SavATree is a company majority-owned by Apax Funds. The management team of SavATree is a group of dedicated, socially minded individuals who have a significant equity ownership in the company.
Our Company Leadership
Daniel van Starrenburg
Executive Chairman
Daniel graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in Arboriculture. Prior to attending college, he graduated from the Waldorf School in the Netherlands where he lived for part of his youth. Daniel purchased SavATree from founder Ralph Robbins in 1985. As CEO, Daniel orchestrates the growth, development and expansion of the company into new and existing markets. This includes championing the adoption of Lean Sigma for Service, designed to help the company be the best in every market it serves, as measured by customer satisfaction. Daniel is a licensed arborist, member of the Voice for Trees Political Action Committee, Vice Chairman of the World Presidents Organization (Fairchester Chapter) and a Board Member for the Rippowam Cisqua School.
Carmine Schiavone
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Schiavone serves as SavATree’s Chief Executive Officer and is a member of its Board of Directors. He has more than 25 years of experience leading large complex businesses in manufacturing, construction and field service based enterprises. Prior to joining SavAtree, Mr. Schiavone served in a variety of progressively responsible sales, operations, and general management roles with Tyco International (TYC) and Johnson Controls (JCI). In his latest role before joining SavATree, Carmine lead the multi-billion dollar North America fire protection installation and services business for JCI with 130 field offices and more than 11,000 employees. Carmine holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Youngstown State University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh.
Ame Lewis
Chief Financial Officer
Ame has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Decisions Sciences from Rider University. She began her career in auditing and has since worked for regional, national, and global companies in various manufacturing, distribution, and services industries. As CFO, Ame is responsible for managing all financial aspects of SavATree. Along with her team, she tracks revenue, implements financial planning and analyzes the company’s financial strengths and weaknesses, proposing solutions to issues when necessary.
Donald Becker
Chief Operating Officer
Don has a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Management from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science & Forestry and a Bachelor of Art in Business Management from Syracuse University. As COO, Don develops and oversees company-wide sales and operations in all US regions including field crews and staff including service delivery, safety strategy and training programs, quality control, customer service, tree care industry compliance issues and fleet management.
Luann O’Brien
Chief Marketing Officer
Luann has a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Pace University and a double major MBA in Marketing and Information Systems from Fordham University. She is also certified in the Salesforce Marketing Cloud. As CMO, Luann facilitates growth in revenues, professionalism, brand presence and overall success of the sales team. Together with her team, she works to increase the company’s brand presence in the communities that we serve through a mix of marketing programs, strategic alliances, community and trade events and online initiatives.
Robert Bellio
Chief Technology Officer
Rob has a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from the University of Phoenix. In addition, he holds an Advanced Business Analytics Certificate from the University of Phoenix and is a Lean Certified Kaizen Facilitator. As CTO, Rob is responsible for overseeing all of the technology-related strategic operations of the company including internal systems and client facing technologies.
Jedd Lucas
Chief People Officer
Jedd Lucas serves as Chief People Officer for SavATree and joined the company on April 5th 2021. He has more than 18 years of HR leadership experience developed across a variety of industry leaders such as General Electric, Amazon, Hilti A.G. and Freshly (subsidiary of Nestle U.S.A). Jedd most recently served as the VP of HR at Freshly, (a subsidiary of Nestle U.S.A) and the largest fresh-prepared, meal delivery service in the country. At Freshly, Jedd led the HR growth strategy in support of operational execution for 2,400 team members across all manufacturing, supply chain / distribution, and customer service operations nationwide. Prior to Freshly, Jedd assumed progressively larger leadership roles with Hilti A.G., including as Head of HR for the Northern European Region and leading a $90m field sales division in the southeast U.S. Jedd holds a B.A. in Psychology from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA and a master’s degree in Industrial / Organizational Psychology from the University of New Haven, CT.
Our Board
Corporate governance is a key pillar for SavATree with strong oversight provided by a Board of Directors that has varied experiences from different industries. The Board of Directors continues to embrace diversity as a way to improve overall company performance. Our commitment to regularly improving our governance policies is our way of ensuring the accountability, transparency, fairness and responsibility of the company for all stakeholders.
SavATree has strong systems from which the business operates that have been tested by independent experts to ensure sustainability with disaster recovery and strong countermeasures against cyber threats.
Our Team
SavATree has built a trusted team of highly engaged employees who believe in our mission and core values. In a once male dominated industry, SavATree’s diverse culture is challenging stereotypes, employing more women each year both in the office and field. This high performance team is held to a high level of expectation while demonstrating lean sigma and delivering on commitment.
Provided below are the cornerstones of our employee policy:
