OUR TEAM
-
Prior to leading the Building Power Resource Center, Yong Jung (she/her) served as the National Field Director for the Green New Deal Network. She built a network of dozens of state-wide coalitions to develop and champion climate policies at all levels of government, including the Inflation Reduction Act. In the last 14 years, Yong Jung mobilized tens of thousands of young people for climate action, co-founded a national political organization, led electoral campaigns from the municipal to presidential levels, and worked on historic legislative fights. Yong Jung brings policy expertise, strategic campaigning and coalition building skills, and facilitation savvy to all of her work. She has a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and graduated magna cum laude with honors in political science from Bryn Mawr College.
Yong Jung Cho
-
Sonal (she/her) is an environmental and energy justice advocate and public health expert. Previously, she served as the Director of Policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, leading the New York policy team and advancing the organization’s policy agenda at the local, state, and national levels. Sonal spearheaded several successful policy campaigns, including New York State's Cumulative Impacts law and New York City’s All-Electric New Buildings Act. She is renowned for her work in advancing environmental and energy justice through policy and program implementation, particularly at the intersection of public health, air quality, and healthy housing. Sonal is a member of the New York State Climate Justice Working Group and the New York City Sustainability Advisory Board. She is also a Climate and Community Project Fellow and a board member for the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships. Sonal holds an MPH in Population and Family Health, with a concentration in Climate and Health, from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
Sonal Jessel
-
Chelsea (she/her) is an accomplished campaign strategist, organizer, facilitator, and researcher with over a decade of experience in the climate justice movement. Previously, Chelsea led Sierra Club’s federal organizing program, where she spearheaded dozens of congressional and federal advocacy campaigns, including the successful campaign to pass and implement the Inflation Reduction Act. As an executive leader of the Progressive Workers’ Union, she fought for and enforced groundbreaking contracts and led intersectional labor, environmental, and racial justice campaigns. Chelsea received a B.A. in Environmental Studies with a concentration in environmental justice at Yale University, and is currently working towards her M.S. in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management at The New School. She lives on the land of the Lenape people in Brooklyn, NY.
Chelsea Watson