William
H. Dent, Jr. email
Mr. Dent is a native of Washington, DC. After attending
the University of Maryland, where he earned a Bachelor's
in history, he served in the Peace Corps in Chile. Upon
his return, he did graduate work at the University of
Chicago, earning a Master's degree in education and
an MBA in finance. With the support of the Ford Foundation,
Mr. Dent moved to Brazil to serve as a consultant to
BNDES, the National Development Bank of Brazil, where
he sensed the need for better business training and
assisted Roberto Lima Netto in founding SEBRAE, Brazil's
Small Business Administration, today the country's most
important 'business school' for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Mr. Dent then served as project manager
at the Inter-American Development Bank putting together
a number of innovative projects in Brazil, the Dominican
Republic, Haiti, Honduras and Costa Rica, involving
investments in excess of $2 billion. During the 1990's,
Mr. Dent founded and was CEO of CD-ROM International,
pioneering the introduction of U.S. and European bibliographic
databases (e.g., Medline) and related IT services at
some 200 institutions throughout Brazil. In early 2003,
Mr. Dent founded Natural Partners, with the help of
Flavio Pinheiro, Adam Tomasek and Ann McClellan, and
currently serves as its Executive Director.
Paul Dezendorf
 Dr. Dezendorf is an innovative manager with broad range of skills including non-profit administration, profit-and-loss management, training, organizational development, and resource management. His experience includes work in higher education, the private sector, and government settings and specialized education in gerontology, public health, and community development.
Over the past 15 years, Mr. Dezendorf has prepared and delivered 28 undergraduate and graduate courses and assisted with the development of MSW, MPH, MPA, health administration, and distance education programs. He has published 15 journal articles/book chapters, made 35 national or international presentations, wrote several instructor's manuals and test banks as well as popular publications. Served as US State Department reviewer of applicants from former USSR countries for Edmund Muskie Fellowships. Wrote and/or participated in eight grants ranging from $2,500 to $250,000 including helping establish the first Masters of Public Administration program in Russia.
Mr. Dezendorf hold an MBA from Rutgers (1979) and a Graduate Certificate in Gerontology (1994) and a Ph.D. in Public Health (1998) from the Univeristy of South Carolina.
Personal interests include outdoor activities, learning about information technology innovations, and work with government and non-profit organizations. Served for six years as chair of Limestone Township Council (NC). Currently serve on the board of Legal Services for the Elderly (NC) and the Advisory Council of Natural Partners (Washington, DC). Memberships over time include Rotary, Civitan, and other local groups.
Eelco Dykstra
Over twenty years of international emergency management experience in a wide variety of healthcare and non-healthcare settings. Proven ability to effectively deal with European and US approaches to emergency management systems and their respective stakeholders. Acclaimed presenter and motivator, particularly for interdisciplinary, cross-cultural and inter-sector audiences. Developed new methodologies and innovative approaches to strategic planning, project management, adult education and organizational development. Worldwide travel and project assignments have resulted in considerable experience with design, monitoring & evaluation (D, M&E) of emergency systems, exercises, programs and projects. Proven ability to access and mobilize a global network of emergency experts.
Mr. Dykstra currently holds positions as a professor in International Emergency Managementof at the University of Kuopio, Finland, as well as a visiting professor of International Emergency Managementat at George Washington University, Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management, Washington D.C., USA.
Mr. Dykstra holds a Medical Doctor degree from Groningen University, the Netherlands.
Rachel
Biderman Furriela
Ms. Furriela earned a Bachelor’s degree in Law
and a Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences
from the University of São Paulo and also a Master’s
degree in International Law from American University
and since early 90s she has worked extensively with
non-governmental organizations, government agencies,
and universities in Brazil. Ms. Furriela has been advisor
to the São Paulo State Environment Secretary
from 1996 to 1998, member of the Brazilian Delegation
to the Sixth Conference on Climate Change in Bonn, Germany,
in 2001, coordinator of important seminars in Brazil
on environmental topics such as the United Nations-sponsored
International Seminar on Sustainable Development in
2002 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and coordinator of the
Brazilian Forum on Climate Change from 2001 to 2002.
In 1998 she also started working as a private consultant
to local law firms, environmental non-governmental organizations,
and multilateral agencies.
Ms. Furriela has taught environmental law in several
universities, and conducted seminar and training in
various government environmental agencies and non-governmental
institutions in Brazil. Ms. Furriela has
contributed to the work of important environmental non-governmental
organizations in Brazil such as IPSUS, Instituto Socio-Ambiental,
and SOS Mata Atlantica, and she is the author of several
articles and book chapters on various environmental
topics and of the book Democracy, Citizenship and Environmental
Protection, published in Portuguese in 2002.
Peter L. Gilsey
Peter Ladd Gilsey, CIC, is the Chairman and CEO of Ariba Asset Management, a member of the Investment Policy Committee, and the original founding member of Ariba.
Mr. Gilsey's 50 years of experience includes being the founder and Chairman of Potomac Asset Management, Manager of LF Rothschild Asset Management's Washington, DC office and the Senior Portfolio Manager, Vice-President, Resident Partner, and National Sales Director for Loomis Sayles & Co.
Mr. Gilsey has lectured on investments at American University and Georgetown University and taught courses in trust investments and security analysis for the Washington Chapter, American Institute of Banking. A former member of the Investment Management Committee of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, he has been a frequent speaker and moderator before many professional organizations, including the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, where he has spoken at Annual Conferences, Advanced Trustees Institutes and regional seminars.
Mr. Gilsey has served the Capitol community in many ways: to wit, an active Rotarian and two-time recipient of its Rotarian of the Year Award, Founder of the Langdon-Bowen YMCA "Y Guy" of the Year award, several time Chair of the YMCA's Partner with Youth Campaign and past Chairman of the YMCA Foundation. Mr. Gilsey is also currently Chairman Emeritus of The Accokeek Foundation and member of its Finance Committee, Honorary Director of the Washington Performing Arts Society, and Founder of its Corporate Sponsor Committee, Co-Founder of the Washington Tennis Hall of Fame and Former Board member of the Washington Area Tennis Patrons Foundation. A former marathon runner, Mr. Gilsey completed the Marine Marathon in October 1998 and the Suzuki Rock and Roll San Diego Marathon in 1999.
Mr. Gilsey holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Georgetown University.
Dirk Kloss
email
 Mr.
Kloss grew up in West Germany. After leaving the University
of Marburg with a Bachelor's in Geography, Ethnology
and Communications, he worked for leading newspapers,
radio and TV stations in the USA, Germany and Hong Kong
as a correspondent, editor, and news anchor. Simultaneously,
he completed graduate studies at the University of Illinois
and Hamburg University with a Master's in Economic Geography.
In the early 90s Mr Kloss pursued research in Costa
Rica on debt-for-nature swaps and other innovative finance
mechanisms for the conservation of Latin America's tropical
forests, which in 1994 was published as the first German
book on this unfolding subject.
Over the following seven years Mr. Kloss
worked in India, Vietnam, Laos, and China on developing
country assistance programmes in environment and rural
development for the German government, namely GTZ and
KfW (the German Bank for Reconstruction and Development),
as well as for an international consulting firm. In
2001 Mr. Kloss retired from German development assistance
to put some of his own savings where his mouth had been
for so many years of work with poor farmers: planting
trees for long-term investment, coupled with environmental
stabilization and short-term management income. His
FSC-certified mixed plantation of sustainably managed,
high-end tropical timber in Panama established and growing
well, he returned as a Senior Advisor to the world of
international conservation finance.
On behalf of The Nature Conservancy and
a Conservation Finance Alliance of NGOs, bi- and multilateral
donor organisations, Mr. Kloss developed training guides
on innovative mechanisms, and assisted protected areas
worldwide to apply them and become sustainable. He continues
to work as an independent advisor to UNDP, the World
Bank, and others.
David Luther
Mr. Luther is a biologist. In 1996-1997 he worked in Ecuador as a Natualist Guide
Professional for groups of 5-12 tourists each week through the upper Amazonian rainforest. He introduced guests to the flora and fauna of the region and led specialized tours for advanced bird watchers. He also collaborated with indigenous guides to identify and explain native ethnobotanical uses of upper Amazonian flora.
Back in the US since 1998, Mr. Luther worked as a Resource Conservationist and Watershed Coordinatos for the
Southern Sonoma County Resource Conservation District, Petaluma, CA (1998-2002); as a Research Assistance at the Department of Ornithology and Mammology of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, CA (1998-2002); as a Research Project Crew Leader and Administrator for the Nature Conservancy in San Francisco, CA (2002); and as a Teaching Assistant (2003 and 2005) in Vertebrate Field Zoology at the
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
Mr. Luther holds a B.Sc. in Biology from University of Oregon and he is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Biology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Mr. Luther is highly proficient in Portuguese and Spanish.
Eugene Massey email
Mr. Massey graduated from Harvard Law School in 1967
and has practiced law with the Washington, DC-based
law firm Arent Fox since 1972. Mr. Massey specializes
in international energy transactions, with concentration
in the commercial and operational aspects of the liquefied
natural gas (LNG) trade. He has represented various
parties in LNG sales and transportation agreements and
has negotiated, drafted and reviewed a wide range of
legal documents relating to the constitution and financing
of major LNG projects. He has been a frequent speaker
at international gas conferences and written several
articles for journals with international circulation.
Prior to joining Arent Fox, he spent five years as a
lawyer for the U.S. Department of State in the Office
of the Legal Adviser, working initially on European
political and military affairs and then handling the
legislative and contract aspects of the U.S. Foreign
Assistance Program, including agricultural sales and
military sales under the Foreign Military Sales Program.
For the next two years he was counsel for the State
Department office responsible for international maritime
matters. In this capacity he acted as the U.S. representative
to the Legal Committee of what is now known as International
Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized U.N. agency
and represented the U.S. at international conferences
considering pollution, multimodal transport and codes
of conduct.
Mr. Massey has continued his maritime-related practice
at Arent Fox, representing U.S. and foreign clients
relating to pollution, pilotage, vessel safety and hazardous
cargo. He is a member of the Maritime Law Association
and has been active in its Hazardous and Noxious Substances
Committee with respect to issues affecting the transportation
of LNG. Mr. Massey served for 15 years as a member of
the editorial board of The Journal of Maritime Law and
Commerce.
In addition to his maritime and energy practice, Mr.
Massey has been actively engaged in international commercial
transactions, including international sales, investment
and joint venture transactions and has experience in
international litigation and arbitration.
Mr. Massey has been active in many community organizations.
He was a member of the Board of The Stone Ridge School
from 1989 to 1998, serving as chairman from 1993 to
1998. He has been active in the Washington D. C Rotary
club where her has served as Secretary of the club and
on the Board of Directors. He has headed up the club's
international service programs and remains active in
the club's World Service Committee. He also serves on
the board of Playing for Peace, a private initiative
to use basketball as a means of conflict resolution
in Northern Ireland and South Africa
Chris Parel email
Mr. Parel is a native of Arlington, Virginia. He earned
a BA at Amherst College and an MA in Economics from
Harvard. He was awarded a Ford Foundation fellowship
to work on project analysis at BNDES, Brazil's national
development bank. He subsequently worked in Brazil for
McKinsey & Co. Management
Consultants and for the Jari and Tucurui Projects in
the Amazon region. He then moved to the Philippines
with FMC Corporation's agricultural chemicals division
as Business Planning Manager for the Asia operations.
Mr. Parel returned to the Washington area
to work at the World Bank where he has served for over
20 years. He entered the Bank as an Investment Officer
with the International Finance Corporation and then
moved to the IBRD where he worked in Planning and Budgeting
and the Venezula and Brazil country operations as Country
Officer. At the moment, Mr. Parel is a Public Sector
Management Specialist task managing a number of projects
primarily in Brazil.
Flavio C. Pinheiro email
Mr. Pinheiro is a resident of São Paulo,
Brazil. He earned a BS in Molecular Sciences from the
University of São Paulo, then a Master's degree
in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts University,
writing his Master's thesis on corporate voluntary initiatives
and environmental reporting, with a focus on the principles
of the Business Charter for Sustainable Development
of the International Chamber of Commerce.
From May 2000 to October 2001, Mr. Pinheiro worked for
the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
in Washington DC and Boston on international and regional
projects for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions
and air pollution. Now based in Sao Paulo, he continues
to work for the U.S. EPA as a subcontractor to the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in São Paulo,
serving as coordinator of the Integrated Environmental
Strategies project for the São Paulo Metropolitan
Region, which evaluates technology and policy options
for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution
for this major metropolitan area. Since 2002, Mr. Pinheiro
has assisted William Dent, Jr. with preparations to
found Natural Partners and to start its operations in
Brazil. He now serves as the organization's Representative
in Brazil.
Douglas Richards
Douglas W. Richards is Senior Portfolio Manager, Portfolio Management Program and Senior Vice President-Investments at UBS Financial Services, Inc. in Washington, DC. He oversees the operations of the R&R Financial Group, a money management group within UBS, providing global equity portfolio management to individuals and institutions.
Doug began his career in the financial service industry in 1977 with the firm of Thomson McKinnon Securities where he acted as a Financial Advisor to individual investors. In 1989 Prudential Financial acquired Thomson and Doug continued his financial advisory role there. In 1994 Doug joined Prudential's portfolio management program and began managing individual client accounts on a discretionary basis. Within this context, in 1999 Doug joined with Sheldon Ray to form an investment management group with the focus of value-oriented, total return, global equity investing. At Prudential, the group successfully applied its strategy to individual client portfolios through 2001. In November 2001, Doug and his group moved their operations to UBS Financial Services, Inc. where they are currently focused on applying their strategy to client accounts.
In addition to portfolio management and handling the group's operations, Doug is focused on generational wealth transfer issues for the group's clients. He has been instrumental in developing and establishing the group's balanced and fixed income portfolio strategies. He has also been responsible for overseeing the group's ongoing expansion through asset mergers and acquisitions.
Outside of UBS, Doug serves on the Advisory Council of Natural Partners, an environmental group that seeks to enlist the cooperation of governmental, corporate, and local interests in developing sustainable conservation projects. Doug has also provided assistance to the Caribbean Region offices of The Nature Conservancy on local conservation efforts to protect 2500 acres of land on the island of St. Croix.
Doug has been actively involved with the Boy Scouts; helping scouts at Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church, Arlington, VA organize efforts and raise funds, enabling scouts to travel to South Africa to conduct the troop's service project to rebuild a Scout camp in Cape Town. Through the church, he is also regularly involved with the volunteer program, Rebuilding Together, in their annual home renovation efforts.
In his spare time, Doug is an avid cyclist and is a life-long member of the Sycamore Island Canoe Club on the Potomac River.
Doug has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington College in Maryland, and lives in Alexandria VA with his wife Debbie. He has two children Chris and Natalie.
Robert T. Sherman, Jr.
 Bob Sherman is dean of the School of Business and Technology at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN. Prior to joining St. Scholastica, he served as CEO of Character Education Partnership in Washington, DC and was a member of CEP’s board of directors. Mr. Sherman serves on the board of trustees of the Association of Recovery Schools, an organization dedicated to building sober high school and college environments for students. Before joining CEP in 2004, he was founder and president of RTS Solutions LLC based in Minnetonka, MN. From 1999-2004, RTSS advised international companies on development and acquisition of energy projects worldwide.
During his tenure at CEP, Mr. Sherman presided over an expansion of CEP’s funding sources, programs, products and services while building accountability among staff and board members. He energized new support for character education by enlisting the business sector while creating new roles for longtime CEP allies. Mr. Sherman also led the development of new revenue sources for CEP, including training educators to provide effective character education in K-12 schools. He recruited several national leaders to the board of directors and played a major role in attracting new foundation grants for CEP’s National Schools of Character program.
Mr. Sherman received his undergraduate degree with honors in political science from Southern Methodist University in 1974 where he was a member of the Southwest Conference champion swimming team. He received his law degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 1977, and was a member of the editorial staff of the Texas International Law Journal. With 27 years of experience in the energy and construction industries, Mr. Sherman has worked on major transactions in 16 countries and has been CEO and a member of the board of directors of a NASDAQ-traded energy company, Cogeneration Corporation of America. He served as a founding officer, senior vice president and general counsel of a major independent power generation company (CRSS Capital, Inc.) and chief development officer in Asia for Cogen Technologies of Houston, Texas.
As chairman, Mr. Sherman led the National Independent Energy Producers in Washington, DC (now called the Electric Power Supply Association), the largest independent electric power lobbying organization in the U. S., and developed legislative and regulatory initiatives at the federal and state levels. Mr. Sherman practiced law in Texas for fourteen years and advised on a wide array of business and energy matters.
Mr. Sherman has served as president of the board of trustees of the Hopkins Education Foundation in Minnesota and as an adjunct professor in the College of Business at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, where he has taught courses in ethics and leadership. He has been a visiting adjunct professor at New York College in Athens, Greece, at Tamkang University in Taiwan and lectured at Emory University. He is a frequent speaker and writer on topics related to business ethics and character education. Mr. Sherman is also an active member of the Rotary Club of Washington, DC (soon to transfer to the Rotary Club of Duluth), Habitat for Humanity and has served as a scoutmaster and adult leader in the Boy Scouts of America since 1990.
Adam Tomasek email
 Mr. Tomasek is a Senior Program Officer at the World Wildlife Fund and directs ecoregion conservation programs in New Guinea (PNG and Indonesia), Madagascar and the Miombo woodlands of eastern and southern Africa. Over the past three years he has developed and managed a multitude of large-scale programs in Latin America, Asia/Pacific and Africa, providing technical assistance, planning and management support for ecoregional programs in areas of biodiversity conservation strategies, policy analysis, outreach and advocacy, capacity building and learning mechanisms. He has worked extensively with multi- and bi-lateral funding agencies, national governments, grassroots NGOs and numerous dedicated and inspirational community leaders and groups.
Prior to joining WWF, Mr. Tomasek worked as an agroforestry extension trainer for the U.S. Peace Corps; forest ecologist for the Bureau of Land Management; and conservation biologist with Ecosystem Sciences International (a private consulting firm). From 1995-1998, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay, and thereafter co-founded Servicios Ecoforestales Para Agricultores (a Paraguayan environmental conservation NGO). Mr. Tomasek holds a M.S. in Environmental Systems and a B.S. in Marine Biology.
Durwood Zaelke
Durwood J. Zaelke is the President and founder of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, and serves as the Director of the INECE Secretariat. He also is the founder and Director of the Research Program on International and Comparative Environmental Law at American University Washington College of Law, where he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law and Scholar-in-Residence, teaching International Environmental Law and related courses. He was appointed Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School in 1999, teaching International Environmental Law and Policy. He is also the former President and founder of the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL).
Mr. Zaelke's substantive research focuses on resolving trade and environment conflicts, strengthening the implementation and enforcement of international environmental laws, and building capacity of local public interest movements in developing countries. He was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the White House Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC), and to serve on the U.S. delegation to the Seattle Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization. He continues to serve on TEPAC under President Bush. Mr. Zaelke also serves on the INECE Executive Planning Committee.
From 1980 to 1989, Mr. Zaelke was with the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, serving as the Director of the International Program, as well as the Director of the Washington, D.C. office and the Alaska office, where his litigation helped conserve important resources in the Tongass National Forest, as well as the Admiralty Island National Monument and Misty Fjords National Monument. From 1978 to 1980, Mr. Zaelke was a Special Litigation Attorney with the Department of Justice, where his responsibilities included designing the federal government's initial hazardous waste enforcement strategy; leading the initial investigation into the Love Canal hazardous waste case; designing an energy conservation litigation program; and leading the department's investigation into the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor. From 1975 to 1978, Mr. Zaelke was a staff attorney with the Environmental Law Institute. Prior to that he was in private practice in Los Angeles. He graduated from UCLA in 1969, and from Duke Law School in 1972, where he was an Editor of the Duke Law Journal.
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