Congratulations to the 2011 Pivotal Leaders
These outstanding individuals were selected by their peers as 2011’s top Northwest cleantech leaders. The list of leaders includes a combination of proven leaders from well-known businesses and cleantech entrepreneurs developing alternative transportation, smart grid, smart storage and renewable energy solutions as well as service providers and leaders from the public and non-profit sectors. Every person on the list is participating in a way that will improve our competitiveness in the Northwest and the United States toward a cleaner, greener, economically stronger future.
Pivotal Leaders are the people who connect and grow the Northwest’s cleantech economy. More than just a list of names, Pivotal Leaders connect to one another and share their wisdom and experience with others, always seeking to grow a more sustainable future for the Northwest.
Charlie Allcock
Title: Business Development Director
Company: Portland General Electric (PGE)
Charlie Allcock is Director of Business Development at Portland General Electric, Oregon’s largest utility. Charlie works with local, regional and state economic development organizations to enhance business growth, promote economic vitality and attract new companies to the greater Portland and Salem areas. Charlie is also leading initiatives on renewable energy and clean technologies including electric vehicles, solar and wind power generation, and energy storage. He serves as vice-chair of the Oregon Transportation Electrification Executive Council and was recognized in 2011 by Automotive News in their Electrifying 100 listing of global leaders driving vehicle electrification.
David E. Allen
Title: Vice President
Company: McKinstry
David E. Allen is Executive Vice-President of McKinstry Company, a Seattle based construction, engineering and facility services firm. McKinstry, with sales in the $500 million range, is the market leader in the Pacific Northwest for design-build mechanical construction, energy services and facility operation and management. In his position David is responsible for the company’s brand development through managing its strategic positioning and overseeing its business development, community relations and client service activities. David is widely respected for his contributions to creating McKinstry positioning strategy that has resulted in the firm’s national reputation as a leader in integrated, facility services delivery and engineered solutions in the clean technology sector. He was recently invited to join the Board of Trustees of the Rocky Mountain Institute.
Allen Alley
Title: Chairman
Company: Pixelworks
Over the past 30 years Allen has built an experience base that spans multiple disciplines from engineering to marketing, venture capital, entrepreneurship and most recently, public service. In 1997 he co-founded Pixelworks where he currently serves as Chairman of the Board. Prior to founding Pixelworks, he helped lead the growth of InFocus into a $250 million company. Allen also had a tenure as General Partner with Battery Ventures. He was the lead investor for Oregon based InFocus and served on the InFocus Board of Directors from 1988 to 1992. In 2008 Allen was nominated as the Republican candidate for State Treasurer.
Ash Awad
Title: Vice President of Energy and Facility Solutions
Company: McKinstry
With over 15 years of energy efficiency experience, Ash is responsible for evolving McKinstry’s energy efficiency, renewable energy, and facility services business lines while providing the vision and leadership for a variety of related strategic initiatives.
Jules Bailey
Title: State Representative
Company: Oregon State Legislature
Jules Bailey is an Oregon State Representative and co-chair of the House Energy Environment and Water committee. He co-sponsored legislation to train workers in clean energy jobs, encourage renewable industries, and build a sustainable economy in Oregon. Jules received his masters degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. In 2009, Jules founded the economic consulting firm Pareto Global. Prior to that, Jules was an economist and sustainable development specialist at ECONorthwest. Jules has provided policy and economic analysis, stakeholder integration, and project management for a diverse set of clean energy policy and development projects with Pareto Global, ECONorthwest, and in other roles.
Michael “Kipp” Baratoff
Title: Fellow
Organization: Meyer Memorial Trust
Kipp has charted a career at the intersection of finance and sustainability for 12 years. Previously a partner at Equilibrium Capital Group and President of Gerding Edlen Sustainable Solutions, he currently works on fostering cross-sector investment collaboration to promote efficient investment and strategic partnerships in the Pacific Northwest. Focused on crafting solutions to the region’s environmental and economic challenges, Kipp is currently designing Meyer Memorial Trust’s economic development investment strategy that will explore the use of grants, program-related investments and endowment corpus to promote prosperity in Oregon.
Aaron Berg
Title: President & Founder
Company: Blue Tree Strategies
Aaron is the President and Founder of Blue Tree Strategies. Blue Tree is a Portland based firm providing advisory services to both public and private sector clients on clean energy finance, policy, strategic planning and triple bottom line decision making. Blue Tree was a key contributor to the development and creation of Clean Energy Works Oregon (CEWO), a 501c3 capitalized with a $20MM USDOE grant intended to help transform the residential market for energy efficiency upgrades. Aaron was the CFO of CEWO for its first 18 months and continues to serve as an advisor to the company.
Rob Bernard
Title: Chief Environmental Strategist
Company: Microsoft
Rob Bernard is the Chief Environmental Strategist for Microsoft and is responsible for defining and implementing the global strategy for the company’s environmental efforts.
Under Rob’s leadership, Microsoft has set its first carbon reduction goal and rolled out its first global campaign to engage with customers on ways to use Information Technology to reduce environmental impacts. Rob is a passionate believer in the role technology can play in enabling energy efficiency and advancing scientific breakthroughs.
Jesse Berst
Title: Managing Director
Company: GlobalSmartEnergy
Jesse Berst is one of the Northwest’s cleantech pioneers. As the Managing Director of GlobalSmartEnergy, he founded SmartGridNews.com, the oldest, largest and highest-ranked smart grid site. He has keynoted dozens of energy-related events in the U.S. and abroad. Jesse provides strategic consulting to corporations, startups and investment firms looking to target their smart grid activities. National and international clients have included Lockheed Martin, Edison Electric Institute, and the Global Environment Fund. In the Pacific Northwest, Jesse sits on the Advisory Council of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and on the Advisory Council of Calico Energy Systems.
Gino Borland
Title: Co-founder
Company: Cake Ventures, LLC
Gino Borland is an entrepreneur, angel investor, and an early example of the evolutionary trend from IT to CleanTech. In 2003 he co-founded Cake Ventures to accelerate widespread clean energy. He’s active in the NW CleanTech eco-system as a University of Washington Entrepreneur-in-Residence; member of Northwest Energy Angels, Environmental Entrepreneurs, Social Venture Partners; supporter of Climate Solutions and Groundwire, as well as a proud board member of Grist.org. With a 20 year background in the software industry, he leveraged this experience into the founding, funding and sale of a successful email marketing startup to a CRM company during the dotcom boom.
Chandra Brown
Titles: Vice President, Oregon Iron Works, Inc.
President, United Streetcar LLC
Ms. Brown has worked for Oregon Iron Works, Inc. (OIW) for over 18 years and currently is president of its subsidiary United Streetcar. Ms. Brown is responsible for overall business development and marketing activities and has assisted in raising the company’s profile to be one of Oregon’s Most Admired Companies as published in the Portland Business Journal. Ms. Brown serves on many non-profit boards and does extensive community volunteer work. Nationally, she is vice-chair of the U.S. Manufacturing Council and, in Oregon, she serves on the Oregon Business Development Commission and the boards of the Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition and the Oregon Wave Energy Trust. Ms. Brown received a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and an M.B.A. in International Marketing from Miami University.
Bill Campbell
Title: Managing Director and Chair
Company: Equilibrium Capital Group and EnergyRM
Bill Campbell is a Managing Director of Equilibrium Capital Group, and Chair of EnergyRM. He has 30 years experience in energy and technology, high growth companies as general counsel and at the board level, including multiple generations of energy efficiency deployment and financing models. Formerly, he was chair of the Ater Wynne law firm.
Dave Curry
Title: President & CEO
Company: Demand Energy Networks
Dave was President & CEO of World Wide Packets, a layer-2, point-to-point Ethernet switch company acquired by Ciena in 2008. Before World Wide Packets, he co-founded Architel, a telecom OSS company that was taken public in 1998 and subsequently acquired by Nortel in 2000. In 1996, Dave was selected Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year for his leadership at Architel. Dave has over 30 yeas of combined Telecommunications and Software Industry experience.
Andrea Durbin
Title: Executive Director
Company: Oregon Environmental Council
Andrea Durbin is Executive Director of Oregon Environmental Council. In 2011, she was recognized by Portland Monthly as one of Portland’s 40 most influential people. In 2010, she was one of the Portland Business Journal’s ‘Fabulous Under 40’ leaders. She sits on the Oregon Global Warming Commission and is a Vice Chair helping to lead Governor Kitzhaber’s 10 Year Energy Action Plan. Andrea worked as an independent consultant based in Belgium and before that as a senior manager of national environmental organizations in Washington, DC for twelve years. Her degree is from the University of Washington, and she completed Harvard’s Executive Management Program.
Mark Edlen
Title: Managing Principal and Co-founder
Company: Gerding Edlen Development
Mark Edlen is the co-founding member of Gerding Edlen Development (GEDI) and is internationally recognized for his expertise and success in creating mixed-use commercial, residential, educational, and retail developments. Mr. Edlen directs all phases of GEDI’s projects and operations and has overseen the development of 56 projects totaling approximately $4.8 billion since the inception of GEDI. Mark has delivered presentations to groups such as the Civil Construction Group and Director of the Housing Department Ministry of Construction in Vietnam, Oregon League of Conservation Voters, Innotech Innovation Conference, National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices and many others. Mr. Edlen received his B.S. in Finance and an M.B.A. from the University of Oregon.
Pat Egan
Title: Vice President, Customer and Community Affairs
Company: Pacific Power
Pat Egan is Vice President of Customer and Community Affairs for Pacific Power. Pacific Power supplies electricity to over 725,000 customers in Oregon, Washington and California. Egan is responsible for customer services and satisfaction, community relations and new energy projects. An attorney with a significant management and public policy background, Egan has served directly for two Governors as Legislative Director and was Chief of Staff to Governor Ted Kulongoski before coming to Pacific Power.
Aaron Fairchild
Title: CEO
Company: Green Canopy Homes
Aaron has been an executive manager in real estate and real estate finance in several capacities. He is a third-generation lender and entrepreneur who has a deep understanding of residential and commercial finance, residential construction and energy efficiency. He has worked in the Northwest to create energy efficiency programs and consumer financing solutions for existing buildings since 2004. Aaron is a graduate of the Executive MBA program at the University of Washington.
Mark Frohnmayer
Title: President
Company: Arcimoto
Mark holds a degree from UC Berkeley in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). After eleven years in the computer games industry and a successful exit from his first startup, GarageGames, Mark has turned his entrepreneurial energy towards sustainable business development in Oregon. His current endeavor, Arcimoto, was founded in 2007 to bring quality, affordable, sustainable vehicles to the masses and aims to be a major player in the new green transportation space. He was recently appointed to serve on Oregon’s Transportation Commission.
Aaron Goldfeder
Title: CEO
Company: EnergySavvy
As CEO, Aaron is responsible for the vision and leadership of EnergySavvy.com. Aaron has been featured in the BBC, NPR and Treehugger.com and was noted as one of Jewish Seattle’s “10 under 40”. Aaron has a decade of software experience, is a life long environmentalist and was previously a Microsoft Group Program Manager. Aaron holds seven patents, has traveled to over 50 countries and holds a MS and BS in Mathematics from the Universities of Washington and Florida respectively.
Nancy Hamilton
Title: Director of Business Development
Company: McKinstry
As a longtime advocate for sustainability and innovative energy solutions, Nancy Hamilton has worked for decades at the intersection of the public and private sectors, forging partnerships between members of government, business professionals, and industry experts. After serving in executive positions in both city and state government, Nancy has returned to the private sector as Director of Business Development for McKinstry in Oregon, where she continues to support carbon footprint reduction through a focus on helping Oregon’s built environment operate more efficiently.
David Helliwell
Title: co-founder
Company: Pulse Energy
Pulse Energy is led by its co-founder, David Helliwell, whose career has spanned 3 continents and has been focused on the energy sector since 1994. Before starting Pulse Energy in 2006, David was a professional windsurfer, an exploration geophysicist, a Paris-based management consultant to large multinational organizations and spent three years as the director of policy for a cabinet minister in the Canadian federal government. While with the Canadian government, David was responsible for reducing costs and improving environmental performance of 700 million square feet of office space across the country. David is a director of the Vancouver Board of Trade, an Action Canada Fellow, a member of the BC Cleantech CEO Alliance, and is on the Imagine BC advisory board.
Alan Hickenbottom
Title: General Manager
Company: Tanner Creek Energy
Alan Hickenbottom is the General Manager of Tanner Creek Energy, a full service energy solutions provider and a division of Christenson Electric located in Portland, Oregon. Tanner Creek Energy, where he was President and Founder, was acquired by Christenson Electric in 2011. The firm offers turnkey solar PV and energy efficiency projects to NW commercial, industrial and agricultural customers. Starting in 2001, after 20 years in high technology, Alan spent several years exploring the sustainable industries including the green building, sustainable agriculture and clean energy sectors. He founded his first clean tech firm, Common Energy, in 2003. In 2005, he became the NW Director of the commercial business sector for groSolar going on to found Tanner Creek Energy in 2007.
David Kaplan
Title: Founder
Company: V2Green
David Kaplan, a Seattle-based technologist focused on clean energy, founded V2Green in 2006 to deliver information technology solutions that capture the economic value of connecting electric vehicles with the power grid. V2Green achieved national recognition, delivering pioneering technology solutions to electric utilities and auto manufacturers, and was acquired by Gridpoint in September 2008. Kaplan brings to the clean energy field over 30 years of technology experience, including at Microsoft, where he helped to create SQL Server.
Tyson Keever
Title: President & Co-Founder
Company: SeQuential Biofuels, Inc.
Ever since graduating from The University of Oregon with a BA in Panning, Public Policy and Management, NW biodiesel development has been Tyson’s focus. Since 2003, he has worked to build a network of 35+ retail biodiesel fueling locations in Oregon and Washington.In 2006, Tyson expanded his operational responsibilities as GM of the now 17 Million Gallon per year SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel plant located in Salem, Oregon. In June of 2008 Tyson led the formation of Encore Oils LLC, a cooking oil collection company to provide a direct supply of feedstock to the SeQuential Pacific Plant. In early 2011 under Tyson’s leadership, SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel acquired the NW cooking oil collection assets of Standard Biodiesel, Pacific Rendering and Rainier Ranch in Washington State. SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel and its subsidiary Encore Oils are now the Northwest’s premiere biodiesel supply, cooking oil recycling and grease trap services company employing over 80 local service professionals.
David Kenney
Title: President & Executive Director
Company: Oregon BEST
David Kenney is the President and Executive Director of the Oregon Built Environment & Sustainable Technologies Center (Oregon BEST), an organization focused on growing and commercializing renewable energy and sustainable built environment research. David spent 12 years at Intel Corporation, where he co-founded and led the Intel Employee Sustainability Network. He also has public sector, management consulting and nonprofit board experience. He has a BA from the University of Washington and an MBA and Certificate of Public Management from Stanford University.
Jeff Kim
Title: President and CEO
Company: Shorepower Technologies
Jeff Kim is President and CEO of Shorepower Technologies. He manages day-to-day activities of the business and has been successful in raising over $12 million in project-related funds. Jeff has been involved with truck idle-reduction technologies and transportation electrification technologies for more than ten years and led the design team responsible for the engineering and assembly of Shorepower’s “energy vending machines,” including a comprehensive automated payment and control system. He also has ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certified journeyman level experience as an automotive technician and managing a vehicle repair facility. Jeff is an avid researcher and supporter of advanced vehicle technologies that both reduce petroleum consumption and emissions.
Rick Luebbe
Title: CEO
Company: EnerG2
Rick is the CEO and cofounder of EnerG2, an advanced materials company for energy storage. Prior to EnerG2, Rick was co-founder and CEO of Hubspan, a XML transaction services company. As a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, he specialized in manufacturing efficiency. And as a US Army officer, he led an aeroscout platoon in Desert Storm, and later flew Apaches as commander of an Attack Helicopter Company. Rick received a BA from Cornell University and an MBA from Stanford.
Ross Macfarlane
Title: Senior Advisor, Business Partnerships
Company: Climate Solutions
Ross has worked on public policy and environmental issues for more than 25 years. He was a partner at Preston Gates & Ellis where he represented public and private clients. He also served on the management team for an agency working to build urban mass transit. At Climate Solutions, Ross builds partnerships with businesses that are building the clean energy economy in the Pacific Northwest. Ross recently lead Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest, the first effort in the nation to find renewable fuels for this critical sector.
Tim Miller
Title: President and CEO
Company: Green Lite Motors Corporation
Tim Miller is the President and CEO of Green Lite Motors – developing a unique 100MPG vehicle for metropolitan drivers. His 24 years of executive experience span high-tech, on-line and manufacturing environments, including five years at Intel and five years as a Regional Vice President at Citysearch.com. Tim also serves on the Advisory Council of Business Leaders for Climate Solutions and was the founding Board President of Drive Oregon, the state’s electric vehicle industry association. His formal background includes a BA with honors in Economics and an MBA with honors, both from Stanford University.
Kelly Ogilvie
Title: Co-founder and Former President and CEO
Company: Blue Marble Energy
Mr. Ogilvie has extensive planning, strategy and outreach experience from over a decade of work in politics and finance. Before founding Blue Marble, Kelly promoted business interests in Washington State through the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, worked in the Seattle Mayor’s Office of Gregory J. Nickels, worked for Paul Allen at Vulcan Inc., and in the former Washington State Governor’s Office for Gary Locke. Kelly serves on the Board of Directors at Seafair and on the External Advisory Board of Washington State University’s Center for Environmental Research, Education and Outreach. He is also honored to have served as an advisor to the White House on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) on issues relating to Advanced Manufacturing.
Tom Osdoba
Title: Founder & Managing Director
Company: TAO Whiteboard
Founder & Director TAO Whiteboard, a platform for nurturing new innovations for sustainable enterprise, and Chair of the Portland Sustainability Institute. Founding Managing Director of University of Oregon’s Center for Sustainable Business, training future sustainable business leaders. Led Vancouver initiatives for climate protection and sustainable development, creating a neighborhood-scale clean energy system and community engagement strategy on energy and climate change. Led effort to create Canada Carbon Trust, a collaborative, business initiative to accelerate investments to reduce carbon emissions.
Gregg Patterson
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Company: PV Powered
Gregg Patterson, CEO, joined PV Powered in November 2006. Prior to joining PV Powered, Mr. Patterson was Vice President of the extremely successful Printing and Imaging Group at Hewlett Packard. He has 25+ years of experience in rapidly scaling worldwide manufacturing operations, leading complex multi-site R&D development, General Management of multibillion dollar P&L’s spanning both Consumer and Enterprise segments, and success in driving key M&A projects within HP. Since taking over at PV Powered, he has lead the successful scaling of the product portfolio into both Commercial and Utility segments while driving 400% growth in revenue over the three year he’s been with the company. Mr. Patterson has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Washington and a Masters in Engineering from Stanford University.
Ron Pernick
Title: CoFounder & Managing Director
Company: Clean Edge, Inc.
Ron Pernick, managing director of Clean Edge, is a market research, publishing, and business development entrepreneur with more than two decades of high-tech and clean-tech experience. At Clean Edge, he has coauthored more than two dozen reports on clean technologies, markets, and policies and oversees the firm’s research, event production, index publishing, and advisory services. He is the co-author of the highly acclaimed business book The Clean Tech Revolution (HarperCollins, 2007). He has taught MBA-level courses at Portland State University and New College, is widely quoted in the media, and is a regular speaker at industry events in the U.S. and abroad. His latest book, Clean Tech Nation (HarperCollins) is due out in September, 2012.
Tobias Read
Companies: Nike / Oregon Legislature
Tobias Read is an Oregon State Representative. Tobias is Co-Chair of the committee on Transportation and Economic Development as well as a member of both the committee on Revenue and Redistricting. For over a decade, Tobias has been working to keep Oregon a great place to live. As a development officer for Willamette University, he built partnerships with business and community leaders to find innovative solutions for strengthening both the community and the University. In his current job as a product developer of kids’ footwear for Nike, Tobias helps one of Oregon’s only Fortune 500 companies maintain its position as a world leader, bringing jobs and business home to Beaverton.
Jonathan Rhone
Title: Chairman
Company: BC Cleantech CEO Alliance
Jonathan Rhone is Chairman of the BC Cleantech CEO Alliance. He is the founder of Nexterra Systems Corp. a leading biomass gasification energy system supplier. From 2003 – 2011, he was President and CEO of at Nexterra, during which time he grew the company into one of the largest and most successful cleantech companies in British Columbia. Jonathan is a member of the BC Premier’s Technology Council and sits on the Advisory Board of the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. In 2009, he was honoured by the technology community as BC’s Technology Industry Person of the Year.
Roby Roberts
Title: Vice President Government Affairs
Company: edp Renewables
Roby Roberts is Vice President of Government and is responsible for ensuring the successful strategic direction and development of policy and regulatory activities in the United States and Canada. Roby leads the company’s efforts to manage interactions with policy-makers and relationships with key external stakeholders aimed at understanding market needs and driving the continued expansion of wind power in North America. He joined Horizon Wind Energy in 2010, bringing more than 20 years experience in renewable-energy policy, business development and regulatory affairs. During his career, Roberts has been president and board member of the American Wind Energy Association, the Board of Directors of the Canadian Wind Energy Association, as well as on the boards of many prominent regional renewable energy advocacy organizations across the United States.
Skip Rung
Title: President and Executive Director
Company: ONAMI
Since its founding in 2003, ONAMI has invested $42M in state funds to quintuple Oregon institutions’ research volume in nanoscience science and microtechnology components, and to launch a commercialization gap fund which has enabled 21 startup companies to leverage over $70M in private funding and $6M in federal funding.
From 1987 to 2001, M. Rung was director of Advanced Research for Hewlett Packard’s Imaging and Printing Platforms organization. He holds BS and MSEE degrees from Stanford University.
Derek Smith
Title: CEO
Company: Clean Energy Works Oregon
Clean Energy Works Oregon (CEWO) is a public-private partnership launched in mid-2010 upon a $20 million investment by the US Dept. of Energy. The Clean Energy Works model was developed during Derek’s tenure at the City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. By the end of 2011, Clean Energy Works created 130 direct construction jobs and $15 million in economic development. Prior to CEWO, Derek served as Director of Operations at YOLO Colorhouse and Director of Sustainability at Norm Thompson. Derek’s board service has included the Oregon Business Association, Portland’s Sustainable Development Commission and The Forest Park Conservancy.
Martin Tull
Title: Executive Director
Company: Green Sports Alliance
As Executive Director, Martin manages the overall operations of the Green Sports Alliance, whose mission is to help sports teams, venues, and leagues enhance their environmental performance. He oversees all environmental impact reduction strategies, strategic alliances and membership programs. He previously served in senior leadership positions in the outdoor recreation industry and has been an elite rock climber and instructor since the early 1990’s. As a volunteer, Martin serves on the Oregon Global Warming Commission Communication Committee, and on the Advisory Boards of Climate Solutions and the Portland Climate Prosperity Project. Martin was recently recognized by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance as the 2011 Emerging Leader and was awarded the 2012 40 under 40 Award by the Portland Business Journal.
Chris Ulum
Title: CEO
Company: Agilyx
Chris Ulum is the Chief Executive Officer of Agilyx Corporation. Prior to joining Agilyx, he worked for 10 years in the high tech industry for IBM and Sun Microsystems. His career includes leadership roles in diverse industries, including wood products, printing and packaging and food processing. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Oregon State University and an MBA degree from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business.
David Van’t Hof
Title: Partner
Company: Lane Powell
David Van’t Hof is a partner at Lane Powell where he focuses his practice in the areas of sustainability, clean technology, energy, green building and carbon regulation. David works with a range of companies from start ups to mature companies. David draws experience from his many years as a Sustainability Policy Advisor to Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski. Dave led the Oregon’s participation in the Western Climate Initiative and in developing the state’s nationally recognized climate change, renewable energy, and energy efficiency policies. David is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Oregon Law School where he teaches a class on carbon regulation and cap and trade policy. He also is a Board Member of Green Empowerment which partners with non profits in the developing world to build rural, off-grid renewable energy and water systems.
Joe Whitworth
Title: President
Company: The Freshwater Trust
Joe Whitworth, President, The Freshwater Trust. Informed by his 19+ years of NGO work, Joe has become focused on the next generation of conservation tools that can leverage technology and finance to accelerate the pace and scale of restoring freshwater ecosystems. He co-chairs the Oregon’s Global Warming Commission Water Subcommittee, Agriculture Water Quality Review Committee, and is founding board chair of the Council for Responsible Sport. He holds a J.D. from Lewis & Clark College, and an A.B. from Dartmouth College.
Jean Wilson
Title: Senior Vice President, Utilities and Commerical, Americas
Company: Sunpower Corp.
Jean Wilson is a Senior Vice President at SunPower Corporation, a global company that designs, manufactures and delivers high-performance solar electric systems. Jean oversees the strategic growth of the utility sector including project development, utility marketing, and EPC and component sales. Jean has over 17 years of experience with solar and wind projects. Prior to joining SunPower, she served as Senior Vice President for renewable energy at PPM Energy (now Iberdrola Renewables), where she led a team of more than 130 people in the acquisition and development of over 2,400 MW of wind power projects, and grew a wind and solar power project pipeline in excess of 18,000 MW. Jean holds a Bachelor of Science in finance from the University of Southern California and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University.
Darcy Winslow
Title: Founder
Company: Designs for a Sustainable World Collective, LLC
Darcy Winslow, Founder of Designs for a Sustainable World Collective, is a pioneer and active practitioner of sustainability frameworks and principles with deep experience in the application of these to all aspects of business. Darcy worked at Nike for over 20 years, holding several senior management positions. DSW Collective, LLC focuses on the development of practical yet aggressive strategies for organizations to create and adopt more sustainable, regenerative business practices. Winslow is also a Senior Sustainability Strategist with Brightworks, Inc., Executive-in-Residence at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Program Director for Willamette University’s Sustainable Enterprise Program.
Clay Young
Title: co-founder and CEO
Company Name: Inovus Solar
Clay Young is the co-founder and CEO of Inovus Solar – a company dedicated to making the world’s antiquated outdoor lighting system obsolete. Clay is a 22 year veteran of the Information Technology space and successful executive entrepreneur. Not only has he managed major initiatives at both Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, he founded the highly successful ProClarity Corporation (Fast 100, Software 100, Inc 100) which Microsoft acquired in 2006. Prior to that he was an executive at Extended Systems where he launched a number of their highest-growth product lines and helped stage the company for a successful IPO.
Justin Yuen
Title: Founder
Company Name: FMYI
Justin founded FMYI, a collaboration software company and provider of private social networks, in 2004 after a successful career at Nike managing corporate sustainable development. His accomplishments there included creating organizational change programs, collaboration tools, the business case for sustainability, and global employee engagement efforts. Justin started FMYI due to his passion for sustainability, an interest in how advances in technology can help lessen our impact on the planet while positively affecting society, and how social media spurs innovation. Currently, he is the Chair of the Multnomah County Advisory Committee on Sustainability and Innovation, the Metro Community Investment Initiative Leadership Council, and the Board of Directors for several sustainability focused non-profits. He holds a degree in International Studies from The Johns Hopkins University.
Kim Zentz
Title: CEO
Company Name: Innovate Washington
Kim Zentz is CEO of Innovate Washington, a new public-private partnership with an aim to spur growth and investment in the State’s innovation-based economic sectors and a first focus on clean energy. A recognized leader and passionate advocate for sustainable economic growth, Kim was most recently executive director of Sirti, a Washington agency focused on the accelerated development and growth of tech-based companies in the Inland Northwest. Kim was the founding president and COO of Avista Labs (now ReliOn), an energy technology company offering fuel cell products for the backup, commercial, industrial and premium power markets. Prior to helping establish Avista Labs, Kim served 18 years with Avista Utilities in various project, technical and senior management positions. From 2003-2005, Kim was CEO of Spokane Transit Authority.
