Co-Founder, CFO and COO
Prior to co-founding Green Alpha Advisors, Jeremy was CFO of Forward Management, LLC, investment advisor to the Forward Funds and Sierra Club Mutual Funds, where he was responsible for all areas related to finance, operations, and human resources. Jeremy was also a co-portfolio manager on the Sierra Club Stock Fund with Garvin Jabusch. In addition, Jeremy was the CFO of ReFlow Management Co., LLC, an innovative liquidity management tool for the mutual fund industry. He was responsible for all financial matters for more than 15 related business entities and affiliates. From 2004 to 2005, Jeremy also served as Treasurer of the Forward Funds and Sierra Club Funds. His tenure at Forward and ReFlow provided invaluable experience related to new venture creation and the opportunities and challenges associated with start-up ventures in the investment industry. Prior to joining Forward and ReFlow, Jeremy served as Regional Marketing Assistant within the Investment Consulting Services Group (Separately Managed Accounts) at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.
Jeremy’s undergraduate studies at Saint Mary’s College of California resulted in a B.S. in Business Administration, Honors Concentration in Financial Services and a Minor in Accounting. Jeremy returned to Saint Mary’s College several years later to pursue his MBA in Finance. Jeremy is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Garvin F. Jabusch
Co-Founder and CIO
Before founding Green Alpha Advisors with Maria Potapov and Jeremy Deems, Garvin was the Director of Forward Sustainable Investments, a business unit of Forward Management, LLC. There his duties included supervision of and responsibility for all aspects of the management of the Sierra Club Stock Fund and the Sierra Club Equity-Income Fund. This included overseeing portfolio managers, manger performance evaluation, research, marketing, sales, operations and relationship management. In addition, Garvin also directly co-managed the Sierra Club Stock Fund (SCFSX). Garvin previously served as Vice President, Strategic Services at Morgan Stanley. Strategic projects completed there by Garvin include integration of European acquisitions, establishing the European call center, and the sale of Morgan Stanley Online to the Bank of Montreal’s Harris Direct unit. His other experience includes trading, mutual fund sales and research and analysis. Garvin holds an MBA in international management and finance from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird).
Prior to his entry into the business world, Garvin studied at the Ph.D. program in physical anthropology and archaeology for five years at the University of Utah. During the course of this work, Garvin wrote and contributed to many Environmental Impact Studies. Garvin’s thesis work in physical anthropology involved human adaptation to varying levels of ultra-violet exposure from sunlight. The study of ozone depletion was critical to this effort. Garvin published several papers on this topic, notably in the Canadian science review journal The Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary Chacmool proceedings. Garvin did other work in paleopathology and human osteology, and was a member of Sigma Chi, the national scientific research honor society. Garvin’s other activities and experience includes work as a white-water guide in Utah and Arizona, work as an EMT, swiftwater rescue certification, French language proficiency and travel.
Maria N. Potapov, CFA
Co-Founder
Prior to co-founding Green Alpha Advisors, LLC, Maria was a Director of Research at Forward Progressive Investments division of Forward Management LLC, where she contributed to the launch of Sierra Club Mutual Funds, oversaw quantitative and qualitative research for environmentally screened portfolios and served on the Investment Management Committee. Previously, Maria was a chief executive at an enterprise software company she co-founded where her responsibilities included monetization of intellectual property, corporate finance and strategic development. During her tenure Maria also headed an angel investor club where her duties included identifying investment opportunities, overseeing due diligence and serving in an advisory role to select portfolio companies. Her consulting experience includes project-based work as a quantitative analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Maria began her career in 1996 as an analyst at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a London-based investment bank specializing in emerging markets of Eastern Europe, where she focused on structural market reform of transition economies.
Maria has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, holds an MBA in risk management from Imperial College of Science and Technology at the University of London, and a BA in economics from Boston University where she was a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the international economics honor society. She served on the Board of Directors of the CFA Society of San Francisco and the Financial Women’s Association.