ABOUT
SolarizeCNY is administered by the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board (CNYRPDB), with organizational support from Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE), both based in Syracuse, NY. There are dozens of Community Partners around the region that help to make SolarizeCNY so successful.
Chris Carrick
CNYRPDB
Energy
Program Manager
Chris Carrick directs the Energy Management Program for the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board, a public agency that serves Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties. Chris helps communities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the preparation of energy and climate protection plans and the implementation of clean energy projects and public engagement programs like Solarize CNY.
Chris received his Master’s degree in Community Development from the University of California-Davis and was a Fulbright scholar as a doctoral student in City and Regional Planning at Cornell University. He has over twenty years of planning experience and has worked in British Columbia, California, Maine and New York.
Andra Leimanis
AGREE
Communications and Outreach Specialist
Jessica Azulay
AGREE
Program Director
Jessica is Program Director of Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE), a coalition working for a carbon-free, nuclear-free New York. Jessica has been an activist and grassroots organizer for nearly 20 years, working on issues ranging from environmentalism, media, U.S. foreign policy, and economic and social justice.
Originally from rural West Virginia, Jessica currently resides in Syracuse, NY, where she moved 13 years ago shortly after graduating from Sarah Lawrence College. In her current position as leader of AGREE, Jessica works to educate and organize New Yorkers to advocate for a just transition to a 100% renewable energy system. Her areas of expertise include nuclear energy, regulatory policy, and community solar. She is also one of the co-founders of the New York Energy Democracy Alliance, which is working to advance a just and participatory transition to a resilient, localized, and democratically controlled clean energy economy in New York State.
Andra comes to Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE) from a background in plant ecology and botany research; education; public relations; and social media communications. Her environmental advocacy skills were developed during the grassroots movement to have hydrofracking banned in New York State, and she has contributed advocacy, communications, and photography skills to the 2014 and 2015 Solarize initiatives.
At AGREE, Andra works to expand energy conservation; energy efficiency; and deployment of clean, safe energy sources. The work includes opposing bailouts of unprofitable nuclear plants and stemming the expansion of gas infrastructure in New York. Via grassroots organizing and collaborating with diverse organizations throughout the state, Andra helps build alliances to promote a just and participatory transition to a renewable, resilient, and localized clean energy economy in New York. She also works locally in Central New York to help residents and businesses make the transition to clean energy through Solarize and a soon-to-be-launched public education campaign about renewable-ready options for space heating.