2025–2026 Leadership Team

Managing Directors

**Danny Ehrlich**
CO-MANAGING DIRECTOR | LinkedIn
Danny Ehrlich is a 2026 MBA Candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Before Sloan, Danny was a Marine Corps Intelligence Officer, where he specialized in targeting operations in the European and Middle Eastern Theaters. He then became the Chief of Staff for a geopolitical risk and finance consulting firm, where he assisted in early-stage investing in critical technology startups, data analytics quantifying the geopolitical risk exposure of publicly traded companies, and in advising a government nuclear project. At Sloan, Danny focuses on energy infrastructure and resiliency, while also studying entrepreneurship and serving as a VP of Operations for the Climate & Energy Prize. Outside of Sloan, he enjoys skydiving, triathlons, and mixology.

**May Robison**
CO-MANAGING DIRECTOR | LinkedIn
May is a second year MBA at MIT Sloan School of Management where she is pursuing concentrations in Finance and Entrepreneurship & Innovation. She is passionate about supporting innovative climate technology and last year served as VP of Sponsorships for the Climate and Energy Prize. May is also an early team member at Geofund, a startup that seeks to tie emissions to every transaction. Prior to her MBA, May was an Investment Analyst at the Johns Hopkins University endowment, where she supported the university’s private equity portfolio. May is originally from Washington, DC and graduated from the University of Virgina with distinction, receiving a BA in Economics a BA in Global Sustainability. In her free time, May enjoys spending as much time outside as possible, training for marathons, hiking, and skiing.

**Michelle Kang**
CO-MANAGING DIRECTOR | LinkedIn
Michelle Kang is an MBA ’26 candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Before Sloan, she led IRP planning and market modeling projects for electric utilities at Charles River Associates and in corporate strategy at a solar startup focused on accelerating the clean energy transition. At Sloan, she is passionate about bridging innovations in tech and AI with design thinking and sustainability-oriented solutions. In her first year, Michelle served as VP of Sponsorships for the Climate & Energy Prize. Outside of Sloan, she enjoys music production and entrepreneurship

Vice Presidents

**Isabel Gervis** VP Operations | LinkedIn
Isabel is a dual degree MBA/MS Chemical Engineering candidate at MIT Sloan, LGO '26. Prior to MIT, she worked for startups in the biotech, foodtech, and climatetech industries, leading process engineering and scale up projects. Isabel also brings nonprofit leadership experience, serving as the events director for NorCal Odyssey of the Mind. She is passionate about helping deeptech startups bring their innovations to market. In her free time, she enjoys backpacking, SCUBA diving, and cycling.

**Rushil Patel** VP Finance | LinkedIn
Rushil is a 2027 Master of Finance candidate at MIT Sloan. Before Sloan, he gained experience in strategy, operations, and investment analysis at a real estate investment firm, where he worked on initiatives to optimize performance and evaluate new growth opportunities. He also founded Phron, a publication exploring decision-making and practical wisdom. At Swarthmore College, he was a two-time Scholar-Athlete of the Year and captain of the varsity men’s tennis team. In his free time, he enjoys cinematic videography, photography, and playing music.

**Isabelle Callaghan** VP Sponsorships | LinkedIn
Isabelle is an MBA candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to MIT, she worked as a project manager at Deep Sky, a Direct Air Capture Project Developer. At Deep Sky, she led the build of Deep Sky’s pilot facility, Alpha, a facility that captures 3000 tonnes of CO2 annually and hosts 10 different DAC technologies. Prior to Deep Sky she worked at McKinsey & Co. focusing within the Global Energy and Materials Practice. At Sloan she is interested in entrepreneurship and venture development in climate. Outside of work, Isabelle loves to hike, camp, and climb!

**Kalena Bonnier-Cirone** VP Mentorship & Judging | LinkedIn

**Taylor Pearlman** VP Mentorship & Judging | LinkedIn
Taylor is a graduate student pursuing his dual degree MBA and MS in Electrical Engineering through the MIT LGO program. He graduated from Colby College with degrees in Physics and Mathematics. He started his career as an engineer with BAE Systems working on a variety of defense and aerospace projects and later moved to Cambridge Consultants where he led commercial efforts in quantum computing and wireless communications. Taylor is passionate about advancing key technologies critical to next-generation energy and climate initiatives.

**Omar Contreras Cabanillas** VP Marketing | LinkedIn
Omar is a first-year MBA candidate at MIT Sloan from Mexico City. He is passionate about innovative energy and battery breakthroughs, carbon capture, and technology as a catalyst for social development. Before attending MIT Sloan, Omar spent four and a half years in strategy consulting at EY-Parthenon, where he helped CPG and Industrial companies identify and execute opportunities to improve their operational efficiency while finding environmental and financial benefits. He also completed pre-MBA roles with the VC firm Ignia Partners (Investment Team) and Fintech Covalto (Investor Relations), strengthening his perspective on the startup ecosystem and financial inclusion. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and Strategy from Tecnológico de Monterrey. In his spare time, Omar enjoys weight-training, running, and reading (dystopian novels, Latin-American classics, and non-fiction books).

**Yu-Hao Chuang** VP Startup Relations | LinkedIn
Yu-Hao Chuang is an MBA candidate at MIT Sloan. Passionate about conservation since watching Beyond Beauty – Taiwan from Above, he has worked to align business strategy with environmental impact. At Shopee, a leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, he led a cross-functional project transitioning from single-use cartons to reusable logistics boxes, advancing Taiwan’s net-zero packaging goals. As a student impact consultant, he advised Taiwan’s Water Resources Agency on water sustainability strategies. Beyond work, he volunteers with Greenpeace, supporting campaigns on plastic reduction and river pollution studies. Yu-Hao aspires to reimagine corporate strategy and operations to create scalable solutions at the intersection of profit, people, and the planet.

Previous CEP Leadership Teams:

2024-2025

2023-2024

2022-2023

**George Wenzel** VP Operations | LinkedIn
George is an SDM ’27 candidate at MIT, focusing on product management and strategy in the energy and cleantech sectors. Before MIT, he worked at ENGIE in Belgium and Chile, where he led strategy, market analysis, and portfolio management, and previously gained experience in modeling and sustainability consulting. He has coauthored four energy research papers with more than 500 citations to date. At MIT, George is engaging with MITEI and energy-focused initiatives to advance decarbonization technologies. In his free time, he enjoys football, traveling, and outdoor adventures.

**Bohdan Chushak** VP Sponsorships| LinkedIn
Bohdan is a MBA '27 candidate at MIT Sloan pursuing the Sustainability and Finance Certificates with the goal of pursuing a career in sustainable investing. Prior to Sloan, he worked in fixed income asset management for six years, including a position in an ESG product role at Income Research+Management in Boston. Bohdan is passionate about leveraging the power of finance to help promising companies in climate and energy technology scale their innovations, and is excited to join as VP of Sponsorships to help the CEP achieve its goal of catalyzing clean energy innovation. In his free time, he enjoys playing sports, finding new recipes to cook, and exploring Boston.

**Abdullah Choudhry** VP Sponsorships | LinkedIn
Abdullah is a 2027 MBA candidate at MIT Sloan. Prior to Sloan, Abdullah has worked on climate-tech as an engineer developing and commercializing solid-state batteries at QuantumScape. As VP of Sponsorship, he looks forward to levaraging his experience in the space to help raise money for innovative start-ups in the space. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, traveling, and board games.

Joe Geniesse VP Mentorship & Judging | LinkedIn

Joe is a PhD candidate at MIT focusing on next-generation electrolytes to enable sodium metal batteries. He is passionate about enabling a renewable transition through leveraging electrochemistry to achieve advances in energy storage and industrial decarbonization. As a VP of Mentorship and Judging he is excited to cultivate great matches between mentors and startup teams. Prior to MIT, Joe received degrees in Chemistry and Environmental & Urban Studies from the University of Chicago. In his free time, Joe loves darkroom photography, gallery hopping, and cooking for friends.

**Blessing Akonure** VP Marketing | LinkedIn
Blessing Akonure is an MBA ’26 Candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Originally from a low- to middle-income country, she is interested in climate tech and the energy transition in the global economy. Prior to Sloan, she worked in the biopharmaceutical industry across operations, where she contributed to the development and manufacturing of life-saving medicines. In her free time, she runs her makeup business and enjoys binge-watching TV shows and cooking.

**Julia Zou** VP Startup Relations | LinkedIn
Julia is a 2027 MBA candidate at MIT Sloan pursuing the Sustainability Certificate. Prior to Sloan, Julia worked as manager at OC&C Strategy Consultants in the Boston office, doing corporate strategy and private equity diligence for Business Services firms (which includes engineering services, sentimental services, and testing and inspection businesses). Julia looks forward to engaging with CEP startups all over the world at all stages of the competition this year. In her free time, Julia enjoys skiing, doing pottery, making cocktails, and hanging out with her dog Tank.

**Palak Nagdev** VP Startup Relations | LinkedIn
Palak is a Master of Finance candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to Sloan, she worked at Morgan Stanley Capital International in the Index Strategy and Research team, focusing on ESG and fixed income index design, where she collaborated with clients on sustainable investment solutions. As VP of Startup Relations for the Climate & Energy Prize, she is excited to engage with applicants from around the world and support the development of innovative solutions addressing climate challenges. She is passionate about the intersection of finance, sustainability, and social impact, with a vision to make capital markets more inclusive and equitable. In her free time, Palak enjoys kickboxing, squash, and traveling.

**Akshat Goel** VP Operations | LinkedIn
Akshat is a 2027 MBA candidate at MIT Sloan, with a background in entrepreneurship and product management. He is originally from India and spent the last 8 years in Singapore, working as a product manager at fast-growing technology companies in eCommerce, FinTech and Consumer Electronics. He is passionate about building innovative technology-driven ventures, and is currently exploring new startup ideas in software/SaaS and AI.

**Yannan Tuo** VP Sponsorships| LinkedIn

**Kayla Spigelman** VP Sponsorships | LinkedIn
Kayla is a 2027 MBA candidate at MIT Sloan, pursuing certificates in Finance and Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Before Sloan, she was a Senior Consultant at Deloitte, where she developed data visualization tools to help public sector clients track climate progress and advanced the Department of Navy's energy performance contracting program to strengthen long-term energy security and resiliency. As part of the Sponsorship Team, Kayla is eager to help CEP raise and allocate resources that enable innovative startups to deliver impactful, scalable solutions to climate challenges. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring new cities—most recently Lisbon—and baking macarons.

Sherry Xu VP Mentorship & Judging | LinkedIn

Sherry is an MBA ’27 candidate at MIT Sloan. Before Sloan, she was a consultant at McKinsey, where she helped clients evaluate climate tech startups across carbon removal, e-waste and recycling, energy services, and building decarbonization. She also advised clients in life sciences and healthcare on strategy and operations. As VP of Mentorship and Judging, Sherry is excited to foster meaningful connections among CEP’s participants and experts in industry and academia. In her free time, she enjoys live music, exploring natural history museums, and watching baseball.