Since 2006 Jennifer has worked with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Action Fund to to advance stronger federal, state, and utility clean energy policies throughout the Southeastern US. Managing both policy and communication teams, Jennifer has focused on developing and executing campaigns and advocacy programs aimed at changing the way we produce and consume energy with an emphasis on climate friendly solutions. An experienced advocate, writer and public speaker, Jennifer also serves as SACE’s North Carolina state liaison and closely tracks policy proposals in the Old North State. She serves as SACE’s representative to and advisory board member for Mothers & Others for Clean Air and served as the chair of the Southeast Climate and Energy Network’s Advisory Board from 2010 until 2017.

Research and volunteer work in Central America in the 1990s inspired Jennifer’s interests in environmental policy and sustainable development, and her children are her primary motivation now in the hope that actions taken today will ensure a livable world in the future. Jennifer earned a Master of Science in Environmental Policy from the University of Michigan in 2000, which included a summer of ecological field research in Belize, and a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University in 1993, which included a semester in Costa Rica. In addition, Jennifer completed an Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University in 2016.

Before joining SACE in 2006, Jennifer managed a watershed conservation project with Upstate Forever in Greenville, SC; conducted research for the Southern Environmental Law Center in Asheville, NC; coordinated communication efforts as well as research for the Ecosystem Management Initiative at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI; and coordinated community conservation & tourism projects with the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism in Columbia, SC.