Phil Dougherty

Phil Dougherty comes to Helios after 15 years of federal service at the U.S. Department of Energy. Phil has experience in a wide range of advanced energy generation technologies, including wind, solar, geothermal. Phil has served in a number of positions at the Department, including Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, acting Director of the Wind and Hydropower Division, and senior advisor in the Office of Policy and International Affairs.

Most recently, Phil has served as the national director of Wind Powering America, a U.S. Department of Energy program to accelerate the market penetration of wind technology. At Wind Powering America, Phil led a nationwide government team that worked with national, state and local stakeholders across the energy, agricultural and environmental sectors across 34 states. He also led an inter-agency task force to address wind-siting issues that could affect critical federal mission areas, including Department of Defense operations and military readiness.

In 2004, he was a volunteer with Operation Iraqi Freedom, serving in Baghdad, Iraq. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York, and a Master’s Degree from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Paul Gay

Paul Gay comes to Helios with fourteen years of experience as a senior policy adviser on Capitol Hill. Through his work handling energy matters for two members of Congress, Paul has become an expert in climate change, carbon capture and storage, synthetic fuels, and regional transmission organizations. Paul most recently served as Deputy Legislative Director for Senator Robert C. Byrd, President Pro Tempore and Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Previously, Paul was Deputy Chief of Staff for Rep. Brian Baird, where he specialized in energy issues during the West Coast power crisis of 2000-2001. Paul also served as Legislative Director for Rep. Rick Boucher, Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee.

Damian Kunko

Damian Kunko has been working in government relations for over eleven years, primarily in the fields of technology, renewable energy, telecommunications, and healthcare. He has extensive experience in working with companies seeking Federal funding for R&D and with organizations seeking to achieve their Federal marketing goals.  Additionally, he helped co-found the Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition and leads SMI''s business development efforts. 

Prior to joining SMI, he served as the co-founder and CEO of the Rural Broadband Coalition (RBC), a national advocacy organization that lobbied for federal policies and funding for expanded broadband Internet access in rural communities. Mr. Kunko formed RBC after serving as Director of Consulting Services for a healthcare and technology government relations firm. In this position he was primarily responsible for the oversight and development of client activities related to federal marketing and lobbying. Previously, he had served on the staff of a Member of Congress from Washington State.

Mr. Kunko holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Washington State University and served six years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Max Chamovitz

Max Chamovitz has been active in shaping environmental policy for over a decade. In 1993 Max worked in the Executive Office of Vice President Al Gore’s National Performance Review where he assisted in recommending administrative changes to the EPA to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Agency. The following year Max took a position at the Alliance to Save Energy where he worked in the lobbying department, helping to shape policy that was both environmentally conscious and business friendly. Max also spent three years serving as a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Congressman Adam Smith (WA), and in 2005 Max established MC Squared Energy -- a company of environmentally conscious energy consultants dedicated to bringing quality lighting solutions to businesses while saving customers money and helping the environment.

Max graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Bachelors of Political Science, and minors in both Economics and English.

Jennifer Sollars

Ms. Sollars has nearly a decade of experience in state and federal policy making with extensive experience at the US Department of Energy. Most recently she worked for PPL, a Pennsylvania based utility, in their Federal Government Relations office. At PPL she was responsible for identifying and coordinating opportunities within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) culminating in a $19 million smart grid award from the DOE. Ms. Sollars was also responsible for developing and messaging corporate positions relating to Renewable Energy Standards, transmission policy, energy markets, and financial regulatory reform to both bodies of Congress and numerous Federal Agencies, including DOE and the US Department of Interior.

Prior to joining PPL, Ms. Sollars spent four years at the U.S. Department of Energy in the office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. During her tenure she advised two Assistant Secretaries on all matters before Congress relating to alternative energy and energy efficiency including: creation of a Federal Renewable Energy Standard, development of alternative energy tax incentives, and passage and implementation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 including the existing federal loan guarantee program. In addition, she worked with appropriators and staff through four appropriations cycles regarding the office''s $1.2 billion annual appropriation. Before joining DOE, she worked for the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, handling transportation and water issues.

Ms. Sollars began her career in New Hampshire working on numerous political campaigns and directing the federal and state lobbying office of a 1,000 member Chamber of Commerce. She received her BA in Political Science from New England College.

Ms. Sollars is also a Principal in Global Strategic Partners.

Jeff Rickert

Mr. Rickert comes to Helios from the Apollo Alliance, a clean energy coalition of more than 300 organizations that includes business, labor, environmental, and community-based groups dedicated to pushing for an investment agenda to achieve energy independence through clean energy and good jobs. Jeff Rickert served as the Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff for the Apollo Alliance. In that role, Rickert served as chief of operations, crafting the overall strategy for the organization with the President and Board of Directors, developing public policy concepts for the federal, state, and local levels, and working extensively with a wide-range of coalition members. Rickert has developed expertise in all aspects of energy policy, including renewable energy development, oil savings, carbon reduction, cap-and-trade, and energy efficiency policy and implementation. He has a background in industry research, having done extensive study of manufacturing, hospitality, health care, media, and technology.

Scott Lindsay

Scott M. Lindsay brings over 15 years of expertise in government affairs with experience at the federal, state, county and local levels.

He founded SML Consulting in 2003 to offer strategic marketing and government relations consulting to the energy, telecommunications and technology industries. He has been working with SMI and now Helios since then offering advisory and support services.

Over the last few years, he has helped form, advise and provide government relations support for two national trade associations: the Rural Broadband Coalition (RBC) and the Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition (OREC). He is a co-founder and President of RBC - a Washington, DC based association, focused on helping rural communities obtain high-speed, high-capacity access to the Internet (broadband). He is also a founding organizer and staff member of OREC - a Washington, DC based association, focused on promoting the marine renewable energy industry.

Prior to forming SML Consulting, he served as the director of government & member relations for the Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA). He joined NWPPA after three years of consulting for the Association from Morgan Meguire, where he was vice president. While with this Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm, Scott served as a legislative consultant for NWPPA and other energy and technology clients. Mr. Lindsay also spent five years in the office of Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn as a legislative aide and outreach coordinator focusing on energy, information technology, defense, transportation, commerce, banking, foreign affairs, and veterans'' issues.

Mr. Lindsay is a Washington State native and graduated from the University of Portland before moving to Washington, D.C. He now resides in Vancouver, Wash.

David W. Dorheim

Mr. Dorheim has more than 30 years of experience developing, producing, and marketing energy products in the battery, fuel cell and renewable energy industries. Over the last 15 years, he has been the CEO or a member of the Board of Directors at five (5) energy oriented, early stage companies. He is currently President and CEO of DWD Advisors, Inc., a consulting company he formed in 2006 to help Cleantech and renewable energy companies build successful business strategies and secure funding from both public and private sources.

Early in his career Mr. Dorheim gained experience in the energy industry at Black & Decker and General Electric, where he held positions in engineering, marketing and sales management, and manufacturing management. In 1990, he formed AER Energy Resources where he served as President and CEO until 2002. AER Energy Resources was a publicly traded, battery development company based in Atlanta, Georgia that was initially funded by venture capital and completed a successful IPO in 1993. From 2002 to 2006, he served as President and CEO of Neah Power, a Seattle based fuel cell development company funded by venture capital.

At DWD Advisors, Mr. Dorheim helps companies connect the attributes of new energy technologies with early adoption opportunities in the commercial market, and identify funding opportunities with venture capital firms and the federal government, especially at the U.S. Department of Energy. In the last four (4) years, he has worked with companies developing fuel cell, battery, electric drive vehicle, biofuel, electric vehicle grid infrastructure, carbon capture, and wind power technologies. He is currently serving as an advisor to several early stage energy companies and is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa.

Mr. Dorheim received a BA in mathematics and physics from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.