Team

Viridus is you. A community of business professionals with responsibility for sustainable and environmentally sound business practices. Your participation is what generates content. You are Viridus.

Viridus is us. It was started by Furqan Nazeeri and Mike DiPietro, two experienced technology professionals in the Boston area. We came up with the idea for a sustainability community at a Mexican restaurant, fostered by a passion for the environment and a passion for the web. We've invested money, time and energy to create something to make the world better. Our job is to listen to you and respond with a web site and community that helps the environment, your business, and your career.

Furqan Nazeeri discovered sustainability at an early age growing up in rural Oregon. At 14, his family was the only one in the neighborhood with a compost pile, a 3-acre "garden," a windmill and a refurbished pre-war Cushman electric car. Later at the University of Michigan, he was captain of the national champion UofM solar car team (the car is now on permanent display at the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry). After graduation, he was a key part of the team that designed and built REVA, the largest selling plug-in passenger electric vehicle in the world. Furqan is an entrepreneur who founded numerous successful technology businesses, including Pivot, Inc. a revolutionary instant messaging collaboration platform for Wall Street traders. He is a graduate of Harvard Business School, founder of ObamaCycle and our resident rocket scientist (or as close as we get – he has a degree in aerospace engineering). You can contact Furqan at fn@virid.us or read his personal blog.

Michael DiPietro discovered sustainability when his girlfriend yelled at him for throwing away a soda can. It was the last time he did (and as a result, the girlfriend is now his wife). A long time vice president at one of the world's largest human resource software providers, he helped drive product direction and strategy to help customers recruit, retain, and develop great workforces. More recently, he was vice president at an environmental and sustainability software company where he experienced firsthand the gap between what companies want to do and what they can do. Working with companies in all industries, he saw the need for collaboration and information sharing beyond what software or internal programs could accomplish. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, CIO magazine, and MSNBC.Com. He is a University of Connecticut graduate, avid Red Sox fan, and musician. You can contact Mike at md@virid.us.

Viridus is experts. We have a group of advisors who are experts in sustainability because they live it every day. Their job is to steer us, guide us, and provide insight only years of specialized experience can provide. Our advisors include:

Josh Newman is an expert in public/private partnerships and entrepreneurial ventures with a social mission.  In the 1980's he worked in government, serving as the Chief of Staff to the New Technologies Committee in the California State Legislature.  In that role he helped foster the nascent solar energy industry through tax credits and other government support.  After attending the Harvard Business School in 1986, he worked as a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group.  For the past twenty years he has served as a senior executive or founder/CEO in venture-backed entrepreneurial high-tech companies in California.  His ventures include a start-up electric vehicle company that spun-out a JV that has produced over 1,600 EVs now on the road in India and Europe.  He worked on emissions credits starting 1990's with California's implementation of the Clean Air Act mandates to reduce urban smog.  Josh also teaches Organizational Leadership at the University of California, Berkeley in its Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology.  Currently Josh is on a Family Sabbatical in Argentina, looking to help source emissions credits projects in Latin America, while improving his Spanish and spending quality time with his kids and wife. You can contact Josh at jn@virid.us.

Kyle Cahill is an experienced environmental strategist and business communicator who has worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies on corporate environmental innovations.  Most recently, he was Director of Corporate Engagement at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a leading market-focused environmental nonprofit.  While at EDF, Kyle created the EDF Innovation Exchange, a first of its kind knowledge management and network collaboration initiative aimed at crowd-sourcing a comprehensive library of environmental content, best practices, and tools through a peer community of practitioners engaged in environmental initiatives.  Kyle is an active spokesperson to the media and at events on the business case for sustainability, climate change solutions, nanotechnology, environmental change management, marketing environmental initiatives, and public/private sector collaboration.  He is co-author of the Guide to Successful Corporate-NGO Partnerships, developed the DuPont/EDF Nano Risk Framework and is on the Advisory Board of the NanoBusiness Alliance.  Kyle earned his M.B.A. focused in corporate social responsibility from the Isenberg School at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and his B.A. in English Literature from Amherst College.

If you'd like to volunteer your ideas and opinion in an advisory role, contact us at advisors@virid.us

Interested in joining our team or volunteering? Contact us at careers@virid.us.