CALSTART on Oct. 1, announced two leading executives have joined the clean transportation nonprofit: Pasquale Romano, President and CEO at ChargePoint, and Frank De Rosa, Principal – Advanced Solutions at SunEdison. Romano leads ChargePoint, which operates the world’s largest and most open electric vehicle charging network, and develops the technology that powers it. De Rosa oversees vehicle grid integration at SunEdison, as part of the company’s advanced solutions storage and firming initiative. SunEdison is the largest global renewable energy development company, operating in 22 different countries.
Michael Britt, Director of Maintenance & Engineering International Operations, Ground Fleet, at UPS, and CALSTART’s newly-elected Board Chair, said, “These two industry leaders will help CALSTART plan and develop the electric vehicle – grid – solar power value proposition. The opportunity in this space is significant and we are fortunate to have Pasquale and Frank join our board at this time.”
Before leading ChargePoint, Romano co-founded 2Wire which was acquired by Pace plc for $475M in 2010. Previously, Romano held multiple positions in marketing and engineering at Polycom. In 1989, he co-founded Fluent, Inc., a digital video networking company and served as Chief Architect until it was sold
to Novell Corporation in 1993. Romano holds an undergraduate degree in computer science from Harvard University and received his M.S. from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
De Rosa is a seasoned energy executive with broad national and international experience in the power generation, electric utility, power markets, and renewable energy industry. He founded, ran, and sold the largest independent solar energy development company in North America, NextLight Renewable Power. De Rosa’s unique experience includes both the buy and sell sides of power generation with electric utilities, independent power producers, and power marketers. He is a recognized industry expert and has testified before Congress and state authorities on energy markets, facilities siting, and electricity regulation. De Rosa holds two Bachelors of Arts Degrees from Boston University, and Harvard Kennedy School of Government Master's in Public Policy.
Board Officers Elected
Michael Britt was recently elected board chair, replacing George Survant, Sr., fleet director for Time Warner Cable, who served in that position for more than two years. Another new officer, Chris Stoddart, of New Flyer Industries, replaces Puon Penn of Wells Fargo.
“George Survant and Puon Penn, as chair and vice chair, did a great job of leading CALSTART over the past two plus years. They provided important strategic and financial counsel that has resulted in the organization being in a much stronger position,” said CALSTART President and CEO, John Boesel.
