Green Marketing Class Instructors
Celia Canfield
With 
over 30 years of print and Web publishing experience with some of the leading publishing companies, Celia Canfield is a skilled communications expert. Celia built a successful custom content creation agency as a co-founder of Tendo Communication www.tendocom.com, where she helped some of the largest brands in the world achieve success with customer outreach programs.
As the founder of her own green consultancy firm, EcoVertex, in 2007 Celia has worked with West Coast Green, www.westcoastgreen.com as a business development advisor, and Sustainable Life Media, www.sustainablelifemedia.com. As well, Celia is a board member and founder of Women’s Energy Efficiency Network (WEEnet) and serves as a marketing consultant to Efficiency First (www.efficiencyfirst.org). Celia advises and is on the board of several start-up companies and organizations that are focused on creating a clean energy economy.
Celia’s passion for combining her marketing knowledge with progressive policies and issues has resulted in work with non-profit organizations such Small Business Majority www.smallbusinessmajority.org, where she has been a board member and advisor since its beginning and now serves as the Clean Energy Economy Policy Director. She was a member of Clean Tech for Obama and was appointed to the steering committee member for Al Gore’s 2009 Green Inaugural Ball. In 2010, Celia founded www.greenenergyagents.org with some colleagues as way to help youth groups earn money, save energy and raise awareness by selling home efficiency products in their communities, with a focus on faith communities.
Celia’s has first-hand understanding of implementing green design and utilizing sustainable products and methods from renovating her home to make it LEED-compliant in 2007. She wrote about her green renovation experiences at www.ecovertex.blogspot.com and was featured in the April 22, 2008 issue of USA Today with her green tips for living.
A regular speaker on the subjects of sustainability, green marketing, clean tech entrepreneurship and energy efficiency, Celia has been featured at many conferences and is an adjunct instructor at Skyline Community College and teaches business entrepreneurship and marketing classes.
Ed Thomas
As Executive Director of UtilityExchange.org (www.utilityexchange.org), Ed Thomas provides strategic consultation and tactical event production to help enhance learning and networking among energy and water utilities, government entities, and other like-minded companies and organizations looking to improve the energy efficiency and renewable energy resources available to home and business owners. Some of the organization’s ctivities include the Utility Energy Forum presented in Tahoe each spring and Rocky Mountain Utility Efficiency Exchange presented each fall in Aspen as well as Home Energy Makeover contests. Ed has also developed curriculum and teaches courses at Skyline Community College including the “Fundamentals of Home Performance Business Planning and Management.” He serves on the Boards of the Home Performance Resource Center and EGIA.
Ed was Vice President, Utility and Government Services for the Electric & Gas Industries Association (EGIA) from 2009 to October 2012. EGIA is a non-profit organization that serves member contractors, manufacturers and distributors focused on delivering energy and water efficiency and renewable energy solutions with the knowledge, tools, training and networking that accelerate their business growth and profitability.
From 2006 to 2009, Ed was Managing Partner of Market Development Group, an energy efficiency marketing consultancy. In that role, he worked with energy organizations and allies to design, develop and deliver innovative programs that address energy efficiency, renewable energy and customer service objectives.
As manager of Intermountain Energy, a subsidiary of the Delta-Montrose Electric Association cooperative, from 2002 to 2006 Ed developed and launched nationally-recognized energy efficiency programs, including the Co-Z Energy Plan financing and GeoExchange Comfort Club (with 400 geothermal heat pump installations), Light Bulb Fund Raiser (with over 3,000 CFLs sold at full retail price), and Home Energy Makeover Contest (with over $25,000 in improvements donated by contractors). Ed also served as part-time Marketing Director for Association of Energy Services Professionals from 2002 to 2006. Ed revitalized its Corporate Sponsor program to achieve over $150,000 in revenue and transformed its quarterly printed Strategies newsletter into a monthly email. He helped produced its first Energy Efficiency and Demand Response Technology Symposium presented at SoCal Edison Technology Center.
Nick Harris
Nick is a serial entrepreneur who is passionate about running businesses that make the world a better place. Nick has worked in marketing and selling energy efficiency, solar, and green business for over 10 years. Nick co-founded the home energy improvement company Energy Beyond Design in 2008, and was highly successful at generating leads via effective marketing techniques.
With a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sciences from U.C. Berkeley, Nick focuses on making green businesses successful so they can help create a sustainable future. As a founding member and ex-chair of Efficiency First’s Bay Area chapter, Nick has worked with numerous green companies in the Bay Area.
Nick currently teaches at Skyline Community College and Ohlone Community College. Nick has worked with many start-up web-based companies including directing the sales and marketing at the green cleaning products company Bio Pac. As well, he provides marketing and web consulting services to green businesses around the state.
