Wendy (Gwynn) Benner

Gwynn Benner is Executive Director of the UC Davis Blum Center for Developing Economies. She also serves as Assistant Director of the UC Davis Humphrey Fellowship Program (humphrey.ucdavis.edu) and as Program Manager for the Program for International Energy Technologies (piet.ucdavis.edu), an initiative of the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center (eec.ucdavis.edu). In addition, she is Founding Director of the Energy Program * Youth Corps (epyceducation.org), an effort to bring energy efficiency literacy and green job skills to middle and high school youth in Northern California. Prior to working at UC Davis, Gwynn served as the U.S.-Mexico Border Coordinator for Region 9 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Before that she was Director for the Sonoran Institute's U.S.-Mexico Border Program. Gwynn has taught elementary education and traveled extensively throughout Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. She has a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Master’s in Public Administration and Policy with a focus on environmental policy from the University of Arizona, Tucson.

Recent publication: Sonoran Desert Network Weavers: Surprising Environmental Success Along the U.S.-Mexico Border (Environment Magazine, January/February, 2011)