Climate Real Impact Solutions II Acquisition Corporation
MANAGEMENT & BOARD
Executive Officers
David W. Crane, 61 [Resigned 8/26/22]
Chief Executive Officer and Director
Mr. Crane has served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of CRIS I since August 2020. Previously, from 2003 to 2015, Mr. Crane served as the Chief Executive Officer of NRG Energy, Inc. Prior to his role at NRG Energy, Inc., Mr. Crane was Chief Executive Officer of International Power Plc. Prior to that, Mr. Crane worked as a banker at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., focusing on the energy sector, and as an attorney at the law firm White & Case LLP in the project finance and debt restructuring departments. Currently, Mr. Crane serves on the boards of directors of Jera Co., Inc., a power generation joint venture between Tokyo Electric and Chubu Electric; Inspire Energy Holdings LLC, a green retail energy provider; and Elemental Excelerator Inc, a late stage accelerator focused on climate impact and sustainability more generally. Mr. Cane holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an A.B. in International Relations from Princeton University.
John A. Cavalier, 69 [Appointed CEO 8/26/22]
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Cavalier has served as Chief Financial Officer and a board observer of CRIS I since August 2020 and September 2020, respectively. Previously, from 2000 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2020, Mr. Cavalier held a number of senior positions at Credit Suisse, including Chairman of the Global Energy Group and Head of the Global Renewables Group. Prior to joining Credit Suisse, from 1990 to 2000, Mr. Cavalier served as the Managing Director and founding member of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette’s Power & Energy group. From 2008 to 2015, Mr. Cavalier served as a managing partner of Hudson Clean Energy, a private equity firm focused on clean energy. Earlier in his career, Mr. Cavalier served in the U.S. Army for nine years where he was an officer in the Signal Corps, and later the Judge Advocate Generals Corps. Mr. Cavalier holds a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy, a J.D. from the University of Illinois School of Law, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Elizabeth Comstock, 60
Chief Commercial Officer
Ms. Comstock has served as Chief Commercial Officer and a board observer of CRIS I since September 2020. Previously, from 1990 to 2017, Ms. Comstock served as the Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer at General Electric. Prior to General Electric, Ms. Comstock served as President of Integrated Media at NBC Universal, overseeing television advertising revenue and the company’s digital efforts, including early development of hulu.com. She has also been a visiting scholar at Columbia University’s Center for Science and society and frequently advises start up founders and corporate business leaders on commercial strategy, innovation and culture change. Ms. Comstock serves on the board of directors of Nike, Inc., where she is a member of the compensation committee, and is a trustee of The National Geographic Society. Ms. Comstock holds a B.S. in biology from the College of William and Mary.
Daniel Gross, 50
Chief Investment Officer
Mr. Gross has served as Head of Transaction Execution of CRIS I since August 2020 and principal of Pivotal180, LLC since September 2019. He has also been teaching as a lecturer at Yale University and as an adjunct professor at Columbia University since 2016 and 2015, respectively. Prior to that, Mr.Gross served as a managing director of Oaktree Capital Management from 2013 to 2015 and as a partner of Hudson Clean Energy from 2007 to 2013. Earlier in his career, Mr. Gross served as a vice president at Goldman Sachs from 2005 to 2007 and senior vice president at GE Capital from 1998 to 2004. Mr. Gross serves on the board of directors of Sunworks, Inc., where he is a member of the audit and corporate governance/nominating committees. Mr. Gross holds a B.A. in both economics and environmental studies from Yale University, M.B.A. from Yale School of Management and M.E.M. in environmental management from Yale School of the Environment.
Anne Frank-Shapiro, 65
Chief Operating Officer
Ms. Frank-Shapiro has served as Chief Operating Officer of CRIS I since September 2020. Previously, from 2013 to 2019, Ms. Frank-Shapiro served as Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Pegasus Capital Advisors, a private equity firm. From 2012 to 2013, Ms. Frank-Shapiro served as Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Hudson Clean Energy, a private equity firm. Earlier in her career, from 1987 to 2011, Ms. Frank-Shapiro worked at Credit Suisse, where she held senior positions in the investment banking division , including as Chief Operating Officer for Global Emerging Markets Head and IBD Global Head of Expense Management. Prior to Credit Suisse, from 1980 to 1983, Ms. Frank-Shapiro served as Chief Administrative Officer at NYC Department of Environmental Protection where she managed its capital budget. Ms. Frank-Shapiro is currently a trustee of The Town Hall. Ms. Frank-Shapiro holds a B.S. in Mathematics from SUNY Buffalo and an M.B.A. from New York University.
Board of Directors
Richard Kauffman, 65
Director and Chairperson
Since February 2020, Mr. Kauffman has served as an Adjunct Senior Research Scholar at Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Previously, from 2012 to 2018, Mr. Kauffman served in the Executive Chamber of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo as New York State’s Chairman of Energy and Finance. Prior to that, Mr. Kauffman served as a Senior Advisor to Secretary Steven Chu at the DOE. Mr. Kauffman also served as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Good Energies, Inc. from 2006 to 2010. Earlier in his career, Mr. Kauffman served as a partner of Goldman Sachs and as a Vice Chairman of Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities business and co-head of its Banking Department. Mr. Kauffman currently serves on the boards of directors of CRIS I, Altaba Inc., the successor company of Yahoo, where he serves on the audit committee, Generate Capital, Inc., a leading financier of clean energy projects, where he serves as chairman of the board and as a member of the audit committee, compensation committee and governance committee, and NYSERDA, where he serves as chairman of the board, as well as Emergent, Forest Finance Accelerator and the Wallace Foundation. Mr. Kauffman holds an A.B. in history from Stanford University, an M.A. in international relations from Yale University and a Masters in Public Policy & Management from the Yale School of Management.
Tanuja Dehne, 49
Director
Ms. Dehne has been serving as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation since September 2019. Prior to the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Ms. Dehne served in various leadership roles, including Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief of Staff, at NRG Energy, Inc. from 2004 to 2016. She was a corporate associate at Saul Ewing LLP from 1998 until 2004. Ms. Dehne currently serves on the board of directors of Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc., where she serves as the chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee and as a member of the compensation committee. Ms. Dehne previously served on the boards of directors of Advanced Disposal Services, Inc., where she served as the chair of the compensation committee, Silver Bay Realty Corp., where she served as the chair of the compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee and as a member of the audit committee. Ms. Dehne is also a member of the advisory board of the Raj & Kamla Gupta Group Governance Institute at Drexel University. Ms. Dehne serves on the boards of trustees of Lafayette College, New York Public Radio, where she serves as vice chair, and New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund. Ms. Dehne holds a B.A. in international affairs and anthropology and sociology from Lafayette College, an M.A. in political science from University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law.
Dawn Lippert, 36
Director
Ms. Lippert has founded Elemental Excelerator Inc. (previously known as Energy Excelerator) in 2009 and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer. Prior to that, she served as a senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton from 2007 to 2009 and as an energy consultant at Yale University in 2007. Ms. Lippert also serves as the Director of Innovation and Community at Emerson Collective and as a board member at WiRE (Women in Renewable Energy). Ms. Lippert received her B.A. in environmental studies from Yale University and a Master of Engineering Management in energy systems and markets from the Yale School of the Environment.
Ron Lumbra, 59
Director
Mr. Lumbra has been a partner in the CEO & Board Practice of Heidrick & Struggles since October 2015. He previously also served as a managing partner of Heidrick & Struggles’ Centers of Excellence from February 2018 to January 2021 and as Regional Leader of the firm’s Americas region from October 2015 to February 2018. Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Mr. Lumbra spent 17 years with Russell Reynolds Associates, a global search firm, where he was a managing director and co-leader of the Americas CEO and board services practice. Mr. Lumbra is the chair of the board of trustees for the University of Vermont. Mr. Lumbra holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from University of Vermont and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Jamie Weinstein, 44 [Resigned 8/26/22]
Director
Since September 2019, Mr. Weinstein has served as a managing director, portfolio manager and head of corporate special situations at PIMCO, focusing on PIMCO’s opportunistic and alternative strategies within corporate credit. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2019, Mr. Weinstein worked for KKR as a portfolio manager for the firm’s special situations funds and portfolios, which he managed since their inception in 2009. Mr. Weinstein was also a member of KKR’s special situations, real estate, and India NBFC investment committees and the KKR credit portfolio management committee. Previously, Mr. Weinstein was a portfolio manager with responsibility across KKR’s credit strategies. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Weinstein was with Tishman Speyer Properties as director of acquisitions for Northern California and at Boston Consulting Group as a consultant. Currently, Mr. Weinstein serves on the boards of directors of CRIS I, Capstar Special Purpose Acquisition Corp and Sandbridge Acquisition Corporation. Mr. Weinstein has 18 years of investment experience and received an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.S. in Civil Engineering and Operations Research from Princeton University.