Sworn in on January 9, 2019, Susan Bysiewicz is serving her first term as Connecticut’s 109th Lieutenant Governor. Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz’s and Gov. Ned Lamont’s first priority is to grow good-paying jobs and investing in the state’s future.

Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz is continuing her commitment to economic growth that made her a leading voice for Connecticut residents and small businesses while she served as Secretary of the State from 1999 to 2011. As Secretary of the State, she helped thousands of businesses grow, registered thousands of voters, cut bureaucratic red tape, honored veterans, and fought to keep elections fair.

As a state representative in the Connecticut General Assembly, representing the towns of Middletown, Middlefield, and Durham, Bysiewicz wrote legislation to ban dangerous “drive-through” mastectomies and ensure that women being treated for breast cancer had proper care. She also fought political patronage and wrote the law to ban lobbyists from giving gifts to legislators.

As a business lawyer and a job creator, she has helped over sixty companies access millions of dollars in capital, expand their businesses, and create thousands of jobs in Connecticut.

Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz was raised the proud granddaughter of immigrants who came to Connecticut from Poland and Greece with nothing but hopes for a better future. After many years of factory work, they saved enough to buy a farm in Middletown that became Bysiewicz’s childhood home. Growing up and working on the farm, she and her siblings learned the values of hard work, education, and persistence.

Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz graduated from Middletown High School, Yale University and Duke Law School. She is the author of Ella: A Biography of Ella Grasso, Connecticut’s 83rd governor. Bysiewicz and her husband David Donaldson reside in Middletown.

Laney Brown is currently the Vice President of Sustainability at AVANGRID. In this role, she leads the ESG+F strategy and coordination supporting AVANGRID’s aspiration to be the leading energy company in the US. She also leads the Corporate Citizenship strategy including her role as President of the Board of the Avangrid Foundation. She has experience in both regulated and unregulated energy including, most recently, leading the start-up of a new retail renewable energy business as well as leading efforts to develop Future Utility strategy. Laney served on the US Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisor Committee (EAC) for 5 years. Laney has a double MBA with a focus on the Global Energy Industry from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland and the Universidad Pontificas Comillas in Madrid, Spain.

Cynthia is SVP and Corporate Sustainability Officer, Americas for JLL, responsible for elevating JLL’s sustainability program across the region and embedding it broadly throughout the business. Included in her scope is delivering against JLL’s net-zero carbon target of reducing scope 3 emissions from the properties that it manages on behalf of clients. She serves as the company’s representative on the World Green Building Council’s Corporate Advisory Board. Cynthia also collaborates with the Investor Relations team to ensure its investors have a more complete understanding of JLL’s competencies, goals and impacts through outreach and disclosure. Cynthia serves on the Board of Directors for Greenback Renewable Energy Company, LLC, which is dedicated to investing in projects and managing capital for its public shareholders as well as institutional investors in the sustainable infrastructure sector. Previously, Curtis has worked in the public, private and non-profit sectors, including Ceres and CA Technologies, where she served as vice president and chief sustainability officer. She lives in the Boston area, is a member of the New England Women in Energy and the Environment, chairs the Wellesley Village Church Energy Committee, and built one of the region’s first gold LEED-certified residences.

Kerry E. O’Neill is the Chief Executive Officer of Inclusive Prosperity Capital, Inc., a not-for-profit investment fund that was spun out of the Connecticut Green Bank in 2018 to scale up impact for underserved communities and underinvested markets across the country. Inclusive Prosperity Capital operates at the intersection of community development, clean energy finance, and climate impact using a collection of products and strategies and an ecosystem approach to matching capital with projects through local partners. Ms. O’Neill serves as the current Chair of EPA’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board. Prior to joining IPC, Ms. O’Neill led the residential energy financing programs and low-income initiatives at the Connecticut Green Bank, a state entity that works with private-sector investors to create low-cost, long-term sustainable financing for clean energy to maximize the use of public funds. Her work at IPC and the Connecticut Green Bank has given her keen insight into the institutional challenges – and opportunities – associated with clean energy investing for underserved communities. Prior to joining the Green Bank, Ms. O’Neill held executive management roles in strategy, operations, and marketing in diverse sectors including financial services, energy efficiency, e-commerce, and direct marketing. She earned a B.S. in computer science and engineering from MIT and an M.S. from NYU Tisch School of the Art’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.

Christine Shaw, as Principal Investment Officer for Corporate Governance & Sustainable Investment, directs the corporate governance and proxy voting activities on behalf of the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, and oversees the evaluation and integration of ESG considerations for the $46 billion pension plan. Prior to joining the Connecticut Treasury, Christine was a litigation associate with the law firm of Day Pitney LLP, specializing in products liability defense and commercial litigation.  She is a member of the board of directors of the Thirty Percent Coalition and Connecticut Health Foundation’s Advisory Board, and has served as a member of the boards of the United Way of Connecticut, McLean Fund and Hartford Public Library. She holds three degrees from the University of Connecticut: a Bachelor of Arts in Economics & Political Science; a Master of Business Administration; and a Juris Doctor. She is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma International Honor Society and admitted to practice law in Connecticut and the District of Columbia.

Leila Dillon is Senior Vice President – Corporate Marketing and Communications at Ameresco, a leading cleantech integrator focusing on energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions. Ms. Dillon has more than 20 years of experience in leading corporate marketing and communications, investor relations, partner strategy, lead generation and business development initiatives for industry leading global technology companies. In her role, Ms. Dillon is responsible for strategic initiatives that amplify Ameresco’s market leadership position, driving external communications programs including media and public relations and shaping internal corporate communications and training programs. She guides the development of corporate lead and demand generation programs to drive business opportunities across the organization. Ms. Dillon is a key strategist on the executive team and is actively involved in the company’s investor relations.

Recognizing the prominence of ESG initiatives within Ameresco’s core mission, vision, and values, Ms. Dillon worked to launch Ameresco’s ESG Ambassadors in 2020. This group spearheaded the company’s first ESG report, “Doing Well by Doing Good” and continues to serve as the driving force behind Ameresco’s ESG initiatives. Serving as an ESG Ambassador herself, Ms. Dillon is responsible for identifying, communicating, and reporting on the many ways ESG is embedded in Ameresco’s culture. Additionally, Ms. Dillon participates in strategic industry initiatives and technology conferences. She has chaired global buildings & infrastructure programs, and led international plenary sessions on women leadership in IoT, Smart City, SaaS, PaaS, EaaS, and multi-purposed smart infrastructure platforms.

Prior to joining Ameresco, Ms. Dillon served as Vice President Marketing and North American Distribution for Bigbelly, Inc., a leading provider of Smart City, Internet of Things (IoT), and smart waste management solutions. With a core focus in Clean Technology, Energy Solutions, Renewables, Distributed Energy Generation, IoT, Smart City, Cloud, Mobile and Telecommunications, Ms. Dillon is a recognized leader for women in technology.