Grant Behrendorff
Chairman, Ekistica Board
Grant is a dynamic and innovative leader and entrepreneur in the renewable energy sector in Australia. He is an accomplished and respected business owner, developer and manager with over 30 years experience working in a range of technical and senior managerial roles across the utility, NGO and private sectors. He has a passion for leadership and change, and is a sucker for a challenge.
Grant has a proven ability to recognise opportunity, formulate and share a vision, and assemble and lead the resources required to realise it. These skills have been demonstrated in numerous successful roles and projects in the energy sector in Australia, India, North America, and the Pacific Islands.
In 2011 Grant co-founded AC Solar Warehouse which has grown rapidly to become the largest specialist AC Solar wholesale business in the Asia Pacific region.
LYNDON FREARSON
Managing Director & Principal Consultant
Lyndon is a leader in the field of remote and regional infrastructure development and deployment, policy and financing. A chartered electrical engineer, Lyndon’s experience includes seven years in heavy industry and automotive manufacturing as a production manager, design engineer and project manager, and over a decade in the energy sector, with a focus on renewables. As Ekistica’s Managing Director and Principal Consultant, Lyndon has overseen its development as regional and remote Australia’s leading advisory and technical consultancy firm. In this role, he is and continued to be one of Australia’s thought-leaders in the energy sector.
Olivia Coldrey
Olivia has 25 years’ experience working internationally at the intersection of energy markets, finance, law and innovation. With a strong commercial grounding in structuring and negotiating cross-border finance transactions, her key capabilities are in climate and blended finance strategy, advising on energy law, policy and institutional governance, and funding clean energy technologies and business models through the value chain from R&D to commercial deployment. Currently, Olivia is Chair of Energy Peace Partners and a member of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency's Advisory Panel. Previously, she held senior executive roles with the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All, REEEP and the Australian Solar Institute. Starting her career as a lawyer, for 12 years Olivia worked on a range of financial services transactions at Baker McKenzie, Latham & Watkins and Export Finance Australia.
A Fulbright Scholar and U.S. Department of State Climate Change Fellow, Olivia holds BEc (ANU), LLB (UNSW), LLM (LSE), and PhD (UQ) degrees. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is admitted to practice law in Australia.
NIKI ROSS
CEO, Centre for Appropriate Technology Ltd.
Niki, of Kaytetye and Arrente heritage, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Appropriate Technology Ltd, Ekistica’s parent company.
Niki has spent the past decade working across policy, project management, and community development in Indigenous Affairs, spanning a range of sectors including Indigenous organizations, government, industry, and security.
Niki has worked throughout the Northern Territory and is passionate about supporting remote Aboriginal communities establishing opportunities through employment, education and economic development.
Jo Hume
General Manager at Fulcrum3D
Jo is a Masters degree qualified engineer with over 20 years engineering and commercial experience across the energy and sustainable development sectors. She has deep experience in investment strategy, analysis and management. She has also evaluated and worked on energy companies and technologies with valuations from $10m to $10b.
Jo is currently the General Manager for a Fulcrum3D (a wind and solar energy monitoring and forecasting company). She was previously a Venture Partner at the Renewable Energy Venture Capital fund and has worked on major projects and investments at AGL and CVC, and ran the NZ Business Council for Sustainable Development.