Nancy Moldenauer

Nancy Moldenhauer was appointed to the newly established Michigan City Sustainability Commission in 2019 where she currently serves as Chair and pushed for a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory which was completed by an intern from Indiana University Resilience Cohort in 2019 with the aim of reducing carbon emissions. She heads its National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Solar United Neighbors project teams.

As co-coordinator of Northwest Indiana Green Drinks, Nancy provides a platform via Zoom for people to learn, connect, and advocate on issues concerning our environment. NWI Green Drinks received the “Green Light Award” and was inducted into the “Green Hall of Fame” by Sustainable Indiana in 2016. Green Drinks received the “Rose Award” from Indiana Dunes and LaPorte County Visitors Bureaus for 'Unity' in 2018.

Nancy received the “Frontline Advocate of the Year Award” from the Hoosier Environmental Council in 2016 and received the “Paul H. Douglas Award” from Save the Dunes in 2018. In 2021, she and the MC Sustainability Commission were given the "Light Award" by Solar United Neighbors for two successful rounds of home solar panel installations via their NWI Cooperative.

Todd Zeiger

With a degree in historic preservation from Roger Williams University, Certificate of Executive Management from the University of Notre Dame and a minor in business, Todd Zeiger has built upon his passion for historic buildings over his 34 years in the field. His experience ranges from museum and non-profit management to building restoration, relocation and real estate development involving commercial, residential, and public buildings.

 Todd has been with Indiana Landmarks for over 27 years where he has served as the director of the Northern Regional Office since 1998. He provides a wide range of consultation, project development and advocacy assistance to grass roots organizations, historic preservation commissions, Main Street communities and private building owners.

 As an adjunct Professor of the Practice at the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture’s Historic Preservation concentration and master’s programs, he teaches research, history, theory, and practice.

 He resides with his family, and menagerie of animals, as the fifth generation at the family farmstead on the south side of South Bend. When not working on building projects he is restoring a 1939 Studebaker truck and 1958 Chevy impala convertible.

Nathan Kipnis

Nathan Kipnis is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and principal of Kipnis Architecture + Planning, based in Evanston, Illinois and Boulder, Colorado. The firm was recently named ‘Best Chicago Residential Architect’ by Better Magazine and was also awarded Illinois Green Alliance’s prestigious Emerald Award. 

Mr. Kipnis was a founding member of Citizens’ Greener Evanston. As chair of its Energy Task Force, he was the motivating force for Evanston’s conceptual offshore wind farm in Lake Michigan. 

A founding member of the AIA’s 2030 Commitment Working Group in 2009, Mr. Kipnis served as national co-chair from 2018 to 2019. He was also on the AIA’s national Sustainability Leadership Group and the Committee on Climate Action and Design Excellence.  He now serves at the national level on the Executive Committee of the AIA’s national Small Firm Exchange, hoping to get the word out on sustainability to the large number of the AIA’s smaller firms.

Mr. Kipnis is the founder of NextHaus Alliance, a new, premium design/build concept to provide ‘net zero’ sustainable. resilient and healthy homes.  

A graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder, he received his Environmental Design degree in 1983. Mr. Kipnis obtained his Master of Architecture degree from Arizona State University, with emphasis in Energy Conscious Design.   

‘Nate the Skate’ was a semi-professional skateboarder a long (long) time ago, but continues to skateboard, snowboard, ski and surf when the opportunity presents itself.

Alicia Ponce

Alicia Ponce is the Founder and Principal of APMonarch, a Chicago based Architecture firm.

Under Ponce’s direction, the firm provides architectural services, sustainability consulting and community engagement for projects throughout the Midwest and Mexico. Her expertise and passion to design healthy buildings and equitable communities creates architecture that is ambitious, thoughtful, and healthy. APMonarch provides these services to diverse sectors including Commercial, Higher-Education, Civic, Healthcare, and Retail.

Ponce refers to APMonarch as the pollinator of the built environment designing healthy environments that look good, feel good and perform great. The firm’s promise is to build zero carbon architecture.

A registered architect in Illinois and Wisconsin, Ponce has over 25 years of architecture and sustainability experience and is a graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In 2020, Ponce founded Arquitina, a national 501(c)3 organization with a mission to raise the 1% of licensed Latina architects in the U.S and she is the creator of the award-winning book Latinas in Architecture. In 2022, she received the Landmarks Illinois Influencer award and the Maestro Leader Award. Ponce is a Board Member for United Way Metro Chicago and is a Commissioner with Chicago Landmarks.

Dan Robinson

Dan Robinson’s work has focused on sustainability and ecosystem care, empowering individuals and communities to create a better world, and promoting social justice and equity. He currently works as Indiana Program Associate for Solar United Neighbors (SUN), a national non-profit with a team in eleven states, including Indiana, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. SUN helps people go solar, come together, and fight for their energy rights. His career has included community organizing, serving as a local elected official, communications work, higher education administration, radio, ministry, and educating for social justice. A husband, father, and grandfather, he grew up in rural northwest Indiana and graduated from Purdue. Dan is also a musician, writer, and lover of the Great Lakes.