AdvisorS
Brian Jacolick
Brian Jacolick has spent the past two decades as an executive within the solar industry. He provides executive support to GSSG’s investment structuring and business development activities. Previously, he cofounded the Global Special Situations Group at SunEdison where he served as SVP of Business Development and Mergers & Acquisitions where he oversaw the origination and execution on all material project and company acquisitions from 2009-2012.
As a longstanding member of SunEdison’s executive team and an early member of the board of directors, he oversaw both the North American P&L (the company’s largest) and oversaw the growth of the business from a regionalized rooftop solar integrator to its leading position as a global solar company. He previously founded and served as the CEO of New Vision Technologies, which merged with SunEdison in 2005 and led the growth of the firm to its eventual purchase by the Fortune 1000 company MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR). Brian studied finance at Missouri State University.
Paul ‘Chip’ L. Lion, III
Outside General Counsel & Advisor
Chip Lion is a partner in the Corporate Finance Group with Morrison & Foerster LLP, where he leads the firm’s Palo Alto Corporate Finance Group and is the co-chair of the firm-wide Private Equity Fund Group. Chip regularly advises institutional investors and fund sponsors in connection with the formation of venture capital funds, leveraged buyout funds, real estate opportunity and other private equity funds. Chip represents both public and private companies in a broad range of industries and sectors, including energy, biotechnology, finance, medical devices, and the information technology sectors. In addition to representing businesses and business leaders, Chip serves as Vice-Chair of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, representing its 55,000 members on cutting edge business issues. As Vice-Chair, Chip serves as editor-in-chief of Volume 68 of The Business Lawyer, the highly-regarded journal of the Section. Previously, he served as Secretary of the Section (2011-2012) and served as co-editor-in-chief of the Section’s online monthly magazine He is the Past Chair of the Venture Capital & Private Equity Committee of the Section. He graduated phi beta kappa, University of California at Davis, magna cum laude, Santa Clara University School of Law, and earned an LL.M. in taxation at New York University.
Jason Stevens
In his new role as a Senior Advisor to GSSG, Jason provides oversight on key technical underwriting assessments and expertise to GSSG’s technical operations across its various funds. A veteran of the solar industry since 2001 and an early employee of SunEdison, prior to his role as a co-founder at GSSG Solar, Jason was the Managing Director of Operations within the Global Special Situations Group. Previously, Jason was the VP of Engineering. Procurement & Construction (EPC) for SunEdison where he led a several hundred person team responsible for the development, design, permitting, and construction of over 300 MW of solar projects across a variety of applications, customers, and geographies. Prior to SunEdison, Jason worked in BP’s solar division in both a business and product development role. He has evaluated technical feasibility, operational optimization, and the resulting financial impacts across a wide range of solar project technologies. He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VA Tech) and an MBA from University of Texas, Austin.