John englander

John Englander is an oceanographer, multi-book author and authority specializing in rising sea level and climate change. His mission is to help businesses and communities adapt to a world with rapidly changing climate and rising seas. For over thirty years, he has been a leader in the private and non-profit sectors, serving as CEO for such noteworthy organizations as The Cousteau Society and The International SeaKeepers. Today, Mr. Englander advises businesses, governmental agencies and communities on the risks and opportunities of increased flooding due to rising seas, extreme tides, and severe storms, advocating for “intelligent adaptation.” He is the founder and President of the non-profit, Rising Seas Institute. His best-selling book, High Tide On Main Street: Rising Sea Level and the Coming Coastal Crisis, clearly explains the science, the impending devastating economic effects and the opportunity to design for a more resilient future. Politico listed it as one of the top 50 books to read. His latest book, Moving to Higher Ground, offers an updated analysis and to quote Senator Angus King, “powerful data about what is happening now, and sound thinking about where we go from here”.

bob Inglis

Executive director of the Energy and Enterprise Initiative (RepublicEN) at George Mason University, Mr. Inglis represented Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., in Congress from 1993-1999 and 2005-2011. He started RepublicEN to promote conservative and free-enterprise solutions to energy and climate challenges. For his work on climate change Mr. Inglis received the 2015 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. He has been a resident fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, a visiting energy fellow at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, and a resident fellow at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics.

bob litterman

A founding partner and chairman of the Risk Committee of Kepos Capital, Dr. Litterman enjoyed a 23-year career with Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he served in research, risk management, investments and thought leadership roles. He co-developed the Black-Litterman Global Asset Allocation Model, a key tool in investment management. He was the inaugural recipient of the S. Donald Sussman Fellowship at MIT's Sloan School of Management and an original inductee into Risk Magazine’s Risk Management Hall of Fame. Dr. Litterman serves on the boards of Resources For the Future, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the World Wildlife Fund, and chairs the board of Commonfund.

Dr. Julia Nesheiwat

Dr. Nesheiwat has more than 20 years of experience in international energy diplomacy, critical infrastructure protection, climate, environmental science, and national security, serving in the Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations. Her positions included:

• Commissioner on the US Arctic Research Commission, reporting to the White House and Congress on domestic and international Arctic issues (since December);

• Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security & Resilience (February 2020 to January 2021);

• Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, helping create the department’s Energy Resources Bureau (2011 to 2014);

• Chief of Staff to the U.S. Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy; and

• Under Secretary for Energy, Environment, and Business.

Nesheiwat also has experience at the state level, serving from July 2019 to February 2020 as Florida’s first Chief Resilience Officer. She launched an office dedicated to addressing the environmental, physical, and economic impacts of climate change and building emergency preparedness.

A Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council and a visiting professor of energy security at the Naval Postgraduate School, Nesheiwat served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Advisory Council on low-carbon energy transformation and as an International Affairs Fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. She has lectured at Stanford University and the University of California, San Diego.

Her PhD dissertation at Tokyo Tech, “Post-Disaster Reconstruction in Energy Policy & Resiliency,” focused on post-disaster reconstruction of coastal towns suffering from lack of power, flooding, and rising sea levels. 

roger parkinson

A long-time newspaper executive and a former president of the World Association of Newspapers, Roger Parkinson is the retired publisher, CEO, and chairman of the Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper. He began his career at Newsweek, served as a vice president of The Washington Post, was president and publisher of both the Buffalo Courier-Express and The Minneapolis Star Tribune, and was the founding chairman of the BNN, the Canadian business cable network. He was awarded a Bronze Star serving as a first lieutenant in the Green Berets in Vietnam. Mr. Parkinson organized the 1990 Gorbachev visit to Minnesota and chaired the 1990 Olympic Festival and the 1984 All-Star baseball game in Minneapolis. The University of Minnesota named him a Minnesotan of Distinction.

Francis Rooney

Ambassador Francis Rooney represented Florida’s 19th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021.  From 2005 to 2008 he served as the United States Ambassador to the Holy See, appointed by President George W. Bush.  He is a successful businessman who brought decades of private sector experience to government. From 1984 to 2005 he served as CEO of Rooney Holdings, Inc., a diversified group of companies engaged in construction, energy, real estate development, finance and electronics manufacturing. He was the Republican co-chair of the Climate Solutions Caucus and a member of the bi-partisan Everglades and Estuary caucuses, which focus on restoring Florida’s ecosystems. He succeeded in accomplishing his primary congressional objectives: extending the 2006 moratorium on offshore drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and fully funding the projects contained in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).  He is proud to have been the most bipartisan Republican member in Congress and to have pushed introduce carbon tax bills in the 116th Congress.

theodore Roosevelt IV

Managing director of investment banking for Barclays Capital, Mr. Roosevelt was with Lehman Brothers from 1972 until 2008, when its North American assets were acquired by Barclays Capital. He chaired Lehman Brothers’ Council on Climate Change. He has served on the boards of the American Museum of Natural History, The Wilderness Society, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Center for Climate & Energy Solutions (current chairman), among others. A former Navy SEAL, Mr. Roosevelt is counselor of the China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development and a committee member for the National Academy of Sciences on Accelerating Deployment of Clean Energy Technologies.

jonathan c. rose

A partner at Jones Day for 25 years, Mr. Rose served under three presidents. He was an assistant attorney general of the Office of Legal Policy under President Reagan; special assistant to the president and general counsel of the Council on International Economic Policy under President Nixon; and special assistant U.S. attorney, Eastern District of Virginia, deputy assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division, and associate deputy attorney general under President Ford. From 2011 to 2015 Mr. Rose served as chief of the Rules Office and as secretary to the Rules Committee on Practice and Procedure for the Administrative Office of the Federal U.S. Courts.

Gregg Sherrill

Gregg Sherrill is Executive Chairman of Tenneco, an $8.6 billion global manufacturer of clean air and ride performance components and systems. Mr. Sherrill assumed that role in 2017, after serving for 10 years as chairman and CEO. Prior to joining Tenneco in January 2007, he was with Johnson Controls, Inc., where he last served as president of the Power Solutions Group. He held leadership roles in JCI’s Automotive Systems Group and North America Operations. Mr. Sherrill began his 40-year career in the automotive industry with Ford Motor Company. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Allstate and Snap-on Inc. and is on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Manufacturers, where he is also past chairman of the board. He is on the National Governing Council of The Wilderness Society and is one of the founders of the Fix the Debt campaign.

jim speyer

Managing director at Navigant Consulting, Inc. in the Energy Practice’s Power Systems, Markets & Pricing group since 2010, Mr. Speyer served as director of coal and utility policy at the U.S. Department of Energy, director of energy policy at the EPA, and on President Carter's energy staff. During his 35-year career in energy and environmental consulting he also has worked with Putnam, Hayes, and Bartlett and Charles River Associates.

Jerre Stead

Chairman and CEO of HIS Markit, Mr. Stead is an Iowa native who began his career in 1965 at Honeywell and spent 21 years in a number of executive positions. He went on to become chairman, CEO, and president of the Square D Company; chairman and CEO of AT&T Global Information Solutions; chairman and CEO of Legent Corporation; and chairman and CEO of Ingram Micro. He has served on 34 corporate boards and in 2009 was chosen as an "outstanding director" by Financial Times.

cathleen douglas stone

A former chief of environmental services for the City of Boston, Ms. Stone serves on The Wilderness Society governing council and the boards of the Museum of African American History, the Match Charter Public School, and Boston Harbor Now. She was vice-chair of the partnership legislated to plan and implement preservation of the Boston Harbor Islands as a national park. In addition, Ms. Stone was a member of the board of the American Conservation Association and is a former partner of Foley, Hoag and Eliot.

irv yoskowitz

A senior counsel of Crowell & Moring and an operating partner at Centre Partners Management LLC, Mr. Yoskowitz helped found Global Technology Partners. He served as an executive vice president and general counsel at Constellation Energy Group Inc., and as senior advisor at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer Feld LLP. Prior to those roles, Mr. Yoskowitz was the executive vice president and general counsel at United Technologies Corporation. He has served on numerous boards, including Ross Aviation, Bryn Mawr College, and the United Negro College Fund Special Programs Corporation.

Bernard j. zahren

Bernie Zahren has spent over 47 years in a variety of entrepreneurial and management roles accumulating a wealth of knowledge in both investment syndications and renewable energy. Mr. Zahren has been instrumental in implementing business focused sustainability initiatives. He has testified before Congressional committees on alternative energy issues and has chaired a special committee that worked for extensions of Internal Revenue Code income tax credits for the production of alternative fuels.

Zahren Financial Co., LLC is the Manager of Clean Feet Investors I, LLC. CFI I is a private multi-million dollar investment fund with a successful 11 year track record to-date. The business focuses of CFI I’s portfolio include: Solar Photovoltaic, SREC aggregation & finance, energy efficient hydroponic greenhouses, battery storage, water heater controls and Solar Thermal and energy brokerage. Projects are located throughout the U.S.

In 2018 ZFC sponsored a private placement for the Series D Convertible Preferred Stock of Stem, Inc. (www.stem.com). Investment by CFI I in the 2013 early deployment of battery storage systems using the proprietary AI of Stem led to the opportunity to participate in the mature venture Capital round in 2018. ZFC Capital Partners I, LP acquired 2,366,925 shares of the Preferred D stock in December, 2018.

Owner and Founder of Zahren Financial Co., LLC since 1984. ZFC structured and managed a variety of successful equipment leasing offerings in the 1980’s. In the early 1990’s Zahren Alternative Power Corp. (ZAPCO), a spinoff of Zahren Financial Co., LLC, was built into a portfolio of 27 landfill gas and co-generation projects through acquisition and development. In 1998 ZAPCO executed the first significant international trade of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Reductions in the U.S. This transaction was equivalent to taking 500,000 cars off the road for an entire year. ZAPCO was then sold to another entity in 2001 in a sale valued at $98 million.

Prior to forming his own company, Mr. Zahren developed successful investment syndications for a subsidiary of CIGNA Corp. Early in his career, he held senior management positions in such firms as Angeles Leasing Corp., Architectural Wood Products, Inc. and The Koppers Company.

In 2010 Mr. Zahren founded CFI I along with Jigar Shah, founder of SunEdison. CFI I seeks to provide significant returns from socially responsible investments in small to medium-sized renewable energy and energy conserving projects. By employing effective investment structures for sophisticated investors, CFI I is helping to fill the current void in “non-dilutive” capital for an industry segment that is both very attractive and critical for an effective overall energy policy. In our humble opinion, this represents the epitome of Doing Well by Doing Good! CFI I has made 41 consecutive distributions to its investors at annualized double digit rates of return. The Zahren Funds’ Team is comprised of leaders and innovators in the alternative energy sector who have decades of experience in entrepreneurial management, investment syndications, accounting and direct “hands on” operations of renewable energy projects.

Mr. Zahren truly believes in reducing his own carbon footprint, not only by managing and investing in Zahren Funds, but also by his renovation to his home which achieved “Net Zero Energy” awards through multiple deployments including: a 15 kilowatt wind turbine, geothermal heating and air conditioning, and a solar thermal hot water system.

He serves as the Chairman of the Avon CT Clean Energy Commission and has served as a member of the Board of the Talcott Mountain Science Center and Academy (www.TMSC.org) and on the Board of the Special Olympics and Community Health Charities of CT. Bernie also serves on the Advisory Board for The Partnership for Responsible Growth (www.partnershipforresponsiblegrowth.org/advisory-board).

Mr. Zahren holds a BS from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Bernie has three daughters and seven grandchildren. His active participation in helping reduce emissions that are contributing to Climate Change is his way of “paying forward” the obligation he believes we should all share for all life on Planet Earth.