Board of Directors

Jeffrey "Jeff" W. Eckel is executive chair of HASI (NYSE: HASI), a leading investor in climate solutions. Over the past several decades, he has developed and executed a visionary strategy that has established HASI as a globally recognized climate solutions investor with a leading record of shareholder return.

Mr. Eckel previously served as HASI’s president, chief executive officer and chair of the board of directors from 2013 to March 2023. Before taking HASI public, he was president and chief executive officer with the predecessor of the company from 2000 to 2013 and, from 1985 to 1989, was senior vice president and responsible for leading HASI’s first energy project finance group. Before returning to HASI in 2000 to focus on the enormous sustainable business opportunity to finance decarbonization, Mr. Eckel was chief financial officer of Wärtsilä Diesel North America, president of Wärtsilä Power Development, and chief executive officer of EnergyWorks, a joint venture of Bechtel Enterprises.

Mr. Eckel has held several industry positions, including chair of the board of the Maryland Clean Energy Center, member of the board of the Alliance to Save Energy, member of the President’s Council of Ceres, and member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) Task Force on Federal Energy Management. Currently, he serves on the Board of Trustees of The Nature Conservancy of Maryland and DC. 

Mr. Eckel received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University and a Master of Public Administration degree from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He holds Series 24, 63, and 79 securities licenses.

Jeff Lipson is president and chief executive officer of HASI (NYSE: HASI), a leading investor in climate solutions. As CEO, he focuses on the development and execution of all aspects of our strategy of making climate positive investments with superior risk-adjusted returns.

Before becoming CEO of HASI in March 2023, Mr. Lipson served as both chief operating officer and chief financial officer from January 2021 to February 2023, and as chief financial officer from January 2019 to December 2020. Prior to HASI, Mr. Lipson was president and chief executive officer of Congressional Bank (now Forbright Bank). Mr. Lipson has also been a senior vice president and the treasurer of CapitalSource, with previous roles in corporate treasury, at Bank of America and its predecessor FleetBoston Financial.

Mr. Lipson received a Master of Business Administration in finance from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in economics from Pennsylvania State University.

Teresa M. Brenner has served as one of our independent directors since April 2016 and has served as our Lead Independent Director since July 2019. Ms. Brenner retired from Bank of America Corporation in 2012, where she served in a variety of roles for approximately 20 years, including most recently as a managing director and associate general counsel. Ms. Brenner served on the board of directors of Residential Capital, LLC from March 2013 to December 2013 during its restructuring and through the confirmation of its bankruptcy proceeding. Ms. Brenner is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, the Society of Corporate Governance, and the American Corporate Counsel Association, and is a member in good standing of the North Carolina State Bar. Ms. Brenner has also held a variety of philanthropic and civic roles, including serving as president of Temple Israel and chairperson of Right Moves for Youth. Ms. Brenner received a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude and with honors in history from Alma College in 1984 where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and a Juris Doctorate cum laude from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1987 where she was a Carswell Scholar and an editor of its Law Review.

Lizabeth Ardisana has served as one of our independent directors since October 10, 2022. Ms. Ardisana is chief executive officer and the principal owner of ASG Renaissance LLC, which she founded in 1987. ASG Renaissance is a technical and communication services firm with more than three decades of experience providing services to a wide range of clients in the automotive, environmental, defense, construction, healthcare, banking and education sectors. She is also chief executive officer of Performance Driven Workforce LLC, a scheduling and staffing firm that was founded in 2015 and has since expanded into five states. Prior to founding ASG Renaissance LLC, Ms. Ardisana worked at Ford Motor Company for14 years, holding various management positions in vehicle development, product planning and marketing. As a Hispanic and female business owner, Ms. Ardisana is an active business and civic leader in Michigan. She has served on the boards of publicly held Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE) since 2019 and Huntington Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: HBAN) since 2016. She also serves on the board of the privately held U.S. Sugar Corporation. She was a member of the board of Citizens Republic Bancorp, Inc. from 2004 to 2013, and a member of the board of FirstMerit Corporation from 2013 to 2016. She has held numerous leadership positions in a variety of nonprofit organizations, including The Skillman Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Kettering University, Metropolitan Affairs Coalition, Focus: HOPE, and Next Energy. Ms. Ardisana was appointed by the governor of Michigan to the executive board of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and chairs its finance committee. She is the vice chair of the board of Wayne Health, where she serves on the audit committee and compensation committee. Ms. Ardisana holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Texas, a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Detroit. We believe Ms. Ardisana’s significant experience and relationships in the automotive and environmental industries, as well as skills acquired through serving as a chief executive officer and as a member of multiple public and private company boards give her valuable insights and enable her to make significant contributions as a member of the Board.

Clarence D. "Clay" Armbrister has served as one of our independent directors since March 1, 2021. Mr. Armbrister has served as President of Johnson C. Smith University since January 1, 2018. Previously, Mr. Armbrister served as President of Girard College from 2012 to 2017. Mr. Armbrister has served as Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Compensation Committee of Health Partners Plans Inc. since 2016. From 2008 to 2011, Mr. Armbrister served as Chief of Staff to the former Mayor of Philadelphia, Michael A. Nutter. Mr. Armbrister also served as Senior Vice President for Administration and subsequently Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Temple University from 2003 to 2007. Prior to that, Mr. Armbrister served as Vice President and Director in the Municipal Securities Group and in other positions at PaineWebber & Co. (subsequently UBS PaineWebber Incorporated) from 1999 to 2003 and also served as an Adjunct Faculty Member of the Beasley School of Law at Temple University from 1997 to 1998. From 1996 to 1998, Mr. Armbrister served as Managing Director of the Philadelphia School District and prior to that, in 1994, he was appointed Philadelphia City Treasurer. From 1982 to 1994, Mr. Armbrister was an associate and then Partner at Saul, Ewing, Remick & Saul (currently known as Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP). Mr. Armbrister also serves on the boards of various organizations, including the Board of Directors for Health Partners Plan, the Board of Trustees of Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health and the Board of Charlotte Regional Business Alliance. Mr. Armbrister is also a former member of the Board of Directors of the National Adoption Center and the Community College of Philadelphia’s Board of Trustees. Mr. Armbrister received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979 and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1982.

Michael T. Eckhart has served as one of our independent directors since 2019. Mr. Eckhart has served as a Clinical Professor of Sustainable Finance at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy since 2020, and also as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of International and Policy Affairs, teaching Environmental Finance since 2016. In 2019, Mr. Eckhart retired as Managing Director and Global Head of Environmental Finance from Citigroup, Inc., where he led Citigroup Inc.’s work in establishing the Green Bond Principles. Prior to joining Citigroup in 2011, Mr. Eckhart was the founding President of the American Council on Renewable Energy, a Washington DC-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that unites finance, policy and technology to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy. He previously led the SolarBank Initiative in Europe, India and South Africa, and worked in power generation and advanced technology with United Power Systems, Aretê Ventures, General Electric Company and Booz, Allen & Hamilton. Prior to that, he also served in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service. He has received several awards including Renewable Energy Man of the Year of India, the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, and the International Solar Energy Society’s Global Policy Leadership Award. He is Vice Chairman of the Oyster Recovery Partnership in Maryland and a Director of the International Solar Energy Society headquartered in Frieberg Germany. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Purdue University and a Master in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Nancy C. Floyd has served as one of our independent directors since March 1, 2021. Ms. Floyd served as a managing director of Nth Power LLC, a venture capital firm she founded that specialized in clean energy technology, from 1993 to 2022. From 1989 to 1993, Ms. Floyd joined and started the technology practice for the utility consulting firm, Barakat and Chamberlain. From 1985 to 1988, Ms. Floyd was on the founding team and worked at PacTel Spectrum Services, a provider of network management services that was sold to IBM. In 1982, Ms. Floyd founded and served as chief executive officer of NFC Energy Corporation, one of the first wind development companies in the United States, which she successfully sold. From 1977 to 1980, Ms. Floyd served as director of special projects of Vermont Public Service Board (currently known as Vermont Public Utility Commission). Ms. Floyd has also served on the boards of 14 private, high growth, clean tech companies and was chair of the board for 4 of them. Since 2020, Ms. Floyd has been a board member, chair of the audit committee and member of the compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee of Beam Global (Nasdaq: BEEM, BEEMW). She also served as a member of the board and chair of the audit committee of AltaGas Services and AltaGas Power Holdings (U.S.) Inc. (TSX: ALA) from 2018 to 2019, and board member of WGL Holdings, Inc. and Washington Gas (NYSE: WGL) from 2011 to 2018, where she sat on the audit committee and governance committee. Also, Ms. Floyd has served as fund advisor to Activate Capital from 2018 to 2021 and on the investment committee for The Christensen Fund from 2017 to 2021. Ms. Floyd received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Franklin & Marshall College in 1976 and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from Rutgers University in 1977.

Charles M. O’Neil has served as one of our independent directors since 2013. Mr. O’Neil retired from ING Capital, LLC, at the end of 2015, where he served in a variety of executive and management roles for over 20 years, including as president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of ING Capital, LLC and Head of Structured Finance, Americas, the largest operating unit of ING Capital. Mr. O’Neil received a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from The Pennsylvania State University in 1974 and a Master in Business Administration degree in International Finance from Fordham University in 1978.

Richard J. Osborne has served as one of our independent directors since 2013 and served as our Lead Independent Director from April 2014 to July 2019. Mr. Osborne retired from Duke Energy Corporation in 2006, having served in a variety of executive roles including chief financial officer, chief risk officer, treasurer and group vice president for Public & Regulatory Affairs during his 31 years with the organization. Mr. Osborne also served as a director of Duke Energy Field Services, a joint venture between Duke Energy Corporation and ConocoPhillips, and as a director of TEPPCO Partners, LP, a master limited partnership managing mid-stream energy assets. He also chaired the Finance Divisions of the Southeastern Electric Exchange and Edison Electric Institute, and was a founding board member of the Committee of Chief Risk Officers. Subsequent to leaving Duke Energy, Mr. Osborne executed consulting assignments for clients in, or serving, the energy industry. Mr. Osborne presently serves on the boards of Chautauqua Institution and the Penland School of Craft. Mr. Osborne received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Economics from Tufts University in 1973 and a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1975.

Steven G. Osgood has served as one of our independent directors since January 2015. Mr. Osgood has served as the chief executive officer of Square Foot Companies, LLC, a Cleveland, Ohio based private real estate company focused on self-storage and single-tenant properties since 2008. Mr. Osgood is also a trustee for National Storage Affiliates Trust, a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) focused on the ownership of self-storage properties, since its public offering in April 2015. Mr. Osgood serves as chair of the finance committee for the company and on its audit committee. Prior to his current position, Mr. Osgood served as president and chief financial officer of U-Store-It Trust (now named CubeSmart), a self-storage REIT from the company’s initial public offering in 2004 to 2006. He also served as chief financial officer of several other REITs. Mr. Osgood is a former Certified Public Accountant. He graduated from Miami University with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1978 and graduated from the University of San Diego with a Masters in Business Administration in 1987.

Ms. Reed has served as one of our independent directors since March 1, 2023. Ms. Reed has served as an external director of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited since June 2022, an independent director of Momentus Inc. since August 2021, and a distinguished fellow at the Council on Competitiveness since February 2021. From May 2019 to January 2021— after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate on a strong bipartisan basis — Ms. Reed served as the first woman chairman of the board of directors, president and chief executive officer of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), the nation’s official $135 billion export credit agency, where she worked to help U.S. companies succeed in the competitive global marketplace. She previously served as president of the International Food Information Council Foundation where she focused on agriculture, nutrition, health, and sustainability issues; senior advisor to U.S. Treasury Secretaries Henry Paulson and John Snow; chief executive officers of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund); and counsel to three committees of the U.S. Congress where she conducted oversight and investigations. Ms. Reed also currently serves on the American Swiss Foundation board of directors, Hudson Institute’s Alexander Hamilton Commission on Securing America’s National Security Innovation Base, Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue Advisory Council and Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington Dean’s Alliance. Recognized as one of the “100 Women Leaders in STEM,” she received the U.S. Department of Defense’s highest civilian award — the Medal for Distinguished Public Service — and is a Council on Foreign Relations life member and a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Certified Director. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from West Virginia University College of Law and a Bachelor of Science in biology and Bachelor of Arts in government from West Virginia Wesleyan College.