Advisory Board

Governance

GCS has fostered a culture of ingenuity, integrity and corporate responsibility that is second to none. Our core values—integrity, innovation, service, and commitment to the environment—guide our corporate decisions and principles. Our day-to-day actions are founded on a long-standing governance structure, which comprises:

• A clear reporting structure and lines of accountability

• A global Code of Conduct

• A comprehensive policy platform, including policies on environmental issues, labor, diversity, and inclusion

• Strong oversight and communications mechanisms, including insight by the GCS Board of Advisors on key governance, compliance, workforce, and corporate citizenry

GCS’ culture of integrity begins with our Board of Advisors and extends to every member of our workforce. The Board focuses on ensuring effective organizational planning as well as areas of strategy and risk management while monitoring on-going strategic initiatives.

Board of Advisors and Charters

The Board's responsibilities, authorities and duties are outlined in each committee’s charter and are reviewed and approved annually by the full board.

Corporate Governance Guidelines

GCS’ Governance Guidelines are adopted by the board of advisors and, along with the committee charters, the processes and procedures implemented by the Board and its committees, help provide the framework for GCS’ governance structure.

Sung (Tony) Hoon Chough

A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University in the state of Virginia, U.S.A and a certified mechanical/chemical engineer from the Republic of South Korea, sung is a co-founder and co-president of Green Coal Solutions, LLC.  He has played a pivotal role in the research and development of GCS’ technologies.  Sung has been especially instrumental in readying the GCS technologies for commercialization and continues to head the organization’s R&D enterprise. 

An avid entrepreneur, Sung has founded and managed several business entities in the sports, information technology and real estate sectors.

Ato B. Andoh

An eleven-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps with deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, Ato is a co-founder of GCS and has been the Chief Executive Officer of GCS since the founding of the company.   Upon separation from the United States Marine Corps, Ato assumed a position with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency as a Contracts & Procurement Analyst and later, the agency’s Assistant Director for Small Business Programs.

Ato is the founder of Kare Management Solutions LLC, a health care services provider.  He currently serves on the board of The Heritage Village Project and holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and a Masters of Science in Management degrees from the University of Maryland. Ato is married to Dr. Emelia Andoh and they have two daughters; Kaelyn & Ellia.

Nam (Nancy) Chough

A Co-founder of Green Coal Solutions, LLC, Nancy is a visionary, who quickly realized the potential of GCS’ technology at its theoretical phase and provided the required funding and oversight during the course of its invention. 

A graduate of Yonsei University with advanced degrees in Economics, Nam has held corporate positions with Westin House as a nuclear energy specialist.  Nancy was also Vice President of DEO Construction, a nuclear facilities construction company and headed the South Korean entity, Golden Goose, a trading company that focused on chemical goods.  Nancy remains active in the daily operations of GCS.

General James T. Conway - USMC, Ret.

General James T. Conway, US Marine Corps – Retired, is the 34th Commandant of the US Marine Corps (June 2006 to October 2010) and has been an adviser to Green Coal Solutions since 2014. General Conway has been very instrumental in getting the company’s U.S. operations off the ground.  Some of General Conway’s other accomplishments include serving as the President of the Marine Corps University; the Director of Operations (J-3) on the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and the Commanding General of 1st Marine Division and I Marine Expeditionary Force.

Chiefs of Staff; and the Commanding General of 1st Marine Division and I Marine Expeditionary Force.  General Conway commanded I Marine Expeditionary Force during two combat tours in Iraq, with 60,000 troops under his command, including US Marines, soldiers, sailors, and British forces.  At his change-in-command in 2006 as Commandant of the US Marine, General Conway was presented with his third Defense Distinguished Service Medal.

General Conway was commissioned as an infantry officer in 1970.  He is a Graduate of the Infantry Officers Advanced Course, the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the Air War College. He also attended and graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 1969.  He is married to Annette Conway and they have three children.

John Kenneth "Ken" Blackwell

 Ken Blackwell has been an advisor to Green Coal Solutions since 2014.  He is a national bestselling author of three books: Rebuilding America: A Prescription For Creating Strong Families, Building The Wealth Of Working People, And Ending Welfare; The Blueprint: Obama’s Plan to Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency; and Resurgent: How Constitutional Conservatism Can Save America.

 He serves on the Board of Directors of various high-profile organizations including the Timothy Plan, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, the United States Air Force Academy Foundation, the Club for Growth, the National Rifle Association, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the National World War II Museum, and the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Board of Advisors, of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA).

Mr. Blackwell has had a vast political career. He was mayor of Cincinnati, Treasurer and Secretary of State for Ohio, undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. He was a delegate to the White House Summit on Retirement Savings in 1998 and 2002. During the 1990s, he served on the congressionally appointed National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform and the board of the International Republican Institute. He was Co-Chairman of the U.S. Census Monitoring Board from 1999-2001.

He has received many awards and honors for his work in the public sector. These accolades include the U.S. Department of State’s Superior Honor Award for his work in the field of human rights which he received from both the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. In 2004, the American Conservative Union honored Mr. Blackwell with the John M. Ashbrook Award for his steadfast conservative leadership.

Ken’s commentaries have been published in major newspapers and websites: the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, and Investor’s Business Daily.  In addition, he has been interviewed by many media outlets including CBS’s Face the Nation, NBC’s Meet the Press, ABC’s This Week, and Fox News Sunday.

His continuing education has included executive programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Mr. Blackwell has also received honorary doctoral degrees from ten institutions of higher education. He holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Education degrees from Xavier University in Ohio, where he later served as a vice president and member of its faculty. In 1992, he received Xavier’s Distinguished Alumnus Award and was inducted into Xavier's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.