Environmental Hnancial Advisory Board
January 2023 Meeting
Speaker Bios

Alejandra Nunez

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Mobile Sources
EPA's Office of Air and Radiation

Alejandra (Ale) Nunez is the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Mobile
Sources, Office of Air and Radiation at the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. Ale's work at EPA focuses on reducing pollution from the
transportation sector, including overseeing the development of emissions
standards for light- and heavy-duty vehicles, implementation of the
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's Clean School Bus Program, implementation
of the Renewable Fuels Standard Program, and the integration of
environmental justice in climate policy. Prior to being appointed to her
current position at the EPA, she served as a senior attorney at the Sierra Club's Environmental Law
Program, where her work focused on litigation and regulatory advocacy on federal climate regulations.
Ale holds Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) and Masters of Law (LL.M.) degrees from Harvard Law
School, and a law degree (LL.B.) from the Institute Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico.

Tim Prof eta

Senior Advisor in EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards

Tim Profeta serves as a Senior Advisor in the Office of Air Quality Planning
and Standards at EPA, with a particular focus on the Agency's approach to
its power sector regulations. Profeta has served in this role since
September 2021.

Prior to coming to EPA, Profeta was the Founding Director of Duke
University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. Since
2005, the Nicholas Institute has grown into a major nonpartisan player in
key environmental debates, serving both the public and private sectors
with sound understanding of complex environmental issues.

Profeta's areas of expertise include climate change and energy policy, the Clean Air Act, and adaptive
use of current environmental laws to address evolving environmental challenges. His work at the
Nicholas Institute has included numerous legislative and executive branch proposals to mitigate climate
change, including providing Congressional testimony several times on his work at Duke University,
developing multiple legislative proposals for cost containment and economic efficiency in greenhouse
gas mitigation programs, and facilitating climate and energy policy design processes for several U.S.
states.

Prior to his arrival at Duke, Profeta served as counsel for the environment to Sen. Joseph Lieberman. As
Lieberman's counsel, he was a principal architect of the Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship Act of


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EPA Environmental Financial Advisory Board
January 2023 Meeting
Speaker Bios

2003. He also represented Lieberman in legislative negotiations pertaining to environmental and energy
issues, as well as coordinating the senator's energy and environmental portfolio during his runs for
national office. Profeta has continued to build on his Washington experience to engage in the most
pertinent debates surrounding climate change and energy.

Profeta is a member of the Climate Action Reserve Board of Directors, and is a member of The American
Law Institute. Profeta also holds an appointment as an associate professor of the practice at Duke
University's Sanford School of Public Policy.

Profeta earned a J.D., magna cum laude, and a master's in environmental management in resource
ecology from Duke in 1997 and a Bachelor's degree in political science from Yale University in 1992.

Dan Utech
Chief of Staff

EPA's Office of the Administrator

Dan Utech is the Chief of Staff of the United States Environmental
Protection Agency. Dan has over 20 years of experience in environmental
policy. Dan served as Deputy Assistant to President Obama for Energy and
Climate Change, leading The White House and cross-governmental teams
to develop and implement energy and climate change policy, including
President Obama's Climate Action Plan. Dan also served as a Senior Advisor
to Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

Prior to his federal agency experience, Dan worked in the Senate for 10 years, where he worked on a
range of environmental and energy policy issues for Senators Clinton, Corzine and Baucus. Dan started
his Washington career at EPA as a Presidential Management Intern. He has been a lecturer at the Yale
School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, from which he received a M.E.S. degree. He also holds
degrees from the Yale School of Management and Amherst College.

Jahi Wise

Senior Advisor to the Administrator
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Program Acting Director
EPA's Office of the Administrator

Jahi Wise joins EPA from the White House Climate Policy Office where he
served as Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy and Finance.

In this role, Jahi was the principal advisor to National Climate Advisors Gina
McCarthy and Ali Zaidi developing and leading the implementation of the
Biden-Harris Administration's policies on clean energy project finance,
economic development, climate-related financial risk and equitable
climate investment.

Prior to joining the Administration in January 2021, Jahi held climate policy positions in the Office of the
Mayor of New York City and at the Coalition for Green Capital a national nonprofit focused on

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EPA Environmental Financial Advisory Board
January 2023 Meeting
Speaker Bios

establishing and clean energy finance entities. Jahi also practiced law as an energy and infrastructure
project finance attorney at Skadden Arps and as general counsel of BlocPower, a social enterprise
focused on community scale clean energy deployment.

He received his J.D. and MBA from Yale Law School and Yale School of Management and his B.A. from
Morehouse College.

Faisal Amin
Chief Financial Officer
EPA's Office of the Chief Financial Officer

Faisal Amin began serving as EPA's Chief Financial Officer in July 2021.

Previously, he served as Deputy Director of the Office of Administration in
the Executive Office of the President. Mr. Amin also worked on the
Executive Office of the President Management and Administration Agency
Review Team, as well as the Vetting Operations team, on the Biden-Harris
Transition. During the Obama-Biden Administration, he served in several
roles, including as Chief Financial Officer of the Executive Office of the
President, where he led the team responsible for managing all aspects of
finance and procurement for EOP components. Mr. Amin has spent the majority of his career as an
appropriations attorney at the United States Government Accountability Office, researching and drafting
appropriations law decisions, providing technical assistance to agencies and Congress, and teaching
appropriations law classes. While on detail from GAO to the Senate Interior Appropriations
subcommittee, he helped develop and advocate for EPA's fiscal year 2020 appropriation.

Ellen Tarquinio

Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center Acting Director
EPA's Office of Water

Ellen Tarquinio is currently the Acting Director for the Water Infrastructure
and Resiliency Finance Center at the U.S. EPA. At WIRFC, she focuses on
water affordability challenges, financing for stormwater programs and
leading the technical assistance effort. She started at the EPA in 2004,
developing the National Rivers and Streams Assessment and National Lakes
Survey, as well as leading efforts to develop monitoring programs at states
and other Federal Agencies. After a year working as Special Assistant for
the EPA Administrator, she served as the Deputy Director for Water Policy
at the White House. She has also worked in the Office of Groundwater and
Drinking Water focusing on water system regionalization. Before coming to
EPA, Ellen worked as a fisheries biologist at New York State and attended the University of Pennsylvania
and the University of Maine.

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EPA Environmental Financial Advisory Board
January 2023 Meeting
Speaker Bios

Jon Grosshans

Senior Advisor

EPA's Office of the Administrator

Jon Grosshans AICP, LEED-AP, is a senior advisor with the US Environmental
Protection Agency Office of Policy in Washington, DC. He works to align
policies and resources that support environmental protection and
community revitalization alongside City, County, State, and Federal
partners. Much of this coordination focuses on recent Executive Orders and
strategic initiatives such as coal and power plant community revitalization,
supply chains, energy, critical minerals, and infrastructure.

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Michelle Madeley

Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center
EPA's Office of Water

Michelle Madeley leads community technical assistance initiatives with
EPA's Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Finance Center to help
underserved communities access water infrastructure funding. She
previously worked in EPA's Office of Community Revitalization (in the Office
of Policy), supporting communities across the country that want help
revitalizing their downtowns and neighborhoods, and communities that
seek to develop more resilient practices and policies. She has also worked
with FEMA and the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and began
federal service as a Presidential Management Fellow. Prior, Michelle worked in research and advocacy,
and earned dual Masters degrees in Public Health and City and Regional Planning from the University of
North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

David Widawsky

Data Gathering and Analysis Division Director
EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention

David Widawsky, Ph.D. is the Director of the Data Gathering and Analysis
Division, in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention at EPA. He
provides leadership for the EPA's mission focus on chemical safety and
sustainability in the implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the
Pollution Prevention Act, and the Emergency Planning and Community Right
to Know Act. The multi-disciplinary staff under his leadership provide
expertise, analysis, method development, and innovation for several
pollution prevention programs at EPA, including grants to states and tribes
for working with businesses to promote source reduction and an
environmentally preferable purchasing program for federal procurement. He
also leads programs in sustainability through safer and sustainable chemistry and chemical products,
including EPA's Green Chemistry Challenge Awards and EPA's Safer Choice labeling program for safer

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EPA Environmental Financial Advisory Board
January 2023 Meeting
Speaker Bios

chemical products. Dr. Widawsky is a graduate of the University of California with B.Sc. degrees in
Political Economy of Natural Resources and in Plant and Soil Biology, received his M.S. in Agricultural
Economics from Colorado State University, and earned his Ph.D. in Applied Economics at Stanford
University. He has worked at the U.S. EPA since 1998, where he has served in a number of leadership
roles across the Agency.

Wendi Wilkes

Senior Advisor to Assistant Administrator Fox
EPA's Office of Water

Wendi Wilkes is a Senior Advisor to Assistant Administrator Fox in EPA's
Office of Water. Previously, Wendi was the Regulatory and Legislative
Affairs Manager for the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators
where her work included regulatory analysis under the Safe Drinking Water
Act, water infrastructure funding, and Congressional relations. Prior to
joining ASDWA, Wendi worked for the American Water Works Association's
Government Affairs Office in Washington, DC and at the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality where she served in the Office of Water. Wendi
earned a Bachelor's in Geography from the University of Texas at Austin
and a Master's in Public Management at Johns Hopkins University.

Michael Deane

Clean Water State Revolving Fund Branch Chief
EPA's Office of Water

Michael Deane is Chief of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program
with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Prior to returning to EPA,
he was the Executive Director of the National Association of Water
Companies, the organization representing private water utilities and
operating companies in the U.S. Before joining NAWC in 2009, he was
Associate Assistant Administrator for Water in the EPA where he played a
key role in developing and implementing national water policy. Previous to his appointment to EPA in
2006, he served as an executive at several water management companies, including SUEZ and Veolia,
where he focused on innovative financing and infrastructure policy. He holds a Master of Environmental
Management degree from the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment and his bachelor's
degree in biology and geography from Gustavus Adolphus College.

Curt Baranowski

Environmental Scientist, Creating Resilient Water Utilities
EPA's Office of Water

Curt Baranowski leads the EPA's Creating Resilient Water Utilities initiative, which provides resources for
drinking water and wastewater utilities to address to climate change by promoting a clear
understanding of climate science and adaptation options. Before working on climate-related water

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EPA Environmental Financial Advisory Board
January 2023 Meeting
Speaker Bios

issues, Mr. Baranowski managed Agency programs that provided technical assistance and training to
small community wastewater utilities.

Mr. Baranowski has been with the US EPA's Office of Water since 1998. Prior to joining EPA, he worked
in the water and air programs of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

April Karen Baptiste
Colgate University

NEJAC Member, Former NEJAC Finance Workgroup Chair
April Karen Baptiste is a professor of Environmental Studies and Africana
and Latin American Studies at Colgate University. She currently serves as the
Associate Dean of the Faculty for Global and Local Initiatives. She has a PhD
from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, as well as an MSc
and BSc from The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, her
home country. Her research interests includes environmental psychology,
environmental justice, and natural resource management, with a focus on
the Caribbean region and central NY. She has published in a number of
leading environmental, Caribbean, and interdisciplinary journals, and her book is Revitalizing Urban
Waterway Communities: Streams of Environmental Justice (2018). Prof. Baptiste's new research looks
at environmental worldviews in the insular Caribbean with a lens to understand the elements of
Caribbean environmental worldview and the role of decoloniality in these worldviews. Prof. Baptiste
serves as a member of the Environmental Protection Agency's National Environmental Justice Advisory
Council ,as well as sits on the editorial board of the journal Environmental Justice.

Rod Snyder

Senior Advisor for Agriculture to the Administrator
EPA's Office of the Administrator

Rod Snyder was appointed Senior Advisor for Agriculture to the Administrator
of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in October 2021. He is
recognized for his nearly two decades of leadership at the intersection of
agricultural and environmental policy. From 2014-2021, Snyder served as
president of Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, which is
the largest multi-stakeholder initiative working to advance the sustainability
of commodity crop farming in the United States. In this role, he forged
science-based consensus among diverse stakeholders across the food and
agriculture value chain on complex issues such as climate change, water quality, biodiversity, and pest
management. In 2015, Snyder co-founded the Sustainable Agriculture Summit, which has grown to be
the largest and most prominent annual sustainable agriculture conference in North America. Prior to his
time at Field to Market, Snyder held positions as Public Policy Director for the National Corn Growers
Association and Government Affairs Leader for CropLife America. He has been a longtime champion of
agricultural solutions to climate change and has on two occasions organized farmer delegations to
participate in UN Climate Summits in Paris and Copenhagen. Snyder holds a B.A. in Political Science from

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EPA Environmental Financial Advisory Board
January 2023 Meeting
Speaker Bios

Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. He resides on his family farm in Shenandoah Junction,
West Virginia.

Venus Welch-White

Senior Advisor for Agriculture Advisor
EPA's Office of the Administrator

Venus Welch-White, Ph.D. serves as the Senior Advisor to the Agriculture
Advisor to EPA Administrator Michael Regan. She joined EPA in November of
2020 as the Senior Policy Advisory in OLEM's Resource Conservation and
Sustainability Division and supported initiatives, policy and programs across
the division including Anaerobic Digester Grants and RCRA'S voluntary
partnership programs. Prior to joining EPA, she served as the National Rural
Energy Program Coordinator in USDA's Rural Business-Cooperative Service
where she conducted stakeholder engagement, outreach, technical reviews, business strategy and
development, policy support, and facilitated collaborations with internal and external partners in
agriculture, renewable energy, biofuels, economic development, and financial lending partners. Venus
was a 2014 Presidential Management-STEM Fellow and as part of the of her PMF program she
completed a detail assignment in in the Office of the Chief Economists, supporting climate smart ag and
forestry initiatives as well as in the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget,
where she analyzed policy and budget legislation for EPA, developed congressional reports, and
supported implementation of executive orders and administrative initiatives of across federal agencies.
Venus holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Integrative
Biosciences from Tuskegee University in Alabama.

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