Board of Directors
Our Executive Director and Board of Directors come from a wide range of professional backgrounds. We all share a common vision of communities around the world using energy wisely, and ensuring for themselves a healthier economy, cleaner environment, and improved energy security.

Officers

Executive Director/Secretary
Joe Deets has over twenty five years of finance and investment experience from private industry and government in the Pacific Northwest region as well as in Asia. Concerned about climate change and its effect on ecosystems and communities, he is using his experience to create practical solutions to encourage changes in behavior. He is a co-founder of Community Energy Solutions and has been active in community outreach on renewable energy and energy efficiency. He holds a B.S. degree in Finance from the University of Montana, and an M.B.A. from Seattle University. He also holds an M.A. in Environment & Community from Antioch University Seattle, where his studies focused on how to increase renewable energy utilization at the community level.

President/Treasurer
Tammy Deets ran an international marketing business in Hong Kong for many years. She helped Fortune 500 companies and small businesses to open new markets and expand their market share in China. Inspired after observing Tibetan nomads utilize solar panels to generate electricity and yak dung (biomass) for heating and cooking, she came to realize that the solutions to the new century’s energy dilemma lie within every community. She has since been an active advocate in sustainable energy practices, as well as a co-founder of Community Energy Solutions.  Tammy holds a B.A. in Accounting and an M.B.A., both from Seattle University and two Graduate Certificates from Antioch University Seattle; Ecological Planning & Design and Integrated Skills for Sustainable Change. She is also a Certified Sustainable Building Advisor.

Vice-President
Michael Lichtenberger is co-owner of SunWind Concepts, a Bainbridge Island renewable energy sales and installation company. He enjoys helping people find cost-effective solutions to ever increasing energy costs and environmental impacts, and wields a wrench and excel spreadsheets with equal aplomb. His specialties are solar PV and solar hot water systems for residential and commercial customers. He holds an MBA in Sustainable Business from the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, and a Bachelor of Arts in Television and Film production from Point Park University. His previous board experience was an elected position at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, a multi-million dollar media arts center.

David Rapp has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and is a lifelong solar
enthusiast. David's background includes Mechanical Design, Data Acquisition, Data Processing,Computer System Design, Project Management, and Computer Consulting. He has also ventured
outside the technical world of computers and engineering as a licensed contractor and currently works with Bainbridge Construction and Philips Electric, and together they design and install both photovoltaic systems and solar water heaters, as well as basic commercial and residential construction, remodel, and electrical services.
As a Bainbridge Island resident for more than 30 years, David is well versed in the environmental challenges this region presents to the advancement of alternative and renewable energy options for individuals and businesses alike. David believes that educating consumers and decision makers about these energy options is key to the success in promoting and creating wholesome and sustainable communities while reducing demand for fossil fuels.

Bob Dash is a teacher in the North Kitsap School District. His professional interest in environmental education aligns with his personal interest in green building led to his involvement with the first two strawbale houses in Kitsap County. He has long been an avid fan of solar energy, but it was the installation of a 4.45 kilowatt solar array at his Indianola home which really focused his commitment. Over the past two years, Bob and his family have found ways to reduce their energy needs so that nearly all of the home’s electricity comes from solar. At spare time, Bob is a solar field agent for Power Trip Energy, offering site evaluations and sales support in North Kitsap and Bainbridge Island.

Kat Gjovik has lived on Bainbridge Island for 27 years. After more than 25 years in the business world, working in multiple disciplines, Kat transitioned to the study and practice of whole systems design, organizational development and community building. For the past 10 years, she has focused her energies on community organizing and political activism. Kat worked at the 23rd District Democratic Bainbridge Headquarters for the 2004 election, and worked collaboratively on the Bainbridge Island Bill of Rights Defense Committee, the City’s Adopt-A-Road Program, multiple events for peace, regional Earth Charter Community Summits, and Bainbridge Island Earth Day events. She hosts the regular Bainbridge Island Conversation Café, and recently, served as staff for the Community Housing Coalition, which developed recommendations for solutions to the local affordable housing crisis. She currently works with David Korten, author of the Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, on outreach and communication for the national Great Turning Initiative. Her passions include collaborative grassroots organizing for action, designing group experiences and bringing people together in meaningful conversation.

Eric Moe is a mechanical engineer with extensive experience in mechanical system design and integration. He works professionally as a Senior Engineer and Energy Consultant for FVB Energy on projects worldwide. He plays a lead role in the design, development and optimization of community scale district energy and connected building systems. Eric is a published author and frequent presenter in the district energy industry and has helped pioneer new approaches and technology for eliminating common comfort, capacity, and energy issues that adversely affect system performance and economics. Eric is an active member of the International District Energy Association and also serves as a board member of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers. He has a MS in Engineering, an MBA, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering all from the University of Washington. Eric operates out of FVB's office on Bainbridge Island in the Seattle area.

Ryan Vancil is the owner of Vancil Law Offices PLLC. He is dedicated to the development of sustainable communities and to the conservation of the natural environment. His professional experience emphasizes land use and environmental litigation on behalf of citizen groups, individuals, and environmental organizations. He has represented clients in cases involving a variety of courts and hearing boards in many county and local municipal jurisdictions across Washington State. In addition to Community Energy Solutions, Ryan is a strong advocate for local agriculture.

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Advisory Committee Members

David Bangs, an energy investor and former Microsoft manager, founded Home Performance Washington (HPW) in 2009 by bringing together a handful of like-minded auditors and contractors interested using a whole house energy retrofit approach to maximize efficiency, comfort, durability and safety. The group found that working together would be necessary to surmount significant obstacles and transform an industry traditionally focused on installing individual products. Today, HPW is comprised of over 80 service providers, conservation programs, educational institutions and other stakeholders statewide. HPW is, in turn, a founding chapter of Efficiency First, the national organization most responsible for federal legislation promoting performance-based home retrofits, such as the Home Star ("Cash for Caulkers") proposal in the Obama Jobs Bill. David serves as president and policy chair of HPW and as a board member and national best practices committee chair of Efficiency First.

Dylan Chalk, a Washington State Certified Real Estate Instructor, an Energy Star Verifier and a certified Tune-Up energy audit inspector. He first learned to build by restoring antique wood boats in his hometown of Mystic, Connecticut. He graduated from The Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado where he designed his own interdisciplinary Environmental Studies major. He has an extensive construction and building experience and ran a small painting and contracting company in Boulder, Colorado. Dylan began inspecting homes under the tutelage of his mentor and fellow home inspector Raj Hayden of Cardinal Home Inspections. He is currently researching ways to better implement energy efficiency and environmentally friendly building practices into his home inspection and consulting business.

Matthew Coates, AIA LEED AP
Founded Coates Design, Inc., Seattle, in 2004. www.coatesdesign.com
Matthew is an award-winning architect, with over 15 years of design and consulting experience. He is forward-thinking, focusing on where architecture and sustainable designs are heading - using technology to promote the most versatile use of energy and materials.
He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards and has been published in respected publications including: Wall Street Journal, Dwell, Men’s Journal, Professional Builder, New York Times.

Kol Medina is the Executive Director of the West Sound Wildlife Shelter, an attorney, and a life-long environmental enthusiast. During his four years as Executive Director of West Sound Wildlife Shelter he has overseen the substantial expansion of the Shelter’s wildlife hospital, staff, and education services. During this time he has also continued his law practice and has served on numerous boards including the Association of Bainbridge Communities, the West Sound Wildlife Shelter, One Call for All, and the National Association of Environmental Law Societies. From 1996-1998, Kol and his wife, Elsa, served as Peace Corps Volunteers in West Africa, managing a forest valuation project, a livestock valuation project and designing an educational children’s bird book. Kol obtained his BA in Environmental Studies at Carleton College and his law degree at Stanford Law School.

Gary Nystedt has been Resource Manager since 1990 for the City of Ellensburg, Washington. Gary is responsible for managing the municipal utility’s Conservation & Renewable Programs. To date, he has completed over $16 million in conservation projects. In November 2006, he led the completion of Phase I of the nation’s first community solar project, a 36 kilowatt photovoltaic system visible along Interstate 90. Efforts to complete Phase II of the project are currently underway, with the goal to double its size.

Kathleen O'Brien is founder and president of O'Brien & Company, a nationally recognized leader in sustainable design-build consulting, education, and research. She organized the first regional conference in the Northwest for the green building industry and has worked with local chapters of the National Association of Home Builders to develop award-winning green building programs. Her own green home has achieved the highest rating in Built Green, won the Parade of Homes Environmental Achievement Award, and has been featured on Home and Garden TV. She has published more than 100 articles including features in the Journal of Light Construction, Environmental Building News, Construction Data, and Building with Nature.  Her first book, The Northwest Green Home Primer, was released this year.

Jonathan Scherch, PhD has served as Core Faculty within the Center for Creative Change (C3) at Antioch University Seattle. His teaching, research and consulting includes themes of social work and sustainable living innovations, environmental education and leadership, organizational development and community readiness for climate change and peak/post-petroleum futures, international bamboo cultures and integrated resource "guild" cooperatives. In 2006/07, he completed a sabbatical as Visiting Foreign Faculty at Zheijiang Forestry University in Linan County, China. He taught graduate courses on themes of sustainable community development, ecological design and pursuing collaborative, funded research on social, economic and environmental contexts of sustainable bamboo resource systems.