Meet CUB’s Shaich Interns

For many years, now, CUB has been benefiting from the life and legacy of one of its earliest supporters. Way back in 1983, OSPIRG recruited a group of college students to work on gathering signatures to put on the statewide ballot the creation of an organization that would fight for consumer rights on utility issues. Three of the young people who answered the call were Jeff Bissonnette, U of O freshman in political science, Kevin Masterson, junior in economics, and Eric Shaich, junior in economics.

Jeff went on to a career in community organizing around the country, returning to Oregon in 1998 to become CUB’s Organizing Director. Kevin went on to work at Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality, and served 2 terms on CUB’s Board of Governors, including one term as Board Chair. Eric, an honors college graduate, interned at EcoNorthwest and then accepted a job at Bonneville Power Administration. All three, as well as others who worked on the original CUB campaign, continued to be active in politics and energy issues.

In 1991, at the age of 27, Eric Shaich died of Hodgkin’s disease. He is remembered as a person with an unusual combination of determination, idealism, intellectual accomplishment, and easygoing humility. Soon after Eric’s death, his parents, Harry and Gloria Shaich, approached Bob Jenks of CUB about setting up an endowment out of the proceeds of Eric’s estate to work on some of the things he cared most about: energy, environmental advocacy, and education.

A fundraiser in 1993 that featured consumer advocate and Oregon State Representative Bev Stein helped grow the endowment and get the word out about the creation of this program. An advisory board of family and friends helped get the trust set up, transferred to CUB, and on its way.

Since the mid-1990s the Eric Shaich Memorial Fund Internship Program has funded an impressive series of interns, students who handled various projects for the CUB staff on their own way to a career in energy policy, or non-profit management, or some other related field. Today, we want to share a few of the stories of our Shaich interns with you.

Jed Jorgensen, Shaich Intern 1999. Jed currently works as the Marketing and Communications Manager of the Climate Trust. The Climate Trust funds projects that reduce, avoid, or sequester carbon dioxide emissions. During his time as an intern at CUB, Jed compiled research on Energy Star (certified energy efficient) products and submitted op-ed pieces to newspapers around the state encouraging consumers to increase the efficiency of their household appliances. In addition, Jed collected signatures in support of Measure 90 (which sought to prevent PGE from collecting profits from ratepayers on its failed Trojan Nuclear Power Plant) for the 2000 election.

Walidah Imarisha, Shaich Intern 2001. Walidah has recently returned to Portland after spending several years in Philadelphia working on a wide variety of social justice issues. She produced a documentary about the after-effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and is a poet. Catch her spoken word performances if you can!

Linda Tomassi, Shaich Intern 2002. Linda worked to help defend the Energy Trust of Oregon from attacks during its early years, creating fact sheets and speaking to neighborhood groups. Linda currently works as the Administrative Director of Oregon Women Lawyers, and is serving her first term on the CUB Board of Governors, where she brings fierce enthusiasm and formidable organizational skills.

Melanie Leaf Bissonnette, Shaich Intern 2003. Melanie worked on scheduling forums for low-income energy efficiency issues, and updating organizational information for the Fair and Clean Energy Coalition. Melanie currently works as the Web Coordinator for the Energy Trust of Oregon, and is a licensed Massage Therapist. She and Jeff were married in Fall of 2006 at the Malheur Field Station with close friends and family in attendance.

Ken Snider, Shaich Intern 2004-2005. Ken brought his experience with Community Media and his studies at the Non-Profit Management Center of PSU to CUB. He helped revamp our website and improved our grant-writing capabilities. Ken is now working with the Metro Hazardous Waste Recycling Program and volunteering with the Sierra Club trying to protect Oregon’s high desert areas.

Phillip Kelsven, Shaich Intern 2006. Phillip is currently Evaluation Analyst with the Energy Trust of Oregon, and founder of The Future of Energy Group for young energy professionals focused on moving our energy economy in a greener direction. Phillip received an Applied Energy Economics Certificate from PSU, on his way to a Master’s degree in Economics, and did loads of research for us on the utility tax reform issue, as well as utility mergers then in process.

Alice Bray, Shaich Intern 2006. Alice is currently working freelance with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation on solar power development issues. Alice received her J.D. from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College. Alice wrote a white paper on the issue of Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Coal plants, researched telecommunications privacy issues, and helped set up a well-received Symposium on Energy, the Environment, and the Law at Lewis & Clark. (This symposium led to CUB’s staff attorney teaching a full course at the law school this past fall focused on Energy Law.)

Thomas Balcom, Shaich Intern 2007. Thomas is currently finishing up his Bachelor’s Degree at Willamette University (also the alma mater for Bob Jenks). Thomas was a researcher and assistant extraordinaire to Jeff Bissonnette during the Oregon Legislative Session of 2007, an incredible asset during a busy time.

Jessica Aiona, Shaich Intern 2007-2008. Jessica recently graduated from Bowdoin College with a degree in Economics and Environmental Policy. At CUB, Jessica has researched telecommunications and energy issues, and she presented her ongoing work of “signature stories” of how clean energy projects benefit both the environment and the economy to the Oregon Apollo Alliance in January.

We gathered five of our interns together over pizza last week to catch up. Jessica, Alice, Ken, Jed, and Linda were able to join with Bob Jenks, Jeff Bissonnette, and Shannon Floyd on CUB staff. We had a good time and found out that the internship program got excellent feedback from participants. Many of the interns did not know about each other, and so we spent some time reminiscing about how connections were made (we haven’t advertised for interns - all of them have come to us through word of mouth), and what skills were learned, whether setting up vendor relationships, researching technical issues, or organizing community events. Every internship has been totally different, based upon the skills and interest of the intern. Connections within the energy policy and non-profit community were one of the most valuable things most of our interns said they gained.

It’s often been said that the energy and utility field is kind of dry and technical. CUB strives to break that mold by representing the people served by utilities, and CUB’s interns bring fresh energy and ideas to our work. They are a vital part of our work and we thank all of them, and we appreciate the legacy of Eric Shaich which makes this internship possible.

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