directors

Peter C. Fusaro, Managing Director

Peter C. Fusaro is founder of the Global Change Foundation, and launched the Green Salon in 2008 as one of its initiatives. Peter is also Chairman of Global Change Associates a financial services advisory in New York and is the best selling author of What Went Wrong at Enron and 15 other books on energy and the environmental financial markets. Peter’s latest book will be published in 2009 by Oxford University Press on Energy and Environmental Project Finance Law and Taxation: New Investment Techniques. Peter is an energy and environmental industry thought leader noted for his keen insights in emerging energy and environmental financial markets. He has been on the forefront of energy and environmental change for over 34 years focusing on oil, gas, power, coal, emissions, cleantech, carbon trading and renewable energy markets. Peter is currently advising on carbon trading and finance as well as clean energy technology and renewable energy to financial services companies worldwide. Peter was selected for Who’s Who in America for 2007-2010 and Who’s Who in the World for 2009-2010. He coined the term “Green Trading” and holds the annual Wall Street Green Trading Summit VIII each spring (www.wsgts.com). Peter co-founded the Energy Hedge Fund Center LLC (www.energyhedgefunds.com) in 2004 which tracks energy and environmental hedge funds. Peter is advisor to eight cleantech companies in the US. Peter graduated with an MA in international relations from Tufts University and a BA from Carnegie-Mellon University. He is on the Advisory Board of the ERB Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.

Carmen Cook, Director

Carmen Cook came to New York from Lakota, Iowa to study voice at the Juilliard School from which she graduated and after which she performed in opera, operetta, musical theater, and television for many years. She sang at the Aspen Festival and was a Regional Finalist in the Met Auditions. She teaches voice privately. Her 48 episodes on Woman’s Day USA as hostess and chef led to a fifteen-year career teaching “Cooking for Singles” and “Romantic Dinners for Couples” at The New School. She was quoted in Cooking Light and The Reader’s Digest “Quotable Quotes” section: “Try to be angry with someone who just fed you something delicious.” She envisioned the Green Salon with her husband Peter Fusaro as a place where music, environmental speakers and conversation have the same powerful effect for positive change as “something delicious.”

Patrick J. Harvey, Director

Patrick is President and CEO of Think! Biofuels Group LLC. He ran BNP Paribus’ Opus Fund, where he managed short - term trading in the energy and commodity sectors, project development & structured finance/private equity for energy and renewable energy deals, and project-level equity investments. He has consulted privately on several large energy projects, was a partner at Precision Trading Group, an Energy Trader at Oscar Gruss & Sons, a Trader at Fossett Securities, and a Derivatives Trader at the American Stock Exchange. Patrick is active in the philanthropic world in New York.

Kris Shaw, Director

Kris’ eight years of project leadership experience spans high-rise construction, infrastructure, sustainable design and renewable energy. He is a leading mind in the field of Green Engineering and Construction. Kris has forged partnerships with investors, clients, suppliers, regulators, contractors and employees. Clients include JPMorgan Chase, Herman Miller, Trump National, 1400 Fifth Avenue New York, and BAM LDC.

Kris is Director of Sustainable Design & Administration at Crescent Energy where he manages all aspects of company operations, contract negotiations, construction, and project oversight. He has promoted and monitored the LEED Rating System across a multitude of projects in the Northeast; the focus of his work was the design and implementation of the LEED Rating System and other Energy Programs for Commercial, Residential and institutional facilities, which integrated innovative workplace concepts with sustainable architecture, interior design and site planning.

He is also President of Project Strategix, LLC, a project management consultancy, and chairman of Think! Biofuels Group, LLC, a distributor of high-quality biodiesel blends. Kris leads all aspects of research, production and distribution of biodiesel. Kris’ formal training was in architecture and mechanical engineering. Kris is active with nonprofits in the New York area.

Nicole Faucher, Director

Nicole Faucher is the Chief Executive Officer and Founding Partner of Fontaine Partners LLC. Fontaine Partners is a multi-strategy asset management firm focused on cleantech and renewable energy. Nicole is a creative, forward thinking and results/team driven entrepreneur with over 25 years in financial services. She was Founder and CEO of CapSpring.com, a pioneering e-hub solution allowing institutional investors to hire and manage service providers using the Internet. Nicole was President of R. V. Kuhns and Associates, now the 6th largest pension consultant in the US, where she brought on board large clients like the State of Wyoming, The Navajo Nation and Tulare County. She has built investment programs for public, corporate and high net worth clients. Nicole spent her first decade in the investment business at CIBC Wood Gundy building a successful investment management business with over $250 million in assets for institutional and high net worth clients. In the course of her investment career, Ms. Faucher has personally and for clients invested in all major asset classes and has been investing in emerging and international developed markets for over 20 years.

Nicole sat on the Board of Trustees for Paypal.com mutual funds. Ms. Faucher has a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from University of Saskatchewan in Canada. She did have her Series 66, 7 and 31 and is fluent in French. Her first job after graduating from university was President of AIESEC Canada, where she led the non-profit to record levels of success, including founding AIESEC India. AIESEC India today remains the strongest country with 25% of global traineeships out of a 96 country system.

Frank R. Maresca, Jr., Director

Currently is the CEO of Frank Maresca & Associates and Martin Tommer both are consulting firms specializing in Technology and Life Sciences. Mr. Maresca companies serve clients globally. Mr. Maresca has held several key positions in the securities industry over the past decade. He is a versatile management professional with broad ranging experience in building start-ups, turnaround specialist and high growth financial operations through decisive leadership, influence and action. In the course of his career, Mr. Maresca has successfully taken companies public, effectively led numerous mergers and acquisitions and raised funds for public and private ventures poised for rapid expansion. Mr. Maresca currently serves as a board member for a number of for profit and nonprofit organizations, including Health People a nonprofit agency which is a groundbreaking peer organization which helps people from low-income communities become leaders to effectively fight chronic ill health.

Mr. Maresca received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Pace University, New York, New York, in 1992, with concentrations in Accounting, Finance, and Management. He holds a number of securities licenses and credentials.

Daniel DeSiena, Director

Daniel DeSiena is Senior Vice President and Director of Design at MKDA, where he oversees project development and ensures strict adherence to budgetary and design standards. He has been with MKDA for more than 23 years.

A distinguished leader in green design, Mr. DeSiena is a founding member and fund raising chair for “Green October,” New York City’s first interior design environmental exposition and trade show as well as a founding member and fund raising chair of “Green Design New York.” He was instrumental in the development of the first environmental newsletter in the design industry, which had an international readership. Among many other publications, Daniel was recently featured in “Monochrome,” published by Monacelli Press in 2008.

An involved member of the arts community, Daniel DeSiena is a founding member of the Council of Drawings and Prints and the Decorative Arts Council at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institute. He was on the nominating committee for the Smithsonian Institute’s National Design Awards in 2005. A benefactor of the performing arts, he serves on the Board of Encompass New Opera Theater. Daniel DeSiena is also a prolific traveler who tours the world’s treasured museums absorbing the unique cultural heritage of each place he visits, enriching his design repertoire and his life.