Todd Pray was named Berkeley Lab’s Chief Strategic Partnerships Officer (CSPO) and head of the Strategic Partnerships Office (SPO) in March 2019. Prior to this, Todd’s career had been dedicated to developing technologies that improve human health and environmental sustainability across a broad spectrum of pharmaceutical, food science, and renewable fuel and chemical product R&D programs. As CSPO, he is committed to expanding his vision and focus to encompass all areas of scientific research represented at the Lab.
Kristin manages strategic funding opportunities and key institutional relationships for cross-functional cooperation and cultivates resources to support the Lab’s diverse community of researchers. Over her career, she has worked across the Lab to ensure it is leveraging and building on its distinct strengths as a national laboratory. She championed strategic planning for funding opportunity development and capture, including large-scale competitive research and early-stage opportunities, and the cultivation of external relationships with key strategic partners to strengthen institutional research priorities.
Gail is responsible for Partnerships and Proposals program management and enabling the overall business and proposal development process. Prior to joining SPO, Gail was an innovation and transformation leader at AIG, working on the launch of their innovation centers and developing their innovation portfolio and network to meet client needs across industry sectors through partnerships with start-ups, VC’s, accelerators, and universities.
Suzanne is responsible for reviewing and submitting proposals and negotiating research agreements for the Computing Sciences and Energy Sciences Areas. Previously, she worked on sponsored-research contracts at University of California, San Francisco and at the University of California, Davis where as part of her many duties, she processed, drafted, and negotiated research agreements with federal, state, nonprofit, and private industry sponsors and subcontractors.
Joanna is responsible for supporting non-federal engagements in Building Technology and Urban Systems, Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts, and Cyclotron Road. Joanna has over 15 years of contract management experience in the fields of research, higher education, construction, and software with extensive focus on strategic relationships, customer service, process improvement, negotiation, cost savings, and financial analysis. Prior to joining SPO, she worked at UCSF, LBNL Procurement, Princeton University, PPPL, and QAD.
Theresa joined the Lab in 2009 and has worked with several scientific Divisions. She is the Contractor Supported Research (CSR) coordinator and supports the SPO team and brings experience in the various business operations areas and is responsible for identifying, implementing, and overseeing SPO’s business processes. Theresa enjoys contributing to Lab wide initiatives and continually joins working groups and IDEA workshops to expand her network.
Melanie Sonsteng manages all facets of the innovative Cyclotron Road program. She works closely with incoming and current Fellows, manages on-site operations and events, and ensures that fellows have everything they need.
