Houston Energy + Climate Startup Week

Andres leads the organization’s objective to advance cleaner, affordable energy and collaborate with participant companies to accelerate their commercial success. Andres joined Halliburton in 2011 and held multiple leadership roles within the company to include director of asset performance for Global Business Lines and strategic business manager for Production Enhancement. Most recently, he led the strategy and execution of the Company’s sustainability programs, as well as compliance with global environmental and chemical regulations.

Andres holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA from Rice University. Andres completed executive programs in strategy and marketing at Caltech and The University of Texas.

Bobby Tudor is the founder and CEO of Artemis Energy Partners, an Investing and Advisory platform focused on companies involved in the Global Energy Markets. Tudor is currently the Chairman of the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, which is a consortium of Houston’s leading energy companies working to shape the region’s Energy Transition Strategy.

Tudor is also a Retired Founder and CEO of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. TPH is a leading Energy Investment Bank formed in 2007 with over 100 employees in five offices in the US, Canada and UK. It is widely recognized for its industry leading position in Energy securities research and Energy investment banking advisory transactions. TPH merged with Perella Weinberg Partners in 2016.

Prior to forming TPH, Tudor was a Partner at Goldman Sachs and a leader of its worldwide Energy practice. Over his 30-plus year career in Investment Banking, he has worked on many of the defining transactions of the period, across most energy subsectors and geographies.

Tudor is on the Board of Directors of Puloli, Inc., an early-stage methane detection and measurement company, as well as New ASEAN Energy, a US based company involved in Petrochemicals business in Asia.

Tudor is the Past Chair of the Greater Houston Partnership and of the Rice University Board of Trustees. He serves on the Board of Advisors for Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, the National Petroleum Council, the Jones School of Business at Rice, the Carbon Neutral Coalition, and the National Advisory Board for the Tulane Center for Energy Law. Mr. Tudor also serves on the Board of Directors of the Houston Symphony, Good Reason Houston, and the MD Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors.

Tudor holds a BA in English and Legal Studies from Rice University, and a JD from Tulane Law School. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award for the World Oil Council and the Gold Medal for Lifetime Service to Rice University.

Tudor lives in Houston with his wife, Phoebe. They have three children, Caroline, Margaret, and Harry. The Tudors are passionate supporters of the Arts, Public Education, Social Services, and Public Parks.

Investor with an enthusiastic focus on commodities, energy, and impact/climate. Mr. Rubenstein has invested in dozens of companies directly both professionally (as a corporate strategic investor and as a venture fund manager) and on behalf of himself and his family’s alternative investment strategy. He takes a collaborative approach to investing and believes in supporting early-stage companies by sharing his knowledge and network.

As Managing Partner of New Climate Ventures, current investment focus is on carbon reduction, removal and avoidance which includes but is not limited to commodities, energy and climate technologies and related enabling technologies.

Georgina Campbell Flatter is Chief Executive Officer of Greentown Labs, the largest climatetech startup incubator in North America. She has an exceptional blend of nonprofit executive leadership, entrepreneurial experience in the climate and energy industries, and a strong technical background. Most recently, Flatter was Co-founder and Executive Director of TomorrowNow.org, a global nonprofit pioneering innovative approaches to connect next-generation weather and climate technologies with vulnerable communities on the frontlines of climate change. Prior to founding TomorrowNow.org, Flatter spent a decade at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she was a senior lecturer and led global initiatives at the intersection of technology and social impact. Flatter earned a Master of Engineering in Materials Science from the University of Oxford and an SM in Technology and Policy from MIT. 

Jeremy Pitts is the Managing Director of Activate’s Houston Community.  Activate is a non-profit organization focused on driving scientific innovation into real world impact. As Managing Director, Jeremy runs the Houston location of Activate’s 2-year fellowship program, which supports scientists as they transition into entrepreneurs and deliver their technology to the world.

Jeremy brings 20 years of experience in energy and innovation to this role. Most recently, he spent more than a decade as the CTO at a startup, where he developed technology that could eliminate wellhead methane emissions from legacy oil and gas assets. Previously, Pitts co-founded Greentown Labs in Boston and supported startups across energy domains such as solar and industrial heat. Pitts holds an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management, an M.S. in mechanical engineering from MIT, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Caltech.

As Senior VP, Energy Transition and Executive Director of the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, Jane leads the Partnership’s efforts to leverage Houston’s energy leadership to accelerate global solutions for an energy-abundant, low-carbon future. She leads a coalition of industry, academic, and community partners to ensure the long-term economic competitiveness and advancement of the Houston region towards a more sustainable energy future.

Prior to joining the Partnership, Jane spent over two decades at bp, where she held roles in marketing, corporate finance, governance, and compliance. Among her many accomplishments, she developed and delivered the 2019 National Petroleum Council study on carbon capture, use and storage in coordination with the U.S. Department of Energy.

Jane serves on the Board of Directors of BCarbon and is a contributing faculty member at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Energy Center and Business School. She is a member of the Regional Advisory Board for the Energy Industries Council and the Advisory Board of the Houston Chapter of WRISE – Women of Renewable Industries & Sustainable Energy. Jane holds a BA in Political Science from University of Maryland, Baltimore and an MBA from Loyola University.

Kelsey Kearns is Head of Houston at Greentown Labs, the world’s largest climatetech incubator. A native Houstonian with a cross-sector background spanning media, startups, and technology, she brings over a decade of experience building ecosystems, leading teams, and forging the relationships that move early-stage companies forward.

At Greentown, Kelsey serves as a connector between founders, corporate partners, and investors — helping startups navigate the Houston energy ecosystem and find the people and resources they need to accelerate growth. She is a dedicated advocate for Houston’s emergence as a global hub for energy innovation and climate technology.

Maynard Holt is the founder & CEO of Veriten. Built off the momentum created by the “Close of Business Tuesday” podcast, Veriten is an energy-focused knowledge platform that brings diverse perspectives to the energy transition discussion, improving the ability of industry leaders, policy makers, and investors to make investment and strategic choices. Maynard previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. from 2016 to 2021 and has over 27 years of experience in energy investment banking and strategic advice. A co-founder of TPH, Maynard functioned as Co-President from 2007 to 2016 and prior to joining TPH, Maynard worked at Goldman Sachs & Co. At Goldman from 1994 to 2007, Maynard worked in Leveraged / Structured Finance and was last a Managing Director in and Energy & Power / Natural Resources.

Maynard launched Veriten to convene the brightest minds in and around energy in a civil, inclusive, and intellectually honest discussion to address the most pressing topics across the space. Like too many of us, he passionately believes there are better ways forward in energy and he wants to find them. Maynard is an avid classic Jeep collector and dedicated patron and supporter of youth sports and holds a BA in Economics and Russian from Rice University and a Master’s in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Sandy Guitar is the Executive Director of Tex-E, leading at the intersection of innovation and higher education.

Sandy is a Co-Founder of Weathergage Capital, a venture capital and growth equity fund of funds managing approximately $1.2 billion in venture capital partnership investments. Weathergage has longstanding relationships with venture capital funds that we believe are resilient, innovative trendsetters with strong track records and that we believe can benefit the institutional investor. Sandy was previously a General Partner and Managing Director at HX Venture Fund, a venture capital fund of funds focused on producing superior returns for its Limited Partners and on developing the startup ecosystem in Houston, TX. Sandy began her venture capital fund of funds career with Knightsbridge Advisers, and since that time has shared in the investment, investor relations and fundraising activities of 8 funds of funds. 

Sandy is a member of the Board of Regents at the University of the South, Sewanee, and Chairman of Sewanee’s investment committee. Sandy is also an Advisory Board member of Rice University’s Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, or Lilie.  Sandy has an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern and a B.A. cum laude from the University of the South, with her pre-college education in London. Following her degree, she was awarded a Watson Fellowship, traveling to and studying business management styles in Japan, India and Australia.

As Senior VP, Energy and Executive Director of the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, Sophia leads the Partnership’s efforts to leverage Houston’s energy leadership to accelerate global solutions to meet the dual challenge of producing more energy that the world demands while also reducing emissions. She leads a coalition of industry, academic, and community partners to ensure the long-term economic competitiveness and advancement of the Houston region in affordable, reliable and lower-carbon energy.

Sophia previously served as Vice President of HETI, responsible for efforts related to carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS), methane management, community engagement,  and stakeholder activation through the Initiative’s Advisory Board.

Prior to joining HETI, Sophia was director of public policy at the Partnership. The Partnership’s public policy team advances Houston’s position as a great global city through policy that fosters economic growth and opportunity for all. Sophia was responsible for the Partnership’s energy, sustainability, transportation and infrastructure policy portfolio. Prior to joining the public policy team, Sophia worked for the Partnership’s regional workforce development initiative, UpSkill Houston.

Sophia received her Master of Science in Energy from Texas A&M University. She graduated from Davidson College with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She is an alum of the Center for Houston’s Future Leadership Forum.

Taylor Chapman is a native Houstonian and an investor in energy-transition startups.  At New Climate Ventures, he invests in decarbonization-focused companies, typically at the seed stage; NCV’s investments range from bioplastics to carbon management to grid-analytics software. Previously, he oversaw corporate venture capital (VC) and M&A at SEI, a publicly traded education conglomerate, and was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey’s NYC office.  He was also an operator at two venture-backed startups (including Remind, which repeatedly reached #1 on the Apple app store) in NYC and SF. Before graduate school, he was a public school teacher with Teach for America + the JET Program. 

In 2023, Taylor returned to his hometown of Houston after 12 years in NYC and cowrote the study on Houston’s Climate Tech Ecosystem published that year alongside his two co-authors, fellow founding partners of the Texas Climate Tech Collective. He holds a BA from Yale and an MPP from Harvard Kennedy School. Within Houston, he serves as a director on the Houston Parks Board, on the Steering Committee for the Center for Houston’s Future’s “Vision 2050” initiative, and on the Advisory Boards for Momentum Education and the Neuhaus Education Center. He is particularly passionate about preserving and improving Houston’s bayous as shared public goods, and has organized numerous events to help the bayous.

When not at work, you can find him home with his wife and two kids, paddleboarding down the bayous, or out photographing; his most recently published project involved photographing the 44 communities at the final stops in the NYC subway system.  

As Executive Director at Halliburton Labs, Scott drives engagement across startup ecosystem stakeholders with a particular focus on investors. Part of the founding team of Halliburton Labs, he collaborates to sustain an action-focused community for climate founders around the world. Scott was recognized in 2022 with Hart Energy’s Forty Under 40. Scott serves on the Advisory Board for both the Energy Workforce and Technology Council and the Rice Business Alumni Association Board. He also serves on the Energy Advisory Board for the Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator. He joined Halliburton in 2014 where he managed multiple strategic efforts taking new technologies from ideation to commercial success at scale.

Scott holds a chemical engineering degree from Brigham Young University and is a graduate of Rice Business where he founded the Jones Student Association for Executives and was recognized with the Jones Citizen Award. He is a professional voice actor and film investor. He co-hosts the Owl Have You Know and Curiosity podcasts. He actively supports dozens of startup organizations as an angel investor and advisor.