Introducing the Board and Staff
-
– GSC Advisory Board
Jay Calkins was born in Orono, Maine and raised by a family who loved the outdoors and all things natural. He has a Bachelors in Biology from the University of Maine and a Masters from Florida State in Oceanography and Science Education. He taught high school for ten years in Florida before becoming a Sea Grant Academic Scholar back at the University of Maine, where he completed a Doctorate. Dr. Calkins spent the next nine years as the Associate Director of the University of Georgia’s Marine Extension Service and the Director of The Marine Extension Center in Savannah, GA.
While paddling in the Everglades, Jay met his future wife and moved to Miami to work as a teacher and science/math Department Chair at MAST Academy. During his five years at MAST, he developed one of the first AP Environmental Science courses in Dade County and also taught marine biology. Ransom Everglades School recruited Jay to join their faculty as science Department Chair and to teach AP Environmental Science. Dr. Calkins is in charge of the ‘Greening of Ransom Everglades’ and continues to be active outdoors in camping, diving, fishing and paddling.
-
- Co-Founder and Board of Directors
Carlos is a graduate of West Point where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree. He later served with several Army units including the 101st Airborne Division (Ft. Campbell, Kentucky), the 2d Infantry Division (Camp Stanley, Korea), and the 18th Airborne Corps Support Group (Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia). As an Army aviator, Carlos had a bird’s-eye view of our environment while piloting the UH-60 Black Hawk assault helicopter, the OH-58 scout helicopter, and the UH-1 Huey utility helicopter. Before leaving military service, Carlos achieved the rank of Captain.
Carlos followed up his military career with a legal career. He attended the Florida State University College of Law and later became a shareholder with the Miami law firm of Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A. where he currently practices commercial litigation. Besides practicing law, Carlos attends the Duke University Fuqua School of Business as a member of the Global Executive MBA Class of 2009.
Carlos is presently a member of the City of Miami’s Green Commission. He has also devoted time to Put Something Back, a pro bono legal assistance program, and currently sits on the Board of Directors for Legal Services of Greater Miami, an organization dedicated to providing free legal services to Miami-Dade County’s low income citizens. - - Board of Directors
Lynette Cardoch is a supervising scientist with MWH Americas, Inc. with an emphasis on water quality, coastal sustainability, environmental restoration and coastal policy. Previously, Lynette was a research scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency in North Carolina. Her research focused on nitrogen in the Neuse River Basin. More broadly, her interests lie in the distribution and allocation of water resources, both in terms of quality and quantity, for natural and human environments.
Lynette received her PhD. from Louisiana State University (Oceanography and Coastal Sciences). She was a Fulbright Scholar in Barcelona, Spain focusing on ecological economics. Lynette received her M.A. from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami (Marine Affairs and Policy) and her B.A. from Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges (Biological Anthropology).
-
- Consultant
Jane Gilbert helps organizations develop innovative strategies and programs that mobilize & leverage resources to address community needs. Jane has consulted to corporate, public sector and nonprofit clients for 8 years. Among her nonprofit clients are the Dade Community Foundation, Center on Nonprofit Effectiveness, South Florida National Parks Trust, the Education Fund and Dream in Green. She also has 12 years of experience working within nonprofits as executive director and senior staff and 10 years of experience serving as a foundation trustee. She is perhaps best recognized as the founding executive director of Arts for Learning/Miami. In only seven years she built that organization from a mere idea into a formidable entity serving over 15,000 children at over 125 schools and community sites throughout the county with an annual budget of over $2.4 million.
Jane hold a Master’s in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a B.A. in environmental science from Barnard College, Columbia University. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese.
-
- Chairman of the Board & Co-Founder
Nick Gunia was born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Miami, Florida. He graduated from Dartmouth College (home of the Big Green!), where he received his Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Nick earned his Juris Doctor degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law, where he was on the University of Miami Law Review.
He began his career at the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York City, where his practice areas included mergers and acquisitions, banking and investment management. At Davis Polk, Nick advised Fortune 500 clients, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., AT&T and Johnson Controls, as well as private equity funds and investment advisers.
From June of 2003, Nick was C.E.O. and General Counsel of K.G. International, Inc., a leading Miami-based distributor of packaging and raw materials. He is a 2005 graduate of the Leadership Miami program of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. Today is President of Alterna Corp., the leading supplier of green building products in Florida, Georgia and the Caribbean. In his spare time, Nick enjoys painting, collecting contemporary Chinese art and going to the beach.
-
- GSC Advisory Board
Dr. Wafa Khalili is Science Department Chair at MAST Academy, a magnet high school for marine sciences and technology. She currently teaching three honors classes in renewable energy at MAST. Dr. Khalil has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Claude Bernard in Lyon, France, an M.S in Science Education from Lebanese University, and a B.S. in Life Sciences from Lebanese University.
- - Board of Directors & Co-Founder
Amy Rosenberg is an attorney and arts & environmental advocate who founded the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts young patrons group and is the co-founder of the environmental non-profit organization Dream in Green. Amy is a member of Art Basel’s Junior Host Committee and sits on the boards of LegalArt, the Funding Arts Network, New World Symphony’s executive committee and the Florida Association for Women Lawyers. Amy is a Leadership Miami alum and was a Fellow in the prestigious Miami Fellows Initiative. Amy has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law.
- - GSC Advisory Board
Pamela Schlachtman is an educator at Palmetto Senior High School, a Sunshine State Scholar Outstanding Science Teacher in 2005 and 2006, and a 2007 Dade County Science Teacher of the Year. She is currently teaching five sections of Advanced Placement Environmental Studies at Palmetto. Pamela has a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Miami, a B.S. in Environmental Studies from Florida International University and a M.S. in Environmental and Urban Studies from Florida International University.
-
- Board of Directors
Karina was born and raised in The Netherlands. She moved to Miami to attend the University of Miami, where she received her Bachelor of Business Administration, cum laude, in Economics with a minor in Spanish. In addition, she was awarded Departmental Honors for outstanding student in her major. Prior to moving to Miami, she traveled around the world for a year visiting Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Uruguay and Spain.
She began her career at BankUnited in Coral Gables, where she graduated the formal commercial credit training program. After graduating the program, she worked as a Private Banker and holds the NASD Series 7 and 66 licenses. She is currently a Credit Analyst for Terra Bank. In her spare time Karina enjoys baking, practicing yoga, and playing pool with her APA league.
-
- Board of Directors
Meital Stavinksy is an attorney with Greenberg Traurig. Based in the firm’s Miami office, she works as an Israeli Business Consultant and coordinates practice development and initiatives for the firm’s Israel Practice, a group of approximately 40 attorneys throughout Greenberg Traurig’s 29 offices. She is a member of the firm’s Global Climate Change Initiative, the Corporate and Securities Department and the Global Practice Group. Through frequent business trips to Israel, she has helped to connect numerous companies in Israel to joint venture partners, potential funding sources and to technology, intellectual property, and corporate and securities lawyers. Recently, she organized and served as a panel moderator for a “Global Resources Conference: The Challenge and the Opportunity,” a seminar held in conjunction with WATEC Israel 2007 (Water Technologies and Environmental Control) in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Prior to joining the firm, Meital served as director of legal and business development at Gilat Latin America Inc., a provider of telecommunications solutions based on Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) satellite network technology. During the late 1990’s she was a legal correspondent for Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s largest daily newspaper. Meital received her LL.M. from Tel Aviv University and is admitted to practice in New York and Israel. -
-
- Board of Directors
Eric Wenke was born in Queens, NY and has lived in several cities before settling recently in Miami Beach, Florida. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in the Biological Basis of Behavior with a Concentration in the Physiology of Neural Systems. After graduating, Eric began his career at the New England Consulting Group, a boutique strategy consulting firm where he worked with C-Level Executives at Fortune 500 clients on acquisitions and new business development. Representative clients included Sprint, Heinz, Nabisco, Acxiom, AC Nielsen, Tickets.com and Sprague Energy.
After consulting, Eric next co-founded a profitable Internet Telephony start-up, Civicom, Inc., where he served for several years as Chief Operating Officer and currently sits on the Board of Directors. From 2004 to 2008, Eric lead Strategic Planning and Business Development practice for Telefonica North America, supporting and managing several Telefonica SA operations in the region with a focus on developing and bringing to market innovative communications solutions. Eric is currently AVP, Corporate Development at Baptist Health South Florida. Outside of work, Eric is an avid fan of life on the beach, reading, fitness/nutrition, music/entertainment and pop culture.
- Board of Directors
Andy Louis Charles is the Chairman, Managing Director and Founder of the Landist Society of Companies, a community of real estate companies and a family of funds in varying stages of development, maturity and independence. He is formerly an Engineering Associate at the Southern Company, a leading electricity generator company. Andy has a Bachelors in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech and a J.D. from the University of Florida
- Board of Directors
Jonathan Torrens is an attorney with Hogan & Hartson in Miami. He focuses his practice on commercial and international litigation and arbitration matters with an emphasis on cross-border disputes. While in law school, Jonathan was a senior editor for the Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business. He also conducted extensive research on the United States-Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) trade issues and led research trips to China and Russia. Prior to joining Hogan & Hartson, Jonathan served as a staff attorney to Justice Raoul G. Cantero, III at the Florida Supreme Court. Jonathan has a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law and a B.A. from Duke University.
- GSC Advisory Board
Bertha Vasquez has been teaching science (and occasionally French) for eighteen years. She is currently a science teacher at George Washington Carver Middle School. She have traveled extensively and participated or witnessed scientific studies in Antarctica, Africa, India, Australia, and the Amazon. She is married to an art teacher and has a 4-year old son.
- Director of Directors
Ben Wolkov was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and raised in London, England. He graduated from New College of Florida, the Honors College of the Florida University System, where he received his Bachelor of Arts, in International Relations. Ben earned his Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law, where he was on the University of Miami Law Review, the University of Miami Moot Court Board and served as a Dean's Fellow.
Ben began his legal career in 2000 at the law firm of Hunton & Williams in Miami, Florida where he advised international power developers and financial institutions with respect to the development, construction, operation and financing of power plants and associated infrastructure in the US and Latin America. In 2005, Ben spent a year at Galicia y Robles, S.C., a prominent corporate law firm in Mexico City where he advised Mexican and foreign clients on a variety of cross-border transactions. In 2006, Ben spent a year at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, LLP where he deepened his expertise in infrastructure and energy sector finance transactions. Ben currently works at McDermott, Will & Emery LLP in Miami, Florida where he advises clients on cross-border and domestic corporate transactions.
Ben has experience negotiating standard power sector agreements including power purchase, fuel supply, tolling and EPC agreements and is familar with different types of power technologies both conventional ( e.g. combined-cycle, coal-fired, co-generating and hydro) and alternative (e.g. geothermal, wind, solar etc.). Ben also volunteers for Dream in Green, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which is focuses on promoting environmental sustainability in South Florida, including energy and water conservation, green building and renewable energy. Ben is fluent in Danish and proficient in Spanish and Portuguese. In his spare time, Ben enjoys running and expanding his music collection.
...and we would like to send out a big "THANK YOU" to all our supporters!
