Our Board of Directors come from a wide range of professional backgrounds. We all share a common vision of using energy wisely, to ensure a healthier economy, cleaner environment, and improved energy security.
President
Doug Maraist is an architect with over 30 years of energy conserving design experience in the built environment. Early on, while completing a 5-year environmental design bachelors program in architecture at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Doug realized the simple yet timeless design principals needed to rebuild our communities for the preservation of the health of our planet. For the past several years his focus has been on creating livable, pedestrian and bicycle friendly communities using sustainable urban design principles, small scale mixed-use projects to revitalize downtowns and healthy indoor environments in single & multi-family residences. In 2007 Doug became a certified Sustainable Building Advisor and in 2010 a certified Building Performance Institute residential energy auditor. In October 2008 he co-presented the urban & site-design workshop "Location, Location, Location" at Habitat for Humanity's Mainstream Green National Conference in Tacoma, WA. He presently lives with his wife and children in a small historic town of Norwegian fishing ancestry on Puget Sound, Washington.
Secretary
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.
Treasurer
Tammy Deets has many years of international marketing experience. 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 is 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.
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.
