Staff and Board

Dr. Anissa Rodriguez Dickerman

CEO

Dr. Anissa Rodriguez Dickerman is chief executive officer for Pecan Street, where she works closely with our board of directors and senior leadership team to lead resource and partnership development, guide strategy, and ensure the delivery of programs that achieve measurable results at the intersection of climate solutions, technology innovation, and social justice. She has more than 20 years of experience in non-profit leadership, resource development, social impact research, and working at the nexus of big data and place-based social justice. She will apply her equity-centered research and policy approaches from the education sector to help design an equitable climate transition.

Her business development efforts have yielded over $750M in state and federally-funded grants. Anissa has held various senior positions in the non-profit and for-profit sectors, including chief program officer, executive vice president, chief strategy officer, and chief of staff. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Education degree from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Planning from the University of Texas at Austin with a graduate portfolio in Mexican-American studies.

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.

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.

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.

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

As data manager, Steve designs and implements the software and data infrastructure for all Pecan Street research. Prior to joining Pecan Street, he spent about 20 years working for academic supercomputing centers developing, designing, and implementing full stack software solutions in a variety of languages and technologies, and leading large, complex infrastructure projects in different domains. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from UC San Diego.

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.