Panelists

Paul Lackey is the president and chief engineer for EVDrive, a company in Portland, Oregon. Paul specializes in the design and manufacturing of electric vehicle components and systems, including custom battery packs, battery management systems, and full power distribution systems. Paul’s desire to be a part of climate change solutions led to a degree in Renewable Energy Engineering from the Oregon Institute of Technology in 2012. After a short stint working in the Solar energy industry, he transitioned to electric vehicles in 2014. At EVDrive, Paul has worked on EVs across many industries, including aviation, marine, and agricultural as well as automotive. Paul has worked on several competition vehicles as well, including a Pike’s Peak racer and a record setting Corvette.

Dr. Yan Liang is the Peter C. and Bonnie S. Kremer Chair and  Professor of Economics at Willamette University. She is also a Research Associate at the Levy Economics Institute and a Research Scholar of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity. Yan specializes in MMT, Economic Development, International Economics and the Political Economy of China. Yan publishes in various leading heterodox journals and contributes to a number of heterodox books. Yan received several grants from the Institute for New Economic Thinking, the Luce Foundation, and the Chinese Ministry of Education. Yan is a regular commentator on the China Global TV Network, Bloomberg, Yahoo!Finance, the Diplomat Magazine, the East Asia Form, China Academy of Social Sciences Magazine, among others. Yan is an elected board member of the Association for Evolutionary Economics and immediate past president of Association for Institutional Thought. She currently serves as guest editor for the Chinese Economy.

Kris Strickler joined the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to lead its delivery and operations division in October of 2018, and was appointed Director by the Oregon Transportation Commission in September of 2019. Along with a dedicated staff of over 4,700 employees, Director Strickler oversees a large and complex agency focused on the delivery of Oregon’s multimodal transportation system. The agency is tasked with modernizing its transportation network, diversifying the department’s workforce, and bringing innovative solutions to achieve Oregon’s transportation, economic, and environmental goals. Director Strickler is an experienced transportation engineer, with a background in pragmatic program delivery that prioritizes delivering with communities, for communities. One of his first actions as Director was to organize the agency around the transportation sector needs of the future, which included creating a Climate Office and an Office of Social Equity, and prioritizing EV infrastructure and investment across the state.

Dr. Yizhao Yang is a Professor at the School of Planning, Public Policy, and Management at the University of Oregon (UO). Her work addresses urban sustainability through applied research, community-engaged teaching, and services. She investigates the relationships between the environment and people’s behavior and well-being, and also studies global sustainable urban planning and design, particularly in countries in East Asia and North America, contributing to the global discourse on place-making knowledge and practices. Dr. Yang’s research has been funded by various US and international organizations, including the US National Institute for Transportation and Communities, the Urban China Initiative, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policies’ China Program, and the Fulbright Scholar Program (Fulbright Japan). Dr. Yang is a member of the International Steering Committee of the Sustainable Cities and Landscapes (SCL) Hub for the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU). She leads the China Program for the Sustainable Cities Institute at the UO, and actively serves on the advisory board and provides instruction for the Asia-Pacific Mayors Academy organized by UN ESCAP. Professor Yang earned her Master’s and PhD degrees in Urban and Regional Planning from Cornell University.