

Speakers at
RECESS
Speakers at RECESS26 are builders, educators, community leaders, entrepreneurs, researchers, and advocates shaping a regenerative future that includes everyone. They bring bold ideas, lived experience, and a shared belief that the clean energy transition should work for people and communities.
RECESS speakers want to talk to YOU. Our stage is designed to spark conversation and open doors. You'll hear from people building clean energy businesses in their communities, researchers turning data into action, and leaders who are reimagining what's possible when everyone is invited.
Inviting with Intention
Black, Indigenous, Brown, and other historically underrepresented voices.
The clean energy future only succeeds if all are welcome to shape the conversation. We intentionally elevate Black, Indigenous, Brown, and other historically underrepresented speakers leading a regenerative economy powered by people.
Our voices represent the full energy ecosystem: students and seasoned executives, policymakers and environmental justice advocates, entrepreneurs just getting started, and those who've been doing this work for decades.


2026 Speakers
New speakers added weekly.

Stacey Abrams
New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, producer and political leader - PowerBase

Sauda Ahmad-Green, Esq
Real Estate Developer - S&S Development Group

Doseke Akporiaye
Executive Director - Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy (WRISE)

Daisy Alvarado
Senior Programs Coordinator - HACIA

David Averbeck
Energy Advisor - Walker-Miller Energy Services

Honorable Vicky Bailey
Founder & Principal - Anderson Stratton International

Shalanda Baker
Inaugural Vice Provost for Sustainability and Climate Action - UofM Center for Environment and Sustainability

Veronica Beaumont
Sault Tribe Housing Authority - Sault Tribe Housing Authority

Dr. Donna Bell
Chief Product Officer - Dunamis Charge

Secretary Jocelyn Benson

SaLisa Berrien
Founder and CEO - COI Energy

Dr. Mark Berry
Senior Vice President - Southern Company

Shantonio Birch, Ph.D.
CEO & Founder - ThermoVerse Inc.

Robert Blake
Executive Director - Native Sun Community Power, Red Lake Ogichidaa

Derek Braswell
Founder - EVergetic Charging Station - Charging Truck + Plazas

Denise Brooks-Williams
EVP & COO - Henry Ford Health

Dr. Brandy Brown
Founder - Sadberry Singer

Ron Butler
CEO - ESSPI

Gilbert Campbell
Founder and CEO - Volt Energy

Martha Campbell
Chief Program Officer - Michigan Saves

Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis, JD, Ed.D.
President - Benedict College

Liesl Clark
Director of Climate Action Engagement - University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability

Chief Henry Red Cloud
Founder & President of the Board of Directors - Red Cloud Renewable

Cruz Collin
Renewable Energy Engineering Student and OIT Student Board of Trustee Member - Oregon Institute of Technology and Taku Skan Skan Wasakliyapi: Global Institute for Traditional Sciences (GIFTS)

Abre' Conner
Director of Environmental and Climate Justice

Brynn Cooksey Sr., CEM, CMS
Owner and General Manager - Air Doctors Heating & Cooling Co.

Dave Coulter
CEO - Oakland County, Michigan

Kelly Darnell
Chief Operating Officer - American Clean Power, President - Clean Power Institute

Scott Alan Davis
Vice President of Inclusion and Economic Development - SEEL

Felicia Davis
Founder - HBCU Green Fund

Brandee Davis
Owner and Chief Executive Officer - Cami Energy

Ali Dirul
Founder & CEO - Ryter Cooperative Industries

Manann Donoghoe
Senior Research Associate - The Brookings Institution

Komal Doshi
Vice President of Beneficial Electrification and Mobility - Walker-Miller Energy Services
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Paul Douglas
CEO & Founder - The JPI Group, CEO & Founder - CareerEquity

Ben Dueweke
Director - Michigan Climate Investment Hub

Kerry Duggan
Founder and CEO - Energy Security Partners

Brandie Ekren
Executive Director - Traverse City Light & Power

Warren Evans
Wayne County Executive - Wayne County Michigan

Chandra Farley
Chief Sustainability Officer - City of Atlanta

Dresdan Farrand
Executive Director - Black Owners of Solar Services (BOSS)

Nicole Gailliard
CEO Empowered Electrical Solutions, Master Electrician, VPP Practitioner

Wawa Gatheru
Founder & Executive Director - Black Girl Environmentalist (BGE)

Donna Givens Davidson
President & CEO - Eastside Community Network

Paula Glover
President - The Alliance to Save Energy

Anika Goss-Foster
CEO - Detroit Future City

Charlotte Gossett Navarro
Puerto Rico Chief Director - Hispanic Federation

Don Graves
Former Deputy Secretary - U.S. Department of Commerce, Founder - Highland Creek Advisors

Robert Gudea
Executive Director - GridEquity

Roderick A. Hardamon
CEO & Chief Strategist - URGE

Damali Harding
Senior Director - Solar Landscape

S. Keith Hargrove
Chancellor - Elizabeth City State University

Mihskakwan James Harper
Business Development Manager - NRStor, Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation

Amanda Hatherly
CEO - Building Performance Institute (BPI)

Keith Henderson
Manager of Technical Operations and Workforce Development - PECO

Swen Hendrickson
Field Operations Manager - HERS Ann Arbor

Laticia Holbert
Sr. Manager Workforce Development - ComEd

Wallace Holland
Founder & CEO - Hancock Software

Evette Hollins
Vice President and Chief Customer Officer - DTE Energy

Colette D. Honorable
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary - Exelon Corporation

Wendy Lewis Jackson
Managing Director - Detroit Program, Kresge Foundation

Justine Johnson
Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Office of Future Mobility and Electrification

Kenneth Kelly
Chairman & CEO - First Independence Bank

Natalie King
Founder & CEO - Dunamis Clean Energy Partners & Dunamis Charge

Amir Kirkwood
CEO - Justice Climate Fund

Ameet Konkar
CEO - Resilience Energy

Catalina Lamadrid
President and Founder - Inova Energy Group

Joe Lange
Senior Energy Analyst, City of Ann Arbor Office of Sustainability

Onna LeBeau
Principal Partner - Hawk Eye Strategies LLC

Nicole Turner-Lee
Senior Fellow - The Brookings Institution Center for Technology Innovation

Emily Mauro
Program Director/Co-Program Manager - Mid-Hudson Energy Transition

Derrick Meeking
Director, Market Development Initiatives - Walker-Miller Energy Services

Dr. Madeline Miller
CEO - NexTiles

Dr. Roland Mitchell
Dean and E.B. Ted Robert Endowed Professor - Louisiana State University

Gwen Mizell
Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer - Ameren

Shaquila Myers
Michigan Public Service Commissioner

Mayor Sheldon Neeley
City of Flint, Michigan

Douglas Oliver
Senior Vice President of Governmental, Regulatory & External Affairs - PECO

Byron Osbern
Business Agent - IBEW 58

Quinn Parker
Founder and CEO - Encolor

Lyric Patterson
Urban Sustainability & Environmental Justice Professional | Energy Justice Researcher | Program Manager | U-M SEAS Fellow - University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability

Andre Perry
Director - Center for Community Uplift, Brookings Institute

Gabrielle Pierre
Director of Strategy and Partnerships - University of Georgia

Yok Potts
Director of Public Sector Engagement - Smart Electric Power Alliance

Portia Powell
CEO - One Detroit Credit Union

Dr. Tony Reames, PhD
Director - UM-SEAS Detroit Sustainability Clinic; Tishman Prof Environmental Justice

Darren Riley
Co-Founder and CEO - JustAir Solutions

Matthew Roling
Clinical Assistant Professor & Executive Director - Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University
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Tepfirah Rushdan
Director of the Office of Sustainability for City of Detroit

Tanya Saldivar-Ali
Co-Founder - AGI Construction Solutions

Shaka Senghor
Resilience Expert, Author, and Coach

Jigar Shah
Co-Managing Partner of Multiplier, Co-Host of Open Circuit and Energy Empire Podcasts

Kristol Simms
Vice President, Clean Energy Transition, Economic, Community and Business Development - Ameren Illinois Company

Chéri Smith
President & CEO - Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy
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Dr. Tolulope Sonuyi
Emergency Medicine Physician - Detroit Medical Center, Founder - D.L.I.V.E

Missy Stults
Sustainability and Innovations Director - City of Ann Arbor

Mori Taheripour
Author, Educator, Speaker, Advisor - Wharton School

Sally Talberg
Executive Director - Michigan Saves

Kameale C. Terry
CEO - ChargerHelp!

Victoria Thompson
VRF Midwest Sales Manager - Carrier

Leslie Tom
Chief Sustainability Officer - Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History

Gary Torgow
Chairman - Huntington Bank

Alexa Turnage
Co-Founder - Black Tech Saturdays

Johnnie Turnage
Co-Founder - Black Tech Saturdays

Cody Two Bears
Founder & CEO - Indigenized Energy

Carla Walker-Miller
Founder & CEO - Walker-Miller Energy Services

Tabice Ward
Chief Information Officer - Walker-Miller Energy Services

Allanté V. Whitmore, Ph.D.
Director of Research and Social Impact - The PLUM Catalyst

Tannis Williamson
Managing Director - The Sustainability Firm

Dr. David K. Wilson
President - Morgan State University
