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COMPANY
OUR TEAM
The Soltage team is made of highly trained and experienced individuals who are committed to realizing the success of your solar energy project.
Jesse Grossman (CEO, co-founder)
Jesse Grossman is Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Soltage. He has held this position since the company’s founding in October 2005. Jesse has formal training in emerging markets, physical science and business development. Prior to Soltage, he worked in venture development and management, project finance, marketing, and resource use strategies — from the far reaches of East Africa and Indonesia to the East and West Coasts of the continental U.S. Jesse has experience in energy demand management for both solar and wind companies. He also has extensive experience working with project developers and has developed and managed projects for the USAID, USGS, and the Carnegie Mellon Foundation. Jesse has an undergraduate degree in Biology from Carleton College, and a MESc from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies with a Business Development certification from Yale’s MacMillan Center. He speaks four languages and is a published author and speaker in the field of emerging markets and renewable energy.
Vanessa E-H Stewart (COO, co-founder)
Vanessa E-H Stewart is the Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Soltage. Vanessa has held this position since the company’s founding in October 2005. Prior to Soltage, she launched several clean tech products as Best Available Control Technologies for the Oregon and Washington Departments of Transportation and Caltrans under a federal contract with the Environmental Protection Agency. Her energy management career includes utility-scale project finance consulting for Southwest utilities and Native American Tribes, resource analysis and business development for a cellulose ethanol company, and energy consulting for the establishment of cogeneration feedstock and supply chains for the state of Oregon. She has years of experience establishing policy on energy and emissions credit trading and air quality policy in California. Vanessa graduated with interdisciplinary honors from Stanford University, was a Dean’s scholar at the Yale School of Management and studied at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She is also a U.S. Green Building Council member.
George Schaefer (CFO)
George Schaefer is the Chief Financial Officer at Soltage. Before that, George was the CFO of the Cambridge, Massachusetts’s based Mascoma Corporation, a company developing biochemical processes to produce cellulosic ethanol. Prior to that, George was CFO at ASAlliances Biofuels LLC of Dallas, Texas, which develops, owns and operates ethanol production facilities and a nationwide product distribution system. VeraSun Energy acquired ASAlliances Biofuels in August of 2007. George has also served as the vice president and treasurer of NRG Energy, where he led their emergence and restructuring following its bankruptcy. In addition, George has held senior finance posts at GE Capital, Reliant Energy International, PSEG Global, Inc., and Entergy Power Group. He graduated with a BA in Economics and Political Science from The American University and an MPA in Finance from Syracuse University.
Stephen Goodbody (VP Engineering)
Stephen Goodbody is the Vice President of Engineering at Soltage, and is a NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer(TM). He has served in this position since September 2007. Steve joined Soltage from Johnson Controls, Inc., a leading supplier of building management and environmental control systems, where he was the Operations Manager for the New Jersey region. In this role, he was responsible for executing over one hundred new construction and retrofit projects, ranging from pharmaceutical manufacturing and bio-containment facilities to banks, hospitals, schools, municipal facilities and office complexes. With a background in facilities management and engineering within the semiconductor industry, Steve has a wealth of experience in planning and executing complex electrical and mechanical infrastructure projects around critical ongoing operations. He has worked on projects in Europe, Asia and throughout the U.S., and has been resident in New Jersey since 1995. Steve holds a Chartered Mechanical Engineering certificate (the UK equivalent of a PE license) from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and is a member of both the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Steve holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree with honors from Aston University, Birmingham, UK.
Brooks Kaufman (VP Finance)
Brooks Kaufman is the Vice President of Finance at Soltage. He has held this position since May 2009. Prior to joining Soltage Brooks was a VP in the Energy and Power investment banking group for Banc of America Securities responsible for execution of power and utilities M&A and capital markets transactions, with a focus on competitive generation and the renewable energy sector. He worked in a similar role as a VP for Fieldstone Private Capital Group from 2004-2007. Brooks served as a senior banker on EUROMONEY Project Finance’s North American Portfolio Financing Deal of the Year 2006. Mr. Kaufman previously worked at Mirant Corporation (formerly Southern Energy, Inc.) in treasury and business development functions in the United States and Europe. Brooks has led multi-disciplinary teams in connection with the analysis, financing and acquisition of public and privately held companies, and the development and construction of brownfield and greenfield power plants. He has extensive investment, valuation, structuring, merger & acquisition, divestiture, financial and operating experience and has evaluated, negotiated and executed multiple project and corporate financings, coordinating the efforts of lenders, consultants and rating agencies. Brooks began his career at JPMorgan where he worked as an associate following the completion of the financial analyst training program. Mr. Kaufman has a BA in economics, political science and English literature from Colgate University and an MBA with concentrations in accounting and finance from the NYU Stern School of Business.
Marc Miller (Sr VP Marketing and Sales)
Marc Miller is the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Soltage. Marc has more than 25 years of combined business development, sales, marketing, procurement and R&D experience in both the energy and utility industries. Most recently, Marc was at Greenhouse Gas Services, a GE-AES venture, where he led the sales and marketing efforts. Prior to that, he was the business development director of energy services for Johnson Controls where he developed and sold total energy expense management solutions to Fortune 1000 companies. As enterprise business development director at Northeast Utilities Services Company, he was instrumental in integrating leading edge renewable energy technology deployment, including “Smart Grid” electric transmission and distribution technology. The Electric Power Research Institute honored Marc with the 2004 Delivery and Application Award in recognition of his “outstanding leadership.” Before this, Marc served as the global energy sourcing manager for GE Plastics where he originated and executed energy management activities valued in excess of $800MM in aggregate and worked with GE businesses for electricity and natural gas in Spain, Mexico, England, Holland, Germany, Italy and Hungry. Marc also served as the manager of gas supply planning and acquisition for Yankee Gas Services Company where he originated, structured and negotiated over $1.2 billion in energy contracts. Marc has a BS in Geology from the State University of New York at Fredonia and a BA in English (Cum Laude) from the State University of New York at Buffalo. In addition, he has achieved Six Sigma Black Belt Certification, published articles, and been a panelist and presenter at various associations and conferences across the country.
Douglas Distefano (VP Sales)
Douglas Distefano is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Soltage. He has held this position since April 2007. Doug has more than 25 years of experience in hardware and software sales, and commercial and industrial sales for government sector clients. Douglas has successfully developed direct and channel sales programs to acquire and manage national customer bases of high profile clients with highly sophisticated products. He has held senior sales positions at BEA Systems, Cisco Systems, General Electric, RealNetworks, and Kidder Peabody & Co. He has dual undergraduate degrees in Business and Psychology from the University of Hartford.
David Feldman (Assistant Director Finance)
David Feldman is the Assistant Director of Finance at Soltage. He has held positions at Soltage since 2007. David has extensive experience involving the structure of complex financial transactions, asset management and business development. Prior to Soltage, David worked at JEGI Inc. in their banking division and Merck & Co., Inc. specializing in market research and strategy. David holds an undergraduate degree from Amherst College and an MBA specializing in Finance from Yale University.
Sylva Hsieh (Manager Project Coordination)
Sylva Hsieh is the Manager of Project Coordination at Soltage. Sylva has experience with a broad range of operational and management issues, including managing counterparty risk and key vendor relationships. Prior to Soltage, Sylva spent many years at a multi-billion dollar long/short equity hedge fund, where she played significant roles in both the operations group and the legal and compliance group. She also worked as a legal assistant in the Estates & Personal group at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, focusing on a complex, inter-family litigation settlement. Sylva graduated with a BA in Economics from Barnard College, Columbia University.