leaf

Our Team

The ESG team brings decades of combined experience in policy support, operations research analysis, computer modeling, economics, financial analysis, logistics modeling, communications, and writing. Our team provides a variety of backgrounds across energy, international development, policy, program management, mathematics, economics, and engineering.

Francois Bosselut, President

As President of ESG, Mr. Bosselut oversees daily operations and all ESG programs. Mr. Bosselut had led and supported a variety of projects focusing on energy, analysis and modeling, and software development. He is a graduate of McGill University, where he earned a B.S. in Mathematics, and Johns Hopkins University where he earned an M.S. in Applied Mathematics. He has previously worked at the National Center for Biotechnology Information and the National Cancer Institute. He is fluent in French.

Michael Cain, Vice President for Clean Energy Programs

Dr. Michael Cain is an energy policy specialist and educator with more than 25 years of experience in international development and higher education. From 2017-2020 he was a senior energy advisor with ESG supporting the Power Africa Uganda Electricity Supply Accelerator, USAID’s effort to support and accelerate clean energy investments and expand access to electricity in urban and rural communities. From 2013-2016 he was Chief of Party for the Energy Sector Technical Leadership program where he was primary author and co-designer of what USAID called ‘groundbreaking research’ to examine the role of women and gender disparities within the electric power sector, entitled Engendering Utilities. In 2009-2011, Dr Cain served as the primary technical manager for implementation and research to study the influence of residential energy efficiency improvements in low-income households in Macedonia with Habitat for Humanity. Dr. Cain most recently served as chairperson of the St. Mary’s County Solar Task Force, to advise county commissioners on best practices for commercial, community and residential solar energy zoning and siting.

Kashan Saeed, Director of Energy and Infrastructure Services

Kashan Saeed has over 20 years of international management consulting experience in business development and implementing transmission and distribution, renewables, smart grid, and large-scale enterprise technology programs for consulting firms and electric utility organizations. For the last 15 years, he has focused on the international development sector – USAID in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Southeast Asia, and Asia Pacific regions, as well as the private sector (MENA, Southeast and Central Asia regions), managing transmission and distribution utility turnaround, distribution commercial operations, renewables, smart grid systems, telecommunications and information technology initiatives.

Meagan Pitluck-Schmitt, Director of Analysis and Modeling

Meagan Pitluck-Schmitt has over a decade of experience in modeling and simulation (M&S), data analysis, and software development for the Department of Defense and other US Federal Government customers. Her work has focused on discrete event simulations, cost modeling, and logistics and energy modeling. She has successfully led Agile software teams in designing and developing both specialized M&S software and cloud-based enterprise solutions. Meagan currently leads ESG’s Analysis and Modeling team projects supporting the US Army and MDA. She also leads ESG’s Defense Market business development efforts. Meagan is an experienced programmer in languages including C/C++, VBA, and Python and is a Certified Scrum Master. She holds a MS in Computer Science (Computational Operations Research) from the College of William & Mary and a BS in Mathematics from the University of Notre Dame. Meagan served the Washington DC chapter of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (WINFORMS) as President from 2015-2016 and Vice President from 2014-2015.

Cathryn Chang, Director of Finance and Administration

Cathryn Chang has over 25 years of progressive experience in managing finance, accounting, contracts, business operations and administration, government audits and compliance, as well as impactful projects. With her most recent 15 years focused in the GovCon space, she has successfully led all facets of financial operations in support of businesses with multi-million-dollar federal contracts across agencies and industries in health IT, financial education, nuclear energy, and energy consulting and services. Cathryn also has over 10 years of experience in official auditing of quality and business processes for ISO 9001 international quality standards. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Psychology from the University of Oregon. She has been a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) since 2017. Cathryn is fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese.   

Kim Atsalinos, Director of Contracts

Kimberley Atsalinos’ experience encompasses over 30 years in the field of international development, both in the private and public sectors, in field offices overseas and at headquarters offices in the US. She has worked as a Contracting Officer for USAID (Foreign Service), Peace Corps, and the Department of Commerce. Since joining the private sector, she has worked for RTI International, the Academy for Educational Development, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), Social Impact, and ECODIT LLC, prior to joining ESG. Kim holds a BA and MA in Middle Eastern Studies, and a Master of International Management degree from the American Graduate School for International Management (aka Thunderbird).

Thayer Tomlinson, Director of Communications/Program Manager

Thayer Tomlinson has over twenty years of experience in energy efficiency, renewable energy, agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions, and agricultural carbon markets. With ESG, Thayer supports the EPA ENERGY STAR for Small Business and Congregations program providing energy and water benchmarking training and technical support through Portfolio Manager, producing technical materials, and conducting overall program management. She also leads ESG’s communications work and has served as Communications Director for a number of agricultural and environmental organizations. She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Mongolia teaching English and agriculture. Thayer has an MA in International Environmental Policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

John Works, Director of Project & Transaction Advisory Services

Mr. Works is an energy sector expert with more than 30 years of experience including 18 years working in developing countries and managing large U.S. government-funded international development projects. He has creative deal structuring capabilities and innovative financing approaches employing project finance principles based on contracted cash flows through deep understanding of full cycle financing requirements for energy power projects via public-private partnership structures. John provides strategic and business development leadership and support on energy projects for donors, project developers, finance providers, government agencies, and other stakeholders, including capture and drafting of energy sector proposals for new business, as well as project management of existing projects, due diligence, operational improvement, restructuring, risk management, and corporate governance. He has experience designing and implementing energy sector policies, rules, and regulations, including those governing power purchase and production sharing agreements, as well as competitive tender design and implementation. John served as the first Senior Transaction Advisor on the $148-million Power Africa five-year technical assistance program. He speaks English and is proficient in French. He holds a BA in Political Science, a JD in International Law, and an advanced degree in International Economics.

Mike Sines, Defense Market Development Lead

Mike Sines has over 23 years of experience in Army and Joint operations, strategic planning, and command leadership. He has served in every role from Flight Platoon Leader to Battalion Commander with multiple deployments in support of combat and humanitarian relief missions. He has successfully led multiple Operational Planning Teams in developing contingency plans for non-combatant evacuation operations, defense of critical infrastructure and building partnership capacity. Mike also served as the lead planner for all U.S. support to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics in Brazil. He has an MA in Military Operational Arts and Science.

Kiran Sabbineni, Power Systems and Grid Operations Lead

Kiran Sabbineni is an electrical engineer with over 10 years of experience in the power industry, including solar, wind, transmission, distribution, and hydropower projects. He has worked on stakeholder management clients and managed teams globally. His extensive international development experience includes providing engineering support to international aid organizations such as USAID and Indian AID in Papua New Guinea, Laos, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Myanmar, and India. Kiran’s expertise includes power system planning, substations, relaying/protection, power system design and analysis, distributed generation, smart grid integration, and system stability.

At ESG, he leads the efforts providing engineering assistance for USAID-funded programs including capacity development for national utilities in Papua New Guinea and Laos. Kiran has a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, specializing in Power Systems, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Nicholas Farrar, Senior Energy Advisor

Nicholas has over 14 years of international experience in the renewable energy power industry. Mr. Farrar spent 10 years in Brazil developing private sector investment strategies for both regulated and wholesale power markets. He has worked with competitive electricity auctions, contracting of renewable energy projects, and led the Brazilian renewable energy team for Norway’s largest utility company, Statkraft. He also has experience working in several other international power markets with the organization. He recently has been working to develop client funded research projects that evaluate the viability of renewable energy projects based on applied statistics, financial analysis, and market intelligence. This research was used to manage risk through project lifecycles and guide the initial decision-making processes for power sector investments. At ESG, he is currently the Project Director for the USAID-Papua New Guinea Electrification Partnership program. Mr. Farrar holds a BS in Geography with a focus on geospatial analysis, as well as a Master of Natural Resource Economics. He is a certified Project Management Professional.

Jared Angle, Project Analyst

Jared Angle has seven years of combined experience in international development and international trade policy, covering a range of areas including renewable energy, economic policy, trade litigation, and project management. Mr. Angle supports business development and project management efforts and provides home office support to multiple ESG projects including the Power Sector Improvement Activity (PSIA) in Pakistan, the CASA-1000 project in Central Asia, and the PNG Electrification Partnership (PEP) project in Papua New Guinea. Mr. Angle previously worked on renewable energy and economic development projects for multiple donors at Crown Agents and Pragma Corporation, and he also worked extensively on economic and trade issues at the Atlantic Council, U.S. International Trade Commission, and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. He has an MA in International Relations (with concentrations in European comparative politics and international monetary and trade policy) and a BA in Journalism.

Daniel Zanger, Senior Scientist

Dr. Daniel Zanger has over 20 years of experience in government and as a federal contractor applying techniques and algorithms from such areas as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning (ML), Statistical Data Privacy, Monte Carlo Simulation, Signal Processing, Quantum Computational Science, and Encryption to a wide range of varied technical problems. Dr. Zanger has served as the Lead Algorithm Developer and Architect for key Department of Defense and Intelligence Community R&D programs, developing and implementing solutions involving predictive models and algorithms for data correlation and categorization within the context of for example cyber defense applications. Dr. Zanger has provided technical and administrative Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) support for government R&D programs focused on applications of Deep Learning Neural Networks, Statistical Learning, Quantum Computing and Quantum Sensing, Data Analysis and Data Mining, Operations Research and Optimal Control, Stochastic Modeling and Simulation, as well as other areas. Dr. Zanger has authored a number of research publications in such refereed technical journals as Mathematics of Operations Research, Finance and Stochastics, Communications in Partial Differential Equations, Mathematical Finance, Statistics and Probability Letters, and others. Dr. Zanger holds a PhD in Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a BA, also in Mathematics, from the University of California at Berkeley.

Tim Long, Software Engineer

Tim Long is a Software Engineer on ESG’s Modeling and Analysis team. He holds a PhD in Mathematics from George Mason University, where as an undergraduate he was presented the Genevieve G. Feinstein Award in Cryptography. Dr. Long has over 10 years of experience programming web, mobile, and desktop applications. His current interests include Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality.

Stuart Pool, Software Developer

Stuart Pool is a Software Developer experienced in Virtual World and Simulation development. Tackling problems in unique ways, Stuart supports ESG’s software development needs with his broad knowledge of both front and back end development. Stuart has a specialty in C++, is proficient in other languages such as Python and SQL, and he has developed and integrated within various other simulation frameworks.

Garick Lee, Off-Grid Director - PNG

Garick Lee has over thirteen years of experience in the energy sector, with a specific focus on energy access and renewable energy. He has worked in a range of roles in engineering, government, research, and consulting. This includes work on energy access projects and programs for the World Bank Group, UK Aid, Australian Aid, New Zealand Aid, and the EU. He is currently the Off-grid Director for ESG on the USAID-Papua New Guinea Electrification Partnership program where he leads a team providing technical assistance to the government and private sector in order to improve off-grid electrification. Garick has an MSc in Renewable Energy from Murdoch University, and a Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia.

Fabian Ahaisibwe, Uganda Country Director

Fabian Ahaisibwe is a renewable energy expert with over 20 years of experience in Uganda’s energy sector. He was the Deputy Chief of Party at USAID’s Power Africa Uganda Electricity Supply Accelerator (PAUESA), a 3-year program which provided various forms of technical assistance to key stakeholders in the energy sector, including the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), generation, transmission and distribution utility companies, project developers, private sector investors, financiers and others. Previously, was the Project Manager at West Nile Rural Electrification Company Ltd. (WENRECO) where he oversaw the successful design, development and implementation of the West Nile Electrification Project, one of the first renewable energy projects to be identified and fast tracked under the Energy for Rural Transformation I (ERT I) project following the un-bundling of Uganda’s Electricity Sector. He holds an Msc. Engineering Business Management from the University of Warwick and a B Eng. (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from University of Manchester.

Pamela Brown, Finance Specialist

A diverse business manager with over 30 years of expertise in accounting, payroll, human resources, business administration, investment accounting, cost accounting and real estate. Ms. Brown now serves the Energy and Security Group as Finance Specialist and Human Resource Manager.

Maryam Tabatabai, Administrative Assistant

Maryam TabatabaiMaryam Tabatabai assists in managing office operations, including financial reporting and human resource activities. Maryam has an Associate degree in Business administration and a major in accounting from George Mason. Maryam is fluent in Farsi.

Addressing natural resource issues at the heart of global security

© 2024 Energy and Security Group

..

Log in with your credentials

Forgot your details?