Dr. Emily Reichert serves as Chief Executive Officer of Greentown Labs, the largest clean technology startup incubator in North America. As the company’s first employee, Emily has spearheaded the rapid growth of Greentown Labs into a global center for clean technology innovation, attracting visitors and partners from around the world.

Elected in December 2015 and overwhelmingly re-elected in December 2019, Sylvester Turner is serving his second four-year term. He is Houston’s 62nd mayor. As the chief executive of the world’s energy capital, Mayor Turner brings a performance-driven approach to the job, creating a more responsive, streamlined, and efficient delivery of city services while shoring up Houston’s financial future. Thanks to his leadership, the Texas Legislature, and local voters approved the pension reform package that reduced the city’s liability by billions of dollars and provided a “fix” that had eluded the city for 17 years.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is an influential and forceful voice in Washington. She is serving her fourteenth term as a member of the United States House of Representatives. She represents the 18th Congressional District of Texas, centered in Houston, which is the energy capital of the world. Considered by many as the “Voice of Reason”, she is dedicated to upholding the Constitutional rights of all people.

As the Senior Vice President, Energy Transition and Executive Director of HETI, Jane is responsible for leading the Partnership’s initiative to leverage Houston’s energy leadership to accelerate global solutions for a low-carbon future. She leads a coalition of industry, academia and community partners to ensure the long-term economic competitiveness and advancement of the Houston region towards a more sustainable and net-zero emissions future. 

Ram currently serves as Energy Center Officer at UH Energy, a multi-disciplinary energy research program at the University of Houston. He serves as project manager for low-carbon energy projects such as hydrogen, wind, geothermal and methane abatement. Ram is also the Executive Vice President for Business Development & Technology at Cozairo, a company that offers scalable carbon emissions reduction solutions to industry.

From environmental engineer to senior business leader, Aura Cuellar is determined to lead the energy industry through a transformation toward more sustainable business practices and lower-carbon energy solutions. She is currently the Vice President of Energy Transition for Shell in the United States, responsible for the implementation of Shell US’s energy transition strategy. With experience living and working in Europe, Africa, Asia and North and South America, Aura brings diverse perspectives and appreciation for global and regional approaches to combat climate change.

Dr. Khatiwada is the founding CTO of Syzygy Plasmonics. He brings a wealth of experience in early-stage entrepreneurship, R&D, nanotechnology, intellectual property, and university relations. After moving from Nepal and receiving a B.S. in Physics from Morgan State University, he went on to receive his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Rice University in 2014. While at Rice, he co-founded Big Delta Systems to commercialize spray paintable battery technology, where he gained crucial knowledge on forming and launching a technology company. Dr. Khatiwada has 8 US patents granted. He was selected as 1 of 85 career brightest engineers by the National Academies of Engineering’s US Frontiers of Engineering program for the 2020 cohort.