The State of the Midwest Data Center Market:

Trends, Opportunities and Challenges in Chicago and Surrounding Midwest Markets

• 

  Peter Hopper

  Peter Hopper is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at Primary Digital Infrastructure, an independent data center investment platform. In prior roles, Mr. Hopper was a Managing Director at DigitalBridge Investment Management. Mr. Hopper was responsible for the identification, evaluation, and implementation of growth opportunities for DigitalBridge’s investment management franchise. Prior to joining DigitalBridge, Mr. Hopper was Co-Founder and CEO of DH Capital, a firm specializing in assisting growing businesses in the Internet Infrastructure, Telecom and SaaS industries. Prior to founding DH Capital, Mr. Hopper founded and served as President and CEO of DURO Communications, one of the largest privately held ISP/CLECs in the U.S. Mr. Hopper received a Bachelor of Science from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

  Primary Digital Infrastructure

  Co-Founder and Managing Director

  Peter Hopper

  Co-Founder and Managing Director

  Primary Digital Infrastructure

• 

  Gordon Kellerman

  Gordon Kellerman serves as Executive Vice President, Sales & Leasing for Skybox Datacenters. Gordon brings 12 years of experience in critical facilities sales and marketing. Mr. Kellerman is a leading sales expert within the data center industry completing over 100 MW & 1M SF of mission critical projects throughout North America. Gordon is a graduate of Southern Methodist University and serves as an Associate Board Member for the Folsom School of Real Estate, as well as on the Executive Board of Camp John Marc. Camp John Marc aims to “inspire confidence for life” for kids with various chronic medical and physical challenges.

  Skybox Datacenters

  EVP

  Gordon Kellerman

  EVP

  Skybox Datacenters

• 

  Phillip Koblence

  Phillip Koblence is a strategic executive and thought leader in the data center and network space. He co-founded NYI (www.nyi.net) in 1996 and has successfully navigated through an ever-shifting infrastructure landscape, growing the company from a single data center in Lower Manhattan to a robust network with executional capabilities in key national and international markets. His leadership, focus on customer experience, and ability to cut through complexity and hype, has positioned NYI as an industry leader in high-touch infrastructure solutions. Phillip is also CEO of Critical Ventures, a consulting agency offering a range of services to help clients, owners and investors optimize the value of critical infrastructure assets. Phillip sits on the DE-CIX North America Advisory Board as well as on the Board of OIX (formerly Open-IX). Phillip is Co-Founder of the Nomad Futurist Foundation and Podcast, designed to demystify the world of critical infrastructure and inspire younger generations to join the industry. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and has been profiled by Data Center Knowledge, TheWHIR, MSPMentor, and NJ BIZ. He has an engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

  NYI

  Co-Founder & COO

  Phillip Koblence

  Co-Founder & COO

  NYI

• 

  Michael Lee

  Michael Lee is a Managing Director at GI Partners and focuses on asset management and property management within GI Partners’ Real Estate investments. Prior to joining GI Partners, Mr. Lee was with Digital Realty where he focused on development, management, and leasing of data centers. Previously, Mr. Lee led New City Corporation’s asset management team in Tokyo as the Senior Vice President. Prior to that, Mr. Lee had roles with Situs, Hines, and various hospitality groups. He served in portfolio management, asset management, and other operational capacities domestically as well as internationally for multiple types of commercial real estate, including office, multifamily, and hospitality.

  GI Partners

  Managing Director

  Michael Lee

  Managing Director

  GI Partners

• 

  Kemal Hawa

  Kemal Hawa is a corporate partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Kemal represents many of the world’s largest private equity firms, infrastructure funds, real estate investors and lenders across a broad range of transactions in the digital infrastructure sector domestically and internationally, including mergers and acquisitions, investments, financing arrangements, joint ventures and development projects. Kemal counsels clients in complex transactions across the digital infrastructure and telecommunications, media and technology industries. This includes many of the world’s largest data center operators, telecommunications carriers, tower companies, cloud providers, fiber providers, media companies, submarine cable operators, fintech companies, wireless and international carriers, internet service providers, satellite companies, equipment manufacturers and electric utilities. In addition to M&A and financing transactions, Kemal represents companies in connection with the full spectrum of digital infrastructure transactions globally, including the negotiation of data center leases and colocation agreements, telecommunications master service agreements, licensing deals and other commercial transactions. Kemal is a frequent author and speaker on digital infrastructure topics and has consistently been recognized as an industry leading attorney in the sector. In 2023, Kemal was named as one of Capacity Media’s “Power 100” – a list of the 100 most influential people in the digital infrastructure sector globally, and was voted “TMT M&A Lawyer of the Year” by an independent panel of judges organized by TMT Finance.

  Kirkland & Ellis

  Partner

  Moderator

  Kemal Hawa

  Partner

  Kirkland & Ellis

Site Selection, Permitting and Fiber Build-Outs:

Navigating the Early Phases of Development and Where to Build Next

• 

  Brian Chen

  Brian is the Vice President at Stewart Title’s National Commercial Services group, where he and his team provide title insurance solutions for complex transactions across the United States. With over ten years of experience in the energy sector, Brian specializes in development, construction, and operations. He is an active member of the Houston community, co-founding the Renewable Energy Alliance (REAL) Houston and serving on its Board of Directors. Before his career in the energy industry, Brian served in the U.S. Army and completed a tour in Afghanistan.

  Stewart Title

  VP

  Brian Chen

  VP

  Stewart Title

• 

  Donncha O' Tuama

  VP, General Counsel

  Yondr Group

• 

  Melissa Vandewater

  Melissa has substantial experience advising developers, investors, owners, tenants, and lenders in a wide variety of complex commercial real estate transactions, including financings, joint ventures, acquisitions and dispositions, development projects, and leases involving industrial, office, retail, and multifamily properties. A significant part of Melissa’s practice includes the representation of data center operators, private equity firms, and real estate investors in the acquisition, development, and leasing of large data center projects, including power shell leases, sale-leaseback transactions, colocation lease agreements, master service agreements and work orders, master leases and analysis of flow through issues under customer leases. Representative projects include the leasing of a portfolio of data center properties in excess of 1000 megawatts, including negotiation of service level agreements, development work letter, operating expense pass-through obligations, and tax incentive provisions. In the area of real estate finance, Melissa serves as counsel to national and local banks in acquisition, construction, syndicated, bridge, permanent, and participated commercial loan transactions. She is also experienced in guiding financial institutions through loan modifications, workouts, and REO dispositions. Melissa is a frequent speaker on lease-related topics and has held leadership positions on various committees of the American Bar Association’s Real Property Leasing Group. Concentrations Acquisitions Dispositions Financing Leasing Development

  Greenberg Traurig

  Shareholder

  Melissa Vandewater

  Shareholder

  Greenberg Traurig

• 

  Aaron Wangenheim

  As the Chief Executive Officer, Aaron provides leadership, strategy, and management for Base Partners with a focus on data center development and operations, as well as emerging power and electricity technologies. Base Partners, Inc. is an advisory and development company focused on next-generation mission-critical facilities and services. Aaron has held numerous leadership positions throughout his career covering every facet of the data center industry, including site selection and acquisition, sales, marketing, operations, finance and more. Aaron started in the industry in the 1990s as a consultant, acquiring data center sites for the first generation of mission critical facilities, before transitioning into the role of developer, owner and operator of modern, efficient and sustainable data centers. Prior to Base Partners, Aaron Was the Chief Operating Officer of T5 Data Centers. Aaron holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California Los Angeles.

  Base Partners

  CEO

  Aaron Wangenheim

  CEO

  Base Partners

• 

  Ed Sitar

  Ed Sitar (pronounced “sitter”) is the Senior Manager of Economic Development at ComEd, where he oversees the company’s strategy and efforts to recruit and retain large business customers and grow jobs and investment in key industries across northern Illinois. Ed is a 29-year veteran of the company, where he has worked closely with development partners to leverage ComEd’s reliable, affordable, and clean energy services to secure major business investment wins for the region. During his tenure with ComEd, he has been a part of the company’s competitive business attraction efforts, helping prospective customers’ to navigate a decision to expand or grow in Illinois amid a changing regulatory climate (prior to the industry’s deregulation in 1997, and on to Illinois’ nation-leading CEJA law). He has also shaped commercial energy efficiency policies and programs to serve the needs of ComEd’s large customers and helped support development projects with commitments to create 250,000 jobs over the last decade.

  ComEd

  Manager, Economic & Business Development

  Moderator

  Ed Sitar

  Manager, Economic & Business Development

  ComEd

High Densities and Cooler Facilities:

Enabling High Performance Compute Through Effective Rack Management and Cooling

• 

  Gabe Andrews

  Gabe Andrews joined Wesco in 2024 and is an expert on high density and liquid cooling designs. He has over 20 years of data center experience, including various roles in deployment, construction, commissioning, and operations across six continents. Gabe is a U.S. military veteran and an active member in several data center industry associations.

  Wesco

  Director, High Density Infrastructure

  Gabe Andrews

  Director, High Density Infrastructure

  Wesco

• 

  Matthew Caldwell

  Matthew Caldwell leads strategic account engagement at Trane, a global leader in mission critical cooling. Matt understands the unique needs of the hyperscale & colocation market and coordinates with an account team to support the rapid growth and sustainability goals of global data center clients. Matt has spent the past two decades working in the data center industry; having worked at Schneider Electric, as an enterprise account manager, and Siemens, as a global account manager. Matt earned an MBA from the University of California – Irvine and a BS in business from the University of Rhode Island.

  Trane Commercial

  Global Accounts Director

  Matthew Caldwell

  Global Accounts Director

  Trane Commercial

• 

  Yury Lui

  Extensive mechanical systems design and commissioning experience collaborating with commercial, institutional and government clients. His specialty is high-performance HVAC systems in technology-intensive environments, ranging from computing facilities to laboratories. Mr. Lui has experience managing and coordinating both design and commissioning assignments, as well as providing QA/QC reviews. Mr. Lui has expertise in LEED consulting, energy modeling, and life-cycle cost analysis. His expertise encompasses the commissioning of new systems and buildings and the retro-commissioning of existing facilities. Specialties: High Performance Building Design, Fuel Oil System Design, Energy Modeling, Commissioning, LEED Consultation and Facilitation, Energy Saving Performance Contract

  Digital Realty Trust

  Director, Energy & Engineering, Americas Operations

  Yury Lui

  Director, Energy & Engineering, Americas Operations

  Digital Realty Trust

• 

  Raymond Parpart

  Director, Data Center Strategy & Operations

  University of Chicago

• 

  Jason Roth

  Jason Roth, Principal Technology Director specializes in critical environment decontamination, training, consulting and auditing of cleanroom aseptic operations and management. Jason holds technology patents and is actively engaged in the contamination control field for more than 25 years. He has extensive experience in the areas of cleanroom operations, training, technical writing, strategic consulting and process optimization. He is a member of the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technologies (IEST), National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), and the University of Central Florida’s Industrial Affiliates Program for cleanroom alliance. Jason has been published many times in areas relating to critical environment technologies and has also served as Chairman for the cleanroom testing, cleaning, standards and risk analysis sessions from 2013 - 2016. Jason is certified in ISO 14644 standards, conductive floor care, static testing, sterile process, and commercial air balancing (NBI).

  Sterile Environment Technologies (SET3)

  Executive Director

  Jason Roth

  Executive Director

  Sterile Environment Technologies (SET3)

• Moderator

  John Boggs

  Director, Thermal Sales

  Vertiv

Top Ten Data Center Legal Issues for Leases and MSA's That You Should Know About

• 

  Jeffrey Moerdler

  Jeff Moerdler is chair of the Haynes Boone Data Center and Digital Infrastructure Practice and a real estate partner in the New York office. He has more than 40 years’ experience in general commercial real estate law. Jeff’s real estate practice includes acquisitions, sales, development, leasing, and borrower’s side financing. Jeff also has a particular focus on real estate challenges facing communications, technology and energy companies, and represents property owners and telecom companies in telecom real estate matters, particularly in data center development, acquisitions, sales, leases, colocation agreements and service level agreements. His clients include both large national companies and smaller, local clients, and includes representation of landlords and tenants in all types of leases; counseling owners and developers in the acquisition, sale, joint venture, development, and renovation of property as well as sale-leaseback transactions; advising lenders and borrowers in commercial loans; and the representation of all parties in real estate litigation. He is actively involved in settling real estate, partnership, and inter-family disputes. He also represents many not-for-profit entities and is active in health care, senior living, and educational real estate.

  Haynes and Boone, LLP

  Partner & Chair, Data Center & Digital Infrastructure

  Presenter

  Jeffrey Moerdler

  Partner & Chair, Data Center & Digital Infrastructure

  Haynes and Boone, LLP

Data Center Financing and Capital Markets:

How Cost Of Capital and Industry Demand Is Changing The Game

• 

  Jim Breen

  SVP, Investor Relations

  Lumen Technologies

• 

  Daniel English

  Daniel English is the President and Co-Founder of Legacy Investing, an investment firm focused on technology impacted real estate. Legacy has completed >$3B in transactions across 19M SF in data centers, e-commerce industrial assets, and life science buildings. Prior to co-founding Legacy Investing, Daniel was a tech start-up executive with leadership roles across M&A, corporate development, strategy, and product management. Daniel studied engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and Economics and Finance at Emory University.

  Legacy Investing

  Managing Partner

  Daniel English

  Managing Partner

  Legacy Investing

• 

  Jeffrey Moerdler

  Jeff Moerdler is chair of the Haynes Boone Data Center and Digital Infrastructure Practice and a real estate partner in the New York office. He has more than 40 years’ experience in general commercial real estate law. Jeff’s real estate practice includes acquisitions, sales, development, leasing, and borrower’s side financing. Jeff also has a particular focus on real estate challenges facing communications, technology and energy companies, and represents property owners and telecom companies in telecom real estate matters, particularly in data center development, acquisitions, sales, leases, colocation agreements and service level agreements. His clients include both large national companies and smaller, local clients, and includes representation of landlords and tenants in all types of leases; counseling owners and developers in the acquisition, sale, joint venture, development, and renovation of property as well as sale-leaseback transactions; advising lenders and borrowers in commercial loans; and the representation of all parties in real estate litigation. He is actively involved in settling real estate, partnership, and inter-family disputes. He also represents many not-for-profit entities and is active in health care, senior living, and educational real estate. During the past 35 years, Jeff has developed considerable experience in the intersection of real estate with communications, technology, and energy issues. He has extensive experience representing landlords, tenants, developers, and communications service providers in the leasing, purchase, sale, and financing of data centers, colocation facilities, radio and television broadcast antennas, distributed and in-building wireless systems, rooftop antennas, and fiber-optic transactions as well as the wiring of buildings for broadband communications access. Jeff has also negotiated thousands of data center leases, master services agreements, colocation agreements and service level agreements, rooftop and cellular antenna leases, inside wiring agreements, and antenna tower leases throughout the country – covering over 500 million square feet. He has also devoted a considerable portion of his practice to power and energy issues related to real estate and other technology matters, including large solar and wind installations, battery storage facilities, and bulk power purchases. Jeff is a frequent speaker on real estate, data center, and telecom topics around the country. He is Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and on the faculty of the Advanced Commercial Leasing Institute. He regularly speaks as a panelist at data center, digital infrastructure and real estate conference around the United States. In addition, he is regularly quoted in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bisnow, Commercial Property News, Real Estate Weekly, and other publications. He co-authored the first treatise chapter on telecom real law for Powell on Real Property in 1999. Jeff has previously served in numerous governmental positions, including as a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a member of the New York State Banking Board, a member of the New York State Financial Control Board, a member of the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the Appellate Division of the First Department of the New York State Supreme Court, Assistant to the First Deputy Mayor of the City of New York, and assistant to the Deputy Borough President of the Borough of Manhattan. From 1981 to 1982, Jeff served as a law clerk to the Honorable Charles L. Brieant, US District Judge, and later Chief Judge, for the Southern District of New York. Jeff is also an emergency medical technician on his local volunteer ambulance and President of his local chapter, as well as having served for 8 years on the Board of Trustees of the umbrella organization which is the largest volunteer ambulance service in the United States.

  Haynes and Boone

  Partner & Chair, Data Center & Digital Infrastructure

  Jeffrey Moerdler

  Partner & Chair, Data Center & Digital Infrastructure

  Haynes and Boone

• 

  Amy Tang

  Amy Tang is a Portfolio Manager in the Multi-Managers Real Estate (MMRE) Americas team, which forms part of the Real Estate & Private Markets (REPM) business within UBS Asset Management (UBS-AM). Amy joined MMRE in July 2020. In this role, she is responsible for investment selection and serving as Portfolio Manager for a mandate. Prior to joining UBS-AM, Amy was Vice President at Oak Street Real Estate Capital, (now Blue Owls), where she was responsible for acquisition, asset management, and disposition in the US and Canada. Amy started her real estate career at Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a Lincoln Foundation-sponsored NGO, where she originated and underwrote loans and grants to support community-based real estate developments. Amy is a member of the Rising Leaders of Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE), Urban Land Institute (ULI), 100 Women in Finance, and She-Suite, an executive training program. In addition, she co-leads UBS-AM’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) workstream.

  UBS Asset Management

  Director

  Amy Tang

  Director

  UBS Asset Management

• 

  Jennifer Fritzsche

  Prior to joining Greenhill, Jennifer was CFO, Manager & Board Member of Canopy Spectrum, a company focused on the wireless spectrum space. Prior to that, Jennifer was as Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Wells Fargo Securities for 25 years where she focused on the Telecommunication Services, Cable, Data Center and Tower sectors. During her tenure at Wells Fargo, Jennifer received numerous awards including top rankings from Institutional Investor in the Communications Infrastructure space for each of the last 4 years (2017 – 2020). In 2020, Fifth Generation Media named Jennifer one of the Top 10 Women in Connectivity & Tech. Jennifer started in telecom equity research in 1996 with EVEREN Securities. Jennifer holds an MBA from Northeastern University and a BA in history from the College of the Holy Cross.

  Greenhill

  Managing Director

  Moderator

  Jennifer Fritzsche

  Managing Director

  Greenhill

Water Sustainability and Data Centers

• 

  Michael Beatty

  After getting his B.S. in Chemistry Michael began his career in Industrial Water Treatment for 16 years. For the next 14 years he served in the Data Center industry, advising Data Center owners, engineers, and operators regarding cooling and power designs and solutions. Michael has managed multiple Data Center Design/Build projects, from greenfield to brownfield, including live Data Center upgrades. He has Top Secret DOD clearance and has performed Data Center energy and Tier Reliability audits for the US Government and private industry. He also has experience in doing forensic analysis of Data Center equipment failures and implementing solutions for remediation. In 2020 Michael joined Nalco Water in the Global High Tech business group, responsible for advising and supporting Data Center engineers and owner/operators regarding water related issues. This includes site selection water assessment, cooling system design, water consumption and treatment, water conservation, water reclaim, water pre-treatment equipment design, water related Capex/Opex, and newer sustainable water strategies and technologies. He also leads the Nalco CDCWT Certification effort to educate Data Center industry members about best practices with water and the wise stewardship of water. Michael is married with four children and serves on the leadership teams of two ministry groups.

  Nalco Water, An Ecolab Company

  AVP, Global Data Center Design & Engineering

  Presenter

  Michael Beatty

  AVP, Global Data Center Design & Engineering

  Nalco Water, An Ecolab Company

How Are Developers Bringing Projects Online With Total Cost of Ownership and Speed To Market In Mind?

• 

  Adam Black

  Adam Black is a member of TA Realty’s portfolio management team and is responsible for driving strategy and execution for certain of the Firm’s investment vehicles as they continue to grow. He has been with the Firm since 2023 and prior to joining he was DCS Manager, Mid Atlantic at Google. Previously, Mr. Black worked in Infrastructure Construction Management – Special Projects at Facebook. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Management and Southern Polytechnic State University with a M.S. in Construction Management.

  TA Digital Group

  SVP, Design & Construction

  Adam Black

  SVP, Design & Construction

  TA Digital Group

• 

  Nyssa Hughes

  Nyssa is a strategic design leader with a proven track record of delivering complex, high-performance data center projects—from mission-critical fit-outs to multi-building hyperscale campuses. She brings a holistic, forward-thinking approach to every phase of development, ensuring that design aligns seamlessly with business objectives, technical requirements, and stakeholder priorities. She excels at orchestrating cross-functional teams, driving clarity and momentum, and delivering scalable solutions with precision and impact. Her commitment to innovation and operational excellence continues to advance the future of data center development.

  Prologis

  Director, Data Center Design

  Nyssa Hughes

  Director, Data Center Design

  Prologis

• 

  Matthew Kaleta

  Associate Partner

  Syska Hennessy Group

• 

  Brian Medina

  VP, Development

  Serverfarm

• 

  Jonathan Mesik

  Principal, Mission Critical - National

  DLR Group

• 

  Kurt Lindorfer

  Kurt’s professional engineering career spans over 40 years. His expertise includes structural engineering design for Mission Critical Facilities such as Data Centers, Health Care Facilities such as Hospitals and Clinics and Life Sciences Facilities such as Biopharmaceutical Pilot Plants and Production Facilities around the United States and the World. His area of expertise is in designing buildings to be occupable after natural disasters including Tornados, Hurricanes and Earthquakes. He has been the structural engineer of record for conventional “fixed Base Buildings” ranging from 1-23 stories, “Base Isolated Buildings” ranging from 1-5 stories, and the retrofit and new construction of buildings incorporating Fluid Viscous Dampers ranging from 1-22 stories. He has published numerous papers on passive energy dissipation and presented the findings at various conventions in Boston, San Francisco and Milan. For over 23 years as the Founding Principal at PARADIGM Structural Engineers, Kurt spends most of his time developing new leaders at PARADIGM and mentoring staff in Chicago and San Francisco.

  PARADIGM Structural Engineers

  Founding Principal

  Moderator

  Kurt Lindorfer

  Founding Principal

  PARADIGM Structural Engineers

Designing For and With AI in Mind:

How AI is Transforming the Data Center Space

• 

  Gabe Clark

  Corgan’s designation as the number 1 data center architect is, in part, the result of Gabe’s expertise in master planning, programming, and his collaborative approach to data center building design. One of Gabe’s favorite projects and proudest accomplishments to date was working on the first purpose-built data center for a confidential technology company in Maiden, North Carolina — the data center was the first one of its size to achieve LEED Platinum certification. Since then, Gabe has led the development of significant data center programs for various cloud and hyperscale providers both nationally and internationally.

  Corgan

  Principal, Data Center Sector Leader

  Gabe Clark

  Principal, Data Center Sector Leader

  Corgan

• 

  Todd Czworniak

  Todd Czworniak is an Associate Partner and Supervising Mechanical Engineer for Syska Hennessy Group’s Critical Facility Practice. He is a registered Professional Engineer (IL) and a LEED Accredited Professional. Todd has extensive experience in the design of data center mechanical systems for complex mission critical projects. His various mission critical facility clients range from enterprise users to global colocation providers to market-leading hyperscale cloud platforms. Whether master planning a greenfield campus or assessing an equipment upgrade or retrofit, he coordinates closely with project stakeholders to balance efficiency and reliability and integrate the most appropriate technology for their businesses. His design experience includes central water- and air-cooled chilled water plants; direct- and indirect-evaporative cooling air distribution equipment; dry cooler and glycol systems; refrigerant-based economization systems; central water treatment and humidification plants; various liquid cooling applications including water-on-chip and submersion baths; and dedicated ventilation and exhaust systems. Todd earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Systems from Bradley University. His Professional Affiliations include U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

  Syska Hennessy Group

  Associate Partner

  Todd Czworniak

  Associate Partner

  Syska Hennessy Group

• 

  Erin Braddock Guthrie

  Erin Braddock Guthrie the Senior Director of Cloud & AI strategy at Microsoft. Prior to her current role, she held a role as the Acting Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO) for over two years. Guthrie also served as the regional general manager for Uber Midwest in Chicago where she partnered with cities and regulators to create safe, positive experiences for customers and residents. From 2013 to 2017, she was a client engagement manager and partnership portfolio manager at McKinsey & Company in Chicago. Previously, Guthrie worked as a product manager MBA intern at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters, as an account executive at 4INFO and as a business development manager at Nokia in San Francisco. She received her MBA from the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business and Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy from Stanford University. Erin lives in Wicker Park with her husband and son.

  Microsoft

  Senior Director, Cloud & AI Strategy

  Erin Braddock Guthrie

  Senior Director, Cloud & AI Strategy

  Microsoft

• 

  Jason Post

  Director

  Element Critical

• 

  Shad Sechrist

  When Shad Sechrist joined Lynn in 2023, he brought more than 25 years of experience with him in the electrical and electronic manufacturing industry, including data center design, building infrastructure consulting and network design. He helps deliver comprehensive data center solutions to Lynn’s enterprise clients, specializing in product selection, logistics, project management and process improvement. His consultative approach not only gives clients the answers they need, but it also helps them learn more about their physical infrastructure.

  NSI Building Technology

  Director, Data Center Solutions

  Moderator

  Shad Sechrist

  Director, Data Center Solutions

  NSI Building Technology

Power Management and Alternative Energy Sources:

The Evolution of Backup Solutions and How to Power Your Data Center

• 

  Brian Gitt

  Brian leads business development for Oklo, a startup developing next-generation nuclear technologies to deliver reliable low-cost clean energy 24/7. He spent over two decades building companies in the clean energy industry—first as executive director of a green building trade association, then as CEO of a consulting firm specializing in clean energy. More recently he founded UtilityScore, a software startup that estimated utility costs and savings for 100M+ homes, and he led business development at a hard tech company developing wireless power. He now writes and speaks about the need for energy that’s clean, reliable, and affordable.

  Oklo

  Head of Business Development

  Brian Gitt

  Head of Business Development

  Oklo

• 

  Steve Holland

  SVP, Operations

  TA Realty

• 

  Alan Howard

  Alan Howard is the Sales Director for Clarke Energy USA, a role he has held since 2021. With over 17 years of experience at Clarke Energy, Alan has gained extensive expertise across various areas of the business, including project management, field service and commissioning, as well as leading the EPC division. His diverse experience has provided him with opportunities to work in multiple countries, successfully installing distributed energy solutions. In his current position, Alan is responsible for leading and managing a high-performing sales team across the North American market. In addition to his professional achievements, Alan is deeply engaged in industry associations. He currently serves as co-chair of the biogas working group within the Mid-West Energy Research Consortium (M-WERC) and as a board member of the Midwest Cogen Association (MCA). Before joining Clarke Energy, Alan served for seven years in the British Army with the Corps of Royal Engineers, where he graduated from the esteemed Royal School of Military Engineering.”

  Clarke Energy USA

  Senior Director, Sales

  Alan Howard

  Senior Director, Sales

  Clarke Energy USA

• 

  Eamon Perrel

  Eamon oversees offtake origination, acquisitions, and distributed energy resources across all markets and technologies. He has worked with Apex since 2009 in a variety of roles, including acquisitions, offtake origination, project finance, corporate finance, and development. Eamon holds an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and a BA in mathematics from the University of Virginia.

  Apex Clean Energy Holdings

  Executive Vice President

  Eamon Perrel

  Executive Vice President

  Apex Clean Energy Holdings

• 

  Jim Roche

  SVP, Engineering

  CyrusOne

• 

  Joe Reele

  Joe is Vice President, Solution Architects at Schneider Electric, responsible for bringing together the full suite of our products and services to provide complete solutions for our customers. Joe has more than 22 years of experience in strategic planning, business development, operations management, and system engineering strategies.  Joe started his career with the U.S. Air Force Nuclear program and then lead one of the world’s largest financial data center portfolios. Joe provides strong technical and business leadership skills with the proven ability to analyze an organization’s business requirements, identify deficiencies and potential opportunities, and develop innovative solutions to meet the customer’s business objectives.

  Schneider Electric

  VP, Solution Architects

  Moderator

  Joe Reele

  VP, Solution Architects

  Schneider Electric