Climate Solutions Board of Directors

Jabe Blumenthal

Co-President

A Seattle native and resident, Jabe graduated from Yale in 1982 with a degree in Applied Mathematics and went to work for Microsoft, designing the first version of Excel and becoming the company’s first Program Manager. In 1994 he left Microsoft to teach mathematics and physics at his alma mater, Lakeside High School in Seattle, where he was the Head of the Science Department until the end of the 2003 school year. He is active in land conservation efforts in the West Coast, especially in the successful effort to protect the Loomis Forest in northeastern Washington, as well as in many regional environmental and political endeavors and campaigns.

Alexandra Loeb

Co-President

Alexandra moved to Seattle in 1988 due to her love of the region and to work for Microsoft. During her time with Microsoft she held many positions, including her last role as the Corporate Vice President for the Tablet PC. In 2004 she decided to leave the high tech world so that she could pursue her interests in environmental issues and related fields. She is currently board chair of Conservation Northwest and is very involved in environmental issues impacting our region. Prior to moving to Seattle, Alex worked at Harris Corporation in Florida. She holds a Bachelors in Math and Computer Science from Emory University in Atlanta.

James Dailey

Secretary

James brings a long standing interest in climate and is Director of Micro Energy Credits, aiming to source carbon offsets from the developing world. He worked at the Grameen Technology Center since its founding in 2001, and led the development of the Microfinance Open Source (Mifos) project, a micro-banking software application. He has consulted on technology and extending financial services in dozens of countries.

He holds a degree in MIS from the University of Notre Dame, and a Masters in international environmental policy from the University of Washington.

Phil Gerity

Treasurer

Phil is a senior consultant with ECG Management Consultants, Inc. where he advises health care organizations on strategic business issues. He has assisted hospital and physician clients with joint venture arrangements, complex physician compensation plans, and long-range strategic planning. Prior to ECG, Phil worked at Milliman, Inc. as a management consultant in the Technology & Operations Solutions practice where he focused on

performance measurement, business process redesign, and project management for health insurance companies.

Phil holds undergraduate degrees in Biology and Psychology from Western Washington University and a masters in Health Services Administration from the University of Washington. He is an avid tennis player and enjoys the outdoors.

Dave Bricklin

Dave is a partner in the Seattle law firm of Bricklin Newman Dold, LLP.  His practice emphasizes environ­mental, land use, and community issues. 

He received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University.  He is a graduate of The Harvard Law School where he was a co-founder and editor of the Harvard Environmental Law Review.  He has practiced environmental and land use law throughout Washington State since 1979. 

He was closely involved in the development of the Washington Growth Management Act. Dave is a past President and Director of the Washington Environmental Council, former Co-Chair of the Washington Conservation Voters, and a founding member and Director of Futurewise (formerly 1000 Friends of Washington).

Michael Butler

The co-founder of Cascadia Capital, Michael Butler leads the firm and is an emerging thought leader in the New Energy Economy. His recent focus on sustainable technology has helped propel Cascadia into some of the most important transactions in this market.

Prior to co-founding Cascadia Capital, Michael served as a Managing Director at Lehman Brothers responsible for global equity sales and equity syndicate. He also served on the firm’s Equity Commitment Committee, Equity Syndicate Committee and Private Equity Commitment Committee. Before joining Lehman Brothers, Michael was a Principal with Morgan Stanley & Company, where he was responsible for divisional global product and risk management and was a member of the division’s Operating Committee. He has been involved in numerous equity financing transactions for both public and private companies.

Michael holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Washington and an M.B.A. in International Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Marc Daudon

Principal and co-founder of Cascadia Consulting Group, Marc has over 25 years of international environmental consulting experience, with expertise in the fields of sustainability, resource conservation, waste management, energy, climate change and strategic planning. Marc helps public and private sector clients design and implement strategies achieve their corporate and sustainability goals.

 Prior to founding Cascadia in 1992, Marc created a Seattle-based mail order business, served as a consultant in Africa and Asia on energy issues, and worked in a Somali refugee camp.  Marc has a Masters in Public and Private Management from Yale University and a BA in Government and Legal Studies from Bowdoin College. He is Chair Emeritus of the Board of Washington Conservation Voters and also serves on the board of the Washington Environmental Council.

 Marc is married to Maud Smith Daudon, President of Seattle Northwest Securities and has two children ages 18 and 16. 

Ashley Henry

Ashley recently launched The Ashley Henry Company which provides business development and community affairs services to companies in the growing clean economy.  Ashley's work is informed by nearly 20 years of experience working with businesses, non-profits and political campaigns focused on renewable energy, clean technology, environmental protection and good governance. She was a co-founder of the Pacific Northwest chapter of the Renewable Energy Business Network and helped develop the Portland chapter of Women in Wind Energy. Ashley was also a founding steering committee member of the Portland chapter of Young Women Social Entrepreneurs.

In 2007, she was selected by the Portland Business Journal for its “40 Under 40” award. In her community, she also founded and performed for The Concert for Oregon’s Wetlands, a fundraiser for The Wetlands Conservancy.

Ashley received her B.S. in international affairs from Georgetown University and her master’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Oregon.
 

Anne McGuire

Anne McGuire currently works at Equilibrium Capital Group, LLC. Prior her work at Equilibrium, Anne was an Advisor to the Rock Creek Group, a $4 billion Hedge Fund of Funds based in Washington, DC.  Anne has a long history of public policy and regulatory experience, which Equilibrium believes is essential to the companies Equilibrium will be investing in.  She spent five years working for President Bill Clinton as Special Assistant to the President for Cabinet Affairs.

After her White House government service, she helped start up the firm Quinn Gillespie and Associates, one of the most successful strategic counseling practices representing Fortune 500 companies in Washington, DC. She then moved to O’Melveny and Myers and practiced law in the securities regulatory and strategic counseling practice groups.  Returning to government service she served in the U.S. Senate Leadership as Senior Counsel to then Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.  In that capacity she led a team tasked with creating energy policies and message for the United States Senate Caucus.  

Anne started her career as a staff person in the U.S. House of Representatives servicing on the Energy and Commerce Committee, working closely with US. Representative Phil Sharp during the writing of the landmark 1992 energy legislation.  

Anne is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and Fordham Uni

Steve Sundquist

Prior to retiring in May, 2005, Steve had a successful 21+ year career with Russell Investment Group in Tacoma. Among other senior positions, he served as Managing Director of National Accounts, and Chief Information Officer.

He is a member of the downtown chapter of Seattle Rotary, and a partner at Social Venture Partners, a Seattle-based community of social investors.  He also serves as a Board Director for ONE/Northwest, an organization specializing in delivering information technology tools and strategies for environmental non-profits to use in communicating and building relationships.

In the education arena, Steve was elected to the Seattle School Board in November, 2007, and is currently serving as Vice President of the Board.   Prior to that, he worked with a team of local community leaders to help establish the International Baccalaureate program at Seattle’s Chief Sealth High School.  He also served for many years on the Honors College Advisory Board for Washington State University, as a Trustee for the WSU Foundation, and as the Vice-Moderator and then Moderator for Fauntleroy Church, UCC.

Steve has a BS in Computer Science from Washington State University, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He enjoys playing basketball, reading, and camping with his wife and two daughters.

Liz Thomas

Liz is a partner at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, Preston Gates Ellis LLP, where she practices energy and utilities law. She works primarily with independent power producers and municipal utilities. She has advised clients on wholesale, retail and service agreements, and on rate design, cost allocation and finance issues. Liz has worked extensively on planning, facility siting and development, permitting, construction, and change in ownership. She has also worked with state and local governments and private clients to develop and implement utility legislation and policies. For example, her legislative work has included advice and drafting on the State Energy Policy Act. Prior to joining Preston Gates, Liz was an attorney at Evergreen Legal Services representing senior citizens and low income customers.

Daniel Weise

Daniel arrived in the Seattle area in 1992 from a professorship at Stanford University to be part of the then nascent Microsoft Research.  He spent much of his time at Microsoft Research working on automatic bug detection and program analysis tools.  He left Microsoft to follow interests in biotechnology and molecular biology.  Unfortunately, his scientific training left him susceptible to deeply understanding the physics of climate change and dynamical systems, as well as how the process of science itself requires that the actual threat be understated.  Daniel now spends his time tracking climate change literature.  He holds MS and PhD degrees from MIT.  To relax,  Daniel likes to cycle around on his road bike and grow vegetables in his garden.

Heidi Wills

Heidi Wills manages a local non-profit that serves disadvantaged children where she received the 2007 Chairman’s Award, recognized as one of the top Executive Directors in The First Tee network of 200 chapters.  She originally served on the organization’s founding board of directors; she has also served on the boards of Transportation Choices Coalition and Seattle Seafair.

A member of the Seattle City Council, she chaired the Energy and Environmental Policy Committee for four years, overseeing Seattle’s public electricity utility.  She has worked as environmental policy staff to King County Executive Ron Sims and a member of the King County Council. She was fundraising director for the King County Democrats, and an executive member of the 43rd District Democrats for 10 years.

Heidi is a graduate of the University of Washington where she served on the UW Board of Regents as student body president and earned her degree in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine.  She has summitted Mt. Rainier and biked across the country.  She loves animals, traveling, and exploring the natural environment.  She lives in Seattle with her husband and two young children.