Speaker Biographies
Session I: China’s Ever-Shrinking Market for U.S. Discards
David Biderman, Executive Director and CEO, Solid Waste Association of North America
David Biderman is the Executive Director and CEO of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA). David joined SWANA in April 2015 after 18 years with the National Waste & Recycling Association, where he was their General Counsel, Vice President for Government Affairs, and Safety Director. He has litigated cases at the Supreme Court; testified before federal agencies, state legislatures and city councils; and provided safety and compliance training to thousands of workers throughout the United States and Canada. David was the recipient of Preco’s Safety in Motion award in January 2017, recognizing his leadership in the waste and recycling industry on safety.
Prior to entering the waste industry, David was an attorney at the Washington DC law firm Steptoe & Johnson, where he specialized in environmental and transportation law.
David graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Johns Hopkins University, and is the proud father of three terrific children.
Anne Germain, Director, Waste and Recycling Technology, National Waste & Recycling Association
Anne is the Vice President of Technical and Regulatory Affairs for the National Waste & Recycling Association. She has worked in the recycling and solid waste industry for over 25 years.
Since 2013, she has worked for NWRA focusing on supporting members by developing and implementing strategies that address common issues facing the industry. She has worked extensively on landfilling and recycling issues and providing regulatory support. She often represents the NWRA on providing testimony on industry issues. Prior to that, she was the Chief of Engineering and Technology for the Delaware Solid Waste Authority.
She graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and received her Master in Civil Engineering, from the University of Delaware. She was President of the Solid Waste Association of North America. She has published over 20 papers and has presented nationally and internationally on solid waste and recycling matters.
Anne is a professional engineer and a Board Certified Environmental Engineer. She has been active in ABET evaluating serving as a team chair evaluating engineering programs for accreditation.
Zoe Heller, Deputy Director, Policy Development & Analysis Office, CalRecycle
Zoe Heller was appointed Assistant Director for Policy Development at the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery in May 2017. Before joining CalRecycle she worked at the U.S. EPA’s Pacific Southwest Office for more than 10 years. She was manager for the Zero Waste section from 2014 to 2017, special assistant to the Regional Administrator from 2012 to 2013, and an environmental protection specialist in the Environmental Justice program from 2006 to 2012. From 2004 to 2006, Zoe was a research and policy analyst at the Center for Neighborhood Technology in Chicago, Illinois. Zoe holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Policy from Eckerd College and a Master of Public Administration from Roosevelt.
Session II: SB 1383: A Focus on the Market Development Concepts
Hank Brady, Supervisor, Executive Office, CalRecycle
Hank Brady is the SB 1383 Manager for the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). In this role he oversees CalRecycle’s efforts to achieve California’s ambitious organic waste recycling targets. Prior to this role Brady worked as the Chief Legislative Consultant for the department. Before Joining CalRecycle, he served as a legislative aide in the offices of Assembly Member Marc Levine and State Senator Joe Simitian.
Michelle Martin, Branch Chief, Financial Resources Management Branch, CalRecycle
Michelle Martin is the Branch Chief for CalRecycle’s Financial Resources Management Branch. Michelle has worked at CalEPA and several of its Boards and Departments since 1994. She’s worked on a variety of CalRecycle’s grant programs since 2003. She began her management career in 2008 and has developed and advised on policy, procedure and fiscal accountability for over 18 grant, payment, and loan programs.
Alex Byrne, Supervisor, Grants & Payments Unit, CalRecycle
Alex Byrne is the supervisor for CalRecycle's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Grant Unit. Alex has an Environmental Policy degree from UC Davis and a Masters in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School. Alex is entering his fourth year working at CalRecycle. Alex has a diverse background working on food security and community development in the non-profit sector, diversity recruitment in academia, and now combating climate change in state service.
Session III: Peer Share
Maureen Hart, Zone Administrator, North Coast RMDZ (Session III: Peer Share)
Maureen Hart has been working in Recycling, Energy, and the Community Based Economy since1980, first in Michigan and then in California. Presently she is working with Redwood Regional Economic Development Corporation on the Manufacturer’s Network Project, the winner of the very competitive PG&E Economic Vitality Grant (2013). She completed a Master Certificate in Sustainable Supply Chain Management at the University of San Francisco. Hart has worked for corporations, non-profits, government, small business, and now with them as a consultant. As a contractor/staff, she was interim Executive Director and Program Manager at the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (6 years). She is the Zone Administrator with the North Coast Recycling Market Development Zone/CalRecycle (2000 to present). She has worked with manufacturers on increasing their energy efficiency and using recycled materials in their production. Hart was General Manager and Corporate Manager of large recycling centers and collection programs in San Francisco, marketing over 120,000 tons/yr. of recyclables to domestic and export markets (now Recology) and 120 employees. She worked with towns in Northern California facilitating their transition plan from a logging based economy (Center for Environmental Economic Development) and successfully worked with a theater school expansion capital campaign, grant writing and business planning (Dell Arte). Hart managed an Appropriate Technology Center in East Lansing for 5 years that still exists today, 35 years later (now Michigan Energy Options).
Peter Mui, Founder, Fixit Clinics
Peter Mui is the founder of Fixit Clinic (www.fixitclinic.org) which hosts community repair events throughout California and around the U.S. Almost 250 Fixit Clinics have been held to date, hosted by municipal and county governments, recycling and environmental organizations, school systems, colleges and universities, and public libraries. “Education, entertainment, empowerment, elucidation, and, ultimately, enlightenment through do-it-together troubleshooting and repair.”
Debbie Killey, Chair, City of Huntington Beach Environmental Board
Debbie Killey has been an environmentalist advocating for waste reduction most of her life and enjoys repairing things that are broken. As a community volunteer, Debbie brought the first Fixit Clinics to Huntington Beach in 2015 and enjoys promoting Fixit Clinics in other communities. Her community has now held 8 clinics and continues to host them consistently. Currently she is Chair of Huntington Beach’s Environmental Board and promotes environmental education in her community. Her education includes a BA in Molecular Biology from UC Santa Cruz, a MBA from Pepperdine, and a certification in Environmental Management from UC Irvine. As a professional, she has held managerial responsibilities in marketing, operations, IT, and business development.
Bob Hollis, Principal, The Mobius Network
Bob Hollis is the founder and CEO of Mobius Intelligent Systems and The Mobius Network, LLC, an award-winning web development and technology services firm focused on helping organizations with a public benefit mission achieve their objectives. His clients include public agencies, non-profits, and recycling organizations located throughout the United States. Bob has served as an elected public official in El Dorado County, CA, and as a board member for the California Resource Recovery Association, the National Recycling Coalition, and the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council.
John Davis, Zone Administrator, High Desert RMDZ
Session IV: RMDZ Loans: A Business Will Share Its RMDZ Experience
Julie Corbett, President & Founder, Ecologic Brands, Inc.
Julie is the founder of Ecologic and has served as the Company's President since December of 2015 and a Board member since 2008. Julie is the mastermind behind Ecologic’s new bottle – a testament to her insatiable curiosity and ability to "think outside the bottle”. She approaches challenges with fierce optimism and tenacity and isn’t afraid to turn the packaging industry upside down. Julie’s passion is bolstered by her 16 years of marketing and investment experience. Prior to founding Ecologic, she was a Vice President at Jurika, Mills & Keifer, where she helped launch the Counterpoint Mutual and Counterpoint Select funds. Julie was also a Partner at Jurika & Voyles, Inc., where she led the firm’s institutional service and marketing efforts that contributed to asset growth of more than $5 billion before it was sold in 1997. Previously, Julie worked for RBC Dominion Securities and the Royal Bank of Canada as well as BBDO Worldwide in Prague, Czech Republic.
Julie holds a B.A. in Economics from McGill University in Canada and was once a professional gymnast-in-training (a helpful background in an entrepreneurial world that often requires one to jump through hoops). Julie is devoted to her two active girls, serving as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Oakland Lake School for 3 years and as Girl Scout Leader for her daughters’ troops. When not hunched over new bottle prototypes, she is an avid skier and an ardent friend of the earth.
Greg Rodrigues, CEO, Ecologic Brands, Inc.
Greg Rodrigues has served as Ecologic's CEO since December of 2015. Greg has been the lead investor for Ecologics's two most recent rounds of financing and serves on Ecologic's Board of Directors. Prior to Ecologic, Greg co-founded Insulair, Inc., a manufacturer of patented insulated paper cups. Over his tenure, Mr. Rodrigues overcame cash flow shortages, product recalls, a patent suit, and quality control problems.
He developed Insulair’s manufacturing capacity into an extremely profitable, high quality producer of a state of the art insulated paper cup. The company employed over 250 people and had a manufacturing capacity of over 600 million cups per year. Insulair’s foodservice customers included McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Sara Lee, and 7-Eleven. Insulair had distribution in over 20,000 retail locations that included Target, Wal-Mart, Safeway, Publix, Whole Foods, Walgreens and Albertsons. In July of 2006, Insulair was sold to the Dixie division of Georgia-Pacific Corporation in an all cash deal for $170 million.
Greg previously served as a Board Member of Ecologic Brands, as well as other start-up businesses. Prior to starting Insulair, Mr. Rodrigues was Director of Concept Development for the Pizza Hut division of PepsiCo. Mr. Rodrigues holds an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School.
Tim Brannan, Loan Officer, CalRecycle
Adam St. Clair, Loan Officer, CalRecycle