Management Team
In addition to the executive team at ADEC Group, FirstCarbon Solutions is comprised of experts in environmental, sustainability, and energy management who collaborate with clients to develop the solutions that drive the highest return on investment.
Shawn McGowan
General Manager, North America
Shawn is a housing and real-estate expert specializing in appraisals, valuations, and related consultative services for nearly 30 years. Prior positions include CEO of Valocity and chief strategic officer for First American Appraisal Services. His deep insights into complex issues surrounding housing, finance, regulatory oversight, and second mortgages qualify him to address the emerging green-real-estate market. For the past six years, Shawn has served on the board of trustees for The Appraisal Foundation.
Charles Hansard
Director Business Development, Europe
Charles has 15 years in the environmental sector. With a degree from Cranfield University in Bedford, UK, Charles worked for Veolia Environmental Services running four waste incinerators where he pioneered the UK's first Waste Incinerator Ash Recycling plant taking in 120,000 tons of ash, removing all ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and converting the remaining ash into aggregate for roads. In addition, Charles worked for Hanson Recycled Aggregates.
Before joining FirstCarbon Solutions, Charles was the Director at Biofriendly Europe, a company specializing in combustion catalysts to improve efficiency in large generating engines, ship engines, and coal fired power stations.
Justin Holt
General Manager, Australia
Justin has been in the data imaging and sourcing business for 12 years. He specializes in selling and implementing carbon management sourcing projects involving forms processing, data imaging, data capture, network sourcing, and data integration. Prior to joining the corporate ranks, Justin was a designer and integrator for public-aquarium exhibits and zoos.
Michele Hincks
Chief Marketing Officer
Michele brings over 20 years marketing experience to the role of Chief Marketing Officer. With a proven track record helping companies grow revenue, Michele leads the collective, global marketing efforts for the ADEC Group of companies, including FirstCarbon Solutions. Michele brings extensive experience in many industries and areas including consumer marketing, enterprise software, and software as a service and has served in a variety of executive and marketing positions at AT&T, Lucent, ChemConnect, Enviance, and NTN Buzztime.
Michele holds a B.A. in Computer Science, graduating Cum Laude with a certification in Science Management from Rutgers University, and an M. B. A. in Marketing from Rutgers Graduate School of Management.
Chris Easter
Vice President, Professional Services Group
Chris is an environmental scientist with 20 years of experience in carbon management, air quality, green building, and multi-media environmental consulting. He advises clients on carbon planning, mitigation projects and programs. He also completes GHG inventories, footprints, and third-party verifications. In addition, he helps clients develop regulatory-compliance plans and proactive approaches to public policy issues. Chris's previous employers include Tetra Tech, McLaren-Hart Corp., Ralph M. Parsons Corp., and Chemical Data Management Systems.
Chet Chaffee
Vice President, Life Cycle Assessment
As an executive vice president at Scientific Certification Systems, Chet Chaffee directed over 200 life cycle and sustainability initiatives for General Motors, Home Depot, Unilever, and more. He also helped found Boustead Consulting & Associates, a subsidiary of Boustead Consulting, one of Europe's best-known life cycle firms. With over 50 technical papers to his credit, Chet has provided expert testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Federal Trade Commission.
Nasir Sheikh
Vice President, Product Strategy
Nasir has 25 years experience in building global communications and IT businesses with a focus on product strategy, sales, and marketing. He has served in business leadership roles at Atlas Telecom, UshaComm, CenterSpan Communications, and ACD Systems. Prior to that Nasir had technology management and operational roles at AT&T, NorTel, Philips Electronics, and Schlumberger. In the last six years he has been engaged in management consulting in next-generation renewal energy and healthcare technologies. He is also pursuing his Ph.D. in Engineering and Technology Management at Portland State University in the area of innovation, commercialization, and technology assessment.
Matthew Squires
Regional Sales Director, Asia
Matthew A. Squires brings 25 years of expertise in business development and management of Asian and Asian-based companies. His broad understanding of the Asian market dates back to his work as operational outsourcing manager at Dun & Bradstreet International. After that, he served as Southeast Asia Regional Manager for Cheltec International. He also held several positions at Unisys Corporation such as country manager, general manager, financial market sector director, and program director. As CEO of Pacific Healthcare, he successfully modernized and restructured the company, which resulted in the reversal of its losses. He also co-founded Alliance Optics Group in 2009.
