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meet your commissioners

Mani Bekele

Mani Bekele is a high school student dual enrolled at Foothill College. He is alarmed by the severe threat of a warming climate, particularly to younger generations and the most vulnerable communities. He is proud of San José’s ambitious but necessary climate targets and committed to doing all he can to achieve them. Since 2023, he’s been a co-lead of the San José City Team of the student-led nonprofit Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action (SVYCA). In this role, he helps facilitate a team of over twenty young people passionate about the environment to effectively fight the climate crisis through policy advocacy, civic engagement, and education initiatives. Mani has presented about climate change to students at schools and public libraries; he spoke on a panel about climate literacy at the 2024 California Curricular and Improvement Support Committee (CISC) Symposium and gave the opening address at SVYCA’s 2024 Youth Leadership Summit.

Bill DeVincenzi

Bill DeVincenzi was born and raised in San Francisco and has been a Bay Area native his entire life. His professional career spans 29 years in accounting and finance, including 10 years at the VP Finance/CFO level. Additionally, he has dedicated 25 years to teaching in the College of Business at San Jose State University.

In 2018, Bill joined the leadership team of Elders Climate Action and the Board of Directors of Elders Action Network, where he was elected Vice-President/Treasurer. He attended the Climate Reality Project (CRP) training with Al Gore in August 2018 and became an active member of the Santa Clara County Chapter of CRP. Bill has participated in the CRP Speaker’s Bureau, presenting on the Climate Crisis and solutions to more than 50 audiences. He also publishes a weekly climate newsletter for friends and family. In April 2022, he was honored with the Climate Champion of the Year award by the City of San José. In 2024, he was appointed to both the Santa Clara County Sustainability Commission and the City of San José Climate Advisory Commission.

Bill holds an MBA from UC Berkeley and is a licensed CPA in the State of California. He has been married for 57 years and has lived in San José's District 8 for the past 18 years. He has two children and three grandchildren, to whom he dedicates his climate and sustainable living efforts.

Glen Garfunkel

Glen Garfunkel has a background in solid state physics and spent 31 years working in the magnetic storage industry in Silicon Valley. He has experience in device physics and design, magnetic and thin film processing and testing, product design, and characterization and failure analysis. Since the 1980’s he has been deeply concerned about global warming, and its impact on the delicate balance of ecological systems, and life on earth. After learning of encouraging progress in the early days of Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) in 2013, he cofounded San José Community Energy Advocates to help advocate for a CCA formation for San José. Over 2022-23 Glen has served on San José’s Clean Energy Community Advisory Commission, and over the past decade he has worked with several different community and state advocacy groups on climate issues. He is encouraged by the real impact local groups and local governments can have on the push for clean energy and emission reductions and looks forward to continuing improvements toward our goal of a carbon neutral San José.

Lucia Marquez

Lucia Marquez is an Environmental Outreach Coordinator at GreenWaste, focusing on increasing waste diversion and reducing recycling contamination within the community. With a B.A. in Environmental Studies from San Francisco State University, Lucia's passion lies in environmental conservation and justice. She brings valuable experience from internships at Peninsula Open Space Trust and Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Committed to protecting the environment and addressing injustices faced by underrepresented communities, Lucia balances her work with personal interests like hiking, cooking, and spending quality time with her dog.

Eric Michaud

Eric Michaud is a San José resident who was born and raised in the city and is committed to supporting San José’s progress toward carbon neutrality. He has a strong interest in clean, safe, and cost-saving energy use, and in how emerging technologies, electrification, and incentive programs can help residents reduce energy costs while lowering emissions.

Eric brings a pragmatic, data-informed perspective shaped by his work in technology and hardware product design, as well as experience with entrepreneurial ventures. He believes effective climate solutions should be balanced, feasible, and inclusive, reflecting the diverse needs of San José communities. He values thoughtful collaboration and is honored to serve on the Climate Advisory Commission.

Karen Nelson

Karen Nelson has been a long-time advocate for climate protection and the environment. Early work as an environmental planner in Ohio and California focused on water quality and land use. After work at Hewlett-Packard and then founding and owning a media company, Pacific Media, she returned to her roots to found Climate Reality Project: Silicon Valley in 2018, chaired the chapter for 5 years and grew it to over 450 members. She has supported the efforts of San José Clean Energy since its founding and for a year and a half acted as project manager to develop Silicon Valley Clean Energy’s FutureFit electrification training. Karen was appointed to the San José Clean Energy Commission and then transitioned to chair the San José Climate Advisory Commission in 2024. As a long-time member of the local League of Women Voters Climate Committee, “The Switch Is On” Building Decarbonization Coalition Ambassador, active support for Solar Rights Alliance and other climate organizations Karen works on many fronts for a healthy climate.

Christine Nguyen Vaeth

Christine Nguyen Vaeth is a marketing and business executive with more than 18 years of experience across Bay Area tech companies. Most recently at ChargePoint, a global EV charging company headquartered in Campbell, CA, she led a global marketing team responsible for advancing growth and increasing awareness of EV charging solutions for businesses, fleet operators, public-sector organizations, and the EV-curious.

A San José native, Christine is honored to contribute to her local community through her service on the Climate Advisory Commission. She has been an EV driver for over eight years and has adopted solar energy and induction technology at home, reflecting her belief that individual actions play an important role in improving air quality and supporting a cleaner future.

Victor Niemeyer

Victor Niemeyer is committed to working with the Commission and City staff to reduce CO₂ emissions, lower electricity rates, and protect the city from long-term financial risk. He believes the Commission has a responsibility to the people of San José to provide independent and candid counsel to City decision-makers in support of these goals. He values the respect and support the staff provides to the Commission in fulfilling this role.

Victor retired from the Electric Power Research Institute in 2016, where he led research on electric power planning, rates, markets, and climate policy. He now consults part-time, focusing on clean energy technologies and evolving reliability needs. He has followed San José Clean Energy since its inception and joined its Commission in 2021. He previously served on the New York ISO’s Environmental Advisory Committee for 10 years. He enjoys weekly volunteering at Santa Maria Urban Ministries. Victor holds an AB in economics from UC Berkeley and a PhD from UT Austin. He has lived in San José since 1979, where he and his wife raised their family of four children and now enjoy their six grandchildren.

Phillip Remaker

Phillip Remaker has over thirty years of industry experience in Silicon Valley working for semiconductor and data infrastructure companies. He has a passion for energy efficiency, power saving designs, and circular economy activities.

Macwin Savio Dsouza

Macwin is an engineer in the battery industry with a background in chemical engineering and materials science. During his masters, he conducted research on battery technologies, deepening his interest in renewable energy. He is passionate about advancing clean energy solutions and was inspired by San José’s ambitious goal of achieving carbon neutrality. He hopes to contribute his technical expertise to support the city’s climate and sustainability goals.

Ryo Wakabayashi

Ryo Wakabayashi grew up in a suburb of Tokyo, Japan but moved to the Bay Area during middle school. Driven by a deep concern about climate change, he majored in chemistry at UC Berkeley (Go Bears!) to pursue research and development in climate-related technologies like thermoelectrics. He deepened his expertise to fuel cell and battery materials while completing a PhD at Cornell University and later applied that knowledge at a state-of-the-art battery startup. While committed to technical innovation, he never lost sight of the bigger picture: science alone is not enough. Through his service on the Climate Advisory Commission, he is eager to collaborate with fellow commissioners to contribute to policy, advocacy, and community engagement—driving a just and sustainable response to climate change. He is also a member of the Citizens Climate Lobby, a non-partisan nonprofit organization that advocates for climate change-related policies.

Beyond his work in climate science and renewable energy, he can often be found volunteering at the Japanese American Museum of San Jose; supporting local restaurants, breweries and distilleries with his loving partner; staying active with their energetic husky Yumi; and watching sports (his cat’s name is Stephen Purry).