Long Beach harbor commission OKs 2 port staff heads in infrastructure, environmental planning

Ashley Morteboy (Photo courtesy of Port of Long Beach)

The Port of Long Beach has brought on two new staffers this summer: Ashley Morteboy, who will serve as director of the Project Controls Division, guiding the port’s infrastructure projects; and Renee Moilanen, environmental planning leader.

Morteboy comes to the Port of Long Beach after working two years as director of project controls at the UC Davis Health, where he oversaw the planning and design of the agency’s capital improvement program.

The port’s Project Controls Division is responsible for establishing and tracking schedules, budgets and costs for the timely delivery of infrastructure projects for the Engineering Services Bureau.

Morteboy also previously served as a senior manager at Procter & Gamble for two years and brings more than 18 years of project controls experience, working nationally and internationally throughout his career, spanning a range of capital investment ventures.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom.

His appointment was approved by the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Monday, July 8, and is effective July 29.

Moilanen, meanwhile, returns to the Port of Long Beach after zero-emissions work in private industry. The harbor commission OK’d her appointment June 10; she will begin work on Monday, July 15.

She will lead the port’s sustainability programs as director of Environmental Planning, the division most directly responsible for POLB’s signature environmental policies and programs, including the Green Port Policy and the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan.

Under the 2005 Green Port Policy, a landmark industry initiative, the division coordinates programs to improve air, water and soil quality; preserve wildlife habitat; and integrate sustainability into port practices.

The effectiveness of these programs, port officials said, has reduced total diesel emissions at the port by 91% since 2005, improving the biodiversity and health of the harbor.

Most recently, Moilanen was director of ports at Build Momentum, which specializes in developing campaigns for organizations working on transformative water, energy, transportation and manufacturing technologies. She was previously a consultant for Starcrest Consulting Group, which helps conduct the port’s annual emissions inventory.

The appointment brings Moilanen back to the Port of Long Beach, where she played a key role in advancing clean air programs as manager of Air Quality Practices from 2014 to 2019. She also served as an environmental specialist, environmental specialist associate and communications administrative analyst during a port career that began in 2006.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Florida and a master’s of public policy in health policy from UCLA.