Program

Josh Green is the founder and CEO of Inspiration Mobility (“Inspiration”), the first Electrification Accelerator offering turnkey solutions to decarbonize commercial transportation at scale. In 2021, Josh launched Inspiration  with one goal in mind: dramatically accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles by quickly and easily delivering the outcomes that matter to businesses: lower costs, higher reliability, improved safety and driver satisfaction, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Throughout his career, Josh has launched and managed multiple investment funds focused on the energy transition, including Traverse Venture Partners, CCM Energy, Generate Capital, and Verdeo Group, a leading clean energy project developer backed by Black River Asset Management and Wolfensohn & Company.

Josh holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Dartmouth College, and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.  

Maryline Daviaud Lewett leads Sales and Partnerships in distributed infrastructure and sustainable transportation for Black & Veatch's Transportation & Logistics business line. BV turn-key solutions includes design and engineering, permitting, procurement, and construction of electric vehicle charging infrastructure networks, fleet solutions, fuel cell vehicle filling stations and behind-the-meter energy storage/microgrid and AV systems. Maryline has over 25 years in the Clean Tech, Life Sciences, and Media industries. Her previous experience includes Management positions for Schneider Electric, Akamai Technologies, and TechSoup Global. Maryline holds a B.A. in Economics and an M.B.A. in Sustainability Management from the Presidio Graduate School. She obtained her Envision Sustainability Professional certificate from the Institute of Sustainable Design in 2022.

Alex Smith is a Senior Food and Agriculture Analyst at the Breakthrough Institute, an environmental think-tank in Berkeley, California. Alex works on topics related to agricultural innovation, geopolitics, and decarbonization and has written extensively on U.S. agricultural policy, protein transitions, and global food trade.

Emily Bass is the Federal Policy Manager for Food and Agriculture at the Breakthrough Institute, a global research center that works to identify and promote technological solutions to environmental and human development challenges. At Breakthrough, Emily focuses on coalition building and advocacy to implement policies that advance agricultural innovations to decarbonize the sector. Emily holds a BA in Public Policy and Economics from the College of William and Mary and she lives is Washington, DC.

Chante Harris is a champion of social and financial innovation. Throughout her career. she has successfully scaled nationwide campaigns, technologies, and ideas for the Obama Administration, Fortune 500 companies, and startups. Her writing and work have been featured by ImpactAlpha, Business Insider, The Milken Institute, and other notable publications.

As an operator, she has secured and effectively deployed millions of dollars for the implementation of climate projects and energy-efficient technologies. In 2020 she built a $10 million early stage climate tech venture studio in the U.S. focused on global companies deploying technologies across mobility, buildings, agriculture, waste, water, materials, and carbon. Chante recently completed a residency with Schmidt Futures and is now developing new financial and deployment models with a broader group of catalytic funders to address the funding gap for hard tech and material science climate technologies at the critical early infrastructure project stage.

Named by Forbes as a 30 Under 30 in the Energy Category, Nasdaq as a Woman to Watch in 2022, ACEEE as a Champion for Energy Efficiency, GreenBiz as 30 Under 30 Leader, America on Tech as an Innovator and Disruptor, and Women Enews as a Pioneering Woman in Sustainability, Chante is at the helm of driving climate innovation and advancing the energy transition across the globe. Chante has traveled the world to speak at global events like COP, GreenBiz, and TechStars.

In addition to her work leading in climate tech and investment, Chante launched and built the only global digital collective and community that is 100% dedicated to advancing women of color working across the sustainability industry. Since its launch in the summer of 2019, the community has brought together over 5,000 women of color through virtual and in-person events, social media channels, a digital community, and online publication. 

Chante is on the advisory committee for the first-ever global Climate Center being built on Governor's Island in NYC and sits on the Board of Summit Impact. She is a lover of nature and music, an avid meditator, and a poet.

Taj Ahmad Eldridge is a 25+ year investment professional whose career has included high level executive roles in banking, asset management, alternative investments, and entrepreneurship. 

Taj serves as Managing  Director of Climate Innovations at Jobs For The Futures (JFF) where he’s leads a cross collaborative team focusing on the intersection of climate and workforce. The first project under Climate Innovations is the $25M 5 year project CREST funded by the Ares Managemrnt Foundation.

As a cofounder of Include Venture Partners , Taj focused on investing in diverse founders and fund managers who want to create innovative ecosystems in their areas - as geographic diversity is just as important as racial and gender diversity. Previously Taj served as Senior Director of Investments at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), Taj has built a long standing career with expertise in the fields of fintech, media, energy, transportation, and the circular economy. 

At LACI, Taj helped establish both the LACI Impact Fund I (LIF I) and the LACI Debt Fund to allow cleantech companies to grow with diverse capital. These funds utilize an equity impact lens to encourage invested companies to have environmental, economic, and social impact - particularly on increasing the number of underrepresented voices in the cleantech industry. In addition, Taj created programs such as LACI Investor Talks (LIT), the LACI Investor in Residence program, and the Player to CEO Athlete-Investor Impact Summit Series with JP Morgan Chase. Taj has been named one of the 53 Investors to Watch in 2021 by Pitchbook & 101 Black Titans in Tech while nurturing and building a team of investment activists.

Prior to LACI, Taj was the Director for the Incubator at the University of California in Riverside, California. During his tenure as Director, Taj’s team brought a $10M venture fund (Highlander Fund) to the Inland Empire - the first for the region.  Because of Taj’s focus on blending entertainment, policy, and entrepreneurship, the region was named the #4 city in the United States for minority entrepreneurs via Entrepreneur Magazine.

Taj began his career as a banker and economist with Wells Fargo Bank, UBS Investment Bank, and TRW Investments. Taj has also been a Founder, Board Member, and Investor in companies such as NCX, Bevy, BlocPower, ILTG Media, Boswell Official Apparel, Voter, Xtopoly, Rookielook, iListen, KYC Hospitality, KIGT, Majira Project, CleanTek Capital and ConCreates. Taj also serves on the Climate Finance Advisory Team of the Community Investment Guarantee Pool (CIGP), the Executive Board of the Homeboy Ventures Fund, The Majira Project, and Advisory Board of VC Include.

Taj has been profiled in publications such as Impact Alpha, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pitchbook, Forbes, GreenBiz, Entrepreneur Magazine, and more regarding his tireless efforts on achieving alpha while also advancing equity. 

Taj has undergraduate degrees in poetry & literature and graduate geopolitical economics from Texas A&M University-Commerce, Pepperdine University, and Claremont Graduate University. Taj also studied abroad at The Universidad Adolfo Ibanez in Santiago, Chile, The Universidad Do Porto in Porto, Portugal, and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in Hong Kong, China. 

Taj is an avid audiobook bibliophile and a lover of music of all genres.

Chante Harris is a champion of social and financial innovation. Throughout her career. she has successfully scaled nationwide campaigns, technologies, and ideas for the Obama Administration, Fortune 500 companies, and startups. Her writing and work have been featured by ImpactAlpha, Business Insider, The Milken Institute, and other notable publications.

As an operator, she has secured and effectively deployed millions of dollars for the implementation of climate projects and energy-efficient technologies. In 2020 she built a $10 million early stage climate tech venture studio in the U.S. focused on global companies deploying technologies across mobility, buildings, agriculture, waste, water, materials, and carbon. Chante recently completed a residency with Schmidt Futures and is now developing new financial and deployment models with a broader group of catalytic funders to address the funding gap for hard tech and material science climate technologies at the critical early infrastructure project stage.

Named by Forbes as a 30 Under 30 in the Energy Category, Nasdaq as a Woman to Watch in 2022, ACEEE as a Champion for Energy Efficiency, GreenBiz as 30 Under 30 Leader, America on Tech as an Innovator and Disruptor, and Women Enews as a Pioneering Woman in Sustainability, Chante is at the helm of driving climate innovation and advancing the energy transition across the globe. Chante has traveled the world to speak at global events like COP, GreenBiz, and TechStars.

In addition to her work leading in climate tech and investment, Chante launched and built the only global digital collective and community that is 100% dedicated to advancing women of color working across the sustainability industry. Since its launch in the summer of 2019, the community has brought together over 5,000 women of color through virtual and in-person events, social media channels, a digital community, and online publication. 

Chante is on the advisory committee for the first-ever global Climate Center being built on Governor's Island in NYC and sits on the Board of Summit Impact. She is a lover of nature and music, an avid meditator, and a poet.

Arthur Chow is a Vice President at S2G Ventures. Arthur supports the Food & Agriculture strategy, focusing on consumer brands, marketplaces, and automation across the supply chain. His responsibilities include evaluating and executing investments as well as managing and supporting portfolio companies.

Arthur began his career in investment banking at UBS and later joined Frontenac, a middle market private equity firm, where he focused on food and consumer buyouts. Seeking operating experience, he worked for the Kraft Heinz Company and managed a $2 billion commercial P&L within the Foodservice business unit. Arthur then joined S2G prior to pursuing his MBA, where he primarily spent time working with several early-stage consumer-focused food companies including Tovala, Once Upon a Farm, and Dom’s Kitchen and Market.

Arthur received a BBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business with Highest Distinction and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Max Elder is the co-founder and CEO of Nowadays, a venture-backed foodtech startup making plant-based meats with only a few simple ingredients and an unparalleled nutritional profile. Max is a multidisciplinary researcher, published author, keynote speaker, and trusted advisor to individuals and organizations across the global food system. He was a Research Director at the Institute for the Future (IFTF), the world’s leading futures thinking organization, where he co-led IFTF's Food Futures Lab.

Neha Palmer is the CEO of TeraWatt Infrastructure, bringing over two decades of leadership experience in the energy industry. Most recently, she led energy strategy for Google’s global data centers. As the first hire focused on data center energy, Neha built out and led the team developing electric infrastructure and electricity procurement for the global fleet, covering dozens of sites over four continents. Key achievements include making Google the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world, and the first company of its size to achieve 100% renewable energy for operations, which it has done since 2017. Prior to Google, Neha held leadership roles at Pacific Gas and Electric, and worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Neha will bring her deep expertise in building out rapidly growing fleets of large scale energy intensive infrastructure to the emerging heavy EV charging asset class, a segment on track to outpace even the incredible growth data centers have seen over the last decade. Neha holds an MBA in Finance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a BS in Civil Engineering from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo.

Gregory, from Saint John, New Brunswick, has a youthful passion for aircraft and aerospace. Having first earned his Glider Pilot License (GPL) at the age of 16, he then followed that up by earning both his Private (PPL) and Commercial Pilot Licenses (CPL). As an experienced aerospace executive, Gregory holds both a Bachelor and a Master of Aerospace Engineering from Carleton University, and an MBA from the Haskayne School of Business. Gregory started his engineering career in repair design and then moved into the development of modifications and upgrades for the C-130 Hercules at Marshall Aerospace Canada. After working at Viking Air Limited as their Production Engineering Manager, and Plant Manager at the Twin Otter’s final assembly plant, Gregory led the product support team for the Canadair CL-215 & CL-415 and the organisation’s aftermarket support for a variety of other aircraft.

Anna Hammond is the Founder and CEO of Matriark Foods, a food waste startup that upcycles farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants into healthy, shelf-stable vegetable products for institutional foodservice. Matriark is building a circular food future, creating products that solve for inefficiencies in the supply chain while combating climate change—at scale. The first Matriark product to market is a low-sodium vegetable broth concentrate that diverts 1,500 pounds of vegetables from landfill and 1,033.35 pounds of methane gas per pallet sold. Since its founding in 2018, Matriark has participated in the Food Systems 6 Accelerator, the global Huhtamaki Circular Economy Start Up Program, and the Foodbuy Accelerator for Minority and Women Owned businesses. Matriark was featured as a leader and innovator in Tetra Pak’s 2020 global sustainability report. 

Prior to founding Matriark Foods, Hammond spent 25 years as a nonprofit leader at The Museum of Modern Art New York and Yale University, successfully building and scaling programs and teams into dynamic, impactful, stable organizations. Most recently, Hammond was Executive Director for The Sylvia Center, which provides evidence-based food and nutrition education programs to teens and families in public housing community centers across the 5 boroughs of NYC and in all 6 school districts in Columbia County in upstate New York. During her tenure, Hammond grew the program from 300 to more than 25,000 students, reducing health disparities in underserved communities and empowering the next generation to lead healthier lives. Hammond is a founding Board member of the Upcycled Food Association, and she serves as an advisor to The Rockland Farm Alliance and Heroic Food, a nonprofit that trains military veterans for careers in sustainable farming and food entrepreneurship.

Anna Robertson is the co-founder and Chief Content Officer for The Cool Down, the first mainstream climate brand. Anna is an Emmy and Murrow Award-winning executive and producer who has shaped media brands and built content that speaks to Americans. Before The Cool Down, she served as Vice President for Content & Partner Innovation for ABC's Owned Television Stations, prioritizing climate coverage and executive produced the special “Our America: Climate of Hope.” She was a significant contributor to the Yahoo News brand, leading Yahoo Studios and becoming Yahoo's Head of Video. Anna began her career at ABC News, first as Diane Sawyer’s producer and then as a senior producer for Good Morning America. She lives with her husband and two children in Park City, Utah, and is very involved in local sustainability efforts.
 

Dimitry Gershenson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Enduring Planet, a fintech platform offering fast, flexible, founder-friendly credit to all climate entrepreneurs.

Dimitry started Enduring Planet building on his 10+ years of experience across climate tech, operations, and impact investing.

Prior to Enduring Planet, Dimitry led M&A and served as COO for Rango Wireless, an Enduring Ventures portfolio company. Before that, Dimitry built Meta’s Energy Access program, a $15M+ investing initiative that enabled energy access for 3M people and unlocked nearly $500M in additional capital in underserved markets like Kenya and India. While at Meta, Dimitry also led the development of multiple predictive ML products in the cleantech space and built corporate accelerator programs for impact startups in India and Puerto Rico.

Outside of Enduring Planet, Dimitry sits on the board of Ecosafi, a Lowercarbon-backed climate startup enabling clean cooking in emerging markets. Dimitry holds an MS in Energy and Resources from UC Berkeley, a BS in Natural Resource Management from Rutgers University.

Andrew Chen is the Principal for aviation decarbonisation at RMI, where he leads work to accelerate the path to net-zero air transport through investment and production in high-quality sustainable aviation fuel. Andrew has more than 15 years’ experience in net-zero carbon and sustainability strategy development, environmental impact assessment, and emissions modelling and management. Previously, he was head of emissions strategy at Heathrow Airport, where he developed and embedded climate-change and air-quality strategies. He has also advised global brands in aviation, food production and packaging, and motorsports on topics including net-zero target-setting and SBTi, supply-chain decarbonisation and stakeholder engagement.

Kim Carnahan has over 15 years of experience in climate change and energy, including serving as the Chief Negotiator for Climate Change at the US Department of State. Over nearly a decade at the State Department, she managed the 13-government agency team that negotiated the Paris Agreement and its implementing guidance as well as energy and environment agreements at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and International Maritime Organization (IMO).  

She has a deep background in environmental markets, having previously served as the International Policy Director at the International Emissions Trading Association. She also spent three years leading the alternative fuels and market-based solutions teams in the Americas at ENGIE Impact, a global sustainability consulting firm.  Kim spearheaded the launch of the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance (SABA) in 2021 at ENGIE Impact, in partnership with EDF, RMI and nearly 2 dozen large global corporations. SABA, a non-profit initiative, enables companies to decarbonize air transport through investment in sustainable aviation fuel.  She continues to manage SABA today after transitioning to her new role as CEO of Neoteric Energy and Climate, a specialized climate and energy advisory firm she launched in late 2022 to support groups of public, private and non-profit organizations working to solve the world's most intractable decarbonization challenges. Her latest partnership - with Gold Standard and C2ES – is The AIM Platform, which serves as a hub for identifying and removing roadblocks to value chain mitigation and coordinating collective mitigation action in hard-to-abate sectors. She is also leading initiatives to support agricultural methane, heavy duty, long distance trucking and maritime decarbonization.

Originally from northern Arizona and the Navajo Nation, Shaandiin Cedar is Senior Associate at Powerhouse Ventures, backing early-stage founders building the digital infrastructure for rapid decarbonization. Shaandiin is also a climate tech writer, climate justice advocate, and avid rock climber dedicated to the equitable and timely transformation to a clean local and global economy. 

Vartan Badalian is accelerating the fight against climate change and developing the sustainable transport industry. He is deeply passionate about his work and personal mission to transform the transport industry. Before joining GreenBiz Group as the Transportation Analyst, Vartan worked across government, private sector, and the NGO community on all things electric vehicles and transport, previously leading the Climate Group's EV100 initiative and as corporate counsel for an EV charging startup. As an industry leader, attorney, and policy professional, Vartan brings a deep background to GreenBiz. Vartan holds a Bachelor of Science from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a Juris Doctorate from Lewis & Clark Law School. He was named a 2021 GreenBiz 30 Under 30 by GreenBiz Group, a 2022 Future Climate Leader by The Aspen Institute, and a 2022 35 Under 35 Rising Star of the Electric Vehicle Industry by Business Insider.

John Boesel is the President and CEO of CALSTART, a national organization with more than 175 member companies that is dedicated to the growth of the clean transportation technology industry. John joined the organization as Vice President and was promoted to his current position in 2001. Prior to joining CALSTART, John worked as a legislative aide, focusing on environmental and energy policy, in the California State Assembly as well as being a commercial banker for Wells Fargo. In 1987, John taught English to graduate students at the Yunnan Institute of Technology in Kunming. John has an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis. He currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center at Stanford University and a member of the California Plug-in Electric Vehicle Collaborative.

Dr. Kelly L. Fleming is is director and a senior fellow at the Institute for Transportation Decarbonization and a Vice President at Boundary Stone Partners. Kelly is an expert in energy technology with a focus in transportation energy and energy policy, including the transition to zero-carbon fuel resources, and the role of electricity in transportation decarbonization. She holds a B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering.

Sonia Kastner is the CEO and Founder of Pano AI, the leader in early wildfire detection. Previously, Sonia spent over ten years building and leading supply chain and manufacturing organizations within fast-growing, mission-driven start-ups. Her global leadership experience spans Nest Thermostats, multiple solar energy companies, and extensive consulting across the IoT ecosystem. Prior to starting her career in technology, she worked in economic development for New York City under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Kim is a partner at Initialized Capital, a seed stage VC firm with $3.2B assets under management and a portfolio including Coinbase, Flexport, Instacart, and Rippling. Kim leads investing in areas where technology touches the physical world such as housing, mobility, climate and jobs. Prior to joining Initialized, she was a journalist for a decade, reporting for publications including TechCrunch, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal. Paired with her investing history in entrepreneurs that are transforming how we live and work, she has a track record in converting ideas into political movements and new laws after being an early proponent of housing reforms that have led to more than a half-dozen new California state laws.

A Director and Shareholder of Artemis Technologies, David is a founding member of Artemis Technologies and the Marketing Director. Prior to that, David was Commercial Director for Artemis Racing. A former international hockey player and law graduate from the University of Birmingham, David has a wealth of experience in Sales and Marketing. Having previously worked at IMG and Havas Media, David founded Tyler Sports Management in 2009, representing an impressive portfolio of clients including Mo Farah, Mike Brown, Iain Percy OBE, Christine Ohuruogu MBE, and Allan Wells MBE. After Tyler Sports Management was acquired in 2014, he joined Artemis Racing to lead the Swedish America’s Cup team’s commercial programme, before co-founding Artemis Technologies.David is also a founding trustee of the Andrew Simpson Foundation. He is responsible for marketing and product development strategy at Artemis Technologies.

Bringing 25 years of industry experience leading, managing, and consulting on a wide range of sustainability, green building, clean energy, and technology issues, Elaine is passionate about the power of multi-stakeholder alignment and helping people understand and respect the interconnectedness of our world. Elaine is currently focused on scaling up Third Derivative (D3) — a vertically-integrated global climate tech accelerator program founded by RMI and New Energy Nexus. D3 has been building an inclusive ecosystem to rapidly find, fund and scale climate tech innovation globally. By uniting and aligning committed investors, global corporates, and RMI's market, regulatory, and policy experts — all the stakeholders needed to bridge gaps faster — supported by financing and insights along the way, D3 increases the rate at which climate innovations can help us achieve a prosperous, equitable, and inclusive 1.5-degrees C world. Prior to joining the D3 leadership team, Elaine was widely recognized as the program director for VERGE at GreenBiz — the premier global event series focused on scaling solutions that bridge technology, sustainability, and systems-thinking across cities and industries. She has also had careers as a green building consultant, utility business strategist, engineer, and technologist. Elaine graduated from Duke University with a Master’s degree in engineering management and a Bachelor’s in biomedical engineering.

On February 9, 2021, President Biden appointed Andrew Mayock to serve as the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer. As the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, Andrew Mayock leads President Biden's efforts to improve the sustainability of the Federal government, including by helping Federal agencies prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change on their operations and services.

Andrew brings over 25 years of public and private sector experience to the Biden Administration, including service in the Obama and Clinton Administrations. In the Obama Administration, Andrew served as Deputy Director for Management and Associate Director for General Government Programs at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). At OMB, he led OMB's management offices and the President's Management Council with a focus on digital services, cybersecurity, acquisitions, financial management, personnel and performance management. As Associate Director for General Government Programs, he oversaw policy and budget for six cabinet agencies comprising $225 billion of the President's budget and covering over one million federal employees.

Prior to his OMB roles, Andrew served as the Deputy Vice President for Compact Operations for East and Southern Africa at the Millennium Challenge Corporation. He served as Executive Secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department from 2009-2010.

In the Clinton Administration from 1995-2000, Andrew worked at the White House and the U.S. Treasury Department. Andrew was a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton from 2003-2009 and McKinsey & Company from 2017-2020, where he focused on public sector programs.

During 2019–2020, Andrew served on the steering committee of the Climate 21 Project, which delivered advice for a coordinated, rapid-start, whole-of-government climate response.

Andrew received a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois, law degree from The George Washington University Law School, and a master in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

He and his wife have two children and reside in Washington, D.C.

Jesse is Director of Global Sustainability at Delta Air Lines, overseeing the company’s decarbonization strategy and building solutions that integrate sustainability throughout the company’s operations. At Delta, Jesse was a co-founder and served as the President of business resource group Green Up, helping to connect employees passionate about environmental sustainability to drive positive change and add value to Delta’s business. Jesse has also worked with Delta’s Fleet Strategy team, driving detailed financial, operational and strategic analyses and recommendations to optimize the airline’s fleet of aircraft.

Katie Fehrenbacher has been a journalist covering climate tech for the past 15 years, and is currently the Climate Tech Reporter for Axios. She has been a journalist for GreenBiz, Fortune, Gigaom and Red Herring and her writing has appeared in publications like Bloomberg, The Guardian, and The New York Times.

Andrew brings to Obvious Ventures a lifelong passion for building companies around sustainable systems and people power. For over a decade, Andrew has focused on clean technology and clean energy solutions. He started down the clean tech path with Energy Innovations in 2003, which he grew from a business plan to a major solar developer serving customers like Google, Disney, Sony Pictures, and British Telecom. After selling the company to Suntech in 2008, Andrew served as Chief Commercial Officer at Suntech as well as Vice President of Global Product Strategy. During his tenure, Suntech became the largest solar company in the world. After leaving Suntech, Andrew spent two years as Vice President of Distributed Generation for Nextera Energy, the largest clean energy developer in the US. Before his clean tech career, Andrew spent a decade building companies in the early days of “Web 1.0.” In 1998 Andrew co-founded Bigstep.com, an e-commerce platform designed to serve the needs of small businesses entering the Internet age. He has been supporting the enterprising ideas of people power ever since. Andrew is a member of the Advisory Board for GE’s distributed generation business, Current by GE. He is also a member of the NREL Investor Advisory Board. A graduate from Dartmouth College, Andrew lives in Burlingame, CA with his wife and three children. When he's not helping to build early stage companies, Andrew builds wooden boats and furniture. Andrewwas born in New York City and spent his formative years on an avocado ranch in Ojai, California.

Chad Bown is a managing partner at bp ventures based in Houston, with an investment focus in support of delivering efficient hydrocarbon operations and advancing low carbon energy solutions. Chad brings financial leadership and commercial expertise alongside energy operational and business development roles with prior managerial work experience at Shell and Jacobs Engineering. He was a Captain in the United States Air Force and holds a degree in business from Texas A&M University as well as an MBA from Loyola Marymount University. Chad currently sits on the Belmont Technology, Fotech Solutions, BiSN Limited, Stryde Incorporated and Silicon Microgravity Limited company boards. Chad was recognized as a Global Corporate Venturing Emerging Leader in 2020.

Gus is dedicated to driving an equitable clean energy transition. Currently, he supports Siemens Energy Ventures as they conduct corporate venture clienting, a process to assess, pilot, and scale startups to solve energy industry problems. He brings experience from Deloitte Consulting and a mechanical engineering undergrad, and in his free time enjoys instructing group fitness classes, hikes with his dog, and spending time on the lake in Austin, TX

Jon earned his BS in Chemistry from the University of St. Thomas and a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of California – San Diego. After graduate school, Jon joined Steelcase Inc. as their environmental chemist and eventually moved into a role as a leader in sustainable design and development. He joined Andersen Windows & Doors where he served as corporate sustainability manager and was responsible for product lifecycle assessments, material ingredient transparency, and preparing Andersen for a future in the circular economy. Jon is now the VP of Circularity and Senior Analyst at GreenBiz Group, a media and events company that works to accelerate the just transition to a clean economy.