Michael J Kennedy, Director
Maryland Energy & Sustainability Co-op
Mike Kennedy is the founder of the Co-op, and currently serves as its only employee.
Over the past 26 years, living in Bethesda, Mike has been involved in the real estate development business with partners and as Director of Development for several local builders. He has been responsible for the acquisition and development of over $200 Million in projects around the DC metropolitan area. Before his time in this area, Mike owned several businesses (including 2 very successful bars & restaurants, an advertising agency, and clothing stores). Mike has spent the past year researching and developing the concept of an energy cooperative and is now responsible for the ongoing growth and success of Maryland Energy & Sustainability Co-op. Mike graduated with a B.S. Degree from Marquette University in 1969.
Mary Griffin, Director of Policy
National Cooperative Business Association
Mary Griffin is Director of Policy for The National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA). She manages the Cooperative Finance and Tax Council Office, which identifies and addresses finance, tax and legal issues that have cross-sector impacts on cooperatives. Mary advocates before the US and international financial accounting standards boards for standards that address the cooperative form of business and is helping to coordinate the international cooperative response to the move to global accounting standards. She also advocates on behalf of cooperatives before Congress and works to secure more funds for cooperative development in the US. Prior to coming to NCBA, Mary was with Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, where she represented the interests of consumers on various financial services issues. Mary received her law degree from Temple University and her LLM from George Washington University.
Suzanne Parmet, President
Live Green, LLC
Suzanne Parmet is President and Manager of Live Green, LLC, a Home Performance Services firm based in Chevy Chase. Live Green performs whole house energy audits, implements energy efficiency improvements and provides design services. Suzanne manages the business aspects of the firm, as well as educates homeowners and community groups regarding energy efficiency measures and benefits and financial analyses and incentives, and assists with modeling energy data and preparing home performance reports and financial analyses. Suzanne is also the Principal of Parmet Law, PPLC, which provides legal services to smaller businesses and individuals focused on contracting and transaction support for real estate, energy services and development projects. Suzanne is a member of the Maryland and DC bars. She received her law degree from University of Pennsylvania, an MS in Real Estate from Johns Hopkins University and a BS in Architecture from University of Virginia.
Dave Heffernan
Bethesda Green
Dave is Director of Communications for Bethesda Green, a local nonprofit promoting sustainable living practices, where he manages education, outreach and marketing activities. Dave is a marketing communications professional and community builder with over 25 years of experience working with nonprofits and consulting firms for the federal government. Before joining Bethesda Green, Dave was Marketing Director for 40Plus of Greater Washington, a job-search support nonprofit, where he created a blog that attracted over 10,000 hits in one year. As VP of Public Affairs for the Center for Education Reform, Dave coordinated and supervised communications, marketing and public affairs activities, increasing media coverage by 20 percent. Earlier in his career, Dave was Managing Editor at the Children's Defense Fund, where he led an editorial and production team that created over $1 million in publication sales annually. Dave also supervised multi-million dollar outreach contracts with FDA and NIST as a Project Manager with SciComm, a small, Bethesda-based consulting firm.
Dave holds a B.A. in Journalism from George Washington University and serves on the Board of Directors for 40Plus of Greater Washington.
David Feldman, Executive Director
Bethesda Green
David Feldman is CEO of Livability Project, a firm dedicated to helping communities develop sustainability initiatives. He is best known locally in his role as Executive Director of Bethesda Green, a sustainability initiative with an education center and green business incubator. In 2009, Dave was named one of “The 25 CEOs You Need to Know” by The Gazette of Politics and Business and an 'Innovator of the Year' by the Daily Record. Prior to Livability Project, Dave was Consul, Trade & Investment at the British Embassy. His role was to help US companies set up or expand operations in the United Kingdom and support UK companies exporting to the US. He managed a team of eight covering multiple sectors and was directly responsible for a portfolio that included renewable energy and clean tech. Earlier in his career, Dave served as VP of Sales and Marketing for a wireless software company and Principal of Global Growth Strategies, a team of international consultants providing strategic and market planning to the global IT industry. Dave holds an M.B.A. from the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland in International Management and Finance.
James C. Roumell - jroumell@roumellasset.com
Jim Roumell is Founder and President of Roumell Asset Management, LLC. Mr. Roumell founded the firm in 1998 after more than a decade as a financial advisor. Before founding Roumell Asset Management, he was a Registered Principal at Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., and an Associate Vice President at Derand Investment Corporation of America. Mr. Roumell was selected to participate in, and won, two consecutive Wall Street Journal stock picking contests (in 2001 and 2002) before the contest was discontinued. He is a graduate of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.