Matt Grigsby is an Industrial Designer by trade, entrepreneur by passion and sustainability fanatic who is implementing new ways to address the tough environmental challenges facing us today. He oversees consulting projects, trend forecasting and collaborations at Ecolect. With a BFA degree in Industrial Design from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and a love for all things big picture, Matt has a passion for problem solving through creative and viable approaches. In addition to his role as CEO and Co-founder of Ecolect, Matt runs the sustainable transportation blog, Alternative Transit (alternativetransit.com), focusing on remarkable transit-related projects taking place around the world. Locally, he is Chair of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), Rhode Island chapter and nationally, Co-chair of IDSA's Eco Design Section. You can reach Matt via email at matt@ecolect.net.

Joe Gebbia is a quintessential designtrepreneur, graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Product Design and another BFA in Graphic Design. During a RISD field trip to the state landfill, he was struck with the Ray Anderson 'spear in the chest'; that moment when a designer realizes their impact on the environment. As his career took off, Joe was soon developing products for corporate clients like LG, Intel and Staples, and his own product, CritBuns. In each project he longed for a central resource to identify, compare, and select sustainable materials. Taking matters into his own hands, he collaborated with classmate and advocate Matt Grigsby to fill this crucial gap in the design process. Ecolect is the result. Joe can be reached at joe@ecolect.net.

Originally from a small town near Ann Arbor, Mich., Elizabeth Redmond earned her BFA from the University of Michigan School of Art and Design. As a designer/inventor, she is inspired by physics, technology, social environments, ecological phenomena and any design that saves jaw-dropping amounts of energy, materials, time, transportation and other resources. With a keen eye for contemporary issues, she strives to combine radical concepts relating to energy and sustainability with function and practicality. Elizabeth currently lives in Chicago, where she is working on a semi permanent installation of her lifelong project, POWERleap: energy generating sidewalk tiles. Elizabeth can be reached at elizabeth@ecolect.net.

Upon graduating from Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Industrial Design, Johnathyn came to Ecolect to help companies make their products as safe and environmentally sound as possible. Originally from Chicago, he has work experience in Helsinki, and Tokyo. Johnathyn's primary role at Ecolect is developing new business for the company. In addition, he is a photographer and covers many of the events we create and attend. John can be reached at john@ecolect.net.

Chris Ahern is a native Rhode Islander with a keen interest in sustainability and all things innovative. After earning a B.A. in International Relations from Colgate University, Chris went on to work in international finance, but was more drawn to the area of design and the impact it has on the world around us. Chris is always on the lookout for cutting edge, sustainable materials and how they might change our lives for the better. Chris can be reached at chris@ecolect.net.

Than is an industrial designer based in New York City, with a passion for issues related to sustainable design, architecture, and clean technology. After graduating from Washington College with a with a BA in international affairs, he soon developed an interest in art, architecture and design, and went on to acquire an MS in Industrial Design from the Pratt Institute in 2000. Having been struck by the more negative aspects of the industrial design industry during school and in his professional experience, Than is determined to make a long career of designing practical and sustainable products, and advocating for sound environmental stewardship and energy efficiency. He currently multi-tasks as communications director for o2NYC, and industrial design consultant in the realm of furniture, lighting, and tabletop. Than can be reached at than@ecolect.net.

Marie is a web designer and developer working toward a BFA in Interior Design at California College of the Arts, San Francisco. When not studying, she is scouring the internet hoping to gain a better understanding of what exactly "sustainable" means to her. Inspired by objects of play, her future design exploits include flat pack Rubik's cube furniture and large-scale cork puzzles.

Hailing from Vallejo, CA, Michelle started her design career making bean bags out of scraps of cloth left over from her mother's miniature clothing projects. Her interest in using alternative materials came to fruition as an undergrad at SFSU where she studied apparel design. She has since weaseled her way into a career in merchandising where she spends much of her time thinking of ways to inspire others to make conscious environmental decisions - which is what brought her to Ecolect! Her free time is often spent in her kitchen developing new cookie recipes and learning how to play the Ukulele via Youtube.

Andy Culter is the founder of Culter & Company, a communications counseling company based in Providence. Building on his twenty years of experience in the field of strategic communications, Andy has advised a number of leading institutions, including the Rhode Island School of Design and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. Working extensively with leaders in design, science and technology, his firm helps clients tell others about their cutting-edge advancements and how they will improve the world.

Alice is a designer and researcher with a strong interest in the environment. She graduated from Politecnico di Milano in Italy with a degree in Industrial Design. Her desire to learn more about the industry brought her to Ecolect in San Francisco, where she is uncovering the latest in sustainable materials. When not teaching the SF office how to speak Italian, she can be found dancing to Salsa music in Berkley.

For more than five years, Alberto Villarreal has been creating innovative products in fields as varied as sports equipment, consumer electronics, toys, medical equipment and transportation. A Mexican-born designer, he studied design in both Mexico and Sweden. His credits include such prestigious design awards as Red Dot—the Best of the Best; the Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Award; the iF Hanover Product Design Award, and the IDSA/Business Week Industrial Design Excellence Award. Alberto currently works at Lunar Design in San Francisco.

Valentina is an industrial designer based in Italy who is passionate about research focused on sustainability. Her thesis project at Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche (ISIA) focused on the LCA of retail displays - the materials, breakdown, and assembly. To extend ecological thinking into her project, she collaborated with the Laboratory in Sustainable Design at ISIA, and the fashion brand Sixty SPA. Following graduation, Valentina worked at Capellini Design studios in Italy. Her role was material search for the MATREC (MATerial RECycling) project in Rome, Italy. She was recently hired by printer company Océ N.V. in the Netherlands to consult on greener printers. When she's not studying eco materials, the bilingual designer enjoys reading, visiting museums, traveling, and biking.

Horace Ko was raised in a technology-rich environment, and so has harbored an interest in high-tech developments all his life. The increasing accessibility and pervasiveness of the Internet led him to rekindle an affinity for developing web applications that started in high school. Horace earned his B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of California at San Diego, and currently lives and works in San Jose.

Sally Kuchar is a native of San Francisco. She studied Interior Design and completed both residential and commercial projects. She is a board member of the Directors for the American Society of Interior Designers, where she focuses on sustainability. She is also a regular contributor for MoCo Loco, a contemporary design and architecture blog. Sally’s own website, called sallyTV, is a video blog about Sally and her world of design.