Management Committee
Navajo Transitional Energy Company Management Committee
Mr. Steve Gundersen
Management Committee Chairman
Mr. Steve Gundersen is the President of Tallsalt Advisors, a Native American owned financial advisory firm based in Scottsdale, Arizona. He brings nineteen years of experience in corporate mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, financings, investments and litigation support. Through his work Mr. Gundersen assists Native American tribes to exert greater control over businesses based on their natural resources including fossil fuels as well as wind and solar assets.
Mr. Timothy H. McLaughlin
Management Committee Vice-Chairman
Mr. Tim McLaughlin is an attorney at the Nordhaus Law Firm, one of the oldest Indian law firms in the country that provides its services only to Native American tribal members and tribes. At Nordhaus, Mr. McLaughlin’s practice includes litigation and support on issues concerning tribal sovereignty, jurisdiction, trust enforcement, employment law, taxation, environmental protection, and Indian mineral resource development.
Mr. Steve Grey
Management Committee Member
Audit and Finance Committee Chairman
Mr. Grey currently holds an engineering and MBA degree. He has been with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for twenty-four years. He currently resides in the Director’s Office of Science and Technology. He also served as Director of Indian Affairs within the Department of Energy for three years. Mr. Grey has almost 30 years’ experience in Indian Energy activities.
Mr. Peter Denetclaw
Management Committee Secretary
Mr. Peter Denetclaw is currently employed with Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold, Phoenix, Arizona. He has worked in the mining industry for over 23 years (Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico) with over 17 years in management roles. He is a former Navajo Nation employee working as a Supervising Forester. He has worked in both the copper and coal industries primarily focused on regulatory affairs, permitting, community development, tribal relations support and recently sustainable development utilizing the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) framework.
Dr. Peter E. Jenkins
Management Committee Member
Technology Committee Chairman
Dr. Peter E. Jenkins is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado and has over 35 years of engineering and management experience in industry and academia. He has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, an MBA, and an IEM from Harvard. He has performed R&D in the combustion of natural gas, ethanol, coal, and biofuels for power generation and has worked on many energy projects, including solar, wind, geothermal, fuel cells and other energy conversion systems.
Dr. Rich Passamaneck
Management Committee Member
Technology Committee Member
Dr. Passamaneck has BS and MS degrees (University of California at Los Angeles) and a PhD from University of Southern California, all in Aerospace Engineering. His work experience includes 11 years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and 2 years at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He has also taught mechanical engineering for 30 years, most recently at the Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Passamaneck also holds 10 patents, 9 of which form the foundation for an oil and gas well fracturing company, Propellant Fracturing and Stimulation, LLC.
Dr. Grant Wood
Management Committee Member
Audit and Finance Committee Member
Technology Committee Member
Dr. Grant Wood is a practicing Industrial Consultant for emerging energy technologies. He holds Doctoral degrees in Industrial/Mechanical Engineering and Education from Missouri State. He was previously employed by Carvern Chemical, a Canadian Company, as a combustion specialist, working on emissions remediation (focusing on mining locations worldwide) and product development and as a production head. He taught industrial engineering at Western Washington State University, in Bellingham, Washington, and Georgia Pacific Quality Control and Employee Training.