Since May of 2019, CPA’s Board of Directors have awarded the annual $150,000 Voyager Scholarship to support students at seven community colleges throughout Los Angeles County and Ventura County.
The scholarship provides financial aid to students enrolled in energy-driven career pathways, such as electric vehicles and advanced transportation technology, energy and environmental science, and alternative energy, with all the funding equitably distributed to Antelope Valley College, Compton College, East Los Angeles College, Rio Hondo College, Ventura College, Oxnard College, and Moorpark College.
Recently, the CPA team sat down with scholarship administrators of Anteleope Valley College and Moorpark College to discuss the impact of the scholarship on the schools and local communities.
According to Dianne Knippel, the Executive Director of the Foundation Office for Antelope Valley College, electrical engineering is a burgeoning career choice for students in the region as a result of the outsized renewable energy investments in large scale photovoltaic farms in the high desert.
“There are great opportunities when students graduate from Antelope Valley College to either to go on to a full four-year program, or to stay in the region and support the incredible growth of our local solar industries. To have a scholarship of this value given to students makes a huge impact.” Ms. Knippel added, “We are able to encourage students locally. We do a lot of outreach highlighting the benefits of students attending a local community college, and now we are also able to share this opportunity with students with green energy interests.”
Students at the seven colleges that are scholarship recipients receive disbursements in $1,000 increments, with the vetting of candidates led by the local community colleges.
Maria Perez-Medeiros, Scholarship Technician at Moorpark College, believes that the Voyager Scholarship allows students to match their green energy goals with their neighborhood focus.
“We have students who want to do things that are environmentally and community focused, who think about how they can incorporate these things into their community service. Through this scholarship, students with interests in environmental science and electrical engineering are able to receive additional support and that opens up new career options.”
Ms. Perez-Medeiros believes that this scholarship fits into Moorpark’s larger goal of supporting a renewable energy future. “Along with the scholarship we also launched “Solar Village” on campus where students are able to see renewable energy generated through a series of solar panels with a really great community space-built underneath. So, the college is able to receive more green energy, and the students are able to benefit and enjoy the gathering space.”
To create the Voyager Scholarship, CPA worked with our Community Advisory Committee (CAC) to evaluate scholarship distribution options before working with the CPA Board of Directors to officially launch the scholarship program.
CPA staff additionally engaged community college representatives and consulted with local partners, collaboratively working to identify the seven schools in Los Angeles County and Ventura County.
To learn more about the Voyager Scholarship and our award recipients, take a look at CPA’s recently published 2021 Impact Report here.
Sergei Kotsan serves the Energy Risk Manager for Clean Power Alliance. He has over a decade of experience working on quantitative research and modelling of the wholesale power markets as well as hedging commercial risk and market monitoring. He led commercial operations at TexGen and fundamentals research at Talen Energy on the power supply side. He also has utility experience at Portland General Electric and Pacific Gas and Electric evaluating market risks and financial valuation on the demand side. In addition, he worked at the Market Monitoring Unit at CAISO, developing dashboards and preparing market reports. Sergei holds Ph.D. in Economics from West Virginia University.
Rachel serves as Project Manager, Settlements for Clean Power Alliance. Rachel is responsible for reviewing and identifying discrepancies with our California Independent System Operator (CASIO) and bilateral counterparty invoices, validating transactions of wholesale market products, and performing after the fact analysis on settlements and Congestion Revenue Rights (CRR) to influence resource optimization and CRR strategies. Prior to joining Clean Power Alliance, Rachel served as a Power Settlements Analyst at Utah Municipal Power Agency for two years where she developed and finalized all settlement processes. Rachel earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Lewis-Clark State College.
Riju serves as the Website Developer, Communications and Marketing at CPA. He brings over 10 years of software development experience in addition to having a strong background in information technology and server infrastructure. Riju oversees all web related functions at CPA to ensure that the organization is able to effectively sustain meeting the requirements of its rapidly growing digital presence. Prior to joining CPA, Riju worked as a digital content developer at Claremont Graduate University where he developed and launched an online learning platform for the federally funded POLARIS mentoring program for museum professionals. More recently, Riju founded and operated a web development and digital marketing agency which served government organizations, non-profits, and other multi agency partners. Riju holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems & E-Business from Cal Poly Pomona. Riju supports CPA’s overall goal and mission to a cleaner, brighter future.
Jacob Adamson is an Analyst, Data and Systems, at Clean Power Alliance (CPA), where he collaborates with the Data and Systems team to develop and maintain robust data analytics frameworks. Jacob supports cross-functional departments in data enablement and business intelligence, focusing on automating reporting tasks and assisting staff with data requests. With a background in engineering, information technology, regulatory analysis, and data analytics, Jacob brings a wealth of expertise to CPA’s work in the renewable energy sector. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, is a former licensed professional engineer in the state of Colorado, and is a GCP certified professional data engineer. Outside of work, Jacob is passionate about outdoor recreation, conservation, and engineering sustainable community development.
Ammad serves as the Analyst, Strategic Finance at CPA. He comes to CPA with 3 years of prior experience in financial planning and analysis. Ammad most recently served as a Financial Analyst at Georgia Power, the largest subsidiary of the Southern Company. In this role, he supported various areas in the Customer Experience division where he ensured timely and accurate financial reporting, conducted monthly expense forecasting, and created 5-year budgets with the approval of the Georgia PSC. He also sat on the 2024 Budget Committee where he contributed to developing guidelines for the company’s budgeting process and identifying areas for cost savings. Ammad earned his Bachelor’s in Finance from the University of Central Florida.