Matt Kittell, Director, Société Générale
Matt Kittell is a Director with Société Générale’s (SG, or SocGen) sustainable finance team in New York. Carbon management is core to Matt’s activities, and he works with bank clients ranging from corporates, developers, investors, equipment providers, and carbon credit market participants to evaluate and execute opportunities in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and carbon dioxide removals (CDRs). Matt works in partnership with other SG banking teams in the U.S. (New York, Houston, Chicago), Europe (U.K., France), and Asia (Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia) and he has insights from recent large scale CCS projects closed in the U.K. (Net Zero Teesside) and U.S. (Trailblazer). Matt’s work on CCS at SG is informed by his previous role at the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO), where the final five years of his fifteen-year LPO tenure focused on the CCS market.
Katie Strangis, Vice President - Government & International Affairs, Westinghouse
Katie Strangis joined Westinghouse as the Vice President of Government & International Affairs in April 2024. Katie brings to this role nearly two decades of strategy, engagement, leadership, and legal experience with the Department of Energy, with particular focus on civil nuclear cooperation and export controls. Most recently, she served as the Deputy Director for Nonproliferation Policy for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Previously, Katie served as Program Director for Nuclear Technology Export Control Regulations and also in the office of the General Counsel for DOE and NNSA. Katie holds an undergraduate degree in History and English from The University of Rochester and a law degree from Syracuse University College of Law.
Elina Teplinsky, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Elina Teplinsky, Pillsbury’s Global Energy Industry Leader and a leading member of the firm’s International Nuclear Projects and Hydrogen teams, focuses on international nuclear energy matters, including advice to U.S. and global clients on transactional and regulatory issues.
Elina is a trusted advisor to nuclear owner-operators, reactor and equipment suppliers, investors, architect-engineering companies and technical consulting firms on complex nuclear transactional and regulatory matters. She frequently serves as lead outside counsel on new build projects, equipment and fuel procurements, M&A transactions and joint ventures in the nuclear sector. She has worked on transactions for more than 30 countries in North and South America, Europe, Turkey and the Middle East, Russia and the former CIS, Asia and Africa.
Elina advises clients on all aspects of the transactions, including: project strategy, structuring and risk allocation; drafting and negotiation of EPC, equipment and fuel supply agreements; mitigation of nuclear liability risk; adherence to multilateral and bilateral treaty requirements; and addressing nuclear trade and investments restrictions. She has advised several governments and government-owned organizations on the drafting and implementation of nuclear legislation and regulations. Elina has also advised organizations on the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) responsibilities associated with the energy sector.
Elina has vast experience in nuclear export control matters and is currently advising dozens of U.S. and global companies on all aspects of compliance with U.S. DOE regulations at 10 CFR Part 810, U.S. NRC regulations at 10 CFR Part 110 and the Department of Commerce Export Administration Regulations, including structuring and implementation of export compliance programs and addressing potential violations and securing licenses and advisory opinions.
Elina also advises a number of small modular reactor and advance reactor companies on commercialization of their designs, including securing investment and entry into strategic partnerships.
Elina is a co-chair of the World Nuclear Association’s Law Working Group and is a frequent lecturer at the World Nuclear University. She has been recognized as an expert nuclear advisor by the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA), International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation (IFNEC) and Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). Elina is also a consultant to the Clean Air Task Force, a leading NGO focused on deep decarbonization, on nuclear energy strategy and global nuclear deployment. In addition, she serves as a member of the MIT-based Advanced Nuclear & Production Experts Group (ANPEG), a global consortium dedicated to developing low-carbon energy systems based on a “plug-and-play” nuclear micro reactor.
Victor Ibarra, Senior Manager - Nuclear Energy, Clean Air Task Force
Victor Ibarra, Jr is a proud Mexican American from Dallas, Texas, and joined Clean Air Task Force as a Senior Manager for the Advanced Nuclear Energy Program in March 2025. Prior to joining CATF, Victor was a civil servant working as an Energy Industry Analyst in the Office of Energy Market Regulation at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. His extensive career also includes roles at NASA, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, the UT-Health Science Center, and the Nuclear Innovation Alliance.
Victor holds a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M University and earned his M.S. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. Outside of his professional pursuits, Victor enjoys exploring his cultural heritage through cooking and as a dancer. He is deeply committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within the energy sector, actively participating in initiatives through the American Nuclear Society and serving as a Board Member for the Good Energy Collective.