Solar Household Energy: Solar cooking for economic development and environmental relief

B o a r d

Mary Hill Rojas (Ed.D.) has 25 years of experience working with social issues in international development within the education and environment sectors. She has worked in countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Rojas has worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to design the women's component for the Ministry of Agriculture in Egypt, served as chief of party for a review of the Rural Integrated Support Project in Tanzania for the Government of Finland, facilitated the strategic planning for Heifer International's global gender program and advised on the integration of social dimensions into the World Bank's Rural Development Strategy. She served as the social scientist on a team to conduct an agriculture and environment assessment of Ghana for USAID and the evaluation of the Parks in Peril Program in Latin America. She was a founder of the Washington, DC-based Community Conservation Coalition.
Patricia McArdle, An energy independence advocate Ms. McArdle is working to convince the nation that ending U.S. dependence on fossil fuels and moving quickly toward the mass production of clean, safe, distributable, and renewable power systems will lead to a stronger, safer America, and a more competitive U.S. economy. Ms. McArdle is currently a volunteer with Al Gore's Climate Project. She has more than 30 years of international and public affairs experience in the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Navy, and the Peace Corps. She was first introduced to solar cooking technology while working as a Senior U.S. Department of State Representative in Northern Afghanistan. Ms. McArdle also sits on the Board of Directors at Solar Cookers International. To read more click here.
Mark Starik (Ph.D.), Professor of Strategic Management and Public Policy at the George Washington (GW) University School of Business and Public Management, in Washington, D.C. He has researched and taught a variety of topics in the general area of environmental policy and management with a focus on the roles of NGOs in environmental public policy, the "greening" of businesses and global sustainable development policy.
Dr. Starik has developed the Environmental and Social Sustainability Initiative at GW and co-founded the Academy of Management Organizations and the Natural Environment interest group. He is a board member of the Mid-Atlantic Region Environmental Professionals (MAREP) and a member of the original Steering Committee that formed Sustainable DC (SDC).
Neville Williams, Chairman of Standard Solar, and founder of the Solar Electric Light Fund and the Solar and Electric Light Company (SELCO). He founded SELCO in February 1997, after seven years leading the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), a non-profit organization devoted to financing and facilitating solar rural electrification in developing countries. A former journalist, Mr. Williams first became involved with solar energy during the Carter Administration as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Energy where he was active in promoting solar technologies, including Photovoltaics.

*Darwin Curtis and Louise Meyer also sit on Solar Household Energy’s board of Directors.