Working Assets Inc.'s Carbonfund Connection

by Bob Feldman

Carbonfund is made-up of professionals and dedicatees from around the environmental community, including the private sector, government and nonprofit areas. Our staff and partners share a common goal of reducing the threat of climate change and reducing our impact on the environment. Carbonfund also relies on assistance from a network of volunteers and supporters around the country, including environmentalists, marketing experts, web gurus, brothers-in-law and old college buddies (You know who you are and we could not do this without you). Our founders and staff:

Eric Carlson is a founder and president of Carbonfund.org with his wife, Lesley. Eric has an extensive background in energy efficiency and climate change, including living in Central and Eastern Europe for six years managing international programs for the Alliance to Save Energy. Eric has advised ministers of energy and environment, testified before Parliaments, brokered a $30 million debt-for-environment swap and advised the World Bank, IFC and others on multi-million dollar project investments. He created Serbia's first CDM project proposal, an $8 million district heating project. Prior to this, Eric worked at the US EPA's Energy Star programs managing voluntary industry and residential partnership programs and advising firms such as Gillette, AT&T and IBM on energy and money saving opportunities. Lesley and Eric have two beautiful young daughters and want to pass on to them a cleaner world. At a minimum, they want to be able to say they tried. He can be reached at ecarlson@carbonfund.org.

Lesley Carlson is also a founder of Carbonfund.org with her husband, Eric. Lesley's background includes several senior positions in nonprofit organizations, including serving as the director of operations and finance chief for the National Democratic Institute's Serbia office, a $2 million a year operation with 25 staff. Lesley also managed regional democracy programs for Freedomhouse in Hungary, including the effort to overthrow Slobodan Milosevic. Lesley and Eric both witnessed firsthand the environmental and human destruction caused by war, dictators and failed economic policies. Lesley is also the co-founder of another nonprofit, the Refugee Assistance Program, in Debrecen, Hungary. Prior to this, Lesley spent nine years with the State Department managing cultural, environmental and political exchange programs. In her spare time, Lesley sometimes gets very close to bears. She can be reached at lcarlson@carbonfund.org .

Craig Coulter is on a mission: grow Carbonfund to help save the planet. Returning to the United States after ten great years in Europe, he was looking for a challenge that would combine his international and entrepreneurial experience. Listening to the Carlsons' wonderful ideas for a great organization with great social impact,, and the realization that climate change is making time short, Craig jumped in with both feet. Before Carbonfund, Craig was the Managing Director of a software services firm in Budapest Hungary, and prior to that, worked on a series of government-supported reform projects, from Budapest, in Hungary, Macedonia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Bulgaria. After working with Presidents, Ambassadors, Mission Directors and CEOs, Craig has found his niche with the staff at Carbonfund, making a difference while growing a great idea. Craig lives outside of Washington DC with his wife and son, with twins (oh my!) having arrived on Christmas of '05. He can be reached at ccoulter@carbonfund.org.