Team
Peter Hughes, President and Founder
Conventional wisdom says that Peter is Izzit Green's biological father. Although genetic tests have proven inconclusive, the pair share a thumb-like body shape and deep brown eyes that suggest near-human intelligence. Thankfully, Peter's two young sons and wife Kris have all embraced their new family member, though Kris is genuinely worried that hairy men and hairy problems will soon overrun her world.
During his formative professional years, Peter toiled to decode the mysteries of 'workforce performance management' and the reviled black art of CRM. In time, he turned his attention to a more personal pursuit: how to help drive the adoption of sustainable ideas and business practices to everyday people. And voila, Izzit was born.
Tom Permatteo, CEO and Founder
Famous for bringing an immensely popular and effective sales technique called 'Cliche Day' to Informix Software during its zenith in the mid 1990's, and for his now well known mantra of "it's not about me", Tom has built a highly successful career in technology start-ups by making people feel like they are actually achieving something. As Tom will tell you, it's neither art, nor science.
Boston born and bred, Tom is a proud alumni and product of the city's finest public high school, Latin Academy, where he met his wife of twenty plus years. He is a graduate of UMass Boston and the father of two great kids. Tom is also rumored to be the only human who can communicate clearly with and control both Izzit and Peter.
Martin Gauthier, Business Development
For years, Martin attempted to raise the cool factor of what is arguably the most boring industry in the world - corporate telephony and contact center systems. Though unsuccessful in his cool transformation efforts, he did manage to develop a highly successful career as a sales and business development executive.
Martin is a dad, economist, avid sailor, ravenous snowboarder and sometime farmer. He is passionate about the sea and the mountains, and as a lifelong fan of Jacques Cousteau, he relishes his sophisticated French (Canadian) accent, but stops short at wearing a red bonnet. He and his family split their time between their residence in Montreal and the family farm in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. During the summer of 2007, Martin was the first known human to spot Izzit in the wild.
Jimmy Blakeney, Marketing
Despite his mother's insistence that he pursue a legal career, Jimmy took his love of nature and the outdoors to college where he earned a Biology degree studying aquatic ecology and an MA in Science Education. Post college, Jimmy further chagrined his poor mother by hitting the road as a full-time whitewater kayaker. National and World Champion titles eased her pain, despite the fact that he literally lived in a van down by the river for several years. As an athlete, Jimmy spent his time training, traveling the world on expeditions and promoting the sponsors who put gas in his van and food on the dashboard. It was here he discovered an affinity for marketing that led to a position as marketing director and brand manager for a former sponsor.
In 2007 a fair New England maiden tugged Jimmy's heartstrings, and convinced him to move north and leave the van in West Virginia. Now Jimmy focuses on marketing 'Izzit' and practicing amateur meteorology as he plans 5am wintertime surf missions on New England's fickle coastline. He's even testing an innovative organic green-fur wetsuit for these endeavors.
His mother still insists it's never too late for law school...
Don Cosseboom, Products and Community
Don is a Boston native, who can talk with a funny accent if provoked - though it's not clear the dialect is regional. He grew up with a masochistic passion for new technologies, whether it was his Atari 2600, TRS-80, or building his first real PC, all of which claimed chunks of his youth. He combined this love-hate relationship with technology to the pre-Internet days of computing where he ran an online community out of his parent's basement.
Later, Don went on to help found one of Boston's most successful Internet consulting companies. While there he wore lots-o-hats and helped lots-o-Fortune 1000 clients make sense of that Internet thing. Just prior to Izzit, he helped launch an online pet community. In spite of his love for animals, Don remains a rabid omnivore, who enjoys cooking and entertaining, and fancies himself an amateur pit master. Don lives just north of Boston with his wife Maggie and their dog Ruby.
At IzzitGreen, Don is focused on shaping and building the product, as well as shepherding the community. He spends his 20% time designing a huge keyboard for 4-fingered monsters so Izzit may blog someday.
Jordan Wirfs-Brock, Content
As a transplant from Portland, OR, Jordan's favorite thing about Boston is its marathon. She also enjoys the city's ice cream parlors, public library, and pubs. In lieu of pursuing a spot on the first crewed mission to Mars, Jordan decided to apply her degree in aerospace engineering to writing about the drag coefficient of garbage for IzzitGreen.com.
She aspires to one day dominate the competitive eating circuit, and spends her free time in friendly rivalry with her training partner Izzit, contemplating how to make the sport more sustainable.
Jim Ricciardelli, Sales
Just like the proprietor of Bob's Country Bunker in The Blues Brothers, Jim's role on team Izzit is to ensure 'we have both kinds' of green...sustainability and the cash type. After all, sustainability needs sustenance! Thankfully, his traditional green definition has been updated and refined by his three great kids who have relentlessly counseled him on the virtues of "green living". Jim's passion for sustainability and leaving the world greener than we found it is a testament to his kids' efforts!
Jim has extensive experience growing highly successful start-up companies. In his free time, he's an avid sports fan of both his children and all the great Boston teams. A serious lobbying effort was required to convince Jim that Boston was big enough for two green monsters.
