CYCLYX - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Development
Mr. Cooper is the Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Development of Cyclyx. Mr. Cooper brings over 25 years of senior executive, investment banking and consulting experience working with growth companies. He has raised over $6 billion in financings and worked on over $2 billion in merger and acquisition transactions.
Before joining Cyclyx, Mr. Cooper served as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Development at Agilyx. Prior to that, he headed the Advanced Fuels, Chemicals and Materials practice at Wedbush Securities as part of its Industrial Growth Technology Group. Mr. Cooper also spent a considerable amount of time working with waste-to-value and energy efficiency companies. He began banking in New York City with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) where he worked in the Investment Banking and Merchant Banking groups. Mr. Cooper also helped grow and run investment banking groups at ABN AMRO, Seven Hills Partners, and W.R. Hambrecht + Co.
Mr. Cooper holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from Harvard University.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Audit Committee
- Chartered Accountant and Member of the Council of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors
Ms. Clarke is a chartered accountant and member of the council of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors. She qualified with PwC and spent 20 years in roles including external audit, transactions, internal audit, risk, governance, conduct and controls optimization.
Carolyn Clarke is a chartered accountant and member of the council of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors. She qualified with PwC and spent 20 years in roles including external audit, transactions, internal audit, risk, governance, conduct and controls optimization. After admission to partnership in 2008 Carolyn established PwC as the leading international firm in Mongolia. In 2015 Ms. Clarke moved to take on an in-house Head of Audit, Risk and Control role with Centrica plc, the largest utility and energy company in the UK. Carolyn founded and leads a boutique consultancy focused on assurance, risk, governance and control activities, Brave Consultancy. She chairs the board of Care International UK, a global international development and humanitarian organization and is an independent director of Starling Bank, a pioneering digital bank, where she chairs the Ethics and Sustainability Committee.
Job Titles:
- Chief Commercial Officer
- Business Leader
- Chief Commercial Officer at Agilyx
Carsten Larsen is Chief Commercial Officer at Agilyx. An experienced commercial leader, Mr. Larsen brings more than 25 years of industrial expertise, most recently having served as commercial director, Plastics Circularity EMEA & APAC for Dow Inc. In this role he was responsible for developing new business models and growth strategies that monetize the plastics waste recycling streams for EMEA and APAC, including mechanical and chemical recycling platforms. Mr. Larsen managed the development of recycling solutions that helped customers and brand-owners achieve their sustainability objectives, enabling a shift towards a more circular economy for plastics.
Mr. Larsen is an inclusive business leader who has supported and led various activities around diversity and inclusion throughout his career. After joining Dow as a trainee in 1993, Mr. Larsen worked his way through the business holding positions in account management, marketing and business development. In 2014, Mr. Larsen moved to Johannesburg to assume the role of Managing Director for Dow Southern Africa and had commercial oversight for four businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. Mr. Larsen returned to Switzerland in 2017 when he was named commercial director, EMEA & India.
Mr. Larsen holds a bachelor's degree in international business administration from Copenhagen Business School. He has served on the boards of the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa and the Chemical & Allied Industries' Association. He has also served as chair for the Epoxy Industry Association.
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Chairman of ESG Committee
An executive with 32 years of experience in the Chemical and Plastics industry, Catherine Keenan has deep experience in strategy development, government and public affairs, sustainability, crisis management, stakeholder engagement, branding and reputation management.
She served as Vice President, Public Affairs, Sustainability and Environment Health and Safety at Trinseo S.A., a global materials company from 2010 to 2020. She began her career at The Dow Chemical Company and held a series of leadership roles with responsibilities including Mergers and Acquisitions integration, industry affairs, public policy issues management, media relations and marketing communications.
She is founder of a consulting firm dedicated to serving organizations that are accelerating transformation, by building affordable, business-centric programs for sustainability and corporate responsibility that build value with customers, employees and stakeholders.
She is a graduate of Lehigh University with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism/Science Writing and a minor in Chemistry.
Dr. Faulkner brings over 15 years of technical and organizational expertise on the engineering, process, analytics and administrative fronts to deliver products and operating assets. He has held engineering, scientist and management positions in the renewable energy and chemicals industry sectors with a focus on sustainability and stewardship. Dr. Faulkner has a proven track record of commercializing innovations and successful project management. He is an inventor of novel polymer composite materials and has led the certification and commercialization of the international product launch of a 5 kWe combined heat and power fuel cell system.
Dr. Faulkner brings technical, commercialization, innovation, project management and business acumen to the advancement of the Agilyx Solutions platform of superior materials management and chemical recycling. In addition to his role at Agilyx, Dr. Faulkner sits on the board of directors of Regenyx, a joint venture chemical recycling facility between Agilyx and Americas Styrenics (AmSty). Dr. Faulkner holds a doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Vanderbilt University.
Job Titles:
- General Counsel
- General Counsel of Agilyx Corporation
Dr. Isabel Charlotte Hacker is the General Counsel of Agilyx Corporation. Dr. Hacker has over 25 years of legal expertise in business, corporate, commercial, and M&A law, covering plastics and chemicals, manufacturing and consumer goods.
Prior to joining Agilyx, Dr. Hacker served as Associate General Counsel for global materials provider Trinseo. Dr. Hacker has also held senior advisory roles at Yum! Brands and General Mills International, as well as working for leading law firms Freshfields and Clifford Chance, specializing in M&A and corporate law.
Dr. Hacker holds qualifications from Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg and The College of Law in London, in addition to a PhD in law from the University of Bonn.
Mr. Trevathan has 20 years of operational, supply chain, and marketing experience in the petrochemical industry. Mr. Trevathan joined Cyclyx from ExxonMobil Chemical, where he held management positions in manufacturing, market development, logistics, and supply chain operations. In recent positions, he managed logistics across all modes of storage and transportation in North and South America and led sales and operations planning for the global polypropylene and adhesions business. Prior to working at Exxon Mobil Corporation, Mr. Trevathan held engineering positions in manufacturing and project management at BASF Corporation.
Mr. Trevathan holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a MBA from Duke University.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Industry Executive
Jan Secher brings deep chemical industry executive experience and served as CEO of Swedish specialty chemical company Perstorp Group before recently selling it to Petronas. He also has significant public company experience, having served as the CEO of Clariant (SWX: CLN), and as a current board member of Elekta AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: EKTA B). Mr. Secher held a variety of senior executive roles at ABB including membership on its Executive Committee. He is currently a Board Director of the European Chemical Industry Council.
Mr. Secher holds a M.Sc. in Industrial Marketing, Finance from Linkoping University.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Feedstock Sourcing
Mr. Ledbetter is Vice President of Feedstock Sourcing at Cyclyx. Mr. Ledbetter has 13 years of comprehensive experience in diverse production environments, including advanced recycling, chemical manufacturing, and petrochemical production.
Prior to joining Cyclyx, Mr. Ledbetter worked as the Assistant Plant Manager of Agilyx's commercial Mixed Plastics recycling plant. He moved to manage Agilyx's Mixed Plastics plant in Tigard and worked closely with the design, construction, and implementation of the conversion of the Tigard plant to polystyrene. He then managed the polystyrene plant as Director of Plant Operations. Mr. Ledbetter was a main contributor in the development of OpEx for the next generation of the Agilyx technology and set the direction for operating processes, policies, and procedures. Mr. Ledbetter has 13 years of comprehensive experience in diverse production environments, including advanced recycling,
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Cyclyx Management Team
Mr. Vaillancourt has more than 25 years of operational, financial, and strategic experience in industrial, environmental and energy innovation and infrastructure development. Throughout his career, Mr. Vaillancourt has led in excess of USD 2 billion of debt and equity financings as well as M&A activities and has helped commercialize 15 environmental technologies working closely with large strategic companies and private equity firms in the energy and industrial sectors. Mr. Vaillancourt currently serves as the CEO and Director of Cyclyx International and has done so since its inception in January 2021. Prior to this role, Mr. Vaillancourt served as the CEO and Director of Agilyx since 15 March 2017.
Prior to Agilyx and Cyclyx, Mr. Vaillancourt spent 15 years at Waste Management where he was one of the founding members of the corporate venturing group responsible for developing new and innovative growth platforms in the environmental, sustainability, solid waste, recycling, energy and cleantech sectors. Mr. Vaillancourt has also held various roles in founding more than 10 companies in a diverse set of industries.
Mr. Vaillancourt holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Mr. Vaillancourt is an external advisory board member of the Manning School of Business at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and has held Director positions in over 15 companies.
Job Titles:
- Government
- Vice President of Communications
- Vice President of Communications and Government Affairs
Kate Ringier is the Vice President of Communications and Government Affairs. Ms. Ringier brings 20 years of strategic communications expertise, including crisis communications, media relations, branding, message creation, as well as speechwriting and change management experience. Throughout her career, she has held numerous communications roles in consumer goods, media and the chemical industry.
Prior to joining Agilyx, Ms. Ringier led a global marketing communications team at chemical manufacturer, Trinseo, where she developed both internal and external communications strategy, established business messaging and tone, oversaw media relations, public policy and trade association activities as well as initiatives in support of elevating external visibility with key stakeholders, including business media, customers, suppliers, and regulators.
Ms. Ringier oversees strategic internal and external communications strategy and leads all corporate communications and government affairs activities for Agilyx, including media relations, public relations and issues management.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Interim Chief Financial Officer
- Vice President of Finance - Business
Kevin Paine is the interim Chief Financial Officer of Cyclyx. Mr. Paine joined Cyclyx as Vice President of Finance - Business Partner following a 28-year career at Waste Management (WM).
Mr. Paine joined the Organic Growth Group, WM's corporate venturing department, in 2006. While at WM, Mr. Paine held a variety of management roles focused on waste-to-value businesses and consumer-facing businesses. Among the conversion technologies operated by the waste-to-value businesses were plastics-to-oil and municipal waste-to-fuel. Mr. Paine also managed At Your Door Special Collection, a door-to-door collection business for collection of household hazardous and hard-to-recycle materials. Most recently, Mr. Paine served as Director of Operations Analysis for WM's organics recycling business.
Prior to joining the Organic Growth Group, Mr. Paine held a variety of accounting and finance management positions at Wheelabrator Technologies Inc., then a subsidiary of WM, which operates waste-to-energy plants throughout the US.
Mr. Paine holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Maine and an M.B.A. from Temple University.
Job Titles:
- for Investor Enquiries, Please Contact
- Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Sustainability
- Vice President of Investor Relations and Sustainability at Agilyx
Louise Bryant, Vice President of Investor Relations and Sustainability at Agilyx, is responsible for the organization's investor relations strategy and sustainability initiatives.
Louise brings a wealth of investor relations experience to Agilyx, most notably serving as director of corporate affairs at Aggreko PLC, a FTSE 250 publicly traded company, where she built the investor relations program from the ground up and led the creation and development of the Group's sustainability strategy during her eight-year tenure. Previous roles also include investor relations and communications at Costain Group and Thomas Cook Group, both publicly traded companies, and equity research analyst at Citi. Louise started her career with PwC where she qualified as a chartered accountant.
Mandy Norwood has an extensive background in providing legal counsel on recycling operations and intellectual property.
Ms. Norwood joined Cyclyx from Exxon Mobil Corporation. At ExxonMobil, Ms. Norwood provided legal counsel to ExxonMobil Chemical Company, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, and ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company in matters related to its advanced recycling operations and intellectual property.
Prior to joining ExxonMobil, Ms. Norwood practiced law at the firm of Carstens & Cahoon LLP, focusing on intellectual property procurement as well as intellectual property and aviation litigation. Ms. Norwood holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Texas A&M University and a J.D. from Baylor University.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President of Engineering and Execution
Mr. Barranco is the Senior Vice President of Engineering and Execution of Agilyx. Mr. Barranco brings over 30 years of petrochemical industry experience in a variety of technical and business roles spanning basic chemical products, such as olefins and aromatics, to derivatives such as polymers and resins. In addition to his role at Agilyx, Mr. Barranco serves as General Manager of Regenyx, a joint venture chemical recycling facility between Agilyx and Americas Styrenics (AmSty).
Prior to joining Agilyx, Mr. Barranco worked for ExxonMobil Chemical Company where he progressed through numerous managerial and leadership assignments. His last role was Senior Strategy Advisor where he championed the strategic learning process across the Chemical company, drove structured decision-making processes in development of business strategies, and advised senior leaders on the effectiveness of business strategy execution. His previous role was Regional Sales Manager where he managed the Polyethylene Sales, Distribution and Sales Support organizations for the Americas Region through a period of significant growth and geographic expansion. Early career roles in Technology were followed by numerous cross-functional business leadership positions across multiple disciplines including Marketing, Sales, Planning, Financial Reporting and Supply Chain Operations, some of which involved global responsibilities.
Prior to ExxonMobil, Mr. Barranco was a Commissioned Submarine Warfare Officer in the United States Navy where he served 5 years of active duty in various Division Officer and Assistant Department Head roles on nuclear-powered submarines. Mr. Barranco holds a BS in Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and an MBA from Rutgers University.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Compensation Committee
- Executive
Martha Crawford has extensive executive experience commercializing R&D as well as expertise in both ESG and waste industry businesses. She served as an independent Director of Suez (Euronext: SEV) the world´s second largest environmental services company. She was SVP at Areva serving on its executive committee and responsible for all global R&D and Innovation activities, Director General of L´Oreal´s Research and Innovation Group, and principal administrator of the OECD´s Environmental Performance and Information Division. She was a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and currently serves as an operating partner at Macquarie Infrastructure.
Martha Crawford holds a PhD and MS in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from Harvard University.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Operations
- Senior Vice President, Digital Asset Strategy and Technical Services
Mr. Durbin is Vice President of Operations of Cyclyx. Mr. Durbin brings more than 10 years of operations management experience in the fields of Construction, Environmental Remediation, Post-use Plastics Recovery, and Chemical Recycling.
Mr. Durbin was previously the Vice President of Operations for Agilyx, where he managed the development of the supply chain and production of a commercial-scale chemical recycling facility. He was the General Manager of the only active commercial polystyrene chemical recycling facility in North America, which is a joint venture between Agilyx and Americas Styrenics. He has held managerial roles in EHS, plant operations, and overseen companywide operational strategy.
Mr. Durbin earned his B.S. in Exercise Sports Science, and master's degree in Environmental and Occupational Health from Oregon State University. He is also an active Certified Safety Professional by the BCSP.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Marketing and Programs
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Chairman of Virgin Group Holdings Limited
Mr. Norris is Chairman of Virgin Group Holdings Limited, a multinational venture capital firm with holdings in a wide range of industries. He has over 37 years of experience in investment banking and business management. Mr. Norris began his career at Barings in 1976. In 1984, he joined Goldman Sachs, before returning to Barings in 1987 to head the South East Asian advisory operations. Upon returning to London in 1994, he became CEO of Barings Investment Banking Group. Three months after his appointment, the notorious derivatives trading scandal in Singapore was revealed, which brought down the bank. In 1995, Mr. Norris established a corporate finance business, constructed around the needs of a client base of owner-entrepreneurs. In 2007, he merged this business with Quayle Munro Holdings Plc, an AIM listed company and became the CEO of the combined entity. He served in this capacity until the end of 2009, when he resigned his executive position to take the role of Chairman of the Virgin Group. He remains a senior adviser to Quayle Munro. Prior to becoming Chairman of Virgin, Mr. Norris acted as an adviser to the Group from 1996 and had chaired Virgin Active from 2002 to 2007.
Mr. Norris graduated from Oxford University with a first class degree in Modern History and Modern Languages.
Mr. Bhatia advises Saffron Hill Ventures and in 2009 led Agilyx´ first institutional investment round. Other notable ESG investments include Coyuchi, and Marrone Bio (NASDAQ: MBII) where Saffron Hill was an early investor. In addition to Agilyx, he currently serves on the Boards of Coyuchi, Faceware Technologies, and Image Metrics.
Prior to co-founding Saffron Hill Ventures, Mr. Bhatia worked as Advisor to the Chairman of Loot Ltd. where he advised on e-commerce strategy and investment and in a venture capital capacity for Lord Rothschild, evaluating technology venture opportunities. Mr. Bhatia has had a long-term interest in environmental technology and policy. After interning in the Clinton administration´s White House Office on Environmental Policy, he worked in the environment and energy consulting groups at Booz-Allen & Hamilton, and Dyncorp.
Mr. Bhatia earned an MBA from UCLA's Anderson School of Business, an MA in International Relations and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a BA in Environmental Science from Occidental College.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Membership Engagement
Ron Sherga brings over 25 years of diverse experience playing critical roles in sustainable strategy and life materials solutions and has advised on solutions regarding polymer waste.
Recently, Mr. Sherga served as the first-ever Circular Economy program director for INEOS/BP between January 2019 and April 2021. Key advisor on a sustainable strategy team for a large wealth fund with large chemical firms as part of their portfolio between June 2021 and December 2022.
In this role, he was part of the leadership team developing a large chemical recycling project for PET polymers back to basic feedstocks. His primary task was developing large-scale, sustainable raw material sources for the plants. Mr. Sherga convinced BP leaders to scale up from a small pilot project to a billion-dollar global rollout named Infinia. He was also tasked with exploring other areas within BP that were seeking guidance on Circular solutions; retail, Castrol Oil, Wind/Solar, and Carbon offset group.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Financial Officer of Agilyx
Mr. Main is Chief Financial Officer of Agilyx. Mr. Main held the role of Chief Financial Officer at Agilyx since May 2020, during which time he was central to leading activities culminating in the successful IPO in 2020. On January 1, 2021 Russ transitioned to CFO of Cyclyx, where he was instrumental in helping to build organizational capabilities and structures to ensure the success of that exciting new company. Russ transitioned back to CFO of Agilyx in August 2021 and has over 25 years of executive finance and operational experience with a track record of optimizing finance, operations, technology and profitability within highly complex global environments.
Before joining Agilyx, Russ was CFO of Abode Systems Inc., a DIY Home Security and Automation company and was instrumental in growing this startup. Prior, he worked for Tyco International for over 23 years, assuming senior financial leadership positions in their corporate group and their North and Latin America divisions.
Job Titles:
- Chief Investment Officer
- Member of the Board
Mr. Jakobsen joined Saxo Bank in 2000 and serves as Chief Investment Officer. As CIO he focuses on delivering asset allocation strategies and analysis of the overall macroeconomic and political landscape.
As head of the SaxoStrats team, Saxo Bank's in-house team of experts, he is responsible for all research including Quarterly Outlooks and was the founder of Saxo Bank's renowned Outrageous Predictions.
Prior to joining Saxo Bank, he worked with Swiss Bank Corp, Citibank, Chase Manhattan, UBS and served as Global Head of Trading, FX and Options at Christiania (now Nordea).
Jakobsen's approach to trading and investing is thought-provoking and not afraid to counter consensus. This frequently sparks debate among the global market community.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Human Resources
With over 20 years of diverse HR Leadership and hands-on HR operations experience, Stephen possesses a strong background in developing and leading human resources in manufacturing, technology, and many other industries.
Most recently Stephen led the Human Resources team for NeuroLogica/Samsung Medicine and helped the company through their rapid growth and operational development over the past three years. Prior to NeuroLogica, Stephen was the Director of HR for Crane Currency, where he led an aggressive growth strategy to support Crane's International business development and manufacturing of high-tech, security solutions for currencies around the world.
Stephen also served as an Executive Coach for HR-ROI, a consulting firm in Portsmouth, NH and led the HR function for four years at BE Aerospace where he managed the post-acquisition integration of 11 businesses into the single-divisional structure.
Earlier in his career, Stephen directed the Talent Management team for Waste Management/Wheelabrator and led the HR Department for a rapidly growing staffing company in Florida.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Board of Directors
Mr. Stedman has nearly 30 years of experience in the chemical industry covering plastics, elastomers and basic chemicals, such as olefins. He has held positions in operations, sales and marketing, global supply chains, business leadership as well as strategy and corporate development.
Prior to joining Agilyx, Mr. Stedman was the senior vice president, strategy and corporate development for Trinseo where he was responsible for leading Trinseo's mergers and acquisition strategy development. Previously, he served as senior vice president for the plastics and feedstocks businesses and global supply chain for Trinseo. In this role, he was responsible for business leadership for performance plastics, polystyrene, and styrene monomer. He also served on the board of Americas Styrenics, a joint venture between Trinseo and CP Chem. Before his time at Trinseo, Mr. Stedman spent over 20 years at ExxonMobil. His last role was as the business director for ExxonMobil Chemical's basic chemical business (USD 8 billion revenue) and prior to that he was the site manager for the Fife Ethylene Plant.
Mr. Stedman holds a Bachelor of Engineering in chemical engineering with French from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, U.K., and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques, Nancy, France. He is also a chartered engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers (U.K.). Mr. Stedman previously served on the boards of Petrochemicals Europe and the European Petrochemical Association and was also a member of the energy and climate change leadership group of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA). Mr. Stedman previously represented Trinseo on the operating committee of the plastics division of the American Chemistry Council and as a vice president of the Steering Board of PlasticsEurope.