ADVISORY BOARD

Andy Abranches

VP, Wildfire Mitigation
PG&E

  • Andy has been with PG&E since 2008 and has worked in engineering and operational roles across the utility. As the VP of Wildfire Mitigation, his team is responsible for the overall direction of PG&E’s Wildfire Mitigation Strategy, including the filing of PG&E Wildfire Mitigation Plan. The work performed by his team guides both operational decision-making during fire season and long-term resiliency planning for PG&E. Andy also serves as the Chair of the Advisory Board for the Cal Poly Wildland Urban Interface – Fire Institute and is an Advisor to Watch Duty. 

Anjana Agarwal

Principal
The Ad Hoc Group, Inc.

  • Anjana is a Principal at The Ad Hoc Group (AHG), a boutique growth advisory firm that works with climate tech startups. At AHG, Anjana leads their work in the climate and grid resilience and wildfire risk mitigation sectors, and works closely with multiple companies that partner with utilities to manage risk from extreme weather events. 

    Anjana has cross-cutting experience in energy and infrastructure spanning the public and private sectors across different geographies. Prior to AHG, she worked at Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading super-app company, the World Resources Institute, the Indian government’s Public Private Partnerships team, and as a corporate attorney.

    Anjana has an MBA from Chicago Booth where she was a Tobaccowala scholarship recipient, an LLM from Harvard Law School and a Bachelors in Law from the National Law School, India’s top ranking law school. Anjana resides in the New York city area with her husband and twin toddlers.

Christopher Anthony

Former Chief Deputy Director
CAL FIRE

  • Chris Anthony served California as a Governor Appointee, overseeing CAL FIRE's Fire Protection, Resource Management, Support, and Administrative functions as the Chief Deputy Director. He was responsible for the implementation of strategic initiatives and policies critical to ensuring operational readiness, wildfire resiliency, and the incorporation of innovative technological advancements into day-to-day operations. He currently consults for firetech companies, academia, nonprofits, and philanthropic organizations. He serves on the Boards of Earth Fire Alliance, California Fire Safe Council, and the Moore Foundation Wildfire Advisory Council.

Genny Biggs

Program Director, Wildfire Resilience Initiative & Special Projects
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

  • As program director for wildfire and special projects, Genny leads the Wildfire Resilience Initiative and the foundation’s special opportunity grantmaking.

    Genny has more than 25 years of experience in the philanthropic and non-profit sectors. She joined the Moore Foundation in 2001. From 2005-2008, she earned master’s degrees in environmental management and international relations from Yale University, with a concentration on integrated conservation and development. Genny returned to Moore in 2008, having served during the intervening years as a summer associate in the David & Lucile Packard Foundation’s Conservation and Science Program and as a research fellow for the Environmental Grantmakers Association. Previously, Genny worked for National Geographic Magazine. She earned her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University, with honors.

Bill Clerico

Founder & Managing Partner
Convective Capital

  • Splitting time between San Francisco and Mendocino County, Bill loves both the forests of Northern California and the energy and pace of Silicon Valley. He is passionate about technology’s potential to create new tools for firefighters, policy makers, utilities, insurance companies, landowners and other stakeholders in order to restore a healthy relationship with fire.

    Prior to starting Convective Capital, Bill was Co-founder & CEO of WePay, a fintech company which was acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase in 2017. Bill is an active angel investor in over 50 seed-stage companies and was previously a Part-Time Partner at Y Combinator.

    When he isn’t talking to founders, you’ll find him skiing, working on his timber ranch in Boonville CA, or volunteering with the Anderson Valley Fire Department. Bill lives in San Francisco and Boonville with his wife Katey, son Sully, and Rhodesian Ridgeback Penny.

Kate Dargan Marquis

Sr. Wildfire Advisor
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

  • Kate Dargan Marquis currently works on wildfire resiliency strategy through many pathways and institutions. She advises the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, she most recently worked for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as Assistant Director for Preparedness and Response and serves as Board Director and Chief Strategy Officer for Intterra, a wildfire and public safety software company she co-founded in 2010. She is also a longtime Board member and past Co-Chair of the CA Fire Safe Council. Prior to her advocacy phase, Kate was a pioneering California firefighter/chief for 30 years, the first woman State Fire Marshal for California, and a proud Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate. She has worked at the community, public agency, industry, technology, and policy levels of the National Fire Service and is widely recognized for her consensus-building style and innovative approaches to old problems.

Brian Fennessy

Fire Chief
Orange County Fire Authority

  • As the Fire Chief of the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), Brian Fennessy leads more than 1,800 firefighters and non-sworn personnel who collectively serve 2 million residents across 23 cities and unincorporated counties.

    Chief Fennessy began his career in 1978 with the USFS and BLM working as a hotshot crewmember and ultimately crew superintendent.

    In 1990, Fennessy joined the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and ultimately became Chief of the Department in 2015.  In 2018, he was appointed Fire Chief of the OCFA.

    Chief Fennessy currently serves as Chair of the FIRESCOPE Board of Directors; represents California as a member of the Western Fire Chiefs Association Wildland Fire Policy Committee; represents the nine West Division FEMA Urban Search & Rescue Task Forces; and President of the California Fire Chiefs Association.  In 2022, Chief Fennessy was recognized as CalChiefs Fire Chief of the Year and in 2023, the International Association of Fire Chief’s Career Fire Chief of the Year.

Scott Gregory

Deputy Director of Technology
CAL FIRE

  • Scott Gregory is the Deputy Director of Technology for CAL FIRE. He currently directs the technology, telecommunications, and innovation portfolio for the organization. His extensive background spans over 25 years, including leadership roles in government and private industry. Prior to joining CAL FIRE, Gregory served as the first Chief Innovation Officer for the State of California, where he pioneered numerous firsts in California's tech landscape, including the state's first open data platform, the creation of the State of California Innovation Academy and the state’s innovation lab. He also played a significant role in creating California’s statewide GIS infrastructure as the State Geographic Information Officer. Gregory holds a BA in Geography from Sacramento State University and an MBA from Regis University.

Gabe Kleinman

Board Chair
Megafire Action

  • Gabe Kleinman is an Operating Partner on the venture investing team at Emerson Collective. Prior to joining EC, Gabe was at Obvious Ventures helping build the firm from the ground up. He previously served in leadership roles at Medium, IDEO, and Creative Artists Agency. Gabe co-founded and serves as Board Chair of Megafire Action, a 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to ending the megafire crisis through policy solutions. He received a B.A. in Philosophy and Anthropology from Cornell University.

Jennee Kuang

Senior Program Officer
Resources Legacy Fund

  • Jennee Kuang is a Senior Program Officer at RLF and co-leads the organization’s wildfire resilience program. The program focuses on public policy and funding solutions to accelerate wildfire resilience in the Western U.S. Before coming to RLF, Jennee was an Environment Program Fellow at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation where she developed the foundation’s wildfire resilience grantmaking strategy. Earlier in her career, Jennee served as special assistant to the Chief Innovation Officer of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She holds a BS in Natural Resources from Cornell University and a Master of Public Policy from UC Berkeley.

Arun Mani

Principal, Deal Advisory & Strategy
KPMG

  • Arun Mani, a Principal with KPMG, is an Energy and Water sector strategist who operates at the intersection of regulation, operations, and technology to advise clients worldwide on a variety of energy and water related topics – decarbonized supply, sustainable demand, intelligent infrastructure, and foundational technologies. 

    With 30+ years of advising utility and energy companies' management and Boards, and investors, on a variety of topics pertaining to infrastructure decisions, Arun has a broad understanding of the electric, gas, and water sectors and relevant issues. Arun has led intra-industry efforts to focus and unite utilities and energy service providers through share forums, public panels, and one-on-one sessions to discuss and improve electric, gas, and water supply, transmission, and local distribution operating practices. 

Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, DrPH, MPH

Former U.S. Fire Administrator & Executive Leadership Advisor/Public Safety Advocate

  • Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell is a Doctor of Public Health and data scientist who was appointed by President Biden to serve as the U.S. Fire Administrator from 2021 to 2025. Prior to her appointment, Lori was the President and CEO of the International Public Safety Data Institute (IPSDI), which she founded after retiring from a 26-year career as a senior executive at the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). 

    During her tenure as the U.S. Fire Administrator, Lori co-chaired the Commission on Wildfire Mitigation and Management, established by the bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act, leading to 148 wildfire-related recommendations being delivered to Congress in 2023.

    Dr. Merrell also convened a National Fire Summit and a World Fire Congress, bringing together global leaders from 56 nations to address firefighter recruitment, firefighter cancer, mental health, fire risks associated with emerging technology, and climate change impact on the fire service.  This collaborative effort became known as the #FireServiceOneVoice movement. Dr. Moore-Merrell believes that together, we can turn a crisis into an era of opportunity for the fire service and beyond.

Dan Preston

Dan Preston

CEO
Stand

  • Dan was most recently the CEO at Metromile (trading as MILE on NASDAQ and later acquired by Lemonade), a leading digital auto insurer offering per-mile insurance built using sensor data and machine learning from the ground up. Prior to Metromile, he was the co-founder and CTO at AisleBuyer, a mobile retail innovator that was acquired by Intuit in April 2012. Dan received a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Brandeis University and a master’s degree in Computer Science with a specialization in Machine Learning from Stanford University, with publications across astrophysics, computer vision, and remote sensing.

Bob Rowe

Former CEO
NorthWestern Energy

  • Bob Rowe served as CEO of NorthWestern Energy from August 2008 until retiring in January 2023.  

    Bob is a Venture Partner with The Westly Group and a Senior Advisor to Guggenheim Partners.

    He chairs the American Gas Foundation Board; is a member of the EEI Institute for Energy Transition Advisory Committee; the EEI Global Executive Leadership Network; and is a Senior Fellow at the University of Florida Public Utility Research Center. Bob serves on multiple non-profit boards, including Yellowstone Forever, the non-profit partner of Yellowstone National Park; the University of Montana Foundation Board of Trustees; and, the Lewis & Clark College Board of Trustees.

    Earlier in his career, Bob was a Montana Public Service Commissioner and President of the National Association of Regulated Utility Commissioners.  Before that, he was a public interest attorney.

Michael Wara

Director of Policy, Sustainability Accelerator
Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

  • Michael Wara is Director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment as well as Senior Director of Policy at the Sustainability Accelerator in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Wara runs a multidisciplinary team of lawyers, data scientists, economists and public health experts focused on three topical areas: environmental justice, the energy transition, and wildfire. He conducts partner engaged research with a wide array of stakeholders aimed at developing solutions to climate and energy challenges. His team also develops and provides neutral analysis to support sound policy making across the domains in which they work. Wara has served in a variety of roles for the state of California including as a Wildfire Commissioner, as a member of the California Catastrophe Response Council, and as an advisor to the California Senate, Public Utilities Commission, and the Office of Electric Infrastructure Safety. Wara has a JD from Stanford Law School and a PhD in Ocean Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Nancy Watkins

Principal & Consulting Actuary
Milliman

  • Nancy Watkins is a principal in Milliman's San Francisco office. Widely known as a thought leader in property insurance availability and affordability, Nancy serves insurers, regulators, community/government entities, tech vendors and NGOs seeking expertise and innovation in addressing catastrophic risk. 

    Nancy leads the global Milliman Climate Resilience Initiative, designated 2024 Climate Consultancy of the Year by InsuranceERM.  She served on the CAL FIRE Risk Modeling Advisory Workgroup, currently serves on the Private Market Insights Advisory group for nonprofit Insurance For Good, and was recently appointed by the U.S. Treasury Financial Stability Oversight Council as a member of its Climate-related Financial Risk Advisory Committee. publications across astrophysics, computer vision, and remote sensing.

Matt Weiner

Co-founder & CEO
Megafire Action

  • Matt Weiner is the Co-Founder & CEO of Megafire Action. Matt possesses 15 years experience advising Members of Congress and the California State Legislature. He is the former Executive Director of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation, where he advised Chair Zoe Lofgren, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and 42 Members of Congress on California statewide policy matters including wildfire. He served as Chief of Staff to California State Senator Henry Stern during the Thomas and Woolsey Fires and was the Climate and Environment advisor to former Congressman Henry A. Waxman.