MIT Water Initiative Leadership Team
Matt Nespoli
President
mnespoli@mit.edu
Matt Nespoli is the ultimate water nerd, having been deeply involved in the water sector for almost 10 years. In 2004, during his senior year of college, Matt wrote a business plan to create a non-profit organization called Water for Waslala, which would provide the funds and technical expertise needed to build potable water systems for rural communities in Waslala, Nicaragua. Over the last seven years, Matt has served as President of Water for Waslala, which has raised $500,000 and provided 3,000 Waslalans with a daily supply of clean water. Also prior to Sloan, Matt worked for three years as a strategic consultant for Parsons Brinckerhoff, advising public agencies managing transportation and water infrastructure assets in the US and Latin America. This summer, Matt interned at CDM, an environmental consulting firm, as a sustainability consultant, and advised large industrial clients on creating sustainability and water conservation strategies.
Natalia Baryshnikova
VP of Marketing
nataliab@mit.edu
Natalia’s background is in marketing and business development for a large international law firm in Moscow, Russia. In 2007-2010, Natalia was responsible for developing the firm’s Central and Eastern European energy and infrastructure practice, and had extensive interaction with prospective and existing clients related to the water industry. This summer, Natalia was an intern with the Environmental Defense Fund, working on fishery restoration initiatives in Maine.
Ed Fish
VP of Fundraising
edtfish@mit.edu
Ed has a background in international financial markets. Prior to matriculating at MIT, Ed worked for several years as an investment banking analyst and later as a private equity investment associate for Merrill Lynch and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity. During his time in New York, Ed focused on the financial services industry, he has particular expertise in troubled assets including the unique experience of working directly with the US government, FDIC, FHLB and regulatory bodies on assisted auctions and take overs including two of the largest failed ank transactions in global history. Most recently Ed was a project manager in the strategy and business development group at QGEN energy, an independent power producer. Ed spent the majority of his time building and leading expert teams on new initiative and strategic opportunities for in international water and alternative and hybrid energy projects.
At MIT Sloan, Ed is pursuing his MBA and a Sustainability Certificate. He is co-chair of the Deans Student Advisory council, Co-Founder of the MIT Water initiative, Co-President of the MIT Food and Agriculture Collaborative, and active member of the MIT Energy and Environment Club. In addition to the traditional academic rigors of MIT, Ed was a Research Assistant to John Sterman, Jay W. ForresterProfessor of Management and Director of the MIT System Dynamics Group.
Pat Flynn
VP of Events
pcflynn@mit.edu
Patrick comes from a background of engineering and Venture Capital. Prior to MIT Sloan, Patrick worked in New York City at Good Energies, a cleantech venture group. He analyzed prospective investment and supported portfolio companies across a wide array of industries, including HVAC, Solar, Building Materials and Energy Services. He developed a keen interest in the water – energy nexus and comes to the group with a passion to bring energy efficiency to the treatment of water. He is interested in the entrepreneurial activity and breakthrough technologies relevant to the water sector.
Before his time with Good Energies, Patrick was an engineering consultant, working on high-rise building system design and earned his Professional Engineering license and LEED (Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design) accreditation in the process. His work also included serving as the office liaison between the New York and Shanghai offices, dealing with his overseas counterparts on a daily basis to make sure work flowed smoothly around the clock. This past summer, he worked for Scientific Conservation, a company looking to improve energy efficiency in the building sector through software analytics. He feels a social responsibility to use his skills to help society tackle the, extensive, urgent and important energy and water related challenges ahead.
Chi-Chu Tschang
VP of Outreach
tschang@mit.edu
Chi-Chu lived and worked in China for over a decade. He was an award-winning journalist, who has written for the South China Morning Post, Bloomberg News, Straits Times and BusinessWeek. As a China correspondent, Chi-Chu has written a number of articles about China’s water issues, including "A French Water Company's Cautionary Tale in China"
Sean Grundy
Co-VP of Marketing & Outreach
sean_g@mit.edu
Sean has a background in environmental conservation, particularly relating to water and sustainable agriculture. His most recent project prior to matriculating at Sloan involved organizing sustainable fisheries at nature reserves along the Yangtze River, while working at Rare Conservation, an international NGO. He also helped design a program to train farmers in fertilizer/pesticide management, in order to reduce the quantity of effluents that wash into rivers. Sean is most interested in water reuse technology and low-cost tools to reduce water pollution.