We invite you to attend the Annual Energy Economics & California Policy Forum!

The Forum is intended to engage and address the top concerns for the business community in California’s energy roadmap.

Since businesses are dependent on reliable and affordable energy for the continuity of their operations. This contributes to the transportation challenges in California and is an issue for meeting the climate goals.

Don’t miss out on learning about the Energy Industry and how it affects all of us.

#EnergyEconomics

Please see our agenda for the Conference below:

Agenda

Welcome and Intro

Keynote Speaker:

Jennifer Hernandez, Holland & Knight Law Firm

Q&A with Jennifer Hernandez

Panel

Wrap-up/closing

We look forward to seeing you at our Annual Energy Economics & California Policy Forum

Sabrina Cisneros

Moderator

Public Affairs Advisor, Southern California

California Resources Corporation

Sabrina Cisneros is a Public Affairs Advisor at California Resources Corporation (CRC), the state’s largest oil and natural gas producer, and is based out of their Long Beach operating area. A Long Beach resident herself, Sabrina brings knowledge of her community to her role as a business leader to identify key partnerships and community initiatives in Southern California. She actively engages with local business and community leaders to provide them with a better understanding of CRC, the oil and natural gas industry, the importance of an “all of the above” energy approach and how energy-related public policy initiatives impact local businesses and residents. Sabrina brings a unique perspective of health and safety to CRC’s Public Affairs team. Prior to her current position on the Public Affairs team, Sabrina was a member of CRC’s Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) team where she learned to navigate the complex regulatory world of the oil and gas industry – arguably the most heavily-regulated industry in the world. Sabrina oversaw CRC’s Emergency Planning and Response teams throughout the entire state of California.

In her spare time, she enjoys cooking and baking, spending time at the beach and visiting with her parents, sisters and brother.

Keynote Speaker

Jennifer Hernandez

Attorney

Holland & Knight

Jennifer Hernandez has practiced land use and environmental law for more than 30 years, and leads Holland & Knight's West Coast Land Use and Environmental Group. Ms. Hernandez divides her time between the firm's San Francisco and Los Angeles offices.

Ms. Hernandez is the only California lawyer ranked by her clients and peers in Chambers USA in the top tier of both land use/zoning and environmental lawyers. In addition, she was recognized as the top environmental litigator of the year in the San Francisco Bay Area by Best Lawyers, and received a California Lawyer of the Year award from the State Bar of California for her work on California's largest and most innovative land use and conservation agreement between her private landowner client and five major environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council. She also has received numerous civil rights awards for her work on overcoming environmentalist opposition to housing and other projects needed and supported by minority communities.

NICOLE M. PARRA

State Government Affairs Manager

Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

Nicole M. Parra has more than 25 years of extensive legislative and political experience in Washington D.C. and California-having served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Congressman Cal Dooley (retired), elected to the California State Assembly, and appointed to a high- level position within the California Executive Branch by the Governor.

Parra graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992 with a B.A. in Economics. In 1998, she earned a J.D. from the Catholic University School of Law in Washington D.C.

In 2002 Parra was elected to the California State Assembly, representing the 30th Assembly District. In the California State Assembly, Parra served as Chair of the Agriculture Committee, Joint Legislative Audit Committee and Veteran Affairs Committee. She also served on the Banking & Finance, Insurance, and Water Parks and Wildlife Committees.

In 2008, Parra was appointed as the Director of Regional Development Initiatives for the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency by Governor Schwarzenegger. In 2009, Parra was the President of NMP Consulting, which provided clients in the Central Valley, strategic planning, government relations and communication services to accomplish their policy objectives with Federal, State and Local governments. In 2014, Parra was hired as an Adjunct Professor at California State University Bakersfield where she was an instructor for American Government and Politics, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties courses. Before moving to Sacramento, in 2016, Parra was hired as the campaign manager for the Measure J Campaign for the Kern Community College District, a $500M school bond that passed with a 2/3 vote.

Currently, Parra is the State Government Affairs Manager for Marathon Petroleum Corporation. She lives in Sacramento and enjoys reading, crocheting, watching her favorite football team the Oakland (now Las Vegas Raiders) with her nephews. She hopes to always live a “fearless” life and continue to contribute to her community by serving others.

Margita Thompson

Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Community Outreach

California Resources Corporation (CRC)

Margita Thompson is currently Vice President of Communications for California Resources Corporation (CRC), the state’s largest independent oil and natural gas producer. Thompson leads a team charged with unprecedented community and media engagement. Previously Thompson was Vice President, External Communications for Disney Consumer Products (DCP) leading PR teams spanning Disney Publishing, The Disney Stores and DCP Licensing, the world’s largest licensor. Prior, she was Vice President for Corporate Communications and Latino Programs Officer at Health Net Inc.

Thompson served as Press Secretary for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger during his first term. Prior to joining the Schwarzenegger administration, Thompson served as the Political Producer for Larry King Live in Washington, D.C., then CNN’s highest-rated, award-winning political news program.

Before working for CNN, Thompson worked at the White House in the Office of the Vice President as Press Secretary to Mrs. Lynne Cheney. She was also the California Press Secretary for Bush for President during the 2000 election, serving as the principal contact for California-based and Spanish language media.

Thompson also served as Vice President for Public Strategies Inc. in Texas, where she focused on Mexican government and politics, telecommunications and the California market.

Thompson received an Emmy in 2010 as a political analyst with the KCAL/ CBS team for 2010 election night political coverage. Hispanic Business Magazine named Thompson one of its 2010 Corporate Elite, and she is a fellow at USC’s Jesse Unruh Institute of Politics. Thompson earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley. She graduated with her Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, where she was named the Parker Montgomery Fellow for distinguished leadership in California.

Faviola Ochoa

Public Affairs Manager

SoCalGas

Faviola Ochoa is a Public Affairs Manager with SoCalGas that covers the South Bay, Long Beach, San Pedro Bay ports, and LA Harbor area. Faviola has more than 15 years of experience working on a broad range of complex initiatives that include energy, land use, public health, environmental planning, regulatory issues, and infrastructure projects. She has a wealth of knowledge in strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, crisis communications, and campaign management.

Bilingual public affairs and communications professional with a solid background in government, community, and media relations, project and client management, event planning and public relations/campaign strategy.

A native of Los Angeles, Faviola earned a B.S. in International Studies from the University of La Verne. She is concurrently working on a master’s degree in Communications Management and a certificate in Public Policy Advocacy from the University of Southern California.

DAMON ALDRICH

Project Manager, EV and Zero-Emission Mobility

Burns & McDonnell

Damon is responsible for leading EV infrastructure deployment in California, with background in light, medium and heavy-duty transportation electrification projects across utility, municipal and vehicle OEM market segments. Damon’s program management experience is founded on Toyota-trained agile and lean transformation methods applied to fleet management, electrification and facilities. Prior to joining Burns & McDonnell, he oversaw EV charger installation, procurement and customer technical support as Vice President, Operations for Greenlots, a Shell Group company. During his tenure there, Damon built a high-performing organization that delivered successfully on marquee EV infrastructure programs, such as Electrify America (a Volkswagen subsidiary) and Mayor Garcetti’s “Sustainable City pLAn” including large-scale charger deployments for Los Angeles City Hall, LAPD and other departments. Before joining Greenlots in 2017, Aldrich held several operations leadership roles at Toyota, spanning nearly 18 years. In his most recent position as Director of Corporate Services at Toyota North America, Aldrich was responsible for the design, implementation and operational readiness of campus features and services at its new 100-acre North American headquarters in Plano, Texas. He is a graduate of Lehigh University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Economics.