Board of Directors

Ellen has been working at the intersection of environmental sustainability and energy issues for the past 35 years.

She founded and led her own company, Clean Markets, for 11 years, and held senior leadership positions for the US Department of Energy, Exelon Corporation and Gamesa. After successfully selling Clean Markets in 2019 she has been happily retired and volunteers for numerous organizations she is passionate about.

She is an avid hiker, biker and kayaker, and loves spending recreational time with her children and grandchildren. She has lived in Philadelphia since 1981.

Since retiring after nearly half a century as Director and Curator of the Erie Art Museum, John Vanco has devoted his time to building a better community with an emphasis on environmental awareness, especially efforts to mitigate and cope with the effects of global climate change. From 1968 to 2017 he led the Museum through repeated expansions, culminating in the 2010 LEED Gold-certified building that connects five historic buildings into one complex. He developed a comprehensive green operations policy for the Museum, as well as an exhibit explaining the building’s green aspects. In 2011 the Museum received the nation’s highest honor, the National Medal for Museum Service, and in 2015 was honored with the Sustainability Excellence Award in Programming in 2015 by the American Alliance of Museums.

During his tenure at the Museum, Vanco organized more than 500 exhibitions, including a series of Environmental Art Fairs, promoting green awareness through art exhibits and performances. He led environmental art projects such as The Feather at Presque Isle and the Outdoor Classroom at the Multicultural Community Resource Center. He founded and continues to direct Erie’s Blues & Jazz Festival, the community’s only green festival, now in its 26th year.

Suzette Munley is a COO with 20 years’ experience scaling talent, financial and operational efficiencies to grow purpose-driven organizations into sustainable market leaders across hospitality and non-profit sectors. She translates vision into implementable strategic roadmaps. 

As a volunteer speaker for Beyond Plastics’ Speakers Bureau, Suzette is reducing plastic pollution and improving health in the region by spearheading single-use plastic bag bans in Montgomery County and engaging in education, public policy, and community action.   

Previously, Suzette served as board president of the Center City Business Association, where she repositioned the brand, grew board diversity, and created a sustainable business model. Suzette served as Board Treasurer and Vice-Chair of the Montessori School as well as Vice President and Treasurer for the Philadelphia chapter of the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Hotel Association. Suzette has partnered with numerous non-profit organizations. 

Carlos Claussell Velez (he/his/el) is a climate change and environmental professional with over 10 years of experience driving equity and community-centered processes and working with community-based organizations, non-profits, government and philanthropic entities committed to advancing climate justice and equity strategies at the local, regional, state and national level. He currently serves as the Climate, DEI and Environmental Justice Manager for the World Wildlife Fund focusing on advancing equitable strategies for the America is All In and Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC). Carlos also serves as Vice-Chair for the City of Philadelphia’s Inaugural Environmental Justice Advisory Commission (PEJAC), tasked with advising the Mayor, City Council and Office of Sustainability on environmental justice issues and advocating for environmental justice communities in the City. Carlos is a 2022 Climate Justice Design Fellow from Harvard University, 2022 Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI) fellow, a 2020 Environmental Leadership Program Senior Fellow, and a Board Member for Taller Puertorriqueño, a community-based cultural organization that uses art to promote development within the Puerto Rican community and the Latino Diaspora in the Greater Philadelphia region.

Prior to joining WWF, Carlos worked as a Senior Program Officer at the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), serving as the National Program Office Lead for The Kresge Foundation Climate Change, Health & Equity Initiative (CCHE), as the Urban Conservation Project Manager for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) North America’s Cities Network tasked with supporting the implementation of Philadelphia's Green City Clean Waters Plan, and as the Urbanism & Infrastructure Project Manager for the Caño Martin Peña ENLACE Project Corporation, an internationally renowned community-led initiative and winner of the 2016 United Nations World Habitat Award. Carlos holds a master’s degree in architecture and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Puerto Rico.

R. John Dawes, Executive Director and Co-Founder (The Commons) - John is currently the lead for project strategy with a focus on system design and product development for The Commons. Originating as a small fiscally sponsored program delivering GIS services and information design to environmentally focused organizations, John grew the Commons into a stand-alone nonprofit organization that delivers leveraged products and digital services to organizations working to improve water quality. Prior to founding the Commons, John worked at Environmental Integrity Project as a Research Analyst, mapping public and private drinking water wells and their proximity to hazardous coal ash impoundments. John graduated from Juniata College with a B.A. in Environmental Policy and holds a M.S. in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from Johns Hopkins University. He is a self taught front-end software developer, an avid cyclist, and manages his family’s grass-fed Angus beef operation located in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.

Alyssa Edwards has over 18 years of experience in the renewable energy sector, focusing on wind and solar energy. Her expert knowledge of wildlife regulations, permitting and sitting issues that impact renewable energy development, construction and operation have helped advance more than 10GW of executed projects.

In her role as Senior Vice President, Environmental Affairs and Government Relations, Alyssa along with her team, leads on environmental compliance and permitting for development, construction and operational phases for the U.S. portfolio. Additionally, they’ve created a successful biodiversity program in the U.S. that supports our global sustainability objectives.

Alyssa also manages government relations in the United States. Through extensive stakeholder engagement with legislators, regulators and environmental organizations she promotes renewable energy policies and legislation at the local, state and federal levels. Alyssa has highly established governmental agency and stakeholder relationships regionally and nationally and has served on advisory councils, committees and boards.

Alyssa holds a B.S. Environmental Science, Lehigh University and an M.S. Environmental Policy, Planning and Regulation from The London School of Economics and Political Science.

Ann is honored to serve on PennFuture's board and believes that a healthy environment is a fundamental component of human health.

She is a Certified Oncology Nurse, currently working as a Clinical Research Coordinator. Advocacy is inherent to her profession and carries over to her volunteer activities. A member of The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, Ann also serves as chair of the Brodhead Watershed Associations Climate Action committee and is a current board member and past officer.

She is an active participant in Trout Unlimited’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Climate Change workgroups, and is dedicated to creating a welcoming environment for all while working to protect our cold water resources for future generations. She also serves on the board of Brodhead Chapter Trout Unlimited, where she remains dedicated to their Stream Girls program, a STEM program for girls that helps break down barriers in science and the outdoors.

Ann is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and is a lifelong resident of northeastern PA where she has lived within 20 miles of the free-flowing Delaware River for most of her life. She currently resides in the Pocono Mountains where you may find her casting a line in the Paradise Creek that flows behind her cottage.

Joyce has experience with community and economic development, with expertise in entrepreneurship consulting. She is also proficient in visioning and early stage project management, including branding, marketing, graphics, social and traditional media, as well as effective group facilitation, public engagement and team consensus-building utilizing the Art of Hosting techniques (World Cafe, Open Space Technology and Graphic Illustration.) She is an experienced host for online and physical gatherings of up to 100 participants. Other skills include collaborative project development, business plan development, proposal writing, program and grant structuring.

As someone who had witnessed the impact policymakers have had on public education and environmental policy during his long tenure teaching in the classroom, McCarter decided to run for public office to make a difference in the halls of the state Capitol. He believed the General Assembly needed to refocus its agenda toward environmental action, assisting middle-class families and helping those who are less fortunate. Before joining the Legislature, McCarter spent his career educating future generations as a high school teacher in the Abington and Lower Merion school districts for 35 years. He also served as Lower Merion High School's director of community service and directed a joint Archaeology program between the National Park Service and the school district. In addition, he was an adjunct professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Fulbright Exchange Teacher to the United Kingdom. McCarter also served as a local and regional Pennsylvania State Education Association president and member of PSEA’s Board of Directors.

During his eight years in the PA House he proposed and supported legislation that provides a quality education for all our children, makes health care and higher education more affordable, protects our environment and creates good family-sustaining jobs. He was the creator of the Pennsylvania Legislative Climate Caucus and served as its Chairman and Co-Chairman from 2016-2020. With more than seventy members the Caucus was influential in encouraging Governor Tom Wolf to join the U.S. Climate Alliance and begin the process of joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. In addition, McCarter has been a leading advocate for protecting endangered species, a sensible Severance Tax on Natural Gas and improvements to Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards.

McCarter served on the following House Committees: Appropriations, Education, Environmental Resources and Energy, Aging and Older Adults, Children and Youth, Commerce, and Game and Fisheries.

McCarter is a retired captain in the U.S. Army Reserves. He is the recipient of numerous teaching and community awards.

McCarter is an alumnus of Temple University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education. He earned a Master's of Science degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife Deborah have lived in Cheltenham Township for more than 30 years, currently residing in Glenside.

John C. Dernbach is Professor Emeritus at Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He writes widely on sustainable development, climate change law, and environmental law.

He is the principal author, editor, or co-editor of four books assessing and making recommendations on U.S. progress toward sustainability; the latest is Governing for Sustainability (Environmental Law Institute 2023; co-edited with Scott Schang). He is coauthor, with Matt Bogoshian and Irma Russell, of Sustainability Essentials: Lawyering to Make a Difference (American Bar Association 2022). He is also co-editor, with Michael Gerrard, of Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States (2019), a comprehensive analysis and description of more than 1,000 legal tools for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050.

Professor Dernbach co-authored a successful amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of 18 prominent climate scientists in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency. His scholarship and advocacy were cited extensively in landmark Pennsylvania Supreme Court decisions in 2013 and 2017 that reinvigorated the Environmental Rights Amendment to the state constitution.

Prior to joining the Widener faculty, he drafted four major waste and mining laws at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (now the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)). He also directed the Policy Office at DEP for several years during the Rendell Administration.

He represented the American Bar Association at the 2022 climate conference in Egypt. He has received lifetime achievement awards from the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and the Environmental and Energy Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Jennifer Shukaitis is a Stroud Township Supervisor in Monroe County and a Medical Coding Specialist II at Lehigh Valley Hospital.

Shukaitis is the oldest granddaughter of Nancy Shukaitis, a champion defender of the Delaware River. She was elected Stroud Township Supervisor in 2019 and serves as vice-chairwoman and vice-secretary. Her policy interests include sustainable jobs, affordable living, responsible zoning and investment in open space, and preservation of precious natural resources. She has also served as Secretary of the Brodhead Watershed Association.

Shukaitis has over 24 years of business management and marketing experience, and holds a bachelor's degree from East Stroudsburg University and a master's from Colorado State University.

Aside from her community engagement on various fundraising and activities committees, Shukaitis helps local leaders create and implement success strategies to be effective managers and achievers, and she spends her free time in the outdoors of the Pocono Mountains with her golden retriever Lily.

John Armstead is the retired Senior Executive Service Director for the Environmental Protection Agency Region 3 Office.

He began his environmental career in 1978 driven by a dedication to protecting our living resources. That dedication marked a career spanning 45 years.

Mr. Armstead began his environmental career in Maryland in 1978 before joining the EPA in 1980. John's steady performance gained him a wide range of experience in environmental matters in hazardous waste and toxic chemical management, water management, laboratory and information management services, brownfield redevelopment, and environmental justice.

As adjunct professor at Villanova, he is shaping future minds on current and emerging challenges in environmental management. He is also working with his alma mater to build minority participation and contribution in protecting health and the environment from pollution.

He holds a bachelors degree from Lincoln University and a MPA from Temple University.

John enjoys the outdoors, particularly SCUBA diving (a certified instructor and former EPA scientific working diver), fishing and boating, and playing "OK" golf. Mr. Armstead is an avid cyclist and promotes cycling for both exercise and the environment.

Eddie M. Guerra, PE, is Vice President of Civil Infrastructure Development at RIZZO International where he is responsible for the firm’s business development and international project pursuits.

Eddie is a licensed civil engineer with over a decade of experience in water and energy infrastructure projects across the world. Eddie’s career has spanned projects in more than a dozen countries, working with a range of clients including governments, NGOs, corporations, non-profits, community leaders, and tribal nations.

Among Eddie’s most notable projects are: consulting the government of Peru on climate resilient and flood control infrastructure; leveraging water rights in tribal nations for the design of solar pumped storage hydropower facilities, evaluating the seismic resilience of nuclear power plants after the Fukushima Daiichi earthquake, and assessing the feasibility of small modular reactors for island territories, among others.

Eddie has continuously supported the advancement of infrastructure improvement in his native Puerto Rico. Eddie has participated in public hearings for the Senate and House of Representative of Puerto Rico on matters of energy security and resilience of public infrastructure against natural events, cyber threats and climate change. Eddie has also co-founded non-profit organizations to advance the state of civil infrastructure in Puerto Rico. In 2015, Eddie co-founded The Nuclear Alternative Project to educate stakeholders about the advances in nuclear energy. In 2020, in the aftermath of Puerto Rico’s most devastating earthquake in a generation, Eddie co-founded the Voluntariado de Ingenieros y Profesisonales de Puerto Rico, with the mission to assist low-income families in emergency response and reconstruction efforts.

Eddie is a recognized leader in the U.S. nuclear industry. Eddie served in the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee (CINTAC) which advice the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on the global competitiveness of the U.S. nuclear industry. Eddie serves in committees for standards of the American Nuclear Society on matters of risk and safety against natural and man-made hazards. He is currently a member of the SMR Working group at the U.S. department of commerce and a contributing author to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Eddie holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Puerto Rico and a master’s degree in Structural Engineering from Lehigh University. He holds professional civil engineering licenses in Pennsylvania, Texas and Puerto Rico. Eddie is a lifelong member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society.

Luis Brunstein, Ph.D. is a professor of economics at Lehigh University, where his coursework and research are focused on the long-term sustainability of administered currency regimes in emerging economies, the impact of media on financial markets and policy sustainability, and how progressive social policies could contribute to reducing structural poverty.

In 2011, Dr. Brunstein worked for the Secretary of Energy of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, to negotiate with oil companies attempting to renew their exploration and exploitation concessions. He was also an economic advisor to the government of Paraguay. He has consulted with an NGO assisting undocumented immigrants and with an NGO interested in developing ecologically sustainable towns in Argentina.

He has more than 14 years of teaching experience. He has his students approach economics from various angles utilizing different materials, including Hollywood-style movies, documentaries, and news stories, to develop a deeper understanding of the world.

Dr. Brunstein published “Review of: Principles of Macroeconomics” in the Review of Radical Political Economics, and co-authored with Marta Gil Lacruz, Ph.D. “Health system, social inequalities and macroeconomic Policy,” in Proyecto Social: Revista de Relaciones Laborales, among other publications.

He has advanced degrees from California State University, Riverside and Washington State University.

Michael Werner, J.D. is a shareholder at the law firm of Strassburger McKenna Gutnik & Gefsky. For more than 20 years, Werner has represented individuals and small businesses throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania in areas of estate planning/administration, general business matters, and nearly all facets of real estate law.

Michael has developed a large property assessment appeal practice and every year successfully reduces hundreds of residential and commercial property owners’ tax burdens. He has served as an arbitrator on Allegheny County’s Special Landlord/Tenant Arbitration Panel since 2005, presiding over and adjudicating Landlord/Tenant hearings. Michael also has experience advising a venture capital fund on legal matters and business strategy.

He serves as the Pro Bono Landlord Tenant Mediator for Allegheny County’s Court of Common Pleas and appeared in a 2023 WESA 90.5 story on helping Allegheny County residents reduce their properties’ assessments.