Staff Bios

Rick Goss
Senior Director of Environmental Affairs

Rick Goss is the Senior Director of Environmental Affairs for the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) in Washington D.C. His responsibilities include overseeing EIA�s Environmental Issues Council (EIC) and promoting industry positions on electronics recycling, materials content and design, and energy efficiency. Rick represents the industry before elected officials, regulators and the media, and has testified on behalf of EIA in various states and at a hearing on electronics recycling held by the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Superfund & Waste Management. He also participates in several federal and state planning teams and task forces on key environmental issues in order to provide industry with a voice in the process.

Rick came to EIA from a D.C.-based environmental consulting firm that specialized in risk communications issues for major corporate clients. As Senior Project Manager, he supervised projects for several Fortune 50 companies involved in Superfund, RCRA Corrective Action and brownfields sites. Prior to moving to the D.C. area, Rick spent nine years in Albany, New York, as the Legislative Director for a New York State Assemblyman. His work in New York focused on a range of state and local public policy issues, including environment and energy, criminal justice and the medical profession.

Rick holds an M.S. in Environmental Management and Policy from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Rochester.

Chris Cleet
Manager of Environmental Affairs

Chris Cleet is the Manager of Environmental Affairs for the EIC. Chris focuses centrally on compliance and regulatory issues relating to product design and materials restrictions. Before coming to EIA, Chris served as a senior Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) analyst for Johnson Control Major Systems. He also worked as the director of several of the American Chemistry Council's (ACC) Chemical Self-funded Technical Advocacy and Research Teams. In that role he provided technical guidance on worker safety, product recycling, and toxicity issues and worked with ACC's member companies to develop EH&S outreach plans. He has also taught high school chemistry, physical science and earth science in schools in Montgomery County, Md., and Lancaster, Pa.

Chris has authored or co-authored several environmental technical papers and holds a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Millersville University in Millersville, Pa., and a master's degree in Environmental Science from Johns Hopkins University.

Colleen Pickford
Environmental Affairs Specialist

Colleen works with Rick and Chris to coordinate EIC policy positions and communications efforts. Before coming to EIA, Colleen served in multiple fundraising positions for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). She coordinated donor strategies and communications plans. She also served as Legislative Correspondent to the Honorable Wayne T. Gilchrest (R-MD), where she researched and relayed Representative Gilchrest's position on environmental and other issues, resolved constituent issues with federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and served as Mr. Gilchrest's liaison for the Congressional Climate Change Caucus.

Colleen has written several environmental papers and possesses a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Resource Management with a minor in Political Science from the Pennsylvania State University, and a Masters of Natural Resources from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Valerie works with the EIC team on regulatory and legislative compliance issues.  Before coming to EIA, Valerie interned for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where she worked with several different industries, including metal finishers and green builders.  Valerie also interned for the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable, where she co-authored a report that measured pollution prevented in the U.S., and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Office of Technical Assistance, where she conducted data analysis for a study analyzing the effectiveness of on-site technical assistance in Massachusetts.