Janet Orth, President, (12 years of Board service) has a background in public administration and planning, small business entrepreneurship, and the arts. Her areas of expertise include management, communications, fiscal control, and graphics. She and her husband Tony live in a grid-tied solar home they built in 1981, upon moving to Willits from Marin County, California. She has worked for REDI continuously since 1992, as volunteer, staff, and board member. Concurrently, she has worked for Mendocino Council of Governments, the regional transportation planning agency, since 1996 and now serves as MCOG’s Deputy Director. Among her projects at MCOG, she created and managed a successful three-year test and evaluatation of zero-emission vehicles in a rural environment, forming a coalition that included REDI, the transit authority, air quality management district, local government officials, and other public and private partners. The “ZEV Project” demonstrated electric vehicles and infrastructure within a planning program, resulting in several public EV charging stations, a baseline study for transportation planning purposes, and installation of a solar net-metering demonstration. In both her personal and professional life, she continues to promote renewable energy and sustainable transportation.

Keith Rutledge, Vice President for Energy, is a co-founder (14 years) and served as REDI’s executive director for many years. His more than 25 years of experience in the renewable energy field began in the San Francisco Bay Area where he was president of Solar Station, Inc. (a for-profit contractor) and the Alternative Energy Collective (a 501c3 not-for-profit). Later he led the Berkeley Energy Task Force, the Bay Area Environmental Resource Alliance and many other projects. He holds a lifetime teaching credential in engineering with the California Community Colleges and has developed solar energy curricula. In Willits, he has worked for Photron, Inc., where he was responsible for design, installation and financing of many remote PV power projects, including a DOE award-winning system for Caltrans in the Sierras. He and his wife Nancy built an off-grid home completely heated and powered by solar, in which they live and cook on a hydrogen stove. During the 1990s he served as Vice President and Loan Officer at the local community bank where he developed new financing programs for renewables while working with REDI as a volunteer. After years of success with REDI programs, he now pursues his renewable energy career full time, having served as an officer of Solar Integrated Technologies, Inc., and now as Director of Project Finance for Stellar DC Power Systems, Inc. in Healdsburg.

Jonathan Frey, Vice President for Transportation, is another co-founder (14 years). He is a co-owner and operator of Frey Vineyards, one of the oldest organic vineyards in California. He is involved in permaculture, food processing, renewable energy and new energy research. A long-standing member of the California Certified Organic Farmers Association, he has connections with the larger community of sustainable agriculture advocates. These groups have an interest and direct connection with emerging renewables technologies. The Frey family farming and wine-making operations utilize renewable energy systems, providing an example of innovative leadership to the agricultural community.

Ralph Pisciotta, Secretary & Treasurer, (5 years) is a licensed electrician residing in a grid-tied home in Willits, after 30 years living off the grid. He has assisted with all of the REDI Haus electrical wiring, and has donated his professional services to install both of the solar photovoltaic demonstration systems now in use. He installs both solar and hydro energy systems in his business as an industrial, commercial and residential electrician. He is also an occasional instructor for educational workshops.

Phil Jergenson, Board Member, also is a REDI co-founder (14 years of service). Involved in manufacturing since the early 1970’s, he has owned and operated several equipment and machine shops. His Suntools company specializes in renewable energy systems, producing solar-powered vehicles, tools and other gear. His experience includes wind, photovoltaics and micro-hydro systems-- many of which he has designed and built. Living in a solar home, using electric vehicles, and designing the “Sol Train” rail vehicle are just some of his qualifications. He has a special interest in rail villages and enjoys teaching workshops.A graphic artist and illustrator, his skills bring a creative element to REDI’s work.

Jason Bradford, Ph.D., Board member, (2 years) is the founder of Willits Economic LocaLization (WELL), a citizens group working to create a local economy based on the principles of sufficiency, responsibility, and life-promoting actions. Previously he was a research scientist with the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development. He has a doctorate in Evolutionary and Population Biology from Washington University in St. Louis and has considerable expertise in the relationship between biodiversity and climate change. In addition to his scientific credentials, his leadership and community organizing skills have been abundantly demonstrated since his family settled here in Willits.