Meet the Team
Vanessa Perkins
Founder
Vanessa created Community Charging as a result of her research fellowship with Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). As an E2 Fellow, Vanessa researched how to leverage existing infrastructure and the sharing economy to build community-owned infrastructure. In this way, she hopes to mitigate so-called "EV charging deserts" , create accessible and affordable L2 charging solutions, and drive EV adoption locally.  Vanessa is a dedicated environmental scientist interested in scalable and inclusive climate change mitigation solutions, especially from clean energy, electric transportation, and the sharing economy.
Alexandra Nunez
Digital Media Intern
Alexandra Nunez is a Mexican-American, 1st generation student at the University of Illinois at Chicago studying Teaching of Spanish, Sustainable Cities and Social Justice. She has a passion for advocacy and loves to create accessible multilingual content. She has also been working with Enlace Chicago as an Academic Support Facilitator for 7th graders and Program Assistant at her local elementary school.
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Nahid Shirzadkhan
Social Media Intern
Nahid Shirzadkhan is one of the share holders and main member of board of directors of Shirzad company. She is an Iranian international graduate student of Industrial Design at University of Illinois at Chicago. She also has bachelor degree in Industrial Design and master in Architecture. she is experienced Interior designer with a demonstrated history of working in the architecture and industrial field. Â she is the first student in Iran who worked on the relationship between Architecture and Fashion and designed the first fashion house in Iran. she established a social media presence for Community Charging through Instagram and created the logo for CC organization, along with CC slogans. she produced well-defined contents to grow organically CC Instagram.
Viviana Sanchez
Research Development Intern
Viviana is an undergrad studying Communication with a minor in Sustainable Cities at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is very passionate about efforts for sustainable developments and loves being outdoors. She currently has an upcoming sustainable mobility internship through the Office of Sustainability at her university. In the future, Viviana plans on going into the transportation sector and being involved in sustainable initiatives.
Kamil M. Wnek
Web Development Intern
Kamil joined Community Charging with the vision and drive to improve upon our Non-Profit Organization and focused on developing the organization's website with experience and integrity. Kamil is a 1st generation student at the University of Illinois at Chicago graduating in spring 2021 with a bachelor's in Economics and two minors, one in Finance and one in Sustainable Cities.