We are pleased to feature the following keynote speakers.
Honorable Mike Coffman - US House of Representatives
Congressman Mike Coffman is a Coloradan dedicated to serving the people of the Centennial State and the nation. At age 17, after finishing his junior year at Aurora Central High School, Congressman Coffman enlisted in the U.S. Army. Through the Army he earned his high school diploma and eventually attended the University of Colorado under the G.I. Bill. As a student at the University of Colorado, Congressman Coffman continued his military service as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve.
As a Marine and a small businessman, Mike saw a need to bring more common sense to Colorado politics. He ran for, and was elected to, the Colorado House of Representatives in 1988 and 1990. Soon after his 1990 re-election, Mike took an unpaid leave of absence from the Colorado State House to return to active duty during the first Gulf War. During this time, he served as a light armored infantry officer where he saw combat.
In 1994, after returning from Iraq, Mike continued his service to the people of Colorado, serving in the State Senate and later as State Treasurer. Mike resigned his position as Colorado State Treasurer in 2005 to again return to active military duty to serve in Iraq. Congressman Coffman went to Iraq with the Marines and worked to support the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, helping ensure the voting rights of Iraqi citizens in democratic elections. He also helped establish interim local governments in the Western Euphrates River Valley. In 2006, Mike completed his full tour of duty in Iraq and returned to Colorado where he resumed his role as the State Treasurer. Later in 2006, Mike was elected to the office of Secretary of State where he served until 2008.
Congressman Coffman is honored to serve on the House Armed Services Committee, where he brings a vast amount of experience and knowledge with his military background. He also serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, working on behalf of Colorado citizens on water and energy issues. As a former small businessman, Congressman Coffman also enjoys representing Colorado's small businesses through his service on the House Small Business Committee.
David Sandalow - US Department of Energy, Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs
David Sandalow was most recently Energy & Environment Scholar and a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program of the Brookings Institution. He is the editor of Plug-In Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington? (Brookings Press, 2009), author of Freedom from Oil (McGraw-Hill, 2008) and has written widely on energy and environmental policy. Previously, Sandalow served as Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment and Science; Senior Director for Environmental Affairs, National Security Council; Associate Director for the Global Environment, White House Council on Environmental Quality, and Executive Vice President, World Wildlife Fund-US. Sandalow is a graduate of Yale College (BA Philosophy) and the University of Michigan Law School (JD).
Dr. Marcia McNutt - Director, U.S. Geological Survey
Director Marcia K. McNutt, is a distinguished scientist and administrator and the first woman director of the USGS in its 130-year history. Dr. McNutt previously served as president and chief executive officer of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), in Moss Landing, CA.
McNutt received a BA degree in Physics, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Colorado College in Colorado Springs. As a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, she studied geophysics at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, where she earned a PhD in Earth Sciences in 1978. She then spent three years with the USGS in Menlo Park, CA, working on earthquake prediction.
Dr. McNutt joined the faculty at MIT in 1982 where she became the Griswold Professor of Geophysics and served as Director of the Joint Program in Oceanography & Applied Ocean Science & Engineering, offered by MIT & the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
McNutt’s honors and awards include membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She also holds honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Minnesota and from Colorado College. She was awarded by the American Geophysical Union the Macelwane Medal in 1988 for research accomplishments by a young scientist and the Maurice Ewing Medal in 2007 for her significant contributions to deep-sea exploration. She has served on numerous evaluation and advisory boards for institutions such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Stanford University, Harvard University, Science Magazine, and Schlumberger.
Dr. Gal Luft - Executive Director, Institute for the Analysis of Global Security
Gal Luft is executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS) a Washington based think tank focused on energy security. He specializes in strategy, geopolitics and energy and resource security. Newsweek Magazine called him a “tireless and independent advocate of energy security,” the business magazine Poder called him "one of the most recognizable figures in modern energy and security issues," and Esquire Magazine included him in its 2007 list of America's Best and Brightest.
Dr. Luft has published numerous studies and articles on security and energy issues in various newspapers and publications such as Foreign Affairs, The American Interest, Commentary Magazine, Middle East Quarterly, LA Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. He appears frequently in the media and consults to various think tanks and news organizations worldwide.
Dr. Luft testified before committees of the U.S. Congress, including Senate Foreign Relations, House International Relations, House Science and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He is a board member of the Center for Energy Defence and a member of the Society of Industry Leaders, the Committee on the Present Danger and other non-profit groups. He holds degrees in international relations, international economics, Middle East studies and strategic studies and a doctorate in strategic studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS,) Johns Hopkins University.
Yaron Vorona - Executive Director, International Lithium Alliance
Yaron Vorona is Executive Director of the International Lithium Alliance. He specializes in building the capabilities of entrepreneurial ventures and assisting organizations in reaching new levels of success. He has built financial and strategic plans for VC backed technology ventures in both the oil and gas and IT services industries. He assisted in performing the due diligence for a corporate fundraising and analyzing M&A targets.
Mr. Vorona's organization building work includes completing a strategic and operational review of a conservation NGO programme to educate disadvantaged South Africans to be entrepreneurial bird guides. He has also created Corporate Social Responsibility audit procedures for a Canadian manufacturer with outsourcing operations in China and managed a project within the a Thai government ministry to build a webpage promoting the women's groups handicrafts . Mr. Vorona has had external relationship building roles as a supply chain management specialist in the electronics industry, and has worked in financial and competitive analysis in the telecommunications industry.
Mr. Vorona holds an MBA with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from the London Business School and a B.Sc. degree in Physics and Business. Mr. Vorona has worked in Canada, the USA, South Africa, England, Thailand and China and has travelled extensively throughout the world.
