Meet the Team
4RIVRS was started by founders who know the pressure of getting it right. We’ve worked in the field, submitted plans under deadline, and dealt with regulators.
We built this platform to make that process easier for people like you.
CHARLES PAYNE
Executive Chair
20+ years in environmental compliance; national domain authority.
DAVE PAQUETTE
CEO
Systems engineer, USAF veteran; enterprise automation & regulatory systems.
DAN RADEZ
CTO
17 years at Red Hat; cloud scaling, automation, open-source infrastructure.
BEN GARNER
General Counsel
15+ years in legal practice across private, corporate, and public sectors; seasoned counsel leading complex compliance, corporate, and government initiatives.
WENDY COULTER
CMO
30+ years branding and marketing B2B compliance-oriented brands.
Charles H. Payne
Executive Chair
Charles H. Payne is a distinguished environmental compliance expert, business leader, and Christian minister with a career spanning more than four decades in agriculture, engineering consulting, industrial operations, and faith-based leadership. Recognized across the stormwater industry for his expertise in Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) development, stormwater sampling, hazardous materials management, and regulatory compliance strategy, he has guided clients through successful engagements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and regulatory authorities in multiple states.
Charles holds a B.S. in Agriculture Sciences from Texas Tech University and an A.S. in Applied Chemistry from Cisco Junior College. His professional foundation blends hands-on agricultural roots with technical roles in water and wastewater engineering, flow control, industrial hygiene, and decades of environmental consulting. His work has earned recognition such as the 2005 NRCC Business Advisory Council “Businessman of the Year” and inclusion by Dun & Bradstreet among the Top Ten Percent of Small Businesses in America.
In addition to his professional accomplishments, Charles is a Christian minister and the founder of 4 Winds Global, a ministry providing refuge, education, and empowerment to marginalized women and children in Muslim-majority nations. His commitment to both environmental stewardship and spiritual restoration reflects an integrated approach to leadership that he brings to his role as Executive Chairman of 4rivrs.
Dave Paquette
CEO
Dave Paquette is a systems and software architect with a record of turning complex and highly regulated processes into scalable and efficient systems. A USAF veteran, his field experience spans both military and industrial operations, where he applied a disciplined, detail-oriented approach to optimizing maintenance and documentation workflows in high-stakes environments. Tools and processes he developed eliminated repetitive tasks, uncovered procedural inefficiencies, and earned numerous IDEA awards for cost-saving innovations, while giving him firsthand insight into the critical role of documentation in safeguarding both operations and the environment.
With broad experience in finance and business operations, Dave has since specialized in building enterprise automation tools that free teams from low-value tasks to facilitate high-value organizational transformations. His work has been foundational in driving meaningful change across financial and operational domains, and he has set his mind to understand how well-designed technology can create lasting business impact.
At 4rivrs, Dave sets the strategic vision, guides product direction, and serves alongside a world-class founding team he considers the company’s greatest asset. He is deeply committed to fostering an environment where people can thrive and teams can achieve more together than any one individual could accomplish alone.
Dave holds a B.A. in Mathematics from UNC Chapel Hill and lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife and three sons.
Dan Radez
CTO
Dan Radez serves as Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at 4rivrs. With more than two decades of experience in cloud infrastructure and open source software, he drives technical innovation and platform scalability across the organization.
Prior to 4rivrs, Dan spent 17 years at Red Hat, where he led a lab team responsible for DevOps operations across OpenStack deployments, managed TryStack (a public cloud testing environment for the OpenStack project), and contributed to the development of OPNFV (an open platform for network function virtualization used in the telecommunications industry). His expertise spans cloud platform development, systems automation, DevOps, TELCO virtual networking, and container platform scale and performance testing.
In addition to his engineering leadership, Dan is the author of OpenStack Essentials and an international speaker who has helped shape industry understanding of cloud computing fundamentals. His presentations at global conferences have guided organizations worldwide in their adoption of cloud technologies.
At 4rivrs, Dan applies his proven track record in platform automation and scaling, as well as his experience leading high-performance engineering teams, to accelerate the company’s growth and position it as the industry leader in online EHS documentation.
Wendy Coulter
CMO
Wendy Coulter is a brand strategist, innovator, and growth expert with a three-decade record of helping organizations translate complex value propositions into impactful market leadership. Her professional approach is rooted in structural thinking—the belief that a brand, much like a well-engineered building, requires a rigorous foundation to scale. Since founding her first company in 1995, she has dedicated her career to creatively solving problems for high-stakes, compliance-driven industries, including AEC, life sciences, healthcare, and telecommunications.
Her extensive experience in the B2B space has given her firsthand insight into the challenges of highly regulated sectors where precision is non-negotiable. Wendy specializes in strengthening a company’s promise, presence, and profitability through clear brand differentiation. She has helped thousands of brands move beyond simple communication to truly "living" their brand promise—a commitment that has earned her leadership numerous business and industry awards.
At 4RIVRS, Wendy leads the marketing and brand strategy, ensuring the platform’s "directive" mission resonates clearly with engineers, consultants, business owners, and regulators alike. She is passionate about removing the jargon from compliance to help businesses effectively communicate their positioning and grow revenue. Wendy views the 4RIVRS team as a collective force for industry transformation, driven by the same entrepreneurial spirit that has defined her career from the start.
Wendy holds degrees in Architecture and Industrial Design from the School of Design at N.C. State University. A lifelong North Carolinian, she remains intent on helping brands "take flight" through authentic connection and strategic clarity.
Ben Garner
General Counsel
Ben Garner is a native of North Carolina’s Triangle and serves as 4rivrs’ Chief Legal Counsel. He has practiced law since 2010 in private practice, as in-house counsel, and in state government.
Through high school and college, Ben worked in construction and for an erosion control company, and before law school he was a project manager for a small electronics manufacturing company.
Ben’s legal experience began with a law firm focused on banking and corporate law. He has also worked with BB&T (now Truist) and Gallagher with their contract and compliance teams, respectively. In the public sector, Ben led a 90+-member team for several years in reforming North Carolina’s unemployment insurance program. He then served at the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer for eight years, first as an investment attorney and then for six years as general counsel. At 4rivrs, Ben leads the handling of all legal matters and serves as corporate secretary.
Ben earned a B.A. from UNC-Chapel Hill (History and English) and a J.D. from Regent University School of Law. He lives in Holly Springs, North Carolina, with his wife and children.