Quilen has a background in biofuels and environmental policy. He is a former Harvard University John Kenneth Galbraith Scholar and he served two years in the United States Peace Corps in Thailand helping farmers organize organic fertilizer co-ops. He worked in the biodiesel industry procuring biodiesel feedstocks such as yellow grease and used cooking oil for a biodiesel refinery in Milwaukee, WI. He is a member of the Chicago Sustainability Leaders Network where he works with city officials and other sustainability leaders to shape environmental policy in the city of Chicago. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history with comprehensive honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and he is finishing his master’s degree in environmental policy with a focus on renewable energy from the University of Denver.