Michael Shellenberger, President
Michael works on and writes about everything from energy to technology innovation to changing social values. As president of the Breakthrough Institute, he is a leading national advocate for the U.S. to make a 10-year, $500 billion public-private investment into cutting-edge clean energy technologies to achieve energy independence, restore America's economic competitiveness, and slow global warming. He is co-author of Break Through and "The Death of Environmentalism." Michael has written for The New York Times, the New Republic, the American Prospect, Salon, Harvard Law and Policy Review, Democracy, and Glamour Magazine. Michael has worked as a strategist for efforts to win action on global warming, save the world's last redwoods, and improve working conditions for Nike factory workers in China. He was raised in Greeley, Colorado, received his B.A. from Earlham in Indiana, and received a Masters Degree in cultural anthropology from the University of California.

Ted Nordhaus, Chairman
Ted is an author, researcher, and political strategist. He is co-author of Break Through and "The Death of Environmentalism." Over the last twenty years, Ted has run major campaigns and initiatives for a large assortment of environmental and progressive political causes including the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense, and Clean Water Action. He also served as the Campaign Director for Share the Water, a coalition of environmentalists, fishermen, farmers, and urban water agencies advocating reform of federal water policies in California, Executive Director of the Headwaters Sanctuary Project, and as a partner and political strategist with Next Generation and Evans/McDonough strategy and research firms serving political campaigns and environmental organizations. Ted holds a B.A. in history from the University of California.

Jeff Navin, Washington Director
Jeff is a strategist and researcher who was most recently Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth. Prior to his service in the House, he served as Research Director to Democratic Leader Tom Daschle. Jeff has worked on a variety of state and federal campaigns in roles ranging from fundraising to field. In 2006, he served as an advisor to the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families' successful effort to overturn that state's restrictive ban on almost all abortions. He has worked for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Senator Tim Johnson's successful reelection bid in 2002, and is the Board Chair of the Center for Progressive Leadership. Jeff is a past recipient of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship for Public Service, and a graduate of the University of South Dakota and the Georgetown University Law Center. He lives and works in Washington, D.C.

Rachel Barge, Project Director
Rachel Barge is a nationally recognized young environmental leader and winner of the David Brower Youth Award, Wild Gift Fellowship, Morris K. Udall Fellowship, and World Wildlife Fund Environmental Leadership Award. Rachel joined the Breakthrough team as a Breakthrough Generation Fellow in June 2008 and now co-directs the IN campaign. Rachel is passionate about youth empowerment and specializes in innovative strategies to help transform America's universities and colleges into multidisciplinary hubs of energy innovation and education. Rachel is a 2008 graduate of University of California at Berkeley with a degree in Conservation and Resources Studies and Forestry. As an undergraduate, Rachel co-created The Green Initiative Fund at UC Berkeley, a $2 million revolving loan that enacts large-scale energy, infrastructure, and sustainability upgrades to the campus, as well as creates student internships. Reflecting Rachel’s commitment to youth empowerment, the fund is paid for and managed by students. While at Cal, Rachel served as Director of Sustainability in the student government for two years and founded the central undergraduate environmental group at Berkeley, which has now expanded to 60 members.

Jesse Jenkins, Project Director
Jesse is a leading young activist, organizer, policy analyst and blogger. Jesse joined the Breakthrough team in June 2008 to co-direct the Breakthrough Generation Summer Fellows Program. He now co-directs the IN campaign and helps Breakthrough develop and advance new energy solutions to power America's future, secure our energy freedom, and halt global warming. Before joining the Breakthrough Institute, Jesse spent two years as a Research and Policy Associate at the Renewable Northwest Project where he worked to advance the development of the Pacific Northwest's abundant renewable energy potential. In the past, Jesse has worked as a researcher and software developer with the Department of Physics at the University of Oregon, where he focused on alternative vehicles and fuels, and as a teacher's assistant in energy studies courses at the university. Jesse has a long history of grassroots climate and energy activism and co-founded the Cascade Climate Network, the Northwest's largest network of youth working to tackle the climate crisis and build a sustainable, just, and prosperous future. An active blogger, Jesse is the founder and blogmaster of the site, WattHead - Energy News and Commentary. He currently writes at several sites throughout the blogosphere and has been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle and Baltimore Sun. Jesse graduated in 2006 with a B.S. from the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon (magna cum laude), where he completed an interdisciplinary course of study in computer science, philosophy, liberal arts, political science & energy studies.

Teryn Norris, Project Director
Teryn Norris is the founder of Breakthrough Generation, the young leaders initiative of the Breakthrough Institute, and was recently Associate Director of the Breakthrough Generation Fellows Program. Teryn previously worked as a Research Fellow at the Breakthrough Institute and American Environics, where he co-authored "Fast, Clean, Cheap: Cutting Global Warming's Gordian Knot," published in the Spring 2008 edition of the Harvard Law and Policy Review. Teryn studied political science and economics as an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University. He served as president of his class and in 2006 founded and led the Hopkins Energy Action Team, a student initiative that won its campaign to achieve a new, university-wide carbon neutral energy policy. Teryn has worked as Chief Research Assistant to Dr. Steve H. Hanke, one of the world's most renowned monetary economists, as well as for the Sierra Club and Environment California, where he was advocated and fundraised for the California Global Warming Solutions Act. He helped organize Power Shift 2007 and has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, Baltimore Sun, Alternet, and he blogs at DailyKos, the Breakthrough Blog, WattHead, and ItsGettingHotInHere.

Molly Tsongas, Project Director
Molly Tsongas specializes in utilizing social marketing, visual communication and community organizing tools to politically mobilize Americans around the goal of creating a clean energy economy. Co-director of the IN campaign, Molly originally joined the Breakthrough team in June 2008 as a Breakthrough Generation fellow. Prior to joining Breakthrough, Molly served as the Pennsylvania State Director for SmartPower, a public interest marketing organization for clean energy and energy efficiency from 2006-2008. In 2007, Molly was a leading presenter with the Climate Project and presented "An Inconvenient Truth" throughout the state of Pennsylvania. She also received special training from the Union of Concerned Scientists to educate audiences regarding the localized impacts of climate change in the Northeast. Molly previously worked in Niki Tsongas' successful U.S. Congressional bid and founded the Estabrook Woods Alliance, a grassroots ecological and historic conservation organization and has worked for various environmental justice organizations. Molly graduated from Brown University in 2005 with a B.A. in Environmental Studies with a focus in development and environmental justice.