NEWIEE Events Calendar
NEWIEE’s 2026 “Women Shaping the Agenda”

Building Resilience in an Age of Affordability Pressures
Energy affordability is more than just an issue of managing costs—it is a climate and economic resilience challenge. The challenge requires policy solutions and better communication, but it also requires new technology, new business models, and new voices at the table.
NEWIEE’s 2026 Women Shaping the Agenda discussion brings together women driving solutions to these challenges—not just in policy and regulation, but in technology companies, energy platforms, utility innovation, advocacy, and investment. These leaders are funding and deploying the market innovations now putting choices into the hands of consumers and businesses. From virtual power plants and demand flexibility platforms to grid modernization and other energy and community engagement solutions, the tools to build a more affordable, climate resilient New England already exist.
Questions? Reach out to events@newiee.org
Priority Tickets for Job Seekers. If you’re between jobs or navigating a career transition, NEWIEE is here for you. In line with our “Holding the Line” commitment, we’re prioritizing donated tickets for attendees who are #opentowork. This event is a great opportunity to reconnect, grow your network, and explore new opportunities. Email newiee@newiee.org if you are interested.

Senator Meghan Kallman
Rhode Island State Senate
Meghan E. Kallman is a Democrat representing District 15 (Pawtucket, Providence) in the Rhode Island Senate.
She served two terms on the Pawtucket City Council prior to being elected to the Senate in November 2020. During her time in the General Assembly, Sen. Kallman has advanced legislation related to housing, climate action, transportation and other issues.
In 2023, she sponsored two major new laws to address the state’s housing crisis. One will facilitate the conversion of empty buildings like mills and schools into housing. Another provides funding to support transit-oriented development, the creation of mixed-use, mixed-income housing around transit hubs. Given the number of old mill buildings in Pawtucket and Providence and the communities proximity to transit stations, both cities are well positioned to take advantage of these laws to provide more housing.
Sen. Kallman also sponsored laws in 2023 to make birth control more available by allowing trained pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraceptives and support workers by toughening penalties on wage theft and helped secure funding to keep the R-Line (RIPTA’s busiest bus route) free for all riders. She cosponsored the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act and a bill to expand solar development while protecting forests and rate payers. She was also honored as a 2023 Environmental Champion by Clean Water Action for her work protecting the environment.
She was the Senate sponsor of the Fair Housing Practices Act, which bars housing discrimination against renters based on their source of income, as well as a provision in the state budget creating Rhode Island’s first-ever permanent revenue stream to support affordable housing. She also sponsored legislation barring housing discrimination based on gender identity or expression.
She sponsored an amendment to the Rhode Island Whistle Blowers Protection Act to prohibit employers from reporting or threatening to report an employee’s immigration status for whistle-blowing. She introduced a successful resolution creating a study of how to reduce the number of women incarcerated in Rhode Island and proposed a bill that would make transportation on RIPTA buses free for all Rhode Islanders.
Sen. Kallman received the 2021 Pacesetter Award from the Women Legislators’ Lobby, or WILL, a program of Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND). She was among seven Pacesetters, women state legislators nationwide who are leading the way in redirecting much-needed federal funds back to their constituents.
Sen. Kallman was born on Nov. 18, 1983. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Smith College and went on to earn a Master’s Degree from the University of Chicago and a Doctorate from Brown University. She is a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
She previously served on the State Housing Appeals Board, the Pawtucket Juvenile Hearing Board and as a fellow with the Women’s Police Institute. She is a community organizer and founder of Crash Pawtucket, a local business showcase. She is also a founding member of the Climate Jobs RI coalition.
Moderator:

Rouwenna Altemose
Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder
All In Energy
Rouwenna is the Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder of the nonprofit All In Energy, whose mission is to an inclusive clean energy economy. There she oversees the organization’s work to engage and support underserved residents to access programs that immediately reduce energy costs and lower long-term energy usage through efficiency and decarbonization. The organization does this through quadrilingual outreach, customer and project facilitation support, and by training and supporting leaders in 50+ communities to run their own engagement campaigns. She also oversees efforts to ensure diversity, equity, inclusion and justice remain central to the organization’s programs, culture and practices.
Prior to All In Energy, Rouwenna held numerous positions at the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE), ultimately becoming National Program Director. There, she directed nationwide youth education, leadership and advocacy programs, co-lead the organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and built teams in New England, New York City, North Carolina, and Ohio. She was a founding member of ACE’s New England region, where she personally presented to over 67,000 students and trained nearly 500 high school student leaders. Before that, Rouwenna worked at the Union of Concerned Scientists where she supported a network of scientists and educated the public about climate change impacts and solutions.
Rouwenna holds an M.B.A. in Public and Nonprofit Management at Boston University and a B.A. in Astronomy and Physics from Smith College. She is an Environmental Leadership Program Senior Fellow and earned a certificate in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from the Institute for Nonprofit Management and Leadership at Boston University.
Panelists:

Heather Sandborn
Public Advocate
Maine Office of the Public Advocate
Heather Sanborn has served as Maine Public Advocate since she was appointed by Governor Mills in January 2025. Sanborn is a member of the Executive Committee of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates and the Advisory Committee for the Critical Consumer Issues Forum. From 2016 to 2022, Sanborn represented parts of Falmouth, Portland, and Westbrook as a member of the Maine House of Representatives and the Maine State Senate. During her service, Sanborn successfully championed legislation to reduce energy costs for Maine people and small businesses and to help the state reach its energy efficiency goals. Sanborn spent the last 14 years as Director of Business Operations at Rising Tide Brewing, a craft brewery she co-founded with her husband Nathan. Earlier in her career, Sanborn practiced law at Brann & Isaacson in Lewiston and Ropes & Gray in Boston, served as a Law Clerk to U.S. First Circuit Court Appeals Judge Kermit V. Lipez, and taught at Cape Elizabeth High School. Sanborn holds a law degree from the University of Maine School of Law and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern Maine. She graduated summa cum laude from Middlebury College, where she was salutatorian. Heather may be reached via Heather.Sanborn@maine.gov.

Tina M. Bennett
Chief Executive Officer
PowerOptions
Tina is the Chief Executive Officer at PowerOptions. Her long-standing connection to PowerOptions and distinguished career in the energy sector uniquely positioned her to lead the organization into its next chapter. As President and CEO of CMC Energy Services, she led the growth strategy that transitioned the company from regional to national, and while president and COO of Conservation Services Group (acquired by CLEAResult), she oversaw a period of tremendous advancement, building their team’s capability to support innovation, growth, and improved service delivery. Tina’s collaborative leadership style and her ability to build strong relationships with clients, partners, and stakeholders have been key to her success, and she has consistently championed initiatives that align with PowerOptions’ mission, ensuring affordability, resilience, and sustainability for a wide range of stakeholders.

Chiderah Okoye
Chief Executive Officer
Transform Power Systems
Chiderah currently serves as CEO of Transform Power Systems (TPS), a Boston-based electrical engineering and workforce solutions firm supporting electrification, resilient infrastructure, distributed energy systems, and grid modernization initiatives across the public and private sectors. TPS works with developers, municipalities, utilities, educational institutions, and community organizations to support technically sound and community-centered project delivery. A major focus of her work has been building models that better connect infrastructure investment with workforce opportunity. Through TPS and the TPS Workforce Hub, they support both technical project delivery and talent development strategies designed to help organizations strengthen implementation capacity while expanding access to careers in the clean energy economy.

Amy Duffuor
Co-founder & General Partner
Azolla Ventures
Amy Duffuor is a co-founder and General Partner at Azolla Ventures, where she invests in early-stage technology companies with transformative climate impact. Amy is also a Managing Director at Prime Impact Fund, Azolla’s predecessor vehicle. Her professional background spans business, finance, and impact across three continents.
Earlier in her career, Amy was a renewables and power investment banker at Bank of America. There, she worked with CEOs of public and private companies to raise investment capital including the IPO of Sunnova (NYSE:NOVA), a residential solar company initially valued at approximately $1 billion. Before her experience on Wall Street, Amy ran early-stage social venture accelerators around Southeast Asia for a Singapore-headquartered impact investing firm called Impact Investment Exchange. Prior to working in Asia, Amy was a management consultant at State of Flux, a London-based consulting firm that specializes in supply chain and procurement.
She has served as a board member for portfolio companies Clean Crop Technologies, Noon Energy, Ovipost, Heaten (acquired), Carbon Reform, VELOZBIO, Oxylus Energy, NetZeroNitrogen and Erg Bio. In addition, Amy serves on the board of the Alliance for Climate Transition (ACT); the Leadership Council of Activate, a nonprofit that empowers scientists to bring their research to market to address climate change; the Advisory Council of ReFED, a national nonprofit focused on food waste; and the Advisory Board of GreenTech Noir, a global community for Black people working in sustainability and climate tech. Amy received the Department of Energy’s 2024 C3E Award in Finance & Investment and was recognized as one of Fortune’s 2023 Top 13 Seed Stage Climate Tech VCs to Watch. She holds a B.A. in Urban Studies from Columbia University, an M.Phil in Migration Studies with Distinction from the University of Oxford, and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Celina Cunningham
Deputy Director
Maine Governor’s Energy Office
Celina Cunningham serves as Deputy Director of the Governor’s Energy Office. As Deputy Director, Celina advises the Governor and state leaders on energy policies and programs and leads the policy and markets team. She brings extensive experience to the role with a background in energy, climate, and natural resource management in the public and private sectors. Prior to joining GEO, Celina served as Vice President and Chief of Staff for the Solar Energy Industries Association in Washington, D.C. Before that, she served as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of the Interior and as a Legislative Director for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, in Washington, D.C. Celina holds a Bachelor of Arts from the Colorado College and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maine.
We’d love to hear from you! Submit questions ahead of time, and they may be featured during the event.
Comment your questions on LinkedInVenue
Getting to the Venue: The event will take place in the Hogan Campus Center at the College of the Holy Cross, located at 1 College Street in Worcester, MA. You can put Hogan Campus Center directly into your GPS. Campus map showing Hogan (yellow arrow) and Parking (red arrows) can be found below.

Event Sponsors
Gain visibility for your company while helping NEWIEE provide educational opportunities and highlight the contributions of underrepresented voices in the energy and environmental sectors. Visit our Sponsorship brochure to learn about the WSTA sponsorship opportunities.
If you would like to move forward with sponsorship or have any questions, please contact us at newiee@newiee.org.
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About Women Shaping the Agenda
NEWIEE’s Women Shaping the Agenda Series is an annual, summer panel discussion among leaders in the industry, featuring engaging dialog and debate on industry and policy topics in New England. NEWIEE’s programming brings together the energy and environmental sectors to address issues in our region and elevate underrepresented voices, including women, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities.
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© 2026 New England Women in Energy and the Environment (NEWIEE). NEWIEE is a non-profit, tax exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
