The team

Executive Chairman - Nicholas Parker
Nicholas Parker co-founded the Cleantech Group, introducing the cleantech concept to the investment and business community in 2002. Previously Nicholas accumulated over 15 years experience starting and investing venture funds worldwide through limited partnerships, family offices, corporate funds and endowments. During this time, he pioneered the first "sustainability" driven private equity funds and participated in one of the first solar IPOs. In the 1990s, he also founded, built and sold an environmental finance firm. He has served as an advisor to multilateral agencies and major corporations.

Nicholas earned a BA Hons. in Technology Studies (Carleton University, Ottawa) and an MBA (City University, London), and has authored or edited more than ten publications related to cleantech, finance and international business, starting with Investing in Emerging Economies in 1993. He served as Chairman of E+Co, a public purpose investment company for clean energy enterprises in developing countries, and is on several boards, including: Government of Singapore Cleantech Advisory Board, Canadian Centre of Excellence for Commercialization of Research and the X PRIZE Energy & Environment Council. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). Nicholas has lived and worked in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America and currently resides with his two children in Toronto.

Managing Partner - Sheeraz Haji
Sheeraz Haji is based in Cleantech Group's San Francisco office. Previously, Sheeraz spent eight years co-founding and leading GetActive (merged with Convio), a venture-backed software-as-a-service company providing CRM tools to nonprofits, associations and educational institutions. As CEO, and later as President of the merged entity, Sheeraz built a company with 1,200 clients and 300 employees.

He has also worked as a strategy consultant for McKinsey & Company, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) for El Dorado Ventures, an operations executive for GMO and a Product Manager for Digital Impact (acquired by Acxiom).

Sheeraz launched his career as an environmental engineer in the Washington, DC office of Environ International. He has a BS from Brown University and an MS from Stanford University, both degrees in Environmental Engineering. Sheeraz is a U.S. and French citizen.

Managing Partner - Richard Youngman
Richard Youngman is based in Cleantech Group’s office in London and is responsible for the company’s global membership offering – its industry-leading data, research, and conferences – as well as driving the growth of the group's activities in Europe, India and the Middle East.

Most recently, he was Vice President of Research & Operations at Library House, where he ran the Library House Research team, which discovered and collected the information about high-growth companies that underpinned that company's data, analytical, and event services.

Before Library House, Richard ran his own advisory firm conducting research and consulting on the measurement and evaluation of intangible assets and intellectual capital for organizations such as the European Commission. This followed nine years building a broad-based finance and research background with leading financial institutions such as ABN AMRO, Barclays Capital and BZW in the City of London. His work was centered on the debt markets and revolved around financing M&A deals and advising clients on achieving alignment between their financial and strategic plans.

Richard has an MA from Cambridge University, and an MBA from Theseus International Management Institute, Sophia Antipolis, France.

Other senior management

Co-Founder - Keith Raab
In partnership with Nicholas Parker, Keith co-founded the Cleantech Group, introduced the cleantech concept in 2002 and has helped develop it as a viable investment category.

Keith currently serves on CalSTRS' Clean Technology Advisory Board and the Erb Institute, Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Prior to joining Cleantech, Keith served as Manager of Investor Relations for the Environmental Capital Network (ECN), an organization whose purpose is to facilitate the finance of companies commercializing energy and environmentally beneficial technologies, products and services. At ECN, Keith ran the day to day activities and was responsible for organizing 11 national venture forums. He also built strategic relationships with investors and was responsible for working with companies to identify and direct them to various capital sources that fit their needs and stage of business development. Prior to joining ECN in 1998, Keith was the Managing Director of Echos LLC, an investor-backed, early-stage venture developing and commercializing a wastewater recycling and irrigation system. Previously Keith undertook consulting work for CID Equity Partners, the largest venture capital firm in the Midwest. He has also independently advised a number of early stage companies on business planning, technical development and capital formation. Keith started his career as a test engineer for the Department of the U.S. Navy.

Keith has an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from Indiana University, a Masters of Engineering in Gas/Fluid Dynamics from the University of Michigan and a Bachelors of Engineering in Aerospace from the University of Michigan.

Managing Director - Dallas Kachan
Dallas is executive editor of the content published by the Cleantech Group, including its research publications and news coverage, one of the most widely-read sources of trade news covering daily business and technology developments in clean technology.

Dallas had a fifteen year career in high tech, including VP marketing jobs at enterprise software and networking companies, and was a senior marketing strategy consultant to dozens of companies, including Oracle, Fujitsu, Nortel, Genuity, Attachmate and Interval Research with Silicon Valley's Regis McKenna and his own practice. He has served on the boards of publicly-traded Centrinity (TSX) and other private companies.

Dallas was most recently founder, publisher and acting editor of Inside Greentech, acquired by the Cleantech Group in August, 2007. Previously, Dallas was editor, reporter and national anchor for Canada's news service the Canadian Press, with a background covering science, environmental and business issues in print and broadcast.

Dallas has authored hundreds of articles on cleantech sector developments, serves on the board of the U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business Cleantech Institute and is a frequent speaker at industry events.

Director of Finance - Lori G. Russell
Lori Russell is responsible for finance, human resources and operations for the Cleantech Group. She is a CPA with over 15 years of experience in corporate finance and public accounting.

Prior to joining Cleantech Group she spent seven years as the Controller for MedView Services, Inc., a fast growing startup. Here she developed the Accounting Department’s financial reporting, accounting policies, and procedures from a privately held company format to a GAAP based system as a wholly owned subsidiary of three successive publicly traded companies. During this time she implemented a corporate budgeting and forecasting system while coordinating the accounting integration for thirteen mergers and acquisitions. As the Financial Reporting Officer at Great Lakes Bancorp she was responsible for all SEC reporting including preparation of the 10K’s, 10Q’s, and Annual Report. Lori was also an auditor for three years and has spent time, most recently, consulting with corporations and small startups.

Lori holds a BBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business Administration and is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant by the State of Michigan. She is a current member of the MACPA and past member of the AICPA and IMA.

Managing Director - Greg Neichin
Greg is a Managing Director of Cleantech Group’s Advisory Services where he assists global enterprises, investors, and public institutions in navigating and capitalizing on cleantech markets and solutions.

Greg has a range of expertise helping organizations successfully adapt to innovation and has worked in a variety of consulting, operating, and entrepreneurial roles. Previously, he co-founded PlaceVine, a leading web-based information service for the entertainment marketing industry. Prior to PlaceVine, Greg spent four years on the management team of GetActive (merged with Convio), a developer of CRM software for advocacy and charitable organizations, where he led a variety of sales, marketing, and partnership efforts as Vice President, Business Development. He has written and consulted on technology trends and commercialization for SRI Consulting Business Intelligence and worked in strategy and business development for Redback Networks. He began his professional career as a Consultant with Mercer Management Consulting.

Greg has a B.A. in Economics and Government from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where he was a recipient of the Price Fellowship for studies in Entrepreneurial Management.

Managing Director - William F. Wescott, Ph.D.
Bill is Managing Director of Cleantech Group’s advisory services, which assist clients in public and private sectors accelerate their implementation of cleantech solutions.

Bill an internationally recognized sustainability expert, helping organizations assess and adopt technologies and practices to minimize their impact on the environment for over 20 years. He has extensive experience in climate change, environmental control technologies, information/communication technologies, new venture development, and organizational governance as well as in the energy, natural resources, chemical, electronics, and consumer products sectors. A lifelong intra- and entrepreneur, Bill has worked with clients to create new cleantech ventures and with investors to assess cleantech opportunities. He has served as an advisor to organizations including the Romanian, Italian, Mexican, Brazilian, and U.S. governments, UNIDO, the Sustainable Performance Group Investment Fund, PROPEL Board of Directors, The Conference Board, The Pew Center on Global Climate Change, The Institute of the Americas, and World Resources Institute. Bill was an environment, health and safety consulting director at Arthur D. Little, Inc. where he worked for 15 years with over 100 clients across all sectors on 5 continents in 4 languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian).

Bill has a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon and BSE in Chemical Engineering from Princeton.

Director of Sales - Joe Trackwell
Joe Trackwell is the Director of Sales for Cleantech Group.

Prior to joining Cleantech, Joe served as the Director of Admissions for New Horizons Computer Learning Centers of Michigan where he directed operations for four learning centers throughout Mid-Michigan. Joe also served over 20 years in the United States Air Force. He held various positions throughout his career, including logistics support for the F-117 Stealth Fighter, as well as base environmental cleanup. He finished his Air Force career as a District Recruiting Supervisor, and retired in 2004. Joe earned his B.A. in Business Administration from Northwood University.

Director of Partnership Development - Kim Pargoff
Kim develops and manages key strategic relationships and partnerships for Cleantech globally. Previously, Kim worked as Clean Energy Policy Director for an NGO in Michigan and Washington D.C. and worked in Business Development in the alternative energy industry as Sales and Business Development Manager with Capstone Turbine Corporation. At Capstone, Kim developed and managed core accounts such as Chevron Energy Solutions and United Technologies Corporation (UTC Power & UTC Fuel Cell).

She has worked on sustainability assessment and improvement projects with the California EPA and the California Motion Picture Industry and Walt Disney World Resorts. Kim also has over 4 years experience in high-tech and strategy consulting with Diamond Technology Partners and Accenture working in the telecommunications and financial services industries with high-tech start-ups and large clients such as Goldman Sachs, T-Rowe Price, Alltel, Bell Mobility, and Telefonica SA.

Kim has a MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management where she also obtained a Certificate in Corporate Environmental Management and Sustainability in Business from The Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UC Santa Barbara. Kim has a Bachelors of Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a focus on Industrial and Environmental Engineering.