Founders

Bob Epstein and Nicole Lederer

Bob Epstein is an entrepreneur and engineer with a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a co-founder of five companies: Sybase, New Resource Bank, GetActive Software, Zight, and Britton-Lee. Bob currently splits his professional time between his roles as co-founder of Environmental Entrepreneurs, Director of New Resource Bank and Trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Bob is Vice Chairman of California’s Economic and Technology Advancement Advisory Committee for AB 32. Bob’s community activities are focused on the environment, public education and opera.

Nicole Lederer is Co-Founder of Environmental Entrepreneurs, focusing on growing E2's pro-environment business constituency, establishing collaboration between business and environmental leaders and creating a positive dialogue with legislators at the state and national levels. She leads E2's Advisory Council where E2's regional and national strategies are formulated and managed. Ms. Lederer also leads E2's federal advocacy agenda, supporting policies that foster environmental innovation, sustainable economic development and green job creation. Since 2002, she has led E2 delegations to Washington to meet with House and Senate members, as well as representatives from the Executive Branch. Ms. Lederer serves on the board of NRDC. She is a frequent speaker on green job creation and other business benefits related to environmental policy.
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Northern California

Chapter Directors: Tony Bernhardt, Maureen Blanc, Bob Epstein (E2 Co-Founder), Nicole Lederer (E2 Co-Founder)

Tony Bernhardt recently retired from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where for a decade served as Director of LLNL's Center for Microelectronics and Optoelectronics. In that position, he developed partnerships with the private sector for technology development and commercialization. In recognition of his work with corporate partners, from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups, he earned the Department of Energy Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer. More recently, Tony became an angel investor in four start-up companies in California. He has published more than 32 scientific papers and holds 10 patents. He earned a Bachelor's in mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Ph.D. in Applied Science from the University of California, Davis, where he was a Fannie & John Hertz Foundation Fellow.

Maureen Blanc was President of Blanc & Otus Public Relations, a high-tech consultancy firm sold to Hill & Knowlton in 1999. She was Director of the Global Technology Practice for Hill and Knowlton from 2000 to 2002. Maureen has been working in the non-profit sector for the past five years, most recently as Vice President of Marketing for the International Museum of Women. Maureen was a founding board member of Friends of the Children (San Francisco), and she currently serves on the board of trustees for the World Affairs Council of Northern California.
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New England

Chapter Directors: Jay Baldwin, Daniel Goldman, Berl Hartman, Dave Miller, Don Reed and Tedd Saunders

Jay Baldwin is a Green Industry investor and strategic advisor focusing primarily on commercial building products and services. Working from his Wind River Capital Partners office in Boston he follows private equity offerings by providing merchant banking services and through angel investment organizations based in the North East. Prior to forming Wind River Capital Partners in 1993, Jay co-founded City Gardens, Inc. in 1975, which grew to be the third largest interior landscaping service in the United States with over 200 hundred employees operating in seven states. Jay serves on the boards of Grow-tech, Inc. and The Charles River Conservancy.

Daniel Goldman is Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of GreatPoint Energy, a company backed by leading venture capital firms that is commercializing a process for converting coal into high value, clean natural gas while capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide. Prior to GreatPoint, he founded and served as CFO of New Energy Capital, one of the first investment companies focused on clean energy project investments. Prior to founding New Energy Capital, Dan held regional and corporate senior management positions at InterGen, the power generation company co-owned by Bechtel and Shell and was a senior member of the energy consulting team at Arthur D. Little. Dan has been a founding investor and serves as a board member in several clean energy technology companies and funds, and co-founded the first dedicated energy efficiency investment business. He is also a co-founder of E2 New England and takes an active leadership role in clean energy and environmental advocacy in New England and at the Federal level, with specific focus on overcoming the financing challenges of commercializing clean energy technologies.

Berl Hartman is a senior marketing executive and entrepreneur whose focus is on Cleantech and Clean Energy companies. She spent eight years as Sr. Vice President of Blanc & Otus, a subsidiary of Hill & Knowlton Public Relations. There she founded and led the company’s Cleantech/Clean Energy marketing and public relations practice. Before joining Blanc & Otus, Berl served as Vice President of Strategic Marketing at Sybase, a database software company, and Vice President of Engineering at Computer Corporation of America. She has also held positions at Boston University, the University of California and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 2003, she has served as a co-founder of the New England chapter of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). Berl is also a member of the Board of Directors of the New England Clean Energy Council and serves as the co-chair of the Council’s Policy Committee. Berl has spoken at events such as the MIT Technology and Entrepreneurship Forum, the MIT Entrepreneur’s Club and Tuft’s Energy Conference. Her writing has appeared in the Boston Globe and Mass High Tech magazine.

Dave Miller is a General Partner of Clean Energy Venture Group, an angel investment group focused on clean energy technology companies. He is on the board of directors or advisory board of several of these companies, and is a mentor to others through MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service. David co-founded EPrime, a forum for clean energy entrepreneurs to network and support each other’s enterprises. He is a founding member of the MIT Enterprise Forum’s Energy Special Interest Group, currently runs the mentor program for the IGNITE Clean Energy Business Plan Competition, and was a board member of New England Energy and Environmental Funders. David founded several companies, including Quantum Telecom Solutions, which was eventually sold to Lucent Technologies. At Lucent, he served as a Director in the New Ventures Group. David was awarded a patent for co-developing a "one number" telecom service, and taught at Rutgers University in the Electrical Engineering Department. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT, and recently completed his doctorate at MIT’s Lab for Energy and the Environment.

Don Reed, CFA, is a Director with PricewaterhouseCoopers' Sustainability and Climate Change practice. With financial institutions, he focuses on analyzing climate change risks in credit and investment portfolios and transactions. His work with utilities, basic materials and energy companies emphasizes financial analysis to support climate change strategy development and implementation. Prior to joining PwC, Don was a principal with Ecos Corporation, one of the world's most experienced sustainability consultancies, specializing in business strategy and integration. He also co-founded Excelsior Capital Corporation where he collaborated with leading pension funds to design, develop and implement new institutional investment products with positive economic development benefits. Don also worked at the Washington-based World Resources Institute where he led the corporate engagement program. Don is a highly regarded speaker and author of Green Shareholder Value, Hype or Hit? and Stalking the Elusive Financial Case for Corporate Sustainability.

Tedd Saunders is President of EcoLogical Solutions; Co-Owner of the Lenox Hotel and Comfort Inn & Suites Boston/Airport; and, Chief Environmental Officer of The Saunders Hotel Group. Often credited with pioneering luxury urban ecotourism worldwide in 1989, Mr. Saunders is recognized for creating some of the most acclaimed environmental models in the hospitality industry. He first implemented this innovative business approach at several of his family’s historic properties. In 1992 Mr. Saunders founded EcoLogical Solutions, which has since advised The White House Conference on Tourism, HRH (His Royal Highness) The Prince of Wales’ Business Leaders Forum, Harvard University, Choice Hotels International, and Taj Hotels of India to name a few. Under his leadership, The Saunders Hotel Group has earned many prestigious international honors and received unprecedented recognition with feature stories in The New York Times, CNN, NBC Nightly News, USA Today, NPR and others. Author of The Bottom Line of Green is Black (published by Harper Collins), Tedd speaks internationally to business and political leaders and sits on numerous boards, including Harvard’s School of Public Health, the UCS (Union of Concerned Scientists) National Advisory Board, The New England Aquarium, The Woods Hole Research Center and CERES.
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New York

Chapter Directors: Chris Arndt, Wendy Neu and Roger Ullman

Chris Arndt is a partner at Select Equity Group, a New York-based investment firm that manages $6.5 billion in public equities. Chris leads the company’s international and life science research efforts, and participates in the company’s energy/transportation group. He currently manages the Select Equity Group Foundation and is the President of the Johanna A Favrot Fund. Prior to joining Select Equity in 1994, Chris worked as a Research Assistant at Environmental Risk Sciences, Inc., a consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. Chris graduated from Wesleyan University’s College of Social Studies with Honors, where he studied economics, history and political theory.

Wendy Neu is Vice President for Environmental and Governmental Affairs at Hugo Neu Corporation, a major international metal recycler led by her husband, John L. Neu, CEO. Wendy and John are keen environmental and social welfare activists whose efforts have led to, among other accomplishments, the re-establishment of New York City’s curbside recycling program in 2002. The League of Conservation Voters has honored Hugo Neu Corp. for environmental advocacy and leadership. In addition to her E2 membership, Wendy is also a member of the Edison Wetlands Association in New Jersey. Wendy is a graduate of American University and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

Roger Ullman is the Executive Director of the Linden Trust for Conservation. Previously he was the Managing Director of SmartWood, the world’s leading environmental forestry certifier. From 1989 to 2002 he was at Merrill Lynch, where he was a Managing Director of Investment Banking. Since retiring from Wall Street, Roger has focused on seeking business-oriented solutions to environmental problems. E2 is his principal volunteer activity. Roger holds a B.A. from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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Pacific Northwest

Chapter Directors: Mark Liffmann, Gino Borland, Chris Dennett, Van Katzman, James Marvin, Michael Brian Orr

Mark Liffmann is Vice President of Business Development at EnerG2, a venture backed advanced nano-structured materials company in the energy storage space. EnerG2 has developed a breakthrough high surface area engineered carbon material with applications including ultracapacitor electrodes, battery electrodes and natural gas and hydrogen storage as an absorbed gas. Prior to joining EnerG2, Mark founded and led the business development team for the residential and light commercial business unit at SunPower. Prior to SunPower, he was Vice President of Business Development and Chief Operating Officer at Solar Depot. Prior to Solar Depot, Mark was an associate at the law firm of Gunderson Dettmer, practicing corporate law with a focus on the financing of emerging growth companies. A veteran of the cleantech industry, Mark is a firm believer in the ability of innovation to solve the greatest challenge of our generation, global climate change. Mark has been a member of E2 since 2002 and co-founded the Pacific Northwest chapter of E2 in 2009. Mark is married to fellow E2 member, Brooke Coleman, and is a father of two.

Chris Dennett bio coming soon.

Van Katzman is an experienced business attorney who has worked extensively with environmental and clean technology companies for nearly 15 years on a wide array of transactional, financing, M&A, and regulatory matters. He is the co-founder of Beacon Law Advisors, PLLC, a Seattle-based corporate boutique firm that specializes in helping emerging companies raise capital and providing a more pragmatic, operationally focused perspective in solving business challenges. He formerly served as Assistant General Counsel for Waste Management, Inc., the nation's largest solid waste and recycling company, where he helped manage all the company's legal affairs for the Western United States. Van received his undergraduate degree from Yale University, holds a masters degree in environmental policy from George Washington University and received his law degree from the University of Virginia.

James Marvin is a former Commander in the US Navy, now leading field operations and business development for an alternative energy start-up and running his own consulting practice. Commander Marvin started his twenty year military career with Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training graduating class 176, subsequently working as a Naval Special Warfare officer in the Mediterranean and Guam, Officer in Charge of a SEAL platoon in South America, Future Operations Branch Chief in Hawaii, Executive Officer at the Naval Special Warfare command in Bahrain and finally, Director of Operations at Naval Special Warfare Group FOUR in Norfolk, Virginia. He has transitioned from a career serving the country to a new career serving the private sector. His focus has been in helping the military embrace opportunities for environmental progress.

Michael Brian Orr is a software technologist and a 30-year veteran of the Seattle-area info tech community. As the 15th hire at Microsoft, and subsequently as a consultant to tech startups and enterprises such as Aldus, Attachmate, Boeing, Saros, Summation, Trinity Ventures, and many others, he has contributed to many of the defining developments in the evolution of software and the software industry. In 1994, Michael co-founded adaptive publishing pioneer Design Intelligence, which was acquired by Microsoft after six years in operation. He currently serves as a Senior Computer Scientist at Adobe Systems, Inc. Michael holds seven patents in software technology and a math degree from Harvard University. He lives with his wife, artist and teacher Robin Hruska, across Puget Sound from Seattle in the beautiful little town of Indianola, Washington.

Rocky Mountains

Chapter Directors: Andrew Currie, Katie Connor

Andrew Currie, a serial entrepreneur, founded his 2nd company Email Publishing Inc. in 1996 and, as CEO, led the company to become the leading provider of large-scale personalized message delivery and email subscription management in the publishing and software industry, with clients including CMP Media, USA Today, Forbes, Netscape, and Intuit. MessageMedia acquired Email Publishing and was later acquired by DoubleClick. In 1999 Andrew, with his co-founders Brian Makare and Brad Feld, was named Esprit Entrepreneur of the Year by Boulder, Colorado. He served four years as Director of the interactive voice response software company Gold Systems, Inc., and is former Chair of Colorado Conservation Voters. Andrew is an active "angel" investor and has invested in eleven start-up companies over the past few years, including AtLast Software acquired by Google. Andrew is currently exploring a fractional ownership approach to recreational ranches to promote wildlife conservation on private lands and dramatically lower the price of entry for conservation-minded buyers. He co-founded and is former Chair of Social Venture Partners Boulder County and a former trustee of the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County. Andrew earned a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Southern Mississippi and is an alumnus of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization.

Katie Connor is a lecturer at the University of Colorado in Boulder's Leeds School of Business and is a member of its MBA admissions committee. Previously, Katie worked as a management consultant and environmental engineer for a range of public and private sector clients, including the Electric Power Research Institute, Bechtel Group, the Utility Air Regulatory Group, Sohio Petroleum, Stanford University, and numerous gas and electric power companies. She developed decision frameworks to analyze the environmental and economic impacts of a wide range of issues and policy options, including acid rain, air toxics and laboratory emissions. Katie has a B.S. in Earth Science and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from Harvard University. She has served on the boards of local non-profits and schools, including the Dairy Center for the Arts, Friends' School and the Boulder Valley School District's Accountability Committee. She lives in Boulder with her husband and fellow E2 member, Tim Connor, and their three sons.

Southern California

Chapter Directors: Laura Berland-Shane, Christina Erickson, Tim Sexton and Lee Stein

Laura Berland-Shane is a Business Development Manager for Siemens Alternative Energy Group, where she focuses on solar.  Previously Laura was the Southern California Director of Sales for SolarCity. She also has served as an operations and business development consultant to Permacity Solar. Prior to working in alternative energy, Laura was a media and entertainment consultant. Some of her previous roles have included Director of Business Management for Styleclick, Executive Director of Finance and Strategic Planning at The Kushner Locke Company, as well as VP Business Development of imoviestudio. She began her career in Los Angeles at The Walt Disney Company. Laura's post-collegiate career began in New York City, where she was a securities analyst for The Value Line Investment Survey, as well as a labor union business consultant. Her passion for sustainability was inspired when she co-founded and was Director of The Macadamia Tree Project, a non-profit environmental organization based in Guatemala. Presently, Laura serves as the Vice-Chair for the Santa Monica Sustainable City Task Force and is a member of Environmental Entrepreneurs. Laura has an MBA in finance from The Wharton School, a BA in International Relations from Brown University and she is a LEED AP. She lives in Santa Monica with her husband and daughter.

Christina Erickson is the Founder and Principal of Green By Design, LLC. Prior to her leap into the green economy in 2002, Christina practiced transactional and securities law with Arnold & Porter and Patton Boggs, LLP in Washington, DC. Christina is a graduate of Yale University, where she received a B.A. in History; she earned her law degree at Harvard Law School. Christina’s non-profit work is focused on scaling green business. She sits on the Board of Advisors to the Sustainable Business Council and is a member of the Sustainable City Task Force in Santa Monica, where she focuses on sustainable economic development. Christina lives in Santa Monica with her husband Sel, an investment manager, and their two boys.

Tim Sexton is the Founder of The Sexton Company, and co-founder of E2 Southern California. He is a veteran of the content and digital industries, having served in senior management positions as both a creative and operating executive. Tim has served as an advisor, consultant, or senior executive to motion picture studios, record labels, technology companies, investment banks, professional sports franchises, NGOs, Fortune 500 corporations, ad agencies, recording artists, and political figures. Presently, he is the CEO of The Sexton Company, a firm that builds brand equity and grows shareholder value for its clients. Mr. Sexton is also active as a director or advisor to Rock the Vote, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Violence Policy Center, Liberty Hill Foundation, and others.

Lee Stein is Chairman of Stein & Stein, Inc., which provides advisory and management services to high-net-worth individuals, principally in the entertainment industry. He has had various operating roles, including Chairman of the Board and CEO of IZ.com, Inc. (recently acquired by PopMail.com, Inc.); Chairman of the Board, CEO, and President of First Virtual Holdings (known today as Message Media) at the time of the company’s initial public offering on the NASDAQ Stock Market; Director and President of Seaport Village on the waterfront in San Diego, California; Director and Controller of WestAir Airlines (DBA) United Express; and as an Officer/Director in various private entities. In 1995, Newsweek named Mr. Stein as one of the fifty people to watch for in the future. Mr. Stein is credited as a co-inventor of email messaging processes. He received his Law degree from Villanova University School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review, and his B.S. degree in Accounting from Syracuse University. After law school, he was a Tax Specialist with Coopers & Lybrand. He participates in a number of educational and civic organizations. Mr. Stein resides in San Diego, with his wife June, and their three children.
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