AGUSTIN GONZALEZ DE ABIEGA
CO-managing Director
Agustin is a 2023 MBA candidate at MIT Sloan focused on cleantech innovation. He is an intern at the investment team of Clean Energy Ventures and during the Summer interned at AES Next, the Corporate Venture Capital and Innovation arm of The AES Corporation. Prior to Sloan, he was a Senior Manager at Simon-Kucher & Partners in the Mexico City office. Agustin has over 5 years of experience working in Management Consulting specialized in Pricing, Revenue Management and Commercial Strategy. He is a strong believer that we can reach Net Zero by 2050 with the right mix of Investment, Policy, and Consumer Awareness. Agustin holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. In his free time, Agustin enjoys cooking, hiking, and playing sports.
ADITI JHA
CO-MANAGING DIRECTOR
Aditi is a 2023 Sloan Fellows MBA at MIT Sloan. She has worked with the World Bank, the UN and large conglomerates on integrating sustainability (ESG) across high environmental impact sectors like transport, energy and agriculture. She has developed and implemented some of South Asia’s largest natural climate solutions projects. She holds an MPhil in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge, UK and a BA in English from St Stephens College, India. Aditi is passionate about using her public sector and policy expertise to deploy and scale-up innovative climate solutions.
Vice Presidents
CHANDLER SEMJEN
VP APPLICANT EXPERIENCE
Chandler is a 2023 MBA candidate at MIT Sloan passionate about promoting earth saving technologies. Chandler serves as VP of applicant experience for the MIT Climate & Energy Prize leading applicant outreach, communication, and community. He brings with him experience managing startup operations and strategy for the prop-tech firm PeerStreet and total portfolio investing for various pension funds. In his free time, Chandler enjoys tennis, bouldering, and the outdoors.
ALAIN TEH
VP APPLICANT EXPERIENCE
Alain is a 2024 MBA/MPA candidate at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He serves as VP of Applicant Experience for the MIT Climate & Energy Prize, and is passionate about issues surrounding socio-economic mobility, economic development, and the environment. Alain is particularly interested in contributing to innovation around carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies. Alain started his career in finance in Singapore and Hong Kong, and graduated with bachelor’s degrees in law (LLB) and commerce (BCom) from the University of New South Wales.
JIWOO OH
VP APPLICANT EXPERIENCE
Jiwoo is a 2024 MBA candidate at MIT Sloan focused on climate technology and sustainability. He is a VP of Applicant Experience and excited to meet promising and innovative entreprenuers who have a passion to make sustainable environment. Prior to Sloan, he was a Manager at Bain & Company in Seoul office. As a management consultant, he has worked with global energy/EV companies for various topics such as tech. strategy, M&A, commercial strategy, and go-to-market roadmap. He also has an experience to operate early stage, lab spun off start-up targetting hydrogen production market for industry and transportation applications. Jiwoo holds PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
ALEJANDRA OLAZABAL
VP OPERATIONS
Alejandra Olazabal is a 2024 MBA Candidate at the Sloan School of Management. She is a VP of Operations and Events. Prior to business school, she worked in finance and CPG, and later as a consultant specializing in energy, mining and sustainability. Alejandra is currently interested in developing net zero strategies and implementing CCUS in Latin American markets.
JUAN GUZMAN
VP OPERATIONS
Juan is a 2024 MIT MBA Sloan student. Previous to Sloan, he spent eight years as Surface Warfare Officer in the Navy leading teams of various sizes. He led planning committees for and executed training events to enhance the collaborative capabilities of U.S. Navy and partner nation military vessels. Juan learned about the challenges of energy infrastructure while managing the power plant of his previous ship. His interest lie in improving the energy efficiency of the grid and vehicle-to-grid integration.
ROSS PHILLIPS
VP OPERATIONS
Ross is an MBA candidate (’24) at MIT Sloan. Prior to joining MIT, he was an associate in Mercer’s Infrastructure Boutique, covering investments in sectors like renewable and convention energy and power. Before Mercer, Ross worked at Hatch, a global multidisciplinary engineering consultancy, focusing on integrating renewable power into conventional power systems and decarbonizing industrial processes. Ross holds a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto and is a CFA Charterholder.
HOLLY NIHIPALI
VP SPONSORSHIPS
Holly is a currently at MIT for the System Design and Management MS program. She is a VP of Sponsorship for Climate and Energy Prize. Her background is 10 years working in for ExxonMobil (first three years) and Chevron in the lubricants area. Previous to that she did her undergraduate degree at MIT in mechanical engineering and a MS in mechanical engineering at BYU. Her interests include energy, sustainability, her children, and making the world a better place.
AMAR DAYAL
VP SPONSORSHIPS
Amar is a 2024 MBA Candidate at the Sloan School of Management. Prior to business school, Amar was a consultant at EY-Parthenon where he focused on serving private equity clients in the industrials sector. He is looking to use this skillset to make an impact in the clean tech space to help mitigate the impacts of climate change.
KAMILA GUERRA
VP SPONSORSHIPS
I have worked in the construction industry for over 20 years holding several positions spanning procurement, quality, sales and product marketing for several global companies. I have also lived and worked abroad in multiple countries gaining valuable understanding of different markets and cultures. I am currently enrolled at MIT in the Sloan Fellows MBA program and plan to pivot my career into the renewable energy industry after graduation. I am part of the VP of Sponsorship team for CEP 2022.
PABLO DE LA FUENTE
VP MENTORSHIPS AND JUDGING
Pablo is a 2024 MBA candidate at MIT Sloan. His main role in the 2023 CEP will be serving as VP of Mentoring and Judging. Prior to Sloan, Pablo worked in Private Equity at Alta Growth Capital as an Investment Associate in the Mexico City office. He also worked as a Consultant for Sintec, a Mexico based Management Consulting firm focused in LatAm. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Industrial Engineering from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. Pablo is mainly interested in how innovations are addressing the diverse climate problems we must resolve to reach 2050 climate goals.
ALEJANDRO SEVILLA
VP MENTORSHIPS AND JUDGING
Alejandro is a PhD candidate in the Mechanical Engineering department. His research focuses on exploring new types of cathode materials for next-generation electrochemical batteries. Alejandro has had exposure to the lithium-ion battery industry through internships in both R&D and manufacturing roles. These experiences have made him passionate about solving energy storage problems and decarbonizing the world. Prior to MIT, he obtained his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Duke University in 2020.
PULKIT GUPTA
VP PARTNERSHIPS
Pulkit is a 2023 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan focused on startups, product management and climate-tech. He has worked as a technical product manager in high-tech startups backed by SoftBank group and US Air Force. Most recently, he organized the Google-MIT Product Hackathon. Prior to Sloan, he worked as a software engineer in Japan on AI and Cloud computing projects and co-founded a VC backed startup in India. He is passionate about climate tech startups and feels a deep sense of responsibility to make the earth a better place for the future generation. He holds a B.Tech. in Electrical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. In his free time, he loves playing sports, biking and reading.
GUILLAUME JANIN
VP PARTNERSHIPS
Guillaume is a 2023 MBA Candidate at IESE Business School who did an exchange at MIT Sloan in 2022. Focused on startups and climate-tech, he is currently working part-time for NeoCarbon, a Direct-Air Capture startup. Prior to the MBA, he worked as a consultant in energy for Wavestone in their Paris office before launching his own startup during Covid. Guillaume is passionate about finding new solutions to capture carbon and reduce the impact of climate change. He holds a dual-master degree in Urban Planning from Sciences-po Paris and the London School of Economics and Political Sciences. In his free time, he loves going trail running, playing guitar and reading philosophy.