Eric Lemelson
Eric Lemelson is the President and Founder of the Karuna Foundation, Vice President and Treasurer of the Lemelson Foundation, an environmental lawyer, a winery owner, and a climate change and energy policy activist.
Jennifer Bruml
Jennifer Bruml is an active community volunteer involved with a number of organizations in Portland, Oregon. The majority of her work focuses on homeless youth, primary through high school science education and art education. She is currently on the board of The Lemelson Foundation, OMSI, Our Table Cooperative and Pear.
Lafcadio Cortesi
Lafcadio Cortesi is an environmental activist focused on preserving the rainforests of Indonesia. His past employers include, but are not limited to, Greenpeace and Rainforest Action Network.
Lisa Danzig
Lisa Danzig is an infectious diseases physician and Vice President of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at PaxVax. She spent over 18 years at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics where she worked on the development and licensure of meningococcal vaccines and blood screening solutions. She is an independent director at OrSense, serves on the boards of the Merola Opera Program and the Karuna Foundation and is an advisor to the Lemelson Foundation, Kernel, and the Batchery.
Tom Novick
Tom Novick is a partner at M+R, a progressive national public affairs company, and a former Oregon State legislator with 40 years of experience working on public policy issues and campaigns at the state and national levels. Tom currently works with numerous foundations, funder collaboratives, organizations and individual philanthropists, providing evaluation services and strategic and political assessments.
Julia Novy
Julia is a Lecturer at Stanford University, with research and teaching focused on building a sustainable society - integrating human and ecological priorities. A World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, Clinton Global Initiative Topic Leader, Fulbright and Marshall Scholar, and graduate of Stanford University, Julia has served as a non-profit leader and foundation executive for 20 years – advancing social enterprise throughout the developing world, creating new market-based approaches to conservation, and authoring articles and book chapters on innovation, sustainable development and impact investing.
Patrick Maloney
As the head of Occam Advisors, Patrick Maloney advises foundations, financial institutions and individuals on investments that combine financial, social and environmental returns. He has previously worked for Google.org, Lemelson Foundation and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Peace.
Holly Pruett
Holly Pruett has a masters degree in organizational development and has worked as a leader and consultant with non-governmental organizations at the state and national level in the US since 1985.
Amy Wong
Amy Wong is a Portland-based attorney who earned a JD with a certificate in Environment and Natural Resources Law from Lewis and Clark law school. Asia has long been an area of interest, as Amy lived in Beijing for three years while studying Chinese. In addition to serving on the Karuna Foundation board, Amy is the Policy Director for Friends of Family Farms, and sits on the board of the Oregon Organic Coalition.
Staff
Lindsay Skog, Program Director, Bhutan
Lindsay has spent several years living, working, and researching in the Eastern Himalaya. Her research and expertise includes the societal impact of climate change, human and sacred geography of the Himalaya, and the social politics of environmental change. Prior to joining Karuna Foundation, Lindsay taught Environment-Society Geography courses at several U.S. universities and colleges, as well as with the School for Field Studies Program in Bhutan. Lindsay is a Fulbright and National Science Foundation scholar
Contributing Consultants
Thorsten Chlupp, Arctic Sun, LLC
Thorsten Chlupp, founder of Arctic Sun LLC in Fairbanks, Alaska is a building science consultant, educator, designer, and builder with an expertise in super-efficient and zero energy design for cold climates. He is the developer of cutting edge methods of superinsulation, thermal storage, and integrated renewable energy systems which have enabled his projects to achieve unprecedented levels of performance. From zero net energy and zero fossil-fuel residences and passive house commercial projects in Alaska’s interior (an area with among the highest temperature swings in the developed world: from -40 to 90 Degrees F) to Living Building Challenge homes among the Aleutian Islands, his work re-defines what sustainable building can be in even the most challenging climates. Thorsten works closely with the Cold Climate Housing Research Center in Fairbanks and is a founding member of the Passive House Institute US Technical Committee. He lectures regularly on Passive House, Zero Energy Design, and Sustainable Building approaches throughout the United States and overseas. He is currently Karuna’s technical advisor on the ground in Bhutan.
Cory Hawbecker, Holst Architecture
Cory Hawbecker is a Senior Associate and Sustainability Director at Portland-based Holst Architecture, where he serves as a Project Architect on a variety of project types and scales. In addition, he is a Certified Passive House Consultant, LEED Accredited Professional and Registered Architect. Cory is an advocate for sustainability issues; such as the architect’s role in combating climate change, the building envelope’s role in performance, durability and occupant comfort, as well as working to specify sustainable and healthy materials. He has demonstrated a passion for creating beautiful spaces constructed of sustainable and healthy materials that are comfortable and efficient.
Daniel Whitmore, RDH Building Science
Dan brings expertise in energy and durability in buildings to the Karuna Foundation team. He is a consultant with RDH Building Science and is an instructor and curriculum developer for the Passive House Institute US' (PHIUS) Builders Training Program. In an effort to evolve building practice Dan combines a passion for energy efficiency, sustainability, and the natural environment with 30+ years of experience in construction and building detailing. He joins knowledge in Passive House, building science, materials selection and energy with his extensive background of hands-on craft & project troubleshooting.
Yuki Bowman, Holst Architecture
Yuki Bowman is a designer at Holst architecture, where she brings a foundation in design writing and Japanese craft to a practice of Architecture focused on material and spatial clarity. Through her experience managing award-winning projects, she has worked closely with consultant, contractor, supplier, and client teams to maintain design rigor throughout the detailing and construction process. She also enjoys teaching design seminars and studios and believes design education is an important part of design practice. Her traveling habits were supported by the Branner Traveling Fellowship while at UC Berkeley, and more recently, by the opportunity to visit the JSWL Law Library construction site in Paro, Bhutan, which she has been working on from afar.