Archives: Members

Naimat Chopra Advocacy Officer Naimat brings extensive experience working with leading international organizations, including the Asian Development Bank, OECD, GIZ, UN-Energy, UNDP, and UNICEF. Her expertise encompasses providing strategic knowledge leadership, designing effective policy strategies, and executing on-the-ground assignments across Asia and Africa. Having spent recent years in the United States, Naimat has specialized in…

Awni Farhat Project Officer Awni started working with Hivos in 2019 and joined the ENERGIA team as Project Officer in 2021. Awni holds a Masters degree in Development Studies with a major Human Rights, Gender  and Conflict Studies and an Advanced Master in International Development. He has ample experience in project coordination and facilitation in…

Amanda Elam Sociologist and Research Fellow at the Diana International Research Institute at Babson College Dr. Elam is a Sociologist and Research Fellow at the Diana International Research Institute at Babson College. She is also CEO/Cofounder of Galaxy Diagnostics, an early-stage medical diagnostics company, spun out of NC State University. Dr. Elam has over 20…

Busi Maphosa Financial Officer Busi has been working with Hivos since June 2016 under the Finance Tender Support and Control department. She joined the ENERGIA team as Financial Officer in December 2016. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and a Master’s degree in Management, Economics & Consumer Studies. Busi has worked in the…

Elizabeth Cecelski ENERGIA Founder Member Elizabeth Cecelski has worked for more than thirty years on energy challenges in developing countries, specializing in energy, poverty and gender issues, especially in household and rural energy, and in rural electrification and rural development. She is a founder, and presently Chair of the Advisory Group and Senior Policy Adviser,…

Caroline Brants Senior Project Officer Caroline is a human geographer by education and has many years of international experience in the field of gender and development. She joined ENERGIA in February 2017. Prior to that, she was Hivos’ project officer for India and has worked as a gender specialist in various projects in Africa and…

Paul Mbuthi Deputy Director of Renewable Energy, Ministry of Energy, Kenya Mr. Paul Mbuthi holds a BSc. Degree in Environmental Health and a Master Degree in Environmental Planning and Management both from Kenyatta University and a Diploma in Environmental Studies from Technical University of Kenya. He has over 30 years work experience at the Ministry…

Shonali Pachauri Senior Research Scholar in the Energy Program and Deputy Program Director in the Transitions to New Technologies Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria Ms. Pachuri holds a Ph.D. from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETHZ) and a M.Sc. from University College London (UCL). Prior to her functions at…

Silvia Sartori Senior Project Manager For the past 15 years Silvia has been working in different capacities on multiple international development and cooperation projects at the nexus of energy and environment, women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship, private sector development (esp. SMEs), innovation and sustainability. Her academic background is in SME Management and Development, and Asian Studies.…

Soma Dutta Consultant on energy, poverty and gender Ms. Soma Dutta is a socio-economist working on development issues surrounding energy access, poverty and gender. She has been supporting policy makers, utilities, programme practitioners, governments, NGOs and international organizations in Asia and Africa. Her areas of work include project design, M&E, research, analysis and capacity building.…

Zaki Qaraghuli Project Assistant Zaki has started working at Hivos in February 2019 supporting different projects and programs. He has a background in business management, banking, communications, translation, and marketing. He holds two Bachelor’s degrees in management and administration. He has worked in banks and human rights organizations as project assistant, project coordinator, communications coordinator,…

Tjarda Muller Communications Coordinator In her capacity of Communications Coordinator, Tjarda shapes, leads and oversees all ENERGIA’s external communication activities. She has ample experience in development cooperation and communication for development. Before joining ENERGIA, she served as Oxfam America’s Regional Communications Officer, based in El Salvador. She also worked as program coordinator at Free Voice…