Russell Read, Ph.D., CFA - Chairman and Managing Partner

John T. Preston - Managing Partner

John G. Sylvia - Managing Partner

Roger S. Berry - Partner

Virginia R. Foote - Director of Finance and Operations

Jacob R. Sills - Associate

Russell Read, Ph.D., CFA - Chairman and Managing Partner

Prior to founding C Change Investments in 2008, Dr. Read served as Chief Investment Officer for America’s largest pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). During his tenure, he redirected the portfolio toward international and natural resources opportunities, introduced its Commodities and Infrastructure investment programs, re-established and enhanced its Forestland investment program, and established its clean technology and environmental investment efforts as the leader among institutional investors.

Dr. Read is also a founding member of the P8 Group, representing the world’s eight largest pension systems, coordinating towards scalable green investment solutions and has provided testimony to institutional investors, the press, state legislators, federal regulators, the US Treasury, the US Congress, the US Senate, and the United Nations on how to invest effectively while protecting and enhancing the environment. He was recognized by SmartMoney in 2007 in its Power 30 list of the most influential people in business and finance and by Institutional Investor in 2008 as #35 on its list of the 75 most effective chief executives.

Dr. Read received his B.A. in Statistics and his M.B.A. in Finance and International Business both from the University of Chicago. He received his masters degree in Economics and his doctorate in Political Economy from Stanford University. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), a Chartered Life Underwriter (C.L.U.), and a Chartered Financial Consultant (Ch.F.C.).

John T. Preston - Managing Partner

John T. Preston is a founder of C Change Investments as well as CEO of Continuum Energy Technologies LLC (CET) and a Senior Lecturer at M.I.T.  Mr. Preston’s primary expertise is in energy, environment, technology, and entrepreneurship. Before starting CET, Mr. Preston was the Director of Technology Development (and Licensing) at M.I.T., where he was responsible for the commercialization of intellectual property developed at M.I.T. In that capacity, he oversaw activities that led to the creation of hundreds of new technology-based companies as well as the negotiation of thousands of licenses with existing companies. He also oversaw many complex negotiations including the creation of the U.S. standard for high definition television, while representing M.I.T. on the HDTV Grand Alliance. 
           
Mr. Preston was awarded the rank of “Knight of the Order of National Merit of France” by French President Mitterrand.  He was awarded the “Hammer Award for Reinventing Government” by Vice President Gore.  He is the recipient of numerous other awards and honors including the Thomas Jefferson Award, given to the leading American in technology transfer and the Renaissance Engineering and Science award from Stevens Institute of Technology.  Mr. Preston is Honorary Alum of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mr. Preston received a B.S. in physics from the University of Wisconsin and a M.B.A. from Northwestern University. 

John G. Sylvia - Managing Partner

John G. Sylvia is a Managing Partner and head of the C Change Deal Team Worldwide. Mr. Sylvia is based in San Francisco.

Prior to joining C Change Investments Mr. Sylvia joined the Texas Pacific Group (“TPG”) in 1997 and in 1998 co-founded one of TPG’s sponsored private equity vehicles, Aqua International Partners (“Aqua”), which in aggregate approximated $500mm in commitments. In 2008, TPG formed a new $1.3 billion growth-investing platform, joining Aqua with its other sponsored funds under the TPG Growth umbrella to broaden organizational integration and geographic coverage.

Mr. Sylvia joined CalEnergy in 1988 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in addition to being one of the early key executives that transformed the Company into a leading, public, global independent energy development and electricity company with facilities and operations in Asia, the US and Europe.  During Mr. Sylvia’s tenure, the Company’s market capitalization grew from $200mm at IPO to over $2 billion in 1997.  Mr. Sylvia also served as a director and officer of Northern Electric plc, Magma Power Co., CE Indonesia Ltd., and CE Philippines Ltd. With completion of the Company’s international expansion plan, Mr. Sylvia concentrated on the integration of global business units – the success of which led to the eventual acquisition of the Company by a unit of Berkshire Hathaway.   

Mr. Sylvia also served as an Adjunct Professor of Applied Economics and Finance at the University of San Francisco from 1985-1990.

Roger S. Berry - Partner

Roger Berry is a Partner with C Change Investments, and is responsible for the development of the company’s investment funds, managing partnerships with investors and sourcing new transaction opportunities.

Roger was formerly the Head of Group Funds and Investor Relations for Climate Change Capital, a fund manager that had over $1.6 billion of assets under management. From 2000 to 2006, Roger was a Managing Partner and co-founder of Liberty Global Partners, an advisory and placement firm focused exclusively on emerging markets private equity. Liberty Global Partners helped to raise significant commitments from institutional investors and played a lead role in the creation of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association. For over eighteen years, Roger has been immersed in the opportunities and challenges of transitional markets. He brings skills in negotiation, facilitation, and marketing, and has advised companies, investors, or governments in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
 
Roger is a graduate of Harvard University (1990).

Virginia Foote- Director of Finance and Operations

Ms. Foote was former CFO/Controller for a subsidiary of EF Education, an international, for-profit education company. Prior to this management experience, she worked as an Associate at Elek, Moreno Valle y Asociados, a Mexican Corporate Financial Advisory Firm, on private placements, restructurings, and M&A work in the energy sector.

Early in her career she was a Financial Analyst at Bear Stearns in New York and worked with the firm’s Latin American and Asian Emerging Markets Groups. Ms. Foote has also taught Introductory Finance at Boston University School of Management.

Ms. Foote has an MBA from Harvard Business School, a MSc in Economic History from The London School of Economics and a BA in History from Yale University.

Jacob R. Sills - Associate

Jacob R. Sills is responsible for evaluating and executing new deals, as well as monitoring current investments in the C Change portfolio.

Prior to joining C Change Investments in 2008, Mr. Sills worked at Banc of America Securities (June 2006 - June 2008) as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Financial Institutions Group, where he worked on various mergers and acquisitions, capital raises and strategic alternatives for clients.
 
Mr. Sills received his B.A. in East Asian Studies from Cornell University.