2024 Board of Directors
Kevin Augustyn
Board Member
Senior Vice President
DBRS Morningstar
Kevin Augustyn is a Senior Vice President in the North American CMBS, Global Structured Finance group at DBRS Morningstar. DBRS Morningstar is a credit rating agency and investment research firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. In his role at DBRS Morningstar, Kevin covers several esoteric finance instruments and leads Morningstar's effort to provide credit ratings for CPACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) loans on a national basis. He also serves on the firm's ESG methodology subcommittee.
Lindsay Buckwell-Yeung
Governance Chair
Senior Program Manager
Evergreen Consulting Group
Lindsay manages various energy efficiency programs across the Midwest and New England, spanning from controlled environmental agriculture, to food service, and small business.
Prior to joining Evergreen, Lindsay worked as a consultant to McDonald’s Corporation where she managed energy efficiency programs across their 15,000 restaurant U.S. portfolio. In addition, she worked with their sustainability team to draft a water conservation plan for the corporation. She is most proud of working on the first net zero quick service restaurant in the U.S. that McDonald’s opened in Orlando, Florida. Before her work with McDonald’s, Lindsay held various roles in new construction, multifamily retrofit, and single-family income eligible energy efficiency programs.
On the Board, Lindsay provides a utility-focused perspective to implementing the strategic plan and incentivizing net zero initiatives in the Chicagoland area.
Jon Cheffings
Communications Chair
EVP Strategy
SCC&M
Jon has decades of experience in broad based marketing expertise: Advertising, Brand Strategy, Communications Strategy, Promotions, Shopper Marketing, B2B, Media/Communications Planning. He has worked for award winning agencies and numerous campaigns.
At Illinois Green, he provides strategic advice to support communications initiatives.
Royce Cunningham
Board Member
Owner
Architectural Services Group
Royce is an entrepreneur and lifelong Bronzeville resident with a deep commitment to environmental justice and climate action. He is currently the owner of Architectural Services Group, Inc., a Chicago-based alliance of construction industry professionals who are working to link, leverage, and lead renewable energy, natural resource conservation, and sustainability benefits to Chicagoland urban communities.
Annalise Dum
Board Chair
North America Sustainable Buildings Practice Lead, JLL
To date, Annalise has over 100 projects under her belt and has managed ESG advisory and certification efforts for 16 million+ square feet of space. 17 of her projects have received certifications including LEED, WELL Health-Safety Rating, Fitwel, ENERGY STAR, and WELL (including Portfolio). Having worn many professional hats in the corporate and nonprofit spheres, including commercial interior designer, facilities manager, and sustainability manager, she is a green building subject matter expert.
Annalise's fresh perspective, dedication, and impact are evident through her involvement on Illinois Green's Auxiliary Board the past several years.
Owen Hull
Board Member
Senior Vice President
Weldon Development Group
Owen’s 10+ years in the real estate industry have included a breadth of responsibilities with key focus on capital structuring and financial management.
Prior to joining Weldon Development Group, Owen was a Development Manager at Lendlease Development, Chicago. In this role he was responsible for the day-to-day management and execution of development projects from concept through disposition. With a strong background in real estate finance, Owen was instrumental in capitalizing large and complex projects (>$250m) employing creative funding structures while building and maintaining strong capital partnerships.
Additional responsibilities at Lendlease included oversight of asset and property management teams with focus on budgeting, pricing, lease-up, sales and marketing. Serving as the project sustainability lead, Owen managed all third-party certification efforts, including LEED & FitWel in addition to spearheading cutting edge initiatives such as building Life Cycle Assessments, driving green innovations such as industry leading Low Embodied Carbon Concrete.
Prior to Lendlease, Owen was a Senior Associate with Duff & Phelps on the Real Estate Advisory team, providing M&A transaction guidance to a wide variety of real estate investors and users across all major asset classes in both domestic and international markets.
He received dual Bachelor of Business Administration degrees in Real Estate & Finance from the University of Wisconsin – Madison
Juanita Garcia
Board Member
Senior Project Manager
Pepper Construction
Juanita Garcia is a Senior Project Manager at Pepper Construction Company. Drawing on more than 15 years of experience in the construction industry, Juanita joined Pepper's High Performance and Sustainable Construction team based on a shared commitment to improve people's quality of life through the built world. Among the first advocates to earn the LEED AP credential with the BD+C specialization, she joined Pepper to advance Carbon Drawdown strategies in the built environment. Juanita draws on her study of psychology, human rights, and massage therapy, which allows her to incorporate a well-rounded health and wellness perspective into the built environment.
A member since 2009, Juanita is excited advance the Illinois Green Alliance 2050 mission and promote Carbon Drawdown strategies. She has been committed to sharing the urgency to incorporate carbon drawdown strategies with broader audiences. Whether drawing lessons learned from the three little pigs with a group of students or using comedy to make technical information about refrigerants or energy efficiency more accessible, Juanita believes in bringing together people to actively work toward a healthier built environment.
Michelle McClendon
Secretary
Senior Project Executive
Gilbane Building Co.
Michelle McClendon is a Project Executive at Gilbane Building Company. With more than 17 years in the construction industry she has encompassed a diverse portfolio of projects including corporate headquarters, high-end and multi-family residential, schools, public use facilities and much more. She is a champion for sustainability, and healthy-high performing construction having worked on and successfully achieved certification under the LEED for Schools, LEED ID +C, LEED BD +C and WELL sustainability rating systems. As a Project Executive for Gilbane's K-12 and public sector market her commitment to promoting sustainability has increased as she is a primary stakeholder in providing direction to owners, colleagues and subcontractors in the planning and execution of healthy, and high-performing projects that directly impact the communities we live and work in.
Prior to her role at Gilbane, Michelle was a Senior Project Manager at Leopardo Companies, Inc. and served as co-chairman of Leopardo Construction's Sustainability Committee for nearly 10 years in which she helped steer corporate policy and practices around sustainability.
Deana Haynes
Board Member
Director, Commercial Real Estate
ChargePoint
Deana Haynes, MBA, Assoc. AIA, NOMA, LEED AP BD+C, is a real estate executive with nearly 20 years of multidisciplinary experience in the industry. As Director of Commercial Real Estate at ChargePoint, she's expanding ChargePoint’s leadership in the Commercial Real Estate segment through the development of new technology solutions and business models that allow real estate organizations of all kinds to capitalize on the growing need for EV charging at their properties. An experienced sustainability leader, she has also developed and implemented corporate sustainability strategies and green building transformation initiatives for a number of organizations. Her professional career includes tenure at leading organizations including JLL, Lendlease and Ernst & Young. She holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and earned a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Deana’s career has been underpinned by a foundation of, and passion for, sustainability and community engagement for the greater good. On the Illinois Green Alliance Board of Directors, she leverages both her professional and non-profit experience to effect positive change and impact in the city and state that she calls home as well as the industry where she has spent her career. With over 10 years in nonprofit leadership roles for organizations focused on education, homelessness and affordable housing, Deana understands the day-to-day and long-term challenges nonprofits face and looks forward to supporting Illinois Green in achieving its mission, 2050 vision and strategic plan toward net zero.
John Mlade
Ex-Officio Chair
Director, Sustainable Environments, Wight & Co.
John has been practicing in a dedicated sustainability role within design, engineering, consulting, and construction firms for the better part of two decades, developing a command of both the science and art of sustainable design and construction.
John looks forward to serving as the 2023 Chair of the Board of Directors for the Illinois Green Alliance as we make great strides to decarbonize Chicago and the State of Illinois! With our 2020 strategic plan, we have a robust strategy in place to accelerate and solidify Illinois Green’s place in the market, leading lasting change in new ways, and creating the positive impact that we want to see in the world.
John's professional focus has been on health in the built environment, including air quality, materials health and transparency, active design, and biophilia.
John is a LEED Fellow, serves as a Faculty Member for the WELL Building Standard, and is a Living Building Challenge Auditor on behalf of the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).
Amina Helstern
Board Member
Senior Regenerative Design Advisor, Perkins & Will
Amina Helstern is a Senior Regenerative Design Advisor at Perkins&Will where she oversees high-performance energy and carbon analysis, material research, health and well-being initiatives, and resilience strategies. Trained as an architect, Amina incorporates environmental strategies into the earliest phases of the firm’s corporate interiors, residential, mixed-use, K-12 education, branded environments, sports and recreation, and affordable housing projects. A member of Perkins&Will’s Living Design Leadership Council, Amina works with other experts in design, sustainability, and technical execution to refine the strategic direction for the firm and, by extension, the industry. She has developed numerous tools and resources for project teams and clients to track quantitative and qualitative metrics, resulting in more positive environmental outcomes. Amina is a LEED AP, a Fitwel Ambassador, and has experience with Enterprise Green Communities. She is actively involved with Perkins&Will’s Material Performance and Human Experience research labs. She was part of the research team that released the “Healthy Affordable Housing: The Toolkit” and is currently working on an ASID Foundation grant to develop the Public Repository to Engage Community & Enhance Design Equity tool, which will help designers integrate and translate public health data into design decisions. Amina is a 2023 Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Leader in Sustainability.
Sean Moran
Board Member
Senior Project Manager
Clayco
Sean Moran is a Senior Project Manager at Clayco, a design-build General Contractor in Chicago, IL. With over 15 years of experience integrating design, engineering, and construction in the pursuit of sustainable buildings; Sean has been a student, practioner, and teacher of green building throughout his career. Sean has been a LEED AP, BD+C since 2010, received PHIUS Builder Certification in 2012, and has been a dedicated advocate to advancing the industry to align with the needs of the climate. Sean founded and owned Newgrange Design-Build in 2008, where he and his team were part of the LEED Platinum Green Exchange Building in Logan Square, and focused on the delivery of high-performing residential and commercial construction.
As an early supporter of the USGBC and member of the Illinois Chapter, Sean has found strong alignment with the Illinois Green’s mission and his passion to improve the built environment.
Connect with Sean on LinkedIn.
Elena Savona
Treasurer
Director, Federal Partnerships
Elevate
Elena Savona is the Director of Federal Partnerships at Elevate, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating equitable solutions to climate change that provide healthy, safe, and affordable homes for everyone. Elena is an expert in energy and sustainability, and is passionate about equitable climate action that brings the benefits of clean energy to all. Over her 20 years of experience in the energy and sustainability industry, Elena has led projects that range from city energy planning and utility energy efficiency program management to individual energy audits and infrastructure assessments. Elena has been a member of Illinois Green Alliance since 2008 and has collaborated with the organization in different capacities, including as the chair of the Programs Committee and now serving on the Board of Directors.
Sandrine Schultz
Board Member
Sustainability Advisor
U.S. General Services Administration
Currently, I work for the General Services Administration (GSA) at the Washington DC Office of Government-wide Policies and High Performance and Green Buildings (OGP-OHPGB). My previous experience as Director of Energy and Sustainability at Chicago Public Schools allowed me to apply lessons from the Federal Government and implement a more ambitious program to address climate change. My goal was to engage with principals and students, and I was pleasantly surprised to see their enthusiasm for waste reduction, renewables, transitioning away from fossil fuels, electrifying the fleet, and making CPS part of the Better Buildings Program led by the Department of Energy (DOE). With the new administration under President Biden at the White House, I recognized there would be significant changes in the approach towards the climate crisis and clean energy initiatives. It was the right time for me to return to Washington, DC, and extend my support to all the efforts being made across various sectors, not only at the federal but also at the state and local levels. Throughout my 20-year career in the energy, utility, and sustainable industries, I have tackled challenges such as budget limitations, keeping up with rapid technological advancements, and convincing upper management to support initiatives. I have collaborated with many individuals from different backgrounds, all of whom have contributed unique and creative ideas to the team. I have created tools to enable facility managers, procurement specialists, and design teams to perform their work effectively and efficiently.
Prachi Sharma
Board Member
Outreach Manager
Slipstream
Prachi Sharma is a Field and Outreach Manager at Slipstream. Her responsibilities include managing a Midwest Utility Energy Efficiency Program for the Commercial, Industrial, and Public Sector New Construction Portfolios. The program provides energy modeling and financial incentives on energy conservation measures.
Prachi is an architect by education and has worked with nonprofit organizations in the field of conservation that gives her a unique perspective on both old and new practices of sustainability that leave a green footprint on the environment. After 3 years at a residential developer, Prachi pursued a Master’s degree in Sustainable Management from DePaul University. Prachi also has a LEED Green Associate certification and is deeply passionate and committed to the field of sustainability.
She interned at Illinois Green Alliance in 2018 and has been volunteering for the past five years.
Sumayyah Theron
Board Member
Director of Sustainability
Cyclone Energy Group
Sumayyah Theron is the Director of Sustainability at Cyclone Energy Group. With 20 years in the industry, her expertise spans climate change policies, global sustainability frameworks, and extensive expertise in building performance. In her position she managed carbon reduction projects and initiatives, including the development and improvement of sustainability and healthy building services for clients and the advancement of the company’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts. She led the expansion and management of sustainability programs and green building certifications at Cyclone Energy Group, including LEED, WELL, Fitwel, and Green Globes. Before this, she worked internationally as an architect and building science consultant, designing buildings, and conducting energy audits. Sumayyah's rich certification list includes E.I.T, WELL Accredited Professional, Fitwel Ambassador, and Green Globes Professional and Fellow. A dedicated industry advocate, she's an active member and a volunteer on several committees of ASHRAE, ILGA, and the Green Building Initiative (GBI).