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CONNEXIS Team

Franz Knecht, Managing Partner & Founder, Basel (Switzerland)

lic. iur., University of Basel (1980), law firm and court clerkship (1981-82), courses in accounting, marketing and communication, banking and economy, Lead Auditor ISO 14001 for environmental management system certification.

Areas of Competency

Sustainability of Finance Sector, Environmental/Social/Governance (ESG) and Economics, ISO and in-house Management Systems, ESG-Strategy Development and Risk Management, Communication, Reporting, Rating, Socially Responsible Investing, Climate Change, Water, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

Memberships

FNG, Chamber of Commerce Switzerland - Sweden (in Stockholm), Workgroups of UNEP FI (UN Environmental Program’s Financial Initiative) and VFU (Verein für Umweltmanagement & Nachhaltigkeit in Finanzinstituten).

Professional Development

Since 1999: international independent consultant for financial, manufacturing and service sector clients, international organizations like UNEP FI, World Bank, and development agencies, non-executive board member of SRI Rating Company, member of several technical advisory boards on SRI

1991-99: Head of Corporate Environmental Management/Sustainable Banking Solutions at Swiss Bank Corporation (now UBS), Liaison Delegate to UNEP FI and WBCSD

1986-91: VP at Product Development, Marketing Support, PR, and Head Corporate Sponsoring at SBC

1982-86: VP, Head of Retail-industries and Legal Advisor at SME-Business Organisation (Gewerbeverband Basel-Stadt)

John T. Ganzi, Associate Partner, Chapel Hill, NC (USA)

MBA in International Marketing (Univ. of Michigan)

Master in Environmental Sciences (New York Univ.)

Bachelor in Public Policy & Economics (Georgetown Univ.)

Areas of Competency

Environmental Protection, Nature Conservation, Clean Tech, Hospitality, Financial Services

Current Boards & Employer

Managing Director, Climate Change Risk Management Institute

Senior Risk Officer for Globally Systemic Important Banks (GSIBs), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

Treasurer North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (largest renewable energy trade association in the SE of the USA)

Corporate Secretary RTP Capital Associates, an angel investor group where he leads the due diligence teams on clean tech potential investments

President Environment & Finance Enterprise, an international consulting firm focused on the convergence of sustainability, economic viability & public policy

Professional Development

Citigroup (11 yrs), FDIC (5 yrs), Salomon Brothers (4 yrs), Biofuels Center of North Carolina, Finance Institute for Global Sustainability, Univ. of North Carolina, New York University, Vrije University, Eco-inn Experiences

Markus Althausen, Partner, Miami (USA)

MSc (Univerisity of Economics, Vienna)

Areas of Competency

Renewable Energy, Waste-to-Energy, Climate Change, Carbon Strategy and Management, Clean Tech, Emerging Markets

Professional Development

Markus Althausen is a successful entrepreneur in the field of renewable energy and climate change with over 15 years experience in executive management positions. Markus is a co-founder of ClimeCo corporation the leading producer of GHG Emission Reductions in the US market. Today Markus is President of CLimeCo International corp., a leading technology company for biogas projects in Latin America.


A former investment banker (RIAG-UBS) and management consultant (Denkstatt, KPMG Consulting) Markus joined biogas project developer AgCert International in 2005 as GM Europe and later became AgCert's VP Field Operations, managing over 600 biogas plants and 100 employees across Latin America.

Sebastian Reich, Associate Partner, Duesseldorf (Germany)

PhD

Areas of Competency

Integration of ESG aspects into strategy, business processes and reporting


Professional Development

Dr. Sebastian Reich is advising German and international enterprises and organisations since 1993 on the effective and efficient integration of the relevant ESG aspects into their business models, value chains and organisations in the frame of asset management, corporate development, M&A activities and real estate transactions.

As a natural scientist with a business education, prior to his self-employment he had been a management member of the international engineering and environmental consulting companies URS and ARCADIS, responsible for transaction services, sustainability services, business development & innovation as well as for the real estate sector.


Memberships

Dr. Reich is co-author of the Sustainability Codex of the German Real Estate Industry, Chairman of the Real Estate Committee of the German Sustainable Building Council as well as an active member of the Desertec Foundation.

Jean Hetzel, Associate Partner, Paris/Nantes (France)

Master of Law (Paris University)

Graduate of Finance & Banking (CESB Paris)

Areas of Competency

Banking & finance, Audit (Lead Auditor NSF ISO 9001, ISO 14001 & OHSAS 18001) and Verification (Lead Verifier NSF-ISR, GHG Verifier ISO 14064, LEED Verifier, NSF-ISR Green Bond Verifier), Green Bonds, Green Building, Eco-Design, Due Diligence

Professional Development

Jean Hetzel has more than 30 years of experience in sustainable development and QHSE. Following a career as a lawyer, banker and consultant in France, Jean founded Johanson International as a sustainable development advisory.

In addition, Jean is a co-founder of the French eco-label 'Haute Qualité Environnementale' (HQE®) and author of several books, including 'HQE® Buildings & Sustainable Development'.

Kajetan H. Hetzer, Associate Partner, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

MSc (Environmental Sciences), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Areas of Competency

Environmental/Social/Governance (ESG) and Economics, Natural Resources Management, especially Water, Clean tech, Business Development, Financial Structuring and Engagement of public and private stakeholders.

Professional Development

Kajetan Hetzer worked for more than 10 years in the financial sector as an analyst on Environment, Social, Governance (ESG) aspects of investments in diverse sectors. He gained special experiences within the Dutch SNS REAAL Bank-Insurance Group, when Kajetan initiated and managed an Impact Investment Fund, the SNS REAAL Water Fund (2006) for the water and sanitation sector in developing countries. From 2011 Kajetan built ample experiences as a consultant for various international organizations (e.g. World Economic Forum, IFC, 2030 WRG, UNDP, UNEP-FI), NGOs and development agencies. He joined WASTE in 2014 as a business and finance advisor. Since April 2015 Kajetan is Executive Director of the Social Equity Fund .

Daniel Knecht, Associate Partner, Legal & Governance, Basel (Switzerland)

LLM, South Africa (2016)

Attorney at Law (Switzerland, 2011)

MLaw (University of Basel, 2009)

Areas of Competency

Law and corporate governance

Professional Development

Attorney at Law, Swiss Legal (Basel,2016)

Internship at law firm in Basel

Tutorial assistant at University of Basel

Margie Schmidli, Administration & Project Support, Basel (Switzerland)

Margie Schmidli has an education as a management administrator and was working in the banking sector for many years, also as an allround client advisor in wholesale banking. Since its foundation she has supported CONNEXIS in the area of administration and project assistance. Her wide experience in report writing and publishing and her multi-language skills together with her ability to bring in the non-specialist view are an asset to the organization.