Board Of Directors
Jim Kohlberg is chairman of Kohlberg & Company, a leading middle market private equity firm that he co-founded in 1987, and chairman of Kohlberg Ventures, a venture capital firm he founded in 2008. For over fifteen years, Mr. Kohlberg has been investing in early stage media entertainment, internet, specialty consumer products and healthcare companies. Kohlberg & Company has completed nearly 100 platform investments of undervalued and/or underperforming companies. Recent venture capital investments by Mr. Kohlberg include ClearEdge Power, Open Road Integrated Media, and Halogen Media Networks. Mr. Kohlberg is also a member of the Board of Directors of The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT).
John Eastburn has been an investment professional with Kohlberg Ventures since its founding in 2008, and in January 2012, joined ClearEdge Power as Chief Operating Officer. In addition to ClearEdge Power, Mr. Eastburn is a member of the Board of Directors of Wordlock, Inc., Blue Bottle Coffee, Vintners’ Alliance and Halogen Media Networks. Prior to Kohlberg Ventures, Mr. Eastburn was a partner in the private equity firm Kohlberg & Company. Before joining Kohlberg & Company in 1997, Mr. Eastburn was a senior executive in entertainment, manufacturing, and retailing companies. In entertainment, Mr. Eastburn was an executive at Crystal Dynamics, a video game publisher, Vestron, a feature film and video producer and publisher, Columbia Pictures, a feature film product and distributor and CBS, a broadcaster and television network. Mr. Eastburn’s manufacturing experience includes Scovill Fasteners, a manufacturer of buttons, snaps, and zippers, where he was President and Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Marshall is an early stage technology investor and management consultant. He has been actively involved in early stage investing with Timark LP and later Big Basin Partners LP since 1997. Mr. Marshall has been a director of PMC-Sierra Inc. (NASDAQ: PMCS) since April 1996. In 1998, he was a seed investor in Netscreen Technologies, Inc. and later became Chairman of the board of directors at its IPO in December 2001 (NASDAQ: NSCN). Netscreen was aquired by a network equipment company, Juniper Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR) in 2004. Mr. Marshall served as a director of Juniper Networks from April 2004 to February 2007. Mr. Marshall was also an early investor in Covad Communications Inc. and served on their board of directors. In November of 2000, Marshall served as interim Chief Executive Officer and later became Vice Chairman before retiring from the board in late 2002. From July 1995 to October 1997, Mr. Marshall was Vice President and General Manager, Core Products Business Unit at Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO). From April 1992 until July 1995, Mr. Marshall was Vice President Engineering for Cisco Systems. From 1982 until 1992, Mr. Marshall served in a number of positions at Convex Computer Corporation (NASDAQ: CNVX). He was the founding Vice President of Engineering and responsible for the design and production of four major supercomputer systems. He also served as Vice President of Marketing and Field Service. Mr. Marshall was instrumental in the early investment by Convex’s eventual aquirer, Hewlett Packard. Mr. Marshall also worked in seminconductor, minicomputer and military aerospace industries after graduating with engineering degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and UC Irvine.
Phil Angelides has earned national acclaim as an effective public and private sector leader who has been at the forefront of building the new green economy. He has also won widespread praise for his groundbreaking work in sustainable development. Mr. Angelides is President of Riverview Capital Investments, which focuses on clean energy projects and sustainable urban development. He was a pioneer in planning and building smart growth communities. Among his projects was the new town of Laguna West, which was featured in Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report and ABC-TV’s Good Morning America and which helped spark a national dialogue around building more environmentally responsible communities. From 1999-2007, Mr. Angelides served as California’s State Treasurer. The Associated Press reported that he made “the sleepy treasurer’s office a policy powerhouse”. During his eight years in elected office, Mr. Angelides successfully championed a number of environmental and clean tech initiatives and put weight of the state’s investments behind clean energy and the fight against global warming. Most recently, he served as Chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission which was charged with conducting the nation’s official inquiry into the financial and economic crisis. Mr. Angelides is a graduate of Harvard University and was a Coro Foundation fellow.
Mr. Wright is currently the Executive Chairman of ClearEdge Power a privately held company that delivers clean independent energy through distributed power using fuel cell technology. Prior to that, he served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of GridIron Systems from February 2010 to July 2011. Prior to joining GridIron, Mr. Wright was Executive Vice President, Office of the CEO, Strategic Alliances and Global Accounts of EMC Corporation from July 2004 until August 2006. From October 2000 to July 2004, Mr. Wright served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Legato Systems before EMC acquired the company in 2004. Prior to joining Legato, Mr. Wright had a 13-year career with Amdahl Corporation, where he had served as President and Chief Executive Officer from 1997 to 2000. Before joining Amdahl, Mr. Wright spent 11 years with IBM, serving in variety of staff and management positions. Mr. Wright also serves on the board of directors of GridIron Systems, Verisk Analytics, Inc. and Geeknet. He formerly served on the boards of Active Identity, Aspect Communication, AMCC, Boole and Babbage and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Mr. Wright graduated from Xavier University with a BS in physics and a minor in mathematics.
Kenneth W. DeFontes Jr. is president and chief executive officer of Baltimore Gas and Electric. He joined Baltimore Gas and Electric in 1972 as an associate engineer and has held many leadership positions during his tenure including supervisor, general supervisor, manager and vice president. Prior to his role as president and CEO of Baltimore Gas and Electric, he served as vice president, electric transmission and distribution for the utility from 2000 to 2004. Mr. DeFontes served in the Maryland Air National Guard from 1972 to 1978 and was honorably discharged with the title of staff sergeant. Mr. DeFontes is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a board member of the American Gas Association and Southeastern Electric Exchange. Mr. DeFontes is also Chair of the Board of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Swarthmore College and a master's degree in business administration from Loyola University Maryland.
Russell Ford joined ClearEdge Power as President and CEO in May 2009. Mr. Ford has more than 25 years of executive management experience in engineering, product development, manufacturing and operations. Prior to joining ClearEdge Power, Mr. Ford served as CEO of Prestolite Electric, a global tier-one supplier to commercial and military vehicle OEMs; COO of Holley Performance Products; SVP of Operations for Lockheed Martinʼs Aeronautics Division; General Manager of Allied Signalʼs Gas Turbine Division; and other engineering and manufacturing assignments. Mr. Ford is a Summa Cum Laude MBA graduate of Duke Universityʼs Fuqua School of Business and holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also holds Six Sigma Blackbelt and Shingijutzu Lean Expert certifications.