Our Board of Directors

Jim Gillingham, Valero Energy Corporation
Mr. Gillingham was appointed Senior Vice President of Alternative Fuels and Project Development for Valero in January 2008. This new Valero alternative energy group is developing the U.S.’s largest petroleum coke gasification project, a wide variety of renewable fuels projects and a wind energy project to power one of Valero’s refineries. Mr. Gillingham has extensive petroleum refinery operations, engineering and management experience. Mr. Gillingham began his career as a Process Engineer with Exxon. Following his work at Exxon, Mr. Gillingham joined Diamond Shamrock at the Three Rivers Refinery (which later became Ultramar Diamond Shamrock and finally Valero) and worked 5 years as Assistant Plant Manager. Mr. Gillingham moved to Diamond’s headquarters in San Antonio as Manager of Engineering and Director of Petrochemical Development from 1991 to 1998 before taking over as Plant Manager at the UDS Denver Refinery. He transferred to McKee to head both the McKee and Denver Refineries in 2000, and continued there through the Valero acquisition of UDS in 2001.

In 2002, Mr. Gillingham moved to San Antonio to serve as the Western Region Vice President of Refining Operations overseeing Valero’s Ardmore, McKee, Denver, Benicia and Wilmington refineries. Following Valero’s 2005 purchase of four refineries of the Premcor Refining Group, Mr. Gillingham served as Regional VP and Refinery Manager at the large Port Arthur refinery. Mr. Gillingham received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from Rice University.

Rebecca Kauffman, Southern Ute Alternative Energy
Rebecca Kauffman is President and Chief Operating Officer of Southern Ute Alternative Energy; an operating entity of the Southern Ute Growth Fund. The Growth Fund represents a diverse group of businesses and investments, functioning as a merchant bank with direct ownership of its many operating companies. Since it’s inception in 1999, the Growth Fund has committed to a broad range of businesses and investment opportunities. Key business areas include: oil and gas exploration, natural gas gathering, pipeline operation and processing, alternative/renewable energy, construction materials and various other private equity and venture capital opportunities.

Ms. Kauffman joined the Southern Ute Growth Fund in August of 2007 to explore business expansion into the alternative and renewable energy sectors. Prior to joining the Growth Fund, she was an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley Inc. within the Institutional Operations Security Group in strategy and planning. Her work focused on operations and technology infrastructure development. Ms. Kauffman has extensive project experience in large capital projects related to building and optimizing supply chains, operations and infrastructure. The majority of her work has been in the manufacturing and service industries. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology from University of Oregon and earned a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University.

Brian L. Klemsz, Bohemian Investments, LLC
Since March 2007, Mr. Klemsz has been the Chief Investment Officer of Bohemian Investments, LLC; a $1.8 billion Private Equity firm located in Fort Collins, CO with investments in real estate, technology (IT, IT infrastructure, cleantech/alternative energy) and financial services. Prior to joining Bohemian, Mr. Klemsz was Chief Investment Officer for GDBA Investments, LLLP; a private investment partnership from May 2000 until March 2007. Mr. Klemsz received a Master’s of Science in Accounting and Taxation in 1993 and a Master’s of Science in Finance in 1990 both from Colorado State University. Mr. Klemsz received his Bachelor’s of Science degree from the University of Colorado in 1981.

The Honorable Tim Lewin, I2BF Venture Capital
Mr. Lewin has been a director of I2BF Venture Capital, a $150 million venture capital firm based in London that focuses on biofuels technology. Mr. Lewin began his career on the floor of the London Commodity Exchange in 1972 with the futures-broking house of GW Joynson where he qualified as a trader and created the firm’s physicals trading division. Shortly after this experience Mr. Lewin moved to Edward Boustead & Co. one of the most famous old trading houses of the city where he was appointed director of physical trading and assumed responsibility for minority shareholders interests. He became a member of the Bank of England Committee that supervised markets in the days before the FSA.

In 1987, Mr. Lewin left to establish his own company specializing in development of exchange-trading in emerging markets; initially these were focused on southeast Asia and Russia. In 1991, Mr. Lewin was invited to join the team of consultants engaged by the British Government to lend support and techniques to the Russian government as its economy transitioned. In this role, Mr. Lewin instigated and organized the first visit of the London Stock Exchange to Moscow, and the first conference on Russian oil and gas in London. He was appointed Honorary Representative of the Government of the Republic of the Crimea in the UK and was awarded the Gold Medal of St. George on the day of the Ukrainian President’s visit to the Queen in 2005.

The Honorable Tim Lewin takes his title from his father who was created Baron Lewin of Greenwich following the British military success in the Falklands campaign in 1982 in which the then Admiral of the Fleet Sir Terrence Lewin served as Commander in Chief and military advisor to Lady Thatcher, the British Prime Minister.

Douglas R. Henston, Solix Biofuels, Inc.
Doug Henston founded Solix in 2006 with Dr. Bryan Willson. Prior to becoming CEO at Solix, Mr. Henston was a strategic consultant in carbon mitigation strategies and renewable energies with Domani Sustainability Consulting. Mr. Henston is highly regarded in the renewable energy field and has an intimate understanding of the industry, markets and technologies. Prior to joining Domani, Mr. Henston was President of Community Operations for Affordable Residential Communities in Denver. Before moving to Colorado Mr. Henston worked in the fixed income group at Goldman Sachs and was a Naval Aviator from 1984 to 1992. He serves on the Board of the Colorado Bioscience Association and the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association. He holds a B.S. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.