Staff Directory

Cindy serves as the main point of contact for the One-Stop Efficiency Shop lighting and HVAC programs and the Xcel Energy Refrigeration program. She qualifies and assigns properties to the auditors and is responsible for ensuring that a job moves through the program as efficiently as possible.

Cindy started with CEE in 2008 working with the Sound Mitigation Program before she joined the One-Stop Lighting team as a project assistant in 2012. Cindy graduated from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin with a BA in English. 

As a Field Supervisor, Madeline gets to train new staff to become counselors and install energy saving products. Her favorite part of the job is getting to motivate and help staff excel in their role, as either a counselor or an auditor. 

Prior to this role, Madeline was a Senior Energy Auditor for CEE, which includes inspecting homes to assess insulation levels, air tightness, and combustion appliances to identify ways that homeowners can make their homes safer and more energy efficient. This includes installing energy-saving products to help costumers save money as soon as the visit is completed.

Prior to CEE, Madeline was performing energy audits for Green Iowa AmeriCorps in Decorah, IA. 

As a sales support specialist with the One-Stop Efficiency Shop lighting department, Drew works with contractors to create proposals and invoices for small to midsize businesses that are interested in upgrading their lighting.

Before CEE, Drew worked as an order picker for Staples, where he fulfilled online orders for regional businesses. Drew attended college at Bemidji State University where he obtained a BS in environmental studies. Certifications NALMCO-certified Appentice Lighitng Technician

As a Field Supervisor, Stian gets to motivate and support field staff. Stian also gets to train new staff to become counselors and auditors. Stian's favorite part of his job is motivating staff and helping them excel in their role.

Prior to CEE, Stian worked for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board as an aquatic invasive species watercraft inspector and educator. Stian graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a BS in biology and a minor in sustainability, where he also worked as part of the Student Sustainability Leadership Program coordinating and collaborating with students on sustainable composting and energy conservation outreach programs. 

As the loan servicing manager, Marco developed and launched the Lending Center’s in-house loan servicing department to respond to the organization's current and future needs in the lending area.

Marco came to CEE with nearly 12 years of experience in the mortgage industry, working for two of the top 20 loan servicing companies nationwide at the time, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and Ditech Financial; He has extensive experience in several areas of Loan Servicing including Escrow, Customer Service, Collections, Loan Transfers and Payment Processing.

As a senior research engineer, Russ plays various roles in projects that contribute to cost-effective energy savings in buildings. These roles include securing project funding, project management, building plan review, energy analysis, and conducting field research.

Russ began working as an engineering intern at CEE before he received his BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1990. Since 2005, Russ has been increasingly involved in new construction to provide plan review, whole-building energy simulation, and other technical support to design teams and to organizations charged with project oversight and verification.

Russ’s recent and ongoing work addresses the efficiency of a mix of new and existing buildings, both commercial and multifamily. His new construction work includes the Minnesota portion of a U.S. Department of Energy–funded study of the energy efficiency of new low-rise multifamily buildings, CEE’s new construction review of projects against Minnesota’s Sustainable Buildings 2030 Energy Standard, and a pilot project that provided third-party support for improved compliance with commercial energy codes.

His current research on existing buildings includes leading projects to optimize the control of commercial condensing boilers study the Minnesota energy efficiency program market for commercial and industrial refrigeration. Russ also provides technical support for CEE programs and services that improve the efficiency of commercial refrigeration systems, multifamily buildings, and ice arenas.

As an office and administrative specialist, Carina is responsible for the overall management and support of CEE's Minneapolis downtown location.

Prior to joining CEE in 2022, Carina worked for a nonprofit treatment facility that helped people with substance-use disorders achieve sobriety. She also worked in the hospitality industry and as a pharmacy technician. Carina is currently enrolled in St. Paul College.

As Assistant Program Manager, Jessica works with vendors, customers, and One-Stop staff to qualify property addresses, calculate rebates, and process invoices.

Jessica has been with CEE since 2007. She has a bachelor's degree in community development from St. Cloud State University.

Lizzie has worked in payroll since 2015, and in began dabbling in accounting in 2020. Her favorite thing about working in payroll and finance is using her problem solving abilities for the various "puzzles" the job can bring.

As the Loan Services Manager, Cristina supports the CEE lending department by managing the loan closing department, disbursing loan funds, making payments to contractors, and coordinating closing documents and monthly reporting to program partners and agencies.

Cristina, a native of Quito, Ecuador, has been with CEE since 2007.

Cristina habla español, para cualquier información acerca de préstamos por favor comunicarse con ella. 

As a systems engineer, Robert helps employees and associates reach their goals by leveraging and supporting information technology. He manages, researches, and implements technology from the data center to the desktop and beyond.

Robert has been with CEE since late 2007. Prior to CEE, Robert worked as a systems administrator and software developer. He's been in the IT industry for over 18 years and has been an IT enthusiast since he was first introduced to the personal computer in the late 1980s.

Prior to CEE, Karen worked as an Energy Efficiency Specialist with EnerChange and Energy Smart serving commercial customers and spent the last four years serving the non-profit sector. She provided energy assessments, assisted with project implementation, including working with utility representatives and contractors, and provided on-going support for organization staff and facility managers.

Karen is a Certified Energy Manager and holds a BS in Environmental and Public Heath from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.

As the commercial content marketing specialist, Cayne assists the marketing account managers with developing and executing marketing plans for CEE's commercial programs, as well as the strategic concept, creative development, production, and analysis of commercial marketing campaigns.

Prior to CEE, Cayne worked in marketing & communications for a non-profit affordable housing developer. He holds a BS in advertising with a minor in mass communications from Minnesota State University Moorhead.

Ashly returned to CEE after working three and a half years at Xcel Energy where she managed the regulatory strategy for the Advanced Grid Customer Solutions team and was the lead on multiple regulatory filings for Xcel Energy's Demand Side Management (DSM) portfolio.

Ashly leads the development and implementation of the regulatory policy and savings forecasts for CEE’s market transformation programs. This includes all regulatory filings and savings forecasts related to the Efficient Technology Accelerator (ETA), CEE’s flagship market transformation program.

Prior to joining Xcel Energy, Ashly was the Multifamily Program Manager for CEE where she managed the implementation of multiple utility and city multifamily conservation programs. Ashly has over 13 years of experience in the energy efficiency industry that includes supporting the Department of Energy supporting Better Plants Program, development of energy efficiency software, and NSF funded research projects on urban sustainability.

Ashly is Certified Energy Manager and Project Management Professional with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota and master’s degree in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington.

As part of the program development team, Emily leads the evaluation of select opportunities for new programs and services, including product definition, market assessment, financial evaluation, and creation of business plans. Emily works closely with technical staff to identify new energy efficiency service and program opportunities, assists with business development activities, and works with implementation teams to launch new programs.

Prior to joining CEE, Emily was at CLEAResult Consulting for over eight years where she worked on numerous energy efficiency market transformation programs in the Pacific Northwest. In her most recent role, she managed the implementation of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance's Heat Pump Water Heater Program where she accelerated adoption of an emerging water heating technology. Emily specialized in energy efficiency market transformation, program planning, implementation, and market actor collaboration.

Emily holds a BA from Willamette University and completed a Sustainable Building Adviser Certification in 2011.

As a manager of special residential projects and programs, Jarad helps builders construct healthier, more efficient, and more comfortable homes. His work includes coordinating new homes and quality assurance (QA) visits, communicating with contractors and inspectors/raters, calculating rebates and invoicing, and managing budgets.

Jarad began working with CEE in 2018 as an Energy Counselor before becoming an Energy Auditor and Field Supervisor in the Home Energy Squad (HES) program. As a supervisor, he managed a small team of energy experts, helped lead the development of the virtual visit program, and played a primary role in managing internal applications for collecting HES program data. Previously, he worked as a writer-editor and marketing strategist for design-build firms in the high-performance building sector. In addition to his work at CEE, Jarad has written for The Nature Conservancy and served on the board of Passive House Minnesota to help promote the Passive House building energy standard.

Jarad is a certified BPI Building Analyst and holds a BS in journalism and mass communications with a minor in Psychology from South Dakota State University.

As a senior compliance accountant, Laura is responsible for billing and accounts receivable, as well as project creations within CEE systems. 

Prior to joining CEE, Laura worked in finance in a variety of industries, including numerous years in the hazardous waste industry, nonprofit healthcare, legal, construction, and manufacturing. 

Laura has BA in accounting and an associate's degree in computer information systems from Western Governors University. 

Laura holds a Project Management Project+ PMI Certification and a Network Technician A+ Certification and is a member of the Institute of Management Accountants.

As a research analyst, Mason collects and analyzes data for various energy efficiency research projects.

He graduated in 2020 from Saint John’s University with a bachelor of arts in applied physics.

As a workforce program coordinator, Sahra is responsible for coordinating the recruitment, outreach, and retention efforts of CEE's workforce programs.

Prior to CEE, Sahra worked at the Department of Human Services as an Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) provider. She has also served on a number of community initiatives and student groups and has experience coordinating and facilitating large scale projects in the metro area.

Sahra studied Speech Language Hearing Sciences and Autism Spectrum Disorder Studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.