University students and alumni to participate in the management of a highly successful accelerator program,…
Rex is an entrepreneur with a long history of building and managing companies and successful teams. He has product development, management and technical expertise having founded and served as CEO with technology companies both in Europe and the United States.
His background includes experience in the design, development and implementation of business automation systems as well as sales, marketing, online marketing, and consulting. Rex has worked with many hundreds of companies including a diverse range of startups and global corporations.
In 2007-2008 volunteered for the California Cleantech Open as Chair of the Mentors and Angel Investor programs and an active member of the fundraising team. He holds an M.A. with Honors from Oxford University.
Helen is a veteran in high-tech and brings over 20 years of specialized business building and entrepreneurial know-how. Her business experience includes product marketing, marketing communications and operations at companies including Hitachi and HP.
The past ten years, she has focused her efforts on entrepreneurial ventures providing her expertise in product and go-to-market strategies, and most recently assisting fledgling companies in organizational development and management. Helen’s life-long passion for environmental issues and sustainability practices brought her to the Cleantech Open in 2007 where she volunteered as the Event Co-Chair. Helen joined the staff in 2010 to manage Cleantech Open programs, national events and company operations. She holds a BA in Biology from the University of California, San Diego and is fluent in French.
Anne’s commitment to non-profits spans several decades and two countries. She serves as a director of the National Strategy Council of the Cleantech Open, supporting the Executive Director in the development of strategy, governance, alumni data gathering and analysis, fund-raising and operational excellence.
When president of the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation Anne initiated the group’s first multi-million dollar capital campaign and brought the City of Palo Alto on-board as a campaign partner. She hired the non-profit’s first COO and wrote its first business plan. The capital campaign met its $3.6 million target and the Art Center reopened in the fall.
Anne started her professional career as a business journalist in London. She worked in television, radio and print in the U.K., Canada and the U.S. before moving into the web world with positions at Stanford, AOL/Netscape and CareerPath. She holds a B.A. (Hon) from Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada and an M.Sc. (Econ) from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Vinesh Mehta is a member of the Cleantech Open’s national business development team. His responsibilities include sponsorship development, sales and marketing operations, and investor events management.
Vinesh has over 15 years of experience in the high-tech and cleantech sectors. Prior to joining the team he was head of business development and operations at Suntulit – an energy efficiency startup that was also a national finalist in the 2010 Cleantech Open competition as well as a winner of the 2011 GE Ecomagination Prize.
Vinesh holds a BS with distinction in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Taylor brings a global design perspective to the Cleantech Open, having studied Graphic Design at London College of Communication, then promptly being hired as an Interactive Designer for The EVS Group in Sydney, subsequently moving to the US in 1994.
Since then, he’s worked as an Art Director for LA Times/Careerbuilder, Gannett Newspapers, ABC/Disney and USC Marshall School of Business.
Nancy attended City College of San Francisco where she graduated with an Associate Degree in Business Mathematics. While in school, Nancy volunteered for several organizations. Volunteering with a variety of talented people was an experience that shaped her as she moved forward in her career. Once out of college, she worked as a Team Lead for Arysta LifeScience North America, then she moved to Redwood City and started a family. She’s been able to refine her skills over the years, working for various clients in a wide range of fields.
Prior to Cleanteach Open Marit worked for Stockholm Environment Institute – a global think thank on sustainabilty, where she did research on environmental policy and awareness. She has published policy briefs and guidelines to influence policy makers and help businesses to adopt environmentally friendly practices. Her background includes studies in envrionmental technology and politics in Estonia and France. She holds MSc in Environmental Management from Tallinn University.
Lelde has a finance and economics background and has a keen interest in entrepreneurship and renewable technologies. She has gained a project management experience when working for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Baltics and leading a solar energy research oriented non-profit organization in Latvia. Lelde’s experience includes investment project assessment, financial valuations and business strategy development in sectors related to renewable energy and sustainability, and her prime interest is exploring cleantech start-up development mechanisms in US. Lelde has graduated with a degree in Economics and Business Administration from Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and is currently pursuing her MBA.