The People Behind CSCNM

Beth Beloff’s professional goal over the last 30 years has been to incite sustainability in corporate and municipal strategy development, education and everyday personal and professional decision-making.

From 2015 through 2018 she served as Chair of the Santa Fe Sustainability Commission (SSFC), tasked with development of a 25-year sustainability and carbon neutral plan for Santa Fe, adopted in 2018. Following a strategy recommendation of the SSFC, she established and is Executive Director of the Coalition of Sustainable Communities New Mexico. She served on the Governor-elect’s Transition Team for the Environment, and she also served on Mayor Webber’s Advancing Sustainability Working Group.

She was Founder and President of the non-profit think tank, BRIDGES to Sustainability, one of the early organizations focused on moving from sustainability strategy to practice. Prior to BRIDGES, she founded and directed the Institute for Corporate Environmental Management (ICEM) in the business school at the University of Houston.

Beth has a BA from University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Architecture degree from UCLA, and an MBA from the University of Houston.

Christian’s interests focus on energy policy, sustainable development, and education. He has lived and worked in countries around the globe, focused on aspects of sustainable energy use and rural electrification for under-served communities. He has been the lead author for peer-reviewed papers in Science, Climate Policy, and Energy Policy. Christian is passionate about policy and program design that support greater equity in our communities and increased access to renewable energy and energy efficiency options for disenfranchised communities. Christian also works part-time as a Buddhist chaplain.

Christian has a PhD and MS in Energy and Resources from UC Berkeley, an MS in Applied Mathematics from Johns Hopkins, and a BA in Environmental Engineering from Harvard.

Ken spent 26 years with the State of New Mexico.  Half of his state career was helping municipalities and counties plan their futures including the infrastructure capital improvement planning program. Ken conducted strategic planning and administered planning grants for communities throughout the state, and wrote reports on effects of growth in New Mexico and options for its management.

For twelve years Ken served as a Clean Energy Specialist at New Mexico’s Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department to promote the application of solar energy and energy efficiency practices by schools, local and state governments, tribes, home owners, builders, and commercial building owners. Ken oversaw the Sustainable Building Tax Credit Program, which has transformed the building industry toward energy efficiency as an adopted best practice. He managed a project to bring solar energy to low- and moderate-income households. And he promoted financial mechanisms such as on-bill repayment, clean energy revenue bonds and performance energy bonds. He also served on energy efficiency advisory groups for PNM and New Mexico Gas Company.

Ken has a BA from the University of Notre Dame and MA in Public Policy from Virginia Tech.

Rachel is an experienced leader and educator with an extensive background in political organization development and new media. As the founder of the influential independent magazine The New Inquiry in 2009, Rachel's leadership and creative work has had industry-wide impact throughout the 2010s. In 2016 Rachel established the political software collective, Dark Inquiry, which deployed abolitionist software that has had a lasting real-world impact and was named the year's most influential technology release on the annual lists of The New York Times and The Guardian, among others. 

In addition to her creative work, Rachel was the co-founder, core faculty, and associate director of the first ever graduate-level journalism degree program at the New School For Social Research, "Creative Publishing and Critical Journalism," where she taught and developed the program for 6 years. 

Rachel has also held leadership positions at a number of notable political media organizations including Verso Books and The New Republic. Most recently, Rachel founded the End of Institutions Research and Communications Lab (EoI) in partnership with the University of California Irvine, where project work brought her into regular contact with communities impacted by climate change and the centrality of a just energy transition to our collective futures. Her ongoing work with EoI led her to pursue climate work in New Mexico and return to her roots as an Albuquerque native. 

From the inception of the Coalition in the fall of 2018 until December 2022, Gary served as the Coalition’s Research and Technical Advisor. During his tenure, he designed and implemented CSCNM’s Legislative Advocacy program, secured recognition of the Coalition by the UN as an “Official Observer NGO” at annual COPs, and crafted many communications, and managed finances. 

Prior to moving to Santa Fe in 2017, Gary’s environmental work was focused on Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. He credits Bill McKibben’s 2012 “Do the Math Tour” as a life-changing turning point. In 2013, he represented the state as the Idaho Ambassador to “50 States for Healthy Air,” a citizen lobbying event in Washington DC. Mid-decade, he devoted his energy to blocking construction of coal export terminals in port cities of Washington and Oregon. For his work, he was honored with the 2015 Idaho Conservation League’s highest award for environmental activism.  Then, as an “Official Observer” at the COP21/UN Climate Conference, he reported on and gave presentations on the landmark Paris Agreement.

Gary continues to support the Coalition’s mission on a variety of short term projects.

A veteran and retired Colonel in the US Air Force, Gary is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy, Johns Hopkins University, and Georgetown University.

Jacob is a dual Master of Public Policy and Master of Environmental Management student at Duke University. He is studying technology policy and energy economics. Jacob wants to devote the rest of his life fighting the climate crisis. He attended COPs 25 - 28 and is writing his Master thesis comparing international climate negotiations, while working as an ESG Analyst for Royal Caribbean Group. In his free time, Jacob loves to read, get coffee, listen to podcasts, hike, and attend concerts.

Past Interns

Milan Lombardo