The Future is Now: The Current State of America’s NEVI Program Rollout

Keynote Speaker

Gabe Klein

Executive Director

U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation

Gabe Klein is the executive director of the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation where he oversees efforts to align resources and expertise across the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Transportation to support programs that seek to deploy a network of electric vehicle chargers, zero-emission fueling infrastructure, and zero-emission transit and school buses. Previously, he served as the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation and director of the Washington, D.C., District Department of Transportation, where he revamped technology platforms and government processes while focusing on putting people (versus cars) first on city streets. He honed his creativity and leadership skills working in business as vice president at Zipcar and national director of stores at Bikes USA. He also co-founded CityFi, a consulting firm to help city leaders, chief executive officers, and others understand the complexities of 21st century challenges, facilitate people-centric solutions, and use new models and technology-based tools to deliver optimized results. Clients ranged from foreign governments to cities, states, start-ups, and publicly traded companies.

Presenter

Steve Birkett

Electrification Consultant

Plug & Play EV

Steve Birkett is a seasoned EV traveler with more than 150,000 all-electric miles under his belt across North America. Steve founded Plug & Play EV to help EV owners learn the ins and outs of driving electric and to bring businesses in the sustainable transport space to a wider audience. As an enthusiastic road tripper, Steve tracks the NEVI program with great interest and has visited many of the early NEVI stations energized over the past 12 months.

Panel Speaker

Susan Coskey

President and COO

Francis Energy

Susan manages the daily operations aligning strategic goals and organizational structure of Francis Energy, working closely with the executive team and the CEO. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Francis Energy has rapidly grown to become among the largest privately held charging networks in the country, and the largest recipient of federal funds and awards under the NEVI program. Francis currently operates in 11 states, with plans to expand to up to 30 more over the course of 2025, all in furtherance of its mission to transform the electrification of transportation by ensuring equitable, affordable, reliable, and safe access to public charging stations across America, leaving no community behind.

Susan’s career has spanned chief executive roles in operations, HR and legal in public, private and government organizations. She has served as a counsel to a US House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee, managed a people fleet of 60,000 for a group of cruise companies , including during the throes of the covid pandemic, been a law firm partner, and an entrepreneur. Susan has served on numerous boards, including as a member of Francis Energy’s Advisory Board, and as chair, officer, and member of several not-for-profit boards.

Susan is passionate about Francis’ mission and commitment to EV access for all, innovation, and growth. She is an authentic, inclusive, and collaborative leader who approaches excellence in performance and employee effectiveness with analytical rigor, strategic pragmatism, and deep understanding of cross-functional systems and human dynamics. Susan received her BA in history from Stanford University and her JD/MBA degrees with honors from UCLA.

Panel Speaker

Linda Bailey

Program Manager for Technical Assistance

U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation

Linda Bailey is the program manager for technical assistance within the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. Linda leads efforts to help states, cities, counties, and tribes succeed as the United States expands infrastructure for a low-carbon transportation future.

Prior to this position, Linda served as the Vision Zero director for the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT). She led efforts to accelerate and innovate traffic safety improvements throughout the District. Before that, she served as the executive director of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), where she worked on policy initiatives to support more sustainable city transportation at the national level, including everything from regulatory support for multimodal street design to automated vehicles.

During her tenure as executive director and previously as an adviser, NACTO published three new national design guides for bicycle facilities, urban streets, and transit-first streets. These publications enabled cities to hone best practices for building city streets that further each community’s vision for its future. Previously, she worked for the City of New York on projects including climate policy, vision zero, expressway removal, advocacy for better federal support of city transportation projects, and collaboration with the State of New York on federally funded projects.

Overall, Linda has over twenty years of experience working on sustainable transportation policies with work that has spanned research, advocacy, and implementation. Her publications include The Broader Connection between Public Transportation, Energy Conservation and Greenhouse Gas Reduction, Aging Americans: Stranded without Options, and Improving Metropolitan Decision Making in Transportation: Greater Funding and Devolution for Greater Accountability. She also contributed to the NACTO Urban Street Design Guide, the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide, Mean Streets, Measuring the Health Effects of Sprawl, Clearing the Air; and Driven to Spend.

Ms. Bailey has a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Michigan.

Panel Speaker

Colton Brown

Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Coordinator 

PennDOT

Colton Brown is the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Coordinator for PennDOT, where he supports the implementation of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula program and leads electric vehicle education initiatives. Colton’s previous Commonwealth experience includes managing level 2 and DC fast charging funding programs. Colton obtained a Master’s of Science in Environmental Planning and Management from Johns Hopkins School of Engineering for Professionals.