Taite R. McDonald
BOARD MEMBER & CO-FOUNDER
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Taite R. McDonald is co-chair of the Energy Transition Industry Sector Group and leader of the firm's Energy Technology Funding and Finance Team in Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., office. She focuses her practice on government technology funding and finance loan guarantees and grant programs, with a proven track record of experience in all stages of the process, from initial profile raising and application to execution and ongoing contract management. Taite is especially well-versed in running complex, cross-government matters with intricate legal, policy, and financing components. Most notably, Taite is a go-to person for resolving complex government agency energy issues.
Taite provides counsel to companies of all sizes, from early-stage startups to Fortune 100 companies and large utilities. Her team has helped companies win approximately four dozen awards totaling more than $5 billion in nondilutive grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Taite's team has also helped nearly a dozen of the previously noted awards successfully navigate the government grant negotiation process, and successful negotiations currently total almost $10 billion. Additionally, as a result of her deep programmatic experience since the inception of the program, Taite has successfully represented almost two dozen clients in navigating the DOE Loan Program to obtain conditional commitments in excess of $12 billion. Her experience also includes several successful advocacy campaigns to fund, improve, and create many of the programs from which she has helped clients successfully obtain funding.
In addition to her energy finance track record and accolades at the DOE, Taite has helped numerous companies successfully obtain federal leases and procurement contracts for energy projects from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).
In 2019, Taite was selected as a Holland & Knight Rising Star. In 2021, Law360 named her a Rising Star in its annual publication honoring top lawyers under 40 for her bipartisan work with Congress, agencies, and applicants between 2016 and 2020 to unlock $40 billion of previously stranded capital in the DOE Loan Program. In 2021, Taite was also named by Business Insider as a top lawyer advising electric vehicle companies. In 2024, she was named one of the 500 most influential people in Washington by Washingtonian Magazine.
Nick Loris
BOARD MEMBER
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Nick is the Executive Vice President of Policy at C3 Solutions. He studies and writes about a wide range of energy and climate policies, including natural resource extraction, energy subsidies, nuclear energy, renewable power and energy efficiency. Nick also studies ways in which markets will improve the environment, reduce emissions, and better adapt to a changing climate.
Before joining C3 Solutions, Nick served as the Deputy Director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies and Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow in Energy and Environmental Policy at The Heritage Foundation.
Nick has testified before House and Senate committees on a variety of energy and environment issues. He has been published and quoted in major newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal and TheNew York Times. Nick’s radio and television appearances include CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and National Public Radio.
Nick received his master’s degree in economics from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, finance, and political science from Albright College in Reading, PA. He serves as a senior advisor on energy and environment at Madrus, LLC, and serves on policy advisory boards at ConservAmerica and the American Conservation Coalition.
John Lushetsky
BOARD MEMBER
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John is a Senior Vice President of ML Strategies based in our Washington, DC office, where he assists clients in their interactions with federal agencies and state governments. He leverages more than three decades of experience in government, business, and military roles focused on the development, commercialization, and financing of energy and other advanced technologies to help clients advance their goals.
Before joining Mintz, John spent 15 years serving in senior executive-level positions in the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Army. Most recently, he was a senior advisor to the director of the DOE’s Loan Programs Office, where he led outreach and business development for programs to finance clean energy projects dealing with advanced vehicle manufacturing, critical minerals for battery supply chains, and commercial demonstration of advanced technologies. In addition to several senior operational roles, he also served as Director of the DOE Solar Energy Technology Office, the Deputy Assistant Secretary responsible for clean transportation and energy efficiency, and Executive Director of the Army’s Energy Initiatives Task Force, all high-profile positions that advanced key administration policy objectives and required broad engagement across federal and state governments.
Prior to his public service career, John directed new business development efforts and oversaw strategy development for technology start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. While working for a US-based multinational technology company, John spearheaded corporate venture capital investments and other strategic growth initiatives to expand the company’s reach in a range of advanced materials markets and technologies.
In addition to earning bachelor’s, master’s, and MBA degrees, John has participated in executive programs focusing on negotiation skills, venture capital, and leadership.
Elizabeth Noll
CO-FOUNDER
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Elizabeth Noll is a senior policy advisor in Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., office. She has spent more than a decade refining her energy policy and technical skill set to achieve measurable outcomes. Elizabeth has worked at multiple levels of government from federal to state and local, as well as in the nonprofit environmental and private sector energy space. Most recently, she has served as the deputy assistant secretary for House Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the Biden-Harris Administration, where she worked to develop and secure no less than three historic climate and clean energy bills and has an in-depth understanding of how the department is preparing to implement key provisions.
Prior to joining the administration, Elizabeth worked as lead consultant on many challenging policy issues to addressing climate change. She led the development of an issue-based campaign specifically focused on addressing barriers to entry for clean energy in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland (PJM) wholesale electricity markets.
Elizabeth has long advocated for increased clean energy innovation budgets at the DOE, particularly in working closely with allied thought leaders across the political spectrum to defend and grow federal funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy research by more than $1 billion in the face of an adversarial administration. During her time at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), she developed deep knowledge in federal mechanisms for advancing clean energy policy, including federal budgets, clean energy tax credits, and minimum efficiency standards for appliances and equipment.
In addition, Elizabeth has served on federal advisory committees and testified before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce on energy efficiency policies.