Staff Directory

As the Workforce Program Coordinator, Ibtisam partners with adult and young adult trainees in accessing careers with family-sustaining wages in the energy efficiency sector. This includes planning outreach/recruitment efforts, collaborating with career navigators from partner organizations from program inception to completion, and compiling data for reporting to utilities.

Ibtisam previously worked in education, accounting, and logistics. She also worked as a Lead Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ambassador for the Manchester Metropolitan University students' union and in project management at The Manchester Writing School managing the global writing and poetry competitions. She has a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from Manchester Metropolitan University where she specialized in EU, land, administrative, and intellectual property law.

Najma works at CEE as a community program coordinator. She provides project support and coordination for various communities department initiatives, such as Electrify Everything Minnesota and Energy Disclosure. 

As part of these efforts, she conducts community workshops and events to grow awareness and participation in various energy programs. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science & international relations from St. Norbert College. 

As a controller, Magdalena is responsible for the directing and monitoring of accounting functions at CEE. She works with staff, program managers, clients, and customers to facilitate accurate and timely financial reporting.

Prior to working at CEE, Magdalena spent the last 18 years at Volunteers of America National Services where she managed the accounting department as assistant controller. She has a BA in business and administration from Complutense University of Madrid.

As a recruiter, Kate is responsible for working closely with hiring managers and teams to find, screen, and select candidates for their job openings within CEE. Since 2017, Kate has worked on talent acquisition within the tech, education, agency, and most recently non-profit industries. 

She has a bachelor's degree in international affairs and a minor in environmental studies.

Phil Anderson works with builders to construct very efficient new housing, while performing ENERGY STAR and Home Energy Rating System ratings. He also inspects home performance work on existing homes. Phil enjoys working with contractors and homeowners and appreciates the challenge of making homes more healthy, efficient, and comfortable.

Phil began working for the Neighborhood Energy Connection in 2014, prior to the organization’s merger with CEE is 2017. Previously, he worked as an energy specialist in the state’s Weatherization Assistance Program for over nine years.

As a sales support specialist, Brian works with vendors, customers, and One-Stop staff to calculate rebates and process invoices.

Prior to CEE, Brian worked at Merrill Corporation in their department, DataSite, supporting project managers with merger and acquisition deals for customers. 

As help desk supervisor, Bren oversees, assists, and enhances CEE's helpdesk system and end user operations. 

Prior to CEE, Bren worked as an IT Help Desk Manager for a local IT Managed Service Provider. He has worked in the IT world since 2014. His passion to work in service and support began through his previous career as a paramedic.

Bren is CompTIA A+ certified and ITIL trained

Kessa works at CEE as an energy auditor. Kessa works directly with homeowners to help them understand how their home uses energy by identifying and installing low- and no-cost opportunities and measures to save both energy and money. 

Previously, Kessa worked with the City of Minnetonka through MN GreenCorps on energy efficiency, electrification, and renewable energy. She is currently pursuing a masters of public administration in sustainability. 

As a field supervisor, Cheryl works directly with homeowners to help them understand how their home uses energy by identifying and installing low- and no-cost opportunities and measures to save both energy and money.

Cheryl became interested in the environmental impact of energy use and improvements during college. She joined CEE to help teach others small ways to make a big difference.
 

As a senior energy auditor, John works directly with homeowners to help them understand how their home uses energy by identifying and installing low- and no-cost opportunities and measures to save both energy and money.

HB works at CEE as an auditor trainer. HB joined CEE after many years of procurement work for manufacturing firms and a stint delivering Edible Arrangements during Covid. 

As the Commercial Programs Manager, Andy manages the One Stop Efficiency Shop Commercial HVAC and Refrigeration programs, as well as assisting with the One Stop Commercial Lighting program.

Prior to his current position, Andy worked as the Field Operations Manager for the Home Energy Squad, as well as with the Airport Noise Mitigation Program that CEE administers for the Metropolitan Airport Commission. Before CEE, Andy worked in a variety of roles in the construction field — from carpentry to estimating and drafting — along with managing a multi-state team in telecom construction.

Marcus oversees planning, project management, and strategic implementation for communities participating in Xcel Energy's Partners in Energy program. Responsibilities include managing stakeholder input, coordinating between communities and utilities, supporting implementation strategies, and analyzing / leveraging energy data to move the needle towards a community's energy and climate goals.

In the past seven years, he worked in the private sector in residential solar design and planning. Prior to that he served in local governments across 3 different states as a land use development planner and environmental planner. 

He has a Master's degree in Community and Regional Planning / Environmental Planning from the University of Nebraska and also has a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies with a minor in Sociology.

Arjun performs energy audits to optimize the operations and energy use of energy systems and equipment to achieve energy and cost savings. Work with facility managers to implement effective energy conservation measures and demand-side management strategies in buildings and facilities.

He previously worked as an Energy Engineer with Bright Power Inc. conducting energy audits to support sustainability initiatives of private real estate companies with focus was on multifamily and affordable housing buildings.

Arjun studied mechanical engineering at Symbiosis International University in India and later pursued his masters degree in energy systems from Northeastern University in Boston.

As vice president of business development and strategic marketing, Jenae focuses on business development and marketing to increase CEE's opportunities while saving energy and money for more families and businesses in MN and other cold climate states. Collaborating across the organization and utilizing the expertise of each program and department, Jenae leads the work to identify meaningful and strategic mission-aligned opportunities, develop new relationships, and showcase the organization's knowledge, operational strengths, and strategic capabilities. 

Prior to joining CEE, Jenae was the director of marketing and public relations at Ever-Green Energy and District Energy St. Paul. She worked directly with utility customers and consulting clients, contributed to business development strategy and execution, and led community engagement. Over the years, her work has involved regular collaborations with CEE, including an engineering report for Rice Creek Commons, a building operator research project, and benchmarking for the City of Saint Paul.

Jenae holds a BA in English literature from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and an MA in English literature from Boston College.

Before starting as the program coordinator in PD, Greg was a sales support specialist for the One-Stop Efficiency Shop lighting program. He was in charge of contractor and vendor training, including creating how-to instructional videos for audit and invoice submission.

He's now handling tracking of RFP/DOE and other funding opportunities and helping to create and maintain the PD Resource library. He has been with CEE since 2013 and has a BA in theatre and drama from Indiana University.

As a research engineer, Grant conducts research on emerging technologies in residential and commercial HVAC systems, with a focus on identifying technologies with the greatest potential for reducing the energy intensity of the built environment.

Prior to joining CEE, Grant worked for six years in commercial HVAC and transport refrigeration product development. Grant conducted thermal systems analysis, built machine learning models, defined product application requirements, designed control algorithms, and developed rapid control prototyping techniques.

Grant has a BS in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech and an MS in mechanical engineering from Purdue University.

As a community energy planner, Lidet oversees planning, project management, and strategic implementation for communities participating in Xcel Energy's Partners in Energy program. Responsibilities include managing stakeholder input, coordinating between communities and utilities, supporting implementation strategies, and analyzing and leveraging energy data to move the needle toward a community's energy and climate goals. 

As the commercial marketing manager, Laura focuses on developing and implementing marketing plans to promote CEE’s commercial offerings. Laura also works on supporting program and business development efforts, maintaining brand consistency, and building brand awareness.

Prior to joining the CEE team in 2019, Laura worked in marketing and communications in the industrial electrical and biotech industries. She earned a BS in public relations with a minor in marketing from St. Cloud State University

As sales strategy manager, Tony assists small to midsize business customers with efficient lighting purchase decisions, and educates customers, contractors, and distributors on the benefits of energy efficient lighting and the opportunities available through One-Stop and other utility rebate programs.

Before CEE, Tony was the regional manager for a LED lighting distributor focused on the retrofit market, and prior to that was at Xcel Energy as the team leader of the Business Solutions Center department focused on educating customers and contractors about the available rebate programs and energy efficiency opportunities at their facilities.