Cornell Energy Connection

Alicia Barton is chief executive officer of FirstLight Power, a power producer and energy storage company with the largest clean energy generation portfolio in New England today. For over 20 years, Ms. Barton has dedicated her career to advancing new clean energy projects and markets in areas such as offshore wind, solar, energy storage, efficiency, and accelerating clean technology innovation. She has held several clean energy leadership roles in the public and private sectors, including as president and CEO of the New York Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), co-chair of the Energy and Cleantech Practice at Foley Hoag LLP, and chief of operations of the Global Utility business unit at SunEdison. Ms. Barton is also a board member of Greentown Labs, Utilidata, and the Environmental League of Massachusetts. She holds a B.S. in Natural Resources from Ohio State University and a J.D. from Boston College Law School.

Jeff Weiss is the co-founder, co-chairman, and managing director of Distributed Sun (DSUN), which develops and operates community solar, C&I, and utility-scale projects in 11 states. He leads DSUN’s capital formation, business development, strategy, and governance. An early digital media and commerce entrepreneur, Mr. Weiss has led companies in digital media, renewable energy, cyber and physical security, intelligence and corporate fraud mitigation, mission preparedness and training, software development, and transformational management. He is also a Washington Leadership Co-Chairman of Business Executives for National Security (BENS), a board member of the Atkinson Center for Sustainability, a Trustee Council member of Cornell University, an Executive Committee member of DC’s oldest synagogue, a past co-chair of the Aspen Institute’s Socrates Society, and a founding director of Shenandoah National Park Trust. Mr. Weiss graduated from Cornell and Wharton. 

Kate McGinnis is a technology leader with over 20 years of experience in energy and environmental markets. She is a strategy expert in renewable energy, energy efficiency, emissions reduction, and storage technologies, as well as the interplay between cleantech and traditional energy sources. Ms. McGinnis’s expertise is in managing uncertainty at the intersection of policy, environment, and technological innovation. Throughout her career, she has worked in project development across six continents.

Lang Tong is the Irwin and Joan Jacobs Professor in Engineering at Cornell University as well as the Cornell site director of the Power Systems Engineering Research Center (PSerc). He is part of Cornell’s Engineering and Economics of Electricity Research Group (E3RG), which investigates data analytics, system optimization, and market issues associated with renewable energy, storage, and the electrification of transportation systems. Professor Tong is a fellow of IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, and has received numerous IEEE paper awards, including the Signal Processing Society Best Paper Award (2004) and the Communications Society Leonard G. Abraham Prize Paper Award (2004). He also is the 2018 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Alternative Energy. Professor Tong holds a Bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame.