About Breakthrough Technologies

Kamal Jaffrey is the CTO and innovator at the core of every Breakthrough Technologies innovation. He previously served as founder of Delta Search Labs in Cambridge, where he designed high-performance supercomputing centers. Kamal holds a concurrent engineering and management degree from Western International University and graduate and undergraduate degrees from Arizona State University. In addition to holding multiple U.S. and international patents and post-graduate studies and work at MIT and Harvard University, Kamal also maintains research and teaching appointments at the MIT School of Engineering and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Jeff Mahaffey is the COO and leader of Breakthrough Technologies commercial execution plan. He previously formed and led a joint venture with HB International (HBI) of Paris, an international brokerage company that negotiates deals on behalf of businesses in the oleochemical industry. Before serving as managing director at HBI USA, Jeff served as COO of Global Bio Chem Technology Group of China, where he developed and commercialized bio-based glycols. Jeff’s early career includes twenty-five years of executive management experience at Henkel and Procter & Gamble. He is a graduate of Emory University with degrees in Economics, Chemistry & Physics, and German.

Nadeem Nisar has been serving as a Managing Director of Fortistar since July 2008, where he serves as head of their investment team. He is a member of Fortistar’s management and investment committees which oversee the operations of Fortistar’s portfolio companies. He also serves on the board of several of Fortistar’s portfolio companies, including Fortistar Sustainable Solutions Corp, Carbonfree Chemicals LLC, Braven Environmental and Pellucere Technologies.

Chuck Bryceland serves as a Managing Director at Fortistar and is a member of Fortistar's management and investment committees. He is actively involved in the firm's growth strategy and is responsible for originating and stewarding investments focused on sustainability and decarbonization. Chuck has over thirty years of financial services experience and has held several senior leadership roles in both large and small investment firms including, but not limited to JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Bessemer Trust.

Newsha K. Ajami is the Chief Research Strategy and Development Officer for the Earth and Environmental Sciences Area (EESA) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. A leading expert in sustainable water resource management, smart cities, and the water-energy-food nexus, she uses data science principles to study the human and policy dimensions of urban water and hydrologic systems. In her role at LBL, she is focused on developing interdisciplinary and impact-focused research initiatives across various domains within EESA.

Graham Beesley is the CEO of BiOWiSH Technologies, a company that creates microbial solutions to restore quality in the world’s polluted waters, safely increase crop production, and help feed the world’s growing population. Graham has over thirty-five years experience in the Chemical Industry, having held commercial and technical leadership roles at both Procter and Gamble and INEOS.He is a board advisor to several companies and charitable foundations, most notably My Carbon Zero, focused on  CO2 reduction. Graham is a joint UK and Swiss citizen, and  holds a BA in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge.