Citizens for Local Power (CLP) was founded in 2013 by ten women who affectionately referred to themselves as the organization's "kitchen cabinet." The kitchen cabinet continues to meet weekly in Kingston, NY, just down the road from our original home, Rosendale, NY, a town of 6,000 people in the Mid-Hudson Valley. You can reach us anytime by email or by calling one of our members below.

Kitchen Cabinet members currently include:

  • Betta Broad, Director of New Yorkers for Clean Power;

  • Pat Courtney-Strong, Director, Energy Policy, Arch Street Communications. Small business owner of a state-certified Women-Owned Business Enterprise. Pat has spent the last 20 years helping homeowners, businesses, and local governments save money by saving energy;

  • Susan H. Gillespie, Former Vice President for Special Global Initiatives and VP for Development and Public Affairs, Bard College; translator of philosophy and poetry from Germany;

  • Kelleigh McKenzie, musician, localist, and former communications director at Re>Think Local

  • Amy Trompetter, former Professor of Theater at Barnard College and professional puppeteer, whose Redwing Blackbird Theater uses humor and direct language to present political issues, including energy, at its regular public performances;

  • Troy Ellen Dixon, A consultant with Radio Kingston to build their underwriting program, a unique opportunity for businesses in the greater Kingston area to reach and engage with WKNY’s community.

  • Melinda McKnight, local business owner of a company that transitions buildings off fossil fuels, preservationist, and historian.

CLP's Board of Directors:

  • Susan H. Gillespie (President)

  • Kelleigh McKenzie (Vice-President)

  • Pat Courtney-Strong (Treasurer)

  • Betta Broad (Member-At-Large)

  • Lindsay Hutton (Member-At-Large)

  • Troy Ellen Dixon(Member-At-Large)

  • Amy Trompetter (Secretary)

  • Melinda McKnight ( Member-At-Large)


Founding Board Members: 

  • Jessica Barry, a renewable energy leader

  • Manna Jo Greene, Environmental Director of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and Ulster County Legislator, representing District 19 Rosendale and Marbletown

  • Jen Metzger represented the 42nd district in the New York State Senate from 2019 to 2020. Prior to her State Senate tenure, Metzger served on the Rosendale Town Board.