Candace Chu O'Melia

Candace is a second-generation Taiwanese American who believes in building intergenerational wealth through community-led solutions. She is committed to an equitable dignity-infused transition for healthier communities and is currently pursuing her MPA as a Lincoln Institute 75 Fellow at Claremont Lincoln University.

Candace was the Transportation Equity Program Manager at the nation’s largest solar non-profit, GRID Alternatives (GRID). She led GRID’s One-Stop-Shop Pilot Project, now Access Clean California, to improve access to low carbon transportation equity and climate resiliency programs working with various tribal, labor, grassroots EJ partners statewide to pair community-based outreach with a seamless, user-centered application experience. Candace then worked at the Foundation for California Colleges, the nonprofit serving the largest public higher education system in the nation overseeing environmental equity programs related to energy, transportation and mobility, and workforce development. Now, Candace works at General Motors on the Electric Vehicle Charging team.