President
Gary Gero
Gary serves as the President of the Climate Action Reserve where he is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the organization’s policy and programs, including the Center for Climate Action. This includes working to ensure the organization’s activities meet the highest standards for quality, transparency and environmental integrity and leading the establishment of the Climate Action Reserve, the premier voluntary offset project registry in the United States.
Prior to joining the California Registry, Gary managed the Green LA programs at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the largest municipal utility in the nation. In that capacity, he redesigned and restarted the LADWP Solar Program and oversaw the tripling of Energy Efficiency programs, including creating targeted programs for low-income and small business customers. His role also included managing the distributed generation, advanced transportation, green power and tree planting programs.
Gary’s career includes nearly 20 years of work in local government, primarily in the City of Los Angeles where he served as Air Quality Director and subsequently Assistant General Manager for the Environmental Affairs Department. Gary developed and implemented numerous environmental policies and programs in the areas of climate change, sustainable development, energy and alternative fuel vehicles. His work for the City of Los Angeles has been recognized by the Los Angeles City Council.
A native of Los Angeles, Gary is a member of numerous environmental organizations and he has served as a Planning Commissioner in the City of Glendale where he promoted sustainable land use policies and affordable housing. Gary holds a Master of Science degree in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics in London, England and a pair of undergraduate degrees from the University of California at Berkeley.
Director
Margaret Bruce
Margaret Bruce is the Director of the Center for Climate Action. In addition to supervising Center staff, Margaret is responsible for the development of Center programs, including its climate policy thought-leadership discussion series, annual climate conference, sector-specific climate policy working groups and prestigious Climate Action Champion leadership awards. Margaret also leads Center delegations on climate policy study trips, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties.
Margaret has over 20 years of environmental management, advocacy and policy experience in both the private and public sectors. Margaret most recently served as Western Regional Director for The Climate Group where she directed and accelerated the transition to a low carbon economy through engagement with leading global and regional corporate and government leaders. She also served as Manager of the Office of Sustainability in the City of San Jose where she led a team of professionals in implementing the City’s Green Vision. Prior to that, Margaret served as Environmental Programs Director for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
Margaret is the co-founder and board member of Sustainable Silicon Valley and has served as a Governor’s appointee to the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from San Jose State University.
Event Coordinator
Derik Emmersen
Derik Emmersen’s responsibilities as the Event Coordinator includes planning, managing and implementing the Center’s myriad of events, including its annual conference, regional workshops, climate policy study trips, delegation to the UN climate conference, and ongoing policy trainings. Derik is an experienced manager with over 17 years of business experience in the event planning, entertainment, and marketing arenas. Derik most recently served as the Meetings and Special Events Manager at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey, where he successfully planned and executed a high volume of social and corporate meetings and events. Before that, he served as the Special Events Coordinator of the Lakewood Country Club/American Golf Corporation, where he successfully planned and executed 30-50 events per month that included meetings, weddings and golf tournaments. Derik is also an experienced talent agent and former owner/producer of an entertainment production and casting business. He graduated from California State University of San Bernardino with a BS in Business Administration.
Intern
David Quiros
David Quiros is a part-time intern at the Center for Climate Action, where he develops the legislative tracking tool for United States federal and state-level policy pertaining to climate change.
David is a graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department with a concentration in Environmental Engineering. His graduate work lies within the field of water and wastewater treatment in urban and rural areas. His undergraduate studies were done at UCLA in Environmental Science, the new academic major in the Institute of the Environment.
David grew up in southern California, which has fostered his interests in environmental issues such as air and water quality and climate change. Meanwhile, the meteorology of LA has allowed him pursue his athletic goals in triathlon and road cycling in his free time through the club sports program at UCLA on an almost year-round basis.
