David Arfin - David Arfin is the creator of SolarCity's SolarLease, a first-of-its-kind solar financing option that can allow homeowners to pay less for solar power than they currently pay for electricity. Prior to SolarCity, David founded FirstEnergyFinance.com, was co-founder and CEO of GlooLabs, (acquired by Cisco Systems), co-Founded Flywheel Communications, and was founder and CEO of CLE Group (acquired by Practicing Law Institute). Prior to launching companies, David was a lobbyist for the Association of American Universities, a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in Los Angeles and an Intern in the Israeli Knesset. He received an MBA from Stanford, an MA in Public Policy Analysis from the Claremont Graduate University, and a BA in Political Science from UCLA. David is an avid San Francisco Giants fan, and in his spare time, has ridden in three Livestrong cycling events with Lance Armstrong to support the fight against cancer.
Jonathan Axelrad - Jonathan Axelrad is a lawyer in Wilson Sonsini's San Francisco office, where his practice focuses on representing clean technology and renewable energy companies and venture capital and private equity funds that invest in them. Prior to moving to San Francisco, Axelrad lived in Washington, DC, where he worked for an environmental group on a national campaign to educate the American public about possible solutions to combat global warming and for Representative Jay Inslee and the Energy and Commerce Committee on issues related to climate change, energy, the environment and international trade.
Axelrad received a J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center in 2004, where he was a member of the Georgetown International Law Journal and a B.A., with distinction, from the University of Victoria, British Columbia in 1997 and speaks French and Japanese.
Marc Gottschalk - Marc Gottschalk is a partner in Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's real estate and environmental practice and heads the environmental practice. Marc also coordinates the firm's energy and environmental technology practice, focusing on emerging alternative energy companies and companies with environmentally beneficial technologies. He is also a co-founder and board member of the Clean Tech Open, the nation's premier business plan competition for clean technology ventures.
Mik Moore - Mik Moore is the Director of Communications and Public Policy at Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ), a national organization committed to creating a just, fair, and compassionate America. He is also the editor of jspot.org, the blog and action center of JFSJ which features Jewish perspectives on contemporary issues of social and economic justice.
Rachel Sheinbein - Connecting complementary people: this is one of Rachel's strengths that she utilizes in both her professional and personal life. In addition, Rachel thrives when she is surrounded by smart, talented and passionate people.
In her career at Intel, she worked with a team on cutting edge waste water treatment and with a world-class group that was shaping the industry in environmental metrics and emission reduction technologies. She also led a group on strategy for IT in the supply chain. After Intel, Rachel had the opportunity to consult for entrepreneurs in the solar, bio plastics and water sectors. Now at CMEA, she seeks out visionaries who see possibilities and can make them a reality.
On November 8, 2009, hundreds of Jewish leaders met in San Francisco for a conference featuring innovators from the energy industry, investment, sustainability, and policy.
They shared ideas and experiences to help advance the generational movement for clean and secure energy.
