2021 SPEAKER SERIES

Driving Change: The Future of Transportation

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Transportation is being rapidly reformed by technology. Smarter, connected vehicles will bring increased automation, increased driving functions, and safety for both public and private modes of transport. This session examines a broad range of related topics from micro-mobility (LEVs) and hydrogen fueled vehicles now on the horizon, to vehicle-to-grid applications and strategies for rapid conversion of bus and truck fleets.

View Recording

MODERATOR

Del. Brooke Lierman

House Environment & Transportation Committee
District 46 - MGA

Del. Brooke Lierman

House Environment & Transportation Committee
District 46 - MGA

Brooke Lierman is an effective and passionate advocate in the Maryland General Assembly and a modern-day juggler: she is a mother of two, a wife, a state legislator, and a disability rights and civil rights attorney. Brooke was elected to represent Maryland’s 46th Legislative District in the House of Delegates in 2014.

Currently in her second term, Brooke has earned a reputation as an effective advocate and skilled legislator who works tirelessly on behalf of her constituents and on a variety of issues that get at the root causes of poverty and inequity in Baltimore, including education, transit, and environmental and social justice. Brooke has successfully passed legislation to invest in and improve public transit; fund evidence-based gun violence prevention programs; end cash bail; address sex trafficking in Maryland and aid victims; stem the school-to-prison pipeline; close loopholes in our family & paid leave laws; increase access to financial aid for undocumented immigrants; tackle housing discrimination; and much more.

Outside of the legislative session, Brooke maintains an active presence in her neighborhoods - visiting schools, meeting with business leaders, and acting as a convener and networker for communities and organizations. She is also a candidate for State Comptroller.

View Bio

PANELISTS

Del. David Fraser-Hidalgo

House Environment & Transportation Committee
District 15 - MGA

Del. David Fraser-Hidalgo

House Environment & Transportation Committee
District 15 - MGA

David has represented District 15 in the House of Delegates since 2013. He is a member of the Environment and Transportation Committee and is the Chair of the Motor Vehicle and Transportation Subcommittee. He also serves as the Chair of the Maryland Legislative Latino Caucus.

David has a proven track-record as an advocate for the environment in his 8-year career as a Delegate. He has been named a “Green Champion” by the Maryland League of Conservation Voters every year since 2017 for supporting and sponsoring priority environmental legislation.

In 2017, he spearheaded the charge in the General Assembly to ban fracking in Maryland, making it only the third state at the time to successfully enact such a ban. He has led efforts to phase out our reliance on fossil fuels and encourage the use of electric vehicles in Maryland, with the passage of the Clean Cars Act of 2019 and the Clean Cars Act of 2021. He is also a leading advocate for legislation to electrify the state’s school buses and vehicle fleets.

When not in Annapolis, David lives in Boyds with his two wonderful children, Samantha and Scott, and his dog Wally.

View Bio

Joseph Alfred

CEO
Ally Power Inc.

Joseph Alfred

CEO
Ally Power Inc.

Joseph is the CEO of Ally Power Inc. He is also the sole inventor of the Hydrogen and Electric Gas Station (patent pending), and the co-host for the Hydrogen and Electric Power Podcast. Joseph sees the transportation and utility sectors shifting away from carbon intensive sources of power generation towards both hydrogen and electric solutions.

View Bio

Kristy Groncki

Manager, Strategic Programs
BGE

Kristy Groncki

Manager, Strategic Programs
BGE

Kristy Fleischmann Groncki is Manager of Strategic Programs at BGE with a decade of experience with innovative programs including Energy Efficiency, Smart Grid data analytics and Utility of the Future programs. Most recently, Kristy has been leading BGE’s EVsmart program which provides rebates to residential and multi-unit dwellings for the purchase and installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure as well as providing innovative rate structure to promote electric vehicle adoption. Kristy is also leading the efforts to install a network of BGE-owned public charging infrastructure throughout their service territory.

View Bio

Korey Neal

President
K.Neal Truck and Bus Center

Korey Neal

President
K.Neal Truck and Bus Center

Korey Neal is the proud President of K.Neal Truck and Bus Center, a full-service commercial dealership servicing the greater Washington, DC Metropolitan area in four locations. K.Neal Truck and Bus Center is ranked #35 in the top 100 largest minority-owned businesses in the nation by Black Enterprise (2019) and continues to support the trucks, buses and people who move the world. Korey Neal is a 2020 Washington Business Journal 40 Under 40, Eastern Michigan and American University graduate, active board member for educational, philanthropic, and financial organizations, community builder and visionary Millennial business leader in the transportation industry.

View Bio

Swami Venkat

Partner, CFO Advisory Practice Leader - Global Consulting Solutions
CohnReznick

Swami Venkat, CPA, CISA, CFE

Partner, CFO Advisory Practice Leader - Global Consulting Solutions
CohnReznick

Swami Venkat leads CohnReznick's CFO Advisory practice which provides accounting advisory and support services to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. He has more than 20 years of diverse professional experience across technical accounting, public company reporting, risk and compliance, and internal audit. This experience includes providing SEC and GAAP advisory services, helping companies prepare for registration/financial statements filings with the SEC, and writing accounting opinions/reviewing 10-Q/10-K data for consistency and completeness with SEC Regulation S-X and S-K requirements.

Swami has led numerous accounting advisory projects including transaction readiness, IPOs, de-SPACs, audit readiness, and adoption of new accounting standards. He is a member of CohnReznick’s SPAC task force and serves as the advisory services lead for emerging industries within the firm. In this role, Swami works closely with the firm’s renewable energy, technology, and life science industry leaders in providing CFO advisory services.

Swami’s diverse industry experience includes technology, cannabis, manufacturing and distribution, clean tech, and retail operations. He works closely with private equity firms to provide pre- and post-acquisition and integration support that includes current state of accounting assessments and reporting as part of the diligence review, assistance with purchase price accounting related to ASC 805 and IFRS 3, and post-integration support in on-boarding acquisitions and establishing sustainable and scalable finance functions. He helps these acquisitions with their financial close and reporting processes.

Before joining CohnReznick, Swami worked for a Big 4 firm and for two global financial services organizations.

View Bio