James Corless is the executive director of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG). He has led the creation of a national model to accelerate infill development through the region’s innovative “Green Means Go” program, the development of a 1,000 mile regional trails vision to provide more active transportation options, helped the region secure over $1 billion in state funding for local transportation projects, and spearheaded the initiation of Civic Lab, the region’s first government solutions accelerator. Other milestones include the creation of a regional Youth Leadership Academy, the development of SACOG’s first ever racial equity framework and action plan and a new regional economic Prosperity Strategy in partnership with the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, Sacramento Metro Chamber, Valley Vision and the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Lisa Aultman-Hall is the Professor and Chair of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. After graduating in 1996 with a Ph.D. from McMaster University, she served as a Professor of Civil Engineering at the Universities of Kentucky, Connecticut and Vermont. Dr. Aultman-Hall focuses on transportation systems, especially methods to collect unique databases for modeling and analysis of long-distance intercity travel, transportation sector emissions, network resiliency, streetscape design, and non-motorized transportation. Dr. Aultman-Hall was the founding Director of the interdisciplinary Vermont Transportation Research Center (TRC) whose focus included land use and transportation models. During these years, Aultman-Hall was a member of the leadership team for the National Center for Sustainable Transportation led by UC Davis. Her current professional service includes serving on travel behavior committees of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), the executive board of the Council of Engineering Systems Universities (CESUN) and the board of directors of the Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging.

Chris Reed is regional senior vice president, Research and Development, Nissan Americas. He was appointed to this position in April 2019. In this role, he is responsible for all vehicle engineering and development operations for Nissan Americas.

Previously, Reed was vice president, Platform and Technology Engineering, where he was responsible for Powertrain, Electrical, and Audio/IT engineering groups. He also served as the Overseas Chief Vehicle Engineer (OCVE) for Nissan LEAF, Murano and Pathfinder as well as the INFINITI QX60, at NTCNA.

Reed joined Nissan North America in 1988 as an entry-level engineer in the body design group. From 2011 to 2013, he worked in safety and then exterior/accessories while being OCVE of trucks. He also spent more than two years in Japan to help lead development on an all-new Nissan Murano. From 1999 to 2007, Reed was self-employed as a home builder and ran a small automotive parts supplier.

Reed holds a mechanical engineering degree from Virginia Tech.

Matthew Barth is the Yeager Families Professor at the College of Engineering, University of California, Riverside. He is part of the intelligent systems faculty in Electrical and Computer Engineering and is also serving as the Director for the Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), UC Riverside’s largest multi-disciplinary research center. Dr. Barth’s research focuses on applying engineering system concepts and automation technology to Transportation Systems, and in particular how it relates to energy and air quality issues. His current research interests include ITS and the Environment, Transportation/Emissions Modeling, Vehicle Activity Analysis, Advanced Navigation Techniques, Electric Vehicle Technology, and Advanced Sensing and Control.

Bob Epstein is an entrepreneur and engineer with a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a co-founder of five companies: Sybase, New Resource Bank, GetActive Software, Colorado Microdisplay, and Britton-Lee. Bob is an elected Director of the Kirkwood Meadows Public Utility District, a co-founder of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), serves on the advisory board of the Goldman School of Public Policy and UC Davis Institute for Transportation Studies, and on the Executive Committee of the Berkeley Food Institute. Bob led the E2 team that helped to pass California’s major global warming bills – the “Clean Cars Bill” and the “Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006”. In 2020, Bob co-founded Project 2030 which is focused on California policies to manage carbon, decarbonize industrial sources and expand the use of re-generative agriculture practices. Bob’s community activities are focused on the environment, public education, sustainable food systems and music. Bob is a classical pianist and performs four-hand and solo piano.

Bob holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science, specializing in distributed database systems (with a minor in music). His early career was focused on the commercialization of databases and networking. From 1976 – 1979 he was the manager of the INGRES project at the University of California at Berkeley. From 1979 – 1984 Bob was vice president of development and principal architect for Britton-Lee, a developer of database machines. In 1984 he was a leading architect and proponent for client/server computing with the creation of Sybase and the development of SQL Server which eventually grew into a billion dollar business with the inclusion of middleware and development tools.

In 1996, he co-founded Colorado Microdisplay that produced industry-leading micro-displays for entertainment and mobile computing. In 2000, Bob co-founded GetActive Software and served as the Chairman of the Board. Convio purchased GetActive software creating the industry leader serving non-profits and other organizations. Bob was one of the organizers of New Resource Bank – a California chartered bank specializing in financial products for green businesses and consumers (now part of Amalgamated Bank).

In June of 2000, Bob co-founded Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) with Nicole Lederer. E2 is a national community of professionals and business people who believe in protecting the environment while building economic prosperity. E2 works to influence state and national environmental policy. In 2013, Bob was part of the team that created the Berkeley Food Institute at U.C. Berkeley. In 2020, Bob was a co-founder of Project2030 focused on carbon management and decarbonizing industry.