CLCV Ed Fund: California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Cliff Gladstein (President) is a leader at the local, state and national levels—and has been for nearly 20 years—in the effort to develop cost-effective policies and programs to reduce pollution from transportation, relieve the nation’s dependence on petroleum, and create innovative public-private partnerships to pursue market-based solutions for environmental problems. In 1994, Mr. Gladstein founded Gladstein, Neandross, & Associates, which works together with business, government and communities to help build an environmentally and socially responsible future through the use of advanced, clean, alternative, and/or renewable energy and transportation technologies, policies and innovation. Mr. Gladstein is also the Founder of the Interstate Clean Transportation Corridor (ICTC), the nation’s first and most successful public-private partnership to accelerate the commercialization of clean, alternative fuel vehicles in the interstate movement of goods.

Mr. Gladstein has used his knowledge and experience in developing and implementing technology deployment programs for the Department of Energy Clean Cities Program, Southern California Gas Company, Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, American Honda, Sound Energy Solutions and the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Leadership Cities program, to name but a few. In addition, he was part of the team that created the Carl Moyer Air Quality Standards Attainment Program, California’s highly successful program to reduce emissions from diesel engines. He is a graduate of Duke University, and holds three graduate degrees from the University of Texas, Austin and the University of California, Los Angeles.

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Parker Blackman is the Deputy General Manager of Fenton Communications and Managing Director of Fenton's San Francisco office. Mr. Blackman, who has been working in public interest communications, advocacy and organizational development for over 12 years, serves as Fenton's lead communication strategist for a range of clients, including the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation's education program, Civic Ventures' "Purpose Prize," Sports4Kids, and the Atlas Family Foundation. He is also serving as a lead communications consultant to four foundations - the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, James Irvine Foundation and the Stuart Foundation. Blackman formerly served as press secretary for Arianna Huffington's run for governor of California and as a communications advisor for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. As the lead communications strategist on the Evangelical Environmental Network's "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign, Blackman was instrumental in leveraging a modest campaign budget into $3-4 million worth of free media.

As the former executive director of Washington Public Interest Research Group, Blackman led a campaign that successfully blocked the construction of a major oil pipeline in Washington and created new accident prevention and enforcement standards for all existing pipelines in the state. He is the former director of the PIRG National Fellowship Program and opened PIRG's first Intermountain West field office serving the western United States. A former organizer for Green Corps, Blackman received a B.A. in U.S. history from Stanford University.

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Paula A. Daniels (Treasurer) is an attorney with over 20 years of experience in complex civil litigation matters. She is also a mediator and arbitrator, and is a Senior Fellow with the Western Justice Center Foundation (a mediation policy nonprofit organization). She serves on the board of the Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center and on the Advisory Council of the Korean American Democratic Committee. Daniels is immediate past president of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and was a regional governor of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, a delegate to the Coalition of Bar Associations of Color, and President of the Board of the Korean Youth and Community Center (a nonprofit social services and economic development organization serving the Southern California Korean American community).

Daniels has significant involvement in environmental policy issues, including service as former Governor Davis’ appointee to the governing board of the Bay-Delta Authority (a cooperative effort of more than 20 state and federal agencies working with local communities to improve the quality and reliability of California's water supplies), and previously as Speaker Villaraigosa’s appointee as a commissioner with the California Coastal Commission. She is Senior Research Fellow at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment, President of the Board of Directors of Heal the Bay (an environmental group which works toward a healthy Santa Monica Bay), and a member of the Liberty Hill Environmental Justice Community Funding Board. Daniels has also served on the State Bar Committee on the Administration of Justice and on the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee of the Los Angeles Superior Courts.

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Robert L. Harris (Secretary) is the former Vice President of Environmental Affairs at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). In this position, Harris oversaw PG&E’s environmental programs and initiatives and was responsible for the company’s remediation work and its focus on environmental leadership, which ensures a careful balance with regard to commerce, the growth of natural resources and environmental protection. He began his career with PG&E as an attorney, and in 1985 he argued and won the corporate free speech case of PG&E v. CPUC before the U.S. Supreme Court (475 U.S.1, 1986).

Harris is a former president of the Charles Houston Bar Association and a former president of the National Bar Association. He is also one of the founders of the California Association of Black Lawyers and a former Grand Polemarch (National President) of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. Harris currently chairs the United Negro College Fund’s Bay Area Advisory Board, and has received its highest honor, the Frederick D. Patterson Award. From 1996 to 2000, he was a commissioner for the Port of Oakland, Oakland’s Jack London Square, and the Oakland Airport. Harris is a former board member of the U. S. EPA’s National Advisory Council on Environmental Justice, the National Energy Policy Commission, and the California EPA Advisory Committee on Environmental Justice. Active in energy matters that impact African Americans, Harris is Second Vice Chairman of the American Association of Blacks in Energy. He is former Sire Archon (president) of Alpha Gamma Boulé of Sigma Pi Phi fraternity. On five different occasions he was selected by Ebony magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential Blacks in America.” He speaks extensively throughout the United States.

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Francisco Estrada is the Director of Public Policy for the Sacramento office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) working on educational and land use issues. Estrada represents MALDEF on the Board of Directors of the California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. Before his tenure at MALDEF, Estrada was a long-time staff member to Congressman Bob Filner. At the local and federal government level, Estrada has worked on a number of issues including water, wastewater, transportation infrastructure projects, immigration, energy, and environmental protection.

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Jerilyn Lopez Mendoza is policy director for the Los Angeles Environmental Justice Project Office of Environmental Defense. The Environmental Justice Project Office actively supports the prevention and redressing of environmental problems that adversely affect communities of color and low-income neighborhoods within the urban poverty core in Los Angeles. Jerilyn’s work focuses on greening the built environment, reducing air pollution in the urban core, and implementing equitable smart-growth and land-use principles to revitalize the city. In July 2005, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa named Jerilyn as one of five Los Angeles Harbor Commissioners, who oversee operations at the Port of Los Angeles. In September 2005, Jerilyn’s fellow harbor commissioners elected her to serve as the commission’s vice-president. Jerilyn is also the chair of the Steering Committee of the LAX Coalition for Economic, Environmental and Educational Justice, and serves on the Steering Committee of the Figueroa Corridor Coalition for Economic Justice. She co-founded the Alliance for a Livable Los Angeles, a diverse group working to make Los Angeles more livable by creating more affordable housing, transportation options and neighborhood open spaces. She received her J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and her B.A. from Stanford University.

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Anne Shen Smith is senior vice president of customer services for San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas), Sempra Energy’s California regulated utilities. Smith oversees all customer-related activities for SDG&E and SoCalGas, including call centers, in-home appliance services, revenue cycle services, energy efficiency and demand-reduction programs and special customer assistance programs. Smith also oversees the Gas Acquisition department at SoCalGas, which is responsible for procurement of natural gas for all the residential and small business customers. Previously, Smith served as vice president of support services and vice president of environment and safety for SoCalGas. Smith started her career with SoCalGas in 1977.

Smith has served on numerous advisory boards, committees and commissions, including the Public Advisory Committee of the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission and as the vice president of the Los Angeles City Environmental Affairs Commission. Currently, Smith serves on the board of directors for the Coalition for Clean Air and as an executive advisory board member of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center.

Smith is a native of Taiwan and immigrated to the United States in 1964. She received her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Michigan and has a master’s degree in industrial engineering and operations research from the University of California at Berkeley.