2025 Clean Energy Hall of Fame Winners
Lifetime Achievement Award
The Lifetime Achievement award recognizes an individual who has retired or announced their retirement during the year of the event who has at least 20 years of experience advancing clean energy, is seen as a leader in their community, and who has had a significant positive impact on the State of California and frontline communities.
Marty Turock
Executive Director, Cleantech San Diego’s Southern California Energy Innovation Network (SCEIN)
San Diego, California
Marty Turock launched his career with General Electric then moved to Graviton, companies that provided the foundation for him to launch a career that has converted him into a cleantech champion for the San Diego region and a model for California. Over the last two decades, his relentless pursuit to advance clean energy solutions such as energy efficiency, renewables, battery storage, and transportation electrification projects has improved thousands of lives.
As Executive Director of Cleantech San Diego’s Southern California Energy Innovation Network (SCEIN), he supported 75 startups, secured over $546 million in follow-on investment, created over 800 new jobs, mentored over 150 cleantech executives and entrepreneurs, while encouraging college students to pursue energy careers. Marty also helped lead the retrofit of over 75,000 streetlights across 14 cities and San Diego County, saving over 30 million kWh per year. Marty guided over 300 municipal and school facility managers through clean energy transitions.
An advocate for equity, Marty brought clean energy solutions to schools, including Zero Net Energy schools, electric school bus vehicle-to-grid pilots, and data-driven energy conservation contests, helping create healthier environments for local youth. He enlisted the 11 school districts that launched the first 87 electric school buses serving disadvantaged communities. Marty also spearheaded Prop 39-funded efficiency and solar PV upgrades in 528 schools, cutting 48 million kWh/year in energy use and saving $11 million annually. These efforts collectively reduced 70 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions across 44 school districts.
Youth Game-Changer Award
The Youth Game-Changer award recognizes an individual who is 18 years of age or younger, or a leader of an organization focused on working with youth who is helping to advance California toward a clean energy future by combating climate change through innovative methods and inspiring the new generation of energy experts, entrepreneurs, and leaders to change the game.
Judith Gomez
Student Advocate, Climate Action Pathways for Schools (CAPS)
Porterville, California
A dedicated climate advocate since the age of 15, Judith Gomez is a beacon of hope for her hometown of Porterville, which is one of California’s most environmentally disadvantaged areas. Her desire to improve the health and well-being of her community motivated her to join Climate Action Pathways for Schools (CAPS), a program that provides on-the-ground opportunities for students seeking to take action on climate change.
Working with CAPS, she has helped reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions by 80% for seven local schools, designed high-efficiency lighting strategies for 21 schools throughout the Porterville Unified School District (PUSD), and participated in securing a $5.8 million Department of Energy grant to support energy efficiency upgrades for PUSD. This experience motivated her to pursue a degree at Stanford University this fall, an opportunity she cherishes because most kids from her town do not get that type of chance.
Tribal Champion Award
The Tribal Champion award recognizes an individual who is a tribal member, tribal employee, or a person that works for a tribe who has advanced a clean energy future by combating climate change through innovative projects, long term service, dedication to implementing technology, or has served in a key coordinating role that has led to more equitable outcomes and/or transformational change for tribes or tribal communities in California.
Jose “Moke” Simon
Chairman, Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians
Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians and Lake County, California
Jose “Moke” Simon is a collaborative leader whose impact ripples from the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians where he serves as Chairman, to Lake County where he served two terms as District 1 Supervisor and was the first Native American to serve as that district’s supervisor. He works across the rest of California supporting other tribes by reminding state leaders that climate justice must include tribal voices and uplift native nations.
Chairman Simon regularly invites tribes to have critical conversations about tribal sovereignty, clean energy project development, and policy partnerships. He seeks sustainable solutions, combining innovation and indigenous values, to power outages affecting the tribe and surrounding community. Because of his conviction, Middletown Rancheria is the first California Native American tribe to receive an Energy Conservation Assistance Act loan, marking a historic step toward greater tribal access to energy financing.
Clean Energy Champions Awards
Clean Energy Champion awards recognizes individuals who are combating climate change and contributing to California’s clean energy future through their bold moves, leadership, and innovative ideas, while helping benefit communities in California through more equitable outcomes.
Kameale C. Terry
CEO & Co-Founder, ChargerHelp!
Los Angeles, California
Kameale C. Terry, from South-Central Los Angeles, is leading a national shift toward smarter, more reliable electric vehicle infrastructure, that centers communities often left behind. She is the CEO and Co-Founder of ChargerHelp!, a role inspired by her father, who started his first business in his 20’s. Because of Kameale's leadership, ChargerHelp! has built the largest dataset of EV charger service work orders in the nation and expanded operations to 17 states.
The company’s model blends machine learning, predictive maintenance, and workforce development to create high-paying, skilled jobs, particularly for workers in underserved communities. By fusing technology with economic opportunity, she is proving that climate innovation can be designed to be accessible to all. With every charger fixed and every life changed, Kameale is advancing a more just energy future.
Jaime R. Lemus
Director, Transportation & Climate Change Division, Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District
Sacramento, California
Jaime R. Lemus is transforming Sacramento’s clean mobility landscape. As Director of the Transportation & Climate Change Division at the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, he oversees zero-emission transportation and infrastructure investment, ensuring those dollars make impact where it matters most. He co-launched the Del Paso Heights Zero Emission Mobility Hub with community partner GreenTech, bringing electric vehicle (EV) ride shares and electric shuttles to underserved neighborhoods. With 51 more hubs on the way, Jaime has become a powerful advocate for equity-first transportation policies.
Also, understanding that youth need pragmatic ways to learn about and address climate change, Jaime and the Sacramento lowrider community created a program to empower students at the Sacramento Academic and Vocational Academy (SAVA Charter School) to retrofit classic lowriders into EVs. This initiative merges clean technology with Chicano culture, youth empowerment, and hands-on workforce training, showing the next generation how to honor heritage while embracing the future.
Dr. Cassandra Little
CEO, Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce (FMBCC)
Fresno, California
Dr. Cassandra Little is redefining California’s clean economy through mobility justice in California’s Central Valley. Inspired by her grandparents to be a servant leader, she became CEO of the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce (FMBCC) where she is making transportation more sustainable, community-owned, and accessible. Dr. Little helped FMBCC launch the area’s first Clean Shared Mobility Network, which operates a fleet of 40 electric vehicles (EV) and 200 e-bikes in underresourced neighborhoods.
She also created programs like Van-Werx, an on-demand EV van service, and Betting Big, a capital and mentorship initiative for minority-owned clean energy startups. Dr. Little also developed a 12-week EV Accelerator to train entrepreneurs and small business owners in clean mobility innovation, and she mentors new leaders in the energy justice space. Her place-based leadership proves how economic mobility can align with climate resilience.