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Our Team

Industry experts in carbon.

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Executive Team

Ken Newcombe

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

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Mark Woodall

Chief Investment Officer

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Chen Yang

Chief Commercial Officer

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Guy Mansfield

Chief Financial Officer

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Jason Steele

Chief Operations Officer

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Mahua Acharya

Chief of Staff

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Richard Cobbs

Managing Director, Special Situations

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Leadership Team

Matt Siller

Director of Business Development

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Brent Moser

Director of Operations, Africa Region

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Antonia Peart

Investment Director

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Daelus Lu

Director of Government Affairs and Business Development

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Margot Clarvis, PhD

Head of Nature-based Solutions

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Siddhartha Pakrashi

Chief Operations Officer South Asia

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Tridip Goswami

Managing Director - South Asia

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Bhaskar Jyoti Nath

Director of Operations South-East Asia

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Geoff Grimm

Head of Information Technology

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Alice Ferretti

Head of People & Culture

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Ryan Andre

Deputy General Counsel

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James Gillespie

Director of Marketing

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  • Ken Newcombe

    Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

    Ken is the Founder and CEO of C-Quest Capital, the culmination of his lifelong dedication to providing sustainable and clean energy solutions to help those most vulnerable to climate change. Ken spent his early career as the CEO of the Papua New Guinea Power Utility company and Head of Energy Planning for PNG before spending over two decades at the World Bank where he pioneered the global carbon trade. He designed and raised funding for the world’s first carbon fund (Prototype Carbon Fund), which led the way in creating high integrity greenhouse gas emission reductions as a commodity for global trade. He then oversaw the design and management of seven additional carbon fund with US$2B under management. Ken subsequently joined Climate Change Capital as a Co-Head of Carbon Markets, and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs in the Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodities Division in New York, and then finally founding C-Quest Capital in 2008. He has a doctorate in Energy and Natural Resource Management and Health from the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, and Business Management training from Harvard Business School.

  • Mark Woodall

    Chief Investment Officer

    Mark leads all capital raising and investment activities for CQC. As an entrepreneur, investor, adviser, and board member, Mark has been a leader in the development and financing of renewable energy, carbon, and clean technologies for more than 25 years. He has founded and led two specialist investment banking firms focused on the low carbon economy: Impax Capital (1994) and Climate Change Capital (2002), where he raised the world’s largest private-sector carbon fund (over $1 billion) in 2005 and served as the Chair of the Investment Committee. He has been the adviser, investor, or principal in c.100 cleantech transactions with total capital deployed of over US$5 billion. Mark has also acted as a non-executive board member of a dozen companies and has been a member of half a dozen investment committees for clean energy infrastructure and technology funds.

  • Chen Yang

    Chief Commercial Officer

    Chen oversees CQC's downstream sales and marketing activities, as well as strategic and commercial development with partners and distributors. Chen has a decade of experience working across technology and agriculture sectors in strategy, international expansion, and business development roles. Before joining CQC, she led demand-side activities for Indigo Carbon, a leading ag soil carbon business based in the US. Chen holds a BCom from the University of Melbourne and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

  • Guy Mansfield

    Chief Financial Officer

    Guy has 25 years of experience as a CFO and financial executive in the energy industry with extensive post-acquisition integration experience leading finance teams across different countries and cultures, including delivering transversal organisational solutions across high-risk, complex and multidisciplinary environments. He is an expert advisor of both boards and management teams, and was a CFO of a major energy company’s trading division with over 600 employees and a net income of c.$1bn.

  • Jason Steele

    Chief Operations Officer

    Jason manages all of the operations for CQC, including deployments, monitoring and issuance. Jason is a clean energy program manager with more than 15 years of experience. Before re-joining CQC where he worked as an Operations Manager on the Cleaner Cookstoves Platform in 2012-2013, Jason worked at SNV as the Sector Leader of Renewable Energy for Cambodia, with a key responsibility of managing SNV Cambodia’s renewable energy portfolio and expanding their operations. Before CQC, Jason was a Manager at International Resources Group (IRG) and staff and consultant for 10 years at the World Bank working on carbon finance and decentralized rural energy projects in Southeast Asia.

  • Mahua Acharya

    Chief of Staff

    Mahua Acharya was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of state owned energy transition company - Convergence Energy Services Limited of the Government of India. She led electric mobility initaitives for India, and significantly, the largest and most unprecedented electric bus program across the world that yielded prices that are lower than diesel. Mahua has two decades of experience in green finance, renewable energy, and carbon markets having worked in multiple countries. She was previously the Assistant Director-General of 29-country intergovernmental agency the Global Green Growth Institute, Seoul – an intergovernmental body where she worked across 16 countries on green investment schemes. She was previously managing director of a $50M carbon credit based impact investment business. She is one of the early pioneers of the carbon market – having been at the World Bank in Washington DC in its early days of the carbon markets and the carbon funds business. Mahua is co-founder faculty of an executive education program at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, serves on the boards of multiple international entities and has appeared on international and Indian listings of women in leadership. She has won 5 awards in 2021. Mahua holds a Masters’ degree from Yale University.

  • Richard Cobbs

    Managing Director, Special Situations

    Richard has ten years of experience as a finance executive, working with companies as both an advisor and an investor. Before joining CQC, Richard served as the Chief Financial Officer for Revolution Energy Solutions, a company focused on the production of renewable energy and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through projects that operate on agricultural platforms throughout the U.S. He was primarily responsible for raising capital to construct and operate these projects and led the company’s project development efforts with government agencies and electric utilities.

  • Matt Siller

    Director of Business Development

    Matt is responsible for strategic planning and business development initiatives at C-Quest, and is currently focusing on company expansion activities in Africa. Matt has 20 years of operational, management, and business development experience in emerging markets. He has managed projects in public and private sectors providing access to energy, expeditionary construction and logistics, training and capacity building, rule of law, peacekeeping, global security, and infrastructure development across the African continent and Latin America. Matt received a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School and Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

  • Brent Moser

    Director of Operations, Africa Region

    Brent oversees field operations and partner relationships for Sub-Saharan Africa. He has eleven years of experience working in both the engineering and energy sectors. He served as a Food Security and Environmental Extension Agent in Peace Corps Zambia focused on reducing deforestation, food insecurity, and mitigating vulnerability to climate change. Brent has a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from University of Florida.

  • Antonia Peart

    Investment Director

    Antonia has a decade of experience working in project development focused on renewable energy and low carbon technology solutions. Before joining CQC, she was the Commercial and Legal Director for a large Australian renewable energy developer, focused on capital raising activities for renewable energy projects including utility scale solar and long duration storage projects. Antonia has extensive M&A and project finance transactional experience, starting her career as a lawyer in the Global Energy and Infrastructure team at Linklaters in London and Allens in Sydney, before moving into project development and investment. She has a BA from King's College, London and an LLB from the College of Law.

  • Daelus Lu

    Director of Government Affairs and Business Development

    With more than 11 years in account management and business development, Daelus leads CQC's engagements with governments around the world. He is also responsible for deepening relationships with corporates keen to invest in carbon projects or offtake carbon offsets. Before CQC, Daelus served as the Assistant Vice President for Singapore Economic Development Board, where he was instrumental in uncovering opportunities and securing foreign direct investments worth more than SGD$2.5B. He also spent four years based in Tokyo as the Regional Director engaging Fortune 500 Japanese companies in the Energy & Chemicals, Renewables, Agri-food, Equipment & Machinery industries. Finally, Daelus worked two years in Barclays Investment Bank following his graduation from the National University of Singapore. He holds a BBA (Honours), with specialization in Finance, and currently resides in Singapore.

  • Margot Clarvis, PhD

    Head of Nature-based Solutions

    Margot Clarvis leads the development and management of CQC’s programmes on nature-based solutions. Margot has more than 15 years’ experience working in research, partnership development, and programme management at the intersection of climate adaptation, resilience, nature conservation, and finance. Prior to joining CQC, she was Director of Programmes at Earth Security, a boutique advisor on natural assets to investors, companies and governments, where she led client engagements and projects on private sector engagement and partnership development on the SDGs and nature-based solutions in the Horn of Africa, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. She has also worked with UNEP - Finance Initiative and ESG information provider Asset 4 (now Refinitiv). As an independent consultant, she has worked with NGOs and financial institutions to develop programmes and products for nature-based solutions and climate resilience, including the International Organization for Migration, the Clean Cooking Alliance, Conservation International, AXA Climate, WWF, and IUCN. She holds a PhD in Environmental Policy from the University of Geneva, an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London, and BA Hons in Classics from the University of Cambridge.

  • Siddhartha Pakrashi

    Chief Operations Officer South Asia

    Siddhartha Pakrashi is the Chief Operations Officer for CQC's operations in South Asia. He is an Innovation/Transformation Specialist with nearly 18 years of experience in large engagements including Complex Program Management, Delivery Management and People Management across Carbon Finance, Banking and Automotive Industries. He has extensive exposure to Cleaner Cooking, Efficient Lighting and Sustainable Development projects across India & Africa. He attained recognition by designing and customising new carbon financed biomass cook-stove project for NE India aimed at sustainable usage of firewood and improved livelihood of the rural poor. He is also a turnaround specialist, and has worked on low performing, loss making INR 50 Cr project in India which dealt with distribution of CFL Lamps under UNFCCC Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) program.

  • Tridip Goswami

    Managing Director - South Asia

    Tridip is an experienced professional with more than two decades of experience in Climate Change Mitigation, Removal, Adaptation, and Sustainable Development. He has made significant contributions to various agencies, including UNFCCC, DEFRA, EU, World Bank, ADB, FCO-UK, ECN-Netherlands, MoEF-GoI, and other developmental organisations. Earlier as the Chief of Carbon & Sustainability Accounting Team, he, alongside his team managed GHG compliance related elements of C-Quest Capital along side developing of methodologies, research, and market analysis related to Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement. As CQC’s Managing Director for South Asia, Tridip has a role in project origination and management in the region. He is also responsible for monitoring and reporting on the evolution of UNFCCC Paris Agreement policies, especially article 6 provisions as they affect CQCs operations globally. Tridip holds a Master's of Science (Chemistry) from Gauhati University, a Master's of Technology (Energy Technology) from Tezpur University, and a Project Management diploma from XLRI. He is a certified ISO 14001 and ISO 14064 lead auditor, with experience in developing and verifying projects across various industrial sectors. Tridip has also received the National Renewable Energy Fellowship by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India in 2005 and the Assam Excellence Award in 2021.

  • Bhaskar Jyoti Nath

    Director of Operations South-East Asia

    With over 15 years of experience in program management and implementation within the fields of Clean Energy and Climate Change, Bhaskar expertly manages the implementation of CQC's community-based projects in Southeast Asia. Prior to joining CQC, Bhaskar served as an Associate Director at PwC India, where he led multiple energy and climate change mitigation related programs for a variety of bilateral and multilateral organizations, such as the EU, UNEP, UNDP, UNIDO, UNHABITAT, World Bank, and GiZ, among others, as well as government agencies in more than 18 countries. Bhaskar began his career in carbon financing, where he played a pivotal role in enabling over 50 private sector engagements to receive carbon finance. He holds an MBA degree from Management Development Institute, India, and an M.Tech from Tezpur University, India.

  • Geoff Grimm

    Head of Information Technology

    Geoffrey Grimm manages IT systems for CQC including data management systems. Geoff is an IT professional with eight years of experience in data systems, analytics, and infrastructure. At Booz Allen Hamilton, he led a team of data scientists, engineers, and developers on an enterprise-wide Department of Defense data and analytics platform, ADVANA, delivering and maintaining application solutions for DoD leadership to track real-time information integrating over 20 DoD data systems on a secure cloud platform. Geoffrey holds a Master’s degree from the University of Chicago where he studied public policy and statistics and a Bachelor’s degree from Illinois Wesleyan University.

  • Alice Ferretti

    Head of People & Culture

    Alice is leading the Human Resources strategy and operations at CQC. Alice leads a global team of HR professionals that supports CQC teams on the ground and in office. With a background in Clinical Psychology and a Master’s in Human Resource Management, Alice plays a key role in promoting the healthy and engaging work environment that sets CQC apart from other employers. She moved to Washington DC from Italy to complete her studies in Human Resources at Georgetown University. Prior to CQC, Alice has led Human Resources operations for start-up and non-profit organizations in the DC area.

  • Ryan Andre

    Deputy General Counsel

    Before joining CQC as Deputy General Counsel, Ryan was an associate attorney at a boutique Washington, D.C.-based law firm specializing in environmental markets, renewable energy, advanced recycling, and clean tech, where he advised on regulatory and commercial aspects of international and U.S.-based project development. He received a master’s degree from Cambridge University in environmental policy and his J.D. magna cum laude from Vermont Law School.

  • James Gillespie

    Director of Marketing

    James is a highly accomplished Marketing and Brand Strategy professional with 15 years of experience leading the strategic planning and execution of large-scale integrated marketing campaigns. James has made a significant impact on brands across diverse industry sectors, including global brands Apple and Samsung. Equipped with an MBA from the University of Sydney, with a specialised focus on social enterprise and leadership, James brings a unique blend of business acumen and a passion for creating positive social impact. This well-rounded background enables James to approach marketing and brand strategy with a strategic and purpose-driven mindset. As the driving force behind CQC's global brand and marketing programs, James plays a pivotal role in bringing the CQC brand and products to life. Through captivating storytelling and innovative marketing campaigns, James effectively engages audiences and ensures the CQC brand resonates deeply with CQC’s target audiences. Passionate about making a meaningful difference through marketing, James is dedicated to driving positive change and leveraging the power of storytelling to create lasting brand experiences.