Cleantech Pioneer Award Winners – 2003
Rick Defieux, co-founder and chair, Sustainable Jobs Corporation; Chair, SJF Investment Committee
http://www.sjfund.com/

Defieux, chair of the Sustainable Jobs Corporation and the SJF Investment Committee, has been a venture capitalist for more than 20 years, during which he has led investments in more than 25 environmental, energy and communications companies. The founding mission of SJF has always been to create quality employment for low wealth citizens and communities by financing and assisting companies that generate social, environmental and financial gains.

Nancy Floyd and Maurice Gunderson, co-founders, Nth Power
http://www.nthpower.com/

Floyd and Gunderson co-founded Nth Power nearly 15 years ago, when little more than $20 million a year was invested in energy tech by professional investors. Today, Nth Power manages more than $200 million and is one of the leading "pure play" cleantech venture category investors, with many of the leading energy and industrial companies counted among their LPs. Over their career, Floyd and Gunderson have worked tirelessly to bring the cleantech concept, particularly alternative energy generation, to the attention of the media and other stakeholders.

Gunderson, currently Senior Partner at CMEA Ventures, is a specialist in thermodynamics and energy technologies. Throughout his career, Gunderson has played a crucial role in the development of cryogenic equipment, energy systems, turbo-machinery and computer-based control systems for process plants and pipeline systems.

Floyd is the Managing Director of Nth Power and has led Nth Power’s investments in a number of cleantech companies including Silicon Energy (Nasdaq: ITRI) and Imperium Renewables. In addition Floyd sits on the boards of the Cleantech Network, Center for Resource Solutions and ACORE (American Council on Renewable Energy). Prior to founding Nth Power, Floyd built, managed and negotiated the successful sale of two high-growth energy and telecommunications companies.

H. Jeffrey Leonard, president and founding shareholder, Global Environment Fund
http://www.globalenvironmentfund.com

Dr. Leonard is the President and a founding shareholder of Global Environment Fund, a SEC-registered investment management firm with more than $800 million in assets under management. Leonard is a member of the Board of Directors of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association. Since 2002, Leonard been a member of the Board of Directors of National Cooperative Bank in Washington, D.C. and is a current Director and former Chairman of Board of Beacon House, a community development organization serving at-risk children and their families in northeast Washington, D.C. From 1992 through 1998, Leonard served as a member of U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Technical Advisory Panel to the Secretary of Energy. He has previously served as an advisor or consultant to, among others, the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the World Resources Institute, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment and the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research.

Robert W. Shaw, president, Arete Corp
http://www.arete-microgen.com/

Dr. Shaw is the President and Founder of the Aretê Corporation, which has managed venture capital funds focused on the needs and interests of the electric and gas utility industries since 1985. Prior to forming Aretê, Shaw was Senior Vice President of Booz, Allen & Hamilton's Energy Division and a member of the firm's Board of Directors. Earlier in his career, Shaw conducted materials and electronics research at Bell Laboratories and the Cavendish Laboratory in the U.K.