Team and expertise
Helena Athoussaki, Director and CEO
Helena brings many years of entrepreneurial experience in the environmental business. After ten years within telecommunications working on research and strategy for large corporations including BT and Cable and Wireless, Helena founded and co-founded several innovative companies. She has extensive knowledge in establishing, creating and driving new business enterprises from inception to growth. As a strategic investor or advisor Helena has wide experience in many sectors, inter-alia Carbon Emissions, Forestry, Clean Energy, Shipping, Technology and Communications. Helena holds executive degrees from the London Business School in Finance and Accounting, Hedge Funds, Mergers & Acquisitions and in Private Equity from the said Business School in Oxford. Helena also gained an MBA from ALBA as well as an MA from the University of Middlesex in London where she published a paper on virtual reality (VR). Helena is also a founder director of International Forest Carbon Association (IFCA).
Yannis Pelekanakis, Business Affairs Manager
Yannis has served for 5 years as an accredited policy advisor to a Member of the European Parliament at the Committee of Maritime Affairs and the Environment Committee. As part of his responsibilities, he participated in the drafting and/or amending several European regulations. He was also in charge of setting up communication networks with European, national, private and public organizations, lobbies, stakeholders and the media. Before joining Carbon Positive he worked as an external policy advisor to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). He is a graduate of International and European Studies and he holds an MA in Communication Policy Studies from City University in London.
George Kyriazis, Technical Manager
George is a Naval Architect with considerable experience in newbuilding constructions. He has worked with South Korean and Chinese shipyards, supervising the construction of tanker and bulk carrier vessels mainly on behalf of Greek ship-owning interests. He also has good knowledge of general technical management and has acquired specific experience carrying out technical surveys and working as UTM operator on board vessels. He has interacted in an international setting having worked in different locations, from Europe and the Balkans to Asia, Africa, South America and the UAE. Before joining Carbon Positive, he worked as technical superintendent for a Greek ship management company.
Dimitris Papaioannou, Expert Consultant
Dimitris is a Chemical Environmental Engineer with more than 25 years experience in environmental management and consultancy, having created and implemented more than 200 projects in the fields of environmental impact assessment, environmental policy and planning, pollution abatement, wastes recycling, renewable energy as photovoltaics, biofuels, composting etc. He served as environmental officer in the industrial areas state network of Greece, as environment consultant to the greek ministries of Industry, Agriculture and Maritime Affairs and to numerous Local Authorities and private firms of the country. In the society, he was founder and active member of several environmental NGO's, among others of the Greek Federation of Ecologists and Alternatives, the Greek section of the Friends of the Earth, furthermore, editor of the New Ecology, a Greek environment review and author of numerous environmental articles and papers in Greece. His present position is professor of Environmental Policy and Management in the Panteion University of Athens, from the position of which he is managing several research projects on environmental policy and climate change.
Antonis Iordanidis, Expert Consultant
Naval Architect & Marine Engineer (National Technical University of Athens), Commander (Retd) with the Hellenic Coast Guard (H.C.G). General Manager of Alpha Marine Services Ltd and Head of the Marine Department with significant experience in the establishment and implementation of Management Systems, as well as in surveys on behalf of Oil Majors, Insurance Companies, P&I clubs, Banks, etc. Consultant to the E.U. on shipping issues. IRCA Lead Auditor to Greek Accreditation Committee and to Turkish Accreditation Committee. Consultant to the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS) and Greek Flag representative in IMO.
Alpha Marine Services Ltd, Technical Consultants
Alpha Marine Services Ltd specializes in ship design, marine engineering and consulting for over 26 years and is one of the largest marine technical bureaus in Greece. The firm has developed specialized know-how, gained significant experience with various types of vessels and currently extends its activities to cover most of the fields of marine consulting services, from feasibility studies to the engineering package of a complete vessel. Project management, master planning, building procedures, procurement, coordination and supervision are also included amongst the services provided to its clients.
The technical staff of Alpha Marine Services Ltd. comprises Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, while several other marine surveyors, specialists and experts are also employed. Furthermore, close ties are maintained with the academic community. The firm also maintains a network of associates, naval architects and ship surveyors, at major Greek ports and several other ports worldwide.
Scott Deatherage, Environmental Legal Advisor
Scott has practiced in the areas of energy and environmental law for over 20 years. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1987 cum laude. Scott advises clients on climate change regulation and legal and business issues surrounding carbon credit project development and carbon credit trading, as well as projects such as biofuels, biomass energy, renewable energy, waste to energy, and energy efficiency.
He also advises companies on developing strategies for surviving and prospering in a carbon-constrained world, including strategies for responding to impending greenhouse gas regulations. He assists clients in the areas of greenhouse gas reporting, such as voluntary programs such as the Carbon Disclosure Project, and mandatory disclosure of environmental and climate change risks under securities laws and accounting standards. For two years he served as the Chair of the American Bar Association's Environmental Disclosure Committee.
He recently published a book entitled Carbon Trading Law and Practice by Oxford University Press.
Scott has been selected as one of the Best Lawyers in Dallas for Environmental Law in 2007 to the present and the Best Environmental Lawyer in Dallas for 2009, one of the Best Lawyers in America in Environmental Law for 2006 to the present, a Texas Superlawer in Environmental Law for 2008 to the present, and one of America's Leading Lawyers for Business in Environmental Law by Chambers USA from 2004 to the present.
