Michael Conti, Director

 

Michael Conti is currently an associate at Hudson Clean Energy Partners and finishing up at masters in International Energy Management and Policy at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs.  During the first year of his masters, Conti worked with the Asset Finance & Leasing team at Deutsche Bank.  Prior to enrolling in the energy program at SIPA, Conti served as the Research Liaison for New Energy Finance in North America, before the firm was acquired by Bloomberg in December, 2009.  In this capacity he managed the firm’s North American client relationships.  Prior to joining NEF, Conti focused his undergraduate studies on the affects that institutions and institutional change have on economic growth.  He authored an honors thesis which applies systems thinking and new institutional economic theory to the energy industry: Improving Societal Welfare through Institutional Change in the Energy Industry.

 

Conti will have earned his MPA from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs by December, 2011. He holds a BA in Economics from Connecticut College and joined the YPE Leadership Team in 2008. 

 

Conti is also a co-founder of the NYC Clean Energy and Entrepreneurship Network (NYC CLEEN) and occasionally publishes papers on the energy industry, among other topics. 

 

michael.conti@hudsoncep.com | (973) 809-6328

Alexandra Coolidge, Board Member

 

Alexandra is a Vice President at Riverstone Holdings LLC, a global private equity firm dedicated to the energy sector, where she focuses on fundraising, investor relations and communications. 

Prior to joining Riverstone, she was an Associate at JPMorgan, where she reported directly into the CEO of JPMorgan Private Bank. Before joining JPMorgan, Ms. Coolidge worked at Morgan Stanley in Marketing, Fixed Income Sales and Latin American Mergers and Acquisitions.  

Alexandra received her M.B.A. from INSEAD Business School and her B.S., cum laude, from Georgetown School of Foreign Service. At Georgetown, she rowed on the Varsity Lightweight Women's Crew Team. She is fluent in English, Spanish, and French and conversational in German and Czech.  

alexandra@riverstonellc.com | (212) 271-6266

Chris Hunter, Board Member

 

Chris Hunter is a recognized expert and finance executive with more than a decade of experience in the energy and carbon markets. He currently is Senior VP and Head of Development for AMSOLAR, a leading developer of commercial and utility-scale solar PV projects. Before AMSOLAR, Chris started and led the US investment business for Climate Change Capital (CCC), a $1.5 billion London-based asset management firm focused on the renewable energy and low carbon sectors.  

Prior to joining CCC, Chris created an energy and carbon advisory practice at GreenOrder, where clients included KKR (regarding the acquisition of TXU), BP, FPL Group and the GE-AES Greenhouse Gas Services joint venture. Before GreenOrder, Chris spent four years in Brussels with Johnson & Johnson leading the corporation's international energy procurement, energy efficiency and carbon reduction strategies.  

Chris is a founding member of the Advisory Board of The Climate Group, and has also served on the Advisory Boards of the Sanford C Bernstein Leadership & Ethics Center, The Greenhouse Gas Management Institute and Habitat Carbon Assets. A frequently quoted speaker, Chris regularly presents on energy issues at the Annual Milken Institute Global Conference and has been featured in Business Week, the Financial Times and numerous broadcast television features.  

Chris earned a Bachelors of Science (highest honors) in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers University, and is also a graduated of the EMBA-Global program, a joint Executive MBA offered by Columbia and London Business Schools.  

hunter@caa.columbia.edu | (917) 667-4327

Amy Bowe, Board Member

 

Amy Bowe serves as an Environmental Affairs Advisor at Hess Corp., an integrated oil and gas company.  Amy's area of expertise is in strategic issues facing the upstream oil and gas industry, including long-term supply and demand trends, resource access opportunities and challenges, and competitive benchmarking.  Amy spent three years with Hess' Corporate Strategy group before transitioning into her current role in November 2010.  Before joining Hess, Amy worked as a Senior Oil Analyst at PIRA Energy and as an Analyst with PFC Energy's Upstream Competition Service in Washington, DC.  Amy started her career at Ziff Brothers Investments in New York, where she also received her introduction to the energy sector, covering everything from integrated oil companies and oil service companies to coal producers to power generation.  Amy holds a Master's degree in International Relations and Economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a Bachelor's degree from the Unversity of Arizona in Interdisciplinary Studies in the areas of Communication, French, and Political Science.  A native of Arizona, Amy has lived on the East Coast for 11 years, seven of which she has spent in New York.  She has been a member of YPE, between the DC and New York chapters, for five years.

ABowe@hess.com

Patrick Valentino, Board Member

 

Patrick Valentino works in Société Générale’s Project Finance Group as an Associate. Since joining the Project Finance Group in New York, Patrick has worked on multiple transactions in both the renewable and conventional power sectors as well as in oil & gas. Mr. Valentino holds a MIA in International Energy Management and Policy from the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University and a BA in Business from Villanova University.

 

patrick.valentino@sgcib.com

 

Russell Laplante, Board Member

 

Russell is responsible for OwnEnergy’s project development efforts in the Southwestern and Great Plains states. In this region, he leads efforts in project origination, land lease contracts, interconnection, permitting & regulatory issues, and power purchase contracts. Russell also works on the financial structuring and capital raising for OwnEnergy’s projects.

 

Prior to OwnEnergy, Russell was a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs in its Private Wealth Management Group, where he managed the investment portfolios for corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and non-profit organizations. Russell holds a BA in Economics from Bates College.

 

Russell Laplante is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts. He lives and works in New York City and is a mentor for New York City high school students.  Russell enjoys skiing, reading, exercise, and following sports in his free time.   

russell.laplante@ownenergy.net

Stephen Marlin, Board Member

 

 

Stephen is the manager of GM’s Advanced Technology Demonstration Service Facility in the Northeast.  During his 4 years at the facility he has overseen the implementation of the GM Project Driveway Fuel Cell demonstration program and the development hydrogen-fueling infrastructure in New York and Connecticut.  With the launch of the Chevrolet Volt Stephen became heavily involved supporting Detroit as vehicles and charging infrastructure were rolled out in the New York Metropolitan area.  Stephen has served as an electric vehicle subject matter expert on a number of media outlets including CNN and Good Morning America.

Prior to coming to New York Stephen spent 10 years in Detroit working at GM’s World Headquarters and the Warren Technical Center.  While he worked on a variety of projects he was most enthused about working with alternative or advanced technology projects like the Parallel Hybrid Pickup Truck and the just launched Chevy Cruze Eco.

Stephen holds an undergraduate degree in Power Technology from the University of Central Missouri, a MS in Organizational Behavior from Central Michigan University and is currently attending Columbia University to complete an MS in Sustainability Management.

 

stephen.f.marlin@gm.com

Yumi Yi, Board Member

 

 

Yumi is head of commercial development for the Atlantic region at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. She has held various management positions abroad prior to joining BNEF covering commercial development in the clean energy sector working closely with key drivers in the emerging markets, focused in Asia and the former Soviet Union. She served as policy analyst at the White House under Chief Information Office, Vivek Kundra and also covered crude oil markets as an analyst at LCM. Yumi majored in Russian at Emory University and concentrated in energy markets at Columbia University for her graduate studies.  

 

yyi17@bloomberg.net

Maral Ryzakuliyeva, Board Member

 

Maral Ryzakuliyeva is an Equity Analyst in the Integrated Oils and NOCs Group of IHS Herold, where she currently focuses on analyzing oil and gas companies in Russia, the Caspian Sea region, and China. 

Ms. Ryzakuliyeva holds a Master of International Affairs in International Finance and an MA in Regional Studies - Russia and Eurasia from Columbia University. Prior to joining IHS Herold, she worked for Global Energy Capital, a company focused on investments in the energy sector of  BRIC countries, and interned at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Ms. Ryzakuliyeva speaks Turkmen, Russian, Turkish and English. 

 

 

maralryzakuliyeva@yahoo.com

Jake Baker, Board Member

 

Jake Baker has a visceral response to systems that operate inefficiently.  He loves buildings, but the inefficiencies in the current real estate industry frustrate him.  A lot.  He believes that the application of building energy efficiency will act as one of the single largest drivers of wealth and job creation in his lifetime.  He is professionally active in the field of energy efficiency and the development of financing strategies via his current role with Deutsche Bank's Climate Change Advisors team (DBCCA).  After joining Wall Street one month to the day before Lehman's bankruptcy, he has helped to develop the New York-based Carbon Counter, the DB MASDAR Clean Tech Fund, and the DB NASDAQ OMX Clean Tech Index.  He is currently focused full-time on developing energy efficiency retrofit investment strategies for large and small buildings. 

 

Prior to his current position, he worked as a strategy consultant with Oliver Wyman supporting Fortune 500 energy and technology clients, authored an in-depth technical study of electric vehicle market potential and existing fleet performance, and worked for an early-stage venture capital firm in London.  Jake also spends his time outside of the office focused on energy efficiency and technology investing, and he is a co-founder of the NYC Clean Energy and Entrepreneurship Network (NYC CLEEN).  Jake graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Political Theory.  He lives in New York City and in those rare moments of spare time co-authors a personal blog at www.FinancingEfficiency.com. 

 

jake.baker@db.com