Announcing CLASP’s New Senior Leadership Council
CLASP's senior leadership council has expanded to further integrate our programs and adapt our work to a changing world.
CLASP is pleased to announce our new senior leadership council, comprised of a broader group of experts across the organization. The new structure reflects our desire to better integrate our programs and initiatives; further incorporate regional knowledge into executive decision-making; and promote from within our talented team.
Some members of our new leadership council are in new and expanded roles, but if you know the CLASP team, you are likely already familiar with these individuals.
Ana Maria Carreño, Senior Director of Climate
Ana Maria joined CLASP in 2011 and has served in many leadership capacities during her tenure. Over the past year and a half, she has served as Deputy Director of CLASP’s Clean Lighting Coalition, a campaign to transition the world to mercury-free LED lighting. Previously she oversaw CLASP’s efficient cooling program and, in that capacity, led a study on the dumping of obsolete, inefficient ACs across Africa. In her new role, she will expand CLASP’s efforts to cut carbon globally and bring her lens of equity and out-of-the-box thinking to this work.
Ari Reeves, Senior Director of Research
Ari joined CLASP in 2013 as a climate researcher and transitioned to the off-grid solar sector in 2016, eventually collaborating with partners to evolve the World Bank Group’s Lighting Global Quality Assurance Program to the independently operated VeraSol. In his new role leading research, he will integrate our Clean Energy Access and Climate research portfolios and expand CLASP’s scope for maximal impacts.
Bishal Thapa, Senior Director, India
Before joining CLASP in early 2021, Bishal had 22 years of experience in the energy, climate, and sustainability sectors. His expertise lies in multi-dimensional energy sector projects, as well as the design, implementation, and financing of distributed energy systems. At CLASP, he has expanded the India program’s portfolio to work at the nexus of climate mitigation and economic & agricultural growth.
Christine Egan, Chief Executive Officer
Christine has been leading CLASP for over 20 years. Under her guiding vision, the organization has grown from a small program to a well-respected, international non-profit with an expanded mission to make appliances planet-neutral and people-positive. She is an expert in consumer energy behavior, energy efficiency label design, and developing high-performing strategic global partnerships and high impact teams.
Corinne Schneider, Chief Communications & Business Development Officer
A member of the team first starting in 2009, Corinne joined CLASP with extensive international experience and fluency in Spanish. Her leadership on business development and partnership, strategic positioning, and culture have been essential to CLASP’s success over many milestones and transitions. Most recently she has served as Director of CLASP’s Clean Lighting Coalition, leading global strategy, advocacy, and partnerships.
Fred Sherman, Chief Operating Officer
Fred has more than 20 years senior management experience and is currently the Chief Operating Officer at CLASP, overseeing operations, IT, finance, and legal affairs. He has a history of community service and engagement, currently serving on the boards of several international organizations and has held leadership positions in a handful of nonprofit organizations.
Jenny Corry Smith, Chief of Programs
Jenny joined CLASP in 2011, focusing on international climate collaborations, policy implementation, and in-country capacity building. In 2016, she began working on CLASP’s Clean Energy Access portfolio and was instrumental in evolving CLASP’s Efficiency for Access Coalition from a year-long awareness raising campaign to a multi-year, multi-stakeholder, high-impact program. She has been overseeing Efficiency for Access, CLASP’s largest single program, since 2017. In her new position, she will further integrate CLASP’s people and planet priorities.
Naté Harris, Director of Human Resources
Naté is CLASP’s first ever Director of Human Resources. Prior to joining, Naté served in HR leadership at Center for Strategic & International Studies, using data-driven analysis to maximize operational effectiveness and employee engagement. Her work develops and implements strategic HR initiatives, specifically from a diversity, equity, and inclusion viewpoint.
Sam Grant, Senior Director of Clean Energy Access
Sam has 15 years of experience working in energy access, previously holding leadership roles at the Equity Group Foundation, and MicroEnergy Credits. He has lived and worked in Mongolia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Papua New Guinea to establish clean energy access lending programs. He is a renowned international expert on and enthusiast for solar-powered electric cooking.
Amanda Upshaw, Chief of Staff
The Senior Leadership Council is staffed by Chief of Staff Amanda Upshaw, who joined CLASP in 2018. Before CLASP, Amanda worked as a project manager in education, research, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing. Diverse responsibilities in her career have included planning and managing events, volunteer coordination and supervision, data compilation and analysis, and mentoring. At CLASP, she is the Objectives & Key Results whiz, ensuring that every team and individual is pursuing professional excellence.
As we set our sights on 2030 goals, we are excited for this expanded senior leadership council to guide CLASP into a new era of even higher impact activities encompassing the principles of equity, environmental justice, and broader environmental protection in response to ever more complicated social and planetary challenges.
Over the coming weeks, CLASP will share additional changes and promotions across our team and more about the start of our next chapter. Stay tuned.
