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Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis Staff

The Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA) integrates diverse voices from research, universities, nonprofits, and industry to identify and build expertise around emerging multidisciplinary clean energy challenges.

Elizabeth Doris, Ph.D.—Director

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Elizabeth Doris is the institute director and has worked in domestic and international energy efficiency and renewable energy policy research for over 20 years. Doris has worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) since 2005, most recently serving as the laboratory program manager for NREL's State, Local, and Tribal Program. Doris has spearheaded several large initiatives at the laboratory, including the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project to support remote, island, and islanded communities in transforming their energy systems and increasing energy resilience. Doris also served as the NREL lead of the National Laboratory Directors’ Council Community-Engaged Research initiative—a 17-laboratory group that identifies areas where national laboratories can increase mission effectiveness by engaging communities. Most recently, Doris served as senior advisor on energy justice within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.


Debbie Brodt-Giles—Program Manager

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Debbie Brodt-Giles is the institute's program manager and senior advisor. Brodt-Giles manages the American-Made program, a comprehensive prize program dedicated to advancing diverse and inclusive clean energy technology innovation, supported by a robust technical and business network of incubators, accelerators, national labs, and facilities. Brodt-Giles also developed and manages a voucher program, called VELOCITI, that enables innovators to use vouchers at national lab facilities—opening the front door of our national labs to innovators across the country. Her long career at NREL includes many years leading teams that develop leading-edge data-driven software platforms, data accessibility standards, cloud computing practices, data management systems, data visualizations, and modeling solutions. She is excited to continue to grow programming and partnerships that will further advance the clean energy economy, accelerate innovation, speed commercialization, and open opportunities for diverse and inclusive participation.


Kristin Wegner Guilfoyle—Rural Network Development

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Kristin Wegner Guilfoyle is the project leader for rural network development. In this role, Wegner Guilfoyle uses her more than 15 years of project leadership experience to lead the development and implementation of rural research networks. Before joining JISEA, Wegner Guilfoyle worked at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, leading networks of researchers from diverse communities—including rural/remote communities, Indigenous communities, academic institutions, and industry professionals—to co-create and implement collaborative research agendas at the intersection of the environment, technology, society, and equity and justice. She also consulted for Fortune 500 companies and mentored startups and was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic, a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in Colombia, and an Energy Fellow through the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association.


Sarah Gomach—American-Made Prize Program Lead

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Sarah Gomach is an American-Made prize program lead. Gomach leads prizes across a range of industries, including solar, geothermal, direct air capture, utilities, wind, and the incubator/accelerator community. She also works with an ecosystem of national laboratories, universities, accelerators, and industry experts across the United States to support clean tech entrepreneurs and innovators. Gomach has spent more than a decade on different aspects of sustainability. Prior to NREL, she worked in corporate social responsibility, managing the grantmaking portfolio at a corporate foundation and at a leading nonprofit social enterprise as well as managing projects that enabled smallholder farmers to mitigate the impacts of climate change.


Jared Temanson—Catalyzers Program

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Jared Temanson is the project leader for the Catalyzers program. In this role, he uses his experience designing and managing research, development, demonstration, and deployment programs to identify and foster new capabilities across the institute and its network of university and industry partners. Temanson started his career in clean energy in 2009 at NREL's Integrated Applications Center. During his eight years at the lab, Temanson supported several key DOE programs and offices, including the Federal Energy Management Program, the Integrated Deployment program, and the Office of Indian Energy. His work focused on supporting communities in defining and deploying appropriate clean energy solutions to address specific environmental and energy security needs. Following his time at the lab, Temanson built and led customer success teams at two smart building startups, building cutting-edge energy efficiency and demand response programs for commercial and institutional real estate customers.


Nick Langle—Senior Technical Product Manager

Nick Langle

Nick Langle is an experienced technical leader in web application development and digital product management. As the technical lead for the American-Made Program and other NREL web projects, Langle advocates for a performance-focused culture, aiming to achieve net-zero goals by minimizing the impacts of the web. Langle joined NREL in 2010 as a member of the Geospatial Analysis Team and later transitioned to front-end web development. He took on the technical leadership of the American-Made web efforts in 2018 and joined JISEA in 2022. He is known for his expertise in user experience design (UX) and developer experience (DX) and has a track record of delivering industry-recognized, high-performing web applications using a variety of technology stacks. Langle also has rich experience in service management and automation programming, having previously directed service operations and provided technical support for low-voltage automation systems.


Emily Evans—American-Made Senior Prize Lead

Emily Evans

Emily Evans is a senior prize lead for the American-Made program. Emily's role entails leading prize design and implementation across a diverse spectrum of technologies including solar, geothermal, buildings, advanced manufacturing, and community-led energy innovation. Emily actively collaborates with a network comprising national laboratories, universities, accelerators, and industry experts nationwide, fostering support for clean tech entrepreneurs and innovators. Prior to joining the American-Made team as a prize administrator in 2019, Emily held diverse positions at NREL, including roles supporting international energy projects. Her varied experiences have equipped her with a comprehensive understanding of energy landscapes, complementing her current endeavors in advancing innovative solutions.


Jamie Henricks—Project Controller

Jamie Hendriks

Jamie Henriks is a project controller and manages the oversight of all institute financials. Henriks joined NREL in 2022 as a project controller for the American-Made Challenges program. She joined the program during a time of unprecedented growth, so her role included developing tools and processes for tracking and managing the growing portfolio of prizes. Prior to joining NREL, Henricks worked for more than 15 years in international development, including serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in South Africa, working as a capture manager for a USAID contractor in Washington, D.C., and leading the business development team at a leading Denver-based nonprofit focused on smallholder farmers in developing countries.


Azine Askarinya—Project Controller

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Azine Askarinya is a project controller responsible for subcontract management, analyzing and monitoring budget health, and organizing a variety of efforts and processes. Askarinya joined NREL in 2018 as a business support professional in the Computational Science Center. In 2020, Azine moved to the Center for Integrated Mobility Sciences as a project controller where she provided programwide support tracking milestones and deliverables, managed project budgets, processed resource allocations, and tracked project finances. Azine’s background predominantly lies in project management, process improvement, and client relations. Prior to joining NREL, Azine managed project deliverables and contract negotiations in the construction and semiconductor industries. She is a member of the Women’s Energy Network of Colorado along with the Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainability community.