CONSULTANT TEAM
EcoMotion has a prestigious consulting team. These leaders are on call for EcoMotion projects and guide our development.
Our Consultants
Sierra Flanigan
Founder and Managing Partner, Coalesce
Sierra Flanigan is the founder of Coalesce, and the former Campus Services Director at EcoMotion. Her work with organizing campuses, galvanizing both executive management and students, has led her to years of success on many New England Campuses, and a graduate program on leadership and sustainability in Sweden.
Skye Flanigan
Assistant Director of Programs, Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Skye Flanigan brings extensive environmental and public health research and science communication knowledge to the team. Skye has been involved with EcoMotion on and off since 2007, and is the Program Manager at The Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE). In both roles, she supports critical thinking, strategic problem solving, program development, and communications.
Salem Afeworki
Principal, Value Sustainability
Salem Afeworki, LEED GA, ENV SP, EcoDistricts AP is a passionate global climate action worker, and a local facilitator of sustainability planning processes. She is a multi-lingual sustainability practitioner with outstanding technical and communication skills. Based in Southern California, Salem has worked on multiple consulting projects for cities from Long Beach to Irvine, and sits on the Sustainability Council in Los Angeles.
Bob Barton
CEO, Catalyst Financial Group
Bob Barton is an expert in renewable energy and energy efficiency finance. Based in Vermont, and at the helm of Catalyst Financial Group, Bob has financed over $2 billion in green energy projects, while being an active participant in the Social Venture Network.
David Houghton
Engineering and Energy Efficiency Specialist, P.E.
David Houghton worked for many years at Rocky Mountain Institute, and then for ESource, before forming Resource Engineering Groups in Crested Butte, Colorado. Dave is now based in San Luis Obispo, teaches at Cal Poly part-time, consults on progressive energy projects, and as an avid and experienced pilot, flies privately and professionally.
Jonathan Parfrey
Executive Director, Climate Resolve
Jonathan Parfrey is the founder and Executive Director of Climate Resolve in Los Angeles, an organizing committed to local solutions and adaptation to climate change. Jonathan, a former director at Physicians for Social Responsibility, and a former Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Commissioner, is a passionate networker, communicator, and policy-maker.
Peter Rumsey
Founder and CEO of Point Energy Innovations, P.E., LEED AP BD+C, CEM, FASHRAE
Peter Rumsey is a Professional Engineer with strong experience working for major energy users like data centers. He’s been affiliated with Rocky Mountain Institute, and now heads up Point Source Innovations, a consulting firm specializing in highly judicious energy use. Ted worked with Peter in Asia, when Peter was based in Bangkok, Thailand, working for the International Institute for Energy Conservation.
Ralph Torrie
President, Torrie Smith Associates, Inc.
Ralph Torrie is based in Ontario, and is one of the world‘s leading experts on greenhouse gas inventories, their protocols, methodologies, strengths and weaknesses. Ralph and Ted worked for ICLEI in the early1990’s on pioneering GHG inventory and climate action planning efforts in Europe and North America.
Michael Totten
Climate/Biodiversity Expert
Michael Totten is a biodiversity expert with a strong background and education on the links between flora and fauna, and our well-being as an ecosystem. Michael worked for many years on Capitol Hill as an aide to US Representative Claudine Schneider of Rhode Island, and then went on the form the Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology, a pioneering web-based information network.
Russell Flanigan
Solar Specialist
Russ Flanigan has been in the building trades since the 80s and deeply involved in the energy efficiency world since 2005 initially managing efficiency programs in Southern California for The Energy Coalition and then working for EcoMotion in its California office. These programs varied from large residential and commercial efficiency programs in multiple cities in the Los Angeles area to smaller scale solar/efficiency programs in Santa Monica to municipal greenhouse gas inventory work in the Coachella Valley.
Flanigan also served as Operations Manager for EcoMotion’s 2008 Germany Solar Tour and EcoMotion’s 2009 Spanish Solar Tour. He split his time between his roots in Vermont and California from 2008 to 2014 working on residential scale energy retrofits in Vermont partnered with Home Performance with Energy Star out of Efficiency Vermont while supporting analysis and construction of commercial solar and energy efficiency projects nationwide for EcoMotion.
Currently Russell is a Senior Energy Analyst and Solar Project Manager at Building Energy in Williston, Vermont and works with EcoMotion on projects on the East Coast. Most recently he has focused on residential and commercial scale solar, high efficiency heating and cooling (heat pumps), as well as Zero and Near-Zero buildings. He serves as a board member of the Vermont Building Professionals Association.
Russ Flanigan lives with his active family in an 1890s home in Burlington, Vermont. He plays the fiddle, enjoys biking in the Lake Champlain area, and volunteers in the local children’s theatre.
Steven Lewis
Architect - Design Manager, NOMAC, FAIA, LEED AP
Steven Lewis is an architect and a tireless advocate for social justice and diversity within the field of architecture. He is currently a principal with the firm ZGF Architects, where he leads the Los Angeles office’s urban design practice. Prior to joining ZGF, Steven was appointed by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan as Urban Design Director for the City’s Central Region, where he played a key role in shaping the vision of present and future development. In December of 2010, he concluded a two-year term as President of the National Organization of Minority Architects, traveling around the country advocating for architects-of-color, while cultivating the next generation of diverse architects and designers. More than anything, Steven is a facilitator of partnerships and alliances between groups and individuals who seek to use architecture and design to effect positive change to our world.
Chris Calwell
Principal at Ecos Research
Chris Calwell is an internationally recognized expert operating at the intersection of the technologies and policies needed to address climate change, particularly in the fields of energy storage, electric vehicles, and renewable energy. Chris digests and synthesizes deeply technical information, extracts the meaning for a broader audience, incorporates the relevant market context, and then conveys a highly visual narrative in a manner that is understandable and actionable by business leaders, policymakers, graduate students, and individual consumers.
Chris served seven years in the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) Energy Program, helping to launch NRDC’s work on climate change, electric vehicles, and voluntary partnerships with electric utilities to improve residential energy efficiency. Chris cofounded Ecos Consulting in 1997, working with a team of researchers on behalf of the U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR® program, the California Energy Commission, PG&E, NRDC, NEEA, NYSERDA and Natural Resources Canada to improve the energy efficiency of residential lighting, appliances, power supplies and consumer electronics through voluntary labeling and incentive programs and mandatory efficiency standards. He presently co-owns Ecos Research and works as an adjunct faculty of the Middlebury Institute and as a clean-tech investor.
Chris Tribble
Executive Director, True Media Foundation
Chris Tribble brings concepts to life with video. Chris has strong communications skills, the ability to listen and understand complex issues, so that he can help his clients tell their stories with sights and sounds...concisely!
Aura Vasquez
Director, Vasquez Impact Solutions
Aura Vasquez brings many talents to our team, notably community engagement,
stakeholder facilitation, communications, cultural and diversity awareness, advocacy, and bilingual services.
Aura has extensive experience with campaigns, having served as a senior campaign official and advocate for 20+ years. She has led grassroots, policy, and electoral efforts throughout her career advancing racial, climate, and economic justice. She has managed senior teams, overseen multimillion project budgets, built powerful coalitions, and advocated for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.
Josh Friedman
Executive Director, One Zero Digital Media
Josh Friedman is the founder and director of One Zero Digital Media (OZDM). Since 2008, and for the past 18 years, he and his firm have been a video powerhouse in Orange County and beyond. In 2025, OZDM worked on over 100 projects. One Zero Digital Media was also the first company in Orange County to have a waiver from the FAA to fly drones for commercial use in 2012.