Our Team

Staff

Suzanne Singer
Founder/Executive Director

Co-Founder Suzanne Singer, PhD, is a member of the Navajo (Dine) tribe and grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona. Her mechanical engineering and energy analysis background provides the technical foundation to develop tribal energy independence. Prior to founding Native Renewables, Singer was a staff engineer and post-doc at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and an intern with Sandia National Laboratories’ Tribal Energy Program. Singer is a 2021 Echoing Green Fellow and the winner of the 2019 U.S. Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) Entrepreneurship Award. She earned a PhD and MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona.

Deb Tewa
Workforce & Education

Debby Tewa is a member of the Hopi tribe and is from Hotevilla, AZ. She is also the owner/president of Tewa Energy Service, LLC. She provides technical trainings on photovoltaics and residential electrical in the form of hands-on workshops. In addition, Tewa conducts STEM activities for grades 4th – 12th grades. Tewa has over 35 years in the electrical trade industry. She was previously employed with the Arizona Energy Office as a Tribal Energy Coordinator. Tewa was instrumental in setting up and extensive photovoltaic lab at Central Arizona College where she taught both beginning and advance Photovoltaics classes. She is the recipient of the 2021 American Indian Science and Engineering Society Professional Award for Indigenous Excellence.

Chelsea Chee
Deputy Director

Chelsea Chee is a member of the Diné (Navajo) tribe.  She has been working in the non-profit and education sector for 14 years. Chelsea received her Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science, started her work in Environmental and Climate Justice with the Black Mesa Water Coalition, all while also contributing to her community on the Navajo Nation. She took graduate courses for Public Administration and Community and Regional Planning and worked in various positions and organizations, including the Tribal Energy Program at Sandia National Laboratories, a Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator at the NM Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, and a Director of Community with ETKIE while simultaneously working as a Senior Program Officer at the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES).

Gary Singer
Engineering & Field Operations

Gary Singer is a member of the Navajo (Dine) tribe and is from Gray Mountain, AZ. He is an electrical engineer, is the technical support for Native Renewables’ solar energy endeavors. He is a graduate of Northern Arizona University. He has interned for various companies including IBM and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. He worked as a design engineer for Siemens Transmission Systems and Novakinetics, Inc. and as a test engineer at Tooh Dineh Industries, Inc. for 10 years. He resides in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Ian Masayesva
Operations

Ian Masayesva is a member of the Hopi tribe.

Advisory/Committee Members

Ann Marie Chischilly
Vice President, Office of Native American Initiatives

Sarah Shanley Hope
Vice President, The Solutions Project

Shannon Hulbert
CEO, Opus Interactive

Dan Kammen
Professor, University of California, Berkeley & Senior Advisor for Energy and Innovation, US Agency for Intl. Development

Alyssa Newman
Senior Program Manager, Responsible Supply Chain, Google

Jeff Roberts
CEO, Entropy Technology Associates