Management Team
CEO – Sheeraz Haji
As CEO of Cleantech Group, Sheeraz Haji is one of the world’s most influential cleantech thought-leaders and trusted advisors to global companies and executives. Prior to joining the company, Sheeraz served for eight years as co-founder and CEO of GetActive, a venture-backed software-as-a-service, customer relationship management company. He led GetActive’s merger with Convio, then as Convio’s president built a company with 1,200 clients and 300 employees.
Sheeraz has also worked as a strategy consultant for McKinsey & Company; entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR) for El Dorado Ventures; operations executive for GMO, a global management investment firm; and product manager for Digital Impact (acquired by Acxiom). Sheeraz launched his career as an environmental engineer with Environ International. He has Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in environmental engineering from Brown University and Stanford University respectively. Sheeraz also holds dual U.S. and French citizenship.
Executive Vice President – Greg Neichin
Greg leads the Cleantech Group’s Research & Advisory business where he assists global enterprises, investors, and public institutions in evaluating cleantech companies and assessing the development of cleantech markets. Greg is responsible for Cleantech Group’s full suite of market intelligence products and oversees an experienced team of Analysts covering a range of cleantech sectors. In addition, he leads the firm’s Advisory activities, where he regularly provides guidance to some of the world’s largest energy companies, technology and services vendors, and government agencies. Greg has personally authored a variety of publications including the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2010 Smart Grid Vendor Ecosystem Review.
Greg has a range of expertise helping organizations successfully adapt to innovation and has worked in a variety of consulting, operating, and entrepreneurial roles. Greg began his professional career as a Consultant with Mercer Management Consulting and subsequently advised a global client base on technology trends and commercialization for SRI Consulting Business Intelligence. Greg spent four years on the management team of GetActive (merged with Convio), a developer of CRM software for advocacy and charitable organizations, where he led a variety of sales, marketing, and partnership efforts as Vice President, Business Development and worked in strategy and business development for Redback Networks – a leading telecommunications equipment vendor acquired by Ericsson. In addition, he co-founded PlaceVine, a leading web-based information service.
Greg has a B.A. in Economics and Government from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where he was a recipient of the Price Fellowship for studies in Entrepreneurial Management.
Managing Director Europe & Asia – Richard Youngman
Richard Youngman is responsible for driving the growth of the Cleantech Group’s activities outside North America, especially in Europe and Israel, and Asia. He is based in Cleantech Group’s office in London.
Richard has more than five years experience researching cleantech innovation, venture capital markets, and start-ups across Europe and Globally. He is a regular keynote speaker at major cleantech events and is the driving force behind the annual Global Cleantech 100, a list of the World’s most promising private cleantech companies. He authors periodic reports, such as The Rise of the Corporation in Cleantech.
Most recently, he was Vice President of Research & Operations at Library House, where he ran the Library House Research team, which discovered and collected the information about high-growth companies that underpinned that company’s data, analytical, and event services. Before Library House, Richard ran his own advisory firm conducting research and consulting on the measurement and evaluation of intangible assets and intellectual capital for organizations such as the European Commission. This followed nine years building a broad-based finance and research background with leading financial institutions such as ABN AMRO, Barclays Capital and BZW in the City of London. His work was centered on the debt markets and revolved around financing M&A deals and advising clients on achieving alignment between their financial and strategic plans. Richard has an MA from Cambridge University, and an MBA from Theseus International Management Institute, Sophia Antipolis, France.
Partner – Michael Ellis
Michael Ellis leads Cleantech Group/GreenOrder’s Advisory practice, bringing expertise in strategy, marketing, and change management.
He leads the firm’s work with General Electric, where the firm has been the principal strategic advisor at the highest levels on the creation, implementation, and ongoing development of ecomagination since its inception in 2004. His other engagements have focused on the development and marketing of product portfolios and identification of new market opportunities. He has presented at numerous conferences on topics including green marketing and associated regulation, electric vehicles, supply chain sustainability, and developing company-wide sustainability and innovation strategies.
Previously, while at the consulting firm Katzenbach Partners (now part of Booz & Company), Michael led client projects in change management, cost-cutting, and strategy development. He also founded and led the firm’s cleantech practice area. While at Harvard Business School, Michael consulted to solar and ethanol startups on matters including business model development and greenhouse gas management.
Michael graduated from Yale College summa cum laude with a B.A. in Cognitive Science and from Harvard Business School with an MBA, where he was a Baker Scholar.
Vice President, Sales – Catherine Jhung
Catherine is the VP of Sales at Cleantech Group where she develops and executes the Company’s sales strategy across all product lines. She leads the company’s sales organization that cultivates and manages relationships with global corporations, investment firms, professional services firms and government agencies looking to develop, acquire, partner, or invest in cleantech opportunities.
Catherine has led sales teams at a variety of startups in the research, software, and advertising industries, helping them develop their sales and go-to-market strategies. Previously, she was the Director of Sales at edo Interactive, a pioneer that develops digital marketing technologies to leverage pre-existing global, point of sale (POS) payments infrastructures along with modern social networking communities. Prior to edo Interactive, Catherine spent over five years on the executive team at Equilar, the leading research firm for benchmarking executive and board compensation. There, she built and managed the sales and client services divisions from the ground up, growing the business to over 600 subscription clients.
Catherine has a B.S. in Managerial Economics and a minor in Computer Information Systems from UC Davis and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.
Vice President, Finance – Dave Couch
Dave Couch is based in Cleantech Group’s San Francisco office, and is responsible for the company’s finance, human resources, and IT departments.
Most recently, he was controller at Saatchi & Saatchi, a leader in the sustainability consulting industry. Prior to that, he was the Manager of Financial Planning & Analysis for GetActive Software (merged with Convio), a software-as-a-service company providing CRM tools to nonprofits. He started his finance career in the banking industry, where he served as CFO of a mid-sized credit union.
Dave holds a B.A. from Michigan State University, and an MBA from the University of Michigan.