Staff and Board

Suzanne Russo

CEO

Suzanne is chief executive officer for Pecan Street. Prior to joining the organization in 2010, she was director of sustainability initiatives for New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development where she led the development of green building and sustainable retrofit standards for municipally-funded affordable housing. Over the past seven years, Suzanne served as chief of staff and then chief operating officer for Pecan Street, during which time Forbes named her one of five women ‘Using Technology to Blow Up Social Change.’ An urban planner with a masters degree in community and regional planning from the University of Texas at Austin, Suzanne has worked in Africa, China, India and the USA on community-based sustainable development.

Fisayo Fadelu

Chief Financial Officer & General Counsel

Fisayo is Pecan Street’s CFO and general counsel. Prior to joining the organization, she worked for Smith International (a subsidiary of Schlumberger Ltd.) where she led teams on Sarbanes Oxley compliance projects in U.S. and international locations. Prior to that, Fisayo worked with the Audit and Assurance Services group at the Ernst & Young’s Houston office where she supervised audit projects for public companies. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Baylor University, a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, and a master’s degree in sustainability and environmental management from Harvard University. She’s a certified public accountant (CPA), a certified information privacy professional (CIPP/US), and is licensed to practice law in the State of Texas.  She also holds certificates in Environmental Policy and International Development and in Green Building and Community Sustainability, both from Harvard University.

Scott Hinson

Chief Technology Officer

Scott is the Chief Technology Officer at Pecan Street, where he leads the Pecan Street Lab and directs research efforts to study the grid and climate impacts for integrating renewable technologies, electric vehicles, and software enabled smart devices that will modernize and decarbonize the electric and transportation sectors. Prior to Pecan Street, Scott worked at a thin film CIGS solar module manufacturer where he led module packaging, performance, certification and reliability efforts. Scott has also worked in the military, medical, consumer and oil industries developing power supplies, precision measurement equipment and inductive heating technologies. Scott received his B.S.E.E. from The University of Texas at Austin with undergraduate specializations in both communications systems and power distribution. Scott was awarded the 2015 Outstanding Engineering Award for “transforming the world’s understanding of consumer and community electricity usage” by the the IEEE Power Engineering Society Central Texas Chapter. He is also a contributing author to Transmission & Distribution World Magazine.

Jill Harlow

Chief of Staff

As Pecan Street’s chief of staff, Jill focuses on resource generation, project management, strategic planning and design of systems and processes to support the organization’s growth. An accomplished strategist, writer and organizational leader, she spent 18 years at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, where she transformed a scrappy local start-up into a nationally respected force for science-based climate and sustainability solutions. Jill is a Colby College graduate and an alumna of the Williams Mystic Maritime Studies Program and the Salt Center for Documentary Field Studies. She has a certificate of executive leadership from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendosa College of Business.

Bart Bohn

Startup Advisor

Bart builds startup programs and supports entrepreneurs addressing climate and environmental impacts.  He founded ATI Water, an incubation program focused on reducing water consumption in agriculture, energy production and manufacturing, and SEAL, the startup accelerator program at The University of Texas at Austin. His own startups have focused on applying big data tools and machine learning techniques and were part of Techstars, Austin Technology Incubator and Capital Factory.

Akuakem (AK) Defang

Database Administrator

As database administrator, AK optimizes the performance, security and availability of Pecan Street’s various data assets. Before joining Pecan Street, he was database administrator for Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) in Rochester, New York. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Buea, Cameroon. His graduate degree in agribusiness from Waikato University in New Zealand focused on data-centric green agriculture policies.

Josey Fatzinger

Administrative Assistant

Josey joined Pecan Street in 2018 and supports all staff with various project management needs, including scheduling, purchasing and interfacing with our volunteer research participants. Her experience coordinating volunteers in non-profit environments is a key asset for the team. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Cross-Cultural Sociology and has worked with international refugees, older adults, children, and individuals with intellectual disabilities.

John Hall

Advisory Chair

John Hall leads Pecan Street’s work on Race, Energy & Climate Justice. He has worked on environmental and social justice issues in Texas for nearly 40 years, most recently as an associate vice president at Environmental Defense Fund. He was the executive director of the Texas Environmental Research Consortium in Houston, chaired the Texas Water Commission and Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission (predecessor agencies to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality), managed projects for the Port Authority of Houston, and was deputy commissioner at the Texas General Land Office.

Rachel Jenkins

Director of Operations

Rachel is the director of operations for Pecan Street. Rachel joined Pecan Street in 2012 and has served as the research programs coordinator helping to expand the organizations volunteer research network and as programs manager and lab manager, overseeing Pecan Street’s research programs. She received her B.A. in anthropology from The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining Pecan Street, Rachel worked as a legal assistant and served as a property manager in the greater Austin area.

Clayton Johnson

Communications Manager

Clayton joined the Pecan Street team in March 2020, where he leads the organizations communications and outreach efforts. Previously with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he has a background in clean energy policy, advocacy and communications. He earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental and sustainability studies from the University of Utah.

Kiba

Chief Morale Officer

In Japanese, Kiba means fang. At Pecan Street, it means a happy staff. Kiba joined Pecan Street shortly after his birth and, as CMO, ensures that all Pecan Street employees feel good about their day. He specializes in cuteness and cuddling and lives with his human, Pecan Street’s Luis Peña.

Cavan Merski

Data Analyst

Cavan is a Data Analyst at Pecan Street where he turns our data into insights through analysis and reporting. Previously he worked at the City of Austin’s Office of Sustainability where he led their greenhouse gas accounting efforts and helped develop their latest Climate and Equity Plan. Prior to that he was a semiconductor test engineer at Samsung and received his BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Steve Mock

Director of Data and Information Services

Luis Peña

DevOps Engineer

Luis helps keeps Pecan Street’s various research and database systems up and running. He joined Pecan Street in 2019, after working as an IT support technician for a managed service provider. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Texas State University.

Colin Rowan

Director of Strategy & Communication

Colin has more than 20 years of experience in corporate, political and cause communication and has managed Pecan Street’s communication activity since the organization’s founding. He’s worked for PR firms, candidates and an international non-profit organization and now runs an independent consulting firm. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in political communication from The University of Texas at Austin.

Richard Smith

Master Electrician

Richard is a licensed master electrician with over 24 years experience in electrical construction and service. Richard owned his own electrical contracting business for 13 years. In 2012, he decided to leave construction and focus his attention on electricity research and renewable energy.