Bigger Than Us

Charles Hernick is the Director of Policy and Advocacy at Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions Forum in Washington, DC. Charles leads CRES Forum’s policy work and executes strategies to advance clean energy solutions and innovative approaches to reducing carbon emissions. Charles is an energy expert who understands emerging clean technologies, market barriers, and policies and regulations. For over a decade he has worked at the crossroads of economic development, energy, and natural resource management across the U.S. and on the ground in over a dozen countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. He is also a climate change expert who has integrated climate change considerations into U.S. government programs and policies and has authored climate mitigation and adaptation best practice guidelines for over a dozen development sectors. Charles is a proud appointed member of the Maryland Clean Energy Center Advisory Council. https://www.citizensfor.com/

Trey Bowles is Cofounder and Executive Chairman of the Dallas Entrepreneur (DEC) Center where he recently stepped out of his role as CEO. At The DEC lead strategy, vision, and drove the overall planning and development efforts for the DEC. Bowles cofounded and launched the Dallas Innovation Alliance, a public partnership to develop a Smart Cities initiative for the City of Dallas. Bowles is cofounder and Chairman of the Mayor’s Star Council which is created with City of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to engage culturally diverse and civically minded group of young professions to make impact on the city.  Trey launched an entrepreneurship department at SMU in the Meadows School of Arts where he still serves as an adjunct professor and most recently Bowles helped relaunch the next stage of the Startup America Partnership as the Startup Champions Network. SCN is national network of professional ecosystem builders working together to support entrepreneurs in their local regions. Most recently Bowles was appointed to the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE) as a special government employee by Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. Bowles, a serial entrepreneur, having built numerous organizations in both the for-profit and nonprofit space, lives in Dallas, TX with his bride and three kids.   https://thedec.co/ https://innocitypartners.com/  

Thomas Ortman is the Chief Technology Officer for Voltabox of Texas, Inc., a subsidiary of Germany-based Voltabox AG, a publicly traded, multi-national corporation manufacturing electro-mobility solutions with highly engineered battery energy storage systems (BESS). These systems are applied in a broad cross-section of industrial sectors from municipal buses, mining, forklifts and agriculture to locomotives and e-bikes. Voltabox also provides BESS to stationary applications. Mr. Ortman served as CEO of Voltabox of Texas, Inc. from July 2018-July 2019. He also serves as Vice President of Voltabox of North America, Inc., Prior to Voltabox, Mr. Ortman was Founder, President and CEO of Concurrent Design, Inc., which was acquired by Voltabox in March 2018. Founded in 1994, Concurrent Design was an engineering consulting firm with core skills in industrial product development, manufacturing automation and test equipment. With a focus on the electronics, semiconductor and clean technology market segments, Voltabox is a natural segue. Mr. Ortman is a mechanical engineer and an expert in product design and development. Thomas Ortman is also active in the following; Founding Member and Board Member, CleanTX; Member, Austin Regional Manufacturers Association (ARMA); Mentor, University of Texas IC2 Austin Technology Incubator Texas Venture Mentor Service (mentoring battery start-ups; Member, Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL). Prior roles include; Chairman, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) Texas Chapter; Founder, Solar Energy Entrepreneur Network (SEEN), Advisor – Physical Sciences for Central Texas Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization (RCIC) of the Texas (State) Emerging Technology Fund (TETF); Member, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce Clean Energy Council (GACC CEC).

Lauren Clarke is the CEO and founder of Turn Compost. Turn is a DFW-based social enterprise with a vision to change how our urban environment is utilized. Turn works with consumers, businesses, and non-profits in ways which support sustainable development within our communities. Lauren's experience in Culinary school and the Texas A&M master gardener program opened her eyes to the whole issue of food waste and how horrible it is in our environment. https://www.turncompost.com/ https://www.facebook.com/turncompost https://www.instagram.com/turncompost/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/turndallas/

Brett Hogarth has held the position of Director of Business Development, Biomass Advisory Group for nine years. Over that time, he has lead new product development and marketing efforts, managed client relations, and structured work plans for over 250 biomass feedstock supply chain consulting projects across North America. Brett has been integral in identifying and executing on opportunities to leverage Ecostrat’s data and analytics to provide new and innovative solutions to meet the needs of stakeholders across the bio-energy industry. Brett holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto https://ecostrat.com/

Tanya Peacock is a Public Policy and Planning Manager at Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), the largest gas distribution utility in the United States based in Los Angeles, CA. Tanya has served the gas company in this role for 5 years. Previously she was the Environmental and Policy Manager at SoCalGas for 2 years and the Regulatory and Rate Strategy manager for nearly 4 years. Tanya graduated from Mills College with a bachelor’s degree in English and went on to earn her master’s degree in regional planning from Cornell University. Tanya serves as a board member for a number of organizations including the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters, MoveLA and the California Hydrogen Business Council. Her expertise lies in her deep understanding of policy analysis, regulatory affairs, legislative analysis, and renewable energy policy. https://www.socalgas.com/

Landon started coding in junior high because he wanted to make video games, but over time I realized what I really wanted to do was make others happy. He saw technology as a tool to accomplish that mission, and came to the University of Southern California excited to build software. There Landon studied in a mixture of design, computer science, and business in the Iovine Young Academy. That's he met his cofounders Mimi and Ben. They launched Wren right after he and Ben graduated, on June 12, 2019, and it's been growing ever since. These days at Wren Landon still codes, but also spends a lot of time working with project partners and thinking about growth. https://projectwren.com/

Julia Kumari Drapkin is the CEO and founder of ISeeChange. Dedicated to connecting communities to each other and their changing environment, Drapkin created ISeeChange after over a decade reporting natural disasters and climate change science across the globe and in her own backyard on the Gulf Coast. Drapkin currently serves on the board of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and is a consultant for the think tank Resources for the Future and NASA. Prior to journalism, Julia did research anthropology and archaeology for over 7 years in Latin America, where she geeked out on Mayan farmer’s almanacs. https://www.iseechange.org/about/team

Sam is CEO and co-founder of Vert Asset Management. He also chairs the Investment Research Group. Sam leads the development of new products to help make sustainable investing easier for investors. He has been a featured speaker on sustainable investing at financial advisor conferences in the US, UK, Europe, and Australia. Prior to launching Vert, Sam spent almost 20 years working at Dimensional Fund Advisors. He started Dimensional’s European Financial Advisor Services business and led the development and launch of Dimensional’s Global Sustainability Core Fund. Sam has a BA in Philosophy from the University of Colorado, Boulder and an MBA in Finance from the University of California, Davis. Sam lives in Mill Valley, CA with his wife and three children. http://www.vertasset.com/

Aidan is the CEO and a co-founder of Hazel Technologies, a post-harvest crop protection company making biochemical solutions to extend produce shelf life. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Northwestern University, where his doctoral work focused techniques to design and synthesize highly efficient catalysts for transformations of renewables.  He was a member of the Institute for Atom-Efficient Catalytic Transformations and the Institute for Catalytic Energy Processes. His interest in catalysis and energy led him to accept a role as the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern (ISEN) chemistry fellow for 2014 – 2015. He developed an interest in applying his chemistry knowledge to agriscience, co-founding Hazel Technologies before completing his Ph.D. Aidan is one of the inventors of the Hazel® technology platform and a co-author on 20+ patents and filings. Under Aidan’s leadership, Hazel Technologies won the Clean Energy Challenge in 2016 and the VentureWell Sustainable Practice Impact Award in 2019.  Aidan and Hazel Technologies were recently named to ChicagoInno’s “50 on Fire” list. Aidan has raised more than $17.8 million in private equity for Hazel and helped Hazel obtain nearly $1 million in grant funding from ISEN, VentureWell, and the USDA. Most recently, the company completed its Series B finance round with lead investors Pangaea Ventures and S2G Ventures, featuring additional investments from Asahi Kasei Ventures and The Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust. Other investors in Hazel include Rhapsody Venture Partners, Serra Ventures, and Valley Oak Investments.  Hazel Technologies works with more than 100 grower/packer partners in more than 12 countries to date. In addition to his company duties, Aidan serves as an Advisory Board member at the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship at Northwestern, and as a member of the Board of Advisors for Lilac Solutions. https://www.hazeltechnologies.com/