YPE SF Bay Area Clean Energy Career Expo 2025
YPE SF Bay Area is thrilled to announce our 4th annual Clean Energy Career Expo, a joint effort between the Scholarship Program and Mentorship Program, generously sponsored and hosted by the leading international law firm Perkins Coie. The Career Expo is targeted towards students, early career professionals, and transitioning professionals who are looking to embark or advance in a career in clean energy.
The first half of the event will consist of career panel sessions covering different verticals, including Policy & Regulations, Engineering & Product, Project & Corporate Finance, and Business Development. The career panels will dive into discussions with career veterans on topics such as how they entered their field of work and what skills are required for their role. In addition, there will be skill-building workshops on data science and utility and energy modeling.
Thirsty after a day of great career tips? Stay on after the panels and workshops for happy hour, network with speakers and get to know other attendees.
Speaker Bios & Workshop Descriptions
Career Panel: Policy & Regulations
Emily Cosbar: Principal, Supply Chain Consulting @ Wood Mackenzie
Emily has 8 years of experience across the entire renewable development lifecycle of solar, storage and wind projects. Emily currently leads a team of consultants at a Fortune 500 utility client, working closely with senior client leadership to advise on renewable category strategies and generate savings across a $3B renewable development portfolio. Key accomplishments include directing a $140M battery storage procurement initiative with over 107 invited suppliers and achieving >$40M in savings on $600M of solar module procurement. Additional accomplishments include collaborating with a trade association to produce a policy brief on the impacts of solar tariffs on the US market, which was cited in a letter to the White House in 2022; publishing a solar O&M study for a European client; and negotiating power purchase agreements on behalf of a client to deliver savings worth >40xs the project’s consulting fees. Prior to Wood Mackenzie, Emily served as the distributed generation solar policy expert for Ampion, where she worked directly with Fortune 500 companies in 15+ US state-level markets to deliver insights on DG-scale solar projects.
Kristen Frick: Principal Strategist, Grid @ US Department of Energy
Kristen currently works on electric grid strategy and topics at the US Department of Energy. Her career journey was a winding path up to this point, including working in early stage startups, non-profits, large energy developers, and consulting. After graduating law school and starting her professional career working in tax law she quickly was drawn to both the energy industry and innovation sectors, which eventually led to a decision to pivot to government to experience the "other side of the table".
Darleen DeRosa: Senior VP Policy & Regulatory Affairs @ Stem, Inc.
Darleen D. DeRosa, Senior VP of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Stem, Inc., is an energy policy executive with 15+ years of leadership experience in the utility, software and clean energy industries. At Stem, she leads federal and state policy for the company's AI-enabled software and services that enable customers to plan, deploy, and operate clean energy assets. Darleen also serves as a member of the Board of Directors at the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the national trade association for the solar and energy storage industry.
Prior to Stem, Darleen led policy at Landis+Gyr, a $1.5B global provider of smart metering and grid intelligence software for investor-owned utilities, electric cooperatives and municipal utilities. In this role, she delivered policy counsel for utility customers investing in grid modernization technologies. At Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), one of the nation’s largest combined electric and gas utilities serving 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in California, Darleen held senior level strategy, policy and regulatory roles. She also served as Customer Strategy Officer in PG&E’s Emergency Operations Center during events such as wildfires and storm-related outages. As Director of Regulatory Cases, she drove high-impact California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) regulatory proceedings with significant policy and financial implications, as well as policy development and analysis of state legislation with broad customer impact.
Workshop: Design Thinking
Karan Jhaveri: Systems Engineer @ Enphase Energy
Karan Jhaveri is a seasoned professional in the energy and sustainability space based in San Francisco, California. With a robust background in mechanical engineering and energy systems from UC Berkeley, Karan is dedicating his career to developing innovative solutions that address the pressing energy challenges of our time. Karan is currently leading the development of smart electric vehicle charging systems and their integration with solar and energy storage as a Systems Engineer at Enphase Energy. He has dabbled in a variety of technologies ranging from electric vehicle battery systems and electric aircrafts to battery recycling and repurposing. In these positions, Karan has driven innovations in energy technology and is deeply passionate about solving sustainability and energy equity issues across the globe.
Saptarshi Ghosh: Silicon Engineer - Data Centers & AI @ Intel Corporation
Saptarshi Ghosh is a System-On-Chip Design Engineer at Intel, working at the forefront of technology to enable and design the next generation of AI-enabled Intel Xeon® processors. His dedication and commitment to advancing computing have been recognized both at Intel as well as through the UC Berkeley College of Engineering where he holds a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. He currently chairs the Students and Young Professionals Board in IEEE Computer Society, an organization having more than 50,000 members.
Career Panel: Business Development
Wade Bitaraf: Founder, Energy & Sustainability @ Plug and Play Tech Center
Wade is the founder of Energy & Sustainability practice at Plug and Play. Plug and Play is the largest corporate innovation center and one of the most active early stage investors globally. Wade works closely with entrepreneurs, corporate innovation leaders, and investors with a focus on the energy industry value chain. Previously, Wade worked in solar, published scientific articles, and led business development efforts in a startup.
Wade holds a master degree in Chemical Engineering and a master degree in Petroleum and Natural Gas engineering. His passion is at the intersection of technology and business.
Lisa Wang: Business Development and Product @ Antora Energy
Lisa drives business development and product strategy at Antora Energy, a thermal battery startup where she joined as the fifth commercial team hire. She specializes in scaling and bringing FOAK industrial decarbonization solutions to market.
Before Antora, Lisa launched and learned from climate startups in carbon management and smart grid technology. She led a carbon markets investment thesis at Prime Impact Fund, an early-stage climate VC, and conducted research on environmental commodities and the economics of stranded coal assets with the Harvard China Project.
Lisa founded the Harvard Undergraduate Clean Energy Group, a community of over 500 students and alumni dedicated to accelerating the energy transition through education and community. Lisa builds vibrant climatetech ecosystems to connect founders, operators, and investors, curating events and insights on her Substack, Daylight Climate: daylightclimate.substack.com. Lisa believes that connecting with community and nature is key to building resilience in a changing climate. Lisa holds a degree in Environmental Science and Engineering with a minor in Energy from Harvard University.
Ron Erd: Executive @ Unlocking Growth
Ron Erd is the Founder of Unlocking Growth. 5x CEO, 3x Fortune 500 executive, and 2x
Founder. Ron Erd is a Strategy, Go To Market and Business Development expert. Ron creates strategies with executives to get big deals with large corporate customers and dramatically grow revenue. Ron partners with clients to create product-market fit, business model, messaging and customer targeting to create customer pull. Ron is a mentor at NSF I-Corp, Plug & Play, Breakthrough Energy, Alchemist and Clean Tech Open. He is an advisor at Berkeley Skydeck and a member of the Leadership Council at Activate at Berkeley. Ron built the green hydrogen market entry strategy for Bloom Energy. He built the strategic roadmap to generate $500 million of letters of intent to purchase for a pre seed startup.
Ron is a 5x CEO, running businesses with over $1 billion in revenue. Ron founded 2 clean
energy startups where he crafted strategic partnerships with the US Air Force, First Energy,
Vistra Energy and Cargill. He led both electricity and natural gas businesses as an executive with AEP, NRG and Southern Company. Ron has an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a BA from Washington University.
Adriana Penuela Useche: Founder @ AdriPenu Consulting
Adriana Penuela-Useche is a chemical engineer with a Berkeley MBA, laser-focused on scaling climate solutions. With 11 years at DuPont, Dow, and Corteva, she optimized operations across the established chemical industry, particularly in Food & Ag and Industrial Chemicals. During and after her Haas MBA, she has helped deeptech climate startups crack the code on market entry, operations, and financial strategy—transforming breakthrough technologies into bankable businesses. Driving commercialization of climate tech is her mission. She runs her own independent consultancy, serves as a Venture Fellow at SOSV/IndieBio, she scouts cutting-edge technologies for early investment, leads the Bay Area MCJ climate community, and founded the Berkeley Haas Sustainability Alumni network.
Career Panel: Engineering & Product
Galya Arami: Senior Technical Product Manager @ Scout Motors
Galya Arami is an experienced Product Manager with a strong background in e-mobility platforms, automotive infotainment and customer-centric solutions. In her current role as a Senior Technical Product Manager at Scout Motors, Galya focuses on developing advanced navigation tools tailored for EV drivers, optimizing route planning, and enhancing infotainment systems. She leads cross-functional teams to align business objectives with innovative mobility solutions.
Previously, at Google, she played a key role in shaping the Android Auto experience, designing and launching features that improved driver engagement and safety on a global scale. Her work prioritized voice-activated in-car functionalities, user feedback integration, and product roadmapping for large-scale deployment. Before Google, Galya worked at Meta, where she led product quality efforts for AR/VR devices, including Oculus and Rift S. She conducted user research and usability testing to improve interaction accuracy and spatial awareness, enhancing the overall immersive experience.
With a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s degree from Yerevan State University, Galya combines technical expertise with a deep understanding of user experience and market dynamics.
Shruti Gopinathan: Product Management @ Terabase Energy
Shruti is a Palo Alto based full stack product leader on a mission to create a better future for our planet by helping organizations to build and rapidly scale decarbonization technologies that ensure climate equity. Her current interest area is decarbonizing power generation with solar power plants. Shruti serves on the product team at Terabase Energy, focused on building an interconnected digital automation platform to accelerate the deployment of utility-scale solar. Her product career spans roles in small scale solar (Palmetto, Ironridge), indoor air quality (Molekule), commercial HVAC (Johnson Controls) and medium power distribution systems (Cooper Power Systems). She holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Tech and MS in Engineering Management from Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Joseph Harmon: Senior Grid Innovation Engin Quantitative Analyst - Forecasting and Scenario Analytics @ Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Joseph Harmon had a career in Geotechnical Engineering including a doctorate from UIUC and PE license before getting an MBA at Berkeley Haas and pivoting to the energy industry. He is currently at PG&E in the Forecasting and Scenario Analytics group where he works with corporate strategy, finance, and engineering teams on the future of the gas and electric systems in California.
Aven Satre-Meloy: Senior Research Scientist @ Amazon
Aven is a Senior Research Scientist on the Sustainability Science and Innovation team at Amazon.
He worked previously as a Computational Research Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, conducting research and analysis to support energy policy and technology development for the U.S. Department of Energy.
Aven received my Master's and PhD from the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute. Prior to graduate school, he received a Fulbright Scholarship to teach English in Turkey, served as a Research Fellow for Project Drawdown, and worked at the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change.
Workshop: Utility and energy planning
Nick Pappas: Consultant @ NP Energy
Nick Pappas is an energy industry consultant focused on policy and market design for the electric sector. His consulting practice provides strategy, market intelligence, and advocacy for clean energy industry and stakeholder clients. Prior to establishing his consulting firm, Nick held leadership roles in regulatory and legislative policy at the California Community Choice Association, Southern California Edison, and the California State Assembly. Nick holds a MS in Energy Systems and BA in Economics from the University of California, Davis.
Anamika Singh: Public Utility Regulatory Analyst @ California Public Utilities Commission
Anamika Singh is an Energy Planning Analyst in the Electric Planning and Market Design Branch at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), where she works on Integrated Resource Planning and Grid Operations. With over 12 years of experience in the energy industry across India and the United States, her work includes developing energy efficiency policies, renewable energy initiatives, energy procurement, and resource planning, before grounding herself in electricity markets and energy regulations. Her team at the CPUC oversees procurement to ensure electricity reliability and is responsible for providing decision-makers with policy and technical analysis.
Prior to joining CPUC, she held key roles at California's Community Choice Aggregators. Anamika is trained as a Chemical Engineer and holds a Master’s degree from UC Berkeley, where she focused on climate adaptation, grid infrastructure, and resource planning. In her spare time, Anamika likes to explore how specific Distributed Energy Resource (DER) configurations—analyzed through their spatiotemporal dynamics—can mitigate costly, time-intensive, and inequitable grid infrastructure upgrades and be leveraged to inform regulatory frameworks that shape utility distribution planning and grid investment decisions.
Career Panel: Project & Corporate Finance
Olamide Oladeji: CEO / Cofounder @ Exo AI
Dr. Olamide Oladeji is Co-Founder and CEO of Exo AI, where he leads the development of advanced AI solutions for automated cleantech investment analysis and due diligence. With a PhD in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University and dual master's degrees from MIT in Electrical Engineering and Technology Policy, Dr. Oladeji has established himself as a leading innovator in AI-driven investment analysis.
Dr. Olamide Oladeji is a distinguished artificial intelligence expert and fintech innovator, specializing in computational models for sustainable finance and complex investment analysis. At Stanford, his doctoral research advanced computational approaches for sustainable finance and investment analysis through innovative applications of AI and geospatial analytics. As a researcher at the Stanford Sustainable Finance Initiative, he pioneered novel computational approaches to investment analysis and risk assessment, developing AI systems that evaluate complex financing transactions around clean energy assets, infrastructure projects, and sustainable real estate.
As a serial entrepreneur, Dr. Oladeji has consistently transformed academic insights into real-world impact. His professional experience includes pivotal work at Pacific Gas & Electric Company, where he developed machine learning models that mitigated wildfire risk and drove cleantech investment strategies exceeding $30 million. His ventures have already supported over 200,000 businesses across 40+ countries, demonstrating a remarkable ability to scale innovative solutions.
Satoko Wakasa: Vice President, Capital Markets & Strategy @ Nexamp
Satoko Wakasa is an accomplished business leader with a breadth of experience across early-stage ventures, high-growth enterprises, and multinational corporations. As VP of Capital Markets & Strategy at Nexamp, she spearheads complex financing transactions, driving innovation in clean energy. A Stanford GSB graduate, Satoko brings a global perspective to her expertise in finance, M&A, and strategic growth. As an ambassador for Nikkei BP, she advocates for women's career advancement and empowerment. Satoko combines strategic leadership with a commitment to sustainability and supporting women in business.
Sponsor: Perkins Coie LLC
Perkins Coie is a leading international law firm dedicated to helping clients solve the legal and business challenges of tomorrow. For more than a century, Perkins Coie has represented clients at the forefront of technological change, from aviation to artificial intelligence. Their practice of law is enriched by their deep understanding of their clients’ businesses and the industries in which they compete. Like their clients, Perkins Coie looks forward to new possibilities and frontiers with unwavering intellectual curiosity.
Thank you, Perkins Coie, for your generous support!
