Gil C. Schmidt
Chairman & President
Gil has built a career as a business consultant for start-ups and major companies on four continents, as a nonprofit developer and grant writer with well over a hundred million dollars secured, and as a public speaker, educator, translator, journalist, blogger, novelist and weak-end golfer. (No, that is not a misspelling). As his idol Roberto Clemente once said: “Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on Earth.”
Jane Engelsiepen
Executive Director, Chief Web Officer
With 35+ years in the entertainment industry as a design and production professional, Jane brings a designer’s eye and an entrepreneur’s business acumen to the Foundation for Ecology and the Ecology Prime™ teams. Her career highlights include being co-owner and manager of a cutting-edge LA digital visual effects studio, Ace Award winning television Production Designer, original content creator and environmental media producer and publisher for ecology.com and ecologyprime.com.
Jack Hall
Treasurer, Science Advisor
Education & Science Counselor
Professor Emeritus – Dept. of Environmental Science
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
With nearly 40 years in post-secondary environmental science education, plus 18+ years with Founder Eric McLamb in television and multimedia publishing, Dr. Jack Hall brings his vision of global collaboration among all students to the Foundation for Ecology, as only he can. Dr. Jack instills a sense of exploration and fascination with dry-wit entertainment for all students.
Yvette Arias
Communications Director
Yvette Arias is a scientist and business professional with a background in biotechnology and chemical oceanography. She has contributed to research initiatives with the University of Puerto Rico, Ponce Health Sciences University, the University of Michigan, SUNY Buffalo, and among others and has experience leading multidisciplinary STEM projects across nonprofit and business sectors. Passionate about conservation and environmental education, Yvette believes in the power of collaboration, curiosity, and science to create a healthier and more sustainable future.
Advisory Panel
Mary Lou Davidson
Executive Team
Entrepreneur and media consultant, working in broadcast/podcast, digital and print media. Created three nationally syndicated radio programs from conept to distribution. Specializing in niche content in categories of pets, publishing and environmental interests. Very social. Find me on Facebook and Instagram.
Liz Winter, PhD.
Executive Team
With over 30 years of experience in social work, law, higher education, and community leadership, Dr. Liz Winter has dedicated her career to understanding the relationships between people, communities, and their environments. Guided by the principle of person-in-environment, her work integrates systems thinking and a commitment to justice to advance sustainable change. Dr. Winter believes ecological health and human well-being are inseparable. Her work is informed by the understanding that ecosystems and human systems are interdependent: environmental degradation, social inequity, and collective trauma each influence the capacity of communities to adapt, recover, and flourish.
Dr. Mechie Nkengla
Executive Team
Dr. Mechie Nkengla is a Ph.D. applied mathematician, AI executive, and Chief AI & Data Strategist at Data Products LLC. For more than two decades, she has worked at the intersection of AI, analytics, data strategy, governance, and digital transformation, helping organizations move from technology ambition to operational capability. She is a member of the Illinois Generative AI & NLP Task Force, a Fellow of the Aspen Tech Policy Hub, former Chair of CompTIA’s AI Advisory Council, and faculty at the Practising Law Institute, where she teaches on AI governance and emerging technologies. Her work is grounded in a practical thesis: AI fails when data, governance, decision systems, and organizational infrastructure are not built for responsible execution.
Aleta M. Frost
Development Advisor
Aleta brings unique leadership to Ecology Prime™ and Foundation for Ecology, as a diversified industry executive with the ability to analyze complex markets and competitive information across multiple business models and transform analysis into action for investment, strategic and joint venture partnership, acquisition and divestiture. She infuses her deep understanding of the myriad delicate connections between business integrity and human ecological needs into the Ecology Prime™ engine.
Mark Coleman
Emerging Sustainability Enterprise Executive Founder & President, Convergence Mitigation Management (CMM)
Mark is an award-winning author and a recognized voice, business advisor, entrepreneur and consultant on sustainable enterprise and the convergence of energy, technology, environmental stewardship and innovation. Mark is in his element with Ecology Prime™ as he always is when helping individuals and organizations advance sustainability through operational effectiveness, change management, and business strategy and development.
