Andrée joined Potential Energy in 2009 as its first full-time employee. Andrée has a decade of experience in poverty alleviation and economic development and has worked in more than a dozen countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. As Program Associate at the Trickle Up Program, she oversaw grassroots microfinance projects in Haiti, Benin, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Uganda. Andrée was also an Associate at the OTF Group, a strategy consulting firm that advises organizations, countries and regions on competitiveness. Based in Kigali, Andrée contributed to OTF’s work advising the Government of Rwanda on private sector development and led the firm’s projects in Republic of Congo and Angola. Andrée earned an MBA from The Wharton School, and an AB in Development Studies from Brown University.

Debra joined the team with a background in nonprofit fundraising, communications, and project management. In addition to her work on the Darfur Stoves Project, Debra manages Potential Energy’s new project in Ethiopia. Debra was previously Assistant Director at the Institute for Social Action at St. John’s University in New York. She has worked in the U.S. with Doctors Without Borders and amfAR: The Foundation for AIDS Research, and in Egypt with Environmental Quality International and FINCA International. Debra holds a Master’s in Nonprofit Management and Public Policy from New York University and a B.A. in Middle East Studies from Hampshire College.

Omnia Amr Abbas has extensive research experience in the spheres of climate policy, environmental politics, and private governance. She has been involved in numerous projects dealing with environmental issues and sustainability, including launching Eco Options Egypt, the first environmental issues online magazine in Egypt, and acting as an Energy and Environment Program Consultant for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in Italy (Cairo Office). Omnia serves as Potential Energy’s on-the-ground representative in moving to a financially sustainable market-based strategy for the Berkeley-Darfur Stove in Darfur and other areas of Sudan. Omnia has an MSc in Environmental and Resource Management from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a BSc in Biology from the American University in Cairo.

Ruth Katz joins Potential Energy with 20 years of experience in marketing, communications and fundraising. As an Associate Creative Director for a Marketing and Communications Agency she helped start-ups hone their message and tell their story to their various audiences, and as a fundraiser she has helped non-profits pursue innovative strategies to raise funds. Ruth lives in San Francisco with her husband and two sons. She holds an MBA in Sustainable Business from the Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco and a BA in Psychology from Haverford College.

Hilawe Lakew has many years of experience in energy engineering related to industrial, household, and rural energy programs with particular emphasis on energy efficiency and harnessing and utilization of alternative energy resources such as biomass, solar and micro hydro. Hilawe has been part of several clean cooking stove design and dissemination projects in Ethiopia since 1990 including the design and development of an improved charcoal stove in the mid 1990s and development of the improved injera baking stove as a design expert at the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines and Energy. Hilawe and his business partner, Getnet Tesfaye represent Potential Energy in Ethiopia and are working with our partners to launch PE’s newest cookstove project in peri-urban areas of Ethiopia. Hilawe obtained an MSc. in Renewable Energy and The Environment from The University of Reading, UK and a BS in Physics from Addis Ababa University.

Jan specializes in microenterprise development program design, evaluation and impact assessment. In addition to managing Potential Energy’s program in Darfur, Jan is exploring opportunities to set up viable marketing chains involving local women’s development groups, entrepreneurs, and community-based organizations in order to build sustainable access to clean cookstoves while creating new income opportunities. He has worked or consulted for Trickle Up, CARE, IFC, UNDP, USAID, The SEEP Network, PACT, Habitat for Humanity International, and other INGOs on livelihood promotion, microenterprise development and savings mobilization especially targeting very vulnerable or ultra poor populations in Asia and Africa. Jan has published several articles on poverty outreach in microfinance and enterprise development, and he teaches a course on “Microfinance for the Bottom Billion” in the Sustainable Microenterprise Development Program (SMDP) at the Carsey Institute, University of New Hampshire.

Tom has an extensive background in accounting and financial management of nonprofit organizations, both large and small. He has served in a variety of sectors, including marine conservation, reproductive rights, wildlife rehabilitation, performing arts, food cooperatives, residential real estate, and CRM solutions. He is a Bay Area native and currently lives in Berkeley, California.

Getnet Tesfaye has worked for the Ethiopian Rural Energy Development and Promotion Center for 19 years as an energy planner, energy information officer and as member of several sector strategy and policy development teams. His recent clean cooking related experience includes project development and coordination for the Nordic Climate Fund-supported project for clean cooking promotion in Ethiopia and the development and implementation of the EU Energy Facility-funded Integrated Rural Household Energy project being implemented by Addis Ababa University. Getnet and his business partner, Hilawe serve as Potential Energy’s field presence in Ethiopia and are helping to launch PE’s newest clean cookstove program. Getnet holds an MS in Energy Systems and the Environment from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK and BS in Electrical Engineering from the Addis Ababa University.

Cristina is an undergraduate at UC Berkeley working toward a B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology. She has 2.5 years of stove testing experience in Dr. Ashok Gadgil’s research lab and is looking forward to expanding her knowledge at the Potential Energy office.

Amanda is an undergraduate at UC Berkeley working toward a B.A. in History. She has nine years of web experience and is glad for the learning opportunity granted to her by Potential Energy.

Dr. Ashok Gadgil is a Faculty Senior Scientist and Director of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Andrew and Virginia Rudd Family Foundation Distinguished Chair of Safe Water and Sanitation in Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley. He has substantial experience in technical, economic, and policy research on energy efficiency and its implementation, particularly in developing countries. For example, the utility-sponsored compact fluorescent lamp leasing programs that he has pioneered are being successfully implemented by utilities in several Eastern European and developing countries. He has several patents and inventions to his credit, among them the “UV Waterworks,” a technology to inexpensively disinfect drinking water in developing countries, for which he received the Discover Award in 1996 for the most significant environmental invention of the year, as well as the Popular Science award for “Best of What is New 1996”. In recent years, he has worked on ways to inexpensively remove arsenic from drinking water in Bangladesh. Dr. Gadgil has a doctorate in physics from UC Berkeley, has won over 20 awards for his work and has over 85 articles published in refereed archival journals.

MS is a finance executive with an extensive background in international controllership, global financial planning and reporting, financial modeling, treasury, and systems implementations. He began his career in public accounting in Strasbourg, France with Deloitte. MS currently works with Tiburon Software Inc. as a Sr. Director of Finance. Prior to Tiburon, he worked with Mirion Technologies, a manufacturer of nuclear radiation monitoring systems as a Director of Finance and Corporate Treasurer. Before Mirion, MS worked with GNLD, a global manufacturer of food supplements with subsidiaries in forty countries worldwide first as Financial Manager in Europe and eventually as VP Finance at the world headquarters in the Bay Area. MS earned a BS in Finance and Accounting from the University of Lyon in France and an MBA in International Business from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He is a CPA and member of both the American Institute of CPAs and California Society of CPAs. He is bilingual in French and English. On his spare time, MS enjoys mountaineering in Africa and South America, horseback riding, sailing in the San Francisco Bay and spending time with his wife Lidwine and their two sons Amaury and Erwann.

Lakshmi Karan is the Global Strategy Director of Riders for Health, an award-winning social enterprise working to make sure all health workers in Africa have access to reliable transportation so they can reach the most isolated people with regular and predictable health care. Prior to working at Riders for Health, Lakshmi served as the Skoll Foundation’s Director of Impact Assessment, Learning and Utilization, and was responsible for leading the initiatives to assess investment performance and effectiveness. Within the social sector, Lakshmi served as a program and strategy consultant to a variety of organizations including Reebok Human Rights program, Oxfam America and the Alchemy Foundation. In the private sector, she spent several years as a management consultant to fortune 500 companies in the finance and health space. Her expertise was in systems design and knowledge management. Lakshmi grew up in South India, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in computer science. Subsequently, she earned a master’s and Ph.D. in international relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Her doctoral dissertation was in the fields of nonprofit effectiveness and organizational learning. Lakshmi volunteers with Maitri, a Bay Area domestic violence shelter for South Asians.

Mr. Lemelson owns and manages a winery and several vineyards in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and produces Pinot noir and other cool-climate varietal wines. He is also an environmental lawyer and activist, working on energy and climate, land use, and other issues. He received his J.D. in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland in 1992, and his B.A. from Reed College in 1981. Lemelson is Treasurer and a Director of the Lemelson Foundation, a Portland-based foundation that focuses on harnessing invention and innovation to solve pressing human needs in the developing world, and supports the next generation of inventors and innovators in the US. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, 1000 Friends of Oregon, and several other environmental organizations.

Alison Hall Mauzé is active in educational, arts, international, and local community organizations. She currently serves on the Executive Committee and is Chair of the College Relations Committee of the Davidson College Board of Trustees. She is a member of the Board of Trustees for San Francisco Ballet where she serves on the Audit Committee. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for California CASA where she serves on the Development Committee. Prior board affiliations include President of the San Francisco Ballet Auxiliary and Associate Trustee of San Francisco Ballet, President of the Parents Association and Trustee of Saint Mark’s School, Member of the Session of Westminster Presbyterian Church, and Vice President of the Alumni Board for Davidson College. She is a strong advocate for child and women’s welfare, educational equity, and international aid. She began her career at J.P. Morgan where, during her nine year career, she was a Vice President specializing in corporate finance and human resources. Alison holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Davidson College.

David “Selly” Selinger describes himself as a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of Rich Relevance, a data mining company. David Selinger first garnered international recognition as an expert in the field of eCommerce data analytics and personalization with his groundbreaking work leading the research and development arm of Amazon’s Data Mining and Personalization team. In that role, David increased Amazon’s annual profit by over $50 million (25% of US profit, 2003) setting the industry standard for recommendation services. David has decades of experience, from developing the first JavaScript-powered ad delivery system for Flycast—the same technology used by Google AdSense, DoubleClick and Overture—to leading Overstock’s personalization efforts as Vice President of Software Development and Data Mining. David also cofounded Redfin, a venture backed, industry-leading real estate search/brokerage company. David holds a broad collection of awards and standing patents in customer segmentation, analytics and data mining, including over a dozen pioneered at RichRelevance. David’s accolades also include the coveted PC Magazine Editor’s Choice Award (won for 2Roam Wireless, acquired by Air2Web). David received his BS in Computer Science from Stanford University.

Philip Auerswald is an associate professor at the School of Public Policy, George Mason University and an associate at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University. His work focuses on entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation. He is the co-founder and co-editor of Innovations: Technology | Governance | Globalization, a quarterly journal from MIT Press about entrepreneurial solutions to global challenges. He has authored, co-authored, and edited numerous books, reports, and research papers, including Seeds of Disaster, Roots of Response: How Private Action Can Reduce Public Vulnerability (Cambridge University Press, 2006), Clinton’s Foreign Policy: A Diplomatic History Through Documents (Kluwer Law International: 2003), and Taking Technical Risk: How Innovators, Executives, and Investors Manage High-Tech Risks (MIT Press: 2001). Prior to joining the faculty at George Mason University, Professor Auerswald was a lecturer and Assistant Director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He has been a consultant to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Washington and a B.A. (political science) from Yale University.

Kayje Booker is the Executive Director of Global Access in Action, a start-up nonprofit organization working to impact poverty through globally responsible technology transfer. She received her PhD in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from UC Berkeley. Her doctoral research aimed to understand and improve the innovation process for energy-efficient technologies for the poor. As a graduate student, her work with the Darfur Stoves Project involved both testing stove emissions and assessing carbon market opportunities for Berkeley-Darfur Stoves. She also contributed to early stage cookstove projects in Ethiopia and Haiti. When not working, Kayje enjoys backpacking, gardening, and rooting for tragically doomed sports teams.

Allison Goodson is an Associate Portfolio Manager and Securities Analyst at Wentworth, Hauser and Violich in San Francisco. She is a member of the investment team of WHV’s International Fund and focuses on investments in the energy and materials space. Allison previously worked at Dodge & Cox in San Francisco, where she was a Research Associate. Allison is a mentor for the Year Up program and serves on the Alumnae Board of the Hamlin School in San Francisco. Allison earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an AB in Political Science from Brown University.

Garron lives in Kigali, Rwanda, where he is Country Director for the Wood Family Trust, a Scottish-based charity that invests in making markets work for the poor in East Africa. Previously, he had a long career as a strategy consultant in both developed and developing countries, serving as a project leader in Dalberg’s San Francisco office, a manager with the OTF Group, primarily in Africa and at McKinsey and Company throughout Europe and the Middle East. He has significant experience in telecoms, financial services, agribusiness and private sector development. He holds an MBA with a major in international development from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.

Liliana has six years of experience working in communications and operations for international humanitarian NGOs. She currently works for International Medical Corps in Washington, D.C. Previously, she lived in Geneva, Switzerland and worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Norwegian Refugee Council. She also traveled to India with Save the Children to support the organization’s 2004 tsunami response. Liliana earned a Master’s in Forced Migration from the University of Oxford and a BA in Government and Middle East Studies from Smith College.

Redwood Capital is a $3.7 billion dollar credit oriented investment fund. Sharath is responsible for managing the firm’s investments in business services, government services, and technology; he also co-manages investments in media and telecommunications. Sharath previously worked with Aavishkaar, a 2006 winner of the UN’s World Business award, given to businesses supporting the Millennium Development Goals. There, he provided consulting services to the microfinance industry and worked as a project manager for a micro venture fund targeting commercially viable small companies in rural India. Sharath has also worked in private equity with Francisco Partners, then a $2.5 billion technology buyout fund. He worked on investments in software, semiconductors, and telecommunications. Sharath has also served as an Associate Consultant with Bain and Company. Sharath holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with honors, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Stanford University, where he graduated as a member of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society.

Ned Tozun is the President and Co-Founder of d.light design. Since its founding in 2007, Ned has played a key role in developing the company’s mission and strategic plan, and in establishing four international offices and worldwide distribution to bring safe, clean and bright light and power to millions of base of the pyramid customers. Ned was named by Forbes in November 2011 as one of the world’s top 30 social entrepreneurs. Prior to starting d.light, Ned founded multiple start-ups in the San Francisco Bay Area and developed several products that attained global distribution. He has an MBA and bachelor degrees in Computer Science and Earth Systems from Stanford University.