Vote Solar
MeLena Hessel currently serves as the Deputy Program Director for the Midwest at Vote Solar, a position held since April 2025. Prior to this role, MeLena was with Elevate, where titles included Associate Director, Policy, Director, Policy, and Senior Director, Policy from April 2022 to April 2025. MeLena's earlier experience includes working as a Policy Advocate and Senior Policy Advocate at the Environmental Law & Policy Center from November 2015 to April 2022, and various positions at LaSalle Investment Management focusing on real estate research and strategy from July 2011 to October 2015. Additional experience includes serving as a Research Assistant at the US Army Corps of Engineers in 2010 and as a part-time Research Assistant at Brandeis University from September 2003 to May 2007. MeLena holds a Master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor's degree in Sociology, Environmental Studies, and Economics from Brandeis University.
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Vote Solar
America’s energy problems — from economic crisis to global climate change — will only be solved by a national transition to renewables. Clean, homegrown, reliable solar energy is ready to play a large part of the solution. It is the fastest growing energy source in the world, but we have still just scratched the surface of solar’s vast energy potential. In order to bring the technology to scale, we need to bring down costs. Vote Solar works to build the economies of scale necessary to bring solar into the mainstream. We are a national nonprofit organization working to bring solar into the mainstream with grassroots action and technical expertise. We work at the state level to implement the policies and programs that build robust solar markets — and pave the way for a transition to a renewable energy economy.