RenUSA is a unique and formal affiliation of accomplished business entrepreneurs, energy experts, public policy professionals, campaign directors, communications specialists and coalitions builders working together with select clients in the energy industry who share our commitment to building and advancing America’s renewable energy infrastructure.
With personal experience on all levels of projects, campaigns and business, our team is ready to help get your project approved.
Amber Clayton is RenUSA’s Director of Administration. She has over twenty years of experience serving in executive administration and human resources roles for a variety of business industries, including energy, law, and manufacturing. Amber currently manages RenUSA’s human resources, executive assistance, and finance departments.
Amber is a graduate of Hamline University with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management. She resides in Minnesota with her husband and son.
(1970 – 2023)
The RenUSA family lost our co-founder, colleague, mentor, and friend, Larry Holdren, in November 2023. Larry was an essential part of us and will be remembered always for his love of this team and our work.
So many of our achievements, advancements, and relationships started with an introduction made by Larry, a man who never knew a stranger. He brought unmatched talent as a communicator, energy expert, and powerful connector, and an unwavering passion for advancing the cause.
We miss him greatly and will carry his spirit forward.
Kate Peters is an accomplished communicator and proud Tar Heel based in Colorado. With her reporter’s curiosity and expert instincts, Kate brings client stories to life, building support among stakeholders in the process. With nearly two decades in public relations and communications within the energy industry, working for clients including Pattern Energy, Steelhead, AES, Shell, Encana, BP, and Devon Energy, Kate’s areas of focus include communications trainings, crisis communications, media relations, stakeholder engagement, events, and strategic messaging support. Kate’s creativity and insights give RenUSA clients a distinct advantage.
As President, Kate leads the organization’s client advocate efforts, ensures a high standard of consistency and value, and supports the best team in the business.
Raleigh Dale is a RenUSA Project Manager with a decade of experience in marketing, public affairs, and stakeholder engagement. A graduate of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, Raleigh’s career in advocacy began in behavioral healthcare, building a nationwide network of supporters to turn out in support of initiatives promoting balanced mental healthcare for those with co-occurring disorders. Raleigh translated these skills in community organizing to the renewable energy space, focusing on bridging the gap between rural and corporate interests and ensuring smooth project development for utility-scale renewable projects.
Born and raised in East Tennessee, Raleigh’s rural roots and extensive communications and coalition-building background allow her to cultivate strong relationships with diverse stakeholders. With transparency, authenticity, and tact, Raleigh has spearheaded dozens of strategic renewable energy campaigns, securing necessary approvals to bring critical projects online for clients such as Pattern Energy, ESA, RWE, and Steelhead Americas.
Raleigh currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, and frequently works on RenUSA’s MISO and PJM projects in midwestern, mid-Atlantic, and southern states.
As a lifelong resident of the desert landscapes of Arizona and the Southwest, Arcelia has been drawn to improving the management of our limited resources, especially in light of our looming climate crisis. After double majoring in Environmental Science and Biology at New Mexico State University, Arcelia went on to take leading roles in successful political and advocacy campaigns to pass 100% clean energy legislation at the state level in New Mexico, forming robust and diverse coalitions and building support for some of the largest renewable infrastructure projects in the country.
Arcelia continues working to bridge the gap between environmental initiatives, renewable energy development, and local community engagement. In both her professional and personal capacities, she strives to bring people to the table to work together and drive the advancement of utility-scale wind, solar, battery, and transmission projects.
Arcelia currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she helps lead our Western project portfolio.
Ben Kelahan is a co-founder of RenUSA. He has over three decades of experience in federal, state, and local legislative advocacy campaigns. Ben’s specialties are coalition building, grassroots organizing, government relations, community engagement, political consulting, and lobbying. To that end, Ben also currently serves as the President of The Advocacy Group (TAG), which brings together top-tier lobbyists nationwide to exchange best practices and compare client issues.
He is also the founder and executive director of ReNew Mexico and co-founder of Western Freedom, two Western coalition-based organizations fighting for legislative and regulatory changes within the energy sector.
Ben resides outside of Washington, D.C., with his wife and kids.
Jeremy Jones is a Project Associate based in Monroe, Louisiana. Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Louisiana at Monroe and a Master of Arts in Public Relations from Full Sail University. Jeremy’s professional journey is marked by a dedicated involvement in community engagement across nonprofit and government sectors, political campaigns, and social services.
In his capacity as a project manager for RenUSA, Jeremy excels in cultivating relationships with political leaders and grasstops organizations. His track record includes successfully securing several resolutions of support for a multi-billion dollar transmission project in the South and executing local community benefits programs on behalf of RenUSA’s clients.
Gillian Kelahan is a talented and passionate RenUSA Project Manager with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. Currently based in Northern Virginia, she dedicates her time to representing clients primarily in the MISO and PJM territories. On any given week, you can find her on the ground in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, building relationships with residents and stakeholders on behalf of RenUSA’s clients.
Gillian’s knack for cultivating relationships in local communities has fostered a deep respect for her among stakeholders and elected officials within her project areas; Gillian recently saw the fruits of her efforts pay off when she successfully helped get the first-ever wind project in Arkansas across the finish line!
Danielle Garcia has served as a Project Manager for RenUSA for the last 4 years. Hailing from a multigenerational family in a rural New Mexico town, Danielle holds a Bachelor of Science in Geosciences with minors in Philosophy, focusing on Environmental Ethics and Environmental Studies from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida.
With a profound passion for environmental and social justice, Danielle has spent the past few years leading initiatives across New Mexico, Arizona, Eastern Oregon, and Kansas, focusing on getting wind, solar, and transmission energy projects approved and permitted. She emphasizes proactive engagement with indigenous communities, social justice, and agricultural groups in project areas as key to her and her projects’ success.
Before RenUSA, Danielle served in nonprofits and political campaigns where she played a crucial role in shaping the organizations’ narratives, advocating for sustainable practices, honing her organizational and mobilization skills, and contributing significantly to campaign success. Danielle’s impact extended to campaigns supporting AbleGrid’s Sandia Peak Battery Storage, community solar, and transmission energy projects across New Mexico, Ohio, and Minneapolis. Danielle’s advocacy journey traces back to her previous work in Climate Justice. She engaged low-income and marginalized communities, initiated a grassroots bus riders union, and championed renewable energy campaigns with the Tampa Bay Climate Alliance. Her diverse portfolio reflects a dedication to positive change through building sustainable communities or advocating for cleaner energy solutions. Danielle is currently based in Los Lunas, New Mexico.
Bri is a Mountain State native who began her career working as a journalist for The Associated Press before transitioning into state government as the Outreach Specialist for West Virginia’s Secretary of State. Bri brings a range of experience to her role at RenUSA–from marketing to strategic communications to stakeholder and community engagement.
Bri is passionate about working with rural communities and building relationships that strengthen local renewable energy project development. To date, she has helped RenUSA’s renewable clients across the Midwest and mid-Atlantic win successful land use campaigns, bringing them one step closer to securing permits for their utility-scale wind and solar projects.
A graduate of West Virginia University, Bri is currently based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Kate Briefs (she/they) is a seasoned community engagement expert with a foundation in education and community organizing. At RenUSA, Kate builds community and voter support for new and ambitious multimillion-dollar infrastructure projects and economic development initiatives for utility-scale renewable energy projects nationwide.
She is tasked with designing and executing plans for local renewable projects based on community needs and creating partnership connections to help clients successfully receive the permits they need to build.
Kate lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and holds an undergraduate degree in women’s and gender studies from Keene State College, complemented by a MED in community development and action from Vanderbilt University.
As RenUSA’s Chief of Staff, Grace Lacke has a proven track record of coaching and leading staff to successfully bring wind and solar projects through permitting. Grace excels at the engagement of stakeholders and building public support for RenUSA-managed renewable energy projects; namely, she has secured wins on behalf of several clients in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa, among other states.
An experienced campaign manager and coalition builder, Grace helps guide RenUSA’s staff in the management of their client projects and campaign plans to ensure goals are met and wins are achieved. Most recently, Grace led the community and stakeholder engagement program for one of PJM’s largest on-shore projects and received a permitting win for the client.
A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Grace has a B.A. in Political Science and spent the first few years of her professional career working in local politics, helping to elect women at the county commissioner and state level.
Jereme Grzybowski brings more than 15 years of senior leadership experience, including campaigns, public policy, and labor and workforce development work, to his role at RenUSA, where he supports the company’s western U.S. client base.
Jereme excels at building teams and executing projects, most recently in the renewable energy technology space. He has managed a variety of large, complex projects focusing on public policy and field campaigns for diverse populations using digital communications, data analytics, and organizing strategies.
Jereme holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon and is a Project Management Professional (PMP) with additional certifications in agile project management, data analytics, and change management. He enjoys time in the mountains and on the water with his wife and kids from his home base of Hood River, Oregon.
Chelsea Norman is a successful senior political advisor with over a decade of experience in political organizing, electoral, legislative, and issue campaigns. She currently serves as RenUSA’s Chief Growth Officer and has been a senior director of field and digital operations for RenUSA since 2020. Chelsea has extensive experience designing and running campaigns to build support for various initiatives.
Since working in the renewable industry, she’s helped lead community engagement campaigns on multiple permitted wind, solar, and transmission projects nationwide. Her renewable clients have included DTE, ESA, Invenergy, Pattern Energy, and RWE, among many others. Before working for RenUSA, Chelsea was the national field director at NARAL in Washington, D.C., where she worked to mobilize grassroots and stakeholder constituencies around the country to move legislation and elect candidates up and down ballots.
Chelsea resides in Nashville, Tennessee, with her two pit bulls, Liberty and Justice.
Dave D’Onofrio has worked for over thirty years as a communications, government, and community relations professional. Dave has overseen a wide range of professional campaign initiatives, from those concerning obscure regulatory matters to billion-dollar infrastructure project proposals. His clients have included Pattern Energy, ESA, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, AT&T, Ford Motor Company, the Carlyle Group, HCA, and many more.
Dave worked for several Washington, D.C.-based trade associations and the Mills Corporation before serving as one of RenUSA’s senior directors. Dave founded The Casey Group and merged his company with RenUSA in 2020. He currently resides in Loudoun County, Virginia.
Tom Byrnes has nearly 30 years of executive-level experience in government, political campaigns and consulting.
Tom has worked to secure critical public support and legislative approvals needed to advance multimillion-dollar economic development projects, government infrastructure initiatives and public-private (P3) partnerships.
Tom spent nearly a decade working in the US Capitol Building for leaders of both the US House and US Senate. Now serving as one of RenUSA’s senior directors in communications, his former clients include Shirley Contracting, L3 Harris, Biosyntec and SPOT Image (France), Tig Productions, HBO and dozens of elected officials.
