The Developer U Expert Directory connects you with seasoned practitioners who bring deep, hands-on experience in project development and finance.
Janice D’Arco is part of JPMorgan’s Climate Tech Banking team in the Commercial & Investment Bank, where she covers early and late-stage companies focused on decarbonizing technologies across various sectors including, but not limited to, Clean Transportation, Battery & Grid Tech, Renewable Energy, Ag & Food Tech, and Carbon Tech. She is responsible for leading the team’s Central & Intermountain regional coverage effort, with a sector specialization in Battery & Grid Tech nationally, delivering industry expertise alongside capital raising, and global treasury and investments solutions for emerging climate tech companies. Janice brings nearly 20 years of combined corporate and investment banking experience in diversified industries across middle market and large corporates. She is based in Chicago and holds an MBA/MSFS from Georgetown University and a BSJ from Northwestern University.
John founded Next Rung Technology in 2017 to share his extensive experience in technology development and commercialization with a core focus on commercializing sustainable technologies. John has 25+ years of experience bringing a wide variety of water, energy, fermentation, chemical and biotechnology processes to market through developing pilot plants, managing project plans, and overseeing execution from an engineering and business perspective. As the President of Next Rung Technology, John develops business relationships, collaborates on strategic planning, launches, and manages projects, does techno-economic analyses, and works with Next Rung’s engineering team as they collaborate with our clients to create and commercialize novel processes.
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Eric Fins is the Vice President of Grove Climate Group (GCG) and works directly with GCG’s clients to understand the full scope of their work and develop strategies to achieve their climate goals. Eric joined GCG in February 2023 after nearly 15 years of service in the U.S. House of Representatives in a variety of capacities. In addition to working for members of the Tennessee, Washington, and Massachusetts delegations, Eric served as the Deputy Staff Director of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis during the 118th Congress. Eric earned his BA and JD from American University, and lives in North Carolina with his family.
Nicole Geneau is a senior cleantech and energy transition executive with deep experience deploying first-of-a-kind and early-commercial technologies into real-world projects. She brings integrated expertise across project development, risk management, and complex capital structuring—translating technical innovation into bankable assets backed by venture, infrastructure, and strategic capital. She is currently involved in supporting start-up companies through a broad set of development services at Mark1 and working with investment funds focused on deploying capital into climate-critical projects.
Tom and his team provide strategic advice on the energy transition both within the energy industry and other industries (e.g. real estate, industrials) as well as carbon and climate tech Tom is one of Canada’s sustainability and renewable energy leaders. For 20 years, Tom has run and advised a broad range of companies in the energy transition space, including renewable electricity, renewable fuels, electrification of transportation and heating, and carbon offsets and credits Tom founded Bullfrog Power in 2004, which became a household energy brand from coast to coast
Ken Horne P.E., PMP is the Director of Portfolio Operations with Spring LaneCapital where he leads technical diligence, asset monitoring, and valuecreation across all portfolio assets.
Prior tojoining Spring Lane, Ken served as a Director at Guidehouse (formerly NavigantConsulting) where he advised senior executives on energy asset due diligence,infrastructure investment, and project development strategy. Kenpreviously co-founded and served as COO for a PE-backed community microgriddevelopment platform and co-founded and served as COO / CFO for afounder-funded early-stage technology company.
Ken’searly career included roles as design, project, and operations engineer,industrial infrastructure planning strategist, performance improvementconsultant, and capital program director at firms including Phillips PetroleumCompany, Arthur D. Little, and Charles River Associates.
Kenholds an Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership from MIT’s SloanSchool of Business and a Masters in Industrial Engineering from the Universityof Houston. He also holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Philosophyfrom Iowa State University. Mr. Horne is a licensed Professional Engineerand a certified Project Management Professional.
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Jagmeet Khangura is a nuclear project manager supportingclients with existing nuclear plants, SMRs and Fusion. In her previous role,she worked on corporate strategy and innovation. She worked with startupsand internal teams to drive sustainable solutions across the company’sportfolio of solutions and offerings to clients. She leverages her twodecades of experience in power, water, wastewater, fuels and transportation.
Part of her role includes evaluating the submissions to BVIgniteX, a program designed to empower startups offering scalable solutions forcritical human infrastructure. She also serves as a mentor, guiding thestartups through the process. The startups have access to Black & Veatch’sindustry network, product testing opportunities, pitch development coaching andinvestor introductions.
Brian is a member of the Energy Practice of Lockton based in the Houston office. Brian focuses in complex risk within power generation and specializes in nuclear energy. Brian has over twenty years in the risk management industry and a strong track record in solving challenging issues and brining unique solutions to his clientele.
Nate is a Principalwith Spring Lane Capital Partners. He is based in Spring Lane’s Montreal officeand is responsible for origination, due diligence, structuring and execution ofinvestments.
Before joiningSpring Lane, Nate was a Managing Director with CPCS, an infrastructureconsulting group, where he co-managed their infrastructure development unit. AtCPCS, Nathaniel played an active role in developing infrastructure projects andadvising public and private clients with a focus on renewable energy andemerging markets.
Nate holds an MBAfrom Cambridge University, an MA from Carleton University’s Norman PattersonSchool of International Affairs and BA from McGill University. He also sits onthe investment committee of the Greater Montreal Climate Fund.
Amit Modi is the Founder of Focus Green Solutions (FGS), an execution-focused project development firm that enables emerging climate technology companies get their first commercial projects built. Amit brings over 20 years of global experience developing unique and challenging infrastructure projects across the energy, transportation, and social sectors. Over his career, he has led more than USD 5 billion in sustainable infrastructure transactions, guiding projects from concept through financial close. Before founding FGS, Amit served as Chief Development Officer at Andion Global, a renewable natural gas platform advancing biogas projects across North America, and as Managing Director of a multinational infrastructure fund mandated to develop and deliver high-impact projects in the energy, transport, and social sectors. Amit is a registered Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) and holds a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo. He is recognized for combining technical depth, commercial acumen, and hands-on execution to transform sustainable climate technologies into bankable, scalable infrastructure businesses.
Robert (Bob) O'Connor is a corporate partner with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Bob's global practice focuses on the representation of high-growth enterprises, with an emphasis on those innovating in the energy, infrastructure, mobility, consumer products, and sustainability sectors, as well as the representation of venture capital and private equity firms, corporate venture groups, family offices, and impact investors that finance them. Bob serves as a strategic partner to his clients and their boards of directors through a broad range of complex financing and strategic corporate transactions at all stages of their development, from inception through exit. Bob is credited with having founded the firm's energy and climate solutions practice in 2003 and co-leads the firm's industry initiative today, which includes a cross-disciplinary team that is widely viewed as being among the preeminent energy and infrastructure practices in the country. Nationally recognized as a thought leader in the sector, Bob is a frequent speaker at prominent industry events nationally, and he is a go-to strategic partner to universities, laboratories, and accelerators committed to technology commercialization directed at energy and infrastructure innovation.Prior to founding the firm's energy and climate solutions practice, Bob founded and served as managing partner of the firm's Salt Lake City office, during which time he represented many of the leading venture capital and private equity investors and technology enterprises in the region, including Altiris (sold to Symantec), Backcountry.com, High West Distillery, NPS Pharmaceuticals, Omniture (sold to Adobe Systems), Overstock.com, and SkullCandy. Bob also serves on the board of directors of the Wilson Sonsini Foundation, a philanthropic vehicle for the firm's partners to support charitable and other community organizations.
Brad Price is the managing director of technical due diligence at New Energy Risk (NER), leading the technical underwriting process for NER's performance insurance products. Brad brings a breadth of knowledge in the chemical process industry related to the design, commissioning, startup, optimization, and day-to-day operations of multibillion-dollar petrochemical assets. Brad received his BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado and is a registered professional engineer in Texas.
Tim is a principal at the Novi Strategies LLC consultancy and an Executive in Residence at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability at Duke University. Tim has deep experience in crafting public policy to enable clean energy investment, serving at a high level in all three branches of federal government, serving on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards, and founding and building the Nicholas Institute at Duke University.
Mark Reuss P.E., AC is the Principal of Portfolio Operationswith Spring Lane Capital where he guides technical due diligence, assetmonitoring, and value creation throughout the portfolio.
Prior to joining Spring Lane, Mark was a Director of ProjectManagement at Ameresco Inc. leading a team of project managers in thedevelopment and EPC of renewable energy projects.
Mark previously led the technical development of large powerplant projects utilizing renewable and conventional energy sources forindependent power producers.
For about half of his career, Mark held progressivelygrowing roles in field engineering, construction planning, constructionmanagement and estimating with Bechtel in the Power, Petroleum & Chemicaland Federal business units.
Mark spent his early career years with a constructionmanagement firm, providing technical services to building public constructionprojects and large construction claims.
Mark earned a Master of Science in Construction Engineering and Management from Stanford University, a B.S. in CivilEngineering and Engineering Management from Tufts University and a B.A. inGerman from Tufts University. Mr. Reuss is a licensed ProfessionalEngineer and a certified constructor by the American Institute of Constructors.
Julian is a techno-economic translator with extensive experience across the electric distribution system. He specializes in cultivating culture at the intersection of vision and execution, leading teams to deliver breakthrough projects. Through convening, education, governance, and development, he strives to ensure that the best ideas receive the support they need from the electricity system.
As an energy transition and climatetech first-of-a-kind (FOAK) scale-up champion, James leads Fluor's Business Incubation organization, focused on disruptive technologies with companies striving for a sustainable future. Business Incubation bridges startups, industry, investors and in-house expertise to enable or co-develop technically and commercially viable solutions as an early engagement EPC Thought Partner. James has more than 32 years of diversified professional experience across several business lines and functional groups at Fluor: 23 years in market entry and business development, 7 years in project management and engineering management, 2 years in corporate initiatives, starting his career at Fluor in 1993 as a mechanical engineer.
RL began his career with a 15-year tenure with Jacobs leading large capital projects and eventually taking responsibility for EPCM organizations. Following his time at Jacobs, RL joined Nexus PMG, where he built a project development focused engineering team that specialized in bringing great ideas to life that would not have been able to navigate the traditional EPC process. RL then went on to co-found Isomer Project Group, where he stays connected to the EPC market to help bring the latest innovations into our work process. RL is always working to identify driven and energetic team members capable of providing innovative solutions to clients.RL and Rebecca live in Greenville, South Carolina, with their beagle named Riley. Rebecca is currently practicing medicine as a physician assistant in the upstate. RL, by his own admission, has too many hobbies. Some of his favorites are fine woodworking, scouring the earth for hard-to-find vinyl records, restoring his 1968 Ford F100, playing guitar, keeping saltwater reef tanks, watching live music, and Clemson football.
Jason Slagle is Of Counsel in the San Francisco office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he is a member of the firm's energy and climate solutions practice. Jason’s practice focuses on advising clients across solar, wind, energy storage, CCUS, green hydrogen and ammonia, energy efficiency, distributed energy resources, and other renewable technology industries. He represents emerging and established companies, private equity and debt investors, and project developers in private equity finance, debt project finance, structured finance, project development and start-up counseling. Jason’s practice also includes joint ventures, cross border transactions, and sales and acquisitions of project assets and special purpose entities, as well as general corporate matters. Prior to law school, Jason was a marine science technician in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Katherine (Katie) St. James is an Associate at Spring Lane Capital,responsible for origination, due diligence, structuring, execution, andmonitoring of investments.
Beforejoining Spring Lane, Katie was Senior Director of Programs at Greentown Labs,where she led the Greentown Go team. She helped climate-tech startups reachcommercialization milestones with corporate partners, including licensingdeals, pilots, JDAs, and corporate venture capital investments. Her team ledprograms across offshore wind, energy storage, low-carbon hydrogen,circularity, carbon management, and more.
Prior toGreentown Labs, Katie held roles in commercial strategy and process improvementat Schneider Electric. She holds a BBA in Finance and Economics from LoyolaUniversity Chicago, where she spent her junior year in Rome and Beijingresearching immigrant entrepreneurship through Loyola’s Ricci Scholars program.
As Senior Vice President at Lockton, Craig leads a team of specialists dedicated to delivering innovative and customized risk solutions for clients across diverse industries. Prior to joining Lockton in May 2023, he held senior leadership roles at Marsh and Gallagher, where he developed extensive expertise in strategic risk management and client advisory.
Scott is a partner in the San Francisco office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he is a member of the firm's energy and climate solutions practice. He represents leading and emerging companies that are decarbonizing the global economy. He assists his clients developing technology innovations and building the next generation of projects in the solar, wind, energy storage, nuclear, CCUS, green hydrogen, electrification, energy efficiency, water, and distributed energy resources industries. His clients include Siemens, Lilac Solutions, Kairos Power, Sunrun, Ember Infrastructure, Redaptive, and OhmConnect. Scott advises new and established companies and their investors on issues affecting the energy, infrastructure, decarbonization, and clean tech industries, including all aspects of project development, joint ventures, debt and tax equity project finance, private equity, structured finance, and start-up counseling. He has supported enterprises and institutions across the globe involved in financing, developing, and regulating energy technology and infrastructure. Scott is an active contributor to the firm's pro bono activities, representing nonprofits in the energy, climate, health, and environmental fields. Scott brings more than 25 years of experience working in the energy industry to his practice. He was a process engineer for Fluor Corporation, where he supported the design and construction of international oil and gas facilities. Subsequently, Scott led the product development team at a start-up software company, developing solutions to improve the design, operation, and maintenance of large energy facilities. Scott teaches Energy Project Development and Finance at UC Berkeley School of Law.
