Quinton Zondervan
Quinton is an environmental activist, a successful entrepreneur and an award-winning software engineer. Quinton is currently the CTO at eCareVault, a software start-up developing a secure cloud based platform for healthcare coordination and information sharing. Quinton is also a Principal Software Architect at BigR.io, a big data software consulting company. Previously, Quinton was the founding CEO of Excelimmune, a biopharmaceutical company that cloned human antibodies against infectious disease targets. Quinton also served as the CTO of software startup Clickmarks, developing innovative web and mobile software applications. Quinton began his career as a software engineer at IBM where he co-invented the SyncML data synchronization standard. In addition to his work at CABA, he serves as president of Green Cambridge, a local community non-profit organization working on sustainability initiatives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Quinton holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT and two bachelor’s degrees in the fields of mathematics and computer science from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Susan Labandibar
Susan Labandibar is the founder and owner of Tech Networks of Boston, a Massachusetts benefit corporation serving the strategic technology needs of the Greater Boston nonprofit community while providing training and opportunities for disadvantaged youths who aspire to careers in IT. The company also creates and sustains environmental initiatives, including the Climate Action Business Association, which organizes local business leaders to be more effective advocates for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Susan currently serves as president of the board of directors at both Tech Networks of Boston and the Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts. She also serves as treasurer at the Climate Action Business Association and at Green Cambridge.
Peter S. Kirby
Peter left IBM in 2014 to spend time with his children and pursue interests and investments in alternative energy and sustainability. He is a Board Member and chairs the Finance Committee of the Plaxall Companies, with manufacturing and real estate operations in New York and Iowa. Peter spent over two decades as a business strategy consultant and partner in the US, Japan, Asia and Europe, living in Japan for over 16 years in total. In 1998 he left Cap Gemini to join the leadership team of Mainspring, a Cambridge e-strategy consultancy that IBM acquired in 2001. Based in Tokyo for over half of his 13 years with IBM, he was the first non-Japanese to run a business within IBM Japan, responsible for P&L of IBM’s multi-billion dollar Global Business Services Japan unit with nearly 10,000 employees.
Peter, his wife Kyoko and their five children returned to Cambridge in 2010, where he led IBM’s US Financial Services Strategy Consulting team. Peter has a BA from Harvard, where he studied Economics and Japanese, and an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School. He speaks and reads Japanese.
Jorge Colminares
A business entrepreneur, Jorge is passionate about helping others find their own unique talents and putting these to the service of humanity. With this purpose in mind, he moved to Massachusetts in February 2015 to launch a new phase in his career in the area of Climate Action and Corporate Social Responsibility and to drive it with conviction and passion.
Jorge’s main business focus has been the development of Renewable Energies, as the alternative to traditional use of fossil fuels. He has extensive experience in this area: first, as Investment Banker working at JPMorgan, then, as Executive Vice President working for a US leader in wind and solar development, enXco, and later as an Entrepreneur in clean energy generation. Jorge is determined to bring a solution to Climate Change through Renewable Energies, primarily with wind and solar projects.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Jorge worked right out of college in the oil and gas industry. After two years of field experience, he came to the United States to pursue graduate studies. He holds a Masters of Business Administration (’96) and a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering (’92), both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Cathy Carruthers
Cathy Carruthers is a retired Natural Resource Economist. She has taught economics and econometrics at the University of Washington, Western Washington University, and New Mexico State University. She worked for the State of Washington for 21 years, and most recently for 6 years at Tacoma Power. Her areas include econometrics, cost-benefit analysis, electricity price forecasting, and evaluation of conservation and energy resources for integrated resource planning.
Kalman Gacs
Kalman Gacs is the Project Manager and Creative Director at Viv Web Solutions, a CABA member business. Kalman started making digital graphics with great gusto in 2000 as an “activist artist,” designing illustrations and graphics to help build the climate movement. Since then, Kalman has had the opportunity to make graphics for many small businesses and non-profits as well as a number of Fortune 500 companies. With an eye for detail honed from rigorous training in fine arts at Boston University, Kalman takes on each design challenge with a full array of creative catalysts — research, brainstorming, and sketching.
