Meet The Team Behind The First Algal Omega-3 EPA Oil Solution

L. Jack Staley, Sr.

President and Board Chairman

As President and Board Chairman, Jack’s 35+ years of success in banking, financial services,and investment banking as an accomplished Senior Executive, Consultant, Entrepreneur, and Board Member positions him well to lead AlgiSys. His expertise includes extensive experience in start-ups and strategy creation and execution in addressing global challenges with entrepreneurial solutions. He has a strong track record of effective international management in scaling businesses and achieving high growth rates which exceeds targets.

Throughout his career, Jack has held leadership positions in major corporations as well as an Independent Consultant to CEOs and Boards; His corporate roles were as Chairman of SGS AG Wealth Management Company, Zurich; Executive Director of Prudential Financial and Dryden Wealth Management Zurich and London and Asia; GM of Bankers Trust New York Corporation, Zurich; The Boston Company in Boston and London and Chase-Lincoln First Bank. In addition to his experience in financial services, he has worked with a wide range of companies from start-ups to public companies in medical technology, pharmaceuticals, biotech, IT, and healthcare.

Jack holds an MBA in Finance from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Economics and Political Science from Gettysburg College. Professional licenses have included US securities licenses 3,7, 63, 7,8, (now the 24), The Bank of England, The FSA, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Monaco regulatory authorities as well as the Swiss Federal Banking Commission. He serves as a Board Member of Tufts Medical Center, Prescribers Choice, Vice Chairman of The Children’s Diagnostic and Treatment Center, a Private Equity Board Member of two companies, and other charity Boards.

Peter Colella

Chief Executive Officer and Board Member

Peter Colella brings to AlgiSys over 30 years of experience of building successful teams and profitable Companies.  Prior to joining AlgiSys, he founded Colmen, where he executed over 300 successful transactions for private and public companies including corporate finance and advisory, turnarounds, investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, business development and consulting on sales, purchases, divestitures, joint ventures, leveraged transactions and management buyouts.

Before founding Colmen, Mr. Colella was employed by a billion-dollar manufacturing and distribution firm, was a financial officer with Berwind Corporation and financial officer for the North American operations of Royal Doulton China, Ltd.

Mr. Colella holds an MBA from St. John’s University and BS degree in Business Administration from LaSalle College. He is active in a number of civic, social and business organizations and has served as vice president, president and board chairman of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth as well as national vice president. Currently, Mr. Colella is a Board member of several corporations.

Charles Roe, Ph.D.

Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer, and Board Member

Dr. Charles Roe, CTO and Founder, has been working with algae for over 15 years. Before Co-founding AlgiSys, he co-founded and was the CTO of Algae Producers of America, an algal products start-up company focused on algae oil production, animal feed, beta carotene, and astaxanthin. Previously, he was a lead consultant and program manager with Nine Sigma, a technology and innovation sourcing company, where he worked with C-level R&D executives of Fortune 500 and Global 1000 corporations to identify, procure, and develop technology on a world-wide basis.  His responsibilities included improving his client’s technology platforms, brokering technology exchanges, technical enhancement of product lines, and establishing R&D partnerships.

Dr. Roe holds three degrees in chemical engineering and has expertise with emerging technologies across a diverse range of industries.  He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), and serves as an inaugural Board member for the AIChE Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Excellence (CIEE).  Dr. Roe also previously served as a Special Scientific Adviser on Micro algae and Biotechnology to the Secretary General of the Intergovernmental Institution for the Use of Micro-Algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition (IIMSAM), a non-governmental organization affiliated with the United Nations.  He has also worked in various organizational and functional capacities at AkzoNobel/ICI and General Electric.

Michael Finn

Independent Board Member

Mr. Finn’s experience in venture capital,private equity, mergers and acquisitions, institutional investing and investment banking has contributed significantly to AlgiSys’ growth. As a founding Director, he led the efforts in raising the initial $7mm of series Around funding.  He is a seasoned investment executive with extensive background in building private and public companies, as well as having served as a corporate director for over 40 companies.   Mr. Finn’s areas of expertise include manufacturing, software, technology, health care, and financial services. He has worked for the State of Michigan Treasury Department, Sears Investment Management Co., Brantley Venture Partners, Lander North Asset Management, and others. Mr. Finnholds B.S. and M.S. degrees from Michigan State University, and currently serves on the Advisory Board of The Eli Broad Business School.

Charles Bowman

Independent Board Member

Mr. Bowman is a Global C-level biotech executive with a career of delivering top line growth in the micro algae and fermentation industries across multiple platforms, companies, and markets. As a Board Member, his experience,expertise and high industry profile are a tremendous asset in building AlgiSys.  He has led 30+ M&A’s delivering higher shareholder values by expanding manufacturing from commodities into value added ingredients. Mr. Bowman has an outstanding history of developing corporate & commercial growth strategies that have doubled or tripled EBITDA within 3-5 years with such companies as BGG World, HK Ltd, Formerly Solix Algredients, Solozyme, CP Kelco, Cargill, Hexo, and others. He is experienced in raising capital and working with private equity investors. Mr. Bowman has an MBA from Averett University, and a BS in Food Science Engineering & Technology, and a Minor in Bio-Polymer Chemistry and Math at Virginia Tech.

Roger Frank

Executive Vice-President

Roger Frank’s brings to AlgiSys decades of experience in financing, creating and building innovative, climate smart and agtech companies.  Prior to joining AlgiSys he founded Innovare Advisors, a boutique advisory firm focused on financing climate-smart technologies and enterprises in Africa. Before Innovare, he worked at Developing World Markets (DWM) where he and his team won a Fast Company Award for their innovative financial models that opened the capital markets for microfinance.

Before becoming a climate-focused entrepreneur, he worked as an investment banker in global capital markets with major Wall Street firms including Lazard, Deutsche Bank and HSBC and a range of companies from start-ups to the Fortune 500.

He hasan MBA in International Finance from NYU Stern School of Business and a BFA, cum laude, from the University of Delaware. Publications include the Stanford Social Innovation Review and the Chronicle of Philanthropy.  He is a frequent public speaker on ESG, social enterprises and impact investing and is on the Advisory Board,University of Delaware Graduate Program in Fashion and Sustainability and the Board of Trustees, University of the West, a secular Buddhist inspired University, where he is the CIO of the endowment fund.

Wayne Lorgus, CPA

Chief Financial Officer

Wayne graduated from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, and earned a MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is also a graduate of the Gemological Institute of America and the USAF Air University. He holds CPA certificates from New York and Pennsylvania. He began his career with Arthur Andersen & Co. in New York, and worked in Philadelphia as a manager with that firm. Wayne then moved into private industry, working for Campbell Soup Company for 10 years in internal audit, operations planning, marketing, and business unit management. After leaving Campbell’s, Wayne served as the CEO of a food processing company in South Jersey, the CFO and Executive VP of a jewelry manufacturing company in New York City, the CFO, and later President, of a NASDAQ Small Cap manufacturer in Exton, PA, and the CFO of a jewelry wholesaler in New York, before joining B2B CFO® as a partner in 2005.

Wayne is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary. After decades of experience flying planes from single engine trainers to twin engine business jets, he now flies as a mission pilot, instructor pilot, and check pilot with the Civil Air Patrol, flying search and rescue or reconnaissance missions, and special missions in support of the USAF 548th Combat Training Squadron, 57th Operations Group.

Global Advisory Board

Paula Simpson

Functional Health & Holistic Beauty Expert

Paula Simpson is a functional health & holistic beauty expert who has integrated her expertise in biochemistry, nutrition, herbal medicine, and beauty to drive innovation within the medical, wellness and personal care sectors. With global recognition as a formulation expert for nutrition-based skincare (nutricosmetics) and expertise in algae omega-3 cosmetics, she has combined her scientific and holistic background to create some of the most successful cosmetic and beauty wellness brands available today. She has a Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Science from Ryerson University and an RNCP Diploma in Holistic Nutrition Studies from the Institute of Holistic Nutrition. She is also a registered herbalist and successful author and expert on the skin microbiome.

Leigh Ann Sayen

CEO Peterson Company

Leigh Ann Sayen. CEO of The Peterson Company, a leading pet food ingredient manufacturer and supplier of innovative ingredients and technologies to the pet food and feed industries for over 50 years.  Leigh Ann is an expert in pet ingredient formulation, R&D, manufacturing, and market penetration with new technologies.  Her professional affiliations include The American Feed Industry Association for whom she currently serves on the Board of Directors, Pet Food Institute, Pet Food Association of Canada, The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and the Institute of Food Technologists. She is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Kalamazoo College and studied Food Science at Michigan State University.

Patricia Barclay

Life Science Attorney

Patricia Barclay is the founder of Bonaccord Ecosse Ltd., a law firm specializing in the commercialization of scientific innovation. She is an award-winning lawyer with over 30+ years in the life science industry. With a focus on IP, strategy, licensing, R&D collaborations, manufacturing and distribution in the US, UK and EU, she has experience in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, animal health, innovative food products and cosmetics. Her work has included intellectual property, complex licensing deals, contracts, research collaborations, M&A, joint ventures, management buyouts and financing. She has advised on the creation of technology transfer offices in several countries and is a past Chair of the International Bar Association Life Sciences committee. Miss Barclay holds an LLB (Hons) and DipLP from the University of Edinburgh and a BCL from the University of Oxford.