GLOBAL ADVISORY BOARD
The Company has authorized an Advisory Board of 10 Members. The initial Advisory Board Members are:
Nathan Agnew
Nathan is the Senior Vice President of Strategy, Planning and Infrastructure for Australia Pacific Airports Corporation (APAC), the owner of multiple airports in the Australasian region. Prior to this Nathan was a senior executive at Air New Zealand with responsibility for group strategy, alternate fuels, network planning, fleet planning, airport infrastructure and government affairs and international relations. Of note Nathan led Air New Zealand’s alternate fuel strategy culminating in the world’s-first flight using a Jatropha bio-jet blend. The flight - conducted in December 2008 - has paved the way for commercial use of Jatropha-based bio-jet. In this capacity Nathan worked extensively with industry partners including Boeing, Rolls Royce, Tersaol Energy and UOP and maintains close links with leading technology providers and aerospace companies developing biofuels, including the two major aircraft manufacturers and two of the leading turbine engine manufacturers. While at Air New Zealand Mr. Agnew evaluated the suitability of multiple feedstocks, including both terrestrial and marine (algae) forms, before determining that Jatropha best meets the criteria of technical, commercial and social needs. Nathan also has a detailed understanding of the certification process that Jatropha-based bio-jet will need to undergo in order to qualify as a “drop-in” replacement for Jet A-1.
Nathan spent his early career as a strategy advisor with The Boston Consulting Group and then as a partner in a boutique advisory firm. During this period he was retained as a senior advisor to airlines, including Qantas, and as an advisor to Woodside Energy Limited, Australia’s largest upstream oil & gas producer. He has also raised capital for a Jatropha producer with operations in Asia.
Mr. Agnew’s knowledge gained from leading Air New Zealand’s Jatropha program, combined with his extensive industry contacts make him a worthwhile addition to the JBJ Advisory Board. Nathan graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Commerce degree (summa cum laude) in Finance and also holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson.
Guarav K. Shah, MS
Mr. Shah was one of the first chemical engineers to recognize the inherent suitability of Jatropha Curcas as a superior feedstock for biodiesel. As the first Plant Manager of Bay Biodiesel (3 million gallon per year continuous plant in San Jose, California), Mr. Shah consistently manufactured ASTM quality biodiesel from RBD Soybean Oil and Corn Oil. He developed quality control procedures to minimize the off-spec fuel and made laboratory for quality control analysis. He has been responsible for start up, commissioning and operation of a manufacturing plant.
Mr. Shah’s research has included different technologies like enzymatic transesterification and Supercritical process for future expansion of the plants. He also analyzed biodiesel process technology providers like Lurgi, Desmet Ballestra, Crown Iron Works, Kreido, Axens, etc.
More recent research at Biofuel Box has focused on developing the next generation biodiesel process that eliminates the use of catalyst (sodium methylate), is opportunistic to feedstocks with free fatty acids up to 100% and trace metals like sulphur.
Mr. Shah’s in-depth knowledge of every biodiesel refinery manufacturer’s product line, together with his own proprietary intellectual property provides the Company with the most cost-effective refining capability. Mr. Shah has worked as a manager of refinery operations, researcher, and consultant. His advanced research has explored other possible fuels (e.g., algae, etc.) and equipment (e.g., microrefineries, etc.).
Mr. Shah earned his first master’s degree (MSBTE) In Chemical Technology (Petroleum & Petrochemicals) and the MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Southern California.
Michael M. Wadden
Michael Wadden is a Senior Partner at Accenture, with more than 15 years experience with the global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. He currently is a leader in Accenture’s New Businesses organization -- responsible for developing new business models and revenue streams through the formation and launch of new business operations. In his current role, Mr. Wadden has led the formation of new businesses in the Pharmaceutical, Digital Content and Entertainment, and Environmental Sustainability areas. Combined, these new business entities are expected to contribute over $1 Billion in revenue over the next five years. He also has recently been involved in shaping two new Sustainability related businesses called Accenture Business Resiliency Services and Accenture Smart Building Services. These innovative new services are designed to support Accenture’s clients’ focus on managing vital assets, people, and operations -- translating into improved business performance, shareholder value, and corporate sustainability.
Mr. Wadden has conducted business with clients in over 25 countries around the world. Prior to his current role, he spent more than ten years building and growing Accenture's global outsourcing practice, which now represents over 40% of the company's revenues. In this role, Mr. Wadden was Market Maker for some of the largest, most complex outsourcing deals in the world. Recognized as an innovator throughout his career, Mr. Wadden’s professional highlights also include the development of an innovative patent that redefined how bags are carried and development of numerous new service offerings for Accenture. Additionally, his vision helped create a new advertising model for Accenture -- through the development of large interactive digital walls in airports called the Accenture Interactive Network. Passionate about wildlife conservation and stewardship, Mr. Wadden was elected Chairman of Ducks Unlimited (DU) in Chicago at the age of 23. His leadership in that organization continued as he became District and Area Chairman for DU, where he continues his active involvement today. He is also involved in numerous other conservation organizations, including Delta Waterfowl, Pheasants Forever, Trout Unlimited, Atlantic Salmon Federation, and the Nature Conservancy. Mr. Wadden graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.
Joseph Lambert
Mr. Lambert is the principal and portfolio manager for Lambert Capital Management (LCM). Joe leads the firm which provides innovative, equity investment advisory services. LCM focuses on Asset Allocation and original security research as the foundation for superior risk adjusted portfolio returns. They provide portfolio management that is tailored, client-specific services to a variety of clients including corporations, private individuals, foundations and endowments. Current Assets under management total over $200 million. His first registration was originally with the SEC in 1988 and is a Registered Investment Advisor with the California State Department of Corporations. Over his 30 years in the investment field Mr. Lambert has refined the investment process as a portfolio manager at Lambert Capital Management.
Mr. Lambert started as a broker with E.F. Hutton & Co. in 1979 where he was a top level producer while managing and training brokers.
In Mr. Lambert ‘s career, he has worked for several major Wall Street money management firms that had in excess of $10 billion of assets under management. During those years he held various positions including National Marketing Director. Mr. Lambert was very successful at raising capital, e.g. at Laurel Capital Advisors (subsidiary of Mellon Bank) he raised $400 million in one and half years from a start up operation.
Mr. Lambert holds a BA degree from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California and has done graduate work at the University of Southern California (USC). While at USC, he worked directly with the Mayor of Los Angeles on energy and environmental issues and later in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research in California as a budget and policy analyst on economic and business development. He was recognized and cited for his work on energy conservation by the Mayor of Los Angeles.
Don R. McCarthy
Mr. McCarthy served for twenty-five years as the Barbados Consul to the United States. During this period, he was responsible for the development and marketing of tourism for the Barbados Tourism Authority. As part of a three man delegation, McCarthy was involved in securing Air service to Barbados on USAir and was instrumental in securing services on Continental Airlines. Working with both government and private entities he skillfully developed mutually-beneficial relationships in trade and international investment. As Consul for Barbados his responsibilities included overseeing all consular affairs, trade and investments; advising U.S. corporations and investors on offshore banking and investment opportunities in Barbados; maintained relationships with state Mayoral and Gubernatorial offices, as well as with the U.S. Department of State and Office of Protocol, and with regional of state and federal U.S. law enforcement offices.
He is C.E.O. of Ramnat LLC. A Dallas, TX based consulting company, specializing in foreign government relations, off-shore investing and tourism marketing. In 2008, Mr. McCarthy secured contracts to market wind technology, solar distillation and desalinization systems and low-income housing.
In 2006 Mr. McCarthy was appointed to the Board of Directors of City Capital Corp. Mr. McCarthy brought a vast resource of international trade, business development and government relations expertise to City Capital Corporation. As a member of the City Capital team, McCarthy's unique international business expertise and leadership skills play a key role in advising and guiding company expansion into third world development and international petroleum business.
Mr. McCarthy has served on numerous boards, including as Director of the Caribbean Trade and Information Office, Chairman of the Advisory Council for the Caribbean Tourism Organization and Chairman of the Marine and Ecological Research Foundation. He has also served as a Director of Ramnat Financial Group, for Fidelity Global Investments, for Distinctive Luxury Vacations and for Cheap Caribbean On Line.com; a member of the Greater Los Angeles World Trade Center Association and the Los Angeles Diplomatic Corps, among others.
An internationally-recognized expert on international tourism, trade, marketing, he is a highly sought-after lecturer at major universities, including Pepperdine University's MBA program, the University Of Austin, Stanford University; and various Caribbean Tourism Organization Seminars.
Mr. McCarthy brings an intimate understanding of the processes and requirements for successful development in the Caribbean. City Capital has already been approached by governments in the region in need of affordable housing for their citizens. Mr. McCarthy's extensive experience helps City Capital avoid many of the obstacles faced by other developers in the area, and better equips the Company as it expands internationally.
After completing his Bachelors and Masters of Business Administration at the Western States University, Mr. McCarthy continued his postgraduate education and training at Pace University, University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, the Barbados Institute of Management and Productivity, and other specialized programs worldwide.
Samuel (Sandy) Hale, PhD
Dr. Hale is co-founder and former President and CEO of International Resources Group (“IRG”), a large international environmental, agricultural and natural resource consulting and project management company. He also built and managed the firm’s Agriculture / Forestry and Financial Services practices. Dr. Hale managed major agro forestry and sustainable agriculture projects for public and private sector clients in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Projects focused on oilseed-bearing trees including members of the Acacia, Prosopis, and Euphorbia families including Jatropha species. He conducted economic studies for several private agribusiness ventures, including ventures to produce diesel fuel from oilseeds. He managed a large-scale natural resource management project throughout the former Soviet Union and, as part of that project, directed forestry planning projects in the Russian Far East. Dr. Hale also oversaw IRG’s subsidiary Tree Seeds International, which specialized in seeds of leguminous trees. In Financial Services, Dr. Hale consulted on energy and environmental project financing for clients as diverse as the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (“OPIC”) and the Asian and African Development Banks as well as for private clients. He advised USAID on management and use of local currency proceeds of agricultural sales and a range of clients on debt-for-nature swaps. He designed and initially co-managed a venture capital fund in Kenya, in concert with a unit of Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, and designed or advised on microenterprise funds in several countries. Prior to co-founding IRG, Dr. Hale was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Solid Waste Management for the US Environmental Protection Agency and then was Vice-President for Resource Recovery for a national solid waste management company. He then founded an energy and environmental consulting company that subsequently was acquired by the engineering firm M.W. Kellogg, now part of Halliburton.
Since leaving IRG, Dr. Hale has prepared business plans for or assisted in the financial restructuring of roughly a dozen international and US companies or non-profit organizations, most involved in forestry or environmental management. He has helped some of these clients attract financing or strategic partners. Dr. Hale also headed the business school and was a Dean at California State University, Monterey Bay.
Dr. Hale has worked in more than 30 countries worldwide. Clients have included the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, African Development Bank, and Caribbean Development Bank; US Agency for International Development and Overseas Private Investment Corporation; and numerous private companies. He holds a BA from Stanford University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a doctorate from the Economics University of Vienna. |
