GENI Personnel

GENI International Board of Directors

GENI Personnel

Mr. Peter Meisen (B.S.)
President and Director

Mr. Meisen is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego (1976) with an Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences degree. Meisen founded GENI in 1989, to conduct research and educate world leaders to the strategy of linking renewable energy resources around the world. He is an internationally recognized speaker on the global issues of renewable energy, transmission and distribution of electricity, quality of life and its relationship to electricity, the environment and sustainable development. (Click here for information about GENI Speakers.)

Peter is a member of the following professional associations: IEEE Power Engineering Society, World Affairs Council of San Diego, Union of Concerned Scientists, United Nations Association, and is an Honorary member of the Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary Club. In 1983, he co-founded S.H.A.R.E. (Self Help and Resource Exchange), North America's largest private food distribution program.

Photos by Monika Lozinska-Lee

Mr. Paul-Michael Dekker (B.A.Sc.)
Research, Information Technology Director

Mr. Dekker received a degree in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), in 1980. He joined the GENI organization in September of 1993 and is IT Director. He speaks locally about the GENI Initiative and writes occasionally on specific technical projects (GENI WMS Server, The GENI Model). He worked for nine years with UNISYS (Winnipeg, Manitoba), and one year with the Board of Education of the City of York (Toronto, Ontario). He is a principal of Green Star Standard, a Life Cycle Assessment consultantcy. Locally, he serves as on the Baord for the Sustainability Alliance of Southern California, where he advocates for sustainable community policies. He actively participates on the Energy and Water Committee and Green Products Committee of the San Diego Regional Sustainability Partnership. He is a former member of the IEEE and the San Diego Chapter of the Institute of Management Consultants.

Patricia Stevens (M.Sc.)
Chief of Operations

Inspired by serving in the Peace Corps in Nigeria, Ms. Stevens subsequently received an MSc in Food Technology from the University of Washington in 1971 and worked for several years in the non-profit arena on international food development projects. She spent 15 years in the personal growth and performance field as a center manager and seminar leader for Werner Erhard and Associates and later as Vice President of Operations for a startup company, Motivating the Teen Spirit. Ms. Stevens was the Executive Director of GENI in 1995 and 1996. She rejoined GENI in 2006 as an independent contractor in research, editing, organization, web assistance, and intern/volunteer coordination. Her main hobby is photography (http://psc.jalbum.net/).

Mark Henshaw (B.A.)
Project Developer

Mark Henshaw is currently serving as a Project Developer for GENI. While with GENI, he has helped to manage the campaign to create the World Resources Simulation Center. Additionally, Mark has coordinated a marketing campaign for the GENI/KLD Global Climate 100 Securities Index. He has recently (Oct. 2009) founded a start-up company for Eco Investing: www.ecoinvestorguide.com.

Prior to his work with GENI, Mark worked in Investor Relations for Sequenom, Inc. He has also worked for Merrill Lynch and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Mark holds degrees in Economics, with a focus on environmental economics, and Political Science, both from the University of California, San Diego.

Alice Lee (M.B.A.)
Marketing Associate, Webmaster Assistant

Alice Lee received her M.B.A. from San Jose State in 2008. She joined the GENI organization in November of 2008 and started to work on Internet marketing, event promotion, and web content development. She set up GENI channels on several social networking sites and manages a variety of accounts. She also helps with GENI's official website by updating the library articles and RSS feed to assure growth of web traffic.

Prior to her work with GENI, Alice had several years of media and advertising experience in Taiwan. She worked for VOGUE.com and launched several online campaigns.

Anne B. Tolch (B.A.)
Development Director

Ms. Anne B. Tolch received her Bachelor's Degree in Plant Biology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1996. She is currently working with the GENI to provide Resource Development for the World Resources Simulation Center (WRSC).

On a local level, she serves as the Director of Communications for the Sustainability Alliance of Southern California. In this role, she advocates for sustainable policies and practices with special focus on renewable energy and water conservation. Prior to this, Anne served on the Bishop's staff for the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, where she worked on a wide range of humanitarian and sociological issues. She also supports the Zero Waste initiative to ensure that disposed materials are properly recycled and composted to reduce greenhouse gases, especially methane.

GENI International Board of Directors

Dr. Graeme M. Edwards (M.B., B.S., B.M.Sc.)
Director

In 1991, Dr. Edwards founded an Australian-based firm, Streamline International Pty. Ltd., consulting in the areas of strategic planning, organization design and human resource management. A graduate of the University of Queensland, Australia, Dr. Edwards, trained in emergency medicine and intensive care, has been involved with executive administration since 1978. He has diverse management experience with numerous professional, educational, and volunteer organizations, both nationally and internationally. (Click here for information about GENI Speakers.)

Ms. Bobbi DePorter
Director

Ms. DePorter is president of Learning Forum, a California-based company producing programs for students, teachers, schools, and organizations in the U.S., Singapore, Hong Kong, and England. As a co-founder of Burklyn Business School and having studied with Dr. Georgi Lozanov, father of accelerated learning, Ms. DePorter offered these successful learning techniques to students in SuperCamp, starting in 1982, to help students re-learn how they learn and re-shape their lives. She is the author of Quantum Learning: Unleashing the Genius in You and Quantum Business and was president of the International Alliance for Learning.

Mr. Nyhl Henson (B.S.)
Director

Mr. Henson is a 20-year veteran of the communications industry. He was Chairman and CEO of CMT (Country Music Television), served as Nickelodeon's first general manager, and helped create MTV Networks, Inc. He is president of his own Florida-based entertainment consulting firm, Nyhl Henson Enterprises, and serves as executive producer of Branson Hills Productions, in Branson, Missouri.

Dr. Janathin Miller (Ph.D.)
Director

Dr. Miller was president and co-founder of Access Research Corporation, an engineering company, as well as a board member of its parent company, TYX Corporation. Holding a doctorate in education with a focus on systems management from Cornell University, Dr. Miller is a founding trustee and member of the Board of Directors at California State University, San Marcos. She holds teaching credentials in higher education in New York, Massachusetts, and California and serves as guest or adjunct faculty at several prestigious universities. In recent years, Access Research won achievement awards for Women in Technology and Successful California Women-Owned Business. In 1987, she received national recognition as "Entrepreneur of the Year" by Arthur Young/Venture Magazine. She enjoys membership and affiliation in numerous engineering trade associations (IEEE, NSIA, AFCEA, ASTD, and NSPI).

Mr. Michael Powers (University of Missouri - Journalism)
Director, Treasurer

Mr. Powers is VP of Sales & Marketing and co-founder of Stellar Solar LLP, the licensed provider of photovoltaic solar energy systems for The Home Depot and BP Solar in San Diego. He also helped to launch The Home Depot's national solar energy program in 2001. He is a writer and marketing professional with over 30 years experience in the field. He has been an avid supporter of GENI since 1986, when he first read Buckminster Fuller's book "Critical Path" and was inspired by the Global Energy Grid concept.

Mr. Don Robinson
Director

Mr. William A. Shopoff (M.B.A., B.S., C.C.I.M)
Director

William A. Shopoff is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Shopoff Group and Shopoff Securities, Inc. William has more than 25 years of real estate and investment experience. His expertise includes the acquisition, development, and sale of new and re-developed residential and commercial properties throughout the United States, as well as partnership structure, debt placement, venture capital, and investment underwriting. William's focus has been on opportunistic (or value added) investing with his specialty for the past 10+ years being land investments. The Shopoff Group is a private real estate investment firm offering qualified, high net-worth clients strategic investment opportunities in land, residential and commercial properties, mortgage products, and pooled funds. William is a member of Commercial Investment Real Estate (CIRE). He earned his Bachelors of Science degree in biology and an MBA in finance/accounting from The University of Texas at Austin. Contact him at www.shopoff.com or bshopoff@shopoff.com.

Ms. Joanalys B. Smith (J.D.)
Secretary

Ms. Smith graduated from the University of Virginia, majoring in organizational communication and later studied law at the University of Texas. Prior to law she was a banker on Wall Street, a marketing representative for Norton Simon, and aide to former New Jersey Governor James Florio. Ms. Smith is now a partner in her law firm, the Law Offices of Joanalys B. Smith, and is on the faculty of the University of Texas.