Dr. Ron Dembo - Founder & CEO

Dr. Ron Dembo is the Founder and CEO of Zerofootprint, a not-for-profit that combines the best financial engineering, environmental engineering, and business intelligence to create products and services that help organizations and individuals significantly reduce their environmental footprint.

Prior to founding Zerofootprint, Dr. Dembo was the Founder, CEO, and President of Algorithmics Incorporated, growing it from a start-up to the largest enterprise risk-management software company in the world, with offices in fifteen countries and over 70% of the world's top 100 banks as clients. Algorithmics was consistently voted as one of the top 50 best managed companies in Canada.

Dr. Dembo has also had a distinguished ten-year academic career at Yale University, where he was cross-appointed between the Department of Computer Science and the School of Management. Dr. Dembo has published over sixty technical papers on finance and mathematical optimization, and holds a number of patents in computational finance.

Dr. Dembo is the author of three books: Seeing Tomorrow: Rewriting the Rules of Risk, co-authored with Andrew Freedman, published in April 1998; Upside Downside: Simple Rules of Risk Management for the Smart Investor, co-authored with Daniel Stoffman, published in March 2006; and Everything You Wanted to Know About Offsetting But Were Afraid to Ask, co-authored with Clive Davidson, and released in May 2007.

In May 2007, Dr. Dembo was made a lifetime Fields Institute Fellow. This fellowship is awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Fields Institute, its programs, and to the Canadian mathematical community. In July 2007, Dr. Dembo was inducted as a charter member of the Risk Who's Who.

Deborah Kaplan - Executive Director

Deborah holds an M.Phil from Cambridge University, England, where studies focused on conservation and preservation in the Department of Archaeology, Heritage Management and Museums. She also holds an Honours BA from the University of Toronto, specializing in Anthropology. Deborah was Associate Director of Development and Marketing Communications for the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art. As well, she was the lead professional for cultural planning for the Tomorrow Campaign for the UJA Federation. Ms. Kaplan also founded Let's Sea Publishing, which produced interactive books used for branding and revenue generation in the travel industry.

Jay Goldman - Vice President, Client Experience

Jay has been providing a human side to technology for over ten years, as both a User Experience Specialist and Visual Designer. His career has been focused on the interaction between people and technology, and his insights have helped to greatly improve products on mobile, web, and desktop platforms, including IBM DB2 and Mozilla Firefox. Jay led the Radiant Core Professional Services Team on a wide variety of engagements across multiple industries, and is now proud to be the Vice President of Client Experience for Zerofootprint Software Inc, where he oversees product management, user experience, and client services. He has been instrumental in the continued growth of the BarCamp community in Toronto and was one of the co-conductors of the very successful TransitCamp event held in partnership with the Toronto Transit Commission. Jay has been published in the Harvard Business Review and is currently writing The Facebook Cookbook for O'Reilly Media.

Jason Steinberg - Director of Client Services

Jason holds a Master in Environmental Studies degree combined with a Graduate Diploma in Business and the Environment from York University, where his research focused on engaging the private sector in biofuel development. Jason also holds an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University. Jason brings extensive business, software, and environmental experience, having led successful multi-million dollar enterprise software projects at global organizations, and consulted for the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations' Partnerships for Sustainable Development.

Peter Howard - Manager of Climate Services

Peter received a combined Honours B.Sc. degree in Marine Biology and Contemporary Studies from Halifax's Dalhousie University in 2001. Following his undergraduate degree, Peter worked in resource management with Alaska's fisheries industry, and later continued this work as a watershed biologist in Toronto. In 2004, abandoning the traditional fields of biology and resource management, Peter enrolled in graduate studies at York University, and recently graduated with a Master in Environmental Studies degree, Diploma in Business and Environment. Peter's thesis examined the negative externalities of traditional economic growth, and how conscious design could mitigate these. He graduated after studying ecological economics and sustainable business strategy.

Suzanne Giblon - Project Manager

Suzanne has several years experience in managing major business process initiatives, as well as software development and implementation projects for several major players in the financial services sector (including four of Canada's five largest banks). Suzanne works closely with the rest of the Zerofootprint team to ensure the successful delivery of projects and adherence to project and risk management principals and methodology (PMI). She holds an MBA and a B.Sc. (Microbiology) from the University of Toronto, and a B.Com. (Finance) from McGill University. The unique combination of Suzanne's scientific training and hands-on experience in business and technology contribute to the success of our projects.

Samantha Newton - Manager of Communications

Samantha obtained her Bachelor of Arts in North American Studies from McGill University in 2002. Following the completion of her degree, Samantha attended the Sorbonne in Paris, where she received an advanced level diploma in French Language and Culture as well as a certificate in Business French from the Paris Chamber of Commerce. Upon returning to Canada, Samantha worked as a Special Assistant to the Hon. Jim Peterson, the former Minister of International Trade. Her experience in government led her to study politics at the London School of Economics, where she pursued a Master's in Comparative Politics and graduated with Merit in 2005. Since completing her studies, Samantha has worked at the CBC as a Researcher and at Report on Business Television as a Broadcast Associate.

Myles Estey - Content Manager

Myles graduated from UBC in 2006 with an honours degree in Political Science. Throughout university Myles worked in various editorial roles for Capital Magazine, an international art and culture magazine, and upon graduating, assumed the role of Editor-in-Chief. Myles has planted over one million trees across northern Canada, and looks forward to a less physically strenuous approach to tackling climate change.

Matthew Barg - Project Manager, Client Services

Matthew is a Master in Environmental Studies candidate at York University focusing on sustainability strategies and business. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Winnipeg.

Michael Dunbar - Offsets and Energy Lead

Michael received an Honours B.Sc. in Biology and a minor in Chemistry from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2003. Upon completion of his undergraduate degree, Michael chose to broaden the scope of his education by enrolling in York University's Masters of Environmental Studies program with the Diploma in Business and the Environment. He graduated after studying a variety of sustainability issues focusing on business strategy and environmental policy. His thesis was an encyclopedic look at the ecological, economic and social impacts of the Canadian food system, the barriers to positive change, and an examination of policies and initiatives that could build capacity for sustainability in local and regional food economies.

Jennifer Truong - Research Lead

Jennifer received an Honours Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Management/Chemistry from the University of Toronto. After her studies, she continued working at the University as a Research Associate in the department of Geography studying environmental contaminants in various cities.

Christopher Lau Moon Lin - Operations

Christopher graduated from the Business and Society Honours B.A. program at York University, where he focused on both Political Science and Psychology. During the completion of his degree, he also received a Certificate of Business Fundamentals through the Schulich School of Business.

Christina Bakas - Student Intern

Christina is a fourth year Interior Design student at Ryerson University. She has chosen to focus on sustainability in her design projects and plans to become LEED accredited upon gradution.

Lauryn Drainie - Student Intern

Lauryn is a third-year Environmental Policy and Philosophy student at the University of Toronto. In the future she plans on working in the field of sustainable urban planning in developing countries. In her spare time, Lauryn enjoys making clothes out of recycled materials, including bicycle tires, curtains and old records.

David Photiadis - Student Intern

David is a third-year student at the University of Toronto pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Resource Management and Environment and Society. He has concentrated on water resources and energy systems and has plans to pursue a post graduate degree after graduation.

Ian Browde - Advisor on Business Development

Ian currently serves as Director of Strategy and Business Development for Nokia Enterprise Solutions. He is an advisor to the Center for Electronic Business at San Francisco State University and in the past served as head of Business Development for Apple Computer's International Division.

Clive Davidson - zfp Editor in Chief

Clive is a freelance journalist based in Surrey, England. He has edited a number of science and technology magazines and written for a range of international publications, including The Guardian, New Scientist, Risk, Resurgence, Permaculture, Engaged Investor, etc.

Lorraine Gauthier - Design Lead

Lorraine is a founding partner of Work Worth Doing whose goal is to use design as a catalyst for social and environmental change (www.workworthdoing.com). She collaborated on the design of Massive Change, an international traveling exhibition curated by Bruce Mau and was a contributing researcher and author of Massive Change: The Future of Global Design published in 2004 by Phaidon.

Austin Hill - Web 2.0 and DarkGreenPC Consultant

Austin Hill is a Canadian entrepreneur who has been creating technology startups for 15 years. He was a founder of Zero- Knowledge Systems (now called Radialpoint) and as its President helped the company raise $75 million between 1997 and 2001.

Raffaella Gibelli - Research Associate for Italy

Raffaella has been an Italian Graduate Fellow at the University of Oregon and at the University of Toronto. Based now in Trento (Italy), she teaches English and French in high school. She is also a long time organic food and products consumer.