About Us
Our History and Commitment
For over a decade, Braven has been developing, testing and perfecting our waste plastics processing, and building the early support needed to prove our solution at commercial scale. We studied the waste-to-energy companies that came before us, and we understand why they’ve struggled. As a result, we now know that we can deliver strong financial returns that yield long-term, triple-bottom-line success for our partners, customers, investors and most importantly—for the generations that will inherit our earth. That success is a result of applying an entrepreneurial mindset to solving a global problem.
We are now able to develop facilities quickly and efficiently across the globe because our business model is as focused, efficient and sound as our solution to waste plastics. We are building a legacy company designed to create lasting change, and we believe that the people behind the technology are an invaluable part of our success. We are inspired by their steadfast dedication to the mission, commitment to a strong and inspiring culture, and willingness to show up everyday to play their part in changing the world.
Let us introduce you to the Braven Team.
Our Team
Nicholas Canosa
President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Nicholas Canosa
President, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-Founder
Prior to founding Braven (formerly known as Golden Renewable Energy, LLC), Mr. Canosa founded Lion Fuels International, LLC (“LFI”). LFI manages a 2,500 acre jatropha farm in Honduras, Central America. Nicholas also founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of Global Financial Credit, LLC (“Global”), one of the first companies to advance funds to people/plaintiffs involved in a lawsuit awaiting settlement. Prior to USAG, Inc., Nicholas founded and was Chief Executive Officer of Affordable Diagnostics, Inc. an operator of freestanding independent multi-diagnostic centers that include MRI, CT-Scan and X-Ray equipment. Prior to Affordable Diagnostic, Inc., he founded and was Chief Executive Officer of Northeast Physical Therapy Centers (“Northeast”) which later merged with ProSports Care, Inc., which he took public in 1994 (NASDAQ: PSCM).
Nicholas' extensive experience founding and developing successful companies in a wide range of industries led to the founding of Braven when he recognized that waste management did not include the technology necessary to deal with our nations waste. With Braven’s technology, he sees bridging waste management with the PetroChem industry to better and more efficiently manage our planets waste. After spending over a decade developing the technology to process plastics via a low-carbon impact cycle, he now leads the company's global growth as the only proven, modular and ready to implement solution to the world's plastics problem.
Nicholas received a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Business Administration from New York University and received a juris doctor degree from Yeshiva University Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in New York City. He has been a member of the Westchester County and New York State Bar Association; however, is not currently engaged in the practice of law. In his free time, Nick enjoys spending time with his three children and traveling.
Michael Moreno
Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder
Michael Moreno
Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder
After a long and successful career in asset management, Mr. Moreno was driven to co-found Braven by a deep desire to be involved in a company that could contribute to the betterment of the planet and deliver attractive financial results.
Prior to co-founding Braven (formerly known as Golden Renewable Energy, LLC), in 2014, Michael was a Principal and one of the four owners of Black Diamond Capital Management, LLC (“BDCM”), an approximately $9.0 billion alternative asset management firm specializing in amongst other things, the acquisition, stabilization, growth and sale of distressed companies in the U.S. and Europe. Prior to joining BDCM, Michael was a Principal at Atlantic Pacific Capital, a placement agent specializing in raising institutional capital for alternative investment managers. Michael began raising alternative investment capital in 1996 for ING Asset Management.
Michael started his career at Chemical Bank, in the Loan Syndications, Structured Finance and Private Placements Group, worked at ING in Emerging Markets investment banking and co-headed emerging markets loan syndications for BankBoston.
Michael received his B.A. in Political Science from Tulane University.
Michael spends his free time traveling, cooking and surfing, which fuels his desire to keep our oceans plastic free.
Jeffrey Neumann
Chief Administrative Officer
Jeffrey Neumann
Chief Administrative Officer
At Braven, Mr. Neumann oversees the strategy and plans for scaling the business. This entails managing site locations and the general corporate functions including all transactions. Mr. Neumann was drawn to Braven by the opportunity to join a company with great purpose and tremendous value proposition.
Prior to joining Braven (formerly known as Golden Renewable Energy, LLC), Mr. Neumann was the founder and CEO of RMH Franchise Holdings, one of the largest independently owned restaurant franchise operators in the country. Previously, Mr. Neumann co-founded private equity firm Coda Capital Partners in 2002. Prior to joining Coda, he was the Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of FrontLine Capital Group, a publicly traded investment vehicle. At both Coda and FrontLine, Mr. Neumann held senior leadership positions at several portfolio companies across a range of industries. Before joining FrontLine in 1998, he was a Vice President in GE Capital's private equity investment subsidiary. Previously, Mr. Neumann was the President of CompuTower Technologies, a manufacturing company, and of Modern Healthcare Services, a healthcare company.
Jeff started his career with the investment banking firm of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. in New York. Jeff holds an MBA in Finance from the New York University Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Ithaca College.
He spends his time out of the office with his wife, three kids and two dogs.
Leslie Eaton
Plant Manager - Zebulon
Leslie Eaton
Plant Manager
Mr. Eaton serves as the Plant Manager at the Braven Environmental Zebulon, NC facility. He has 30+ years of operational management experience spanning a multitude of industries such as mass production stonework, specialized water purification and pyrolosis. Leslie provides an unmatched enthusiasm for ensuring production goals are met on a daily basis and is a powerful force in the workplace as he uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed.
Leslie enjoys spending time with his wife, two children and beautiful grandson. In his free time, he loves to fish and ride his motorcycle.
Jesse Goellner
Chief Technology Officer
Jesse Goellner
Chief Technology Officer
Dr. Goellner brings to Braven Environmental over two decades of experience converting concepts into impactful solutions for the energy, chemicals, and defense markets. At Braven, Jesse leads our efforts to solidify the technicaly basis of the platform technology and expand its ability to address critical market problems. He oversees quality engineering support for future projects and current operations as well as fostering partnerships to accelerate the impact of Braven's technology innovations. Jesse was compelled to join the Braven mission because he believes strongly in the potential to bring pragmatic solutions to the market in a timeline that can have a serious impact on the waste plastic problem.
Before joining the Braven team, Jesse practiced advanced theory and laboratory experimentation to advance the fundamental understanding of heterogenous catalysis while earning his Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis and his concurrent visiting scholar appointments at the Technical University of Munich and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Subsequently, he joined ExxonMobil Chemical driving their research assets to application through the development, scale-up, demonstration, and commercialization of a novel catalysis-based technology for converting natural gas to olefins.
Jesse earned his M.B.A. as a James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business focused on bringing technology to the marketplace. He leveraged his technical and business expertise in driving the growth of Powercast (provider of wireless power and sensor solutions) and Capital Technologies International (renewable and fossil energy technology developer). He recently provided leadership to Booz Allen Hamilton’s energy practice leading resiliency, infrastructure, industrial control systems, advanced energy technology, and energy systems analysis support to the Department of Defense, civil agencies, and commercial clients.
When he isn't driving the Braven technology forward, Jesse is focused on his most important role as a father, youth sports coach and making an impact as a mentor in the community.
Alex Gonzalez
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Alexander (Alex) Gonzalez
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Mr. Gonzalez joined Braven in June 2021. He previously served as Assistant General Counsel of New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE: NJR), a diversified energy holding company, from April 2016 to June 2021. Prior to his role at NJR, Alex worked in private practice at Pepper Hamilton LLP and Dechert LLP, clerked for the Honorable Eduardo C. Robreno of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and externed for the Honorable Dolores K. Sloviter of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Alex has global experience representing enterprises across numerous industries over their entire lifecycles. His areas of expertise include: securities, treasury, finance, complex transactions, mergers and acquisitions, environmental, social and governance (ESG) and compliance. Alex’s articles on contracts and vendor management, public company securities laws and ESG from an in-house counsel perspective were recently published by the Association of Corporate Counsel.
Alex received his J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law at Camden and his B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Outside of work, Alex enjoys spending time with his family and mentoring others.
Gary Graham
Director of Regulatory Compliance
Gary Graham
Director of Regulatory Compliance
Mr. Graham oversees Braven's regulatory and product stewardship compliance efforts as the company grows. He is responsible for ensuring that Braven maintains its position as a sustainability leader in the circular economy. Gary joined Braven to improve our environment by addressing the worldwide plastic waste problem through innovation and the vision of a better tomorrow.
Prior to joining Braven, Gary served as an attorney for Garrison Environmental Law Practice, and spent almost four decades at Dupont in compliance.
Gary graduated from Widener University School of Law and received his Bachelor's degree form the University of Dayton.
When away from the office, Gary enjoys spending time with his family and pets, along with an occasional round of golf.
Bob Grier
Senior Vice President of Operations
Robert (Bob) Grier
Senior Vice President of Operations
Mr. Grier is responsible for leading Braven’s Operations including Manufacturing, Project Engineering & Construction, Supply Chain, Quality and EH&S. He has extensive experience in multiple green technology startups encompassing Solar design/build and operations for utility scale plants, Cd-Te thin film solar panel manufacturing and DC-DC power electronics. He has built the engineering and technology team in an early-stage Hydrogen to Power electrolyzer company from product design through development. He most recently led the Operations for View, Inc. the world leader in Dynamic Electrochromic Glass.
Robert spent more than 20 years in engineering and operations leadership roles with GE in their Nuclear Fuel and Silicones businesses including multiple international assignments in Europe and Asia.
Outside of work, Robert spends his time hiking, mountain biking and overall enjoying the outdoors with his fiancée.
Brian Griffin
Director of Environmental Health and Safety
Brian Griffin
Director of Environmental Health and Safety
Mr. Griffin is responsible for establishing Braven’s Environmental, Health, and Safety best practices in our production facilities. In addition, he will support EH&S considerations and planning of future projects and other duties when needed.
Brian brings his expertise in Environmental Health and safety with previous experience in the natural resources industry. He has earned multiple degrees from Indiana University of Pennsylvania BA of Psychology and Columbia Southern University, where he obtained a BS degree in Occupational Safety and Health. He comes to us with over twenty years of safety experience with demonstrated leadership and attention to safety detail. Brian has been instrumental in the development of teams while creating sustainable change for a safer work environment. He has a proven track record of incident reduction by listening to the needs of employees and interpretation their developmental needs.
Brian has always been committed to education and that of the team. Development and training are high priorities. He truly has a passion for helping people and the community.
Outside of work, Brian enjoys spending time on the golf course, fishing, attending sporting events, spending time with his family and two dogs.
Sanjiv Khattri
Chief Financial Officer
Sanjiv Khattri
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Khattri joined Braven Environmental because he is inspired by Braven's vision to use a unique technology to enable a scalable commercially viable solution to world's waste plastic crisis. As Chief Financial Officer, he is responsible for treasury, accounting, investor relations, strategy, financial planning, tax and information technology.
Sanjiv has over 30 years of financial leadership experience, including close to a decade as the CFO of three public and private companies. Sanjiv also has extensive consulting experience in strategy, business development, M&A and Financial Transformation with several PE funds, hedge funds and early startups. Prior to joining Braven, he served as the CFO & EVP at Platform Specialty Products Corporation aka Element Solutions Inc. (ticker ESI). Prior to joining Platform, Sanjiv also served as the CFO & EVP at Covanta Holding Corporation (ticker CVA). Sanjiv also had an extensive career with General Motors ("GM") and GMAC Financial Services (“GMAC”), aka Ally Financial, where he had significant leadership assignments in treasury, business development, controller, and special project functions, both in the United States and overseas. He was CFO of GMAC and was instrumental in guiding GMAC to its evolution from a wholly-owned subsidiary of GM to a standalone diversified global financial services company independent from GM.
Sanjiv has extensive board experience in both for profit and philanthropic organizations. Sanjiv received a bachelor’s degree in Production Engineering from Panjab University (India) and an MBA from the University of Michigan.
Sanjiv enjoys spending time with his family, following cricket all over the world and golfing.
Stefanie Messina
Director of Human Resources
Stefanie Messina
Director of Human Resources
Ms. Messina joined Braven in 2019 and oversees the company’s Human Resource function. Her primary responsibilities include the design and successful implementation of HR strategies as they relate to talent acquisition, culture building, learning and development, diversity, equity and inclusion, compensation and benefits, labor relations, HRIS, and HR strategic operations.
Prior to joining Braven, Stefanie held HR leadership roles in the entertainment and healthcare industries. Stefanie earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo and later pursued her Masters in Human Resource Management from the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University. She currently holds PHR and SHRM-CP certifications.
Stefanie is an avid gardener and loves to travel throughout New England.
Kevin O'Connor
Director of Construction and Implementation
Kevin O'Connor
Director of Construction and Implementation
Mr. O’Connor has over 35 years of experience in all phases of process facility design, fabrication, and construction, and is responsible to lead Braven’s Projects & Construction group. He is responsible for leading teams and building relationships with internal and external resources to execute Braven’s construction and fabrication projects. His role entails providing leadership in safety practices and procedures, managing the financial success of the division including long-term profitability, ensuring the highest level of quality on all projects, and executing on the companies strategic goals.
Prior to joining Braven, Kevin spent 15 years leading projects in the Renewable Energy, Process and Industrial sectors. He is familiar with chemical, pharmaceutical, and fuel production facilities, and also has extensive experience in equipment design and fabrication.
He began his career in construction in 1986 as a Steamfitter apprentice in Newark, NJ, and later served as a Cavalry Scout in the United States Army (PAARNG) from 2003 through 2009, achieving the rank of Sergeant.
Elbert Silva
Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis
Elbert Silva
Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis
Mr. Silva is responsible for leading the budgeting & forecasting process for the organization including the development of KPI’s, scorecards, and variance analysis. In his role, Elbert will be a key player in building the Finance group to support Braven’s growth plans and support business partners on operational and financial issues.
Prior to joining Braven, Elbert led FP&A and Operations finance for various companies in industries such as biosciences, cash services, consumer goods and healthcare. He brings over 25 years of experience in helping organizations drive growth & cost reduction initiatives. Elbert has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Florida Atlantic University and an MBA from the University of Miami.
Outside of work, Elbert enjoys spending time with his dogs, going to sporting events (he is a big Miami Dolphins and Hurricanes fan), and loves to travel.
Ross Sloane
Director of Business Development
John (Ross) Sloane
Director of Business Development
Mr. Sloane is responsible for leading Braven’s project development efforts, including identifying potential facility sites, sourcing waste plastic suppliers and offtake partners.
Prior to joining Braven, Ross had over 10 years in the financial services industry as a Senior Vice President of commercial institutional wealth at PNC Bank, Senior City President for SunTrust and Vice President for Wachovia/Wells Fargo retail and business banking. His responsibilities included the management of personal and business financial portfolios for both private and public companies with annual revenues greater than $1 billion. Prior to banking, Ross was the owner of several successful companies in the medical and communications industries.
Ross’s entrepreneurial spirit started after college when he joined a family cable business and expanded its footprint to cover the southeast as acting President. He was instrumental in the negotiating the FEMA funding for the utility companies in the communications rebuild of Florida after the hurricane disaster season of the “Summer of Six.” The successful growth of that company led to an acquisition by then named Brighthouse Communications, now Charter.
Ross was a student athlete at Penn State University where he received his B.A. in Business Administration with a minor in Marketing. He continued his education at the Bryan School of Business at UNCG with a concentration in economics.
Our Triple Bottom
Line Promise
With every new facility established by Braven, we create job growth and support local initiatives to better care for the communities. We are committed to using a localized workforce to fill positions across the spectrum, especially pulling from local trade schools, colleges and universities. We are further dedicated to create a fair, safe and prosperous work environment, driven by strong family ties within the company itself.
