Welcome Gwe Gasco to CUB's Board of Directors

Gwe Gasco is a White Earth Descendant and an enrolled member of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa in Michigan. Born and raised in Ponsford, MN, he had an unorthodox upbringing that included a mix of homeschooling, traditional Ojibwe activities, and modern renewable energy and social justice work. His childhood instilled in him a deep love for the waters and woods of Minnesota, which led him into his work at 8th Fire Solar, where he worked from an installation and assembly position to a leadership role. Now, the Program Coordinator of 8th Fire Solar, his main focus for the last 3 years has been to coordinate solar thermal installs in tribal communities, led by tribal members of those communities.

Robert Blake (he/him/his) is the owner of Solar Bear, pronounced Gizis-o-makwa in Ojibwe, a solar development company located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Also, Robert is the Executive Director of Native Sun Community Power Development, a Non-Profit likewise located in Minneapolis. Robert is a tribal citizen of the Red Lake Nation. His passion is spreading the word about renewable energy through communication, cooperation, and collaboration.

Buddy Robinson is retired. He formerly was the Staff Director of the MN Citizens Federation NE (previously known as the Senior Federation NE) from 1979 to 2019. In that work, he was involved in defending the interests of low use, lower income ratepayers in every MN Power rate case, plus a number of other MN PUC proceedings, as well as some related advocacy in the state legislature. He participates in the Duluth Climate and Energy Network. He has also long been involved in health care reform and is currently on the Board and the Legislative Committee of Health Care for All MN. He has a BA in History and Sociology from Columbia U., and co-wrote a book with Mark Hanna, Strategies for Community Empowerment (published in 1994).  An East Coast transplant, he lives in Duluth with his wife Jan.