Cleantech Open Appoints Industry Experts to National Board of Directors and Key Leadership Roles - Seite 2

• Bill Farris is associate laboratory director in charge of NREL's innovation, partnering, and outreach directorate, and has managed the commercialization & technology transfer office since October 2008. In addition to leading the lab's internal and external communication and outreach, Bill directs NREL's efforts to accelerate commercialization and the transfer of laboratory technologies to the marketplace. He also oversees all licensing, sponsored research agreements, enterprise development, and innovation management functions at NREL. Prior to joining NREL, Bill worked at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), where he was responsible for commercialization, economic development, business and competitive intelligence, and commercial relationships. Bill has also managed new venture activities at the Pacific Northwest Division of the Battelle Memorial Institute, and served as a primary point of contact for interactions with venture capitalists. He is a member of the Association of University Technology Managers and the Licensing Executive Society.
• Emerson Farrell is responsible for the overall vision and strategy of FGE through the management of strategic partnerships, long-term financial planning, selection of projects, and oversight of project financial planning and execution. Before founding FGE, Emerson previously led corporate strategy and business development for the high-tech firm ZINK Imaging, managed client engagements and business development efforts with management consulting firm Silver Oak Partners, and participated in the formation of international private-public investment funds with Economic Innovation. Emerson also serves as board director and/or senior advisor to various firms focused on clean technology, biofuels, and distributed power generation. Mr. Farrell serves on the board of the Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs (HAE), and the For A Day Foundation.
• Mitch Jacobson is a leader in bringing together government, industry, academia, utility and community interests to organize and shape the Clean Technology and Clean Energy Cluster in Central Texas since 2009. He is the co-director of the Clean Energy Incubator at the University of Texas at Austin and provides various advisory roles for the Pecan Street Consortium, SXSW Eco, the Environmental Sciences Institute at UT Austin, The Nature Conservatory, The Austin Young Chamber, and the Texas Foundation of Innovation & Commercialization. Formerly, he served as lead advisor to Austin Technology Incubator (ATI)'s clean-energy companies, chairman of the board of the CleanTX Foundation, and regional director for the Cleantech Open. Mitch has more than 25 years' experience in the technology sector: he founded the Eyes of Texas Partners angel investment group, VP of sales for Tech Data Corporation, and director of sales for Dell Inc.
• Erik Steeb is vice-president of programs at LACI, the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, where he runs portfolio company programs with an eye toward scaling breadth, quality and capacity. He is also executive director of the Western Division of the Cleantech Open, and sits on the executive committee of the First Look West DOE University Clean Energy Challenge. Through these organizations, Erik works with more than 100 early-stage companies each year, honing their business strategies, connecting them with investors, customers, business partners, and advisors. Erik is also co-founder and managing director of Segue Consulting, providing interim operations, marketing, finance and executive office leadership for early- to mid-stage companies in cleantech and high-tech. Prior to his move to cleantech, Erik led Intel's EMEA marketing organization, co-founded Intel's alliances and business development organizations, and was responsible for a worldwide sales group that generated more than $6B in annual revenue.
• Alec Wright is chief operating officer and startup director at GSVlabs, where he oversees startup recruitment and the growth of the GSVlabs ecosystem. Prior to GSVLabs, Alec served as a management consultant for several early-stage startups, and worked in banking and finance law. Alec has also held roles focused on investment due diligence, financial structuring, and corporate compliance. Alec also helps lead the GSVlabs Sustainability Lab, working with the Cleantech Open to deploy sustainability-focused programming, mentorship and business growth opportunities. A longtime sustainability advocate, he writes about cleantech innovation at greenchipped.com and has served as a judge for the Department of Energy's FLOW startup competition.

Functional leadership appointments: