Your SP TEAM
WE ARE SERVANT LEADERS COMMITTED TO FULL ALIGNMENT WITH PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS
EARNING THEIR TRUST THROUGH TRANSPARENCY AND COLLABORATION
MEET OUR INVESTMENT DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Partner – AZ
Rick’s been a key player in several “mentor-driven accelerators” including Idealab, world’s leading tech incubator in the 1990’s. Rick was an early shareholder in Bill Gross’ Idealab, founded one of its first companies and participated in strategic planning with its ten original CEOs. For UA, Rick was Mentor-Emeritus for UA’s AZCI incubator, Adjunct Instructor for Eller School Entrepreneurship Program, on MBA Advisory Council, Director Emeritus for NACET incubator since 2008. For ASU, was Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Instructor for LaunchPad/LaunchPrep entrepreneurship programs.
Since 2000, he’s been on Selection Panel for Invest Southwest Capital Conference’s Venture Madness. Rick is a judge for AZ Commerce Authority’s ‘Innovation Challenge’. Rick is a judge for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards and is often a Mentor and Panelist for FundingPost.
Rick started GNP Development Corp with Bill Gross which they sold to Lotus Development Corp. They co-founded Knowledge Adventure Inc which became the world’s largest children’s CD-ROM edutainment software company as part of Universal Studios.
Partner – LA
For nearly a decade Jason has worked in the municipal, utility, school and hospital sectors. He is an expert in Smart Cities technologies and brings this experience to bear in government and commercial settings.
Prior to joining SP, Jason spent over 7 years as the founder of Brilliant Efficiencies, an energy efficiency solutions provider to government entities.
Simultaneously, Jason has spent over 17 years as a film and television producer and has worked on over 150 film and television projects. Prior, Jason founded and sold a number of technology start ups.
Partner – CA
Michael Sexton is a San Diego, California native. He holds a MBA and MPA in Sustainable Management. A professional career that spans the globe, he has owned and managed businesses in Europe, Africa and the United States. He offers an extensive background in advertising, public relations, sales, marketing and logistics. His experience includes a natural gas pipeline in Mozambique; a restaurant in Ireland, and product development for multi-national agri-chemical corporations.
Partner – FL
Prior to joining Sustainability Partners, Michael was with Deutsche Bank (DB) where he led front-office teams that developed and managed rules-based investment strategies, conducted complex product sales, traded derivatives and structured financial products. Previously, Michael served as Director of Strategy at VFT Capital and was the lead Risk Manager on the equity trading floor of Nomura Securities International. Michael began his financial career as a Risk Manager on the OTC derivatives desk at Bank of America.
Michael holds both Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and, upon his graduation, was the recipient of the UCLA Mechanical Engineering Department’s Outstanding Ph.D. Award. While at UCLA, Michael conducted cutting-edge research on composite material manufacturing, developing and modeling techniques that materially improved process efficiencies. His UCLA research also focused on transport phenomenon within, and the design of, nuclear power plants. Michael also holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Partner – NY
Todd earned a B.S. from Boston College where he played football
PARTNERS
Mark is a real estate investor and real tax appeal attorney whose career began as a real estate salesman specializing in commercial real estate. He is Founder and Manager of MBK Holdings, a commercial property investment company that holds retail property in Short Hills, NJ. For 14 years, Mark was a broker and Legal Counsel for Towne Realty Group.
Mark earned a law degree from Seton Hall School of Law. He is Secretary of the Pingry School Alumni Board; an Advisory Board Member of Center Bancorp.
Mark is a past trustee of The Winston School, Short Hills, and of the New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, NJ
Warren Carsey is SP’s Senior Investor in the Hawaiian Islands. He manages energy and infrastructure investment projects throughout Asia-Pacific and North America. Mr. Carsey has been a Managing Partner of the Veritas Holdings investment and advisory group since 1999, after having worked in the structured and corporate finance teams at CIBC World Markets and JPMorgan Chase in New York.
Warren earned a BS from Northern Arizona University and an MBA from the University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
Bert is a native of Louisiana growing up in Baker, LA. Bert received a BS in Finance with insurance specialization, from LA Tech and spent 30 years after graduation as a freelance videographer working with Federal, State and local governments and police departments. Bert was very active with Chamber of Commerces, Rotary Club and Louisiana Municipal Association. Bert was an integral contributor to sending LA products with federally funded aid to Senegal, West Africa. Today Bert travels with his daughter Alyssa, the youngest astronaut in training at 19 years old, who is being trained to go to Mars.
Moises has held management roles in a variety of industries as both an Executive and an Entrepreneur in several fields that include Transportation, Land Development, Health and Fitness, Media and Technology.
Having worked with and being mentored by some of the best minds in several fields. His “burn no bridges” philosophy has helped him maintain important relationships and open doors wherever he goes.
Moises excels at finding the right fit and mix of companies and people to work together, considered an expert project and team builder who has been involved in projects in 4 out of 5 continents.
Larry is an executive and sales professional with proven leadership skills and track record of successfully developing renewable energy projects across the U.S. With over 12 years of experience working in the energy sector, Larry has developed renowned expertise in energy markets and has been responsible for the development of hundreds of commercial solar and storage projects. Larry has analyzed thousands of sites and performed strategic analysis of all phases of project development including creation of system designs, feasibility studies, ROI analysis, contract creation and legal negotiation.
Additionally, Larry has significant experience working on solar policy with governmental agencies and local utilities. Larry’s former customers include municipalities, K-12 school districts, higher education, and for-profit companies.
Benson Medina is a Hawaiian executive and community leader. He currently serves as SP’s local investment partner in the state of Hawaii. He previously served as the Director of North American Sales for Hawaiian Airlines and President of Island Vacations. Mr. Medina’s experience includes senior roles with geothermal power developer Innovations Development Group of Honolulu and Hawaii-based American Electric. Born and raised in Hawaii, Mr. Medina is an alumnus of the prestigious Kamehameha Schools and is a prominent leader in his home community of Hilo.
Co-founder and President of Senga Energy LLC, Chris studied Corporate Finance with an emphasis on financing new ventures at Brigham Young University. Prior to graduation in 2006 he started a company to help businesses and individuals obtain conventional real estate financing and source private investment funds for development projects. From 2008-2012 Chris actively traded futures contracts real-time on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In 2013 he relocated to Southern California with his wife and five children. Since that time he has been heavily involved in the sales, marketing, design, finance, and installation of photovoltaic solar for commercial and residential projects.
Joe is co founder and partner in Jasmine consulting , a privacy management firm in Charleston, SC. Joe currently serves as past President of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors( Naifa) for the state of South Carolina. Joe presided as president over a membership of roughly 500 over the entire state of SC. He also coordinates meetings with elected officials in SC and Washington DC and Joe’s scope of reach is from coast to coast.
Prior to working with Jasmine, Joe was the brokerage director for Lincoln FinancialGroup for SC from 2013-2017 and was the brokerage director for Mass Mutual financial group in SC and Georgia. Over a 20 year career, Joe was instrumental in educating and mentoring hundreds of financial advisors in the financial planning field. His specialty was Long Term care planning and became Certified in Long Term Care in 2002. In 2004 , Joe was awarded Long Term Care Specialist of the year for Mass Mutual financial group. This is one of Joe’s highest honors to date as there were 5000 agents within the Mass Mutual system at that time.
Prior to his work in the financial industry, Joe worked for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic games from 1995-1996 where he worked in transportation management .From 1992-1995 Joe worked for the US Senate Committee onCommerce, Science and Transportation. He was responsible for the coordination of hearings for the commerce committee and was appointed by the chairman of the Commerce Committee, Sen Ernest F. Hollings.
Joe is a 1991 graduate from the University Of South Carolina with a degree in Government and International studies and minor in economics. Joe served on the University of South Carolina board of governors from 1998-2001. Joe has also served on many boards in his native hometown of Charleston SC where he currently resides with his daughter.
Bio will be available shortly.
Mr. Schirmer’s passion is designing solutions to improve Kentucky’s infrastructure and building assets. As the Managing Director of the Commonwealth Infrastructure Fund (CIF) and Western Kentucky Infrastructure Fund (WKIF), Jake connects private and public entities that are aligned with his passion. CIF and WKIF are each a $125,000,000 funding mechanism for P3 projects throughout Kentucky providing access to alternative funding sources beyond just the taxable and tax-exempt bond market.
Prior to his leadership and involvement with P3 projects, Jake worked in the banking industry for nearly 20 years. As the Vice President of Commercial Lending for a $2.7 billion community bank, he built and managed an organically-grown portfolio of more than $200 million.
Early in his career as a credit analyst, Mr. Schirmer earned an MBA from Illinois State University. Jake holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also a veteran and served in the United States Army.
Erik Steavens is twenty-five-year infrastructure professional with a diverse background in multimodal transportation. Mr. Steavens currently is the Executive Vice President for tow companies – S.L. King and Associates and S.L. King Technologies. In this capacity, Mr. Steavens works to advise clients advise on solutions for infrastructure improvements from planning to finance to construction and maintenance.
Previously, Mr. Steavens was the Division Director of Rail Programs for the Texas Department of Transportation and Intermodal Director of the Georgia Department of Transportation. Mr. Steavens career spans all levels of government (federal, state, and local) and the private sector where he established himself as a recognized leader in transportation policy and finance.
He holds Bachelor and Master of Science Degrees in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Mr. Steavens began his career at the Planning Commission in Albany, Georgia and was responsible for multi-modal planning of the road, bridges, bicycle, pedestrian, aviation, and transit systems in Dougherty and Lee Counties. Mr. Steavens worked for the Federal Highway Administration for eight years and developed several non-traditional projects, including transit service at Yosemite National Park, financing plans for the Alameda rail project and the Miami Intermodal Center.
He followed up this federal service with work on the previous transportation authorization bill – SAFETEA-LU. In this capacity Mr. Steavens advised senior leadership of the United States House and Senate on policy and financial provisions that were ultimately adopted in the bill. He currently works to advise several staff members in their current efforts to reauthorize the transportation program. Furthermore, Mr. Steavens works with clients to find grant funding and innovative approaches to finance transportation infrastructure.
He is married to Tina Steavens and they have a young daughter, Lena, who attends St. Francis Day School. The Steavens live in the Martins Landing neighborhood in Roswell. Erik has been a member of the community as a leader of his neighborhood association.
Eric joined SP as a sales consultant in 2018. He is dedicated to providing customers with the most efficient and sustainable energy solutions possible. Eric is a client-focused sales representative who prides himself in maintaining good working relationships with clients.
Eric Street is a long-time resident of Louisiana and has had a 26-year career in business. His work at the largest subprime lender in the nation provided Eric with a client-focused work ethic and a solid understanding of sales, management, and client solutions. Eric was an outstanding recruiter, trainer, and team builder in the world of lending. Eric’s career spans across a wide variety of businesses with diverse experiences in financing, restaurants, entertainment, and energy solutions. Eric was the Regional Vice President for Sales with Brilliant Efficiencies (BE), a local sales and energy sustainability firm. Eric was a key player in the energy and sustainability industry in the State of Louisiana for over five years. Eric was instrumental in assisting public entities like the City of Eunice, Southern University and A&M College, the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, and others in securing millions of dollars in funding for lighting upgrades. Eric’s tremendous success in building and maintaining relationships with partners in mortgages, lending, and other key industries no doubt added to his success in sales management with Brilliant Efficiencies. Eric brings his proven record in client recruitment and retention to SP and intends on implementing a goal of client satisfaction through energy efficiency plans, products, and service systems.
SUPPORT TEAM
Support Team
Tom Cain founded SP in 2014. Due to initial successes, BlackRock(NYSE:BLK) purchased majority interests in 2016. SP completed their first major government contracts in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California by 2018 and private contracts in Colorado, Wisconsin, California and Arizona by 2016.
From 2002 to 2014, Tom Cain was Founder and Managing Partner of two CleanTech venture capital firms (SAIL Ventures and EFW Partners) with over $200M in discretionary funds. Cain was the primary partner to source and govern the energy storage, renewable energy, motor, media, transportation and energy efficiency investments.
Prior to his venture capital period, Cain did a successful acquisition & turnaround of failing Evans Systems (NASDAQ: EVSI), a Texas based distressed oil and gas business. A spin-off of this was restoring mothballed fuel terminals on the gulf intracoastal, from which he founded Starco Energy. Quintana Corp purchased Starco in 2006.
Cain started his career as a technologist and at 22, he founded Distribution Architects International, a supply chain and enterprise resources planning (ERP) software firm. The firm was acquired by Frontstep Corp (NASDAQ:FSTP) in 1999, with Cain becoming Executive Chairman of the acquisition corp. Frontstep was then acquired by Mapics (NASDAQ:MAPX) in 2003, then Infor acquired Mapics in 2005 at which time Cain retired from his chairman role. During Cain’s tenure, the firm he stewarded had grown to 4,500 customers in 70 countries with a staff of 1,200 and $172M in revenues. Over the years Cain received many awards for innovative software breakthroughs and spoke globally as notable entrepreneur.
Cain holds patents in advanced ECM motor design and music tablature in commercial use today. As a young mathematician, Cain worked on the mathematics behind the theta-pinch toroidal plasma stabilization effort to control thermonuclear fusion for direct generation of electricity under the polymath, James Tuck, at Los Alamos Labs. While no solution was found, nor has been, the experience did seed Cain’s lifetime passion for energy, water and the global ecosystem.
Cain, a member of WPO/YPO, founded the YPO Global Supply Chain Conference, was chairman of the MIT Presidents Education, and group led the HBS Presidents Education. He has served as a board of director on over 30 public and private businesses. In 2008, Cain authored Best Practices for Energy Venture Capital with Innovation: Finding New Frontiers in Energy Investing. Cain is an alumnus of ASU with undergraduate and graduate studies in mathematics.
Support Team
As a prior law partner of one of the worlds largest law firms, DLA Piper, LLP in the city of Los Angeles and editor-in-chief of the Administrative Law Journal for Pepperdine Law School, Adam T. Cain brings deep sophisticated legal and administrative resources to SP.
Adam has represented clients in complex litigation and negotiated multi-million dollar issues on behalf of a wide variety of clients, among them CEO’s, celebrities, business owners and other high-profile and high-net-worth individuals. His experience in the courtroom and outside the box strategies helped to resolve many difficult issues for his clients. Adam has spearheaded technological innovations and implementations for his practice group, which effectively improved data processing, workflow, client communications, and overall efficiency.
Adam earned a J.D. from Pepperdine Law School where he was Editor–in–Chief of the National Association of Administrative Law Judges Journal and was published for his article “Satellite Radio: An Innovative Technology’s Path through the FCC and into the Future.” Adam externed with the United States District Court of Arizona. Adam also holds a B.A. from Point Loma Nazarene University where he graduated Cum Laude.
Support Team
Jason is Director of Strategic Analytics, responsible for financial forecasting and reporting, operational metrics, returns analysis and modeling of projects. Jason works closely with senior management, development partners and vendors to guide cost analysis, provide insight on trends and forecasts, and recommend actions to optimize project economics.
Jason brings nearly 25 years of finance experience, with extensive knowledge of operational and strategic finance. Prior to joining SP, Jason spent the past 8 years at one of the largest renewable energy manufacturing companies in the Western hemisphere, where his duties included financial reporting, M&A evaluation and strategic financial leadership to multiple lines of business.
Prior experience includes nearly 17 years in investment banking and advisory roles. As an M&A advisor, Jason has deal experience covering over $2 billion of enterprise value across multiple industries, representing domestic and international companies on a variety of buy-side, sell-side and capital transactions.
Jason earned both his Bachelor of Science in Finance and MBA from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and has held numerous Securities licenses throughout his career.
Support Team
Steve brings 25+ years of designing, implementing and executing fixed income and structured finance investment strategies, first at an S&P 500 insurance company, then as a partner at a leading commercial real estate-based hedge fund. In addition, Steve has recently served as a consultant to a diverse group of clients on financial and operational issues involving future state ALM, transformational business development and strategic positioning.
Steve received a B.A. in Economics from Harvard.
Support Team
Dan Dupaix joins Sustainability partners as Managing Partner of Infrastructure Services.
Dan is a mechanical engineer and Marine with an impressive background and proven experience in infrastructure. During his 10+ year tenure at Banner Health as Director of Engineering, Dan supported facility operation efforts across the Banner Health enterprise. Dan created a building automation system standard to ensure correct components, sequences of operation and network structures for both new construction and renovation projects. He was also instrumental in evaluating and improving energy efficiency and equipment life of all Banner facilities. Dan managed a $50M fund for building facility renewal and played a critical role in keeping Banner’s hospitals running efficiently and reliably. Throughout his career, Dan has successfully led engineering teams in the design, collaboration, negotiation, purchasing, and installation of mechanical and plumbing systems, HVAC, chilled beam technology, LED lighting, solar electric systems, electric vehicle charging stations, natural gas purchases, water savings technology on condenser water systems, fire sprinkler design, and building automation systems for hospitals, universities and laboratories.
Most recently, Dan was responsible for quickly and effectively converting Banner Health’s 31 major facilities and hundreds of clinics, making them safe against Covid-19.
Support Team
Kelly supports the SP team with his extensive knowledge in the building and construction Industry. With over 30 years of experience in construction and data analysis, Kelly is a welcome addition to SP’s team.
Kelly has broad knowledge of mine maintenance, mechanical and civil works for both surface and underground operations. In addition, he has held several Senior Project Management-level positions, responsible for high-revenue projects ranging from $100k to $5M.
Prior to joining SP, Kelly was the co-founder and operator of a translation, graphic design and web development company, specializing in print and news media. After spending nearly a decade growing the California-based venture, he relocated to Australia and opened an International branch. Kelly also co-founded a successful construction and production company in the land Down Under where he lead teams in building government housing ventures valued in excess of $10M.
Kelly studied as a Carpenter Apprentice and graduated to a Journeyman Carpenter at an early age. He acquired his General Builders License soon thereafter, concentrating primarily on building and remodeling residential housing.
In early 2018, after 18 years in the Outback, Kelly and his wife returned to the states and now reside in the Phoenix area.
Partner
Robin has held executive-level sales and marketing management positions over a 25+ year career spanning the HVAC, building automation, wireless, power monitoring, distributed generation, energy storage and renewables industries with notable companies such as Trane, Johnson Controls, NK Technologies, SunLink and Clearedge Power.
Robin holds a degree in Environmental Engineering with concentration in Solar/HVAC system design from California Polytechnic State University and has an MBA from Marquette University.
Support Team
Jim’s extensive consultancy expertise in financial and accounting services include: business due diligence data analytics, process engineering, accounting, and financial and operational internal audits.
Prior to joining SP, Jim established JR Parker Consulting assisting merger & acquisition teams with financial due diligence. He provided managerial accounting services, financial analysis and audits, budgeting and projections for clients. Jim worked at Hewlett Packard from 1984-1991 as an Information Systems Manager. Previously, he worked at Allis Chalmers Corporation as a Senior Financial Analyst and Auditor; and conducted financial audits for various industries at Arthur Anderson Consulting.
Jim holds a BBA in Finance and Accounting from University of WI, Madison and an MBA in Management Information Systems from University of MN, Minneapolis.
Support Team
Jill Brooke is a media professional who has worked in print, TV, books, radio and also run websites. The former CNN correspondent has been editor in chief of Avenue, Travel Savvy and Show Circuit Magazine. She has written for the New York Times, Metropolitan Home, Chicago Tribune, Harper’s Bazaar, New York Magazine and is also the author of several books, including “Don’t Let Death Ruin Your Life” and “The Need to Say No.” She started her career at ABC News’ “Nightline” and wrote columns both for the New York Post and New York Daily News. She also has been chief content officer for several websites and is a former speechwriter for Mayor Ed Koch. Most recently she developed the website, FlowerPowerWithJill . com, which is the first daily floral news site and is the playwright of “What’s Eating You?”
Support Team
Angela is responsible for executive support, corporate communications, project management, client relations services and office management.
