About CarbonFree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Management Team

CarbonFree has a skilled and experienced management team, focused exclusively on solar power project development. Team members are listed below, by office.

Executive Management

David Oxtoby

CEO

David Oxtoby, MBA, CFA

David is an experienced CEO with a strong background in finance. For the five years prior to founding CarbonFree in 2006, David was the Vice President – Investments for OPG Ventures Inc., a $70-million venture capital fund focused on clean technologies. David has also worked as a Senior Equity Analyst with BMO Nesbitt Burns and as President of the Indonesian operations of Paribas Asia Equity (now BNP Paribas), an investment bank. In the late 1990s, David was CEO of Careclinix Inc., an Internet-based company backed by the Brightspark Group.

David earned a BA in Economics and Philosophy from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Carleton University and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He is a CFA charterholder and member of the Toronto CFA Society. David has been a director of a number of private companies, and for several years was a member of the Business Board of the University of Toronto and a director of The University of Toronto Press.

Laurence Goldberg

COO and General Counsel

Laurence Goldberg,  LLM

Laurie is an experienced business lawyer and business principal. Until joining CarbonFree, Laurie practised for a number of years with Lang Michener LLP, a prominent Canadian law firm. Prior to Lang Michener, Laurie was a founding partner of a technology boutique law firm, spent four years practising law in Europe (based in post-revolutionary Prague, and also London) and served as associate commission counsel to a Government of Canada Royal Commission. Laurie is also an experienced investor and advisor to a number of private companies involved in a range of business sectors.

Laurie was called to the Ontario Bar in 1985. He holds an LL.M. (London School of Economics), Certificate in Air and Space Law (University of London), LL.B. (Osgoode Hall Law School/York University) and a B.A. (University of Manitoba). Laurie is a director of a number of private companies and is the vice chairman of the board of AMREF Canada (African Medical & Research Foundation).

Daniel Soper

CFO

Daniel Soper

Dan joined CarbonFree in 2010 and brings experience as both a principal investor and a hands-on operational manager. From 2004 through 2010, Dan was Senior Vice President of Callisto Capital, a private equity firm, where he successfully deployed capital and actively managed private investments in various portfolio companies achieving high equity returns for investors. Dan's experience includes overseeing an investment in an international energy performance contracting firm. Before joining Callisto, Dan was Chief Operating Officer of Danier Leather, a TSX-listed company, from 2001 to 2003, and a Senior Vice President at Chapters Inc., where he was responsible for the introduction, development and management of the Chapters Book Superstores from 1994 to 2001. This division of Chapters grew to be a $375 million business under Dan’s leadership. Dan started his career at Bain & Company, working in both the Toronto and San Francisco offices from 1990 to 1994.

Dan is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, with a BA in Economics. He is currently a director of the University of Toronto Press and an independent school in Toronto.

U.S. Northeast

Philip Robins

VP – Business Development

Philip Robins, BASc, MBA

Pip is a senior executive with more than 25 years of international management and business development experience in the construction, manufacturing, and energy industries. Prior to joining CarbonFree, Pip worked for 11 years for Norsk Hydro, primarily in the company’s aluminum extrusion business area. Based in Europe, Asia, and then North America, he was successful in numerous roles, including Plant Manager, Regional Manager, and VP Strategy and Business Development. Most recently, he was a Senior Vice President for Hydro Aluminum North America, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. In the early 1990s, Pip was a senior consultant with International Leadership Olle Bovin SA in Switzerland, providing project management support on global power plant projects. Previously he worked for more than ten years as an Engineer and Project Manager on hydroelectric, building, and oil and gas construction projects in Canada and Australia.

Pip earned a BASc (Honours) in Civil Engineering from the University of British Columbia, and an MBA from the International Institute of Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Hellen Spanjer

Director – Business Development

Hellen Spanjer, B.Comm. Honours

Hellen is an accomplished general management and senior marketing executive with twenty-four years of domestic and global experience in the consumer products, healthcare and pharmaceuticals industries. After graduating from university, Hellen joined Warner-Lambert, initially in brand management. Through applying her strong cross-functional team leadership skills to complex challenges in Canadian, U.S. and global markets, Hellen became the youngest person ever to be promoted to corporate VP in the company’s history, taking on the position of Vice President, Global New Products, reporting to the Warner-Lambert’s worldwide president. After Warner-Lambert was acquired by Pfizer in 2000, Hellen worked with a former colleague to launch and grow a very successful conference, publishing and consulting organization called DTC Perspectives, focused on pharmaceutical marketing.

Hellen earned her Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queens University in Kingston, ON, and completed an Executive Program in Managerial Issues in the Global Enterprise at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona.

John Koontz

Regional Manager, Northeast

John Koontz, NABCEP

John is a NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer, with several years of solar project management experience. Prior to joining CarbonFree Technology, John worked in residential and commercial construction project management. John began his career by starting his own construction company, which achieved annual sales of $1 million, and he then worked for several larger companies including Toll Bros. Inc. and Hensel Phelps Inc. John has managed range of projects, from the construction of a $30 million, 40-home neighborhood in Virginia to a $160 million Patent Office renovation in Washington, D.C.

John earned two Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Richmond – one in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance, and the other in Studio Art.

U.S. Southwest

Lee Feliciano

Executive Vice President

Lee Feliciano, MBA

Lee is an experienced solar power developer, having worked in the sales, marketing and installation of solar electric systems for several years. He was the founder of SolEquity, Inc., an Arizona-based solar power development company which merged with CarbonFree in 2010. Lee is a frequent lecturer on the subject of solar energy at community colleges, conferences and industry events. Prior to entering the solar industry, Lee had significant experience in business and marketing applications utilizing geodemographic data and geographic information systems.

Lee sits on the City of Scottsdale Green Building Advisory Committee, is a past organizer of the Green Building Expo and is an active participant in Arizona’s renewable energy and sustainability-focused community. Lee earned a BAA in Applied Geography from Ryerson University in Toronto. He also received an MBA from the joint program offered by the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and the Schulich School of Business at York University. Lee is also an alumnus of Solar Energy International's PV Design and Installation program.

Canada

Dominique Barker

VP – Business Development

Dominique Barker, MBA

Dominique brings considerable financial, analytical and sales experience to our team. Prior to joining CarbonFree in 2010, Dominique worked for the investment bank Credit Suisse, where she was a research analyst covering Canadian Utilities from 2003 to 2007, and then helped coordinate the bank’s global Alternative Energy research team from 2007 to 2010. Before joining Credit Suisse, Dominique worked in institutional equity sales and investment banking in Paris for UBS and in Toronto for TD Securities and Newcrest Capital.

Dominique earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree (Civil Environmental) from Queen’s University in Kingston, ON, and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. She completed her Chartered Accountant (CA) designation in 1997 and articled at Ernst & Young. She became a CFA charterholder in 1999. Dominique speaks French fluently, and has served as a director of a number of organizations including Evergreen (2004-7), the University of Toronto Business Board (2003-7) & Audit Committee (2007-9), and the University of Toronto Press (2005-9).

Antonio Antonopoulos

Regional Manager, Ontario

Antonio Antonopoulos, MSc (Renewable Energy)

Antonio is an experienced renewable energy project developer and engineer who has worked on a number of projects in Europe and the Middle East. While employed by a renewable energy consultancy in Italy, Antonio worked on projects including the Energy Supply Strategy for the Masdar Development in Abu Dhabi (“the world's first 100%-renewable, sustainable city”).

Antonio earned a European Master of Science in Renewable Energy from the EUREC Agency in Brussels, through the Universität Oldenburg, with specialist coursework on hybrid energy systems undertaken at the Universität Kassel in Germany. He also holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto. In addition to English, Antonio speaks Greek, German, Italian, Spanish and some French.

Eric Suriano

Senior Project Manager

Eric Suriano

Eric is a very experienced solar project manager. From 2000 to 2007 Eric managed construction projects for Arizona Public Service, at the Solar Test and Research (STAR) Center, the global leader in solar power technology testing. Eric played a senior role in the installation of 22 solar projects with a total capacity of approximately 6.5MW, including fixed tilt, single- and dual-axis tracking flat panel systems and concentrating photovoltaic systems.

In 2007 he left APS to found ViaSol Energy Solutions, the solar installation company which built the two elevated tracking systems for CarbonFree at Arizona State University. In total, the solar projects Eric has worked on over the years have successfully generated more than 80,000 MWh of clean electricity to date. In addition to his solar project experience, Eric brings an excellent understanding of the utility perspective on solar power, and he is well known in the industry. Eric studied Supply Chain Management at the University of Arizona.


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