Board of Directors
Amy McCrae Kessler, Esq.
Amy McCrae Kessler, Esq.
Amy McCrae Kessler, Esq.
Amy McCrae Kessler, Esq. is Co-Founder, Founding Director & Policy Chair of the U.S. Biochar Coalition, President and Co-Founder of FACET POWER, Managing Director and Co-Founder of QUINTESSENTIAL.
Amy brings an impressive track record of leadership & success building bio-based and bioenergy industries in the U.S. A founding Board Member
Amy McCrae Kessler, Esq. is Co-Founder, Founding Director & Policy Chair of the U.S. Biochar Coalition, President and Co-Founder of FACET POWER, Managing Director and Co-Founder of QUINTESSENTIAL.
Amy brings an impressive track record of leadership & success building bio-based and bioenergy industries in the U.S. A founding Board Member of the American Biogas Council, she served as Director for 10 years leading growth of the organization from 20 companies to 400 members.
An environmental lawyer, entrepreneur, & policy expert, Amy developed and chaired the Council's Policy Program for 12 years, building it from the ground up and working together with Maureen Walsh to win hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives for the biogas industry and stimulate tens of billions of dollars of economic value creation.
Amy also led a four year, complex stakeholder initiative to develop the Council's Digestate Standard and Certification program.
She is passionate about leveraging her skill set & strategic vision to grow biochar into the billion dollar industry it should, can, and working together, will be.
Sebastian Manhart
Amy McCrae Kessler, Esq.
Amy McCrae Kessler, Esq.
Sebastian Manhart is Co-Founder and Founding Director of the U.S. Biochar Coalition and Senior Policy Advisor at Carbonfuture, a leading global high quality carbon removal credit platform.
Sebastian is an economist, entrepreneur and brings a wealth of global policy, biochar, and CDR market expertise to the Coalition having served as an Ad
Sebastian Manhart is Co-Founder and Founding Director of the U.S. Biochar Coalition and Senior Policy Advisor at Carbonfuture, a leading global high quality carbon removal credit platform.
Sebastian is an economist, entrepreneur and brings a wealth of global policy, biochar, and CDR market expertise to the Coalition having served as an Advisor to German President Angela Merkel, an Advisor at the World Bank, and tech entrepreneur. Sebastian leads policy at the European Biochar Industry Consortium is also the Founder of the German Carbon Removal Trade Association.
Lauren Breynaert
Amy McCrae Kessler, Esq.
Lauren Breynaert
Lauren Breynaert is Co-Founder and Founding Director of the U.S. Biochar Coalition and Public Affairs Director at Myno Carbon, an industrial-scale biochar carbon removal project development company.
Lauren brings years of invaluable experience building, uniting, and leading coalitions of diverse stakeholders, helping them find common grou
Lauren Breynaert is Co-Founder and Founding Director of the U.S. Biochar Coalition and Public Affairs Director at Myno Carbon, an industrial-scale biochar carbon removal project development company.
Lauren brings years of invaluable experience building, uniting, and leading coalitions of diverse stakeholders, helping them find common ground and build long term cooperative structures to achieve climate goals..
Mayo Ryan, AFM
Mayo Ryan, AFM
Lauren Breynaert
Mayo Ryan, AFM, is Co-Founder & CEO of Sitos Group,
Mayo is a regenerative agriculture, biochar & CDR expert & entrepreneur who brings extraordinary leadership experience, agribusiness expertise & strategic vision to the USBC Board of Directors.
Prior to co-founding The Sitos Group, Mayo served as General Manager of North State Hulling C
Mayo Ryan, AFM, is Co-Founder & CEO of Sitos Group,
Mayo is a regenerative agriculture, biochar & CDR expert & entrepreneur who brings extraordinary leadership experience, agribusiness expertise & strategic vision to the USBC Board of Directors.
Prior to co-founding The Sitos Group, Mayo served as General Manager of North State Hulling Cooperative, where he led construction of a $30M almond hulling facility.
Former Manager of Water Resources for Wonderful Orchards & General Manager of California Olive Ranch, Mayo is passionate about the essential role biochar has to play in safeguarding food security, supporting farmer resilience & building climate smart communities.
Mayo holds a BS in Political Science, an MBA in Agribusiness, is a California Ag Leadership graduate, and holds accreditation in farm management.
Karl Strahl
Mayo Ryan, AFM
Karl Strahl
Karl Strahl is Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Oregon Biochar Solutions,
Karl is an industrial scale biochar production, quality, & application expert with vast knowledge of biochar characterization and performance metrics for agriculture, drought resilience, soil & water remediation, among other uses.
Karl brings invaluable bioch
Karl Strahl is Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Oregon Biochar Solutions,
Karl is an industrial scale biochar production, quality, & application expert with vast knowledge of biochar characterization and performance metrics for agriculture, drought resilience, soil & water remediation, among other uses.
Karl brings invaluable biochar field performance knowledge & a track record of success in high volume, high quality biochar marketing and sales that is unique in the industry.
Government Relations & Management Team
Maureen Walsh
Maureen Walsh
Maureen Walsh
Maureen Walsh is Policy Director at the U.S. Biochar Coalition and Co-Founder & Partner at SMART Policy Group.
Maureen brings over two decades of legislative, regulatory, and government relations expertise. Her creative, proactive approach to advocacy has generated many critical wins for emerging climate tech industries, including biogas,
Maureen Walsh is Policy Director at the U.S. Biochar Coalition and Co-Founder & Partner at SMART Policy Group.
Maureen brings over two decades of legislative, regulatory, and government relations expertise. Her creative, proactive approach to advocacy has generated many critical wins for emerging climate tech industries, including biogas, compost, and advanced recycling.
Maureen has served as lobbyist for the American Biogas Council for the last 12 years, successfully navigating regulatory hurdles, raising the profile of biogas, and obtaining hundreds of millions of dollars of incentives for the industry. Her record of achievement growing nascent climate tech industries in the U.S. through policy and industry organization is second to none.
Carrie Annand
Maureen Walsh
Maureen Walsh
Carrie Annand is Policy Director at the U.S. Biochar Coalition and Co-Founder and Partner at SMART Policy Group.
Carrie is a biomass policy subject matter expert, with unparalleled legislative, regulatory, and industry knowledge and extensive government & private sector relationships.
She has served as lobbyist for the Biomass Power Assoc
Carrie Annand is Policy Director at the U.S. Biochar Coalition and Co-Founder and Partner at SMART Policy Group.
Carrie is a biomass policy subject matter expert, with unparalleled legislative, regulatory, and industry knowledge and extensive government & private sector relationships.
She has served as lobbyist for the Biomass Power Association for the last 9 years and has built, run, and achieved tremendous success for numerous industry coalitions and associations including the Renewable Fuel Standard Coalition, the Baseload Power Coalition, and the Circular Economy Coalition, among others.
Gaurav Parikh
Maureen Walsh
Gaurav Parikh
Gaurav Parikh is Policy and Association Management Director at the U.S. Biochar Coalition and Co-Founder and Partner at SMART Policy Group.
Gaurav brings extensive experience and expertise in government relations, crisis management, budget and organization management, grassroots initiatives, communications, and coalition building.
A certi
Gaurav Parikh is Policy and Association Management Director at the U.S. Biochar Coalition and Co-Founder and Partner at SMART Policy Group.
Gaurav brings extensive experience and expertise in government relations, crisis management, budget and organization management, grassroots initiatives, communications, and coalition building.
A certified Industry Association Executive, Gaurav managed the National Restaurant Association and the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions as well as led state and federal lobbying, most recently serving as lobbyist for the American Biogas Council.
Sean Trambley
Maureen Walsh
Gaurav Parikh
Sean Trambley is Policy & Communications Director at the U.S. Biochar Coalition and a Senior Director at SMART Policy Group.
Sean brings a decade of expertise in strategic communications, public affairs, media relations, and crisis management across the private and public sectors.
Sean has cultivated strong relationships with reporters, p
Sean Trambley is Policy & Communications Director at the U.S. Biochar Coalition and a Senior Director at SMART Policy Group.
Sean brings a decade of expertise in strategic communications, public affairs, media relations, and crisis management across the private and public sectors.
Sean has cultivated strong relationships with reporters, producers, and columnists in markets from coast to coast focused on a variety of issues including government, housing, environment, energy, telecom, and campaigns.
Jessica Niekrasz
Jessica Niekrasz
Jessica Niekrasz
Jessica Niekrasz is Policy & Communications Director at the U.S. Biochar Coalition and Vice President at SMART Policy Group.
Jessica brings a track record of successful leadership, strategic communication, industry collaboration, entrepreneurship, and advocacy in the bioenergy sector.
Prior to joining Smart Policy Group, Jessica was a
Jessica Niekrasz is Policy & Communications Director at the U.S. Biochar Coalition and Vice President at SMART Policy Group.
Jessica brings a track record of successful leadership, strategic communication, industry collaboration, entrepreneurship, and advocacy in the bioenergy sector.
Prior to joining Smart Policy Group, Jessica was a partner in and President of Clean Fuel Partners, an owner/operator of biogas systems in Wisconsin where she was appointed to the Dane County Climate Council and the Wisconsin Clean Energy Plan Stakeholder Advisory.
Jessica founded the Wisconsin Biomass Energy Coalition to advance Wisconsin’s renewable natural gas industry while driving national marketplace opportunities for members. She is Board Chair for the Wisconsin Biomass Energy Coalition and Board Member for the RENEW Wisconsin Energy Fund.
Hailey Faust
Jessica Niekrasz
Jessica Niekrasz
Hailey Faust is Community & Capacity Building Manager at the U.S. Biochar Coalition (USBC) and Manager at SMART Policy Group (SPG)..
Hailey comes to USBC & SPG with a B.A. in Government, Politics & Leadership and experience working across a range of legislative, electoral & policy sectors.
Hailey worked ln the New York State Assembly on ap
Hailey Faust is Community & Capacity Building Manager at the U.S. Biochar Coalition (USBC) and Manager at SMART Policy Group (SPG)..
Hailey comes to USBC & SPG with a B.A. in Government, Politics & Leadership and experience working across a range of legislative, electoral & policy sectors.
Hailey worked ln the New York State Assembly on appropriations & legislative initiatives to improve New York's Metro Transit Authority's public transportation efficiencies. Additionally, Hailey worked to register and turn out the vote on high stakes electoral ballot issues in Virginia & Michigan.
Hailey brings familiarity of key bioenergy regulatory and policy issues from her work at the American Biogas Council.
Deirdre Seling
Jessica Niekrasz
Deirdre Seling
Deirdre Seling is Communications & Marketing Manager at the U.S. Biochar Coalition (USBC) and Manager at SMART Policy Group (SPG).
Deirdre comes to USBC & SPG with a B.A. in Political Science, cum laude, and experience working to advance sustainable energy and environmental planning in the State of Virginia's General Assembly.
Deirdre h
Deirdre Seling is Communications & Marketing Manager at the U.S. Biochar Coalition (USBC) and Manager at SMART Policy Group (SPG).
Deirdre comes to USBC & SPG with a B.A. in Political Science, cum laude, and experience working to advance sustainable energy and environmental planning in the State of Virginia's General Assembly.
Deirdre honed her talent for effective communication of complex climate issues and legislative initiatives to geographically, politically, and socioeconomically diverse stakeholders with her work to advance protection of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, one of the most important, threatened, and politically challenging ecosystems on the East Coast of the U.S.