The main focus of Aravaipa's management team is working closely with the portfolio companies; this partnership is formalized by executive director positions and the role of lead investor. The management team also sources, evaluates and negotiates investments in new opportunities and existing portfolio companies. Through its strong connections to local Research Institutes (Colorodo University, Colorado State University, School of Mines and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory), the Aravaipa management team tracks projects from their inception and is well positioned to invest at the right moment.

The Aravaipa Management Team is a three-person team: Robert Fenwick-Smith (full-time),

Tim Reeser (part-time) and Bill Shutkin (part-time).

Robert Fenwick-Smith, Founder and Managing Director 

During the first three years of Aravaipa, he has built a considerable network and reputation in the Green and Sustainable community in Colorado. He currently also serves as Chairman of AXIT AG (Germany), a leading European Supply Chain Management SaaS company where he led a turn-around to current high profitability. From 2002 to 2006, he was a Managing Director of Tattile srl (Italy), a leader in industrial and security Imaging Technologis whom he took international. From 1988 to 2002, Robert was a Manager at Robannic nv, a private equity fund where he was involved in several acquisitions and turn-arounds. As Co-Founder and CEO of the Romaco Group, owned by Robannic nv, from 1990 to 2002, he was instrumental in leading the growth of this roll-up in the pharmaceutical packaging and processing machinery sector from its inception to Euro 180 million in sales and successful sale of the company. He has a BA in Economics from HEC Lausanne (Switzerland) and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He serves on the Board of Legacy Land Trust in Fort Collins, CO. He has built a LEED Platinum home in Boulder.

Timothy Reeser, Venture Director

Tim is the Executive Director of Cenergy, Colorado State Universities’ Clean Energy Commercialization arm. He has a long history of Clean Energy and Entrepreneurship leadership in Colorado that started with the Natural Gas Vehicle Challenge and Hybrid Electric Vehicle Project in CSU's Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory as a student in 1990. Following this work, Mr. Reeser co-founded Engineering Computer Consultants, an engineering IT services organization that he grew to $7 million in revenue prior to selling to 3t Systems. Under Tim’s leadership as a Partner at 3t Systems, a technology consulting and software firm, 3t grew from $15 million to $35 Million in 3 years. Following his tenure at 3t, Tim co-founded Lightning Hybrids, an Arvaipa portfolio company. Tim is currently leading several CSU clean energy spin outs and building the framework to support accelerated growth of spinouts out of CSU. Tim serves on the State of Colorado Governor’s Venture Capital Board and the Colorado Clean Energy Cluster Board. In addition, Tim has co-authored 4 technical books published by McGraw Hill. He earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering at CSU.

William Shutkin, Director

Bill is the President of the Presidio Graduate School, a leading sustainability graduate school. Bill is also a founding Partner of Urban Sustainability Associates. He is the former Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute and a faculty member at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Prior to this, Bill led several organizations at the intersection of community development and sustainability, including the nation’s premier environmental justice law center, Alternatives for Community and Environment; the pioneering green development research and consulting organization New Ecology, Inc.; the Orton Family Foundation, where he spearheaded the reorganization and spin-off of CommunityViz, the best-in-class environmental planning technology; and, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, the world’s fastest growing sustainable business network. He is also an Associate of the Citistates Group, a think-tank for metropolitanism and regional development, and on the Advisory Board of NRDC’s Smarter Cities. From 1999-2004, Bill was on the faculty of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT and, from 1993-2004, taught at Boston College Law School. Bill is the author of the award-winning book, The Land That Could Be: Environmentalism and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century, and A Republic of Trees: Field Notes on People, Place, and the Planet. He received his BA from Brown University and a law degree and master’s degree in history from the University of Virginia. He also completed doctoral studies as a Regents Fellow at UC Berkeley and was a law clerk for U.S. District Court Chief Judge Franklin S. Billings, Jr. in Vermont.