Speakers
Greg Arnold is co-founder and Managing Partner of CE2 Capital Partners and President of CE2 Carbon Capital. Mr. Arnold began his career as an investment banker with Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Kidder, Peabody & Co. At Goldman, Sachs & Co., he focused on corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions advisories for energy and power companies. Over his career,
Mr. Arnold has had a number of senior deal making roles in large corporations and growth companies, including as President of Passlogix, Inc., a security software company he co-Founded.
Mr. Arnold earned an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and a B.A. from the University of California at San Diego. Mr. Arnold is on the boards of the UC San Diego Dean's Council in Physical Sciences and Passlogix, Inc. and a Member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.
Nick Baily is a founding member of The Belgrave Trust, a firm based on serving core membership of leaders in technology, media, public policy, finance, fashion, and industry, and dedicated to supporting solutions to global climate change. Founded on the principles of ease through simplicity, innovation via markets, and strength from diversification, The Belgrave Trust manages a diverse porfolio of offsets, providing a service that represents the most efficient and effective way for members to live carbon neutral.
Mr. Baily has over a decade of experience on the forefront of popular culture and media, and has been responsible for managing the public profile for clients ranging from Oscar and Grammy winning celebrities to Fortune 500 companies and global consumer brands. With a background including public policy, economics, and complex adaptive systems analysis, Nick is a passionate advocate for an interdisciplinary approach to environmental problem solving.
A pioneer in the development of carbon markets, Eron has extensive experience in the areas of
carbon finance and emissions reduction project development. Eron serves as Equator's President
of Environmental Markets with responsibility for carbon and environmental assets throughout the
organization. Prior to joining Equator, Eron was US Country Director for EcoSecurities, where he
spearheaded the firm's entry in to the North American carbon market and managed all aspects of
the firm's United States operations including origination, strategic planning, project development,
and policy. Eron has advised governments, multilateral institutions, and international corporations
on many aspects of the emerging market and worked on several carbon market "firsts" including
the first Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in the world to receive carbon credits and
the first unilateral CDM project. Eron currently serves on the Board of Directors of the
Environmental Markets Association (EMA), is a Founding Member of the Coalition for Emissions
Reduction Projects (CERP) and previously served as a Liaison Delegate to the World Business
Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). He holds an M.A. from Columbia University's
School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), and a B.A. from Pomona College.
Eric Boonman has worked over the past nine years in green energy trading and environmental markets. Eric is currently the Head of Origination of Energy, Carbon and Commodities at Fortis Bank and has been involved in the majority of the primary and secondary carbon deals as well as the design and implementation of the Fortis wide Carbon Banking Services. He has also established local origination teams in Hong Kong and New York.
Prior to his current position, Eric was responsible for developing the global energy and carbon market access and clearing services at Fortis. After having successfully completed this task, Eric moved to Global Markets as the Head of Trading Emissions where Fortis had a daily market share between 10-20% and became a market maker on the most liquid ECX exchange. The team aims to reduce greenhouse emissions efficiently through portfolios of reduction projects and to use those reductions to optimise and ensure compliance for a pan-European corporate client portfolio. The activities of this desk range from valuing environmental benefits in long term discounted cash flow models for project finance to short term pure trading and long term hedging.
Eric has a Bachelors and Masters in economics and started in risk management at the Dutch utility Nuon with a focus on designing and implementing a Corporate Risk Policy for environmental and green energy products. He then became a green and environmental trader at Nuon. Nuon, which was involved in the first carbon deal in 2003, soon established itself as the market leader in green energy markets in West-Europe.
Eric is also a regular speaker on international conferences, such as, The Wall Street Green Trading Summit, April 2007, New York City, Carbon Finance & Investment Summit, May 2007, New York City, Guardian Climate Change Summit, June 2007, London, Euromoney US Carbon Finance Forum, September 2007, New York City, Carbon Finance World, September 2007, Chicago, Carbon Forum Asia, November 2007, Singapore, Climate Change & Business, November 07, Kiev, Carbon Markets Insights 2008, March 2008, Copenhagen, The Wall Street Green Trading Summit, April 2008, New York City, Moscow Carbon Market Forum, April 2008, Moscow, Russia and the Kyoto Protocol, June 2008 Moscow, Annual Carbon Trading Summit 2009, January 2009 New York City, EU Emission Trading in Practice, January 2009 London.
William S. Brennan is the founder of Brennan Investment Partners LLC, an RIA focused on the global water business and related industries that rely on water for sustainability. He is regularly quoted on water investing in the Wall Street Journal, Baron's, Smart Money, Business Week and Kiplinger. Mr. Brennan presently serves as the lead Portfolio Manager and Sub Advisor for the Kinetics Water Infrastructure Fund (KWINX). Mr. Brennan also served as an analyst & portfolio strategist at Summit Global Management, a firm solely focused on investing in water equities and water rights, from 1999 to 2006 where he developed a strong value investment approach working for John Dickerson. Mr. Dickerson and Mr. Brennan launched the Praetor Global Water Fund as co-portfolio managers in April 2005 with Mr. Brennan acting as the Senior Portfolio Manager for the Praetor Global Water Equities Fund from April 15, 2005 through August 1, 2008. He also directed portfolio selection for the Claymore Global and Domestic Water UITs, the first structured water investment products launched in the U.S.
Mr. Brennan began his investment career with Pacific Growth Equities in San Francisco, where he managed the Environmental Services, Aviation Security and Special Situation groups. Mr. Brennan also has public company experience serving as the Executive Vice President-Corporate Development at Sequoia Software, where he was responsible for the strategy, coordination and execution of global sales, marketing, and business development prior to the sale of the company to Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS). Prior to Sequoia, Mr. Brennan was a Senior Equities Analyst and Principal at Pacific Growth Equities (PGE) in San Francisco where he was named to The Wall Street Journal's 2000 "Best on the Street" Analyst Team in the industrial/pollution control sector and was recognized as a leading consolidation/industrial services/special situation security analyst by buy-side institutions. While at PGE, Mr. Brennan was regularly quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Barons, Forbes, Business Week, Investor's Business Daily, and Individual Investor regarding environmental, industrial and security related investments. Mr. Brennan spent the early part of his career as an officer in the United States Air Force, both a missile launch officer and design engineer on Shuttle Mission 51-J, where he was assigned to the AFPRO responsible for the shuttle bay configuration for the launch of a classified satellite. Upon resignation of his commission, Mr. Brennan spent several years working on classified programs for General Electric Aerospace and as an environmental engineer with Law Environmental, where he developed an interest in the global water market as a professional engineer. Mr. Brennan has an MBA from Villanova University, where he is also an Adjunct Professor in the Graduate MBA School of Business, an MS in Mechanical/Biomedical Engineering from Colorado State University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering & Biology minor from Lehigh University.
As Chief Investment Officer for the Cumulus Funds at PCE Investors in London, Peter Brewer manages the Cumulus Fahrenheit Fund, which focuses exclusively on weather derivatives, and the Cumulus Energy Fund, which uniquely applies weather derivatives expertise to the European energy and emissions markets and won the "Most Innovative Product" award in Hedge Funds Review's 2009 European Performance Awards.
Peter has been active in weather derivatives since the late 1990s, initially as founder of Weather Risk Advisory, then with Aquila Energy, and more recently as Head of Weather Derivatives at Credit Lyonnais and later as Director of Environmental Financial Products at Rabobank. He has a Masters Degree in Finance from the London Business School and a Masters Degree in Management and Computer Science from the University of Cambridge.
Bill Bumpers is an environmental partner in the Washington, D.C., office and heads the firm's global Climate Change Practice. Mr. Bumpers focuses on the Clean Air Act and climate change issues. He has an active environmental regulatory, litigation and transactional practice, representing petroleum refineries, investment companies, electric generators and pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturers. He is regarded as a national authority on new source review issues affecting the electric generation and petroleum refinery industries. He previously served on the EPA's New Source Review Reform Subcommittee of the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee.
Mr. Bumpers also is a leading authority on climate change issues, including carbon trading mechanisms in the United States and internationally pursuant to the Kyoto Protocol. He has been involved with climate change issues since his work on energy policy and climate change as a graduate student in 1977. He has been involved in transactions involving Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects or Certified Emission Reduction (CER) sales in Malaysia, China, Liberia and Equatorial Guinea. He also represents companies involved in the capture and storage of GHG emissions and has helped pioneer the creation and sale of carbon storage rights in the United States. Mr. Bumpers also represents a wide range of companies on developing policy and regulatory issues in the United States and regarding the creation and sale of GHG emission.
Frank Canterbury is General Manager of Pyrolyzer LLC (www.PyrolyzerLLC.com) an international waste to energy firm specializing in gasification of carbon based waste into high energy synthesis gas. Previous experience as a regional sales executive with GE Power and Water. Frank holds an engineering degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY.
Mr. Cianci is President and Chief Investment Officer of Marvista Management, an investment advisor focused on green and renewable technologies. Marvista is the General Partner in Green Science Partners, LP.
Mr. Cianci has been an investor in public and private equity, primarily in biotechnology and renewable materials, as well as in real estate properties.
He recently completed a 22-year career as a stock research analyst, most recently with UBS Investment Bank, and prior to that with Bear Stearns. Mr. Cianci has been cited many times as a top Wall Street analyst by Institutional Investor and other trade groups. He also has been a merger and acquisitions consultant.
Mr. Cianci also serves as an adviser to a number of companies, both public and private. He is also on the advisory board of Ardour Capital, and investment bank specializing in clean technology, and is a trustee of New College Foundation.
Mr. Cianci holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia University, an MS in Chemistry from the University of Miami, and a BA from New College of Florida.
Jack D. Cogen, President and CEO. Prior to founding Natsource in 1994,
Mr. Cogen created and managed the Commodities Group at Euro Brokers
Capital Markets, Inc., where he was employed from 1991 to 1994. At Euro
Brokers Mr. Cogen built the first OTC natural gas swap desk. Between
1981 and 1990, Mr. Cogen was employed by The Chase Manhattan Bank
(National Association) as Global Risk Manager of the Commodity Risk
Management Group. Mr. Cogen held several other risk management
positions at Chase, including senior analyst for the Asset/Liability
Management Committee and risk manager for the U.S. dollar interest rate
cap book. Mr. Cogen is a Board member and currently serves as Chairman
of the International Emission Trading Association and a founding officer
of the Energy Brokers Association. Mr. Cogen is a regular moderator and
speaker at global conferences on the global carbon market and has
authored and co-authored a number of studies and reports on the market.
In 2004, Mr. Cogen was inducted into the Energy Risk Magazine Hall of
Fame. Mr. Cogen holds a Masters of Science in Mathematics and a Masters
of Business Administration from New York University, and a B.A. from
Rutgers College.
Neil Cohn has over 19 years experience pioneering environmental and natural resource markets and recently left Natsource where he was a Managing Director.
In 1998, after several years trading metals and living in Latin America, India and China, Neil returned to the US affected by the environmental damage that he witnessed in developing countries, and with a desire to use his trading expertise to make a positive difference. Kyoto had just been inked and Neil seized the opportunity to put carbon finance theory into action to leverage economic incentives and deliver real environmental benefits. Neil was fortunate to have orchestrated some of the first carbon trades and continues to push ahead.
Over the past decade, Neil has facilitated some of the largest CDM and JI projects in China, India, Brazil, the Ukraine, and other developing country regions eligible under the Kyoto Protocol. Neil is currently developing a new venture focused on creating high quality carbon supply that achieves the goal of reducing emissions and facilitating cleaner growth.
Annika L. Colston is Vice President at Blue Source, LLC, North America's leading portfolio of carbon offsets. Blue Source has $500 million of committed capital from strategic partner Och-Ziff Capital Management to develop projects that mitigate climate change. At Blue Source, Ms. Colston is responsible for identifying and developing carbon offset projects including landfill gas capture projects and coal mine methane projects among others.
Prior to joining Blue Source, Ms. Colston was the US Country Director at EcoSecurities. From 2002 to 2006, she played a pivotal role in helping the company grow from a small advisory firm in a nascent carbon market to a global leader in carbon offset development and sales. Her accomplishments include creating the first-ever Kyoto Protocol-issued carbon credits by originating, developing and marketing the La Esperanza project in Honduras. A pioneer in the carbon market, Ms. Colston developed over 35 of the Kyoto Protocol's initial carbon project documents and navigated the early stage policy and regulatory frameworks. Ms. Colston also developed 2E Carbon Access, a full service facility geared toward projects that were considered too small to participate in the Kyoto Protocol, after recognizing the unlevel playing field for small-scale projects and the significant sustainable development benefits they could provide. Ms. Colston secured forward contracts from the Government of Austria and Japan Carbon Finance to purchase up to 3 million credits from the small projects. She also managed the partnership between EcoSecurities and Cargill to identify, develop and operate projects worldwide.
Ms. Colston was drawn to the carbon markets after working in Africa with E+Co where she provided business development services and seed capital to clean energy enterprises. Ms. Colston sought to empower local small and medium enterprises that supplied clean, modern and affordable energy to households, businesses and communities in developing countries.
In her professional and personal capacities, Ms. Colston has traveled to over 45 countries. She received her graduate degree in International Development and Environmental Policy from MIT and holds a BA in Environmental Policy and Economics from Boston University. She lives in New York City with her husband Greg and their two children, Grey and Eleanor.
Dr. Ron Dembo is the Founder and CEO of Zerofootprint, an organization dedicated to a mass reduction in global environmental impact. Zerofootprint provides software and services to individuals, governments, universities, and corporations that measures and manages carbon footprint and engages employees and citizens worldwide in combating climate change. Zerofootprint came in first place and won Gold in the Climate Change category at the Canadian Environment Awards in 2008.
Prior to founding Zerofootprint, Dr. Dembo was the Founder, CEO, and President of Algorithmics Incorporated, growing it from a start-up to the largest enterprise risk-management software company in the world, with offices in fifteen countries and over 70% of the world's top 100 banks as clients. Algorithmics was consistently voted as one of the top 50 best-managed companies in Canada.
Dr. Dembo has also had a distinguished ten-year academic career at Yale University, where he was cross-appointed between the Department of Computer Science and the School of Management. Dr. Dembo has published over sixty technical papers on finance and mathematical optimization, and holds a number of patents in computational finance.
Dr. Dembo is the author of three books: Seeing Tomorrow: Rewriting the Rules of Risk, co-authored with Andrew Freedman, published in April 1998; Upside Downside: Simple Rules of Risk Management for the Smart Investor, co-authored with Daniel Stoffman, published in March 2006; and Everything You Wanted to Know About Offsetting But Were Afraid to Ask, co-authored with Clive Davidson, and released in May 2007.
In May 2007, Dr. Dembo was made a lifetime Fields Institute Fellow. This fellowship is awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Fields Institute, its programs, and to the Canadian mathematical community. In July 2007, Dr. Dembo was inducted as a charter member of the Risk Who's Who. Dr. Dembo's alma mater, the University of Waterloo, honoured Dr. Dembo with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. He is also a member of the University of Waterloo's Deans Advisory Council in the Faculty of Environment, and a member of the Board of Advisors to the President at the Ontario College of Art and Design University. Dr. Dembo is also the Chair of the Information Technology committee of the Board at Mount Sinai Hospital, and is a member of the Board of Governors of University of Toronto's NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) program.
Neal is a founding partner of Jane Capital Partners LLC, an energy and technology merchant bank and buyside M&A advisor whose clients have included the technology arms of multinational energy companies. His teams have helped found 6 companies, leading to multiple IPOs, JVs, and acquisitions. He is Chairman and cofounder of Carbonflow, a provider of automation software for the carbon markets. He previously cofounded SC Power Systems, Inc. and its successor Zenergy Power plc (AIM:ZEN) in superconductor technology, helped launch WaiterPad POS Systems, Inc. in wireless hospitality POS solutions, and led the spin-out of Fideris, Inc. in fuel cell test & measurement. He has served as a director of several technology companies, edits the Cleantech Blog, named one of the 50 Best Business Blogs by London Times, is chairman of industry portal Cleantech.org, and a board member of the non profit San Francisco Carbon Collaborative.
He previously served as Director of Business Development for Globalgate, the parent company of Yellowpages.com, and as an investment professional at private equity fund manager Doyle & Boissiere. Before entering private equity, he began his career in energy investment banking at Bankers Trust, and has a B.A. in History and Economics from Texas A&M University.
Andrew O. Ertel is President and Chief Executive of Evolution Markets Inc. Under Mr. Ertel's leadership, Evolution Markets has become the green markets leader, leveraging its unrivaled experience and knowledge on behalf of participants in the global carbon, U.S. emissions, renewable energy, weather derivative, and over the counter energy markets. The company provides institutional brokerage and merchant banking services to participants in global environmental markets and the clean energy sector. Mr. Ertel has been an industry pioneer assisting in market design and facilitating the first trades in several emerging environmental commodities, such as Kyoto allowances (AAUs), European carbon allowances, Kyoto carbon credits, US emissions allowances, renewable energy (RECs), and weather derivatives.
Ben Feldman, Head of Origination-North America, Environmental Markets, joined J.P. Morgan
in February 2008 and is responsible for of JP Morgan's primary origination of North American
environmental commodities. In addition to carbon offset project development expertise, Ben
has extensive experience in all aspects of domestic and international environmental market
policy design and implementation. Before joining J.P. Morgan, Ben was a Managing Director at
Natsource, a leading environmental project development and asset management firm. While at
Natsource, Ben managed the advisory and research business and oversaw regulatory analysis for
the company's investment portfolio. Previously, Ben was the Director of Environmental Markets
at Environmental Resources Trust, a Non-Government Organization established to catalyze the
use of market mechanisms to achieve environmental objectives. Ben holds degrees in history
and international affairs.
Flett Exchange was originated by Michael Flett in 2006. Michael has over 21 years of direct commodities experience and oversaw a successful proprietary trading and brokerage operation on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). He was responsible for trading over $200 billion of energy futures contracts and has extensive knowledge of various commodity markets.
Flett Exchange is an internet-based electronic marketplace. Our exchange facilitates the buying and selling of physical commodities for immediate delivery. Flett Exchange users gain access to live markets where they can negotiate price and quantity of specified commodities. Market transparency and historical pricing data benefit users looking to place "working orders" to capitalize on favorable price action. Flett Exchange is governed by rules and regulations that establish fair and orderly markets. All users are required to establish an escrow account to insure the delivery and payment of underlying commodity transactions. Our markets are supported by Flett Exchange professionals that can assist and educate market participants.
Flett Exchange is experiencing increasing success in the environmental markets. It is the leading exchange for New Jersey Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SREC) and has recently launched the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) market, both for immediate physical delivery. Flett Exchange has over 400 users and 11% share of the (SREC) market. As more clean energy policies emerge, Flett Exchange continues to build green markets and educate the masses in how to reduce the nation's carbon footprint.
Peter C. Fusaro is Chairman of Global Change Associates in New York and is the best selling author of What Went Wrong at Enron. His three most recent books have been Cut Carbon, Grow Profits, Energy & Emissions: Collision or Convergence and Energy & Environmental Hedge Funds: The New Investment Paradigm. Peter is an energy industry thought leader noted for his keen insights in emerging energy and environmental financial markets. He has been on the forefront of energy and environmental change for over 30 years focusing on. oil, gas, power, coal, emissions, carbon trading and renewable energy markets. Peter is currently advising in the clean energy technology arena. Peter was recently selected for Who's Who in America. He coined the term "Green Trading" and holds the Wall Street Green Trading Summit with Reuters in New York each spring. He is also a well known expert on Asia Pacific energy and environmental markets. He co-founded the Energy Hedge Fund Center LLC (www.energyhedgefunds.com) in 2004. Peter graduated with an MA in international relations from Tufts University and a BA from Carnegie-Mellon University.
Richard Gilmore is the founder of The GIC Group, an integrated agribusiness company offering consulting, trusteeship, carbon credit, and financial services to global corporate and public institutional clients. He has also established partner offices in Beijing, Moscow, and Sao Paulo. In addition to his responsibilities as CEO, Mr. Gilmore is currently serving as Private Sector Adviser to the White House, State Department, and USDA for the Global Food Security Initiative, He has served as a commodity commentator for CNN and CNBC, public speaker, author of books and articles, advisor to U.S. federal and state institutions on agribusiness, ag carbon, food safety, and biofuel issues, and Board Member and Advisory Council Member for several well-known biotechnology companies, non-profit organizations, and academic and think tank institutions. He has a PhD in Trade Economics and was previously a Fulbright and Rockefeller Foundation Fellow.
Responsibilities:
The GIC Group 1980 - present
President/CEO Alexandria, VA
Development of new products and services, featuring biotech, carbon, and financial services
Manages GIC operations in US, China, Russia, and Brazil and its new joint venture with Clear Carbon for carbon credit services.
Oversees management of GIC Group consulting, carbon credit, and trade services and directs all GIC financial services
Serving as Director, Global Food Safety Forum, for industry training, standards, certification and quality control in China and other Asian countries.
Directs private placements, M&A, debt financing and turnkey contracting services for agribusiness and biotechnology companies worldwide.
Provides briefings to hedge fund briefing on agricultural issues, biofuel industry developments, commodity markets, carbon credits, commercial intelligence and investment opportunities.
Directs GIC projects on global commodities, marketing, distribution, and agro-industry investments for the World Bank, International Finance Corporation (OPIC), Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), United Nations, US Trade and Development Program, US Department of Agriculture, US Government Accountability Office, Virginia and Minnesota Departments of Agriculture as well as other multilateral and domestic organizations
Provides financial management and transactional expertise as Trustee in the US and Canada for Agrium, Bayer CropScience, and Syngenta. Responsibilities include oversight for divestiture transactions, management of assets subject to divestiture, and monitoring compliance.
Supervises conferences conducted in Cuba and responsible for Food Safety Roundtable in China, April 26-27, 2009, China.
Team member for new product launches, including ag carbon credit index
Professional Background:
Education
Graduate Institute of International Studies, Ph.D., International Economics and Trade, Geneva, Switzerland, 1971, Fulbright Fellow
Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), M.A., International and Development Economics, Washington, DC, 1967
Bologna Center, Bologna, Italy, 1965-1966, SAIS Scholar
Columbia University, B.A., Political Science and History, magna cum laude, New York, 1965
Media/ Publication/Boards/ Trusteeships
Author of books, articles
Commentator for CNBC, Thomson Reuters, and CNN
Board member of non-profits and academic institiutions
Trustee for multinational companies
Chris Hayes is founder and CEO of Fluid Trade, a company that offers a hosted exchange platform and trading system that eliminates the need for manual trading. FLUIDTRADE is used to create private trading networks that connect buyers and sellers in a scalable and secure electronic marketplace. Chris has been a pioneer in creating electronic marketplaces for diverse asset classes and is applying this knowledge to the global renewable energy development space.
Chris began his career with Boston Capital in their portfolio management and structured finance group. Boston Capital is the fifth largest owner/investor of multi-family real estate in the United States who syndicates and sells portfolios to institutional investors.
Following Boston Capital, Chris was a managing member of the WorldStreet Corporation team, an exchange platform for pre-trade research connecting Wall Street brokerage firms with institutional investment management firms. After WorldStreet was sold to Thomson Financial, Chris became a member of the executive management team of Macgregor, a leading electronic trade order management system and trading network of broker/dealers and associated third party trading tools.
Following the sale of Macgregor to Investment Technology Group, Chris was the founder of North Lynx Group, a firm focusing on technology solutions to help streamline electronic trading of alternative assets.
Jack D. Hidary built his career as an entrepreneur and is focused on clean energy technology and policy.
In April 2009, the Hidary Group bought the majority interest from JP Morgan in Primary Insight - www.primaryinsight.com - a leading expert network used by top-tier investment funds. Primary Insight covers sectors ranging from energy and renewables to technology, media, telecom and emerging markets.
Hidary recently launched and serves as Chairman of www.globalsolarcenter.com. Global Solar Center (GSC) is a marketplace which connects solar installers and customers. GSC serves both commercial and residential customers.
Prior to GSC, Hidary co-founded Vista Research in 2001. Vista is an independent network of 50,000+ experts serving institutional investors. Hidary sold Vista to the Standard & Poor's division of McGraw-Hill in April of 2005 (www.vistaresearch.com).
In 1995, Hidary co-founded and served as President and CEO of EarthWeb/Dice. He raised three private rounds of equity and completed a record breaking IPO. Under Hidary's leadership, EarthWeb/Dice earned the prestigious Business Week Info Tech 100 award as the third fastest growing IT Company. www.Dice.com is currently traded on the NYSE under ticker DHX.
Committed to community and philanthropic causes, Hidary has received several industry and community awards as well as being recognized as a Global Leader of Tomorrow at the WEF, Davos. Hidary is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the Clinton Global Initiative.
Hidary has been particularly involved in issues of energy and transportation. He is chairman and co-founder of the Freedom Prize Foundation (www.freedomprize.org ), which provides monetary prizes to cities, schools and other entities that can most reduce their petroleum use. The Freedom Prizes were mandated by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Title X: 1008).
Hidary is the founder and publisher of the OpinionSource Energy Newsletter which provides summaries of major op-eds and editorials around the world on topics in the energy sector. (www.opinionsource.com)
Mr. Hidary helped coordinate and organize the initial development of the Cash for Clunkers bill. This aim of this bill is to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, decrease greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate the economy by promoting auto sales.
In New York City, Hidary was a leading proponent of switching over the taxi fleet to high mileage hybrids. Hidary serves as Chairman of SmartTransportation.org (www.smarttransportation.org), a non-profit dedicated to promoting clean energy and transportation policy in the US. Hidary serves on the advisory board of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (www.nrel.gov)
Hidary studied philosophy and neuroscience at Columbia University and was then awarded a Stanley Fellowship in Clinical Neuroscience at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Under the fellowship, Hidary conducted research in functional neuroimaging using techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to study brain and disease states.
Hidary serves on several boards including BT Global Services (www.btglobalservices.com ) and Trickle Up (www.trickleup.org ). A frequent keynote speaker,Hidary has presented at venues including the business schools of Yale and Columbia.
Chris Hunter leads the Carbon Finance team in the United States for Climate Change Capital (CCC), and is responsible for originating and commercializing investments across North America. Before joining CCC, Chris was a Senior Associate at GreenOrder in New York, where he was lead advisor to clients on energy and carbon issues, including BP, the GE-AES Greenhouse Gas Services joint venture and KKR regarding the acquisition of TXU. Prior to GreenOrder, Chris spent nine years at Johnson & Johnson in the U.S. and Europe. At J&J he was responsible for creating, communicating and implementing energy management and carbon reduction strategies worldwide.
Chris was a contributing author of the WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Protocol in 1998 and a founding member of the Green Power Market Development Group two years later. A recognized leader in the carbon markets, Chris has been featured on broadcast television in more than 20 countries and print media including The Financial Times and BusinessWeek. He has also briefed EU Commissioners and members of the US Congress regarding climate change policy.
Chris holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers University and a joint Executive MBA from Columbia and London Business Schools. He sits on the Advisory Boards of The Climate Group and the GHG Management Institute, and formerly served on the Sanford C Bernstein Leadership & Ethics Board at Columbia University.
Joined the Company in 2008 with 20 years of experience in environmental research, most recently as it relates to investments. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, he managed assets for high net-worth and institutional investors at CitiSmith Barney's Private Wealth Management Group. Previous experience includes investment and market research for IC Value Inc (previously Center for Sustainable Systems Studies, Miami University of Ohio), management consulting and corporate sustainability strategist for Cameron-Cole, LLC and environmental research positions for the University of Wisconsin, Madison, The Ecological Society of America and Auburn University, and service in the US Peace Corps as an agricultural agent and provincial representative.
BA in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from the University of Connecticut; MS in Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures from Auburn University; PhD in Environmental Science from University of Wisconsin, Madison; recipient of both a J. William Fulbright Scholarship and a National Science Foundation Fellowship in ecological economics
Tana Kantor is Publisher at THE GREEN ECONOMY media, which provides
information so that business can plan, manage and profit from the shift to a
low carbon economy. She has provided corporate communications, marketing
strategy and advertising for Fortune 1000, emerging science and technology
companies, Public Universities and large nonprofits. The author of a book on
the use of media to memorably explain complex topics to a lay audience,
Kantor is an award winning creative director. She holds a Masters in
Communication from NYIT, and a BFA from Tufts University. THE GREEN ECONOMY
website is at www.thegreeneconomy.com. The company also publishes a print
publication nine times a year, and produces events.
Scot Kelly is the Founder and President of Artistream Energy, a renewable energy broker that operates in NY, NJ, CT, PA and the island nations of the Caribbean. Artistream is dedicated to helping businesses and homeowners reduce their energy footprint (and costs) as well as produce their own renewable energy . With a growing network of solar installers (PV & SHW), energy efficiency contractors and energy financing firms, Artistream streamlines their clients research and decision making process through education, consulting, custom renewable energy design and the right match up of technology and implementation partners.
Prior to founding Artistream Energy, Mr. Kelly worked on Wall Street for 15 years in the financial software industry. He started his career at FNX (now part of GLTrade) where he ran their London support operations and oversaw the implementation of their capital markets software at Barclays, NatWest and Cantor Fitzgerald among others. He has sold software for SunGard, IDS, GoldenSource and Asset Control. He has directed both sales and marketing at divisions of COR-FS and Informa Systems. During his time at these firms he has delivered capital markets trading, risk management and back office solutions to many of the largest global financial players. More recently he has worked with some of the top energy traders and risk managers to create data solutions that increase pricing accuracy and efficiency.
With both a finance and technology background, Mr. Kelly has spoken at financial conferences on a range of topics including: investment performance measurement, securities lending, back office efficiency and risk management. He is currently leveraging this financial background and his many contacts on Wall Street to streamline the solar financing process and create additional options for both the commercial and residential sectors.
David Kirkpatrick is Managing Director and co-founder of SJF Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on delivering superior financial returns through high growth, positive impact companies. SJF has a ten year history of investing in and assisting growth stage cleantech and infotech services ventures. The fund invests $1MM to $5MM nationally to meet the capital market gap for well managed, capital efficient firms with a proprietary advantage. SJF specializes in helping firms utilize cleantech, IT and team innovations to drive business results. SJF has offices in Durham, NC, New York City and San Francisco. To date, SJF Ventures has invested in 30 portfolio companies with 4,500 employees operating in 128 facilities.
Previous to SJF, David founded and managed two other successful enterprises - KirkWorks, a cleantech investment research firm, and SunShares, a solar energy and recycling company. David was named the national 2005 CDVC Practitioner of the Year by the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance and Recycler of the Year in 1996, the National Recycling Coalition's award for leadership in the recycling industry.
David earned a BA in Physics and History from Duke University in 1982 and an MBA from UNC Business School in 1991. He serves on the Boards of groSolar, B.B. Hobbs, Ed Map, the NC Sustainable Energy Association, the CDFI Coalition, and the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership.
Rubén Kraiem is a partner at Covington & Burling LLP, where he co-chairs, with Stuart Eizenstat, the firm's Carbon Markets, Climate Change and Clean Technology practice. His practice includes the representation of clean technology investors and investee companies, as well as transactional work on behalf of investors and institutions in the carbon markets. He is involved also in legislative work on behalf of clients engaged in the climate change policy debate. Most recently, he was involved in designing the initiatives by KKR and TPG that gained the support of major environmental organizations for the proposed acquisition of TXU. Mr. Kraiem is an advisor to the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, and in this capacity he attended the Bali Conference on Climate Change (COP-13) in December, 2007. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Fordham Law School, where he teaches a course on Climate Change Law & Policy.
Mr. Kraiem was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in 1994. In addition to his service as an NRDC Trustee, he is also a Council Member of Resources for the Future and has advised the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Gordon Moore Foundation on conservation and environmental initiatives.
Mr. Kraiem is a graduate of Yale College and the Harvard Law School. He has been a teaching fellow at Harvard College and an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. More recently, he was a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at New York University Law School (2002-2003).
Kjell Olav Kristiansen is Director of Advisory Services at Point Carbon North America. He has three decades of energy and environmental market experience having initially served 19 years for the Norwegian government in senior positions both with oil and natural gas exploration and production as well as with electricity market restructuring and environmental policies. In private sector he has been partner and executive vice president of a power trading company, co-owner and chairman of a carbon consulting company as well as running his own energy consulting company focusing on European energy and environmental policy and markets. Kjell has served eight years as Vice Chairman on the Board of Directors of the Norwegian Transmission System Operator.
He started working with Point Carbon in 2005 and transferred to the Washington DC office in 2007. He has previously lived and worked in the US as energy counselor at the Norwegian embassy in Washington DC. Kjell speaks frequently at energy and carbon trading conferences and he has testified to the United States Senate and the European Union on design of cap-and-trade programs
Radha Kuppalli leads New Forests' U.S. business and is focused on developing the ecological products investment program and supporting forestry investment globally. Before taking on the role of Director, Radha was based in Sydney as Manager of Business Development. Radha was previously an Analyst at Natsource LLC for two years. At Natsource she advised clients on a range of issues related to greenhouse gas emissions markets and renewable energy credit markets and developed extensive experience in environmental markets-related investments. Radha has Bachelor of Arts Degrees in International Studies and Economic Theory from American University in Washington, D.C., and Masters Degrees in Business Administration and Environmental Management from Yale University's School of Management and School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Radha is based in New Forests Washington, DC office.
Mr. Lack has been a successful entrepreneur within the emissions and alternative energy industry for almost a decade. In 2004, he helped found Element Markets LLC, a leading carbon management and alternative energy company, and currently serves as a Managing Director. Since founding Element Markets, Mr. Lack has assisted in the development of several alternative energy projects and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Projects, including Biomass, Wind and Landfill Gas Projects. Mr. Lack's has extensive knowledge of structuring transactions spanning seventeen emissions trading regions and covering seven emissions commodies. In addition, Randall has experience in extensive experience in transacting for Renewable Energy Credit and Carbon Allowances in North America
Mr. Lack is an acclaimed speaker and media resource for Renewable Energy Credits, Greenhouse Gas Trading, pending emissions legislation, and Regional Emission Markets. He has developed regional emissions, renewable energy, and Greenhouse Gas portfolios for a wide-range of clients, from municipalities to Fortune 500 Corporations. Mr. Lack received his B.S., magna cum laude, from the University of Houston.
Abigail E. Laufer is the CEO and founder of Virid Capital Management a firm devoted to investments in public cleantech companies. She oversees the investment philosophy and management of the firm. Ms. Laufer has over 27 years of investment experience
Ms. Laufer's career has spanned a broad cross-section of the institutional investment industry. Following her early days as a securities analyst with the National Bank of Detroit she was appointed Director of Mutual Fund Research for Merrill Lynch in New York. She was then recruited by the Frank Russell Company as a consultant serving Russell's Fortune 500 clients, providing strategy and conducting manager research for their pension funds and high net worth clients. While at Russell she was the first consultant to work directly with George Russell in the formation of the high net worth effort at that firm. In 1997, she co-founded Hanover Square Associates to represent managers and provide marketing consulting services on a contractual basis. Her successful fundraising venture led to her involvement as a partner at the New Energy Fund, a hedge fund devoted to public and private investments in the renewable energy sector. She formed Virid Capital Management in 2009 to focus exclusively on public market investments in the cleantech sector.
She has an A.B. from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan. She holds a current Series 7 and 63 registration.
Torgeir A. Mantor is Chairman & CEO of VisionMonitor Software Group based in Houston, Texas. Mr. Mantor has represented foreign investors in the United States since 1981 and has been actively involved in making and managing investments in industries such as Energy, Independent Power, Real Estate, Food Distribution and Information Technology in the United States and Europe. He is currently a Board member of several companies in the United States, UK, Ireland and Norway. Mr. Mantor has extensive knowledge of start up companies and corporate turn-around situations. He has founded companies in the energy and technology sectors and has been actively involved in managing those businesses. Mr. Mantor holds an MBA from University of Wisconsin.
Mr. Miller served in the USAF from 1982-86 as a Military Intelligence (MI) specialist, while simultaneously finishing his degree in Computer Science. Mr. Miller was highly recognized for several innovations utilized in code-breaking work while stationed at RAF Chicksands, England UK. After an honorable discharge, he settled in Western New York and was hired as a Fortran programmer for a local Department of Defense (DOD) company. From 1989-92, he worked for an environmental firm that specialized in air quality testing and services, and developed a computerized system to evaluate Real Estate properties from an environmental perspective. He created the first 'Phase I - Environmental Report' Standard (still in use throughout the state of New York) as well as authoring several syndicated columns (including the New York State Association of Realtors) focused on environmental issues. Mr. Miller acquired several financial licenses and began to work more extensively with businesses; he then developed a Return on Investment (ROI) analysis model for investment performance strategies for small businesses. During this time, Mr. Miller became aware of the huge business potential of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment (CAA) - especially pertaining to Mobile Source Emissions. He founded Clean Air Technologies International, Inc. (1999) to develop a mobile-based, portable emissions measurement standard. Once a reliable mobile testing device was perfected, he turned his sights to an ROI system that had the capability of harnessing the 'Emission Credit' concepts referred to in statutes such as CAA, ISTEA and TEA21. Presently, Mr. Miller is focusing on the development of Emission Offset (EO) and Emission Reduction Credit (ERC) strategies, as well as a 'Mobile to Stationary' conversion protocol. Mr. Miller has actively served as Vice President of Clean Air Technologies International, Inc. and is also a co-author on two mobile-source related patents-pending.
Ivo Mulder is a senior consultant for Triple E, a Dutch and Swiss-based firm that carries out projects that visualize and commoditize the economic value of nature.
Previously, he worked at the Dutch National Fund for Rural Areas (National Green Fund), a public finance institution with a balance sheet of $1.8 billion that advocates optimum use of government and private funds for investment in nature and landscape. Within his position he was responsible for developing a new strategy for the ForestClimate Fund. Ivo has also been active as an environmental finance consultant for KPMG Sustainability and Sustainable Finance Ltd., and as a junior professional associate for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in China and Switzerland.
Ivo has published extensively about private sector interest in markets for ecosystem services, and climate change and biodiversity-related risks that companies face in the wake of a degrading natural environment. He earned his BSc and MSc degrees in Environmental Science from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
Michael Muyot has spent fifteen years as a specialist in Strategic
Quantum Visioning, now embodied in the SmartView platform, a
vario-metric, multi-dimensional modeling platform. SmartView is being
used to create investment grade financial indices and products such as
ETFs, UITs, and mutual funds for major financial institutions. SmartView
builds custom portfolios and indices based on Financial, Environmental
and Social (Triple Bottom line) performance metrics. Mr. Muyot designs
algorithms using both quantitative and qualitative KPIs to create a
universal language for translating datasets into Analytical
Intelligence. Mr. Muyot was recently interviewed by The Economist for
documenting the correlation between sustainability practices and
financial outcomes. He also served as a presenter at the 2008 Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI) Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability
and Transparency.
Prior to joining CRS in January 2008, Arthur was an independent business, energy and environmental writer for more than 25 years. He is the author of several books, including: 'Soul of the Grid: A Cultural Biography of the California Independent System Operator' and 'The Guilty Environmentalist.'
Arthur holds a Masters Degree in Communications from the University of Washington, where he was a Graduate Fellow in Business and Economics Reporting in 1981-82. He also graduated from Rutgers College in 1975 with a BA in Human Communications.
Nicholas Parker co-founded the Cleantech Group, introducing the cleantech concept to the investment and business community in 2002. Previously Nicholas accumulated over 15 years experience starting and investing venture funds worldwide through limited partnerships, family offices, corporate funds and endowments. During this time, he pioneered the first "sustainability" driven private equity funds and participated in one of the first solar IPOs. In the 1990s, he also founded, built and sold an environmental finance firm. He has served as an advisor to multilateral agencies and major corporations.
Nicholas earned a BA Hons. in Technology Studies (Carleton University, Ottawa) and an MBA (City University, London), and has authored or edited more than ten publications related to cleantech, finance and international business, starting with Investing in Emerging Economies in 1993. He served as Chairman of E+Co, a public purpose investment company for clean energy enterprises in developing countries, and is on several boards, including: Government of Singapore Cleantech Advisory Board, Canadian Centre of Excellence for Commercialization of Research and the X PRIZE Energy & Environment Council. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). Nicholas has lived and worked in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America and currently resides with his two children in Toronto.
Mr. Rassmuson is a Co-founder of CF-Partners an environmental advisory and investment firm specialising in carbon. Previous experience includes managing the Nordic credit business for Merrill Lynch, starting a $3 billion credit hedge fund, NAC, assistant treasurer at AGA, a global industrial gas company. Mr. Rassmuson holds a degree of master in international business administration from Uppsala University, Sweden.
Kris eight years of project leadership experience spans highrise construction, infrastructure, sustainable design and renewable energy. He has forged partnerships with investors, clients, suppliers, regulators, contractors and employees.
Kris is Director of Sustainable Design & Administration at Crescent Energy; he manages all aspects of company operations, contract negotiations, construction, and project oversight. He has promoted and monitored the LEED Rating System across a multitude of projects in the Northeast; the focus of his work was the design and implementation of the LEED Rating System and other Energy Programs for Commercial, Residential and institutional facilities, which integrated innovative workplace concepts with sustainable architecture, interior design and site planning.
As Senior Director of Renewable Energy and Fuels, Kris leads all aspects of research, production and distribution of biodiesel. He is a leading mind in the field of Green Engineering and Construction. His résumé includes work with JPMorgan Chase, Herman Miller, Trump National, 1400 Fifth Avenue New York, and BAM LDC.
He is also President of Project Strategix, LLC, a project management consultancy, and chairman of Go Green Recycling, LLC, a food waste recycler that produce fertilizer and biodiesel feed stock.
Kris' formal training was in architecture and mechanical engineering.
Mr. Siegel is the Managing Partner of the Hartford office of Brown Rudnick and is Co-Chair of the Firm's Energy Practice Group. He represents clients in matters involving the acquisition, divestiture and financing of electric generation facilities; electric industry restructuring; bankruptcy and reorganization; corporate and real estate debt restructuring; commercial, corporate and project finance and business transactions. He also assists clients in formulating strategies and programs in the alternative energy and climate change space that are both innovative and commercially viable. Mr. Siegel also has significant experience representing clients in asset valuation litigation.
Mr. Thoumi, Project Developer, Forest Carbon Offsets, LLC, (www.forestcarbonoffsets.net), provides global technical and commercial forestry carbon offset asset business development consulting in the compliance and voluntary carbon markets, specializing in forestry carbon credit design, implementation, and commercialization. He frequently presents at conferences such as Copenhagen COP 15, International Emissions Trading Association, Stewardship Network, Wall Street Green Trading Summit, and many others. He also regularly publishes on technical and business market developments in the forest carbon space. He wrote the first business strategy case book on avoided deforestation and co-authored the first article on financial accounting for forest carbon offset assets. He is a member of The Forests Dialogue (www.theforestsdialogue.org) having participated onsite in meetings in the Balkans, Nepal, and Switzerland. He is also a trained forest auditor for Forest 3.1 and Urban Forest Protocols for the Climate Action Reserve. He is on the Peat Rewetting and Conservation Voluntary Carbon Standard technical review team and on the China Panda Standard AFOLU technical review team. He has conducted technical reviews of the climate changes bills in the U.S. Congress and was previously Global Forest Director at MGM International, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley. He has an MBA from the Ross School of Business, an MSc from the School of Natural Resources and Environment, and a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning all from the University of Michigan. He is also a CFA Level III Candidate. He speaks Indonesian and Spanish and he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Maryland.
Michael is considered an environmental capital markets innovator and is responsible for guiding Mission Markets financial and technological innovation and apply it to the social and environmental capital markets. Michael has over 20 years of experience on Wall Street and has been integrally involved in the design and implementation of private placement and illiquid security transactions platforms for several companies including co-founding the highly successful NYPPEX. Michael has been a featured speaker at several environmental and social markets conferences and has written several articles regarding environmental capital markets innovation and financial structure. Mike will lead the Company's strategic and business development and it's marketing efforts for investors and will lead the implementation of Mission Markets environmental markets offerings. Michael is a father of four children, an avid surfer, rock climber and has completed over 50 triathlons. Michael possesses FINRA registrations 7, 63, 55, 24, 3.
Martin Whittaker is a Director of MissionPoint Capital Partners, a Connecticut-based private investment firm, where he leads the firm's environmental finance and environmental commodities strategies. Prior to joining MissionPoint, Martin was a senior vice president at Swiss Re Financial Services in New York City, where he was part of the Environmental and Commodity Markets team, and a managing director of Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, Inc., where he led the firm's clean energy and carbon finance practice. Martin was also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto where he taught environmental finance, and has served in the downstream environmental group at Elf Aquitaine and in consulting with Golder Associates. Martin earned a PhD in environmental science from the University of Edinburgh, an MBA from the University of London, and M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees in Chemistry from, respectively, McGill University, Montreal and the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
John Winn is the Director of Carbon Solutions of Misys Open Source Solutions, specializing in the development of open source projects to create new services and applications. He is currently managing the development of an Environmental Trading Platform (METP) and the Misys Environmental Registry System (MERS) that offers enterprise trading and emissions reporting platforms.
John joined Misys from Electricite De France (EDF) Trading in London, where he was a risk business analyst for the energy, carbon and freight trading business. EDF Trading is one of the largest electricity and natural gas traders in Europe, buyers of international carbon credits and pioneers of the global freight markets. He was also lead implementation consultant at OpenLink in both Europe and Australia, a leading energy trading software provider to many of the world's largest energy and banking organizations.
John has a master's degree in Research in Behavioral Finance & Asian Studies from the University of Sydney, and holds bachelor's degrees in business and information technology respectively, from the Queensland University of Technology.
Barry K. Worthington serves as the Executive Director of the United States Energy Association (USEA)
where he directs the Association's domestic and international activities. He has served in this capacity
since September 1988. Previously, he served as a Vice President of the Thomas Alva Edison Foundation
and prior to that served in several capacities with Houston Lighting & Power Company, now known as
Center Point.
Worthington has also written extensively on energy and environmental matters, and addresses many
conferences on national and international energy issues.
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