PressCleanTECH San Diego Appoints New President and Vice PresidentSAN DIEGO (April 1, 2008) - CleanTECH San Diego recently tapped a seasoned California energy expert, Lisa Bicker as its new President and a Capitol Hill veteran, Holly Smithson as its Vice President. CleanTECH San Diego is a new non-profit membership organization formed to accelerate San Diego's position as a world leader in the clean energy economy. CleanTECH San Diego’s mission is to stimulate innovation and advance the commercialization and global adoption of clean technologies and sustainable industry practices through its diverse stakeholder base of business, energy and financial leaders, academia and government. The organization is affiliated with CONNECT, San Diego's globally recognized technology and business accelerator. These new hires send a clear signal that the organization intends to take a leadership position in creating a green economy in San Diego. "Lisa has held a series of high profile leadership roles in energy and clean technology here in California, said Jim Waring, CleanTECH San Diego Chairman. "She is a perfect fit to lead this effort here in San Diego." "Holly’s federal policy background and trade association experience are a terrific complement to Lisa's leadership" continued Waring. CleanTECH San Diego will leverage the unique attributes of the region, including San Diego's track record of success in developing other business clusters such as materials science and life sciences, to ensure that San Diego becomes a destination for all things green. In addition to advocating for federal and state research funding, the organization is focused on attracting green jobs, new entrepreneurs and private capital to the region while also exporting San Diego based green products throughout the world. "What I am most excited about is the opportunity to elevate the City of San Diego's position as a clean technology and environmental leader," Bicker said. "We all share a mutual interest in moving to a low carbon economy in a way that increases our energy independence, improves our environmental sustainability and creates new jobs. I expect to advance that shared agenda." Previously, Bicker was the president of the California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), a non-profit corporation formed to accelerate investment across all aspects of California's emerging clean energy economy. Prior to CalCEF, Bicker was the chief executive officer of TruePricing, Inc. and also served as an executive vice president and chief operating officer of NewEnergy, Inc., which at the time was the largest retail energy provider in North America with $800 million in revenues. Bicker also formerly served as the general counsel of the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance (CCEEB), a non-profit advocacy group founded by Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, and was a staff member to Governor George Deukmejian. Bicker holds a B. A. from the University of California at Davis and J.D. from the University of San Francisco. In 2007, she was appointed to the Economic and Technology Advancement Advisory Committee (ETAAC), which is a statewide committee tasked with reporting to the Governor and state legislature and making recommendations to the Air Resources Board as to how to effectively implement the state's landmark global warming law, AB 32. Bicker also is a member of the California State Bar and several industry associations. Prior to joining CleanTECH San Diego, Smithson spent 10 years in Washington, DC working in the executive and legislative branches, as well as non government organizations. In 2003, Smithson was selected as a Presidential Appointee and worked in the US Environmental Protection Agency in its office of congressional relations and then leading its public affairs division. Before serving in the Bush Administration, Smithson lobbied on behalf of the Solid Waste Association of North America representing municipalities and private industry. Smithson also worked on the staff of presidential, senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns. Smithson began her career in broadcast journalism working as a reporter for television and all-talk radio news. She holds a B.S. in broadcast communications from East Carolina University. About Clean Technology |
