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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.

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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

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

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

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

Sue Yang-Krochmal

Partner, Private Investments - Lattis

Contact

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