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DISCOVER : Our Team

We are proud to have some of the most talented and passionate minds in health and energy conservation - true pioneering leaders, trendsetters, and expert researchers.

Alan Finkel, CEO / Director of Marketing
Steven Zubkoff, President
David Finkel, Chief Health Officer
Scott Johnson, Building Science Specialist, Training Program Director
Alan Williamson, Construction Specialist and Project Manager
Steve Melnikoff, Director of Technology
Lisa Zubkoff, Director of Clinical Research

Alan M. Finkel is a California attorney, public relations specialist and innovator of patient-centered healthcare applications. Alan started his career specializing in corporate law and business immigration. Alan then created Wildmind Public Relations, a firm providing marketing services to internet, technology and financial companies during the tech boom. Most recently, Alan has led the marketing strategies for two diverse companies: Tru Align and Green Sandwich Technologies. It was at Green Sandwich that Alan developed a passion for environmental activism. Marketing successes included several articles in DWELL, broadcast news stories on FOX and NBC, plus a listing as one of the 20 companies to change the world in January 2007’s PLENTY Magazine. Yet, the proudest accomplishment for Alan has been the development of the Cancer Safety Net software application for patients and their loved ones. The application was developed to manage patient stress and deliver all the pertinent treatment and emotional related information in a easily accessible, entertaining, fresh and calming manner. The program was developed in coordination with Premiere Oncology/John Wayne Cancer Center and the USC Norris Cancer Center.

Steven Zubkoff is a real estate and construction professional specializing in the development and financing of sustainable communities in the US, Mexico, Latin and Central America and Africa. Over the past years he has focused his energies on the design and development of green technologies that will enhance human settlement and the built environment.

Most recently he served as CEO of Green Sandwich Technologies, which manufactures SCIP’s (Structural Concrete Insulated Panels) for residential and commercial construction.

Simultaneously Mr. Zubkoff continued his role as Managing Director of the Loreto Bay Housing Corporation which is currently developing 3,000 units of affordable housing in Loreto, Baja Sur. These homes and community are based on the same sustainability principles and green design as the market rate resort development Loreto Bay.

Currently he also serves as Managing Member of Sustainable Community Advisors (SCA), a consulting firm specializing in the development and advocacy of sustainable communities, utilizing the latest technologies and design principles in Architecture, Urban Planning, Systems Integration and Resource Conservation based on the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) philosophy defined by William McDonough. Clients include private developers (resort, residential and commercial), hotels, municipalities as well as state and federal Governments. SCA provides through its extensive experience and network access to the leading professionals in the design, construction and management services for every built environment from a single family home to large public infrastructure projects.

Previous to SCA Mr. Zubkoff had the privilege to serve as Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Jimmy Carter Work project which was held in Durban South Africa in 2002 and resulted in 110 houses being built by 5,000 volunteers in 5 days.

Before working in South Africa, Mr. Zubkoff served as Director of Development and later as Executive Vice President of Associated Financial Corporation based in Los Angeles, CA. AFC is a vertically integrated real estate investment company that specialized in the financing, development and management of over 30,000 units of government subsidized housing in the US.

David Finkel received his B.A. in Communications from the University of Southern California. He started his career in the garment industry working for a major manufacturer, and later created his own clothing company that emphasized leisure wear with an environmental and conservation awareness. David’s love for the environment and personal health motivated him to study under the premier holistic health practitioners in Southern California. His five-year association with Soram Khalsa, MD provided David with invaluable insight into the teachings of preventative health practices. As a certified Quantum Reflex Analysis (“QRA”) practitioner from Nutrient Research, the world leader in cell resonant nutrition technology, David has used this knowledge to co-develop Green Life Guru’s “Healthy Home Makeover” program, along with the Home Energy Management System. In this capacity, David will maintain and oversee development and implementation of the services, in addition to the training protocol for Green Life Gurus. In 2009, David will receive a QRA advanced certification in EMF (Electromagnetic Field) protection for the home and body. This will become an upcoming service for Green Life Guru.

Scott Johnson works as an energy consultant, general contractor, HERS rater, trainer and HVAC expert. He advices the Department of Energy’s ENERGY STAR home performance program. Scott works with all the California utilities and California State government to properly address residential energy use and projected efforts to establish efficiency standards. He has continually inspired builders to go beyond the code in Energy Efficiency Standards for each and every house they build or remediate. Scott assists builders and building departments to collectively provide the best, most up to date and energy efficient houses possible. Scott has an integrated systems approach, believing that “the house works as a system, with all aspects working together based on proper design and installation.” He has been instrumental as the chief third party inspector for the City of Irvine’s voluntary “IQ+” program; which was the prototype for the “sealed ducts” standard. He has provided training and inspections for So. Cal. Gas in much of Southern California; has taught hundreds of builders, building department staff, HVAC subcontractors and others about the proper installation of HVAC systems; has undertaken numerous projects for the Energy Commission, and has exhibited an enthusiasm surpassed by none for doing the right thing related to HVAC installation and energy efficiency in general.

Alan Williamson works closely with the California Building Performance Contractors Association to coordinate training, proctoring and mentoring of HVAC, insulation, solar, general contractors, which includes many environmental professionals, throughout the Southern California region. As Projects Manager, Alan conducts consultation and remediation projects for businesses and homeowners in southern California. Prior to working in the building science field, Alan spent six years as supervisor for Energy Efficiency Solar. He conducted energy audits with energy efficiency as the primary goal for the client. Alan coordinated sales and presentations of system characteristics to home and business owners. Alan has been involved in the design and installation of over 500 photovoltaic systems since 2002. He was a key player in taking Energy Efficiency Solar from $50,000/yr. (2002) to $5 million/yr in overall sales (2006).

Steve Melnikoff is an experienced research and development scientist, with a proven track record in software development, web-based application development, strategic planning, systems engineering and project management. Steve has served as Chief Technology Officer and VP of Information Technology for several Seattle technology and consulting companies. In this capacity, he has developed extensive experience in website design & development, java, XML and cocoa scripting, MAC OSX and the creation of interactive multimedia content. Mr. Melnikoff is experienced in C, C++, Java, Cocoa, XML programming language expertise for application development, simulations and experimental data analysis, and Macintosh, DEC, UNIX, IBM platforms. Mr. Melnikoff has degrees in Mathematics and Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has Masters and PH.D degrees from the University of California, Riverside in Physics. He has served as Assistant Professor at UC San Francisco and the University of Melbourne, in addition to research and consulting work at GE Space Nuclear Energy Systems, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the UC California/Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

Lisa Zubkoff, Ph.D. received her Ph.D. from Dartmouth Medical School in the Evaluative Clinical Sciences. Lisa's dissertation focused on enrollees in employer-based health insurance and examined predictors of overall ratings of health plans and providers and subsequent intent to disenroll from those health plans. Lisa also has training in the field implementation research studying the uptake of clinical and outcomes research findings into routine clinical practice. Lisa has experience working with various types and sizes of databases, addressing patient opinions about their care, and examining the importance of the organization and contextual issues when predicting or measuring outcome variables.

 
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