Jeff Rickert

Mr. Rickert comes to Helios from the Apollo Alliance, a clean energy coalition of more than 300 organizations that includes business, labor, environmental, and community-based groups dedicated to pushing for an investment agenda to achieve energy independence through clean energy and good jobs. Jeff Rickert served as the Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff for the Apollo Alliance. In that role, Rickert served as chief of operations, crafting the overall strategy for the organization with the President and Board of Directors, developing public policy concepts for the federal, state, and local levels, and working extensively with a wide-range of coalition members. Rickert has developed expertise in all aspects of energy policy, including renewable energy development, oil savings, carbon reduction, cap-and-trade, and energy efficiency policy and implementation. He has a background in industry research, having done extensive study of manufacturing, hospitality, health care, media, and technology.

Phil Dougherty

Phil Dougherty comes to Helios after 15 years of federal service at the U.S. Department of Energy. Phil has experience in a wide range of advanced energy generation technologies, including wind, solar, geothermal. Phil has served in a number of positions at the Department, including Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, acting Director of the Wind and Hydropower Division, and senior advisor in the Office of Policy and International Affairs.

Most recently, Phil has served as the national director of Wind Powering America, a U.S. Department of Energy program to accelerate the market penetration of wind technology. At Wind Powering America, Phil led a nationwide government team that worked with national, state and local stakeholders across the energy, agricultural and environmental sectors across 34 states. He also led an inter-agency task force to address wind-siting issues that could affect critical federal mission areas, including Department of Defense operations and military readiness.

In 2004, he was a volunteer with Operation Iraqi Freedom, serving in Baghdad, Iraq. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York, and a Master’s Degree from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Paul Gay

Paul Gay comes to Helios with fourteen years of experience as a senior policy adviser on Capitol Hill. Through his work handling energy matters for two members of Congress, Paul has become an expert in climate change, carbon capture and storage, synthetic fuels, and regional transmission organizations. Paul most recently served as Deputy Legislative Director for Senator Robert C. Byrd, President Pro Tempore and Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Previously, Paul was Deputy Chief of Staff for Rep. Brian Baird, where he specialized in energy issues during the West Coast power crisis of 2000-2001. Paul also served as Legislative Director for Rep. Rick Boucher, Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee.

Damian Kunko

Damian Kunko has been working in government relations for over ten years, primarily in the fields of technology, renewable energy, telecommunications, and healthcare. He has extensive experience in working with companies seeking Federal funding for R&D and with organizations seeking to achieve their Federal marketing goals. Mr. Kunko created the Helios Strategies/SMI renewable energy R&D practice and helped co-found the Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition. He conceptualized and successfully lobbied for the enactment of the Marine Renewables Promotion Act of 2007 and secured multi-year R&D funding for the newly established Water Power R&D account at the Department of Energy.

Mr. Kunko holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Washington State University and served six years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Max Chamovitz

Max Chamovitz is currently a registered lobbyist for Helios and has been active in shaping environmental policy for over a decade. In 1993 Max worked in the Executive Office of Vice President Al Gore’s National Performance Review where he assisted in recommending administrative changes to the EPA to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Agency. The following year Max took a position at the Alliance to Save Energy where he worked in the lobbying department, helping to shape policy that was both environmentally conscious and business friendly. Max also spent three years serving as a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Congressman Adam Smith (WA), and in 2005 Max established MC Squared Energy -- a company of environmentally conscious energy consultants dedicated to bringing quality lighting solutions to businesses while saving customers money and helping the environment.

Max graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1996, with a Bachelors of Political Science, and minors in both Economics and English.

Ariana Sarar

Ariana Sarar brings both political experience and a background in foreign policy and international affairs to Helios. Most recently, Ms. Sarar worked on the Fund for Peace’s Iraq Report, analyzing political, social, and economic indicators of the conflict in Iraq. Prior to that, Ariana worked for the Washington State Democrats on Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell’s political campaigns. Ms. Sarar graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and German from Gonzaga University. Ms. Sarar is a Master’s Candidate at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.