Cleantech Group

Abhijeet Borole

Abhijeet is currently leading the technology development efforts at Electro-Active Technologies. He has 21 years of experience in energy R&D.  He developed the bioelectrochemical technology for biomass/waste conversion, while being at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and continues to hone it with the goal of developing integrated solutions to fit the 21st century bioeconomy needs. He has over 60 publications, four patents, and five books/chapters. He has published across multiple disciplines appearing in over 30 different journal titles including Energy & Environmental Science, Electrochimica Acta and Biochemical Engineering Journal.He is an engineer with knowledge of biological systems and an understanding of the sustainability needs of the 21st century.
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He continues his exploration of novel ideas, researching new directions and fundamental concepts at the interface of biocatalysis and electrochemistry via his position as a Research Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Adam Behrens

Adam has spent his career developing and translating technologies in the areas of food, agriculture, healthcare, and nutrition.

Previously, he was a postdoctoral associate in the Langer Lab at MIT where he managed several projects focused on improving healthcare and nutrition in the developing world.

He was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2017. Adam holds a BS in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Bioengineering from the Kofinas lab at the University of Maryland.

Ahmad Ghahreman

A serial entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience in developing cleantech technologies for processing and recycling of resources, Ahmad is the CEO, President, and co-founder of Cyclic Materials. Ahmad is among the early co-inventors of Jetti Resources Inc. technology and is a Board of Advisory member of Li-Cycle Corp (NYSE: LICY).

With dedication and a strong passion for a sustainable environment, Ahmad Ghahreman leads the company’s vision to transform the rare earth elements market with ethical, economical, and sustainable sourced metals available for the global market.

Ahmad Ghahreman has earned his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from the University of British Columbia and has co-invented more than 15 patents.

Alicia Lenis

Amanda Hall

Anastasia Volkova

Anastasia Volkova, PhD, is a Ukrainian entrepreneur and engineer committed to developing technology that empowers the agriculture industry to help solve the global climate crisis. She is CEO and Co-Founder of Regrow Ag, an award-winning SaaS provider that enables organizations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across their agricultural supply chains and build climate change resilience by incentivizing the adoption of regenerative farming practices.

Since Regrow’s launch in early 2021, Dr. Volkova and her team have raised $55M in Series A and B funding, and have nurtured Regrow into a global company trusted by some of the world’s leading CPGs, food companies, and ecosystem market developers, including General Mills, Cargill, Kellogg’s, PepsiCo, and South Pole. Regrow delivers environmental data that makes it possible for organizations to analyze scope 3 sourcing regions, report emissions, and plan sustainability investments, and supports the execution of producer incentive programs that reduce on-field emissions. It pioneered the development of digital MRV (Measurement, Reporting, and Verification) software for agriculture, bringing transparency and credibility to agriculture-based carbon reductions and removals. Regrow’s best-in-class MRV was honored as a Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Idea.

Andres Anijalg

Andrew Gillis

Anthony DeOrsey

Andrew Hall

Andrew joined the ESG Solutions team as a Managing Director in July 2022. Based in Calgary, he has over 15 years of experience in environmental commodities, helping build out successful businesses within the financial services and energy sectors. Andrew joined TD from the TMX Group where he was the Director of Sustainable Finance, responsible for ESG and carbon markets. Prior to this, he built and ran the North American carbon and environmental commodities trading business at Capital Power.

Anthony Vicari

Arnon Blum

Entrepreneur with over 20 years in management experience. Focuses on developing, launching and running new tech-companies mainly in the energy and battery sector.

Arnon holds a Ph.D. in Electrochemistry and MBA.

Ashley Grosh

Ayesha Choudhury

Benjamin Hogan

Benjamin Hogan joined Blue Earth Capital in 2021 and has 15 years of industry experience. Ben has been active in zero-carbon transition investments since 2013 across both private and public markets. Before joining Blue Earth Capital, Ben was a Director at Inherent Group, an ESG-integrated, multi-product, alternative investment firm where he led investments into companies enabling the transition to a lower-carbon economy. Prior to Inherent Group, Ben led energy investing at Orange Capital, a special situations and activist hedge fund. Prior to Orange Capital, Ben was a Principal at Asset Management Finance, a growth equity subsidiary of Credit Suisse. Ben started his career in investment banking at Berkshire Capital, a middle-market M&A boutique. Ben received a BSc. in Economics from Duke University.

Brandon Blaesser

Brandon Blaesser is a Senior Associate at the Ecosystem Integrity Fund.  His responsibilities include sector research, pipeline development and tracking, investment due diligence, and portfolio company support.

Before EIF, Brandon was an Associate at Kearney, a global management consulting firm.  At Kearney, Brandon worked with a range of clients to address growth, supply chain, and cost optimization problems.  Notable projects included an EPA consent decree and pre-merger strategy for a multi-billion-dollar telecom transaction.  In addition, Brandon researched and co-wrote the firm’s annual Reshoring Index, which tracks manufacturing production trends between low-cost Asian producers and domestic, American production.  This effort included developing supply-chain strategies for U.S. manufacturing clients.

Prior to joining Kearney, Brandon was an Analyst at NewWorld Capital Group, where he worked on investments in growth-oriented companies in residential solar, energy efficiency, power electronics, and water infrastructure.  In his role, Brandon focused on research, investment due diligence, and fundraising. He subsequently worked at The Alberleen Group, an investment and financial advisory firm with expertise in impact investing.

Brandon sits on the Yale Club’s house committee and consults in a volunteer capacity for The Nature Conservancy’s Chief Strategy Office.  He received a BA in Economics and a BA in Environmental Studies from Yale University.  He also holds a LEED AP BD+C accreditation.  At Yale, Brandon wrote his senior economics thesis on the disproportionate allocation of residential solar subsidies in Connecticut.

Brian Worfolk

Bruce Niven

Bryan Shill

Bryan joined Prelude Ventures as an associate in 2019. Prior to joining the team, Bryan lived in New York where he worked in investment banking in Credit Suisse’s Power & Renewables group, advising on global M&A transactions and financings. He earlier received his BS in finance from New York University’s Stern Undergraduate School of Business.

Canon Bryan

Cherish Giovinazzo

Chris Zegarelli

Jim Witham currently serves as CEO of GaN Systems. He has more than 30 years of experience in the power electronics industry, including executive and management roles at Tyco Electronics, Aegis Semiconductor, Fultec Semiconductor, and Neoconix. He has demonstrated a strong track record of achieving company and market growth with an unrelenting vision in bringing the newest electronics technology to market.

Under his leadership, GaN Systems has become the global leader in GaN (gallium nitride) power semiconductors with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia serving more than 2,000 customers worldwide. Prior to GaN Systems, he was CEO of Neoconix where he successfully implemented strategic changes which increased Neoconix revenue, resulting in the company’s acquisition by Unimicron Technology in 2014.

Jim also served as CEO of Fultec Semiconductor (now Bourns), leading the manufacture of circuit protection devices using high voltage silicon, silicon carbide, and GaN transistors. Jim has held VP Sales & Marketing roles at both Aegis Semiconductor (now II-VI) and Genoa (now Finisar). He was also the General Manager of the Tyco Electronics – Raychem Interconnect Division and the Japan-based Director of Asia Sales & Marketing for Raychem’s Circuit Protection Division.

Previously, Jim held the unique position of Engineering Specialist for General Dynamics’ Space System Division, where he designed fluid systems for the Space Shuttle and was on Mission Control for interplanetary missions. He holds an MBA from Harvard and both MS and BS with distinction in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford.

Christian Arnold

Christian is the Executive Vice President and Head of EWE Business Innovation and Venture Capital Investments. In that regard, he takes care of EWE´s Innovation activities and is therefore in charge of the EWE´s group-wide Innovation Platforms and Capabilities. He also serves on several VC-backed supervisory boards in EWE VC Portfolio.

Former to this Christian has been the founder and Managing Director of Enera, a multi-partner cooperation focusing on digital energy transformation which is now one of EWE´s Innovation ecosystems. He completed a construction traineeship and holds university degrees in both civil engineering and business administration. Christian has studied and worked in Germany and the US and has gained over 15 years of work experience in the Utility, Telecom, and Venture Capital industries.

First, he encountered the energy market during his studies while researching risk management in European electricity markets. Afterward, he joined leading international Multi-Utility and Venture Capital Companies in Germany and the USA. Christian also has a strong entrepreneurial background which envisioned important parts of EWE´s Innovation strategy.

Christopher Lohse

Chris Lohse is the Innovation and Technology Manager for GAIN. In this role he serves as the main interface between the DOE National Laboratories and the advanced reactor vendors. Chris is also the primary contact for the GAIN Nuclear Energy Voucher Program. Through the Voucher Program, private companies can gain access to specialized National Laboratory capabilities to accelerate commercialization of new technologies.

Prior to GAIN, Chris was a consultant in the commercial nuclear industry for over 14 years. He served as the director for a team of engineers that addressed material aging issues and long-term operational assessments in support of license renewal applications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. As a consultant, his focus was to bring new approaches to solving problems such that the nuclear fleet could remain competitive in the power generation market.

Outside of work, he enjoys snow skiing and is currently working to get his young children on skis. Education: MS, Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Davis; BS, Mechanical and Materials Science and Engineering, University of California at Davis

Christopher Naismith

Christopher Poirier

Christopher Spears

Chris is a principal at bp ventures, based in Houston, Texas. He focuses on production & operations and gas & low carbon investments. Chris is responsible for sourcing and executing investments, as well as supporting bp ventures’ portfolio companies through his board positions at Belmont Technologies and Satelytics.

With a background in engineering and policy, Chris worked on Capitol Hill – exploring new ways to bring energy to market – before joining bp’s upstream organisation.

Inspired by the belief that innovation will be vital to solving the climate crisis, and that viable business models exist outside of facilitating targeted advertisements, Chris decided to pursue a career at bp ventures. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Florida and an M.S. in management science & engineering from Stanford University.

Colin le Duc

Mr. Colin le Duc is a Founding Partner of Generation Investment Management LLP. Generation’s mission is to prove the investing case for sustainability. He works primarily on the firm’s Growth Equity strategy and is also head of the San Francisco Office. He sits on the Investment and Management Committees of Generation.

Colin has previously worked for Total, Arthur D. Little and Sustainable Asset Management. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Generation portfolio companies Asana and M-Kopa Solar.

He also serves on the Board of US non profits NatureBridge, which focuses on environmental education for young people and Ocean Conservancy, which focuses on ocean solutions. He has lived in 9 countries around the world and currently lives in California with his wife and two children.

Craig Bouchard

Craig is a Founder and Executive Chairman of Ecolution kWh, LLC. (www.ecokwh.com) Ecolution technology converts kinetic energy in moving vehicles into an electric micro-grid, in the process making a train station the e-mobility center of its town. The company’s patented intellectual property enables truck/trailers, trains, and subway cars to become a power plant transporting energy to where it is most needed.

Craig Lange

Cristina Shoffner

Cristina manages strategic initiatives for Breakthrough Energy’s U.S. Policy & Advocacy team. She leads private sector engagement and supports strategy development to advance the team’s efforts towards an ambitious U.S. climate agenda that encourages innovation and accelerates the deployment of clean technologies.

Cristina joined Breakthrough Energy in January 2021 from the United States Senate, where she served as policy advisor to U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow and Senate Democratic Leadership. There, she supported the Senator’s energy and environmental policy agenda and broader efforts as chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.

Before serving in the U.S. Senate, Cristina was Special Assistant for Legislative Affairs in the White House Council on Environmental Quality under President Obama.

Cristina received her B.S. with honors from the University of Michigan in Earth & Environmental Science and Spanish. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Daniel Hamilton

Dr. Daniel S. Hamilton is Senior non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution and co-leads the Johns Hopkins University SAIS postdoctoral program on “The United States, Europe, and World Order,” which is conducted by the SAIS Kissinger Center for Global Affairs and the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute, where he is a Senior Fellow. At SAIS he served as Austrian Marshall Plan Professor at SAIS (2012-2020); Richard von Weizsӓcker Professor (2002-2011); Founding Director of the School’s Center for Transatlantic Relations (2001-2019) and Executive Director of the American Consortium for EU Studies (2002-2017). He has also taught at the University of Innsbruck, the Free University of Berlin, and the Hertie School of Governance. He has directed the Global Europe Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, served as Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Richard von Weizsӓcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, and Deputy Director of the Aspen Institute Berlin.

He has held a variety of senior diplomatic positions, including Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs; U.S. Special Coordinator for Southeast European Stabilization; Associate Director of the Policy Planning Staff for two U.S. Secretaries of State; and Director for Policy in the Bureau of European Affairs. He testifies regularly before the U.S. Congress and European parliaments, is a regular commentator for European and U.S. media, has served on advisory boards for a dozen foundations, research institutes and business associations, and has authored over 100 books and articles on contemporary international affairs.

He has been presented with Germany’s Cross of the Federal Order of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz); France’s Knighthood of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques; Poland’s Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit; and Sweden’s Knighthood of the Royal Order of the Polar Star. He has a Ph.D. and M.A. with distinction from Johns Hopkins SAIS.

Daniel Ketyer

Daniel joins Piva Capital from the M&A strategy group at Deloitte Consulting, where he advised large corporate clients on how to respond to the energy transition through M&A and strategic partnerships. Daniel has previously worked on the private equity investment team at Kohlberg & Co. and in the off-grid solar industry at d.light in Kenya and Nuru in the DRC.

His interest in energy and climate first began while growing up in Western Pennsylvania amidst the early 2000s fracking boom. Daniel holds an MBA from University of Michigan, where he co-led deal sourcing for the Wolverine Venture Fund, and a BA in Public Policy from Duke University, where he founded the undergraduate energy club. His hobbies include golf course architecture, live music, and Pittsburgh sports.

Daniela Proske

David Tze

Davoud Zamani

Devesh Bharadwaj

Devesh is the founder and CEO of Pani Energy, based in Victoria BC. Acknowledged as a Top 50 Leader in Water Management Globally (World Water Congress 2019, collectively labeled as the ‘Future of British Columbia’ by the Presidents of six major BC universities (Vancouver Sun News Paper) and featured as a Top Youngest Innovators on Vancouver Island by the Douglas Business Magazine.

A mechanical engineer with several publications and patent applications in the field of membrane processes, Devesh has been recognized with multiple research and entrepreneurships awards including: the prestigious W.E. Cowie Excellence in Innovation and Engineering Award, the Coast Capital Savings Innovation Centre Entrepreneur of the Year, the JC Research Award, and the BC Clean Energy Research Award.

Pani Energy is revolutionizing the water and energy industry as one of the Top 5 Most Disruptive Technologies (Global Water Summit 2018), one of the world’s top 100 startups at Slingshot@Switch 2019, and as a Top 10 Company to Watch (Douglas Business Magazine 2019).

Let’s make something disruptive, meaningful, and beautiful.

Dustin Angelo

With extensive operating, capital markets and start-up experience, Dustin’s commitment to leading the industry toward better, more environmentally sustainable mining solutions is at the heart of Novamera’s mission. Prior to co-founding Novamera Inc., Dustin served as President, CEO and Director of Anaconda Mining Inc. (TSX-ANX), where he grew its Newfoundland footprint, expanded operations to Nova Scotia and built a profitable, sustainable company with a reputation as a responsible community member. Dustin was also a founding member and director of North American Limestone Corporation, a private developer and operator of limestone quarries, and CFO of Elgin Mining (formerly TSX-PHC) where he was integral to its growth from private enterprise to publicly-listed company. As a Certified Public Accountant, Georgetown University (BSBA) and Columbia Business School (MBA) alum, Dustin also brings a comprehensive background in finance to the table, having served as Vice-President of energy-focused private equity fund, MHI Energy Partners, and Principal at New York City’s Waller Capital Corporation.

Emily Raab

Eric Kosmowski

Erica Nemser

Erik Scher

Erin Cahill

Erin is a Partner in PwC’s Deals practice, with over twenty years of experience in Capital Markets and Accounting Advisory services.  She advises and assists clients pursuing IPOs and going public transactions; acquisitions; divestitures, carve-outs and spin-offs; and with complex accounting technical matters related to financial reporting.

Erin is a PwC Bay Area IPO Services Leader and provides her clients with technical and project management advice on accounting and financial reporting issues associated with the SEC registration process and going public – via a traditional IPO or other form of going public.  She delivers public company readiness assessments, where “big-picture” issues are identified early, project plans are developed and realistic timetables are established. Erin supports companies through the going public process in both navigating complex accounting and financial reporting matters and identifying tasks needed to prepare the business to be a public company. She works early on in the process with companies to not only discuss public company readiness but advise on technical accounting and financial reporting issues that will need to be addressed with your auditor well before the going public process.

Erin has advised companies in Silicon Valley and throughout the US, London, Europe, and the Caribbean. Erin is a CPA in California and Florida and a member of the AICPA.

Gina Domanig

Gina Domanig is the Managing Partner of Emerald Technology Ventures, a globally recognized investor in the areas of energy, water and materials, having invested in sixty companies to date. In 2000, she founded Emerald which is one of the largest industrial technology-focused venture capital firms in Europe and North America. Gina currently serves on the boards of GeoDigital International Inc, Metgen Oy, TaKaDu Inc, and Ushr Inc.

In addition to Emerald activities, Gina serves on the board of Die Mobiliar Genossenschaft, the fourth largest insurance company in Switzerland, and u-blox AG, a global leader in wireless communications and positioning semiconductors.

Gina has over 30 years of international business experience including banking, M&A, strategic development, and venture capital. Prior to starting Emerald, she was senior vice president at Sulzer, a Swiss multinational, responsible for strategic planning and M&A. Gina holds MBA degrees from Thunderbird in Arizona and ESADE in Barcelona and is fluent in English, German and Spanish. She is based Emerald’s Zurich, Switzerland office.

GJ La O’

Grace Chan

Grace Chan is a venture principal for New Markets at bp ventures.  Grace focuses on venturing discovery and deal delivery in support of clean tech market entry offers in China, elsewhere in Asia Pacific, and India as well as technology-led ventures in service of one or more of bp’s ‘transition growth engines’ – bioenergy, convenience, EV charging, renewables and hydrogen.

Grace has 14 years of experience with bp with the last two years as an Investment Associate in bp Ventures’ commercial team. She supported and led transactions for a number of portfolio companies in China, the US, and the UK. Grace is passionate about finding and scaling new technologies to accelerate bp’s transition to a net zero company, and to help the world get to net zero.

Greg Fleming

Holly Stower

Ian Hayton

Jack Ellis

Jan Sobotka

Jan Sobotka is the Director of Strategy & Marketing at Corinex. He has worked as a financial analyst, futurist and independent consultant in design and marketing strategy since 2014. As a chief design editor, his publications have won numerous grants and his design-projects have been featured in numerous international exhibitions including the Venice Biennale and Royal Academy of Arts. Jan holds degrees in Economics and Psychology from McGill University, and a Masters in Architecture from Frank Lloyd Wright’s School of Architecture at Taliesin.

James Larsen

James has over 15 years of business leadership and engineering experience spanning cleantech and startups, strategy and operations, and design and engineering.

Most recently, James was a Director with the Advanced Energy Centre (part of MaRS Discovery District) where he built a novel Products & Services business line. Within 2 years, he grew this business from initial concept to over $1.2MM in sales and expanded its global reach to include 5 international markets. Prior to MaRS, James was a Management Consultant with Bain & Company, a top-tier consulting firm, developing strategic solutions for market-leading companies in Canada, the U.S., and Europe. James also possesses deep experience as an engineer working in the renewable energy industry with a variety of technologies, including hydrogen fuel cells, as well as micro-hydro and geothermal generation.

James holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering (with Honours) from Queen’s University and an MBA (Dean’s List) from the Ivey Business School at Western University. James is also a registered Professional Engineer.

Jane Melia

Jessica Lovering

Before starting a PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Colorado Boulder, Jessica (she/her) lived and worked in Alaska helping fight wildfires. Spending her free time backpacking around Alaska and Western Canada, she was struck for the first time by the tangible impacts of climate change: record summer heat, melting permafrost, retreating glaciers. Realizing her passion lay in solving problems down here on earth, Jessica switched into a graduate program focused on environmental policy, with a focus on energy. Although her coursework focused broadly on renewable energy, Jessica was struck by the lack of coverage of nuclear power considering it made up such a large share of global clean energy. To remedy this curriculum gap, Jessica developed and co-taught a graduate seminar looking at nuclear power from an interdisciplinary lens.

Around this time, the Breakthrough Institute was looking to expand their expertise in nuclear energy and hired Jessica when she graduated to focus on nuclear policy as part of their Energy & Climate program. From 2012–2019, Jessica developed expertise in advanced nuclear technologies and nuclear economics. She also developed policies to accelerate nuclear innovation and commercialization of new designs. In 2015 she became Director of Breakthrough’s energy program, and expanded her scope to look at decarbonization and energy policy more broadly.

Wanting to deepen her understanding of nuclear policy, Jessica returned to graduate school in 2017 to complete a PhD at Carnegie Mellon University in Engineering and Public Policy. Her research focuses on how commercial nuclear trade affects international security standards and how very small nuclear reactors could be deployed at the community level. She is also a Fellow with the Energy for Growth Hub, looking at how advanced nuclear can be deployed in emerging economies.

Jessica Verhagen

Jessica brings nearly 20 years of experience at the intersection of environment and finance, with her accomplishments recognized with a Business in Vancouver Top 40 Under 40 and a Canada’s Clean50 award in 2021.  Promoted from Hydra COO to CEO in 2021,  she was previously the VP of Business Development for Ecosphere+, part of Mirova Natural Capital in London, where she successfully sold hundreds of millions in international environmental assets,  proving a new business model for investing in nature. Jessica  supported the close of the Series B round and the go-to-market strategy for global Top 100 cleantech company, Axine Water and was part of the founding team of Evoke Innovations, a fund that raised $100 million from oil and gas companies to invest in early stage cleantech. She began her career in government, where she was responsible for some of North America’s first legislation and stakeholder engagement on emissions reporting and trading, carbon taxes and offsets.

Jigar Shah

Jihad Salahuddin

Jimmy Rojas

Dr. Rojas has climate-tech venture capital and technology development experience, having previously worked for Baruch Future Ventures and having co-invented the core IP for a successful start-up. He holds a Ph.D. in hydrogen production and energy systems from Stanford University (under Dr. Arun Majumdar), as well as two M.S. degrees from Stanford and two B.S. degrees from MIT.

Jon Rhone

Jonathan is a serial cleantech entrepreneur with extensive experience commercializing hard-tech, developing large-scale projects, and partnering with industrials to solve tough energy and environmental problems. As co-founder and CEO of Axine Water, he led commercialization of a disruptive technology and hardware-as-a-service model for the pharmaceutical and other industrial markets.

Jonathan is also co-founder and director of Evok Innovations, where he helped launch one of Canada’s largest and most successful cleantech venture funds. As founder and CEO of Nexterra Systems, he created a global supplier of bioenergy heat and power systems for industrial and institutional customers. Prior to Nexterra, he held leadership positions with a NASDAQ-listed cleantech company, and the Delphi Group. He began his career in oil and gas with Amoco Canada (now BP).

Jonathan chairs the BC Cleantech CEO Alliance. He is a past member of the BC Premier’s Technology Council and was previously a director of Vancity Capital Corp. In 2009, he was recognized as Technology Industry Person of the Year by the BC Technology Industry Association. In 2020, he was recognized as Industry Icon by the BC Cleantech Industry.

Jordan Kanis

Joseph Vellone

Karim Engelmark Cassimjee

Kathy Butler

With over 27 years of Investment Banking experience, Kathy has worked on merger and acquisition advisory mandates and debt and equity financing for clients in the technology, telecom, renewable energy, consumer retail, and industrial products sectors.

Kathy holds an MBA (Honours) from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance (Honours) from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia.

She is currently Co-Vice Chair of the Executive Committee of the Business Council of British Columbia, and on the Board of CIBC World Markets Inc. and the Board of Governors of York House School.  Kathy is a partner of Social Venture Partners Vancouver and on the Advisory Council of Science World.

Kevin Bush

Kevin joins Breakthrough Energy’s Innovator Fellows from Molten Industries in Oakland, California. He is a climate technology enthusiast with a background in materials science and engineering. At Molten Industries, Kevin and his team are working to produce low-cost, carbon-neutral hydrogen using methane pyrolysis technology, which has the potential to be more energy efficient and scalable than existing approaches to hydrogen production.

The Molten Industries solution uses seven times less energy than electrolysis and can benefit from the existing natural gas pipelines to produce clean hydrogen at points of consumption. The clean hydrogen produced will be used to decarbonize critical, yet hard-to-decarbonize industries such as cement and steel production, aviation, long-haul trucking, and shipping. Through the Fellows program, Kevin will work to scale his technology to commercial readiness and begin working with commercial partners as quickly as possible.Kevin grew up in the Pacific Northwest as an environmentalist and aspiring inventor. He has always enjoyed tinkering and building systems, and believes that low-cost, carbon-neutral hydrogen production is key to decarbonizing heavy industrial sectors.

Kevin earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University. Kevin’s dissertation focused on developing high-efficiency perovskite solar cells.

Kevin Pykkonen

Kevin Pykkonen is the EVP of Technology Ventures for Carbon America.  Previously we was EVP of Commercial Development.  He is responsible for finding and developing economically viable point-source and direct air capture technologies and identifying appropriate CCS partners.  He has 40 years of experience in senior roles in energy, telecom and power industries including the last 13 years in project and business development for Carbon America and its predecessor thermal energy storage company.  Early in his career Kevin worked for Schlumberger as a wireline logging engineer where he learned about subsurface considerations now relevant to CCS.  Kevin earned a BS in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from Wharton.  He has several patents on a hybrid natural gas propulsion system for railroads.

Laureen Meroueh

Laureen joins Breakthrough Energy’s Innovator Fellows program from Austin, Texas. As a mechanical engineer and entrepreneur, she brings deep expertise in metallurgy, renewable energy, energy storage, and hydrogen. Laureen wants to harness the benefits of profitable low-carbon steel production to reduce emissions on the order of gigatons, bring clean and affordable metals production to countries around the world, and shift today’s trajectory of worsening global inequality.

Laureen is the founder and CEO of Hertha Metals, a company focused on manufacturing iron and steel with 95% less emissions than conventional steelmaking. By leveraging existing infrastructure and new discoveries, Hertha presents a scalable solution to decarbonize steel manufacturing. Hertha aims to demonstrate the world’s first five-ton furnace that produces molten iron through hydrogen and electricity by 2023. By 2027, they aim to begin deploying steelmaking units that can process 200,000 tons per year to integrate with existing steel mini-mills, while continuing to scale their technology to produce two million tons per year by 2030.

Laureen holds a Bachelor of Science in civil and mechanical engineering from the University of Florida, as well as a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with a focus on materials science and metallurgy. Laureen also has a graduate minor in business and entrepreneurship from the MIT, where she co-founded the Graduate Engineering Leadership program.

Lauren Gregor

Lauren Gregor, started Rent-a-Romper because she saw this problem in her own home. Juggling work and two growing boys, she was frustrated with the amount of waste in her home – clothing being the biggest culprit.

Lauren created a solution that helps simplify the life of a parent and give you time back in your day.

“I want to help parents take one more thing off their endless to-do list. I want to build community and a sense of supporting each other. And I don’t want us to have to compromise the planet to do it. We can do this together and I will do all that I can to make it a reality.”

Lauren Skiver

Lynn Bernabei

Lynn Côté

Maciek Lukawski

Madison Savilow

Manas Pathak

Marc Khouzami

Marc Khouzami has responsibility for managing the Impact Investment Fund. The C$250 million Impact Investment Fund is aimed at driving more sustainable outcomes around the world by backing technologies that will help BMO and its clients proactively address sustainability and create positive impact for their stakeholders.

Prior to joining BMO, Marc spent over 11 years in Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management group, serving as a generalist private equity investor focused on sustainability covering a variety of sectors. Additionally, Marc developed and executed financial products to help corporate clients achieve their sustainability goals. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank in 2009, Marc was at Citi Alternative Investments, where he was responsible for making growth equity investments as part of the Sustainable Development Investments group. Before joining Citi Alternative Investments, Marc held various roles in investment banking and corporate finance at Paragon Capital Partners, Oxygen Cable and Lehman Brothers.

Marc chairs the board of directors of Change Machine, a non-profit organization that uses its platform technology to assist the working poor in the United States achieve financial security. Marc also serves on the board of NYCEEC, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to financing hard to finance energy efficiency projects in the built environment.

Marc holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Maria Buitron

Maria Guercio

Maria Nsouli

Maria Nsouli is Director of the Impact Investment Fund, at BMO. The C$350MM BMO Impact Investment Fund is aimed at driving more sustainable outcomes around the world by backing technologies that will help BMO and its clients proactively address sustainability and create positive impact for their stakeholders.

Prior to BMO, Maria worked on the investment team of BDC’s Women in Technology Venture Fund where she helped launch the fund. She also advised an educational technology start-up in the Middle East. Maria previously held roles in corporate banking at J.P. Morgan in Toronto and in equity derivative sales at BNP Paribas in London.

Maria holds a Master of Finance degree from ESCP Europe (Paris) and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from HEC Montréal.

Mark McDonald

Mark Modera

Dr. Mark P. Modera, is the Director of the UC-Davis Western Cooling Efficiency Center (WCEC) and is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC-Davis. Mark is also the Sempra Utilities Distinguished Scholar in Energy Efficiency and an Adjunct Professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department. Dr. Modera was formerly a Vice President with Carrier Corporation and worked at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He was a Principal Investigator at LBNL on many research projects and developed a new research program focused on thermal energy distribution in buildings. While at LBNL, he developed an aerosol-based duct sealing process, and he subsequently established Aeroseal, Inc. to commercialize the technology. Dr. Modera’s broad experience in research, business, entrepreneurship, education and regulatory environments ideally qualifies him for his current position, leading the WCEC in its mission of partnering to advance energy-efficient cooling systems. Mark is the Scientific Advisor to Aeroseal and sits on its Board of Directors.

Mark Nelson

Mark Nelson is the managing director of the Radiant Energy Fund, which advises governments, non-profits, and industry about nuclear energy.

Mark works tirelessly to prevent early closures of nuclear plants around the world and has attended the UN climate conference in Glasgow as a delegate from the American Nuclear Society. His efforts span the globe, working to save nuclear plants from Germany to California.

Mark holds an MPhil in Nuclear Engineering from Cambridge University and degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Russian Language and Literature from Oklahoma State University.

Mark Smith

Markus Hofsäß

Markus is head of the “Smart Grid Network Technology” project team. In this role, he is responsible for the introduction of communication technologies for the digitization of the power grids within the E.ON DSO in low and medium voltage.

Within Bayernwerk, he is responsible for coordinating the rollout of communication technologies. This primarily affects the construction of a nationwide Powerline network.

He looks back on 10 years of development and supply chain experience in the semiconductor industry.

Since 2010 he has held various positions in the E.ON Group in which he took responsibility for the development and introduction of communication technology for the digitization and smartification of power grids. Further on Markus is representing E.ON in BPL standardization groups PRIME Alliance and Home Grid Forum.

Markus holds a master’s degree in Telecommunications )University of Stuttgart) and a Master Professional in Technical Management (CCI).

Mary Yap

Megan O’Connor

Melissa Lott

Dr. Melissa C. Lott is a Senior Research Scholar and the Director of Research at the Center on Global Energy Policy, where she co-leads the Power Sector and Renewables Research Initiative and serves as the Acting Director of the Carbontech Development Initiative. She has worked as an engineer and advisor for nearly 20 years in the United States, Europe, and Asia. While her work has spanned the entire energy system, Dr. Lott is internationally recognized for her work in the electricity and transportation sectors. For her research and contributions to global energy sector dialogues, Dr. Lott has been featured as a Solar 100 Thought Leader, an IEEE Women in Power, and a Forbes 30 under 30 in Energy. In 2022, she was selected to serve on the United Nations Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition (CEET), which will serve as an independent advisory council to the UN Secretary-General.

Dr. Lott specializes in technology and policy research, working to increase our understanding of the impacts of our energy systems on air pollution and public health. She directly applies this understanding to help decision-makers mobilize technology and policy solutions to support the transition to net-zero energy systems. She has authored more than 350 scientific articles, columns, op-eds, journal publications, and reports. Dr. Lott was previously a founding author on Scientific American’s Plugged In. An active public speaker, she has been featured in interviews with international news organizations including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, PBS, the BBC World Service, The Guardian, Good Morning America, National Public Radio, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, ABC News PM in Australia, and Scientific American magazine’s French edition.

Prior to joining the Center for Global Energy Policy, Dr. Lott served as the Assistant Vice President of the Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC), where she led the development of the flagship APEC Energy Demand and Supply Outlook. Dr. Lott has also held roles at the International Energy Agency, where she served as the primary author of the IEA’s technology roadmap on energy storage. In 2011, Dr. Lott was selected as a U.S. Presidential Management Fellow (PMF). She went on to work as the Lead of Energy Modeling and Simulation for the Program Analysis and Evaluation Office at the U.S. Department of Energy. Dr. Lott has also served as an advisory board member for Alstom and GE and contributed as an expert advisor for government organizations including the London Sustainable Development Commission under Mayor Boris Johnson.  Throughout her career, Dr. Lott has worked as a Principal Engineer at YarCom Inc.,  providing her clients with a practical engineering understanding of the relationships between our energy sources, our energy uses, and the impacts of our choices on the environment.

Dr. Lott holds degrees from the University of California, Davis (Bachelor of Science – Engineering), the University of Texas at Austin (Master of Science – Engineering and Master of Public Affairs), and University College London (Ph.D. in Sustainable Energy Resources and Engineering). While in university, Dr. Lott completed internships at the White House Council on Environmental Quality under President Obama, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Michael Laufer

Dr. Mike Laufer is the Co-Founder & CEO of Kairos Power. In this role, Dr. Laufer is responsible for all business and technical operations within the company as well as government affairs for Kairos Power’s design, development, and commercialization of the Kairos Power Fluoride Salt-Cooled High-Temperature Reactor (KP-FHR).

Prior to co-founding Kairos Power, Dr. Laufer was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Berkeley where his research included work in reactor safety, design, licensing, and code validation for advanced non-light water reactors. His technical expertise includes experimental and discrete-element simulation methods for granular flows relevant to pebble-bed nuclear reactors.

Dr. Laufer graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with Honors in International Security Studies. He received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Michael O’Kronley

Michael Siemer

Michael Siemer is the President and CEO of Sortera Alloys. Prior to joining Sortera, Siemer served as president of OSIsoft, the data management platform company now part of Aveva, where he oversaw the strategic vision and future of OSIsoft, created and led the new executive committee and supported the company’s global revenue growth and subscription transition,  Prior to OSIsoft, Siemer served as vice president of operations technology at Devon Energy. He has a BS in electrical engineering from Syracuse University, an MS in electrical engineering from Colorado State University, and an MBA from Oklahoma Christian University.

Mira Inbar

Mira started her career as an environmentalist in the mines of Africa. From there, she pivoted to big corporate, to the industries which had formed the bedrock of the carbon economy and spent over a decade in the chemical, utility, and oil & gas sectors where she built clean energy business lines. She was on the ground floor of building a battery manufacturing plant for Dow Chemical, a solar and wind portfolio for NRG Energy, and a home energy business for Shell. Most recently, Mira was the head of residential power for Shell.

Mira won the 2019 C3E Award from the US Department of Energy, recognizing her contributions to the field of clean energy. She holds a BS from Oberlin College and an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley. She is an amateur surfer and skateboarder. You can usually find her hiking with her family in the redwood groves near her home in Northern California.

Mohammad Doostmohammadi

Molly Yang

Molly joins Breakthrough Energy’s Innovator Fellows program from Hgen in Los Angeles, California. She brings to the company her expertise in scaling industrial and consumer energy products, having previously worked as an Energy Product Lead at Tesla. At Hgen, Molly is responsible for the strategy, product, and business development of their innovative hydrogen electrolysis technology.

Hgen’s technology uses renewable electricity to break water into clean hydrogen energy at higher-efficiency with lower costs. Hgen’s system is uniquely designed for renewables integration, and will help overcome current technical limitations –notably the intermittent power losses –that hinder clean hydrogen production. Through the Fellows program, Hgen will leverage their integrated, modular design to focus on reducing costs and scaling their technology.

Molly fell in love with remote and untouched places while traveling, which spurred her interest in natural ecosystems and climate technology. Previously, she worked in product management and venture capital, providing her with the foundation to scale technologies that enable clean and sustainable energy. Molly earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Secondary in Computer Science from Harvard University.

Naoki Oi

Naoki has been a Vice President of Idemitsu Americas Holdings Corporation (IAH) since January 2021 based in San Jose, California. His responsibilities include searching for business collaboration opportunities including investment that should contribute to the growth of Idemitsu Kosan Group, evaluating potential investments, and taking care of several Idemitsu group companies in Americas.

Prior to VP of IAH, Naoki was a senior manager of Idemitsu Kosan, one of major energy companies in Japan whose sales proceeds is more than 6 trillion Yen in FY2022, in the Corporate Planning Department where he took care of all the investments ranging from domestic petroleum businesses to several international businesses of Idemitsu group.

Naoki also served as a senior manager in Corporate Planning Division of Showa Shell Sekiyu (a joint venture company between former Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco) where he took care of all the investments of the company and supported the integration between Idemitsu Kosan and Showa Shell Sekiyu.

Nicole Cerulli

Nicole Neeman Brady

Ofer Shochet

Omeed Badkoobeh

Partho Sanyal

Partho is a Partner at NextEra Energy Investments (NEI), NextEra Energy’s investment arm. NEI invests capital across numerous investment strategies with a focus on climate tech and enterprise technology. Prior to joining NextEra Energy, Partho spent 20+ years at Merrill Lynch and Bank of America Merrill Lynch in various successively senior investment banking roles advising on mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt raising and restructurings in the power, utility, infrastructure, and cleantech sectors globally.

Prior to Wall Street, Partho worked for 5 years at The World Bank Group/International Finance Corporation as an Investment Officer focused on privatization advisory in emerging markets. He has worked in over 25 countries during his career, having advised/raised capital on transactions worth over $350 billion in 160 separate transactions. He was a member of the U.S. National Commission on Energy Policy, a corporate member of the US Council on Foreign Relations, a working member of the U.S. task force on the formation of a national infrastructure bank, and an advisory board member to the World Biofuels Congress.

Partho holds a B.A. (Honors) in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Bombay, India, and an MBA (Finance and Accounting) from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business.

Patricia van de Sande

With a career spanning over two decades, Ms. van de Sande has held a variety of executive roles in finance, financial reporting, FP&A, investor relations, compliance, risk management, and internal audit.  Currently, Patricia is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Nexii Building Solutions Inc (“Nexii”) where she is responsible for finance and information technology.

Nexii is a green construction technology company that is committed to building a vibrant future for people and the planet. Nexii designs and manufactures high-performance buildings and green building products that are sustainable, cost-efficient and resilient in the face of climate change. The Nexii System also significantly reduces construction timelines, enabling the rapid development of green buildings across North America.

Previously, Patricia held positions as Senior Vice President, Finance at Green for Life (GFL), several executive roles at Parkland Fuel Corporation including Vice President Finance and Corporate Services and the Alberta Securities Commission. She also worked for several large multi-national organizations in Canada and in Geneva, Switzerland and serves on the board of Arts Commons. Patricia is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Professional Accountant.

Her focus is on leading high growth entrepreneurial organizations to scale efficiently, effectively and internationally.

Patrick Gagné

Paul Breslow

Paul Fox

Paul Fox is an investor, strategist, business builder, and technologist. He is a co-founder of both Evie Networks and Blockchain Pacific and an advisor to the Enosi blockchain project. He has held technology investment roles at Corran Toohill, AGL Energy, Southern Cross Ventures, the California Clean Energy Fund and Flex. He was instrumental in creating AGL Energy Limited’s New Energy subsidiary, delivering products including zero-down solar, home batteries, smart air conditioners, virtual power plants, EV charging and blockchain enabled P2P trading. Now based in Sydney Australia he spent 14 years in Silicon Valley including as CEO of a smart grid company, a VP at Flex, and the CEO of a fuel cell company.

Peter Bogin

Peter Bogin is a Senior Client Partner in Korn Ferry’s New York office and a member of the Global Energy and Infrastructure Practice.

Peter Knazko

Peter Knazko is based in Milpitas, California, at Renesas Electronics, a global broad-ranged semiconductor manufacturer and founding member of Wi-SUN. Peter is currently the Director on the board of the Wi-SUN Alliance for Renesas.

Peter has been in the semiconductor industry for 30 years in senior sales and marketing roles at STMicroelectronics and Mitsubishi Semiconductor, and as an electronics design engineer early in his career in Canada’s energy management and telecommunication sectors.

Peter has also been based in Europe as Sales Director for General Electric’s smart grid business, developing the Central and East Europe smart metering and utility-focused industrial networking markets, and has represented GE as the board director of several energy-efficiency focused NGOs.

At Renesas Electronics, Peter works to expand the possibilities of embedded computing and IoT connectivity for smart energy applications, focused on RF mesh/Wi-SUN and Powerline Communications (PLC). Peter is a professional engineer, with degrees from the University of Toronto and McMaster University.

Randy MacEwen

Randy MacEwen has served as CEO and a member of the board of directors of Ballard since 2014. He has held executive roles in clean energy companies for 20 years, including in hydrogen, fuel cells and solar. In his earlier career, he was a lawyer specializing in M&A and corporate finance. Mr. MacEwen has represented Ballard as a supporting member of the Hydrogen Council since 2017. He also serves as a member of the board of directors of Brookfield Renewable.

Mr. MacEwen holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hon) degree from York University and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Rene Griemens

Rene Griemens has 30 years of global experience in high-growth technology, investment banking, and strategy consulting including his CFO role at Volocopter, the world’s first sustainable air mobility business. At Volocopter, Rene led fundraising efforts totaling more than $340 million in equity and $1 billion in debt. He has also served as CFO at the German fintech firm Kreditech Group and in other executive roles at IEG, dooyoo.com, and McKinsey. Rene holds an MA in Economics from the University of Cologne and an MBA from INSEAD.

Richard Youngman

Since January 2016, Richard Youngman has been CEO of San-Francisco based Cleantech Group (CTG). This followed 7 years of driving the growth of CTG’s activities outside North America, especially in Europe and Israel, and Asia, based in CTG’s office in London.

Richard has more than ten 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.

Ricky Sakai

Rob Alexander

Robert Anstey

Robert O’Connor

Rohini Raghunathan

Ronald Zink

Ron is a registered patent attorney and an inventor on several patents. He previously held technology and executive roles at Growers Holdings, John Deere, and Microsoft in the U.S. and Europe. During his 17-year tenure at Microsoft, Ron was COO of European Affairs. While at John Deere, Ron was instrumental in the company’s efforts to embrace mobile technologies and cloud computing. He holds a B.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from North Dakota State University and a J.D. from the University of North Dakota School of Law.

Saad Dara

Dr. Dara is an entrepreneur with a track record of taking research from the lab bench to a commercial scale.

Sabina Russell

Sabina is a professional mechanical engineer with 25 years’ experience in the hydrogen sector. She is Vice President of HTEC’s Clean Fuels business unit, responsible for hydrogen production and liquefaction asset development and operations. She is also the current Chair of the Canadian Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association (CHFCA).

Prior to joining HTEC, Sabina was Principal & co-founder at Zen Clean Energy Solutions. She led Zen’s project management group, with a focus on consortium-based projects deploying clean and zero-emission technologies. She also led Zen’s hydrogen strategy work, including serving as lead author on the Hydrogen Strategy for Canada on behalf of the Government of Canada, as well as several provincial and state hydrogen studies. Sabina worked with Ballard Power Systems for over 18 years, where she held a range of technical and commercial roles. She ended her tenure at Ballard as Director of Product Engineering, leading a team of 95 engineers and scientists to develop fuel cell stack and system products, as well as provide engineering services to customers including automotive OEMs.

Sam Cao

Sara Chamberlain

Sara Chamberlain has worked in the energy and environment sector for nearly a decade, with a core focus on helping energy startups develop commercialization strategies. Working at the intersection of technology and entrepreneurship is a personal passion.

She currently leads Energy Foundry’s investment activity and maintains an active role with each of the firm’s portfolio companies. Prior to joining Energy Foundry, Sara co-managed the government advisory practice for clean technology startups at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she successfully led multiple teams through more than two dozen federal and state grant and loan applications, including over $300 million in research grants, loans and guaranteed loan funding. Sara’s previous experience also includes roles with GE Energy, where she developed a solar manufacturing expansion strategy, and with GaiaTech, where she led the environmental due diligence and regulatory compliance process for over industrial and manufacturing transactions across North America.

From working with large Fortune 500 companies to startup businesses, Sara has broad and deep industry knowledge of the energy sector and was recognized by Midwest Energy News “40 under 40.”

She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and a BA in Environmental Studies from Emory University.

Sarah Nash

Sarah O’Connell

Sasan Pasha

Selene Law

Siari Sosa

Simon Farrington

Simon is a mechanical engineer with over 25 years of automotive and PEM fuel cell development experience. As co-founder and CTO of Illuming Power, he is responsible for development and commercialization of fuel cell materials, stacks and manufacturing process technologies.

Solenne Brouard Gaillot

Steve Meller

Steve Meller is an internationally recognized innovation strategist whose career has taken him almost everywhere – whether it’s global and local organizations or C-Suite executives of F100 companies, Boards, CEOs of start-ups, Venture Capital, senior country officials and across nearly every vertical there is and covering the breadth of Corporate, Academic, Government and Private Sectors – as an investor, an advisor, strategist and partner.  He understands how to position new, novel and disruption innovations and new business models for success to maximize innovation potential and impact and has been involved in creating new and innovative strategies, businesses, capabilities, platforms and business models.

Having trained as a neuroscientist, he had his first taste of disruptive innovation where he was the first to discover new pathways involved in chronic pain which are now leading to new clinical therapies. Motivated to produce an even greater impact, Steve was recruited to Procter & Gamble (P&G – a F50 company) where he spent almost 2 decades honing his ability to create new strategies, enable disruptive innovation and build key enabling platforms that provided disproportionate business growth and significant profit. As a result, the company added billions each year to the bottom line and enabled P&G to be recognized as one of the world’s most innovative companies.

Finding his own space after an early retirement in late 2012 from P&G as Chief Innovation Catalyst, he moved to sunny Northern California when he met his wife and has been providing consulting on strategy and innovation across the globe in nearly every vertical to C-Suite executives of F100 companies, CEOs of start-ups, Boards, investment companies and senior country officials in multiple governments. In addition to consulting, he has also founded or co-founded a number of companies on multiple continents across diverse sectors that are focused on strategies for disruptive change. He has been an entertaining key-note speaker on every continent across widely divergent topics. He now focuses his time as the CEO of a disruptive technology company addressing climate change.

Steve is originally from Adelaide, South Australia and was awarded a B.Sc., B.Sc. (Hons.), and a Ph.D in Neuroscience from the University of Adelaide. When he’s not traveling the world for business or pleasure, he resides in Atherton, CA with his American-born wife, Colleen Haight, who holds an MBA in Finance and a Ph.D in Economics and is currently Professor of Economics at San Jose State University.

Steve Oldham

Steve Wirtel

With a background in civil and environmental engineering, Steve Wirtel is a business development executive with 30 years of experience in the water and wastewater markets. As a partner and director at Carollo Engineers, an environmental engineering firm, he oversaw a $12 million business development budget, implemented company-wide sales and marketing strategies, and launched a major rebranding. Steve was the Senior Vice President for Nutrient Recovery at Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies, where he helped clients extract valuable nitrogen and phosphorus from liquid wastes. He also held an executive management position with USFilter.

Steven Boyle

Steve Boyle is an experienced sales and structuring professional with over nine years of financial services experience building distribution businesses for over-the-counter packaged products.  Prior to joining Rubicon Carbon, Steve headed a structured investments sales group at Citi covering RIA’s nationwide, where he and his team optimized distribution and customized solutions to a diverse client base, more than doubling both issuance and revenue in less than 10 months after his hiring.  Before Citi, he worked at J.P. Morgan with the same products, holding responsibilities over his eight year tenure such as building customized financial solutions, managing secondary market trading, and structuring bespoke hedging and financing opportunities.  Steve holds a B.S. in Operations Research from Columbia University.

Susan Gladwin

Tadeu Carneiro

Tadeu brings 40 years of metal industry leadership and technology experience to Boston Metal. As CEO of CBMM (80% market share for niobium) he grew revenue from $100M to over $2B. In his 30 years with CBMM, Tadeu led a global strategy that grew the niobium market by over 8x through a rigorous program of customer-focused application and technology development.

Tadeu is the Lead Independent Director at Ivanhoe Mines, a board member at SBSHSL Hospital in Brazil, and an invited lecturer at the Department of Material Science and Engineering at the MIT.

Thomas Folker

Todd Allmendinger

Tom Chi

Tom has worked in a wide range of roles from astrophysical researcher to designer to corporate executive developing new hardware/software products and services. He’s played a significant role in established projects with global reach (Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo Search, Google), and scaled new projects from conception to significance (Yahoo Answers from 0 to 90 million users).

Tom Ferguson

Vic Shao

Vincent-Charles Hodder

Vivian Kan

Vivian Kan is Partner, Cleantech Practice, at BDC. Vivian has over 15 years of experience in business development, structuring, risk analysis, and commercial and corporate finance. She has helped some of Canada’s top exporters and emerging global entrepreneurs in sectors ranging from cleantech, oil and gas, mining, transportation, infrastructure, light manufacturing, life sciences, aerospace, forestry pulp and paper, and consumer products.

Prior to joining BDC in 2017, Vivian spent over 14 years at Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s export credit agency. She was Financing Manager at EDC, where she analyzed lending opportunities with start-ups as well as small and mid-size companies with high growth potential. Vivian also worked as an underwriter at EDC, where she worked with leadership to develop risk mandates to provide bonding solutions for Canadian cleantech ventures. Before that, she was Research Associate, where she conducted economic and investment research for the corporate finance team. Vivian holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Calgary and has completed the Certificate in Carbon Finance from the University of Toronto’s Centre for Environment.

Vivian is passionate about applying her financial expertise to the advancement of clean technology companies in Canada.

Zainab Gilani