Board of Directors
Patrick Blandford - Chairman
Mr. Blandford is the Managing Director at CCCC Growth Fund and also leads their investing activities. He also serves as the Managing Director of Strategy & Finance for WNC. He serves as Chairman of Source 44 and Gibraltar Capital Holdings and as a member of the board for WNC Insurance Services, Inc. and Alert Alarm of Hawaii. Previously, Mr Blandford was a Managing Director of Frontenac, a private equity firm. Mr. Blandford graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Notre Dame, began his career at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Stacy Allen
Stacy Allen is the President and CEO of Allen Power Distribution and Control, Inc., acting as a manufactures' rep for some of the major electrical distribution equipment manufacturers on the west coast. His company practices consultative sales to bring solutions to real life problems within electrical distribution. He has worked in the electrical industry for 36 years. In his early years, he served his country as a ship board electrician. With his extensive engineering background, he worked at many companies prior to starting his own including General Dynamics and Square D. He worked with Jess Kraus at General Dynamics and together they founded 3E Company.
Christopher S. Gopal, Ph.D.
Christopher S Gopal is currently the Vice President, Worldwide Operations and Service at Overland Storage. Chris has nearly 35 years of experience in leading; managing and transforming all aspects supply chain, operations, and product development in a career that spans both prominent global organizations and entrepreneurial start-ups in the technology and telecommunications industries.
Prior to joining Overland Storage, he was chief operating officer for Applied Solar, Inc., a next-generation solar energy company based in San Diego. He also served as vice president of worldwide operations at Dell, where he helped develop and implement the company’s supply-chain model and operations strategy. Dr. Gopal also served as senior partner and director of Ernst & Young’s global supply chain and operations consulting services and has held executive positions at Unisys, SAIC and Telseon.
During his consulting career Dr. Gopal covered multiple industries, including companies such as Sony Electronics, Adaptec, Avnet, AMD, Unisys, Iomega, DEC, Ericsson, Johnson & Johnson, Glaxo, Pfizer, Kellogg’s, and Xerox. As a well-respected authority on supply chain management and global operations, he speaks frequently at industry events and has co-authored three books, including “Supercharging Supply Chains: New Ways to Increase Value through Global Operational Excellence.”
Dr. Gopal is active in the San Diego community, as well as with the University of Southern California Alumni organization. Christopher holds a Ph.D. in Business from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, an MBA from the Cranfield School of Management, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Science from Bangalore University, India.
Jess F. Kraus
Jess Kraus, President, CEO and co-founder of Source 44, has over 30 years of experience in the fields of environmental and sustainability data management. In less than two years Source 44 has grown under Mr. Kraus’ leadership to become the world’s leading Supply Chain Sustainability Data Services company, owning the world’s largest database of proprietary Footprint Data Sheets™.
Prior to Source 44 Mr. Kraus founded 3E Company, the leading provider of chemical, regulatory and compliance information services. He continues to serve as 3E’s Vice Chairman. A graduate of University of California San Diego, Mr. Kraus holds degrees in mathematics and chemistry and is a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager and a California Registered Environmental Assessor. He is active in many business and civic organizations, including YPO/WPO (World President’s Organization) and the San Diego Business Innovation Center.
Ed Viesturs
Mr. Viesturs, Source 44's Head Spokesman and one of our founding investors, is America's leading high altitude mountaineer, adventurer and environmentalist. He is familiar to many from the 1996 IMAX Everest Expedition documentary. In 2002, he was awarded the historic Lowell Thomas Award by the Explorer’s Club for outstanding achievement in the field of mountaineering. In winning the award, he joined an elite group of climbers, including Sir Edmund Hillary. Viesturs is a professional mountaineer and works as a design consultant for several prominent outdoor equipment manufacturers such as Eddie Bauer and Timberland. He also represents companies such as Rolex and the Seattle Seahawks.
Learn more about Ed at his website!
