Sunday, 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Energy Career Expo & Fair 2025

​Whether you’re an emerging professional, a student preparing to enter the workforce, or someone looking to pivot within the energy industry — this event is built for you. The Young Professionals in Energy event offers a half-day of insight, opportunity, and connection designed to energize your career path in today’s evolving energy landscape.

​🔍 Event Highlights:

• ​Interactive Panels & Workshops (2 sessions): Learn directly from industry leaders and early-career professionals about how to navigate, grow, and make an impact in the energy sector.

• ​Career Fair (1.5 hours): Network face-to-face with hiring managers, innovators, and representatives from energy companies — and explore the many directions your career could take.

• ​Food & Beverages Provided: Enjoy complimentary refreshments while engaging in meaningful conversations and networking.

​⚡ Why Attend:

• ​You’re curious about career paths in renewable energy, traditional energy, or emerging technologies.

• ​You’re looking to pivot or grow within the industry and want to hear firsthand from professionals who’ve done it.

• ​You’re ready to connect with companies who are shaping the future of energy — and might be looking for talent like you.

​Join us for an inspiring afternoon of learning, networking, and opportunity at the Young Professionals in Energy event — where the next generation of energy leaders begins.

Speaker Profiles:
Strategic Communications Workshop
Rachel Sarah: Rachel Sarah is known for turning “grid modernization paradigms" into front-page news (CNN, NPR, New York Times... the usual suspects).

​When she's not coaching experts through high-stakes interviews or orchestrating sold-out media dinners about abandoned oil wells, she’s writing. An award-winning journalist and author of three books on the climate crisis (most recently, Farming is Female) Rachel has spent a decade proving that energy policy can be compelling – and that the right pitch changes everything. Bay Area born and raised. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelsarah/

Engineering & Product Design Panel:

​Frances Bell: Frances Bell is the Founder and CEO of Bidirectional Energy, a San Francisco–based company turning electric vehicles into grid-connected assets. A veteran of Tesla, Fluence, Kevala, and PG&E, Frances has spent her career at the intersection of clean energy, data, and grid innovation. She founded Bidirectional Energy to unlock the full potential of EV batteries — empowering drivers to back up their homes, save on their utility bills, and earn money by supporting the grid.
Kartik Lamba: Kartik is the CTO of Merino Energy, a home electrification startup building a novel heat pump. With a background in Electrical Engineering, he has previously worked on a wide range of products across industries including point-of-sale hardware, consumer drones, cameras, medical devices, home networking gear, and heat pump controllers. Kartik is driven by the belief that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time - but also one we have the tools to solve. A few years ago, inspired by the growing movement to electrify everything, he joined a heat pump company and hasn’t looked back since.

Business Development Panel:
Candice Yu: Candice Yu is the Director of Business Development at Kairos Power, responsible for forging strategic partnerships with commercial and industrial customers. With over 15 years of experience, she has a proven track record of launching advanced energy solutions and driving growth. Before joining Kairos Power, Candice spearheaded commercial initiatives at Shell Energy, expanding their decarbonization offerings to include onsite solutions like energy storage and renewable microgrids. Previously, she developed and executed go-to-market strategies centered on energy storage for AI-powered software provider Stem, automaker Daimler, and renewable developer SunEdison. Candice serves as a Board Advisor to ReJoule, a startup specializing in battery health diagnostics and second-life applications for used EV batteries. She began her energy career in power procurement for the major utilities, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Candice holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and a Master of International Affairs from the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego.
Zach Struyk: Zach joined San José Clean Energy in 2018 and currently serves as its Assistant Director. He gained more than 15 years of experience with the solar energy company SunPower Corporation, where he held a variety of roles in sales and business development for both distributed generation and utility scale projects. Zach’s tenure at SunPower included almost a decade in Asia, where he launched and oversaw major growth initiatives in Korea and Japan. Zach received a BS in Chemistry from Stanford University, an MS in Environmental Science from the University of California at Berkeley, and an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

​Michael Lingenfelter: Michael is Managing Director & COO of CleanFund, a leading provider of Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE), an alternative credit green bond product used to finance real estate, infrastructure, and energy projects.  He brings to CleanFund 20 years of clean tech, banking, capital markets, advisory, strategy consulting, business development, and financial operations experience.  Prior companies include Wells Fargo, Wrightspeed, Synop, Whisper Lane Capital, Maia Strategy Group, and Kaiser Associates.  Michael holds FINRA SIE, 63 and 82 securities broker dealer licenses. He received his BA Cum Laude from Tufts University where he was a member of the DIII “Jumbos” Soccer Team and the 2006 Gibson Scholar.  He received his MBA from University of California at Davis where he received numerous scholarships and was a Graduate Student Researcher at the Energy & Efficiency Institute of California.  Michael is originally from and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two young boys. In his spare time he enjoys being active outdoors and he volunteers as Co-President and Board Member of Young Professionals in Energy (YPE) SF Bay Area, a 4,000 plus-strong member non-profit dedicated to furthering the Energy Industry and developing the next generation of its leaders.

​Engineering & Policy Panel:
Collin Smith (Moderator): Collin Smith is a Regulatory Affairs Manager at Leap, where he leads the company’s engagement in California and Texas regulatory and legislative proceedings. In this role, he's engaged with regulatory agencies to advance reforms that would expand the ability for DERs to provide grid services in California, including initiatives that would allow DERs to be compensated for grid exports in CAISO's wholesale market. He joined Leap in April 2023 from Strategen Consulting, where he worked on hydrogen project development and represented non-profit clients in utility regulatory filings. Prior to Strategen, Collin spent three years on the Regulatory Strategy team at National Grid, where he worked on projects ranging from grid modernization, solar + storage integration, and heat decarbonization. He began his career at the Natural Resources Defense Council's Beijing office, where he supported the development of a pilot project using electric vehicles for demand response in Shanghai. He has a BA in Political Science from Swarthmore and an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies with a concentration in Energy, Resources, and the Environment.
Andrew Klutey: Andrew Klutey is an Advisor to Commissioner John Reynolds at the California Public Utilities Commission, where he works on major regulatory proceedings including utility rate cases, wildfire mitigation policy, and large-scale infrastructure investments. Prior to this role, Andrew worked as a Public Utilities Regulatory Analyst focusing on climate policy and renewable energy procurement. Before joining the CPUC, he spent four years working for nonprofits, advocacy organizations, and political campaigns across the country. Andrew holds a degree in Public Policy from Princeton University.
Guillermo Ortiz: Guillermo Ortiz works to advance clean transportation policies that safeguard public health with a focus on restorative justice for the communities facing the brunt of tailpipe pollution. Prior to joining NRDC, Guillermo led efforts at the University of California to integrate climate justice principles into systemwide policy and strategic planning decisions. He developed his expertise in policy development and analysis at the Center for American Progress and as a congressional staffer in the U.S. Senate. Guillermo holds a bachelor's degree in global environmental change & sustainability from Johns Hopkins University and is an alumnus of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s public policy fellowship program. He is based in NRDC’s San Francisco office.
Gypsy Achong: Gypsy Achong has led the Building Standards team at the California Energy commission since January 2024. The team develops the triennial update of California’s Energy Code, as well as the compliance software, and includes a team of educators focused on building officials. She graduated from the California Institute of Technology with a BS and also holds an MS and a PhD from Stanford University, where she was also a lecturer. Before joining the Energy Commission, she was Strategic Lead for HVAC and Industrial Goods for the California Investor-Owned Utilities federal appliance standards advocacy team, and also led their IECC 2024 advocacy efforts. She started her career as a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group, and spent several years as an independent strategy and business development consultant in clean tech and the industrial chemical spaces.
Rachel McMahon: Rachel McMahon is an energy policy leader with 20+ years of experience representing and advising large independent power producers, distributed energy providers, trade associations and philanthropic organizations.  She currently serves as Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs for EDF power solutions, a global energy infrastructure provider, focused on the Western United States.  Prior to her current role, she led all regulatory and legislative activity for the California Energy Storage Alliance, a 100+ member organization of leading energy storage firms. Rachel has held lead advocacy roles at Sunrun, First Solar and the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies.  She also spent more than 5 years at the California Public Utilities Commission, where she oversaw the state’s groundbreaking energy storage procurement program and led innovative programs in DR and storage.

Companies Attending Career Fair:
- Merino Energy

​- Tesla

​- Mainspring

​- GIGA Energy

​- CalCCA

​- San Jose Clean Energy

​- California Public Utility Commission

​- Fervo Energy