Staff Directory

As a building science trainer for CEE's residential programs, Victor inspects homes to assess insulation levels, air tightness, and combustion appliances to identify ways that homeowners can make their homes safer and more energy efficient.

Before CEE, Victor got his BS in geology from the University of Minnesota, Morris. He also spent a few years gaining customer service experience in the retail sector.

As a community energy analyst, Michelle supports Xcel Energy’s Partners in Energy program by collecting, processing, and analyzing data to support city and municipality efforts in energy and climate planning and implementation, including plans designed to increase energy efficiency, grow renewable energy, and electrify buildings and transportation.

Prior to joining CEE in 2023, Michelle worked as a research scientist on a research team for an educational technology company where she utilized a variety of methods and data tools to analyze and report on the impact of the company’s products on the students who were using them. Michelle also serves on the Eden Prairie sustainability commission and volunteers with a number of west metro natural resource groups.

As director of commercial programs, Kristen oversees CEE’s commercial building programs to ensure they meet annual energy savings goals and provide participating businesses the tools needed to implement efficiency upgrades. These programs provide lighting, HVAC and refrigeration assessments, services, and rebates to small and midsize commercial customers in Minnesota Xcel Energy service territory.

Kristen joined Center for Energy and Environment in 1996 and has worked extensively with public policy and technical programs. Kristen has a BA in international studies from St. Norbert College and a master’s in international affairs from Columbia University.

Awards

• 2003 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Waste and Pollution Prevention

Q Gagne (they/them), joins CEE's Market Transformation team as an Initiative Manager focused on lighting (LLLCs). With a decade of experience in the lighting industry and an expertise in controls, their career in lighting began with Lutron Electronics and a role in Commercial Specification Sales, where they learned how the market operated in the new era of LEDs. They then gained hands-on experience with implementing lighting controls in the built environment as a Systems Engineer for Signify (formerly Philips Lighting).

Q has a BS in Engineering Science from Smith College, where their passion for sustainability first met electric light in the built environment when providing tours of the campus' new, LEED gold engineering building, where no one knew how the lights could be turned off.

As program development manager - beneficial electrification on the market transformation team, Molly oversees the Midwest Air Source Heat Pump Collaborative and assists with business development to expand and launch new programs. 

Prior to joining CEE, Molly was a program manager, market transformation at Resource Innovations, where she administered the North American Gas Heat Pump Collaborative. In other recent roles, she oversaw long-term strategy and strategic communications for market development and commercialization as market development program manager at GTI, and spent three years at the Edison Electric Institute, as manager, state policy analysis in regulatory affairs.  

She holds an MS in energy policy and climate from Johns Hopkins University and a BS in natural resource conservation from the University of Montana. Most recently, Molly completed an executive program for social innovation and design through the University of Pennsylvania. 

Molly has called many places home and currently resides in Baltimore, MD. 

As a program development manager, Renee plays an integral part in the launch of new energy efficiency programs, including managing program development and operations post-launch.  

In her role as a research analyst, Lindsay provides data collection and analysis for CEE’s various energy efficiency research projects. She is currently focusing on analyzing energy efficiency in retrofit homes and in HVAC systems.

Lindsay is a graduate of the University of Arkansas where she obtained her bachelor’s in physics with a minor in mathematics. While in school, she helped gain local support to pass legislation on the Solar Access Act of 2019.

Jo comes to CEE from the world of education. For more than two decades, she taught geography and history to 7th and 8th graders at St. Louis Park Middle School. She worked with students in an after-school group devoted to issues of sexuality and gender. With the League of Women Voters, she ran mock elections for the school. 

Jo graduated from Amherst College with a degree in history. After living in Rome and taking classes at the Gregorian University, she earned her teaching license by studying at the University of Minnesota. She looks forward to helping homeowners use less energy.

As an energy auditor, Joey inspects homes to assess insulation levels, air tightness, and combustion appliances to identify ways that homeowners can make their homes safer and more energy efficient.

Joey is also a Home Energy Squad senior crew leader, and he especially likes helping customers connect to the knowledge and resources so they can maximize their returns on more extensive energy improvement projects.

Joey started working for the Neighborhood Energy Connection in 2014, before it merged with CEE in 2017. He spent the previous 15 years living and working at a small private boarding school in rural Iowa as an art teacher and facilities director.

As the staff accountant, Beth is responsible for a variety of accounting tasks including account reconciliations, client invoicing, and loan certifications. Beth has been with CEE since 2010, and has worked on a variety of CEE's programs including the Home Energy Squad and the Airport Noise Mitigation Program that CEE administers for the Metropolitan Airport Commission.

As the director of human resources, Cindy is responsible for developing and implementing human resources functions that drive results, increase employee engagement, and improve CEE’s ability to deliver on its mission. She has worked in human resources in Minnesota nonprofits for more than 25 years — choosing to use her time and talent in organizations with a mission for the greater good — within higher education, healthcare, affordable housing, and now effective energy solutions.

Cindy joined CEE in 2020. She is a graduate of Augsburg University holding a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration and MIS and a Master of Arts in Leadership.

Prior to working at CEE, Leah worked in commercial construction, both in the role of owners representative and general contractor. She worked with both existing and ground-up construction. 

She has a B.S. in structural engineering from Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego

As the chief operating officer, Stephanie Haddad is responsible for operations at CEE.

Prior to this role, Haddad served as assistant dean at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. In the assistant dean role, Haddad was part of the school’s leadership team and oversaw several functions including student services and operations. Before starting at the Humphrey School in 2012, Haddad worked as program director with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.

Earlier in her career, Haddad worked in various roles with nonprofits including the Longfellow Community Council, Southeast Asian Community Council, YouthCARE/Camp Sunrise, Outward Bound South Africa, and Youth Frontiers. Haddad has participated in Leadership Twin Cities, Rotary International's Group Study Abroad (India), and the University of Minnesota's President's Excellence in Leadership program. She currently serves in the role of Vice President on Mizna's board of directors, and she's a Hennepin County Master Gardener. She earned her BA in history at Dartmouth College, and her MPP with a focus on race and discrimination policy at the Humphrey School.

Working with staff throughout the organization, Tim co-manages CEE's main website, social media presence, brand consistency, and media relations. Attentive to diverse audiences, he helps adapt CEE's outreach methods and messages as needed to ensure the right information makes it to the right people. Nonprofit communications have long played a central role in Tim's career — prior to CEE, he spent 10 years as communications director at the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis. He earned his BA in linguistics from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Tim is the first contact for media inquiries.

Certifications

Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) 

Memberships

Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)

Maddie leads the evaluation of market transformation efforts, developing plans for tracking key performance indicators and energy savings, utilizing outcomes to advance program implementation, and working with stakeholders to determine appropriate pathways.

Prior to joining CEE, Maddie worked at Wilder Research for nine years where she led research and evaluation projects on a wide variety of topics including housing, human services, environmental sustainability, and energy efficiency. As a former research generalist, Maddie brings a systems-level lens to her work at CEE.

Maddie holds an MS in science, technology, and environmental policy from the University of Minnesota Humphrey School and a BA in biology and sociology/anthropology from St. Olaf College.

In his role at CEE, Jim has worked extensively in administering, underwriting, and managing CEE’s home improvement financing programs in the residential, commercial, and nonprofit sectors. This includes working with Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, Minnesota Department of Commerce, and multiple municipalities throughout Minnesota to rehabilitate and promote energy efficiency to existing residential and commercial properties.

Jim joined CEE in 1994. He has a BS in business administration from the State University of New York at Oswego.

Danielle manages the Energy Advisor Service, which helps Home Energy Squad and home energy audit customers implement recommendations from their home energy visit. The service connects customers to financing, cost-competitive insulation work, and utility rebates. Danielle ensures that CEE's messages and efforts to engage homeowners are clear, effective, and motivating.

Danielle started working at the Neighborhood Energy Connection in 2009, before it merged with CEE in 2017. Danielle has a BA in environmental studies from the College of Saint Benedict and is a certified energy auditor from the Dunwoody Institute.

Jaclyn works at CEE as energy auditor.

She is a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota - Morris with a BA in biology. Previously, she worked as a store associate at ALDI for two years and was an on-campus biology tutor at her university.