Andrew C. Kessler

President/Founder

Andrew C. Kessler is President and a Founding Member of Turning Earth, LLC.  Prior to launching Turning Earth, Mr. Kessler spent fifteen years as an investment banker holding senior positions as a Corporate Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions professional at various firms including HSBC, Waller Capital, Morgan Stanley and Duff & Phelps.  He has executed a wide spectrum of equity, debt and M&A transactions across a diverse set markets and industries.

Mr. Kessler writes and lectures on organics recycling and related topics and regularly speaks at industry forums and conferences.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Composting Council and has served on its Executive Committee for two consecutive years, first as Vice President and currently as Treasurer.  He is a Solid Waste Association of North America Certified Composting Systems Technical Associate.

Mr. Kessler received his MBA at New York University’s Stern School of Business in 1997, graduating with Distinction and as a Stern Scholar.  He received his BA in Economics from the University of Virginia in 1992.  During 2006 and 2008 he was a guest lecturer at New York University’s Executive MBA program and has served on the Board of Directors for early stage companies and non-profit corporations.  He is currently a member of the U.S. Composting Council’s Board of Directors and a member of its Executive Committee since 2011 serving as Vice President in 2011 and Treasurer in 2012.

Amy McCrae Kessler, Esq.

EVP & Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs/Founder

Amy McCrae Kessler is EVP & Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs and a Founding Member of Turning Earth, LLC.  Prior to launching Turning Earth, Ms. Kessler practiced environmental, international environmental and administrative law at Arnold & Porter, LLP in New York and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London. Ms. Kessler has advised clients on a broad range of environmental issues in the context of litigation, regulatory compliance, permitting and corporate, banking and real estate transactions.  In addition, she has counseled sovereign states on a variety of environmental issues.

Before joining the private sector, Ms. Kessler dedicated time to public service and non-profit organizations including the Office of International Environmental Policy at the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Center for International Environmental Law.

Ms. Kessler has written on the subject of international environmental law as well as the environmental impacts of projects funded through multilateral lending institutions.

Ms. Kessler is admitted to the Bar of the State of New York as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.  She is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Biogas Council and Co-Chair of the Council’s Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Committee.  Ms. Kessler is a member of the New York State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section.

Ms. Kessler received her JD, summa cum laude, from American University Washington College of Law in 1998 where she was a senior staff member of The American University Law Review.  She received her BA in Political Science from Vanderbilt University in 1992.

W. Blake Sturcke

EVP & Head of Corporate Development

W. Blake Sturcke is EVP & Head of Corporate Development of Turning Earth, LLC.  Over the course of his career Mr. Sturcke has served as a trusted advisor to emerging growth companies and entrepreneurs across a number of industries.  Blake worked for 15 years for leading global investment banks as a Capital Markets and Corporate Finance advisor to clients in the U.S., Asia and Latin America.  Mr. Sturcke led the Emerging Growth Equity Group and the Consumer Equity Capital Markets business at Deutsche Bank.  Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Mr. Sturcke held a succession of positions at Morgan Stanley, including leadership roles in the firm’s Investment Banking Division in New York, Hong Kong and India.  Mr. Sturcke began his career in institutional sales and trading with Morgan Stanley.  Most recently, Blake’s core area of focus had been the delivery of strategic advisory services to early-stage companies with sustainable business models.

Mr. Sturcke received his MBA from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business in 1998, where he graduated as a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society.  Blake earned his BA in Economics from Bucknell University in 1993.  Mr. Sturcke is the Co-Chairman of the Bucknell Finance Network, an organization that he jointly founded in 2007.  Mr. Sturcke has guest lectured at Bucknell University as well as at the Villanova School of Business MBA program.