people

Jamie founded and currently serves as CEO of the Distributed Energy Financial Group (DEFG, www.defgllc.com), a holding company with three branded entities, including: DEFG LLC, a specialized consulting and financial services firm focused on innovative energy technologies and solutions, EcoAlign (www.ecoalign.com), DEFG Ventures, an investment arm that provides capital, advisory services and marketing expertise to alternative energy companies seeking angel and venture capital. DEFG’s clients include many of the leading utilities, vendors and equipment manufacturers, and financial firms active in the energy technology sector. As an offshoot of his work with DEFG, Mr. Wimberly co-founded and manages the Customer Care Research Consortium (CCRC), a research organization with 16 utility members focused on customer care operations in partnership with Navigant Consulting. He also manages the Demand and Energy Technology (DETech) Research Consortium, a research organization with 9 utility members focused on alternative energy and DSM issues. Prior to DEFG, Mr. Wimberly co-founded and formerly served as President of the Center for the Advancement of Energy Markets (CAEM), a non-profit think tank focused on the energy sector. Prior to CAEM, Jamie Wimberly served as the Vice President of the Consumer Energy Council of America (CECA), the oldest public interest organization in the nation focusing on the energy, telecommunications and other network industries providing essential services to consumers.

Andrea Fabbri is co-founder and COO for EcoAlign. Andrea has been the lead marketing executive for brand rejuvenation, integrated marketing strategies, segmentation, product launches, acquisition campaigns, loyalty programs and global CRM among other areas of expertise. His focus is to help companies acquire greater consumer insight to develop integrated customer engagement strategies that lead to greater ROI and return on environment (ROE).

Prior to joining EcoAlign, he was a marketing executive at Intelsat (the world's largest satellite provider) where he led the transformation of 37-year old IGO into a leading, dynamic brand in the satellite industry which included an IPO, acquisitions and a marketing transformation. He also led the brand development and management efforts for Intelsat’s merger with PanAmSat. As a consultant, Andrea provided services for a variety of other clients including LogicNets, one of the leading expert systems in US servicing Fortune 500 companies, and The International Student House, one of DC's premier, global non-profits.

He is the recipient of several prestigious awards such as the Best In Show MITX Award of the New York Interactive Award. He is a frequent speaker at conferences focused on corporate image, sustainability and energy. He holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins University and got his undergraduate degree in Economics at the La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.

Joanna Paul is Creative Director for EcoAlign with more than 15 years of experience in designing winning campaigns. Prior to joining EcoAlign, Joanna was employed with Landor Associates, a renowned New York-based branding and design consultancy, where she managed complex design projects for consumer goods, financial services and business-to-business companies. Previously, she was employed by companies such as FutureBrand, Tattoo Marketing and Maddocks & Company in a range of design management positions. Joanna studied marketing at San Diego State University, and was trained in graphic design in New York at the School of Visual Arts and Parsons School of Design.

Teddi is Vice President of Marketing for EcoAlign. Davis has over 20 years of increasingly responsible hands-on business leadership experience in the areas of marketing, product management, business development, channel optimization and sales, serving energy, telecom and high tech. Prior to EcoAlign, Teddi was Director of Customer Choice and Renewables Marketing at Xcel Energy, one of the nation's most progressive and largest investor owned utilities serving customers in eight states. In her position she contributed to the company’s environmental leadership aspirations through the development and management of customer choice options for residential, commercial and industrial customers, such as payment and billing programs, optional rate programs, self service strategies, information programs that helped customers better understand their energy usage, and choice renewables programs such as Windsource and Solar*Rewards. She also helped develop marketing strategies for the company’s SmartGridCity program in Boulder, Colorado.

Under her direction, customer choice offerings at Xcel Energy helped demonstrate innovation and leadership around renewables and the environment. During her tenure, she helped grow Xcel Energy’s Windsource program to be the #1 green pricing program in the nation, and was responsible for growing the Solar*Rewards program to be the fifth largest REC rebate program nationally in just three years. She was also responsible for the company’s demand response programs including Saver’s Switch. Before her role managing choice offerings at Xcel Energy Davis was responsible for Product Development for all conservation and energy efficiency programs, and managed residential DSM programs as Director of Consumer Product Marketing for the company as well.

Andy Hunter serves as a principal associate at EcoAlign. Andy has worked for the world’s leading advertising agencies and Fortune 500 brands. He is former founder and director of GSD&M’s connections planning and digital strategy practices. Having worked across a spectrum of marketing communications disciplines, Andy brings a unique perspective to the art and science of branding and consumer insight. Focused on merging the strategic tools of brand planning, media targeting, and digital relationship marketing, he crafts engagement strategy that builds “conversational” brand campaigns. Past category work includes assignments for BMW, American Express, Wal-Mart, PwC Consulting, Dreamworks, and United Healthcare while working for agencies including Ogilivy, Wunderman/Y&R, Hill Holliday, and GSD&M.

Jorge Echeverria is responsible for overseeing EcoAlign’s presence across social networks and media as well as researching and executing social media campaigns for potential clients. Recent engagements include companies like PHI, APS and Entergy to mention a few. Jorge is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian and French.

Maury brings 15 years of Marketing Research, Analytics and Brand tracking to the EcoAlign team. He is a David Ogilvy Grand Winner award recipient, one of the highest national accolades recognizing market research excellence. A long time veteran of Harris Interactive/Wirthlin Worldwide, Maury provided research and strategic consulting on behalf of some of the country’s largest companies and numerous political campaigns.

Previous to his work with EcoAlign he’s served as SVP of Analytics and ROI for Omnicom’s Idea City, tasked with the development and application of business intelligence and advanced analytical tools for the planning and measurement of marketing solutions for our clients. Clients included: North Carolina Power & Light, Duke Energy, and Del Sur in El Salvador. Also, significant work in the natural gas utility space with Questar Gas, BMW, MasterCard, US Air Force, Legacy, LL Bean, Dial Soap, Charles Schwab, AT&T/SBC, NCL, Marriott, Intel, Microsoft, UTI, AARP, ASAE, Junior Achievement USA, United Healthcare, Automotive Retailing Today, SACOG, Fannie Mae, Pioneer (DuPont company), Wellpoint.

Maury’s mantra is uncovering consumer insight via quantitative methods, developing a path to innovation and corporate entrepreneurialism and doing so with rigorous methods. Defining winning before you plan, executing with pragmatic recommendations and ongoing measurement and continuous improvement. His passion, at work, is to help uncover how to optimize our ideas to maximize the return for clients.

Drew Letendre - Drew is a Brand Strategist and a Verbal Identity Specialist. Drew’s career in branding and design spans a 15 years period. His client list ranges broadly across industry categories, including: financial services (Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley), telecommunications (Time Warner, CNET), industrial manufacturing (Avery Dennison) construction engineering (Exelon Infrastructure Services) and energy (Progress Energy), among others.

In addition to agency experience, Drew has worked as an independent consultant in the field of naming, message systems and verbal identity. His projects again span categories and include Dolby, World Kitchen, Brita, GE Aviation and Mallinkrodt. Examples of names that Drew has created are “Experient” for merger of three category players in the event planning category; the Insite™ and Digitography™ product brands for Covance; the name of HealthWell Foundation; and the taglines “ROI | Return on Ideas” (iStar Financial) and “Working to the Perfect the Flow of Energy” (PJM).

In the energy sector Drew has done brand strategy and identity engagements with Progress Energy (corporate identity system) PJM Interconnections (corporate identity upgrade), North West Natural Energy (brand strategy consulting), Sequent and Atlanta Gas Light Resources (corporate identity make-over). Drew holds a Master of Arts Degree in philosophy from the Claremont Graduate Center and graduated with honors in psychology from Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Sandra has spent over 15 years in both Europe and the USA creating, managing and implementing branding programs for a full range of international companies. Her strong creative vision, strategic approach and collaborative nature have allowed her to build and guide diverse creative teams, manage client relationships and inspire new ways of problem solving. Past clients included Tishman Construction Company, the largest privately-owned construction company in the world, the City of Asheville in North Carolina, CPower, Bowlmor, Roche Diagnostics, Mitsui Fudosan America and Tripfilms.

Sandra was Creative Director at Interbrand, where she worked on clients such as Bell Canada, eBay, Microsoft and was also a key member of the team involved in the creation of the new AT&T. While in London working for the Scottish design consultancy, 999 Design, she helped to establish key client relationships for the London office, which included Sony PS2, BBC and BT.

Mr. Nat Treadway is focused on electric market structure, retail energy competition, energy efficiency, demand response, distributed generation and value-added customer services. He leads the Energy Retailer Research Consortium (ERRC), a member-driven organization that produces the Annual Baseline Assessment of Choice in Canada and the United States. ABACCUS is a report card on the state's performance regarding retail choice. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Texas Combined Heat and Power Initiative.

Prior to EcoAlign, Mr. Treadway worked as a senior researcher for the Center for the Advancement of Energy Markets (CAEM), a non-profit think tank. In the lead up to Texas restructuring, he served as a senior advisor to the commissioners of the Public Utility Commission of Texas on special tariffs, competitive resource acquisition, and the complete separation of regulated electric distribution functions from competitive energy services. In the late 1990's, he led the development of interconnection guidelines for DG in Texas, and he led the regulatory team that oversaw eight electric utility "Deliberative Polls®." These polls demonstrated that Texans would prefer a resource mix that included renewable energy and energy efficiency -- a finding that has become self-evident through recent events.

Mr. Treadway provided ten years of expert testimony before the PUC of Texas on the economics of demand-side management programs, integrated resource planning and emerging competitive issues. In the early 1980's, he was a municipal energy manager for the city of Ogden, Utah.

Tom is a senior executive with over 30 years of experience in the gas and electric industry. His expertise includes general management, operations, product-business development, regulation and sales and marketing. Mr. Brunetto is skilled in business strategy, start-up management, supply chain, business transformation and operational excellence, and customer care. Prior to EcoAlign, Tom was Managing Director at Navigant Consulting Inc. in the Energy Practice, Vice President with Cap Gemini where he managed eBusiness and supply chain service offerings for the Energy, Utilities & Chemicals North America business unit. As a partner for Ernst & Young, Mr. Brunetto directed corporate reengineering, strategic planning, regulatory and marketing/sales projects for the energy business unit. These projects included rate design studies, corporate strategy, forecasting, planning and management audits. He has provided expert testimony on cost/pricing justification in Canada and states of Texas, Montana, Alabama, and Massachusetts.

Sarah Eder serves as a VP of Communications at EcoAlign focused on public relations and strategic communications.

She counsels a broad range of companies and crafts brand-building, integrated communications solutions that combine research, strategy and provocative ideas to align with and maximize a client's business objectives. Recognized as a superior tactician, skilled writer and trusted advisor, her clients consistently seek her expertise for day-to-day business public relations as well as major events management.

Prior to EcoAlign, Eder was previously director of Corporate Communications at Comcast Cable. In this position, she was responsible for leading media relations strategy on corporate, telephone and high-speed Internet issues for the nation’s leading cable company, which at the time served more than 22 million customers.

Prior to joining Comcast, Eder served as director of External Communications for AT&T Broadband. In this position, Eder was responsible for directing media relations efforts with national, business, trade, local and consumer press, as well as media relations strategy on corporate, public policy, telephone and high-speed Internet issues. She also was director and regional spokesperson for AT&T Corp. In this position she directed media relations activities as spokesperson for 14 western states and more than 3,000 media outlets.

Eder received her Bachelor of Science in journalism and graduated cum laude from Ohio University, E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. She has served as a member of Association of Cable Communicators, Public Relations Society of America and Women in Cable and Telecommunications Rocky Mountain where she is currently a board member. In addition, she was chosen for the Arthur W. Page Society class of 1999, an elite executive public relations group.

John serves as a Chief Social Scientist for EcoAlign. A former psychology professor and award-winning speaker, John's unique insight into the psychology of the communication design process has made him a prominent contributor to several pioneering entertainment projects over the past decade, including two $200 million dollar plus theme park designs. Recent clients and partners have included the Oscar-winning BRC Imagination Arts, the Joseph Campbell Foundation, Knock Knock, Inc.

His new book “Igniting Inspiration: A Persuasion Manual for Visionaries” is quickly becoming an indispensable tool for a new generation of socially conscious marketers, business leaders. In the book, John exposes the hidden dynamics of inspiration and unveils a bold new paradigm for creating inspirational media and messaging called Transformational Design™. A seamless blend of systems theory, developmental psychology, and common sense, this new framework allows socially conscious people—marketers, business leaders, and activists—to design messages that systematically overcome cynicism and inspire others to act.