Board of Directors Appoints Megan Lohmann as CEO
August 2024
A visionary leader with a life-long interest in environmental sustainability and local climate action has been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of the Community Energy Association (CEA).
Megan Lohmann has more than 20 years of experience working with local governments and Indigenous communities in developing energy and emissions plans and facilitating implementation of climate and energy initiatives. Over that time, she has gained extensive technical knowledge on such diverse topics as building science, local government jurisdiction and governance, low-carbon transportation, and energy systems. This diverse experience is reflected in her service as Vice-Chair of Electric Mobility Canada, representing local governments as a member of the BC Energy Step Code Council, participating as an Ambassador with Alberta’s Energy Futures Lab, and advising numerous other committees and councils.
Her work has earned the communities she has supported a number of awards including recognition from the Union of BC Municipalities and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Individual awards have included recognition as a “change maker” in the 2023 BC Business Woman of Year awards for her impact on advancing climate goals while building benefits and resilience in BC communities. She also received a Community Leadership Award from the Fernie Chamber of Commerce in 2020 for serving her community as President of the Fernie Nordic Society.
Life-long passion for the environment
Lohmann has worked for CEA for 16 years, but her passion for the environment started when she was 10 years old and she founded “LASOE: Let’s All Save Our Environment,” a neighbourhood club that raised money in support of the World Wildlife Fund. Her leadership continued in university where she served as president of the Environmental Sciences Student Executive at the University of Guelph while she completed a degree in Environmental Sciences. She also has a master’s degree in Environment and Management from Royal Roads University.
“The entire CEA Board of Directors is thrilled to announce Megan’s appointment as CEA’s chief executive officer,” says City of Nelson Councillor, Rik Logtenberg, Chair of CEA’s Boad of Directors.
“Megan has been successful in leveraging funding to facilitate large-scale, high-impact initiatives while collaborating across all levels of government and the private sector. Her technical knowledge, work ethic, and vision for how CEA can enable communities to lower emissions and build resilience is particularly well suited for this moment in time. Megan is a person with incredible knowledge and leadership skills; people genuinely love working with her,” says Logtenberg.
A smooth transition
In the coming months, starting at the Union of BC Municipalities convention in Vancouver, Lohmann will engage with CEA’s various constituencies and work with the Board to establish a renewed vision for CEA and its impact in communities.
“The last 16 years at CEA has afforded me the opportunity to focus on long-term, high-impact project implementation,” says Lohmann.
“I am ready and excited to apply that lens organizationally; to harness the passion and knowledge of our staff to continue to increase our capacity and impact through strategic partnerships and collaboration – and doing it all in a way that upholds CEA's Guiding Principles. I am motivated by the passion of CEA’s staff, my kids, and future generations, to do everything I can to ensure a healthy and resilient future,” says Lohmann.
Lohmann replaces Dale Littlejohn, who stepped down earlier this month after 18 years with CEA.
CEA accelerates bold action by local governments and Indigenous communities related to climate and energy. It grew from a committee established by the Province of BC and the Union of BC Municipalities in the 1990s, was incorporated as a non-profit in 2003, and registered as a charity the following year. Today, CEA’s member-organizations and staff live in communities large and small. They bring their collective expertise, experiences, passion, and commitment to Truth and Reconciliation to the work of reducing local greenhouse gas emissions while maximizing co-benefits, so that communities are healthy and resilient.
Megan Lohmann in Fernie, BC. Credit: Emily Park Photography.
Media Contact
Rob van Adrichem,
Director of External Relations
rvanadrichem@communityenergy.ca
