Jeffrey Harris is the founder of Global Reserve Group, an investment and advisory firm focused on the energy industry. Additionally, he is a Venture Partner of Quantum Energy Partners, an energy-focused private equity firm, and serves on Quantum’s Investment Committee.

Prior to founding the Global Reserve Group in 2011, Mr. Harris had been at Warburg Pincus since 1983 where he was a senior partner at the firm and the Head of its Energy Group. While at Warburg Pincus, he was directly involved in advising over 30 companies around the world and overseeing over $4 billion of equity investment. He has significant experience investing in and working with companies in exploration and production, oilfield services, power generation, software and cleantech.

He currently serves and has served on the Board of Directors of over 50 private and public companies including Antero Resources, Avaya, Bill Barrett Corp., Kosmos Energy, Laredo Petroleum, Newfield Exploration, RigUp, Rockcliff Energy, Serica Energy and Sheridan Production.

Between 2005 and 2017, Mr. Harris was an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business where he taught courses on venture capital, innovation and entrepreneurship. He received a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Ferris Hussein is a Managing Director at the Carlyle Group focused on global infrastructure and energy opportunities. He is based in Washington.

Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Hussein served as a Vice President of ExxonMobil where he oversaw acquisition strategy. Prior to ExxonMobil, Mr. Hussein served as an attorney for the Republic of Iraq and, prior to that, for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mr. Hussein currently serves on the Board of Directors of SEACOR Marine Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SMHI). He received an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Robert Israel currently serves as a managing member of One Stone Energy Partners private equity fund. The fund is focused on investments in natural resources, primarily oil and gas, and related businesses.

Previously, Mr. Israel was a Partner at Compass Advisers, a transatlantic strategic advisory and private investment firm. During his time at Compass, Mr. Israel was the Head of the firm’s energy practice. He has been involved in a wide range of energy related engagements, principal investments and corporate finance, including exclusive advisory to Lukoil on the formation of its strategic relationship with ConocoPhillips.

Prior to joining Compass in May 2000, Mr. Israel was the Head of the Energy Department of Schroder & Co. Inc., where he advised companies in all segments of the energy industry. Notable assignments include Conoco Inc. management on its separation from Dupont Inc., which resulted in the largest IPO, to that date, in U.S. history.

Mr. Israel has been directly involved in several energy related investments including Venture Production Company, Brasoil Do Brasil, Hart Energy, Canyon Offshore Company and Suelopetrol C.A.

Currently, Mr. Israel is a Director of BlueCrest Energy, an Alaska based oil and gas company; Yoho Resources Inc., a Canadian exploration and production company; and API, Inc. a company which manufactures secure equipment for U.S. and foreign government agencies.

Mr. Israel holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Middlebury College. He served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Latin America and West Africa.

Michael Kearns is a Professor and National Center Chair in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, with secondary appointments in the departments of Economics, Statistics, and Operations, Information and Decisions of the Wharton School. He is the Founding Director of Penn’s Warren Center for Network and Data Sciences, as well as the Penn Program in Networked and Social Systems Engineering. His research includes topics in machine learning, algorithmic game theory, computational social science, and quantitative finance and algorithmic trading.

Mr. Kearns spent a decade at AT&T Bell Labs, where he was the Head of the AI department, which conducted a range of systems and foundational AI and machine learning research. He has also consulted extensively in the technology and finance industries.

Mr. Kearns studied math and computer science at UC Berkeley, and completed his Ph.D. in computer science at Harvard University in 1989. He is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Association for Computing Machinery, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and the Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory.

Stephan Farber is the founder and CEO of Sound Post Capital, LLC, a multi-family office with a focus on energy, real estate and media.

Previously, Mr. Farber was a Director at Deutsche Bank. He also held similar roles at BAML and UBS. Prior to his career in banking, he worked for many years in the entertainment industry. He has worked with companies such as Columbia Records and Sony Classical and with artists David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, and Philip Glass.

Stephan received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Oberlin College, where he serves on the President’s Advisory Council.

An avid supporter of the arts, Stephan serves on the boards of Arco Collaborative (established by internationally renowned violinist Jennifer Koh) and Ojai Music Festival. In his free time, Stephan enjoys collecting and playing pre-war Gibson mandolins.

Alexandre Nogueira heads the international investment efforts of the J. Mendes Investment Office, a single family office based in Brazil. His experience includes over a decade of private equity investing, having executed deals in Europe, Latin America and the United States.

Prior to J. Mendes, Mr. Nogueira worked in Business Development at TRX Investments, where he structured acquisition and development projects in real estate. Prior to TRX, Mr. Nogueira worked in the Portfolio Management Group at Goldman Sachs, where he managed discretionary investment funds for private clients.

Mr. Nogueira received a degree in Industrial Engineering with honors from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil, a Master in Finance with high honors from HEC Paris, an M.A. in International Studies from the Lauder Institute, University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Over the past 30 years, Mr. Zilkha has been involved in strategic advisory, leveraged buyouts, restructurings, recapitalizations and reorganizations both as a principal and a third-party adviser. He began his career in 1973 with J.P. Morgan where he gained expertise in structuring tax incentivized investments, restructuring bank credits and M&A advisory. In 1981, Mr. Zilkha joined James D. Wolfensohn, one of the first investment banking boutiques, where he served as a senior member of the firm’s M&A advisory team, and as a General Partner of Wolfensohn Venture Partners.

In 1986, Mr. Zilkha established Zilkha & Company, an investment banking boutique specialized in delivering M&A expertise and strategic guidance to large multinational companies. Through 1994, Zilkha & Company originated or participated in transactions valued at over $3.5 billion. In 1994, the company entered the private equity/venture capital business, focusing on seed capital and restructuring opportunities. In 1998, Mr. Zilkha established Zilkha Capital Partners private equity fund, and in 1999, Mr. Zilkha established and raised funding for Zilkha Venture Partners, which focused on seed stage companies. In 2006, Mr. Zilkha founded Zilkha Partners. The firm pursues a constructive activist approach to the implementation of value-creating strategies for small-cap public companies.

Mr. Zilkha received a B.A. with honors from Wesleyan University and serves as a Trustee Emeritus of Wesleyan University. He has served on the Board of Directors of Electronic Retail Systems and was the Chairman of Colt’s Manufacturing Company.