Our Team

EXPERIENCED. SUCCESSFUL. WORLD CLASS.

The GreenBridge Council recognizes that the most valuable resource we offer is our people.

Experienced: Our consultants have a collective experience base of over 150 years spanning all major areas of environmental practice.

Successful: Our consultants have achieved measurable improvements in energy savings, efficiencies and cost reductions for organizations across a breadth of industries.

World Class: The GreenBridge Council team has built environmental management systems that have helped clients achieve world class levels of performance. Our strategy includes winning top-level commitment to drive operational decisions that increase profits, improve performance and long-term sustainability.

Management Team

Kim Karch, Chief Executive Officer
Kim has over 20 years of experience in global marketing and business development spanning several industries including healthcare, hospitality and environmental. In 1998, Kim co-founded and launched AquaRecycle, an environmental company dedicated to water conservation where she served as EVP Global Sales and Marketing of AquaRecycle for ten years. Throughout her tenure with AquaRecycle Kim participated in numerous conservation projects resulting in tremendous cost savings and improvements to the sustainability of healthcare, hospitality and correctional facilities as well as the textile industry. Among Kim’s key clients were Host Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Fairmont, and Hyatt. Kim holds an MBA and is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma International Honor Society.
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Robert Ferrone, Vice President of Environmental Affairs
Robert Ferrone specializes in the integration of industrial design engineering, quality, manufacturing, and environmental, health and safety management systems for improved environmental and economic performance. He has worked on ISO 9000/14001 implementation with numerous private and public sector clients, including successfully guiding them to ISO certification. Mr. Ferrone is certified as an EMS Lead Auditor. Some of Mr. Ferrone’s clients include Robert Bosch Corp. (Braking Systems Division), Lucent Technologies, Quality Chemicals, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Varion Corporation, Sanyo, Sun Chemical-Colors Group, and SSI Technologies Inc.

For several years, Mr. Ferrone was a consulting engineer for Digital Equipment Corporation and led company-wide efforts on quality and environmentally superior materials in product and process design. He has extensive consulting experience with Fortune 500 companies, developing innovations in process, quality and environmental management systems. As chairperson of the EPA Energy Star, he led the implementation of the Energy Star Program. Mr. Ferrone is a member of the board of the IEEE Environmental Committee and the New York Academy of Sciences.

With his combination of engineering and manufacturing experience in a variety of industries, Mr. Ferrone has assisted his clients in realizing economic and environmental improvements within their facilities. Energy conservation through process enhancements resulted in a $1 million savings to one client. Another client reduced energy consumption by 25% over a two year period while working with the regional power grid to balance energy across the region. Within the chemical industry, Mr. Ferrone developed a program that resulted in a $5 million reduction in facility waste for the client. The client was recognized for this achievement in Newsweek.

Mr. Ferrone authored “Planning and Implementing ISO 14001” for the ISO 14000 Handbook. He has published articles on environmental management in IEEE Spectrum, Quality Digest, and Total Quality Environmental Management and was featured in an article in Scientific American.
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Tom Pluta, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs
Tom Pluta has more than 40 years of experience in program development, including environmental management systems, energy conservation and environmental policy and regulatory affairs at the international, state and local levels. As Program Manager at the non-profit World Environment Center (WEC), organized and implemented environmental management, technical assistance and training programs in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Central Asian Republics (CAR). These initiatives were integrated into regular business strategies in many companies and enhanced their competitive position by implementing projects with both economic and environmental benefits.

Mr. Pluta served in the Senior Executive Service of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Department.  His responsibilities included program development, regulatory affairs, environmental policy review and analysis, enforcement and compliance, hazardous waste remediation and training. He also served as team member on the USAID Kharkiv, Ukraine Initiative Program involving economic assessments of key service and manufacturing sectors to determine their viability for investment opportunities.
Mr. Pluta has an M.S. degree in Environmental Science from Rutgers University. 
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Advisory Board

Barry Goldwater, Jr.
With wit, experiences, and candor rivaling the best personalities and an appreciation for the need to balance the daily travails of life with humor, Barry M. Goldwater, Jr. offers a blend of knowledge that can make a significant contribution.

The Goldwaters' are legendary in Arizona. Barry's great-grandfather, Mike Goldwater, emigrated from Poland to the United States in the 1840s, landing in San Francisco. In 1850 he began a mercantile business traveling by wagon throughout mining camps in California, Nevada, and Arizona. He settled that year in Prescott, Arizona, where he opened his first dry goods store, which through the efforts of his sons Baron and Morris and grandsons, Bob and Barry, would expand into a tremendously successful clothing business. Like his father before him, Barry, Jr. worked in the family business, planning to accede to management. However, about the time he graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor of science in marketing and management, the stores were sold, leaving Barry with a decision to make about his future.
Barry moved to Los Angeles and became a stockbroker, and eventually a partner, in the Los Angeles securities firm of Noble Cook, Inc. (now Wedbush Securities), where he developed an institutional customer base and traded large blocks of securities on all stock exchanges. It was here he developed his selling skills by "cold calling" and eventually landing some of the country's largest financial banks and insurance companies as clients. He also became knowledgeable in financial planning, security law, and underwriting.
The year 1964 found Barry, Jr. crisscrossing the country campaigning for his father, Senator Barry Goldwater, to become President of the United States. The outcome of that effort is well known, but its impact on Barry is not. It set the pattern of public service that he would soon undertake.
Already involved in local civic activities such as the Boys Club, Big Brothers, the Boy Scouts of America, and the president of a local Lions Club, Barry at the age of 30 ran for Congress and won. He not only won that election but seven more, serving 14 years in Washington, D.C., representing half a million constituents of northern Los Angeles County. He and his father were unique, representing one of the few instances in U.S. history when both father and son were serving in Congress at the same time.

Barry's 14 years in Washington (1969-1984) left an imprint on him and on the nation. He served on a number of committees, including Committee on Science and Technology, Committee on Public Works and Transportation, and the Joint Committee on Energy. His areas of expertise included energy, the space program, aviation and defense, and government procurement. He was on the committee that reviewed the disaster involving the space shuttle "Challenger." Barry authored and saw the Privacy Act of 1974 signed into law. He served on the privacy Commission that looked into privacy issues affecting the private and corporate sectors. This issue remains a matter of his concern as we move into a global electronic network and information systems. He was very instrumental in all facets of energy policy and research and development including authoring the Solar Photovoltaic Act. He has also been involved with organizations as diverse as the National Aeronautic Association, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. He is a Life Member of the American Numismatic Association. He is also looked upon as an expert concerning transportation matters.

Congressman Barry Goldwater, Jr. retired from politics in 1983 and in1984 entered business in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles , New York and Phoenix where he currently lives with his wife Sylvia Goldwater and near his son Barry M. Goldwater III. For the past 23 years Barry has held responsible positions involving finance and management including eight years as a member of the New York Stock Exchange. He has used his government experience and knowledge like a knife to pry open and get to the heart of a problem effecting business impacted by regulation or law. His love of business is only surpassed by his humanitarian interests which have landed him awards such as the Leadership Award from the President's Commission on Employment of the Handicapped and an Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. His business career has not diminished his compassion for the people and his commitment to making this a better and safer world in which we live.

For more information, please visit: www.barrygoldwaterjr.com
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Nicholas W. Lees
Nick brings a broad based background to The GreenBridge Council that covers many issues and technical areas dealing with environmental engineering and regulatory functions at the corporate and plant levels. He has developed and trained 24 Hour Haz-Mat teams and managed reuse/recycling and waste minimization programs for Clorox, Bio-Lab, and PPG industrial facilities, along with asset management, audit functions and environmentally related capital improvement projects. All of his positions have involved the technical aspects of assessing the health effects of the toxic or hazardous substances their employees dealt with on a day to day basis. The regulatory side of his background dealt with pesticide use and regulations, formaldehyde exposures, and hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal options.

His current responsibilities and experience in the academic arena of distance education will afford The GreenBridge Council a valuable linkage for delivering our message to our customers in an online format.

Nick currently serves as Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and Department Chair, Occupational Safety & Health and Environmental Management at Columbia Southern University, Orange Beach, AL. He has just begun his doctoral program in Public Safety with a specialization in Emergency Management. Nick is married (to another Doctoral Candidate) with three grown children and lives in “the real LA”, Lower Alabama.
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Ron Kendig
Ron held a number of executive positions with Xerox and Heidelberg Druckmaschinen during the past 28 years.  Prior to forming WinningStance he was Vice president of Marketing and Business Development for Xerox.  During his career with Heidelberg USA, Inc., he rose to the position of marketing director.  Ron maintains a consistent track record of growing divisions through innovative marketing programs, sale leadership and winning product presentation and demonstration techniques.  Ron makes his home in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A
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Mike Pickens
Mike Pickens is a partner in the Little Rock, AR law firm of Friday, Eldredge and Clark, where he practices primarily in the areas of insurance regulation and government affairs.

Mike served as Arkansas Insurance Commissioner for eight (8) years and as an officer of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners ("NAIC") where he was NAIC president in 2003. At the NAIC, Mike served as the chair of various committees, including the International Committee, Anti-Fraud and USA Patriot Act Compliance Working groups, among others. From April through June 2004, Mike worked with the United States government in Baghdad, Iraq where he worked with local business leaders and Iraqi government officials to draft a new insurance law, regulations, reporting forms, and provided training on the new law to Iraqi regulators and company employees. The Iraqi Interim Government adopted this law in March 2005.

Mike is a member of various non- and for-profit boards, including the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation.
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David J. Schwartz
David J. Schwartz is Managing Principal of The Management Consortium, Inc., a Hospitality Advisory Services firm based in Hollywood, Florida. He was literally born into the industry as grandson of a hotelier who developed beach resorts, hotels and casinos in Miami Beach and Havana, Cuba. David started in the business as a beach and pool boy while still a child - graduating to restaurant/dining room bus boy then waiter in his teens. While in college and graduate school he worked part-time and summers doing a wide variety of jobs in hotels mainly in New York City and the Catskill Mountains.

He brings with him over 30 years of extensive experience in hospitality organizational and operational management consulting. David’s expertise centers in three critical areas of development - planning, people and management. His behavioral science and business management background includes diversified experience in a wide variety of environments, enabling him to contribute an interdisciplinary approach to consulting engagements.

In 1977, David, after having been affiliated with a major management-consulting firm, founded The Management Consortium, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois and moved to South Florida soon thereafter. Here he has held Consulting Services Director positions with three international CPA and consulting firms involved in hospitality consulting: Laventhol & Horwath, RSM McGladrey, and BDO Seidman, LLP, where he was the national Managing Director. He has performed a wide variety of consulting assignments for organizations ranging in size from start-up to Fortune 500 companies. His diverse hospitality industry experience includes hotels, beach and mountain resorts, casinos, time-share, golf and tennis clubs, equity and non-equity golf/tennis club developments, Indian casinos and attractions.

For the past several years he has specialized in the development and operation of condo hotels and resorts, fractional ownership and vacation clubs, private residence clubs and branded residences and a wide variety of mixed use projects that include leisure and lifestyle components.

David has spoken before many management groups, associations and Chambers of Commerce, and has served on the Seminar Faculty of the American Management Association and several colleges and universities, including Florida International University where he is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Hospitality Management Graduate Program. He has presented and been on panels at most of the major hospitality industry conferences.

David is involved in several hospitality industry organizations including the American Hotel & Lodging Association, The Florida Hotel Association, The Greater Fort Lauderdale Lodging and Hospitality Association (Board Member), The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association (Education Committee), Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, Greater Ft. Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Motel Association, Developers and Builders Alliance of Florida, National Association of Condo Hotel Owners and Operators, and the Alliance of Corporate Real Estate Executives and Specialists. He has been featured in newspapers, industry and national publications on a variety of industry related topics.

David earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from Long Island University and a Master of Science Degree in Labor Studies from the University of Massachusetts. He has also taken extensive post-graduate studies in business and management from New York University, The New School for Social Research (New York City) and the University of Chicago.
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John J. Lembo, LEED® AP
Mr. Lembo has over 22 years experience in energy management, engineering facilities management and mechanical construction. In his current role as vice president and managing director for The Ferreira Group, a full service building commissioning, project management and energy consulting firm, he is responsible for the oversight of the company’s core business as well as development of new business models.

In his previous position, Mr. Lembo served as Sr. Director of Energy for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., one of the world’s largest lodging and lifestyle companies. There he developed and managed the comprehensive energy management initiative that has been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program with the Partner of the Year Award for Excellence in Energy Management for 2002 and 2003. Starwood’s energy program has been featured in publications such as Hotels Magazine; Lodging Magazine; Hospitality Business; Hospitality Technology and Buildings Magazine.

Mr. Lembo holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY. He is a member of the American Society Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). Mr. Lembo is a LEED© accredited professional specializing in LEED for existing buildings. He has published articles in HPAC Engineering, and Boiler Systems Engineering magazines. He has been a featured speaker at NAESCO, EEI, BOMA, EPRI, E-Source, AEE and many other industry conferences on subjects such as comprehensive energy management; combined heat & power; energy information systems; sustainability and supply side energy procurement and sits on the editorial advisory board of both HPAC Engineering magazine and Distributed Generation magazine.
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Norman E. Taplin, P.A.
Mr. Taplin concentrates his practice in the areas of regulatory insurance, administrative law, corporate and commercial law representing insurance companies, industries, trade groups, involving governmental regulation, the securing and maintaining of licenses, governmental approvals and other regulatory issues. Has was admitted to the Florida Bar and has been active in insurance matters since 1975 and has represented a variety of insurance companies, industries, and trade groups in each of the 50 United States, District of Columbia and selected foreign jurisdictions. Acquainted with Insurance Commissioners over the past 20 years and has contact with each of the Departments of Insurance. Has also been active in Federal Legislative and regulatory issues involving insurance companies, banks and thrifts.

Mr. Taplin has served as Chairman of Statewide campaigns for Supreme Court Hal Dekle; Campaign Coordinator for Florida U.S. Senator in 1974; Coordinator for Governor’s Race in 1990; Coordinator for Insurance Commissioner Races throughout the country for the past 20 years; Presidential Campaigns in 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2004, Chaired various Congressional, Senatorial and Insurance Commissioner Races throughout his career.

Mr. Taplin graduated from The University of Miami, BBA, magna cum laude, 1972. Activities included President, Omicron Delta Kappa; Phi Kappa Phi; Secretary of Intercollegiate Affairs; University of Miami Governance Panel - Student Representative; Beta Gamma Sigma award for Top Male Graduate in Business School. He graduated law school at Duke University J.D. School of Law, 1975 and served as Student Representative/City of Durham Growth Planning Counsel PIL.

Mr. Taplin has been certified to practice with the Florida State Attorney’s Office since 1974. He is a Board Member of NALC; appointed to Hurricane Advisory by Georgia Insurance Commissioner; and serves as advisor on insurance matters to Lt. Governor Andre Bauer of South Carolina
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Eric Woodroof
Eric A. Woodroof, Ph.D., C.E.M., shows clients how to make more money and simultaneously help the environment. Dr. Woodroof has over 15 years of experience helping over 250 facilities improve profits with energy-environmental solutions. He has written over 20 professional journal publications and his work has appeared in hundreds of articles. He has been a Board Member of the Certified Energy Manager Program since 1999. Dr. Woodroof has worked with the U.S. Public Health Service, IBM, Ford, GM, Hertz, Visteon, JPMorgan-Chase, Tulsa International Airport and many others. He is friends with many of the top minds in energy, environment, finance and marketing. He is also a columnist for several industry magazines and a corporate trainer.
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Kim Kristoff
Kim C. Kristoff has been dedicated to the cause of reducing the human foot print in the environment since he began a concerted career as a young architect in Northern Virginia; Washington, D.C and suburban Maryland promoting solar energy transfer systems in residences and office buildings in 1973.

As a Bachelor of Architecture graduate of Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana Kim has had a very challenging career as a founder of the Pace Group Companies; one of the earliest design/builders in the U.S. practicing green building construction methods during the 1980s that were to become the foundation of the current green building environmental initiative. Kim’s project experience has taken him all over the globe to some 40 countries where he provided planning, design and project leadership to foreign governments and U.S. companies overseas.

Kim later founded the biobased manufacturing company GEMTEK Products, based in Phoenix, Arizona. GEMTEK manufactures cleaning chemicals, solvents, industrial lubricants and specialty chemicals from seed oils that are distributed throughout the U.S. and 20 other countries. In 2003 Kim founded the Biobased Manufacturers Association, a 501c3 that was instrumental in influencing the early policies of the USDA and DOE programs resulting from the Farm Bill during the Clinton era.

Kim has served as a committee member of the combined USDA and DOE Biomass Research & Development Technical Advisory Committee, The Biomass Research & Development Peer Review Committee; The California Biomass Collaborative, The NSF Joint Committee on Environmentally Preferred Products and The CleanGredients Committee for the DOE Design for the Environment program. In addition, Kim has been a featured speaker at numerous environmental and sustainability conferences throughout the U.S., Canada and abroad on topics as diverse as biobased products, alternative fuels, environmental policy, the economics of sustainability and the commercial viability of a biobased agenda.

Today, Kim is a practicing architect with SRK Architecture in Phoenix, Arizona and a commercial real estate developer with Mercury Development where he continues to practice green building and the concepts of sustainability by developing infill redevelopment projects in Downtown Phoenix. Kim continues to serve as President of GEMTEK Products.
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Matthew Smith
Matthew Smith brings a wealth of experience and character to the GreenBridge Council. Over the past 20 years, he has been considered an innovator in the hotel industry. Matthew has served in engineering and executive positions for leaders in the hotel industry such as: Hyatt Regency Hotels, Hilton International Hotels, Ritz Carlton Hotels, and currently for the West Paces Hotel Group . Matthew has been in charge of energy projects such as implementation of a plate heat exchanger and several others. He has managed hotel renovations in excess of 28 million dollars, and he coordinated and implemented a disaster recovery project resulting from the explosion at the World Trade Center.

Under his leadership at the Hilton, Matthew’s department received the prestigious Hilton International Department of the Year award. Matthew has also received various awards such as the Project of the Year award from the Vista Hotel, Excellence in Service award from the Hyatt Regency, and the Bravery Citation from Port Authority of New York/New Jersey award. The Bravery Citation award was given to Matthew because of his efforts to help people escape the Twin Towers on the attack of 9/11. Matthew was working in the towers during the explosion and he helped those around him escape, and even went back in the building to show firefighters where the injured were. This speaks volumes about Matthew’s character and integrity.
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Christopher K. Griffith, CFP®, AAMS
Chris brings a strong background and experienced sounding board from the financial services industry to The GreenBridge Council, holding third party designations of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Accredited Asset Management Specialist. Chris holds a B.A. in Economics and Finance from Clark University in Worcester, MA, and resides in Boston.

After 6 years as a Financial Consultant with AG Edwards & Sons, Chris moved his financial planning practice to UBS Financial Services in September, 2007. Currently, he is Vice President - Investments and Senior Portfolio Manager in the Premier Portfolio Management Program at UBS.

Co-founder of the Wheelwright Griffith Financial Group of UBS, Chris' expertise lies in the area of personal financial planning and investment portfolio management for high net worth individuals and families. The Wheelwright Griffith Financial Group currently manages over 100 Million dollars, for clients all over the country.
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Eric P. Serna
Eric Serna is a private practicing attorney and CEO of Global Strategies Group, LLC, a New Mexico based company specializing in insurance management and regulatory consulting.

Mr. Serna served as New Mexico’s Superintendent of Insurance from 2001 to 2006. While serving in this capacity, he also was elected Secretary/Treasurer of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

Prior to his tenure as Superintendent of Insurance, Mr. Serna was a presidential appointee to the Department of Agriculture based in Washington, D.C. from 1998 to 2000.

Mr. Serna was a statewide elected official to the New Mexico State Corporation Commission which had regulatory oversight of utilities, telecommunications, transportation, corporations, and insurance rates and tariffs in New Mexico. He was chairman for 14 of the 17 years in which he served.

Mr. Serna is a former Cabinet official serving as Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Labor. He led a staff of more than 800 employees and offices throughout the state with a budget in excess of $100 million a year.

In 2001, he founded the Con Alma Foundation organized to respond to the health needs of culturally and demographically diverse peoples and communities of New Mexico. He served as its president until 2006, growing the foundation’s corpus to over $27 million. Grants were issued to underserved areas of the state in the amount of $1 to $2 million a year. Today it is considered the largest health foundation in New Mexico.

Several of his achievements are: Public Member, U.S. Department of State Promotion Review Board; Board of Directors, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Inc.; Chairman, New Mexico Fire Board; Chairman, New Mexico Insurance Board; Past President, Western Conference of National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC); Past National Chairman of the Board, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF); Board of Regents, Catholic University of America; Board of Visitors, Catholic University of America; and Board of Trustees, National Hispanic Culture Foundation.

Some of his awards include: Hispanic Roundtable’s Highest Award of Honor, New Mexico Public Service Award, National Hispanic Leadership Award, Outstanding New Mexican (awarded by New Mexico Jaycees), and National MALDEFian Award.

Mr. Serna received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New Mexico with a double major in political science and journalism and his Juris Doctorate from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the American Bar Association, New Mexico Bar Association, New Mexico Trial Lawyers’ Association, National Hispanic Bar Association, New Mexico Hispanic Bar Association, and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.
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Strategic Partners

The Ferreira Group – www.ferreiragroup.com
The Ferriera Group is a full service building commissioning, project management and energy consulting firm optimizing building performance through technology and service.

Strategic Energy Innovations – www.SEIinc.org
Established in 1997, Strategic Energy Innovations (SEI) has worked with schools, small businesses, local governments, multifamily and affordable housing, and other “underserved” sectors to accomplish their clean energy, green building, and sustainability objectives. As a community builder, SEI empowers communities to marshal their resources, bring people together, resolve challenges, and inspire success. Bringing our local, state and federal project partners to the table, we encourage techniques that achieve lasting results.

Winning Stance – www.winningstance.com
The Winning Stance mission is to improve customer’s revenue, profit and productivity by providing clearly delineated services addressing their strategic and tactical needs. Extensive expertise is offered in the areas of complex solutions, marketing, integrated marketing, product launch, product management and sales management.

Profitable Green Solutions – www.profitablegreensolutions.com
Profitable Green Solutions provides educational programs that result in significant cost reductions, predictable profits and also benefit the environment.

Mercury Development - www.mercdevelopment.com
Mercury Development specializes in real estate development for the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, focusing on outstanding design solutions for the urban environment. Mercury divides its efforts equally among institutional, commercial infill and affordable housing projects, emphasizing mixed-use design as a key ingredient to enhancing both established and emerging neighborhoods.

GEMTEK - www.gemtek.com

GEMTEK Products, LLC, is dedicated to providing industrial customers with a broad range of non-toxic, environmentally-safe cleaners, degreasers, solvents, lubricants, metalworking fluids and specialty products derived from renewable, biobased resources.

The Cambridge Group
Ambassador Gerald Carmen

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