LA's new cleantech chief and a champion for tomorrow's talent

Summer is in full swing, and with it comes a string of notable career moves in sustainable business.This month's Names in the News roundup of job news in green business ranges from the City of Los Angeles to sustainable finance group Ceres to Silicon Valley Internet of Things player C3 IoT.Have a tip for our next installment? Shoot us an e-mail at [email protected].Who's newsMatt Peterson, Los Angeles Cleantech IncubatorFormer City of Los Angeles Chief Sustainability Officer Matt Peterson has taken over as the president and CEO of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, clearing the way for Deputy CSO Lauren Faber O’Connor to claim the top sustainability post at city hall.Peterson, who was the Southern California city's first chief sustainability officer, will work to develop companies already in the nonprofit investment outfit's portfolio while also aiming to increase its social, economic and environmental impact.Vien Truong, Dream CorpsAs the director of Oakland-based environmental justice nonprofit Green For All, Vien Truong is already intimately familiar with the barriers facing the next generation of talent in sustainability and beyond.Starting this month, she will also be steering fellow Oakland nonprofit The Dream Corps' array of programming in areas like community organizing and job development as the organization's new CEO.Carlton Reeves, C3 IoTCarlton Reeves, previously technology-to-market advisor for the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), has moved into the private sector full time with a new position in the tech industry.As of July, Reeves will serve as forward deployed solutions leader for Silicon Valley-based Internet of Things company C3 IoT, which sells enterprise software to coordinate the growing array of connected devices on the market.Kelly Speakes-Backman, Energy Storage AssociationWhat's an emerging industry without its own industry group?In the case of energy storage, that effort at the Energy Storage Association will be led by inaugural CEO Kelly Speakes-Backman, a former energy regulator and veteran of energy efficiency advocacy group the Alliance to Save Energy.On the moveThis summer has also been a busy one across industries, and that doesn't exclude GreenBiz alumni onto their own new posts:- Veteran journalist and former GreenBiz Senior Writer Barbara Grady has been hired as California communications manager by nonprofit sustainable investing advocacy group Ceres.- Keith Larsen, a former finance-focused reporter for GreenBiz, is now a money reporter covering banking, investment and economic development for the South Florida Business Journal in Miami.