John L. Petersen

Managing Partner

John Petersen, the Group’s managing member is a lawyer and accountant who has devoted the last four decades to advising entrepreneurs on corporate finance, SEC registration and reporting, and corporate governance matters. All of his client projects have involved high levels of uncertainty, compressed timelines, and urgent financial needs that demanded unparalleled responsiveness. John knows how to get major projects completed on time and within budget. Mr. Petersen is a 1979 graduate of the Notre Dame Law School and a 1976 graduate of the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1980 and subsequently licensed to practice as a CPA in 1981. While he has not practiced public accounting for decades, he regularly uses his in-depth knowledge of accounting principles, processes, and procedures to offer nuts and bolts counsel to clients who need integrated advice on finance-driven legal issues.

John Tichotsky, Ph.D. (Cantab.)

Managing Partner—IC Alaska

Over three decades, Dr. Tichotsky has specialized in the finance and economics of natural resource development and wealth management, especially in the oil and gas (LNG) industry and the mining industry. He has worked in Alaska, Northeast Asia, Europe, and Central Asia, with considerable experience in China and Russia.  John Tichotsky’s experience includes working as an international advisor and consultant for Roman Abramovich (Sibneft, Evraz) on natural resource issues (oil and gas, electricity, whale quotas, governmental relations), and as an expert on Northeast Asian energy issues. Dr. John Tichotsky was the Economic Advisor for Alaska Gasline Development Project, a $43 billion LNG and pipeline infrastructure project to move stranded natural gas from Alaska to Asia. Previously he worked as the Chief Economist and Advisor to the Alaska Governor and the State of Alaska’s Department of Revenue, where he led a group of economists that provide the State of Alaska with policy advice on all of Alaska’s economic activities, especially investment and petroleum revenue.  John Tichotsky also has considerable experience as a project manager, an international resource negotiator, a privatization specialist, a real estate developer, a director for a junior mining company, and a senior analyst at a rating agency. John Tichotsky has authored definitive studies in northern regional economic development and Northeast Asian gas industry structure.  He has worked extensively with rural and indigenous communities in Alaska, Russia, and Mongolia. He has a Ph.D. and Master degree from Cambridge University (Jesus College), as well as a BA from Dartmouth College (New Hampshire).

Kamil Khasanov

Operating Partner

Kamil Khasanov is a seasoned business developer with over ten years of experience within the oil and gas industry working mainly for Russia’s third largest oil producer, Gazprom Neft. Kamil started in the upstream division as a supervisor for offshore exploratory drilling projects across the entire Northern Sea Route: Murmansk, Yamal, Sakhalin. Additionally, Kamil worked on downstream projects in East Siberia, the Russian Far East, Central Asia, India, and UAE.
Kamil has years of extensive liaison with various equipment and service providers in the United States and Europe. Kamil now specializes in identifying prospective oil and gas assets worldwide, as well as other industrial technologies, in performing assessment for integrated commercial solutions and investment. Kamil grew up in the Ural Mountains and began his career as a linguist and school teacher. Mr. Khasanov is fluent in English, Russian, French, Turkish, as well as native Bashkir and Tatar (Turkic languages). He has Master’s Degree in Law from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, as well as a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and an undergraduate degree from Samara State University.

Harrison Choi, MBA

Partner, Asia

Harrison Choi is a Partner of the C Change Group, with significant experience related to investments into Advanced Materials, Energy, and Electronics in conjunction with Multi-National Companies. Early in his career, he served as a staff analyst with Advanced Institute of Technology of Lockheed Group and a marketing director of the Nasdaq-listed VOIP internet solution company Thrunet, organizing the communications information on more than 1 million subscribers. Since 2002, he has dedicated most of his work in entrepreneurial efforts and professional business development. He has founded ieSphere Co. for technology development and IT project consulting, also participated and consulted development of China Education Network with Tsing Hua University as a global solution partner. In 2003, he formed Samik LED USA, which became a consortium partner and consultant for a digital advertising project valued over $250 million for clients including Kmart and Kodak Theater of Hollywood. In 2005, he organized Sphereteq for the electronics manufacturing, which launched GPS/GIS/LBS navigation systems with global automotive groups that serviced over 100,000 users. Since 2008, Harrison Choi deployed five different advanced manufactories and a dozen mega power projects. Over a decade of work, group of companies he co-founded generated asset value exceeding $100M and developed over 500MW of renewable power. Currently, Harrison Choi sits in a board of following companies as a managing partner or senior advisor:
Dong Yang Machinery Co., Hyundai Asset Management, CyWorld Z Co. - Korea / Blockchain Association - Hong Kong / Smart Solar Co. - Japan / Enerage Inc., Thynk Capital – USA.

Kiran Peethambaran Shylaja

Managing Partner, C Change Africa

Kiran provides C Change Africa with over 15 years of experience in the field of plant tissue culture , specializing in horticulture crops and floriculture, building and managing commercial hi-tech tissue culture labs with the capacity to produce 7-10 million plants (seedlings) annually with 150-200 professional staff, large-scale farming, greenhouse production, and research and development.  He has worked extensively in India and Africa, serving as the former Technical Advisor at the Mekelle Institute of Technology in Ethiopia (Plant Tissue Culture & Greenhouse Division), where he played a vital role in producing 22 million sugar cane tissue culture plantlets to Ethiopian Sugar Corporation (Addis Ababa).  He has also held leading positions with well-known agri-biotech companies in India and the Netherlands.  He earned his master’s (M.Sc.) in Biotechnology from Bharathidasan University (India) and his MBA in International Business from Annamali University (India).

Erik F. Schwinge

Managing Partner, Entheogen Enterprises

Erik is an experienced entrepreneur, business developer and consultant. He combines practical and empirical knowledge in international project- and innovation management (i.e technology scouting-, transfer and finance) and his sales and marketing skills. Erik built a worldwide network and enjoys a trusted relationship within. Erik started out in the media & television industry with producing and directing over 100 reports and documentaries internationally. He has worked as a managing partner for the PatentPool Group for over a decade in business development, sales & marketing. Erik is former Member of the Board of Von Roll Solar AG and ART Carbon International AG, is managing partner and co-founder of Reiter & Schwinge GmbH, Entheogen Enterprises DOO & Entheogen Capital AG and partner of the C Change Group.