Rizome

David Sands’ work and experience at Bamboo Living, the prefab bamboo structure provider that he co-founded, provided the foundation for Rizome’s engineered bamboo lumber technologies and processes. As Chief Design Officer, David drives the development of Rizome products to meet international standards. He believes strongly that renewable building materials such as bamboo will make up the majority of construction in the near future. David’s interests continue to center on climate change, green architecture, and community planning. He is also an avid yogi and yoga teacher. He holds a Master of Arts in Architecture from the University of Florida. Mr. Sands' primary occupation is being the Chief Architect and Managing Member of Bamboo Living/Bamboo Technologies, LLC. He works 20 hours per week for Rizome.

With 20 years of corporate law experience, Fred serves as Rizome’s Chief Legal Officer. He previously served as corporate counsel of a Florida-based electric power company. Fred is inspired by bamboo’s strength, beauty, regenerative properties, and its ability to draw down carbon. He holds a J.D. from the University of Florida and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Florida State University. He continues to serve as president of Carbon Resources of Florida, Inc. Mr. Murrell's primary occupation is being the President of Carbon Resources of Florida, Inc. He works 25 hours per week for Rizome.

Dr. Sands is Primary Care Physican and brings a wealth of experience to our board of directors.

Russell Smith thinks of himself a Regenerative Entrepreneur, committed to promoting the use of bamboo as a renewable building material. Inspired by the hurricane & earthquake-proofed structures that Bamboo Living was building in Hawaii, Russell teamed with David and Fred to form a company solely focused on bringing engineered bamboo to the building industry. A graduate of Westminster College with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Russell was previously a director at Sabre Airline Solutions, the leading software solutions provider to the aviation industry, where he worked for 19 years.

Visionary regenerative entrepreneur, Stanford graduate and extensive background in financing renewable energy and regenerative agriculture.

Before RIZOME (aka Bamboo Ecologic Corporation), Chara was the CFO of CelebYou and Carbon Resources of Florida. In addition to providing strategic financial leadership, Chara also develops and implements policies to enhance operational efficiency. Chara holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the American College of Greece in Athens and an MBA in Accounting from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. She is fluent in Greek.