meet our team
KEN ALEX
Founder & Senior Advisor, GrizzlyCorps
Director, Center for Law, Energy & the Environment
Ken spent eight years as a Senior Policy Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown, the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and the Chair of the Strategic Growth Council, focusing on climate, environment, and land use issues.
Before joining the Governor's Office, Ken was the Senior Assistant Attorney General heading the environment section of the California Attorney General’s Office, and the co-head of the Office’s global warming unit. From 2000 to 2006, He led the California Attorney General’s energy task force, investigating price and supply issues related to California’s energy crisis.
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Ken is a graduate of Harvard Law School and holds a B.A. in political theory from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Tel: 510-590-7763
ken.alex@berkeley.edu
Cindy
Pace
Program Coordinator , GrizzlyCorps
Cindy joined the GrizzlyCorps team in 2023 after serving as a GrizzlyCorps fellow at the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains in 2022. She now supports program day-to-day functions, maintains relationships with all fellows, oversees event planning, and manages GrizzlyCorps' internal training curriculum.
During her time as a GrizzlyCorps fellow, Cindy conducted local outreach and developed a variety of programs addressing Wildland Urban Interface issues and wildfire resilience needs in Los Angeles. Cindy holds a BS in Environmental Studies and BA in Political Science/International Affairs from UC Riverside.
From facilitating community workshops in her free time to leading trainings with GrizzlyCorps fellows, Cindy strives to build healthy communities and cultures of care in both her professional and personal life.
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Cora Fesler
Director, GrizzlyCorps
Cora is the incoming Director of GrizzlyCorps, an AmeriCorps service program at the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE). GrizzlyCorps places recent college graduates in forest and farm communities throughout California to help build community resilience and respond to climate change. Cora oversees and coordinates all day-to-day operations for GrizzlyCorps.
Cora joins us with a background in program management, fundraising, and political advocacy. Prior to joining CLEE, she worked at UC Berkeley’s Public Service Center on College Corps, an AmeriCorps program designed to create debt-free college pathways for low-income students through service. Cora previously served on the Development team of Emerge, a political nonprofit dedicated to empowering Democratic women to run for office and fight for progressive policy change. As a first generation graduate of UC Berkeley and someone who grew up in rural Northern California, she is thrilled to be returning to her alma mater and contributing to real rural climate solutions which center those most impacted.
Cora holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley, where she studied Political Science and Geography. She is passionate about environmental policy, climate resiliency, education accessibility and affordability, and human rights.
Lily
Elola
Education Programs Coordinator, GrizzlyCorps
Lily joined GrizzlyCorps in 2024 after serving as a fellow at the Hopland Research and Extension Center (HREC), here she designed and instructed environmental education programs. She directs the program’s strategic recruitment and onboarding while managing the operational infrastructure necessary to deploy a cohort of our postgraduate fellows into California’s rural landscapes. Her work focuses on optimizing fellows’ experience and professional development.
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She holds a B.S. in Environmental Management and Protection from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Her academic background includes research into sustainable agri-food systems and the application of biometric methodologies to analyze sustainable experiences. Lily is also a recipient of the 2023 Natural Resources and Environmental Science LEAD Scholars Grant.