Marc A. Nichols, Esq., Chair of the Board

Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel

Green Advantage, Inc.

With nearly 15 years of legal and business experience, Marc Nichols is Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel at Green Advantage, an international non-profit that certifies tradespeople in the construction industry who build 'green' buildings. As COO, Marc leads the sales and marketing, legal, exam administration, development, and human resources divisions at Green Advantage.

Marc is an experienced attorney, licensed to practice in the District of Columbia and Colorado in Federal and state courts. Marc is also a member of the U.S. Supreme Court bar. For 12 years, Marc has practiced law. His multi-faceted practice has varied from litigation to corporate transactions of almost every type. During the course of his career, so far, Marc has served as COO of an international non-profit, the chief legal officer of an international online financial services company, an Inspector General of the United States, as a speechwriter and aide for a member of Congress, and as a market analyst for a major international bank in New York and London, England.

Marc received his law degree from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where he served as an editor-in-chief of one of the school's periodicals. Marc also graduated from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he double majored in Philosophy and Political Science.

Marc does a lot of volunteer work, serving on the Human Rights Campaign's Business Council, helping Fortune 1000 companies become better places to work for their GLBT employees. Marc is also highly engaged in the political community in Washington, DC.

David Deal, Vice Chair of the Board

Chief Executive Officer

Community IT Innovators

David Deal is President and Founder of Community IT Innovators (CITI), where he has been working since 1994. CITI is an expression of his desire to serve people and organizations working for social justice by supporting them in using technology strategically. He has implemented a "not-for-much-profit"TM business model that enables the many dedicated staff at CITI to provide affordable, high-quality technology support to hundreds of organizations in the Metro DC area that are building a better world.

His interest in modeling sustainable business practices at CITI led him to Devesh Nirmul and Mike Mielke, and together they founded the Washington DC Sustainable Business Network. David has served on the Steering Committee and now the Board of Directors of SB NOW.

He has served on the Board of Directors and Advisory Boards of several nonprofits, including Urban Ed, EMU's Washington Community Scholars Center, Carlos Rosario Public Charter School, and Byte Back. All are organizations that build stronger communities by providing opportunities for service and learning, including several with a focus on technology training.

Prior to CITI, David served with the Mennonite Board of Missions at a nonprofit in the Shaw neighborhood of DC. David graduated with honors from the Duke University School of Engineering. When he is not watching Duke basketball, he is active in the Young Entrepreneurs Organization, Hyattsville Mennonite Church, his local neighborhood, and numerous team sports.

Lee Boyle, Treasurer

Vice President

WashingtonFirst Bank

As a banker, Lee focuses on lending to DC area nonprofits, in "underbanked" communities, and to aspiring small business owners. He is committed to improving banking and investment in underserved communities in the DC area.

Understandably, his vision of sustainability has much to do with improving wealth distribution. His familiarity with many underserved neighborhoods in the area has helped him to motivate his banking peers to see opportunities that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Lee earned an MBA from Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business in 2003, where he co-authored one of the first case studies on the social investing industry. Prior to that he was a policy analyst for the U.S. Census Monitoring Board, a press liaison for President Clinton's Initiative on Race Relations, and a school teacher in several neighborhoods in inner-city Washington, D.C.  Lee earned his B.A. in philosophy with a minor in politics from Occidental College.  He is a lifelong Washingtonian and lives in Bethesda, Maryland with his wife, Christelle LaPolice, and two daughters.

Paul Brandus

Executive Editor; White House Correspondent

Green Energy Brief

Paul Brandus serves on SBNOW’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee. He is the host of SBNOW’s “MasterMind” series, a forum of that brings together influential people in the sustainability and renewable energy arena.

Brandus is an accredited member of the White House press corps, and provides reports for a variety of media outlets around the United States. Prior to working as a White House correspondent, Brandus spent five years on Wall Street and was a producer and senior editor at NBC, where he helped launch MSNBC in 1996, and was a producer at CNBC. Brandus also served as a senior prime producer at Fox News Channel and a reporter for WTOP Radio, the all news station in Washington, D.C. He began his career as a U.S. Senate staffer.

Brandus has spent extensive time overseas as well. After working at the United States Embassy in Moscow during the collapse of the Soviet Union, he became a correspondent for NBC Radio and the award-winning business and economics program “Marketplace.” He traveled across the former U.S.S.R., reporting on its breakup and the emergence of a market economy. He has traveled to 58 countries on five continents and has reported from, among other places, the Kremlin, China, Iraq, Chechnya and the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

As an entrepreneur, he once bought the Russian rights to the Super Bowl and became the first person to show the game in Russia as detailed in a Washingtonian Magazine article in 1995.

Mark W. Carter

President and Chief Operating Officer

Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability

As President and COO for the Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability (MTS), Mark is integrally involved in all aspects of the organization’s two major focus areas. One of these is a very comprehensive sustainable products standard and certification involving 41 criteria and 20 environmental impacts and for which over 200 products have qualified so far. The other is Green Building Securities for which MTS has developed a National Consensus Green Underwriting Standard and Green Value Score©.

The bulk of Mark’s career-to-date has been in the private sector. He was Chief Marketing Officer for Ameriprise (formerly American Express Financial Advisors). Prior to that Mark was at Marriott Corporation, initially as Director of Marketing for Courtyard by Marriott Hotels. He was later promoted to VP Marketing for Marriott Host. Mark started his career out of graduate business school with General Mills in consumer packaged goods marketing and product management.

For the past five years Mark has been in the not-for-profit sector, initially as SVP Product Management for AARP Services, the revenue generating arm of AARP. More recently he was VP Strategy and Business Development for the University Maryland University College, the online education campus of the University System of Maryland.

Mark earned a BA from Williams College and a MBA from Harvard.

Beyond SB NOW, Mark’s volunteer activities in sustainability include being a member of the Clean Energy Network and the U.S. Green Building Council. In addition he is Chairman of the Corporate Sponsorship Committee for Birthright Earth, an eco-tourism company targeted at young adults.

Adam Clampitt

Vice President, Corporate & Public Affairs

Levick Strategic Communications

As a senior leader in Levick’s Corporate & Public Affairs practice, Adam develops and implements integrated communications programs for clients, drives long-term initiatives to improve corporate reputation through traditional and digital means alike.

Before joining Levick, Mr. Clampitt was the Director of Public Affairs Planning and New Media for Gen. Stanley McChrystal and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan, Adam built the public affairs capacity to support the troop surge, and developed the command’s ground-breaking social media initiative that has been widely recognized as one of the most successful military digital campaigns of all time.

Adam also spent four years at Burson-Marsteller and Hill & Knowlton. As a Vice President at Burson-Marsteller he led key national accounts, including: the National Association of REALTORS®, the nation’s largest trade association with more than 1.3 million members; American Resort Development Association; and Food Lion. While there, he provided strategic counsel, digital communications program development and implementation, as well as public affairs counsel and media outreach.

During his tenure at Hill & Knowlton, Adam directed accounts for Fortune 500 companies such as: Wal-Mart, Allstate Insurance, Avery Dennison, Cathay Pacific Airlines, the California Endowment, Lockheed Martin, Norcal Mutual Insurance, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and the UK Department of Trade and Industry.

Adam is a commissioned reserve Public Affairs officer in the United States Navy and holds a Top Secret security clearance. He earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and holds a Masters in Public Policy from the University of California, Los Angeles.  

John Friedman

Senior Director, Public Relations

Sodexo, Inc.

John Friedman's 25-year background includes both employee and external communications for Fortune 500, Global 500 and not-for-profit organizations. He is a sought after presenter, and author on CSR-related subjects. Some of his writings and thoughts on sustainability can be read on SB NOW's blog.

John believes that CSR is an evolving business strategy in response to changes in what customers, employees, consumers, communities and shareholders expect (demand) from corporations in response to a combination of politics, globalization, corporate scandals, and the ease of communication.

He was responsible for developing and implementing award-winning sustainability programs and was the driving force behind a world-wide partnership between the world's largest building materials company (Lafarge) and Habitat for Humanity International.

John holds a bachelor's degree in Communications and has completed management training at the Duke University Fuqua School of Business. A frequent presenter and author of sustainability issues, he lives in Annandale, Virginia with his wife and son.

David Harwell, Ph.D.

Assistant Director, Career Management and Development

American Chemical Society

Dr. David Harwell is an advocate for education and diversity in science.  He currently works at the American Chemical Society (ACS) where he is the assistant director for career management and development.  His primary function is to ensure the employability of chemists and chemical professionals in the chemical, pharmaceutical and biotech industries.  Most recently, he has worked with the BIO-1 project in New Jersey to define the competencies of sustainability officers, and to facilitate training for the state’s One-Stop Career Center Counselors.  He also works with ACS governance units, including the Presidential Task Force for Innovation, the Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs, and the Committee on Minority Affairs.

Dr. Harwell obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry at Texas Tech University where he developed reagents to isolate and remove lanthanides and actinides from nuclear waste streams.  He later conducted postdoctoral research at UCLA and the City of Hope Hospital to develop compounds used in the detection and treatment of breast cancer.  Subsequently, he served on the faculty of the University of Hawaii where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in inorganic synthesis and conducted research on environmentally benign electro and photoactive silicon nanoparticles.

In addition to his duties with SB NOW, David currently serves as the President of the Chemistry Chair’s Council at Texas Tech University.

Erik Hoffland, LEED AP

Principal

Erik Hoffland Architect

Erik Hoffland is principal of Erik Hoffland Architect and is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional. Prior to starting his own business, Erik was an architect with the local architecture & development firm 3DG, and before that the Washington offices of national architectural firm HNTB. Throughout his career, he has focused on sustainable design, and has been involved in the design of some of the region's first LEED Certified projects, including the Pentagon Athletic Center and 3265 P Street NW, Georgetown’s first LEED Platinum residence and only the city’s second. His own house in Mt. Pleasant is slated to be the third. His work has received awards from both the American Institute of Architects and American Planning Association.

Erik received his Bachelors of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University, with additional studies at the University of Wisconsin, Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin, and Yunnan Polytechnic University (China).

When he is not promoting sustainable building and design, Erik can be found cycling, playing soccer, racing triathlons and lamenting the fact that D.C. doesn't have proper winters.

Karen Marcus, Esq.

Attorney

Finkelstein Thompson, LLP

Karen Marcus is an attorney with Finkelstein Thompson LLP and specializes in consumer fraud and antitrust litigation.  She is a graduate of the University of Miami, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in English.  Karen then attended The George Washington University Law School where she received her Juris Doctor, cum laude in 2002. During law school, Karen interned for the Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Enforcement, participated in The George Washington University Law School Environmental Law Clinic and was Vice President of the Environmental Law Association.

Karen is an active member of the D.C. Bar's Antitrust and Consumer Section.  She has served as a moderator and program coordinator for the two of the following Consumer Section panel discussions: "Is The Proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency The Appropriate Remedy For Consumers Of Financial Products?" and "What Role, If Any, Should the Government Play In Promoting Healthy Eating for the American Public?: Menu Labeling Laws and Beyond..."

Lester A. Myers, Ph.D., J.D., CPA, CFF

Professorial Lecturer, Georgetown University

Advisor, Organizational Integrity and Responsibility Services

Les Myers provides advisory services in organizational integrity and responsibility to directors and officers of corporations, exempt organizations, and other entities. He helps them assess risks of fraud and misconduct and assists them in designing, implementing, and evaluating programs and controls to prevent, detect, and respond to such risks within the context of leading frameworks for organizational governance and internal control. He also provides services in stakeholder and public affairs matters involving environmental sustainability, labor standards, consumer protection, and cultural issues.

Les teaches business and leadership ethics, law, and Catholic social thought at Georgetown University and he previously taught at the Jesuit University of San Francisco, where he held the first appointment in ethics at the School of Business and Management. He also has taught in continuing legal education programs at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Les previously served as a director and people management leader for a team of talented forensic professionals with M.B.A. and J.D. credentials at KPMG Advisory in Washington, D.C., specializing in fraud risk management and investigative services. He served on the national financial services team, contributing to thought leadership and business development regarding Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, identity theft, gaming, and anti-money laundering services. Among his accomplishments was authorship of an ethics and compliance plan that helped win federal probation for a CEO of a multibillion-dollar real estate company.

Prior to this, he led KPMG's Exempt Organizations Tax Practice in Washington, serving prominent religious, charitable, trade, and educational organizations, including the Smithsonian Institution, the American Red Cross, the National Geographic Society, and AARP. Before this, he served as the first tax director at Georgetown University, a $1 billion private institution, and he earlier performed SEC reporting for a large paper products company.

As a Caux Round Table Fellow, Les advises the organization's global executive director and board on issues of organizational integrity and responsibility; serves on a steering committee of legal, forensic, and other professionals launching a global nongovernmental organization to recover and restore assets misappropriated through grand corruption; manages projects for reform of anti-money laundering and anti-corruption legislation in cooperation with other nongovernmental organizations and Congress; co-directs retreats in organizational integrity and responsibility and spirituality for scholars, business executives, and leaders of diverse faith traditions at Mountain House Palace in Caux, Switzerland; plans and hosts conferences and lectures; publishes thought leadership; and represents the organization to corporate, governmental, nongovernmental, and intergovernmental organizations.

Les serves on the advisory board for the Georgetown University Law Center Corporate Counsel Institute and as a judge and mentor for the Georgetown University Social Entrepreneurship Competition. He has served with current and former federal law enforcement officials on the organizing committee for the Mid-Atlantic Anti-Money Laundering Conference in Washington. He also is a faculty member for Board Advisory Services for the National Association of Corporate Directors and participates in the corporate responsibility working group of the Business Civic Leadership Center at the United States Chamber of Commerce.?He has published in scholarly and popular venues, including the Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society, and he speaks and advises for scholarly and professional organizations.

Les earned his B.S.B.A., cum laude, in accounting, and his M.B.A., in accounting and finance, both from Xavier University. He holds an M.A. in philosophy from Georgetown University, and he designed and earned the first Georgetown Ph.D. in business ethics. He also holds a J.D. from Georgetown, where he served as associate editor and author for the American Criminal Law Review. In addition, he studied business at the Universitaire Faculteiten Sint-Ignatius Te Antwerpen in Belgium, and law at the University of Cambridge, England.

Les is admitted before the Court of Appeals of the state of Maryland (inactive), and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. He is a CPA in the District of Columbia, Ohio, and Virginia, and is certified in financial forensics by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He also has received Eco-Assessment training under the Certifiably Green Program of the Sustainable Business Network of Washington.

Cynthia Cox Roman

Chief Executive Officer

WIT Consulting

Cindy Cox Roman is the Founder and CEO of WIT Consulting LLC, a strategic research and communications consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. Her work focuses on marketing and brand-building, public policy and stakeholder engagement, and corporate reputation and citizenship.

Before founding WIT Consulting in 2001, Cindy was a Partner at Yankelovich Partners, where she led the New York Custom Research practice. Prior to joining Yankelovich, Cindy worked for a decade at Young & Rubicam (Y&R) where she developed global communications strategies for clients such as Colgate-Palmolive and Kraft. In the mid-1990's, she was part of a team that established Y&R's first office in Budapest, Hungary.

Cindy serves on the Board of Trustees of HelpAge International and is Board Chair of HelpAge USA. She is a graduate of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Jigar Shah

Chief Executive Officer

Carbon War Room

A renowned visionary, Jigar Shah is committed to renewable energy and sustainable solutions that enable prosperity beyond the carbon economy.  As CEO of the Carbon War Room, Jigar is dedicated to indentifying business-as-usual practices and replacing them with low-carbon solutions. Prior to the Carbon War Room, Jigar founded SunEdison in 2003. Under his leadership, SunEdison revolutionized the solar industry by introducing a business model to sell solar as a service. The transformation to solar power service agreements is responsible for turning solar services into a multi-billion dollar industry.

Jigar is also an expert on energy project finance, changing energy policy, working with entrenched stakeholders, and convincing individuals to embrace energy technology. He works closely with entrepreneurs, policymakers, and investors around the world to develop, incubate, and implement sustainable solutions that enable prosperity beyond the carbon economy.

Jigar holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and an MBA from the University of Maryland. Along with SB NOW, Jigar also sits on the boards of the Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development and Greenpeace USA.

Peter West

President and Chief Executive Officer

West Sustainability, LLC

Peter West holds a degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology form the University of Colorado, Denver.  A summer job in college led him to pursue a career in technology, working for TCI.NET and then for Cox Communications.  For the past 11 years, he has worked for Cox Communications, most recently as the Vice President of IT and Operational Development.  At the end of 2009, Peter left Cox to pursue his dream of working in the sustainability field, first focusing full time on his MBA in Sustainable Management from the University of Anaheim. 

Lyle Yablonsky

Divisional Vice President

AXA Advisors, LLC

Upon graduating from The Pennsylvania State University with honors in 2001, Lyle began work as an analyst with Capital One Financial in McLean, VA.  Realizing quickly that client interaction was his strong suit; Lyle took a position as a Financial Consultant with AXA Advisors, LLC in June, 2003.  Within three years, Lyle had risen to a Divisional Vice President role within AXA Advisors and currently manages a team of 12 Financial Consultants in Falls Church, VA.  Lyle specializes in comprehensive financial planning for both individuals and small businesses with a sub focus in sustainable and responsible investing.

Lyle was raised in Newfane, Vermont and currently resides in Arlington, Virginia.

Staff

Tim Ford (tford@sbnow.org)

Sarah McGowan (smcgowan@sbnow.org)

Rusmir Music (intern) (rusmir.music@gmail.com)

Brendan O'Hara (bohara@sbnow.org)

Anand Vimalassery (anand@sbnow.org)

Sahir Zuberi, Secretary to the Board