Jeff Omelchuck
EPEAT Executive Director

Jeff Omelchuck founded the Green Electronics Council (GEC) in 2005 with the vision of re-inventing society’s relationship with electronics. In 2006 stakeholders selected GEC to manage EPEAT^®, the stakeholder-driven global green certification program for electronics, and Jeff is now the Executive Director of the GEC and of EPEAT. Jeff began his career as an engineer in the electronics industry in Silicon Valley, then founded and managed a consulting and training practice before starting GEC. Jeff received a BS from Montana State and an MS from Stanford University. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, kids, and big dog.

Wayne Rifer
EPEAT Director of Standards and Product Verification

Wayne manages EPEAT’s technical product verification process and also is EPEAT’s primary liaison to the IEEE committees that develop and revise the IEEE 1680 series of standards on which EPEAT is based and is a co-chair of the IEEE Environmental Assessment Sub-Committee (EASC).

Wayne initiated and, as a contractor to the Zero Waste Alliance, co-managed the stakeholder process to develop EPEAT that resulted in the development and publication of IEEE 1680.

Prior to that he participated as a negotiator in the National Electronic Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI), a project to design a funding system to recycle discarded electronic products in the US. He also is a member of the Boards of Directors for:

• The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC), a national industry-led organization to recycle rechargeable batteries.
• The National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER), a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving electronics recycling in the U.S.
• Recycling Advocates, a non-profit environmental organization in Portland, Oregon.

Prior to joining GEC he managed a consulting practice and has worked with municipalities and other waste system operators globally to develop effective solid waste policies.

Wayne continues to undertake research and leadership activity in electronics and the environment.He also teaches graduate-level classes on Product Design and Stewardship in the Portland State University School of Business.

Wayne has a BS from Amherst College and a MS from Harvard.

Sarah O’Brien
EPEAT Outreach and Communications Director

Sarah educates private and public purchasers about using EPEAT to reduce the environmental impact of their organizations’ computing operations, and works with stakeholders to expand EPEAT’s reach. She was a member of the original stakeholder Development Team which created the EPEAT criteria, participating in the process as an expert on environmentally sustainable purchasing.

In her previous position as Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program Manager for H2E/Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, Sarah assisted health care organizations – including large health systems and healthcare Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs)—across North America to improve their environmental performance through purchasing initiatives that affected billions of dollars of purchasing each year.

Earlier, as a Senior Outreach Associate with the US national nonprofit INFORM, Sarah assisted state, local and federal government agencies, education and enterprise purchasers across the US to reduce their purchase of products containing persistent toxic chemicals.

As an environmental health advocate for the National Wildlife Federation and Vermont Public Interest Research Group, she was involved in legislative advocacy and public education efforts around toxics issues throughout the Northeast United States, with a specific focus on mercury reduction measures. She was a lead advocate for pioneering state legislation which limited sale of mercury containing products in Vermont in 1998, and led ot establishment of a Northeast mercury clearinghouse for reporting on product mercury content. Sarah also developed legislation in 2000 creating a highly successful program to restrict use of toxic substances in Vermont schools.

Ms O’Brien is an honors graduate of Yale University, and a former Board member of the US National Pollution Prevention Roundtable.

Erin Gately
EPEAT Registry Services Manager

As Registry Services Manager, Erin Gately manages EPEAT’s Quality Assurance programs, including designing and managing the execution of EPEAT’s regular Verification Investigations. These investigations of the product registry, carried out by independent contractors, include multiple levels and types of inquiry, from reviews of documentation, to investigation of supply chain controls, down to the physical disassembly and testing of products bought on the open market. Erin will also provide direct assistance to manufacturer Subscribers to ensure that they understand the conformity requirements for product declarations, and participate in development and delivery of EPEAT’s new Conformity Assessment Certificate programs.

Erin comes to EPEAT from Hewlett-Packard, where she most recently served as Worldwide Product Stewardship Manager in the Personal Systems Group. Her job functions included assuring Hewlett-Packard products’ conformance with numerous environmental product requirements and certifications. She is familiar with the efforts required to comply with complex environmental specifications, and aware of the challenges manufacturers encounter in managing electronics supply chains that span the globe.

Erin worked for Hewlett-Packard for 19 years and held a variety of jobs including Manufacturing Development Engineer, Marketing Program Manager, Environmental Product Steward for low end DeskJet printers and WW Product Stewardship Program Manager.

In 2005, Erin was profiled by Sierra Club Magazine as an Earth Innovator: WGBH Boston profiled Erin as a woman engineer on two websites one targeted to teen girls: and one targeted to middle school girls. Erin’s role as an Environmental Product Steward was also featured on the kid’s show Design Squad.

Erin has a MBA from Bainbridge Graduate Institute with a focus on Sustainable Business. She also has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineer from the University of Miami.