The AREI Board of Trustees
Chip Comins
Founder, Chairman & CEO
Chip Comins is a renewable energy and clean technology expert and serves as Founder, Chairman and CEO of the American Renewable Energy Institute (AREI) and is the Founder of AREDAY. He is President and CEO of American Spirit Productions and Managing Director of WEnergy. Comins focuses and connects climate solutions in a Climate Constellation of implementation, acceleration and replication locally, nationally and globally. In 2009 he produced 13 official side events at the UNFCCC COP 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark and presented at COP 16 in Cancun, Mexico in 2011; COP21 in Paris, France in 2015 & COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco in 2016.
Comins has produced and directed both long and short form documentary films for educational and broadcast television markets, including PBS, Link TV, BET and Discovery Network, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and DOE Wind Powering America, A long-time advocate of developing and implementing renewable energy resources to abate green house gases and climate change, Comins encourages a business approach to solving both the economic and environmental crisis. Comins completed the 16th Annual AREDAY 2019 Summit in Aspen/Snowmass CO featuring over 175 globally renowned thought leaders in clean energy and sustainable solutions. In 2020 he hosted the AREDAY “Democracy and the Vote” virtual series and continues to advocate for rapid climate solution within the new Biden/Harris Administration.
Cynthia Garrett
President
Cynthia Garrett is a Real Estate developer passionate about art, health, wellness, regenerative farming, and green building. She first embraced regenerative farming on her sustainable, organic taro farm in Hawai’i, growing the ancient root vegetable Kalo, known for its connection to life and the land. Cynthia now owns an organic macadamia and fruit farm, which she is developing into a retreat focused on art, detox, and organic farming. She also runs a retreat center in Santa Fe, NM, and owns the Ernesto Mayan Art Gallery.
Known as a Real Estate designer, Cynthia advocates for green building, affordable housing, solar energy, and non-toxic materials like adobe bricks. Her vision includes healing the environment from the ground up, restoring soil health to promote sustainable living. Through AREI, her goals are to educate others on organic methods and inspire change through consumer choices.
For Cynthia, “Art inspires life, health, and wellness. It makes life more beautiful.”
Bill Brandt
Vice-Chairman
Bill Brandt is Director of Strategic Integration for ASU LightWorks and is an experienced energy executive. After a 30-year career at SOHIO/BP he retired as Director of Mergers and Acquisitions and joined Arizona State University to work on renewable energy challenges. As Director of Strategic Integration of ASU LightWorks for Arizona State University’s incubator and accelerator for renewable energy technologies, he works across interdisciplinary research programs with national laboratories and major corporations to deliver renewable energy products. Brandt has a B.S. in Chemistry and Environmental Sciences from Principia College and an MBA from Wharton; he is on the board of a social networking communications company (educatedchange.com) and Ensyn Corporation, a producer of renewable liquid fuels from wood biomass and agricultural residues.
Andrew Quiat
Secretary
Andrew Quiat, serves as a Trustee of the 100+ year old Iliff School of Theology (see www.iliff.edu). As a law student some 40+ years ago, he was an environmental intern with the Ford Foundation on a grant program through his law school. In between he has had a full career in both private and public life with experience in executive positions, board governance, for-profit public, private, and non-profit organizations, as well as engaging in the private practice of law. His law practice is substantially limited to realization upon large money judgments and in pursuing people who send spam. He is actively involved through outreach efforts of the Aspen Community United Methodist Church, of which his wife is the Pastor, with the provision of sustainable water to rural Kenyans. In addition he is a co-founder of ProvidIce, LLC, an R&D stage venture dedicated to the commercialization of free floating Antarctic Icebergs for their potable water and thermal content for production of water, energy, and carbon offsets.
Hanieh Sadat
Treasurer
Hanieh Sadat is a managing partner at GenesysOne Capital. A hedge fund that invests in digital Assets. She is a former VP of Morgan Stanley, Private Wealth Management. She has been trading traditional assets and managing portfolios for select group of family offices and institutions since 2006. She was a VP at an energy private equity firm based in Asia in 2017. She is the founder of ImpactX – a token generation event advisory firm for impact projects and securing TGE (token generation event) deals for international investors in the past year. She is a treasurer at American Renewable Energy institute foundation in Aspen.
David Levine
Strategic Partnerships
David Levine is the Founder and President of the American Sustainable Business Council. ASBC is a growing coalition of business organizations and companies advancing market and policy change for a sustainable economy. The Council brings together the business voice and power to stimulate our economy, benefit our communities, and regenerate our environment. The organizations that have joined in this partnership represent over 250,000 businesses. Levine worked as a social entrepreneur for over 30 years focusing on the development of whole systems solutions for a more sustainable society through building strategic partnerships and broad stakeholders initiatives. Previously, he was the Founding Director of Continuing Education and Public Programs at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. From 1984-1997, Levine was Founder and Executive Director of the Learning Alliance, an independent popular education organization.
Gordon Fuller
Community Development
Gordon Fuller, is known as a visionary social entrepreneur. He is Co-Director of the Inclusive Cities Lab, a global think-tank supporting governments and companies in the implementation of legal mandates for inclusion and diversity. He mentors graduate engineering and computer science students with UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design, developing artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and spatial computing to address environmental challenges. He has developed market driven business solutions in ventures in which he served as company founder, CEO, president, board member, advisor, and mentor. His career reflects vision, creativity, experience, competence, and confidence underscored by personal commitment.
Gordon is a Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Sustainable Environmental Mobility Platform (SEMP), where he is designing inclusive smart distributed power management and ridesharing mobility solutions for smart cities. Gordon is an inspiring speaker, Award winning television producer and social media influencer with a communitarian message. He credits his experience with blindness as launching his career as an environmentalist, tech entrepreneur and community-minded diversity and inclusion advocate.
Inspired by the words his Great Uncle R. Buckminster Fuller, and growing up in his shadow, Gordon Believes Bucky’s quote: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” has never rang more true than it does today. Gordon joined the AREI Board of Trustees in the Spring of 2021.
Captain Paul Watson
Captain Paul Watson is a marine wildlife conservation and environmental activist. Watson was one of the founding members and directors of Greenpeace. In 1977 he founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. A renowned speaker, accomplished author, master mariner, and lifelong environmentalist, Watson has been awarded many honors for his dedication to the oceans and to the planet. He received the Genesis Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1998, was named as one of the Top 20 Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century by Time Magazine in 2000 and was inducted into the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame in Washington D.C. in 2002. He was also awarded the Amazon Peace Prize by the president of Ecuador in 2007. In 2012, Watson was awarded the Jules Verne Award, dedicated to environmentalists and adventurers.
General Wesley K. Clark
General Wesley K. Clark, Chairman and CEO of Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a strategic consulting firm; Chairman and Founder of Enverra, Inc. a licensed investment bank; Chairman of Energy Security Partners, LLC; as well as numerous corporate boards including BNK Petroleum and Leagold Mining. He is active in energy, including oil and gas, biofuels, electric power and batteries, finance, and security. During his business career he has served as an advisory, consultant or board member of over ninety private and publicly traded companies. In the not-for-profit space, he is a Senior Fellow at UCLA’s Burkle Center for International Relations, Centennial Fellow at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Director of the Atlantic Council; and Founding Chair of City Year Little Rock/North Little Rock. A best-selling author, General Clark has written four books and is a frequent contributor on TV and to newspapers.
Clark retired as a four star general after 38 years in the United States Army, having served in his last assignments as Commander of US Southern Command and then as Commander of US European Command/ Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.
Dr. Sylvia Earle
Dr. Sylvia Earle, Explorer-in-Residence, National Geographic Society, is an oceanographer, author, and lecturer with experience as a field research scientist. Dr. Earle serves as executive director for corporate and nonprofit organizations, including the Aspen Institute, the Conservation Fund, American Rivers, Mote Marine Laboratory, Duke University Marine Laboratory, Rutgers Institute for Marine Science, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, and Ocean Conservancy. Former chief scientist of NOAA, Dr. Earle founded the Mission Blue Foundation and was chair of theAdvisory Council for the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies. She has authored many books on the ocean, written over 150 publications, lectured in over 60 countries, and appeared in hundreds of television productions. Her research concerns marine ecosystems and exploration and the development of new technologies to access the deep sea.
Thomas King
Thomas King is currently Managing Partner of CrossRiver Capital and was a Founding Partner of US Renewables Group, the first private equity group focused solely on renewable power, bio-fuels/chemicals, and related infrastructure. With more than thirty years’ experience in finance and energy, King has completed more than $25 billion of equity and debt investments across six continents acting both in a proprietary capacity and for many of the world’s most prominent energy and infrastructure companies. He has provided path-finding leadership in structured debt financings leading to solar energy ABS and was an early investor and proponent of PACE financing. Before USRG, he was with Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, and prior to that worked for over a decade with JP Morgan Chase in London and New York.
Henk Rogers
Henk Rogers is Founder and CEO of Blue Planet Energy Systems. He is a Dutch-born entrepreneur and clean energy visionary who has dedicated the past decade of his career to the research, development, advocacy and implementation of renewable energy sources in his adopted home of Hawaii. Rogers studied computer science at the University of Hawaii and spent his early career in Japan as a video game designer, gaining distinction for producing the country’s first major role-playing game, The Black Onyx. Rogers went on to revolutionize the video game industry by securing the rights for the blockbuster Tetris, which 30 years later remains a bestseller and global gaming icon. Most recently, Rogers founded Blue Planet Energy Systems and developed Blue Ion, a pre-packaged energy storage solution combining Sony’s industry-leading battery technology with proprietary system architecture and energy management software.
David Orr PhD
David Orr PhD, Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College, is Senior Adviser to the president at Oberlin and a James Marsh, Professor at large at the University of Vermont. He is presently the director for the Oberlin Project a joint city/college effort to build a sustainable post-fossil fuel economy. He helped launch the President’s Climate Action Plan (2008) and is known for his pioneering work in ecological design including the Adam Joseph Lewis Center at Oberlin. He has written seven books, most recently Hope is an Imperative: the Essential David Orr and published 170 articles. He was named an “Environmental Hero for 2004” byInteriors & Sources Magazine. He holds six honorary degrees and was a distinguished scholar in residence at University of Washington, Ball State University and Westminster College in Salt Lake City.
Geraldine Patrick Encina
Geraldine Patrick Encina is Consultant for One Earth, Executive Director of Earth Timekeepers, Member of the Grand Council of the Eagle and the Condor, Member of the Otomi Council of the High Lerma River Basin, Member of the Academic and Technical Committee of the Biocultural Heritage Network of the National Council of Science and Technology in Mexico (CONACYT), Member of Land Healers, Member of the Interamerican Society for Astronomy in Culture (SIAC), and Board Member of the Pre-Columbian Society at UPenn Museum.
She earned a PhD in Social Sciences by El Colegio Mexiquense, A.C. and did a two-year Post Doctorate research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) on Mesoamerican Conceptions of Time-Space.
She has been professor of Ethnoecology and related topics in two renowned universities in Mexico: Intercultural University of Mexico State and Autonomous University of Mexico between 2007 and 2014. Between 2015 and 2020 she was a Scholar in Residence at the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, developing and offering courses both there and at Teachers College.
Ravé Mehta
Ravé Mehta is an engineer, entrepreneur, bestselling author and a recipient of the Tesla Vision Award by the Tesla Science Foundation. Ravé is the founder of Flow Capital and Flow Labs, which incubates and commercializes frontier technologies that can help solve some of humanity’s grand challenges. He’s the chairman and CEO of Water Ledger, which is focused on creating new water supplies by taking water wastage and inefficiencies out of the water markets. Ravé is also a board member and director of the parent company Mehta Group, a construction management firm building transportation infrastructure in the U.S. for over 40 years and has completed over 800 infrastructure projects including roads, highways, bridges, airports, and water systems.
Ravé is a former board member of Space Florida (official Florida space agency), and helped with the transition from the national space shuttle program to the commercial space program. He is also an award-winning pianist and composer and has performed around the world incorporating the principles of flow into his Flow piano sound bath performances. Ravé is the author of The Inventor, a bestselling graphic novel (Scholastic) based on the true story of Nikola Tesla.
Sally Ranney
Sally Ranney is President Emeritus and Co-Founder of the American Renewable Energy Institute (AREI); Co-Founder, International Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), has forty years experience in the environmental arena. She is CEO of Stillwater Preservation, LLC, a wetlands mitigation banking company and a Patron of Nature for the IUCN. Ranney is Chairman of eraGlobal Alliance and an anchor for “A Matter of Degree,” an internet series on climate change. Ranney has worked with three U.S. Presidents, including appointed by President Reagan to his Commission on American Outdoors. She now serves on the Global Advisory Committee of Women & the Green Economy (WAGE,) the Advisory Board of RoundRock Partners, LLC. and the board of the Climate Accountability Institute. Recognitions include the Horace Albright Award, the International Conservation Award, Earth Guardians’ Earth Stewardship Award, and the Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation (CELF) Lifetime Achievement Award.
Wiley Rhodes
Wiley Rhodes, Founder of One Step In Foundation and Chief Executive Officer of Newpoint Companies, is an experienced executive with over 30 years in the oil and gas industry. With his wide range of international experience he has established an importance on the elimination of methane and flash gas emissions from oil production. As Founder of One Step In, he works to make the most of our valuable resources by building viable solutions while serving the worlds energy needs. Rhodes’ has recently published four papers that demonstrate methane and flash gas emissions issues.
Trammell S. Crow
Trammell S. Crow is the President of the Crow Family Foundation, which operates and manages The Trammell and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art. He is the father of Nathan, Margaret, Daniel and Isabella. Prior to assuming his present responsibilities, Mr. Crow had various other positions within the Crow family businesses. Mr. Crow began his career as a warehouse leasing agent in Denver and then transferred to Houston to develop residential subdivisions and, subsequently, to lease retail space. Returning to Dallas to join the development team of the Anatole Hotel, he then worked at the Dallas Market Center when it expanded by over 2 million square feet. By 1985, he had developed the Dallas Communications Complex, the Studios at Las Colinas, INFOMART and the Dallas/Fort Worth Teleport. From 1986 to 1993, Mr. Crow was the Chief Executive Officer of Trammell Crow International, overseeing the Brussels International Trade Mart (largest in Europe) and developing additional trade marts in Asia. Mr. Crow is a long-term supporter of the Texas Conservation Alliance, the Nature Conservancy of Texas, Texans for Lawsuit Reform, and the League of Conservation Voters. He supports various non-profit organizations that are active in family planning, education, the environment, community initiatives and political causes.
Andrew Scott
Andrew Scott is the Founder and Executive Director of the Open Mind Project, a non-profit corporation that promotes critical thinking and compassionate dialogue between people of all faiths and perspectives. This spiritual diplomacy includes a reach of over a million followers on social media. OMP examines the personal environmental consequences of religious beliefs and culturally embedded narratives and works with religious leaders and lay-people to promote contextual understanding of faith and religious narratives and encourages peaceful and compassionate engagement. Scott specializes in the psychology and sociology of Religion. He received his Master of Divinity at the Pacific School of Religion at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. His studies include International affairs, Christian Theology, Islamic Philosophy and History, Buddhist meditation, theory and history, anthropology, and the psychology of religion.
Nick Thomas
Nick Thomas 15+ years of professional experience across a range of industries, including: Government Relations, Public Policy, Program Management, Sports Diplomacy, New Business Development, Sales, and Startup & Entrepreneurial Consulting. Thomas earned his BA in Political Science from Colorado State University, his MA in International Diplomacy from Josef Korbel School at University of Denver, and his MBA in International Business from Hult. He has gained experience working in property management, tech startups, education, travel, and aviation.
John R. Seydel
John R. Seydel, Trustee Elect, Turner Foundation, is a rising senior studying political science and business at the University of Denver in Colorado. As the eldest of Ted Turner’s grandchildren, he is also the oldest of the trustee elects on the Turner Foundation. He intends to follow a path of developing renewable energy projects while receiving his MBA. John R. has a passion for politics and has interned for the Governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper and is actively working on Senator Udall’s re-election campaign in Colorado as well. John R. participates in baseball at DU, Divest University of Denver, and is a member of Kappa Sigma to which his grandfather also belongs. In 2010 he graduated with an International Baccalaureate degree from Upper Canada College in Toronto, Canada.
Benjamin J Butler
Benjamin J Butler is a very unique global futurist, having spent his entire career harnessing his imagination to see the unseen. He spent a career on Wall St and global finance and was a highly prescient forecaster of the future, having forecast various asset price moves from the Dotcom crash, the 2002-2008 boom in Asia, the emergence of China, the oil price boom, the GFC crash in 2009, and the crypto boom thereafter. Aside from investing as a hedge fund manager, he has made venture investments, including being an early investor in Tik Tok. He was advisor to the CIO of Blue Sky Asia, one of the most successful hedge funds in the Asia Pacific and wrote the International Column of Dow Theory Letters with Wall St Legend Richard Russell.
Many international organizations have sought his understanding of the future; whilst organizations still call upon him to forecast future scenarios, he is passionate about promoting an ecological civilization. He has spoken at the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, various investment conferences and holds positions as a futurist advisor with several organizations such as Zurich-based Horasis and the Athena School of Management in India.
Bob Levin
Bob Levin is an inventor, mobile & renewable energy and lithium expert, serial entrepreneur, and author. He is currently the CEO of Emerging Star Digital. He has over 25 years of senior level Wall Street & Technology experience, and has raised $150 million for funds and technology companies.
Lisa Gerstner
Lisa Gerstner is a visual storyteller whose work spans film production, writing, music composition, and fine arts. She holds a Master of Science in Education Media Design and Technology from Full Sail University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from Kansas State University. Lisa is known for her documentary on the celebrated Crow artist Earl Biss, Art of Native America: Earl Biss, which has won international awards and explores Biss’ profound impact on contemporary Native American art.
Notable projects include co-producing and composing music for Girls on Purpose, co-producing the feature Openings: The Search for Harry and producing/directing a video series on sculptor, Gib Singleton. As an author, she’s best known for Experiences with Earl Biss: The Spirit Who Walks Among His People, an international award-winning biography that delves into Biss’ life, art, and influence.
Her background in art education, graphic design and fine art enhanced by expertise in instructional design and current learning theories, positions her as a storyteller skilled in understanding how people learn and perceive new ideas. This interdisciplinary approach informs her work with clients across business, non-profits, education, and entertainment, where she excels at translating complex messages into impactful visual and auditory experiences that resonate deeply with target audiences.
Beverly J Camhe
Beverly J Camhe is a seasoned entertainment professional whose dynamic career spans over five decades as a writer, producer, and creative visionary in film, television, and live productions. She has held executive roles with major studios such as Lorimar (Dallas), MGM, Orion Pictures, and Universal. Beverly’s producing credits include The Believers (starring Martin Sheen), The Package (featuring Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones), and Junior (with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito). She also played a pivotal role in marketing The Celestine Prophecy to the top of The New York Times Best Seller list and later produced its film adaptation.
Beverly’s passion extends to environmental advocacy. She was commissioned by the King of Morocco to document his first Earth Day celebration and co-produced the film with Academy Award-winner Barbara Kopple. In 2019, she organized the Earth’s Call Climate Summit in Aspen, Colorado, celebrating the city’s transition to 100% renewable energy with performances by Patti LaBelle and others. In 2020, Beverly launched EarthxWomen, an intergenerational virtual conference featuring Jane Fonda, Lisa Ling, and young activists like Xiye Bastida. She also co-produced The Way of the Rain, bringing this performance art piece to Monaco, hosted by Prince Albert.
Committed to empowering youth activism, Beverly works with global events like COP conferences and the World Economic Forum. Her latest project, The Way of the Whale, chronicles Xiye Bastida’s journey with grey whales and her efforts to create empathy for their plight. Beverly continues to amplify young voices, ensuring their stories drive meaningful change.
Deborah Stirling
Deborah Stirling is with the Burroughs and Chapin Center for Marine and Wetland Studies at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina. Among her activities, she helps coordinate the Southeast Atlantic Econet program (SEA Econet), which is the National Weather Service’s presence in the Southeast for the National Mesonet Program.
Ms. Stirling was a founder and CFO of Infinite Habitat @ Innovista, an engineering design and sustainability company that offered consulting, particularly in renewable energy and other aspects of the built environment. Ms. Stirling is a retired SC attorney specializing in science, engineering, technology, environment, and climate research. In addition, she was a legislative advisor to the National Academy of Sciences.
Ms. Stirling spent ten years as Subcommittee Counsel for Oceans and Atmosphere for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and then was Legal Counsel for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), which manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO. Ms. Stirling is past chair and serves on the National Sea Grant Advisory Board (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce), works with various scientific groups around the country on climate-related projects and serves as a Commissioner on the South Carolina Floodwater Commission. Ms. Stirling has a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law.
In Memoriam: Robert Corell (1934-2025)
AREI honors the late Bob Corell (Robert W. Corell), former board of trustees member.
Bob was a renowned American climate scientist and policy expert, recognized for his significant contributions to understanding global climate change and its impacts, particularly in the Arctic. He worked extensively on issues related to the environment, climate science, and the intersection of science and policy.
Here are some highlights of his career:
Leadership in Climate Research: Corell served as the chair of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), a groundbreaking report that highlighted the effects of climate change in the Arctic and its implications for the rest of the world. The ACIA was one of the first comprehensive studies to document the rapid warming of the Arctic region.
Academic and Policy Roles: He has held positions at various academic and policy institutions, including the Harvard Kennedy School, the University of Miami and UiT The Arctic University of Norway. His work often bridged the gap between scientific research and policymaking.
Affiliation with International Organizations: Corell has been involved with the United Nations and other international organizations, focusing on climate-related issues, sustainability, and the role of science in addressing global challenges.
As a Director and Principal at the Global Environment & Technology Foundation, he is focused on programs and activities that explicitly addressed those human-induced changes that are disruptive, and which are leading to transformations across both public and private spheres of societies. Dr. Corell is dedicated to frame these programs in ways that are increasingly formulated to accelerate positive social outcomes, to expand knowledge for all, facilitate technological innovation and foster institutional cultures that are dedicated to the benefit of society.
Advocacy and Communication: A prominent advocate for addressing climate change, Corell has worked to raise awareness of its risks and promote global action. He has been a sought-after speaker at conferences and in the media.
Bob Corell’s contributions have been critical in shaping how scientists, policymakers, and the public understand and respond to climate change, particularly the pressing issues facing the Arctic region.
He influenced and touched many people over the years and the world has lost a great man. His energy and ideas where infectious and those of us who were lucky enough to know him know we have a responsibility to carry on his work.
Bob held Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. degrees from Case Western Reserve University and MIT. He was the Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation for Geosciences, responsible for the Atmospheric, Earth and Ocean Sciences and Polar Programs. He led the U.S. climate and global change research program and international programs for the UN, global and regional research science and related public policy assessments. He has been and continues to be recognized with international awards, Honorary Doctor Degrees, and other recognitions.