The Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition’s Board of Directors were elected in January 2023 via Coalition vote at our Annual Meeting. Learn more about these leaders below.
Gregory Norris President
Illinois
Gregory currently serves as a Leadership Team Member with the Downstate Caucus of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC) where he serves on the Steering Committee. In the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, he participated in various working groups and was very instrumental in advocating for the signing of CEJA, the Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs Act.
Gregory has served as a co-chair of the United Way Chapter of Alton, and on the Mayor’s Alton Caring Corps Committee to bridge ethnic gaps. In 2012, he joined the NAACP and has served as the NAACP Illinois State Conference Veteran Affairs State Chair. He now serves as the Illinois Carbondale NAACP Branch’s Environmental Climate Justice Chair.
Gregory founded the Area Consortium of Educational Services for our Youth (DBA: ACES 4 Youth), whose mission is to design and implement solutions that work to eradicate systemic racism, and white supremacy to address the root causes of inequality identified under the environmental and social determinants of health.
Sheila Curry- Campbell Vice President
Indiana
Sheila is a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and is very active in her community. She serves as the 1st District County Councilwoman, Vice Chair of the Allen County Democratic Party, and formerly was the President of the local NAACP Chapter and is currently serving as the Treasurer.
Sheila is currently employed with the Fort Wayne Urban League as a Facilitator of the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition. She has been a member of the Pilgrim Baptist Church for 50 years, where she has been deeply involved in Our Healing Kitchen, PBC Victory Garden, PBC Summer Feeding Program, Leadership Team, Scholarship Committee, Library Committee, VBS Committee, and Youth Advisor Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE Fort Wayne) and the PBC Green Team. Outside of PBC, Sheila has served on many boards and planning committees over the years, most recently with the American Legion Auxiliary Girls State, Visit Fort Wayne, City of Fort Wayne Domestic Violence, and American Red Cross of NEI.
Dr. J.B. Pressey Sergeant of Harmony
Indiana
Apostle Dr. Junius Batten Pressey, Jr., (D.Min, D.Div, D.HL.) is an ordained minister and holds a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Lake Charles Bible College, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Business, from Indiana University.
He is the Founder of Bread From Heaven Ministries International, an internet ministry connecting leaders around the world in fellowship, encouragement, and sharing the message of Jesus Christ. Dr. Pressey is a veteran of the United States Air Force (Korea & Vietnam), former President of the Fort Wayne NAACP Chapter, and former board member of Fort Wayne Urban League. Currently, Dr. Pressey is a board member of Changemakers Community, Inc. of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
2 Timothy 2:2 (NCV) “You should teach people whom you can trust the things you and many others have heard me say. Then they will be able to teach others.”
Margaret Cherne-Hendrick Treasurer
Minnesota
As Fresh Energy’s Senior Lead of Innovation and Impact, Margaret steers Fresh Energy’s work to invest its capacity and use highest-leverage strategies to decarbonize our economy through the transition of end-uses currently served by fossil fuels to efficient, equitable, carbon-free electricity. Margaret joined Fresh Energy’s staff in 2018. She previously worked as a senior policy associate at the Institute for Sustainable Energy at Boston University. Margaret’s multidisciplinary background in climate science and energy policy – including work with the Environmental Protection Agency, Conservation Law Foundation, Barr Foundation, and Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) – informs her approach to developing efficient, cost-effective, and inclusive decarbonization strategies. Margaret holds a Ph.D. in Geography from Boston University, a MS in Organismal Biology and Ecology from the University of Montana, and a BA in Biology from Reed College. Her doctoral research explored the environmental and political impacts of continued investment in and consumption of natural gas fuels. Margaret is a member of the Minneapolis Energy Vision Advisory Committee. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her wife, daughter, and dog as well as gardening, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.
Robin Lisowski Secretary
Wisconsin
Robin Lisowski serves as the Director of Service Solutions at Slipstream, where she leads planning efforts related to emerging services, including beneficial electrification. Robin has worked with energy utilities for 15 years and in the energy efficiency industry since 2008. She has a passion for interdisciplinary approaches to energy management and sustainability and the nonprofit’s leadership role in this space. Robin has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Spanish from Augsburg College and a Master of Arts Degree in Public Policy and Administration from the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Molly Janis
Minnesota
As a program development manager with the MN-based non-profit Center for Energy and Environment (CEE), Molly develops and manages community-based building energy efficiency projects across the Midwest including Minnesota, Michigan, and Indiana. Her current focus is on creating productive utility-community partnerships to achieve shared goals of building decarbonization and climate change. She co-founded and served on CEE’s first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council from 2021-2023, and wrote the company’s first DEI policy in 2019.
Molly is a sustainability scientist with 20 years of experience in climate change, energy, waste, and food systems. Since joining CEE in February 2018, Molly has been program manager for two different building energy benchmarking initiatives in the Midwest, including the Kalamazoo Energy Collaborative in southwest Michigan, and Energize Saint Paul in Minnesota. Both are partnerships between cities, local building owners, utilities, and nonprofits, to increase the energy efficiency of existing buildings. In partnership with the City of Rochester, MN, and a group of 40 community stakeholders, she worked for the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic to create a community-based sustainability action plan. The combined team won a Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership Award for equitable planning and engagement.
A systems thinker with a diverse background, Molly previously worked with governments, organic food companies, and Fortune 500 clients, specializing in greenhouse gas accounting, climate change strategy, waste management, packaging, supply chain sustainability, renewable energy, and carbon markets.
Molly has an M.S. in climate and energy sustainability from Antioch University and a B.A. in political science from Carleton College. She is a LEED Green Associate and is fluent in Spanish.
LesLee Jackson
Minnesota
LesLee Jackson is a Master’s student at Metro State University in Minnesota, studying Political and Advocacy Leadership. She sits on two environmental committees: Co-chair the Minneapolis Northside Green Zone Task Force and CEAC Commissioner (Minneapolis Community Environmental Advisory Commission). These groups are active in lobbying against environmental injustices and policy changes.
As a Black and Indigenous woman, her experience with injustice is exhaustive and exhausting. LesLee is passionate about representing her communities in a field that remains relatively inaccessible to people of color. As a native Minnesotan, this city, state, and people are very close to her heart.
Briana Parker, Esq.
Illinois
Briana Parker is the Associate Director, Policy, Diversity, and Inclusion at Elevate, a nonprofit organization designing and implementing programs that reduce costs, protect the environment, and ensure the benefits of clean and efficient energy use reach those who need them most.
Briana holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Toledo College of Law, a Master’s in community social work from Wayne State University, and a Bachelor’s in social work from Marygrove College. Before joining Elevate Energy, she studied law, worked as a social worker, and worked as an organizer/advocate at Michigan Welfare Rights Organization (MWRO), a union for public recipients and low-income workers in the state of Michigan with the goal to fight to eliminate poverty.
David Weaver
Illinois
David Weaver is the Carbon-Free Buildings Coordinator at the Illinois Citizens Utility Board, where he engages and educates the public on utility policy, renewable energy, and building decarbonization. He has a Master’s Degree from Prescott College in Sustainable and Resilient communities.
A Veteran of the United States Marine Corps, leadership and service have been important throughout David’s personal and professional life, as is advocating for Environmental Justice.
Paula E.W. Carey-Moore
Missouri
Paula E.W. Carey-Moore currently serves as the Regional Vice President of Housing at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.
Paula has been involved with groups across the St. Louis Metro area, including serving as the chair of the St. Louis Metro Housing Task Force, Membership Chair and Executive Board Member of the St. Louis County Continuum of Care, Board Member of the St. Louis Regional Financial Empowerment Coalition, and Steering Committee Member of the St. Louis Equal Housing and Community Reinvestment Alliance.
De’Angelus Garcia Bey
Michigan
De’Angelus is a Digital Communications Strategist with nonprofit marketing agency Shareable.
De’Angelus is a multimedia storyteller who uses photography, graphic design, and urban luxury to connect brands and audiences to the cultural value of the product or service they’re experiencing. His professional experience has now grown to include managing brand direction for nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and various fine and performing artists.