Tanguy Serra will be one of our independent directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Mr. Serra currently serves as President and Chief Investment Officer of Loanpal, leading the innovation group, leveraging new technology to identify new business opportunities and market growth potential, and optimizing advancements in the consumer lending platform. Previously, he served as President of SolarCity, and co-founded VivintSolar, the second largest residential solar provider. Before then, he spent 3 years in investment banking at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, and 8 years as Vice President in the private equity group at TPG.
Nora Mead Brownell will be one of our independent directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Mrs. Brownell is the co-founder of Espy Energy Solutions, LLC, an energy consulting firm and a former Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from 2001-2006 under the administration of President George W. Bush. She is also the former President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). She formerly served as the board chair for Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and she has been a board member for many corporations including National Grid, Spectra Energy, Oncor Electric Delivery, and Times Publishing Company.
Jeffrey Immelt will be our lead independent director as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Mr. Immelt currently serves as a Venture Partner on both the technology and healthcare investing teams at New Enterprise Associates (“NEA”). He currently serves on the board for several NEA portfolio companies in the healthcare, clean tech and technology sectors (including Desktop Metal and Formlabs). In August 2020, Desktop Metals signed a merger agreement to go public via a SPAC, adding to senior management’s SPAC credentials. We believe that having a member of our board of directors that has sold a business to a SPAC (in addition to our management team’s experience sponsoring SPACs) is unique and will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. He previously served as Chairman and CEO of GE for 16 years where he revamped the company’s strategy, global footprint, workforce and culture, transforming it into a simpler, stronger, and more focused digital industrial company. He has been named one of the “World’s Best CEOs” three times by Barron’s, and while he was CEO, GE was named “America’s Most Admired Company” by Fortune magazine.
Dr. Kurt Lauk will be one of our independent directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Dr. Lauk currently serves as an independent director for Magna International, a leading developer and manufacturer of automotive technology. He was formerly a member of the board of management and Head of World Wide Commercial Vehicles Division of Daimler Chrysler, as well as Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (with responsibility for finance, controlling and marketing) of Audi AG. Dr. Lauk also formerly served as an independent director of Solera, a software company for the automotive industry.
Barbara Byrne will be one of our independent directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Mrs. Byrne currently sits on the board of trustees of the Institute of International Education, the board of directors of ViacomCBS Inc. and is a lifetime member of The Council on Foreign Relations. She is former Vice Chairman of Investment Banking at Barclays PLC and at Lehman Brothers, the first woman to be named Vice Chairman at either firm and held senior leadership position in both the Energy and Technology Investment Banking Groups. American Banker named Ms. Byrne in the top 5 of the “25 Most Powerful Women in Finance” for eight consecutive years through 2017, and she received American Banker’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Finance in October 2018.