Ashleigh Ross Joins Mote, Inc. As Chief Commercial Officer To Advance Carbon-Negative Bioenergy And U.S. Leadership In Biomass-To-Hydrogen

LOS ANGELES -- (Business Wire) -- Mote, Inc. (“Mote”), a leader in climate technology pioneering carbon-negative energy and biomass carbon removal, today announced the appointment of Ashleigh N. Ross as Chief Commercial Officer.

Ross brings more than two decades of experience in carbon management, energy systems, policy, project development, and commercialization. She joins Mote at a pivotal moment as the company accelerates its waste biomass-to-energy platform and expands its national role in converting agricultural and forestry waste into clean energy and permanent carbon removal. Combined with CEO Joshuah Stolaroff’s two decades of carbon capture innovation, Mote now has one of the most experienced decarbonization leadership teams in the United States.

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“Ashleigh’s rare combination of commercial expertise, technical depth, and policy fluency will supercharge Mote as we move to deployment,” said Joshuah Stolaroff, CEO of Mote. “Her leadership will deepen our relationships with investors, policymakers, and industry partners and strengthen our ability to deliver carbon-negative hydrogen at scale.”

In her new role, Ross will lead Mote’s go-to-market strategy, cultivate commercial and government partnerships, and expand customer and stakeholder networks. Her work will support Mote’s mission to address multiple regional and national challenges, from wildfire risk and unmanaged biomass to industrial decarbonization and rural economic development. Returning to gasification technologies from earlier in her career, Ross emphasized that this under-utilized pathway has significant potential for climate and community benefit.

“My career has been dedicated to smart, practical climate solutions like Mote’s,” Ross said. “This work is deeply needed—for the climate, and for the farmers, businesses, and communities that stand to benefit. I’m honored to join Josh and this remarkable team to help build the partnerships that will shape a cleaner, more resilient energy future.”

Ross most recently served as Deputy Director of Carbon Management Technologies at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she was appointed to oversee a $430 million technology portfolio supporting carbon capture, hydrogen, CO₂ removal, and geological storage, while representing U.S. leadership across domestic and international forums.

Before her service at DOE, she led commercial development and policy at Carbon America, where she secured more than $100 million in federal funding, helped shape federal and state legislation, and advanced community-centric Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects. Earlier in her career, she held roles at bp, contributing to the launch of its CCUS business unit, and at ConocoPhillips, where she integrated strategy, subsurface engineering, and project development for CCS and energy initiatives. Her graduate academic background includes CCS deployment research at MIT under Howard Herzog and environmental policy at the University of Cambridge as a Gates Scholar.

Ross’s appointment builds on significant momentum for the company. In March 2025, Mote closed a $7 million tranche of Series A financing, marking an important step toward scaling its biomass-to-hydrogen platform. The company has also been selected for major federal Hydrogen Hub and Carbon Negative Shot initiatives and continues to advance its California biomass-to-hydrogen project.

Mote is also expanding operations at its Advanced Testing Center in Los Angeles, where the company is integrating and testing next-generation gasification, carbon removal, and hydrogen production technologies that will support optimized commercial deployments.

About Mote

Mote, Inc. is pioneering the future of carbon-negative energy by transforming forestry and agricultural waste biomass into clean hydrogen and hydrogen products and permanently removing CO₂ through geologic storage. While supporting healthier forests and rural economies, Mote’s technology enables rapid deployment across a broad range of markets, with advanced projects in California and an Advanced Testing Center in Los Angeles, where Mote is headquartered.