strategy and advanced critical legislation to secure $1B in funding for solar, battery storage, and EVs in CA and OR with an emphasis on equity-focused programs. She has advised public utilities commissions, government agencies, and lawmakers on market barriers, technology, and data-based incentive structures to accelerate renewable energy and electric vehicle adoption. Hanna has an MBA from the Rady School of Management at UCSD and a BA in International Relations from American University. She has been published as a subject matter expert on energy and climate issues with local and national press and has authored original research on corporate governance and culture. In 2021, Hanna was recognized as a San Diego 40 Under 40 Top Business Leader.

Bill Holmes

K&L Gates (2013-25)

Bill Holmes is a partner at K&L Gates where he concentrates his practice in the area of energy and infrastructure projects and transactions with an emphasis on wind energy, solar energy, hydroelectric power, geothermal, biomass, natural gas, carbon offsets, and energy storage. His experience extends into corporate transactions, water law, and real estate law. Bill also advises clients in negotiating major power purchase agreements, acquisition and sale of energy projects, EPC agreements, O&M agreements, fuel supply, and energy project development agreements. Bill has been selected to be included in the 2007 through 2013 editions of The Best Lawyers in America in Energy Law and Environmental Law and was selected as a “leader in the field” by Chambers Global (Projects: Renewables & Alternative Energy – USA), 2011. He was also named the Best Lawyers 2011 Portland, and Oregon Energy Lawyer of the Year. Bill is an adjunct professor at the University of Oregon Law School, where he taught one of the first renewable energy law courses in the nation from 2008 through 2012.

Marissa Hummon

Chairman

Utilidata (2019-2025)

Marissa joined Utilidata in 2018 as Chief Technology Officer, responsible for the company’s technology research, product development, deployment, and engineering teams. She brings more than fifteen years of expertise in energy systems and grid optimization, having previously overseen product development for Tendril and managed grid modernization research at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Marissa is a graduate of Colorado College and holds a PhD in Applied Physics from Harvard University.

Matt Piper

ESRI (2023-2026)

Matt Piper is Esri’s Global Industry Solutions Infrastructure Director. He focuses on technology telecommunications, utilities, water, and architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) and leads Esri Digital Twin Initiatives. As a professional senior leader working for the largest GIS company in the world, he focuses on exploring new opportunities for how location intelligence is applied to utilities and how GIS aligns to future strategies to enable organizations to evolve to meet the changing demands of the industry. As an industry thought leader Matt represents GIS capability and value to improve upon efficiency and decision making.

Jennifer Potter

Hawaii Natural Research Institute (2023-2024)

Jennifer Potter is a resident of the Maui, Hawaii with over 18 years of experience in the US energy industry. She works as a Faculty Energy Specialist at the Hawaii Natural Research Institute at the University of Hawaii, where her research focuses on microgrids and energy policy. She leads a US Department of Energy project on community microgrids in the Hawaiian Islands, emphasizing resilient energy infrastructure.

Previously, Jennie served as Senior Director of Regulatory Innovation at Strategen Consulting and as a Commissioner with the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission for five years, where she implemented innovative regulatory frameworks, including performance-based regulations and performance incentives for energy providers. At Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Jennie led the nationally recognized California Demand Response Potential Study, and authored numerous papers on demand response, energy efficiency, advanced electricity rates, and resiliency, and has presented her research nationally and internationally.

Jenny received the Grid Innovator of the Year award from Grid Forward in 2022 and the Thought Leadership award from the Peak Load Management Alliance in 2018. She holds a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Economics.

Kristen Sheeran

Portland General Electric (2023-2025)

Kristen Sheeran Ph.D. serves as Senior Director of Resource Planning and Sustainability Strategy at Portland General Electric where she drives policy and planning around the company’s integrated resource, system, and program planning, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programs, and strategies to meet Oregon’s ambitious clean energy goals. She has created industry-leading sustainability initiatives that serve to strengthen and advance policies to build a clean energy future while protecting communities from climate change impacts. She partners closely with partners across industries to advance the region’s decarbonization objectives. Kristen has more than 20 years of energy sector experience with deep expertise in energy, climate, transportation, markets and regulation, economics and policy. Prior to joining PGE she served as Energy, Climate, and Transportation Advisor to Governor Kate Brown and led the state’s Carbon Policy Office. During that time, Oregon advanced groundbreaking climate policy, including Oregon’s clean electricity legislation (HB 2021) and Executive Order 20-04 to achieve statewide carbon reduction goals. She was a professor of economics for 7 years at St. Mary’s College of Maryland where she taught environmental economics, development, and political economy, and has written and spoken extensively about climate change and clean energy.

Marie Steele

NV Energy (2023-2026)

Marie Steele is the Vice President of Integrated Energy Services at NV Energy where she leads a diverse team responsible for the company’s clean energy customer programs and services including energy efficiency, demand response, electric vehicles, battery storage and renewable energy. The team is also responsible for integrated grid planning and the distributed resource plan, which ensures NV Energy customers and Nevadans benefit from distributed energy resource deployment. Her experience at NV Energy spans across transmission and distribution projects, financial planning and analysis, and renewable energy strategy.

A persistent advocate for equitable sustainable solutions, Marie has been a prominent voice in the transportation electrification space in Nevada, co-authoring the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy report, Electrifying Nevada’s 21^st Century Transportation System as Principal and Co-Founder at e-Centricity, LLP, a woman-owned Nevada based business.

Marie received her MBA from the ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain and has Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Iowa with an International Business Exchange at the University of New South Wales.

Vidya Vankayala

BCIT (2023-2027)

Dr. Vidya Vankayala is currently the Director of Smart Microgrid Applied Research Team (SMART) at the center for applied research and innovation, BC Institute of Technology (BCIT). In this role, Vidya is responsible to define and direct applied research programs that advance the state of the art in grid modernization and resilient systems. His goal is to define and implement a new innovation roadmap for BCIT and province of BC to support resilient energy systems. Dr. Vankayala brings more than 30 years of experience in the utility and hi-tech sectors.

Dr. Vankayala led innovation at various utilities as a Chief Architect, Solution Director and Industry Specialist. Dr. Vankayala is a member of IEEE and a contributor to several smart grid and smart city standards. He has over 30 publications in operations, planning, cyber security and technology enablement of smart infrastructures for industry, community and home.

Previously at Powertech Labs Inc., Vidya was responsible for the world-class High Power Lab which offers unique grid-connected testing and validation services to the utility industry. His team developed several new services at Powertech including NERC CIP assessment and audit support, Distribution Automation, Distribution System Reliability Assessment to incorporate Climate Change Impacts, Wildfire Risk Assessment and Mitigation and Microgrid Design and Planning.

Piper Wilder

Founder and CEO, 60Hertz Energy (2024-2027)

Piper Wilder is founder and CEO of 60Hertz Energy, a company developing software to maintain fleets of distributed energy resources — from village infrastructure, to remote industrial sites, to solar arrays. The company has won more than 10 national and international awards for their work. Piper was inducted into the Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame in 2022, is a 2020 Tory Burch Foundation Fellow, and former German Chancellor Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The company serves customers from Nigeria to the Canadian Arctic, including the US Navy. She lives in Anchorage with her husband and 4 yr old daughter.

Bryce Yonker

Grid Forward Executive Director & CEO (2010-2023)

Bryce Yonker serves as the first executive director & CEO for Grid Forward. He heads up strategic development, programs and operations for the organization. Bryce was a founder and original board member and the initial executive director of Grid Forward. He is also the founder & principal of EnerTec Development, an energy advisory and consulting firm based in Portland Oregon. He is an advisor to multiple industry companies and previously served as the senior director of business development & strategy for Clean Edge, a leading clean tech market research firm. He holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University and an International MBA from IE in Spain.