NECEC Announces Staff Promotions

NECEC is excited to announce recent promotions for several staff members within the organization.  

Tricia Dinkel has been promoted to Director of Cleantech Navigate. Tricia previously served as Senior Program Manager of Cleantech Open Northeast, where she oversaw the accelerator’s relationships with local partners and volunteers and executed quality programming for cleantech startups in the Northeast. Prior to joining Cleantech Open in 2019, Tricia served as Director of Data Analytics at WegoWise, which provides utility performance benchmarking and analytics services to property owners and managers of residential and commercial building portfolios, and Associate Director at the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation. Tricia also coordinated sustainability programs at A Better City, a nonprofit business membership organization working to build the Greater Boston region’s economic health, sustainability, and quality of life, and served as Assistant Director at The Green Alliance in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Tricia holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and environmental policy from the University of Colorado Boulder and a master’s degree in environmental education from the University of New Hampshire.  

Talley Cain has been promoted to Program Manager of Cleantech Open Northeast. Talley has served as Interim Program Manager for Cleantech Open Northeast (CTONE) since February 2021 while Tricia took parental leave. As Program Manager, Talley will oversee recruitment and management of startups, mentors, partners, volunteers, and sponsors of Cleantech Open Northeast, manage events for the accelerator, and lead internal communications efforts for the program. Prior to joining the CTONE team, Talley graduated with an MBA from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst in the fall of 2020. During her time at UMass, Talley worked with startups and core facilities at the university, and served as Social Co-Chair of her MBA program’s Graduate Business Association and Vice President of the Business Analytics Club at UMass. She focused her MBA on data analytics. Talley graduated from the University of Colorado-Boulder with a degree in mechanical engineering in May 2019. She holds a certificate in engineering management, and worked as an engineering ambassador at the University of Colorado-Boulder for more than three years. Talley speaks Spanish, loves to travel, and spends her time outside of work hiking, kayaking, and crafting.

In March, NECEC made the following staff promotions:

Beth Zonis has been promoted to Senior Director of Cleantech Open Northeast. Beth has more than 25 years of experience in program strategy and management, business development and partnerships, marketing and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining Cleantech Open Northeast as Director in 2017, Beth helped set up innovation ecosystems for MIT in Russia and India. Beth also previously ran Eco Marketing, a marketing and sustainability consultancy, and has also worked at IBM and two IT startups. As a long-time mentor for Cleantech Open, Beth is committed to advancing the cleantech economy. She is a Board Member of ACTION, the Association of Cleantech Incubators of New England, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College, an MBA from Boston University, a Certificat de Science Politique from Sciences Po in Paris, a certificate in Sustainable Business from the University of Southern Maine, and a certificate in MIT Venture Mentoring. Beth speaks French and Spanish. She plays squash, swims, kayaks and hikes, and enjoys spending time with her family.

Meggie Quackenbush has been promoted to Director of Communications. She joined NECEC in October 2020 as Senior Communications Manager after spending several years in the Massachusetts attorney general's office as deputy press secretary. Prior to the AG's Office, Meggie served as Deputy Director of Communications at MassDevelopment, Massachusetts' quasi-public economy development agency. She previously worked as a freelance reporter writing for The Dorchester Reporter and Boston Business Journal, and started her career at WGBH. Meggie holds a master's degree in journalism from Boston University and a bachelor's degree from St. Lawrence University.