Jaclyn (Jackie) Bliss is a strategic global executive who consistently leads teams to exceed ambitious sales and financial targets. She has served as head of multiple divisions for large energy companies and has a core competency in building and managing large, multi-national commercial teams to drive substantial growth.
With over 16 years of experience in the energy industry, Jackie is a recognized expert in the space, spearheading numerous new product launches, delivering innovative sustainability and cost-saving solutions to customers, driving organic and inorganic growth, and developing talent.
As President of Services for Franklin Energy, Jackie is responsible for developing and delivering profitable and sustainable energy solutions for the nation’s leading utilities and government agencies. In this role, she leads the delivery of turnkey energy efficiency programs to reduce demand and achieve client’s sustainability and energy savings targets. She also oversees marketing, growth, and all of the commercial efforts for the business.
Previously, as Chief Customer Officer at Vicinity Energy, the largest district energy company in the United States, Jackie developed and led the company’s commercial efforts, building the sales and customer success engines from the ground up. Under her leadership, Vicinity underwent a major commercial transition, achieving 5 year growth targets in 3 years and delivering 30%+ in annual EBITDA growth to the bottom line.
As Vice President and Head of Global Customers for energy industry leader Enel X (formerly EnerNOC), Jackie created a brand new division within the organization focused on building, managing, and growing commercial partnerships with key strategic global customers. Her globally distributed team consistently outperformed plan, exceeded all stretch targets, and built a robust pipeline for future business.
In her role as EnerNOC’s Vice President and General Manager, Advisory Solutions, Jackie helped lead the organization through its 2017 $250M acquisition by the Enel Group, spearheading integration activities and organizational redesign. Earlier, as GM of EnerNOC’s procurement business, Jackie played a key role in the integration of EnerNOC’s $77M acquisition of World Energy, which effectively grew the size of the business line by 800%. In addition, Jackie developed an aggressive 5-year business plan, including global expansion efforts in EMEA and APAC, increasing global reach to more than 23 countries in two years.
Prior to EnerNOC, Jackie worked at National Grid in sales operations and performance excellence roles and began her work in energy as an Associate in the Natural Resources Group of the J.P. Morgan Securities Investment Bank.
Jackie is Founder and Past President of the Boston Chapter of the Women’s Energy Network and currently serves as an executive advisor.
Jackie earned her MBA in Management and Finance from the New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business, as well as a Master of Public Administration in Energy Policy & Management at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Columbia College, and is a graduate of the LeadBoston Leadership Program.

Headshot and bio coming soon!

Julie Platano is an accomplished product management and business leader with extensive experience in technology and business development. At Commonwealth Fusion Systems, she leads open innovation and product management initiatives, driving strategic partnerships and fostering innovation. She also leads an employee resource group that promotes community support, peer learning, and personal growth within the organization. Previously, at Panasonic Avionics, she managed inflight systems portfolios generating over $1 billion annually, while building and guiding high-performing, diverse teams. Julie is deeply committed to creating inclusive work environments and advancing DEI values. Her leadership style is rooted in empathy, understanding the unique challenges faced by colleagues and customers alike. Fluent in English and French, Julie thrives on continuous learning, cross-functional collaboration, and building relationships that champion diversity and inclusivity.

Helen VanBenschoten is a Materials Science and Chemical Process Engineer managing the Cathode R&D team at A123 Systems.
Starting her career in 1990 at Johnson Matthey Catalytic Systems Division where she supervised manufacture of catalytic converters from the shop floor, Dr. VanBenschoten developed a practical approach problem solving and a participatory approach to management. As an engineer for Johnson Matthey and as an R&D consultant, she developed novel materials and devices for various batteries, fuel cells, solar energy, and lead scale up of more than a dozen manufacturing processes from bench to full commercial capacity.
Helen VanBenschoten has an MS in Material Science from the University of Pennsylvania, a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London, and is a certified project management professional (PMP). She has conducted proprietary research for numerous companies including Lockheed Martin, BP, Johnson Matthey, and holds patents in the areas of catalysis, energy storage and solar energy.
She is a mentor and outspoken advocate for those underrepresented in STEM, and while inspired by the the strides being made, believes there is much we still can do to support one another.

Allison is the Operations and Maintenance Manager for Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind. In this role she works to deliver the operations and maintenance strategy, and manages the operations and maintenance team, contract creation and negotiation, and defines the technical operational requirements for the project. Previously she spent several years working on another offshore wind project in the northeast and prior to that, spent five years working in the upstream oil and gas business in New Orleans in various process and facilities engineering roles – which included two years living on offshore oil and gas production platforms. Allison graduated from MIT with a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering and lives in Boston.