Obama Transition - Energy & Natural Resources Team Leaders

.
Energy and Natural Resources Team Lead

David J. Hayes is a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project’s Agency Review Working Group responsible for overseeing review of the energy and natural resources agencies.

Department of Agriculture Review Team Leads

Bart Chilton is currently a Commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Previously, he was the Chief of Staff and Vice President for Government Relations at the National Farmers Union and he was a Senior Advisor to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, where he worked primarily on agriculture and transportation policy.

Carole Jett recently left federal service after 33 years to participate on the Obama for America Presidential Campaign’s agriculture team in Indiana. Jett served as the Farm Bill Coordinator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) with primary responsibility of conservation policy. Previously, she was the NRCS point person for the implementation of the Conservation Title of the 2002 Farm Bill, served on assignment as Congressional Staff with the House Agricultural Committee, and negotiated and co-authored the USDA-EPA strategy on Animal Feeding Operations. She recently launched Blackwood’s Group, LLC, a conservation policy consulting group.

Department of Energy Review Team Leads

Elgie Holstein was a Senior Energy Policy Advisor to the Obama for America Presidential Campaign. Under President Clinton, he was Assistant Secretary of Commerce for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy and Science at the Office of Management & Budget; Chief of Staff at the Department of Energy; and Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council. He was also Director of State-Federal Relations for energy and environmental programs for the National Conference of State Legislatures, and worked as a congressional aide.

Elizabeth Montoya is currently a Consultant with Sealaska Corporation in Juneau Alaska where she is an expert in human resource management and strategic planning and advises the CEO and COO. Previously, she was Associate Director of Presidential Personnel in the White House, Deputy Chief of Staff at the Department of Energy, and Associate Director of Management and Administration at the Small Business Administration.

Sue Tierney is a Managing Principal and expert on economics, regulation and policy in the electric and gas industries at Analysis Group. She previously served as Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Energy, under President Clinton; Secretary of Environmental Affairs in Massachusetts under Governor Weld; and Commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities under Governor Dukakis.

EPA Review Team Leads

Cecilia V. Estolano is the Chief Executive Officer of the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles. Prior to joining CRA/LA, Estolano practiced land use and environmental law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She has served as a Special Assistant to the City Attorney in the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, a Senior Policy Advisor to the Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a member of the California Coastal Commission.

Lisa Jackson was appointed in 2006 by Governor Jon Corzine to lead New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Her past experience includes management responsibilities at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Robert Sussman is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP). During the Clinton Administration, Sussman served as Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, where he played a leading role on Superfund, global warming, science policy and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

FERC Review Team Lead

Rose McKinney-James is the Managing Principal of Energy Works Consulting. Previously she served as the President and CEO of the Corporation for Solar Technology and Renewable Resources (CSTRR) and Chair of the Nevada Renewable Energy Task Force. Past positions also include Commissioner with the Nevada Public Service Commission, Director of the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, Chief of Staff for the City of Las Vegas and Project Manager for the Nevada Economic Development Corporation. McKinney-James serves on the Board of Directors of MGM-Mirage, Employers Insurance Group, Toyota Financial Savings Bank, the Energy Foundation, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), and the Nature Conservancy. She is the Board Chair for Nevada Partners.

Department of the Interior Review Team Leads

Keith Harper is a partner and chairs the Native American Practice Group at Kilpatrick Stockton LLP. Before that, Keith was a litigator and head of the Washington office of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). Keith is a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

John Leshy is a professor of law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. Previously he was Solicitor (General Counsel) of the U.S. Department of the Interior; Special Counsel to Chairman George Miller of the Resources Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; professor of law at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona; Associate Solicitor of Interior for Energy & Resources; and with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in California and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington.