As Managing Director of Gate 16 Consultants, Mimi Almeida provides strategic planning, design and operational services for live and virtual events. Small and medium size organizations seeking to expand their reach, educate and excite their audiences, launch new products and initiatives and reward and inspire clients make up our client base.

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Mimi has founded two other companies earning a spot on the CMI Top 25 Meeting and Incentive Service Companies in North America for multiple years; Judges Choice Award for Mobile Marketing from Corporate Event Magazine and been recognized with a Global Paragon Award from Meeting Professionals International.

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As a Preferred Vendor for 8 consecutive years for BMW of North America and MINI USA, her teams delivered product launches, sales and dealer incentive programs, consumer events and executive level experiences both nationally and domestically.

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She has also served on the Advisory Boards for Travel + Leisure and Executive Travel magazines.

e-mail: mimi@mimialmeida.com

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Ben works with private and public fleets to integrate cleaner, more efficient vehicle technologies. Ben leads CALSTART’s work on market acceleration and policy development in the Northeast, including administration of workplace electric vehicle charging and truck voucher incentive programs. Ben also works with regional partners on multi-state, market-driven policy solutions to reduce transportation emissions and elevate advanced technologies.

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Prior to joining CALSTART, Ben worked under Mayor Bill de Blasio at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, where he led policy development and implementation activities with City agencies on transportation and energy supply initiatives in pursuit of New York City’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% below 2005 levels by 2050. He also previously worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and was a fellow at NYU School of Law. Ben holds Masters degrees in Public Policy and Energy & Resources from UC-Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University in Mathematical Economics and Hispanic Literature & Culture.

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e-mail: bmandel@calstart.org

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Before retiring in October 2017, the majority of Morrissey’s 37-year career at Ford Motor Company was spent working with Government and Commercial accounts representing their fleet requirements to Ford for “Win Win” transportation solutions. She helped formulate strategies and assisted a large multinational account in the transition from full-size Econoline Vans to Transit Connects. The greenhouse gases for 4,000 vehicles went from 609 grams per mile to 378.

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Cathy, 63, of Worcester and formerly of Auburn, passed away peacefully on Saturday, October 16, 2021, finishing her courageous dance with cancer.

Born in Worcester, raised and educated in Auburn, Cathy was one of four children born to the late Joseph E. Morrissey, Sr. and Marie A. (Schelin) Morrissey. She graduated from Auburn High School, and went on to attend UMASS Amherst (with her sisters Ellen and Diane) where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Marketing. In 1992, Cathy graduated from Nichols College with a M.B.A. in Marketing as well.

She graduated in slow economic times where, and exhibiting typical Cathy determination, she walked in off the street and secured a field sales position with Ford which was exceptional in a male-dominated industry and excelled. She quickly established long lasting relationships with her dealers and rose rapidly through the ranks to a senior role in the Ford Fleet Division. Cathy thrived in her Fleet role where for example, she led Ford’s Sponsorship and players vehicle program in the PGA’s signature tour event, the Traveler’s in Hartford, CT. She retired several year ago from Ford as National Account Manager, something that was more than just a job to her.

Mike Scarpino is a Transportation Project Engineer at the US Department of Transportation’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, MA.  Mike leads inter-agency initiatives supporting fleets and end-users transition to alternative fuels and advanced vehicle technologies, as well as the development of the supporting fueling infrastructure. His current responsibilities involve providing technical and programmatic support for the Federal Highway Administration and the US Department of Energy for various alternative fuel initiatives and activities, such as FHWA’s Alternative Fuel Corridor Designation Initiative and DOE’s Clean Cities Program.  Mike has provided support for the alternative fuels industry through the development of public-private partnerships and projects for 20+ years, while working for DOE and DOT.

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e-mail: Michael.Scarpino@dot.gov

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James Sproul is Founder and Managing Director of The Sproul Company (TSC) headquartered in Boston’s North End. James has over 25 years of experience working in business development for technology-driven companies in fast-changing, dynamic markets.

 

To address the challenges of climate change and improve urban mobility, TSC spearheads events, initiatives, and innovation in the urban mobility and connected autonomous vehicle (CAV) markets.  Inspired by Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s call for technology innovation, forward-looking policy, and pilot programs, TSC launched the Autonomous Vehicle Summit 2017 sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) New England, the first autonomous vehicle summit in the Boston area. Mr. Sproul also served as the session and speaker chair of AUVSI New England’s Robotica 2016 event. He is also an enthusiastic volunteer and board member of AUVSI New England.

 

TSC leads the Rapid Autonomous Mobility Pilot Project (RAMPP), which seeks to address the challenges of urban mobility by sponsoring pilot projects in the field of connected, autonomous vehicles.  Working with the city of Boston, TSC is currently organizing a project to establish a teaching curriculum related to autonomous vehicles at the Madison Park Technical High School, providing Boston students with training that could lead them to careers in automation and other exciting technology-driven industries.

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e-mail:  jsproul@sproulco.com

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During his career, Cornelius helped facilitate adoption of electric vehicles, by the general public, businesses and municipal agencies.  His role also supported EV Infrastructure development, making charging simple and convenient.  He works directly with utilities, large employers and municipalities on Nissan’s Workplace Charging Initiative, to incorporate zero emission EV’s and Charging into their daily operation. 

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He joined Nissan in 2012, and within a year his largest market, Atlanta, became #1 in America for Nissan LEAF sales.  Over that same period, LEAF became the “Best Selling Electric Vehicle” in Automotive History.  For more than a decade, Black Enterprise Magazine recognized him among “Americas’ 100 Largest African-American Auto Dealers”.

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