Onté Johnson, Electric Cooperatives Outreach Coordinator
Onté is a successful community organizer with a Masters Degree in Public Policy from Stony Brook University. Over the last decade, he has worked in three State Legislatures and led many local grassroots efforts aimed at improving our communities and global environment. Onté is currently working with the North Carolina EJ Network as the Organizing Project Manager and a Fellow for We Own It through NCIPL. Prior to joining the Environmental Justice network, Onté previously worked with Plate of the Union campaign in North Carolina around food policy issues; combating food insecurities, advocating raising wages for food and farm workers, and calling on the 2016 Presidential candidates to help fix our food system. Onté continues to work with utilities and stakeholders by working with the NC On-Bill Finance Coalition to encourage rural electric utilities to apply for the energy efficiency consumer loan program.
Contact Onté: onte.johnson@gmail.com
Sabrina do Visigalli, Intern
Sabrina has been living in North Carolina for two years, but she is Brazilian, born in São Paulo and raised in a not-so-small town called São José dos Campos. She is pursuing an M.A. in Sustainability at Wake Forest University and has always known that she wanted to study and advocate for the environment. She has a B.A. in Biological Sciences, from “Universidade do Vale do Paraíba” and an M.B.A. in Environmental Management and Sustainable Development, from “Fundação Getúlio Vargas”. With a Catholic background, she converted to the Baptist church in 2002 and was baptized the day Brazil won the five-time World Cup championship! She is passionate about getting people of faith involved in Creation Care, and in making a positive intervention in our broken world. She was part of the group that found A Rocha Brasil, a non-profit Christian organization focused on conservation and environmental education for communities of faith, that is present in more than 20 countries around the world. Sabrina is married to a violinist and has two children, a tween girl, and a busy 3-year-old boy. She is interning with NCIPL, under the mentorship of Susannah Tuttle.
Contact Sabrina: energy@ncipl.org
Carl W. Sigel – Raleigh, NCChair & Environmental Ministry Liaison of Episcopal Church of the Nativity Episcopal
Carl spent his professional life in the pharmaceutical industry. Now retired, he is deeply committed to nonprofit organizations that focus on the environment, community service, youth education and development, food security, and social justice. With a lifetime interest in sustaining the Creation, he currently serves as Chair, NC Interfaith Power & Light (NCIPL) Steering Committee, represents NCIPL and the Raleigh Convocation of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina on the Diocesan Chartered Committee for Environmental Ministry, and serves on the Board of Directors for both the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, and Food Runners Collaborative.
Rev. Steve Halsted – Raleigh, NC
Outreach & Advisor to Clergy Good Shepherd United Church of Christ
Steve Halsted is recently retired after spending 32 years in ministry in the United Church of Christ serving congregations in MA, NM and NC. Since 1986 he has devoted time to Outdoor Ministries and Eco-Justice Ministries in the UCC and Council of Churches’ through preaching, teaching, leading retreats and advocating for clean energy, air and water and sustainable living in harmony with scripture and science. He continues this work now as Clergy Consultant to NC IPL dedicating this work his children, grandchildren and all future generations living upon this “Good Earth.”
Penny J. Hooper – Smyrna, NC
Co-Chair, Unitarian Coastal Fellowship
Penny joined NCIPL in 2008 as a Steering Committee Member. A year later, she became the Secretary and in 2014 was elected to Vice-Chair. Her roles beyond NCIPL’s Executive Committee include chairing the Leadership Council, serving on the Worship Working Group, as well as serving as the coastal liaison between NCIPL and the Sierra Club, and being actively involved in her Unitarian Coastal Fellowship Green Sanctuary Committee. She retired from teaching Biology at Carteret Community College in 2010 and has been a full time volunteer environmental activist since that time.
Stephen Jurovics – Raleigh, NC
Treasurer, Yavneh: A Jewish Renewal Community
Stephen has been researching biblical environmental teachings for over 20 years and has spoken on this topic at numerous churches and synagogues in the southeast. He is the author of Hospitable Planet: Faith, Action, and Climate Change. He has been working on energy and environmental issues for the past 25 years and his work has dealt mainly with improving the energy performance of buildings and assessing the impacts on electric utilities of stricter building and appliance standards. Stephen served six years on the North Carolina Energy Policy Council and chaired its Conservation Committee during that time. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Southern California and a B.S. and M.S. from Columbia University.
Henry Falser – Greensboro, NCHenry Fansler serves on the Leadership Council as liaison for the Triad area and as an Audubon Ambassador, where NC IPL works Audubon to promote bird friendly communities in response to climate change. His lives in Lewisville, North Carolina and attends Unity Moravian Church. He serves on the Moravian Task Force on Environmental Stewardship, Eco Mission Camp planning committee for Laurel Ridge Moravian Campground, and is Outings Chair of the Foothills Group of the Sierra Club.
Dan Figgins – Holly Springs, NC
Dan Figgins’ final assignment with the U.S. State Department was as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya. He teaches political science courses at NCSU including “Global Environmental Treaties and Policies.” In 1998, he helped start a weekly Sunday school class on Earth Care at Pullen Baptist Church in Raleigh. In recent years Linda Rodriquez, wife of NCIPL Leadership Council member Bob Rodriquez, has led the class expanding its format from studying books to inviting outstanding environmental experts and social action leaders. Dan has been a member of NCIPL and its predecessors since 1998 when volunteers organized to support NC Council of Churches’ staff work on environmental stewardship. Because Dan participated the planning of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit at UNEP headquarters in 1989, he has been aware of the reality of climate change and its human –caused weather disruptions for more than a quarter of a century.
Steve Halsted – Raleigh, NC
Steve Halsted is recently retired after spending 32 years in ministry in the United Church of Christ serving congregations in MA, NM and NC. Since 1986 he has devoted time to Outdoor Ministries and Eco-Justice Ministries in the UCC and Council of Churches’ through preaching, teaching, leading retreats and advocating for clean energy, air and water and sustainable living in harmony with scripture and science. He continues this work now as Clergy Consultant to NC IPL dedicating this work his children, grandchildren and all future generations living upon this “Good Earth.”
Penny J. Hooper – Smyrna, NC
Penny joined NCIPL in 2008 as a Steering Committee Member. A year later, she became the Secretary and in 2014 was elected to Vice-Chair. Her roles beyond NCIPL’s Executive Committee include chairing the Leadership Council, serving on the Worship Working Group, as well as serving as the coastal liaison between NCIPL and the Sierra Club, and being actively involved in her Unitarian Coastal Fellowship Green Sanctuary Committee. She retired from teaching Biology at Carteret Community College in 2010 and has been a full time volunteer environmental activist since that time.
Stephen Jurovics – Raleigh, NC
Stephen has been researching biblical environmental teachings for over 20 years and has spoken on this topic at numerous churches and synagogues in the southeast. He is the author of Hospitable Planet: Faith, Action, and Climate Change. He has been working on energy and environmental issues for the past 25 years and his work has dealt mainly with improving the energy performance of buildings and assessing the impacts on electric utilities of stricter building and appliance standards. Stephen served six years on the North Carolina Energy Policy Council and chaired its Conservation Committee during that time. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Southern California and a B.S. and M.S. from Columbia University.
Jane Laping – Asheville, NC
Jane lives out her passion for her faith and the environment through her work, her volunteer activities, and actions through her church, First Presbyterian in Asheville, NC. She is the part-time Coordinator for the national organization, Presbyterians for Earth Care, and is on the Steering Committee for the regional group, the Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina. Jane also leads the Creation Care Team at her downtown church and helped found a community garden nearby. When she is not working or volunteering, Jane enjoys leading hikes in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Jane is also a co-author of the PC(USA) program, Earth Care Congregations, A Guide for Greening Presbyterian Churches.
Stephen McCollum – Greensboro, NC
Stephen is a GreenFaith Fellow (Class of 2015), Fellow of the Natural Resources Leadership Institute/NCSU (Class of 2016), and current Chair of the Greensboro Community Sustainability Council. He is a co-founder of Environmental Stewardship Greensboro, collaborated with Dr. John Wear and others for the “Faith & the Environment” regional conference at the Center for the Environment at Catawba College (2008), and a former member of the Committee for Environmental Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of NC.
Bill McNeil – Greensboro, NC
Bill serves as convener of Environmental Stewardship Greensboro. Trained in urban and regional planning at UNC-CH, Bill worked professionally in Winston-Salem, High Point and Greensboro and with the NC Department of Commerce as Director of Community Assistance. His faith in the unity of all creation is informed by education at the University of Chicago Divinity School and years in Quaker meetings starting at Haverford College and continuing at New Garden Friends Meeting.
Brad Rouse – Asheville, NC
Brad Rouse has spent over 20 years helping utility companies plan for the future. He currently works as a part time Energy Policy Consultant while spending most of his time focused on solving the problem of climate change. He divides his time working with Asheville Citizens Climate Lobby to promote carbon pricing and working with NC faith communities to develop low income energy efficiency outreach programs. He helped found Energy Saving Volunteers Ministry at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Hayesville NC, one of six national winners of Interfaith Power and Light’s 2015 “Cool Congregations Award”. He holds a BA in Economics from Yale and an MBA in Finance from UNC Chapel Hill.
Gary Smith – Raleigh, NC
Gary received a PhD in Chemistry from Lehigh University in 1978. He retired from a career in pharmaceutical research in 2013. A member of Community UCC in Raleigh since 1993, Gary co-founded Justice in a Changing Climate (JCC) which provides pre-weatherization to the community. In 2014 he became chair of NCIPL’s Energy Working Group. Gary has a passion to reduce fossil fuel use. He enjoys nature, science and the out of doors, the latter especially while on a bicycle.
Nelson Stover – Greensboro, NC
For two decades, Nelson conducted human development training programs for individuals at all levels of society. For another two decades, he designed and implemented computer software solutions for professional associations in North Carolina. Along with his wife, Elaine, he received the Greensboro Public Library’s 2012 Thomas Berry Award for their work. Nelson is now President of Emerging Ecology, a non-profit organization committed to promoting a worldview for the next generations’ solutions.
Carl W. Sigel – Raleigh, NC
Carl spent his professional life in the pharmaceutical industry. Now retired, he is deeply committed to nonprofit organizations that focus on the environment, community service, youth education and development, food security, and social justice. With a lifetime interest in sustaining the Creation, he currently serves as Chair, NC Interfaith Power & Light (NCIPL) Steering Committee, represents NCIPL and the Raleigh Convocation of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina on the Diocesan Chartered Committee for Environmental Ministry, and serves on the Board of Directors for both the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, and Food Runners Collaborative.
Vance Archer – Greensboro, NC
Environmental Stewardship Greensboro (ESG)
Albert Hardy – Durham, NC
Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (ERUUF)
Maurice B. Holland – Southern Pines, NC
Episcopal Dioceses of NC – NAACP
Amanda Norwood – New Bern, NC
NCIPL Energy Auditor
Bob Rodriguez – Raleigh, NC
NC IPL Legislative Outreach
Advisory Council
Robert Meadows – Beaufort, NC
First Presbyterian Church, Morehead City
Robert McGahey – Burnsville, NC
Celo Friends Meeting, Clerk
Dr. Kathy Shea – Chapel Hill, NC
Senior Advisor, United Church of Chapel Hill
