Communities for Local Power (CLP) was founded in 2013 by ten women who affectionately referred to themselves as the organization's "kitchen cabinet." The kitchen cabinet continues to meet weekly in Kingston, NY, just down the road from our original home, Rosendale, NY, a town of 6,000 people in the Mid-Hudson Valley.

 Board of Directors

  • Troy Ellen Dixon

    President

  • Susan H. Gillespie

    Vice-President

  • Pat Courtney-Strong

    Treasurer

  • Melinda McKnight

    Secretary

  • Betta Broad

  • Lindsay Hutton

  • Kelleigh McKenzie

  • Jackie Martin

  • Susie Ximenez

 Founding Board Members:

  • Manna Jo Greene, Environmental Director of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and Ulster County Legislator, representing District 19 Rosendale and Marbletown

  • Jen Metzger represented the 42nd district in the New York State Senate from 2019 to 2020. Prior to her State Senate tenure, Metzger served on the Rosendale Town Board.

  • Jessica Barry, a renewable energy leader

 Kitchen Cabinet

  • Betta Broad

    Director of New Yorkers for Clean Power

  • Troy Ellen Dixon

    A consultant with Radio Kingston to build their underwriting program, a unique opportunity for businesses in the greater Kingston area to reach and engage with WKNY’s community.

  • Susan H. Gillespie

    Former Vice President for Special Global Initiatives and VP for Development and Public Affairs, Bard College; translator of philosophy and poetry from Germany.

  • Melinda McKnight

    Local business owner of a company that transitions buildings off fossil fuels, preservationist, and historian.

  • Pat Courtney-Strong

    Director, Energy Policy, Arch Street Communications. Small business owner of a state-certified Women-Owned Business Enterprise. Pat has spent the last 20 years helping homeowners, businesses, and local governments save money by saving energy.

  • Amy Trompetter

    Former Professor of Theater at Barnard College and professional puppeteer, whose Redwing Blackbird Theater uses humor and direct language to present political issues, including energy, at its regular public performances.

Staff

  • Jess Mullen (she/they)

    Executive Director

    Jess Mullen has been a leader behind the curtain for a variety of projects, teams, and campaigns. With over 2 decades of experience in the nonprofit sector, she was featured in Times Herald-Record’s 20 To Watch in 2020 in Mid-Hudson, a list of “Key Influencers in the Region.” She advocates for policy that accelerates inclusive clean energy solutions and moves New York away from dependency on fossil fuels. Wearing various hats, she's achieved victories against fracking and pipelines, and more recently, she's served as Chairperson of New Paltz Climate Action Coalition and Campaign/Coalition Manager for the statewide Stop Danskammer Coalition. Her abhorrence of unfettered corporate greed and exploitive capitalism are well-suited for CLP's rooted focus in utility justice, energy democracy, and ratepayer advocacy.

  • Rosemary DaCruz (they/them)

    Administrative & Operations Coordinator

    Rosemary joined the team as the Administrative and Operations Coordinator in November 2022. Growing up, they watched their mother struggle everyday to make ends meet in the face of an unsustainable, for-profit energy system. Realizing that their story was not unique, they were driven to fight for change to make a better world alongside millions of people fighting against the same inequities. As a first-generation graduate from Marist College, they fell in love with the Hudson Valley through several years of working in local politics and student engagement. They’re inspired everyday by an ever-growing collection of stories from community conversations and a passion to bring us together to create a sustainable, beautiful future. When they’re not working, they can be found exploring New York with their fiancée Lillyanna or petting stray cats.

  • Lauren Hollick (she/they)

    Green Jobs Coordinator

    Lauren is a local program director, educator, and artist who is coordinating our Empower Kingston Green Jobs paid training program. She has worked with many local organizations and part time with her parent's roofing business "Hollick Contracting" for well over a decade and loves getting her hands dirty. Lauren is passionate about trade careers and the impact green job training has on current and future generations and she strives to make her programs accessible and inclusive to all community participants.

    Lauren is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz and Dutchess Community College and is a proud life-long resident in the mid-Hudson Valley. Outside of work, you can find Lauren attending local art events, bird watching, and painting in nature preserves with her life partner, Michael.