The Team
Michael Mann – Executive Director
Michael serves as the Executive Director for the Clean & Prosperous Institute. His firm, Cyan Strategies, specializes in government affairs and business development for companies reducing carbon emissions through their business activities. Michael previously served as the Director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment and as the District Director for then Congressman Jay Inslee, the current Governor of Washington.
Sarah Severn – Outreach
Sarah is principal of Sarah Severn Consulting. Sarah spent over two decades in senior sustainability roles at Nike where she led the adoption of sustainability into Nike’s operations, product design process and manufacturing supply chain. She initiated Nike’s climate change work in the mid 90’s and catalyzed the formation of BICEP, (Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy) in 2008. Since retiring from Nike in 2014, Sarah has focused on the intersection of business advocacy and climate policy.
Isaac Kastama – Advisor
Isaac is the Managing Partner of Water Street Public Affairs LLC, a public affairs firm representing diverse clients in energy and business. Isaac has built effective coalitions of regulated industries and environmental interests and has over ten years of experience representing clients in Washington. He had deep involvement in the legislative process to enact the 100% Clean Electricity Standard, Clean Fuel Standard, and Climate Commitment Act and continues to engage in policy implementation.
Dominic Canterbury – Operations
Dominic is a principal at Turbine Agency, a Customer Experience Design firm based in Seattle. As a communications strategist with over 15 years of experience, he has built successful programs for national and international companies, non-profits, election campaigns, and startups.
Lee Keller – Strategic Communications
Lee is the Founder and CEO of the Keller Group, a crisis management and Strategic Communications Firm. Lee has 30+ years of experience as a leader in strategic communications, public relations and crisis management in the corporate, government and nonprofit worlds. She served as a close advisor to Paul Allen and the Seahawks where she managed external affairs thru Allen’s purchase of the team and construction of Seattle’s new football stadium. She served on Capitol Hill as press secretary to two United States Senators and directed communications for both the National Wildlife Federation in D.C. as well as Weyerhaeuser. Through her own firm, The Keller Group, Lee now advises CEOs, leading businesses and organizations in a number of areas including media relations, community outreach, public affairs and crisis communications. Her alma mater is the University of Washington where she majored in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science and is a regular guest lecturer.
Bill McClain – Marketing Communications
Bill has led domestic and international marketing for several major brands, including Clarisonic and Sonicare. He played a key role in the successful launch of over 30 new products, including market-leaders from LifeScan (Johnson & Johnson), Braun, and Oral-B. Bill currently teaches Global Business Strategy and Marketing at the University of Washington. He earned his B.S. at West Virginia Wesleyan College and his MBA at the University of Pittsburgh.
Kevin Tempest – Research
Kevin is the team’s Research and Development Scientist, leading decarbonization and climate policy analysis including the Building Back Better: Investing in a Resilient Recovery for Washington State report. Kevin spent two years as a staff scientist in climate and energy topics at Stockholm Environment Institute-U.S, publishing on carbon infrastructure lock-in, natural gas as a bridge fuel, fossil fuel supply-side (extraction) strategies, and global urban greenhouse gas emissions modelling. He holds a M.Sc in Oceanography from the University of Washington.
Board of Directors
The Clean & Prosperous Institute is a fiscally sponsored project of the Washington Business Alliance Fund, a 501c(3) organization. The following Board of Directors of the Washington Business Alliance Fund provide oversight of CPI.
Alan Crain
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Kitsap Bank
Alan Crain is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Kitsap Bank where he oversees accounting and financial reporting, investment portfolio management, as well as the Bank’s municipal and energy banking divisions. He has been serving in this role since 2014.
Before joining Kitsap Bank, Alan served as Chief Financial Officer of Cashmere Valley Bank where he started the bank’s public financing division and participated in quadrupling the size of the bank over a 15-year period. He was also CFO at Seattle Bank where he was part of a team that recapitalized the bank after the Great Financial Crisis and returned it to sustainable profitability.
Greg Herlin
President & CEO, C-Keg
Greg is currently the President & CEO of C-Keg, leading the IoT revolution in the beverage industry.
Greg was named Seattle Business Magazine’s “Manufacturing Executive of the Year” in 2013 and holds a place on PSBJ’s fastest growing privately held companies “Hall of Fame” An entrepreneur focused on high volume Advanced Manufacturing Greg led the way in “re-shoring” millions of dollars in injection molded plastics from China creating hundreds of jobs, improving profits and reducing the carbon footprint for local companies.
Johannes Thijssen
Principal, J. Thijssen, LLC
For over 30 years, Jan has focused his career on making clean energy succeed by making it profitable through the development and commercial application of new technologies. His work with energy companies, manufacturers, investment funds, and governments worldwide has resulted in the profitable deployment of a wide range of technologies worth billions. Jan was immediately excited by his friend and fellow engineer David’s idea to combine climate action with prosperity to drive policy in Washington. Twelve years later he is still honored to work with Clean and Prosperous to lead Washington to a sustainable future with economic opportunity for all.
Paula Sardinas
President/CEO, FMS Global Strategies, LLC
Paula F. Sardinas, NBPLA, currently serves as the President/CEO of FMS Global Strategies, LLC, a #Black and other #BIPOC Governmental Affairs Advocacy firm, and The Purpose Driven Girl, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, focused on empowering #BIPOC women and girls. Her public policy career spans 30 years working in Telecom, Engineering, Banking, IT, STEM, Cannabis, Social Equity, and Financial Literacy. .
She began her career as an intern on President Bill Clinton’s campaign in 1992 and served as the Statewide political director of Women for Change on the Obama Campaign in 2008 and 2012. She recently served as the Coalition builder for Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden’s Washington State Presidential campaigns.
She has also worked with and for the Administrations of Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden on various programs to increase opportunities and access for women and children. She has been recognized for her endeavors when she was selected as a 2023 delegate to the United Nations 67th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67).
Reuven Carlyle
Founder, Earth Finance
Reuven Carlyle is founder of Earth Finance, a climate strategy and finance firm, and a serial entrepreneur who also served 14 years in the Washington state Legislature (2009-2023).
Reuven is a primary architect of what are widely viewed as the most comprehensive state-level climate policies in the nation crafted during his time as chair of the state Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee (2017-2023). This sweeping package includes: Climate Commitment Act, clean fuel standards, Clean Energy Transformation Act, environmental justice and equity, building efficiency standards, super pollutant policies, green transportation package including electrification policies and more.
Reuven serves on the board of directors of Toptana Technologies, a cable landing and backhaul network provider wholly-owned by the Quinault Indian Nation.
Tom Wolf
Senior Government Relations Manager, U.S. West Coast, bp
For the past 37 years Tom has enjoyed the opportunity to take complex issues, translate them into clear messages and take them to the court of public opinion. In the past 15 years he’s been solely focused on energy policy.
In his current role as bp’s Senior Government Relations Manager – U.S. West Coast, Tom focuses on issues and opportunities for the company in Washington, Oregon and California – working from the bp Cherry Point refinery outside of Blaine, Washington.
Prior to his time at bp, Tom was Executive Director of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce’s Energy Council — where he led the Council’s charge to develop environmentally responsible, fact-based and cost-effective energy policies. Before his Chamber activities, Tom spent two decades in the public affairs agency arena working for nonprofit, government, political, and corporate clients. During that time Tom had the honor of advancing governors, congressmen, senators, a president (Clinton) and a presidential candidate (Obama). He has worked with clients in Aruba, Kuwait, Antigua, Panama, Brazil and (mainly) the United States.
David Giuliani – Founder: In Memoriam
The late David Giuliani was best known as the co-inventor of the Sonicare toothbrush and the Clarisonic skin care system, and as co-founder and CEO of both companies. David was a featured speaker at the White House Conference on Corporate Responsibility, was honored as the “United States Small Business Person of the Year” by President Clinton, and was selected as the “National Entrepreneur of the Year for Manufacturing” by Ernst & Young.
But his recent achievements may have been his most lasting and impactful. Over the last 10 years, David turned his attention to solving the problem of climate change. He worked hard to bring together expertise from all perspectives, regardless of political orientation, to identify, quantify, and address key issues. As an entrepreneur he always looked for “win-win” solutions to address climate change and improve economic and societal health.
Through Clean & Prosperous Washington, David helped pass Washington state’s historic Climate Commitment Act. That legislation is widely recognized as the “gold standard” of state climate policy.
Please help us keep his memory and legacy alive by learning more here and matching his generous gift to the organization he founded.
