ESI Leadership
Guy Chaffin
President & Chief Executive Officer
Guy Chaffin is the President & Chief Executive Officer of Elite Search International. In his role, he is responsible for vision, profitability, and team prosperity. His vision to bring as much talent as possible to the best alternative power companies in the world is shared by all members of the ESI team. To realize this vision, Guy is actively involved in coaching and building the Senior Management Consultants within ESI. With over 10 years experience consulting and placing officer level talent Guy is one of the most knowledgeable Senior Management Consultants working his specialty.
Guy has been quoted as an industry expert on CEO’s by both Dow Jones News Wires and StreetInsider.com. He has recruited management talent for early stage startups as well as Fortune 20 companies.
Prior to his career in recruiting, Guy developed over 500 units of apartments, 2 housing developments totaling 128 home sites, and several small commercial developments. He also developed a small chain of video retail outlets. He exited this business with a sale to publicly traded Hollywood Video.®
James Curtis
Vice President
james@emailesi.com
James leads the Solar Manufacturing Practice at ESI. His area of expertise is in PV, CPV, Thin Film, and Gen 3 technologies. James works at all levels within the organization helping to build entire departments.
James has been in sales for over 25 years. He was in the top 1% of all real estate agents in CA for several years prior to joining ESI.
James has the ability to close and get results. In recruiting talent, nothing else really matters if the candidate doesn’t accept an offer. Having helped over several hundred families make what is often the largest single investment they will ever make; James understands the stress and concerns that candidate’s face when making a career change. He applies this knowledge to every candidate and search he undertakes.
James has led, as a volunteer, one of the areas largest youth football and cheer programs for over seven years. He took over a program on the verge of bankruptcy and turned it into the envy of the area. He helps over 300 kids grow and participate in sports and cheer every year.
Seth De La Riva
Vice President
seth@emailesi.com
Seth leads the Utility Power Development Practice at ESI. His focus is on large-scale renewable power development with an emphasis on Project Developers, Engineers, EPC, and Business Development professionals at the Director & VP level. Seth has successfully recruited Project Developers and EPC candidates throughout North America in Solar, Wind, Bio andd conventional power. In addition, Seth has helped multiple clients in large-scale renewable power build their Project Development and EPC teams.
Prior to joining ESI, Seth had several years in asset management in both Operations and Sales. His well rounded knowledge of business development comes from more than a decade of progressive management experience where his responsibilities encompassed multiple properties simultaneously and which included some of Sacramento’s most prominent landmarks.
Prior to his career in property management, Seth was the Sales and Marketing Director for J&S, a data entry firm located in Sacramento, CA. Seth was responsible for landing several large accounts including the State of California, U.S. Department of Forestry, and Masonic Homes.
For his efforts to help others, Seth was awarded the ‘Carnegie Medal’ by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.