Our Team

Jasmine Graham, Executive Director

Jasmine Graham (she/they) joined Mid-Hudson Energy Transition (MHET) in April 2023 as the first permanent Executive Director. Prior to MHET, Jasmine served as the Senior Equity and Affordability Advisor at the Building Decarbonization Coalition. She previously held roles at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, where she was responsible for strengthening and advancing the organization’s energy policies as their Energy Justice Policy Manager, and Sustainable Westchester, where she managed the first and largest community choice aggregation program in New York State.

Jasmine is appointed to two New York City Advisory Boards – the Climate Mobilization Advisory Board and the Sustainability Advisory Board – where she presents implementation recommendations for the City’s landmark building decarbonization law, Local Law 97, and the long-term sustainability plan for the city, PlaNYC.

Emily Mauro, Office Manager

Susan H. Gillespie, President

Susan is President of the Board of Mid-Hudson Energy Transition (MHET), a member of the Environmental Commission of the Town of Rosendale, and a co-founder and President of the Board of Communities for Local Power (fka Citizens for Local Power) (CLP). CLP made its reputation helping communities fight fossil fuel expansion, understand climate and energy issues, train young people for green jobs, defend against utility price hikes, and advance New York’s climate policy. CLP helped bring CCA to New York in 2016 and has continued to work with local elected officials and activists to create New York’s first advanced CCA, or “CCA 3.0,” as a platform for local control of energy supply, clean generation, energy justice, and community wealth-building.

Simon Strauss, Treasurer

Simon Strauss is a Partner at E/W Capital, a boutique Financial Advisory firm with particular expertise in financing infrastructure, including energy, especially renewables/alternatives (particularly solar). E/W Capital has substantial experience in project finance and complicated financial structures. He is also part-time CFO at Hellenic LLC, an infrastructure company building utility-scale water desalination, energy and brine re-use plants. Simon is a member of the Board of a wastewater technology company and is President of a not-for-profit US Foundation benefiting his High School; he is Co-Chair of the Town of Olive’s Conservation Advisory Council, sits on the Ulster County Environmental Management Council, and is Treasurer and a Board member of the Mid-Hudson Energy Transition.

Dana Hall, Secretary and Counsel

Dana Hall is an attorney assisting businesses, nonprofits and governments in the clean energy sector since 2008. In addition to her boutique practice, Dana has served in various roles including as General Counsel for Core Development Group, a solar, storage and EV infrastructure developer and contractor, and as Deputy Director of the Low Impact Hydropower Institute, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to reducing the impacts of hydropower generation. She previously was on staff at the Pace Energy and Climate Center in White Plains, NY and taught energy policy classes at The Cooper Union School of Continuing Education, Green Building Design Program. Dana has a J.D. from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University (2008), a Master of Arts in Environmental Conservation Education from New York University (2000), and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from The Ohio State University (1996).

Marcy Cleveland, Member

Marcy is a NYS licensed real estate salesperson and is recognized as the Hudson Valley’s Green Realtor for her dedication to sustainable real estate and helping homeowners make more energy efficient choices. In addition to being a NAR designated Green Realtor and Earth Advantage broker, Marcy is also a certified BPI Building Analyst and Envelope Professional. She is the owner and operator of Green Building Specialists, a Hudson Valley-based home energy assessment company offering diagnostic services and energy efficiency consultations to help homeowners decarbonize and electrify.

Marcy has served as a speaker on sustainable real estate and the emerging Green Jobs industry in addition to participating as an energy efficiency mentor with the Communities for Local Empower Kingston Green Jobs program. As a volunteer community liaison with the Heat Smart Orange and Heat Smart Sullivan-Ulster campaigns, Marcy helped promote the NYS Clean Heat program throughout the Hudson Valley.

Marcy is a current member of the Building Performance Association, Green Home Institute, and Electric Vehicle Association. She is a trained Climate Reality Leader with the Climate Reality Project and is the Organizer of Repair Café Pine Bush. Marcy’s real estate brand, Hudson Valley Green Homes at Keller Williams Real Estate, is a proud 2022 sponsor of Sustainable Hudson Valley.

Joel Herm, Member

Joel is a Rhinebeck-based technology-agnostic entrepreneur with successful startups ranging from retail financial marketing platforms to FDA cancer treatment systems to Wall Street analytic machine learning software. Raised on a Midwestern farm, he now brings that ‘can-do’ attitude to renewable energy as a hydropower developer working with Bard College and NYSERDA to develop financially-viable deployments of microhydro throughout New York State.

Joel’s development company, Current Hydro, is also in the process of building larger run-of-river hydro at existing Army Corps dams on the Illinois and Ohio Rivers. All hydro projects are based on the Uncommon Dialog principles which entail the Three Rs:

Removal – take down dams with no societal benefit

Rehabilitate working dams to address safety problems

Retrofit powered dams and add generation at non-powered dams to increase renewable energy production