Events

Join the SEAS Community for the DEI and CSS Sustainable Systems Forum on Diversity in Energy. Moderated by SEAS Professor, Tony Reames, and SEAS Diversity Equity and Inclusion Manager, Sonia Joshi, this will be an hour conversation discussing careers in energy as well as diversity, equity, and access in this broad field. There will be time for Q&A at the end.

Moderators

Tony G. Reames, PhD, PE
Assistant Professor of Energy Justice

Dr. Tony G. Reames is an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment & Sustainability. He directs the Urban Energy Justice Lab. He conducts research in the emerging field of energy justice, investigating fair and equitable access to affordable, reliable, efficient and clean energy, and seeks to understand the production and persistence of spatial, racial, and socioeconomic residential energy disparities. He has a PhD in public administration, a Masters in engineering management, and a BS in civil engineering. Dr. Reames is also a licensed professional engineer and US Army veteran.

Sonia Joshi
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager, SEAS

Sonia Joshi works as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Program Manager at SEAS. She uses her background in human dimensions and environmental justice to apply a lens of how race, class, gender, ethnicity and socioeconomics disproportionately impacts certain members of society. As a trained facilitator, Sonia develops and leads training programs and DEI workshops and is committed to amplifying voices and representation of people of color in the environmental field.

Panelists

Alexis Cureton
Clean Energy and Equity Activist, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Alexis Cureton is both the California State Lead of the Energy Efficiency for All (EEFA) national project and the Clean Energy and Equity Advocate for NRDC. In these roles, Alexis focuses on issues at the intersection of Energy, Housing, and Environmental Justice. A graduate of Clark Atlanta University and Indiana University, Alexis is an enthused scholar and activist working to improve the lived conditions of Black and Brown communities in California and beyond. 

Dana Redden
CEO of Solar Concierge, Solar Energy Development

Dana Clare Redden is the Founder of Solar Stewards, a solar program addressing energy justice by directly connecting corporate social responsibility initiatives with solar development in marginalized communities.  Dana holds a Bachelors of Science degree from Drexel University as well as an Executive MBA from IE Business School and Brown University.   She currently resides in Atlanta, GA where she continues to work at the intersection of impact capitalism, environmental justice, and social entrepreneurship for communities worldwide.

Shreyas Vangala
Senior Consultant, Energy & Utilities at West Monroe

Based out of New York, Shreyas Vangala is a Senior Consultant in energy and utilities practice at West Monroe where he works on grid modernization and decarbonization initiatives. Prior to joining West Monroe in 2019, Shreyas worked in corporate strategy for the New York Power Authority- a state-owned power generation and transmission company- engaging on several initiatives relating to distributed energy resources, wholesale power generation, and electric vehicle infrastructure. Shreyas graduated from SEAS in 2016 where he concentrated on Sustainable Systems and served as a Sustainable Systems track leader.