Professional Biography
Elena is a cleantech leader, advisor, and investor.
Elena was part of the Leadership Development Program at Tesla, accelerating the world's transition to sustainable energy. Her roles included Inventory Control, focused on capital and operational efficiency for $1.5B+ in part inventory for manufacturing processes. Past roles / achievements at Tesla include standing up the material flow and supply chain for Shanghai Gigafactory 3 and scaling an effective rapid response plan for $7B in deliveries worldwide.
Prior to joining Tesla, she was co-founder and CEO at UtilityAPI (https://utilityapi.com/), a company that automates the process of collecting electricity data for solar, energy storage, and energy management companies. As CEO she set the corporate strategy, driving all business development, recruiting and management of C-suite team, sales, marketing, operations. Elena has been in renewable energy for over ten years, beginning her career at PG&E in energy efficiency and distributed generation programs. Elena thrives in ambiguous situations and seamlessly aligns decision makers and stakeholders to achieve business targets. Forbes named her 30 Under 30 in 2016. She has previously been the Board Director for the Green Button Alliance and co-chaired the Finance Committee while on the board of Women in Cleantech and Sustainability. She holds a Master’s of International Economics with a focus on China econometrics and energy policy from UC San Diego.
She curated a website and newsletter of all the energy, tech, and career development events in the San Francisco Bay Area for three years. She is originally from metro-Detroit, paints abstract landscapes, and is a Girl Scout Gold Awardee.
Speaking engagements
April 21, 2021 U.S. - ASEAN Innovation Circle Mentorship Panel, US Department of State
CleanCon: Clean Energy 101 Bootcamp, November 4, 2017, University of San Francisco
CALSEIA annual dinner, 2017
Keynote, Intersolar, July 10th 2017
Invited to speak at the Commission on Environmental Cooperation , the environmental branch of NAFTA, June 27-28 2017 on Prince Edward Island
Distinguished speaker at Berkeley's Philomathia Foundation Forum, April 20th, 2017
Stanford University lecture, April 11th 2017
LAUNCH festival, April 5th 2017
Solar Power Asset Management & Performance Conference, January 19-20, 2017 "Get it Right the First Time: Finding the ‘Right Programs’ to Avoid the Big Problems"
Podcasts
Stacking Benjamins, January 2016, Does Technology Plus Energy Equal a Unicorn Investment?
The Interchange, Greentech Media, GTM Squared Show Me the Data: Can Utilities and Distributed Energy Companies Share Nicely?
Authored articles
TechCrunch, Dec 12, 2015 Can Tech Solve Climate Change?
How I went from Junior Analyst to CEO in a year
Articles in which Elena is quoted:
Grist, Heather Smith. March 30, 2016. They aren’t shiny unicorns, but these startups shine when it comes to clean energy
An Outlet in Entrepreneurship; The School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego
Powerhouse: the startup making solar the most accessible energy in the world. Katie Fehrenbacher. The Guardian. April 20th, 2017.
2016
U.S. Energy Storage Summit, Greentech Media, December 8th 2016
SPUR The Future of Clean Energy in Cities December 5, 2016
Sino-US Clean Energy Innovation Fest by Power Labs, Shanghai, China, November 2016
Solar Energy Industries Association Women's Enegagemnt Conference , October 20th, 2016
Solar Power International , Setember 15, 2016
VERGE Hawaii 2016
Moderator: Clean Energy Software: Are Investors Ready? March 23rd 2015 Featuring VCs
White House Briefing on Climate, February 17th 2016, Business Forward
2015
Greentech Media's Solar Market Insight Conference, November 2015, Panel: Solar Software as a Service
Girls in Tech Pitch Night USA, November 10 2015
Women in Cleantech and Sustainability Talks at Google, November 7 2015
Berkeley Cleanweb Hackathon, October 24th 2015
White House Office of Science and Technology, Prizes in the Public Sector, Winner Spotlight, October 7, 2015
Hackbright Academy
SolarUp, August 2015
Cleantech Forum, March 18 2015
Elena was part of the Leadership Development Program at Tesla, accelerating the world's transition to sustainable energy. Her roles included Inventory Control, focused on capital and operational efficiency for $1.5B+ in part inventory for manufacturing processes. Past roles / achievements at Tesla include standing up the material flow and supply chain for Shanghai Gigafactory 3 and scaling an effective rapid response plan for $7B in deliveries worldwide.
Prior to joining Tesla, she was co-founder and CEO at UtilityAPI (https://utilityapi.com/), a company that automates the process of collecting electricity data for solar, energy storage, and energy management companies. As CEO she set the corporate strategy, driving all business development, recruiting and management of C-suite team, sales, marketing, operations. Elena has been in renewable energy for over ten years, beginning her career at PG&E in energy efficiency and distributed generation programs. Elena thrives in ambiguous situations and seamlessly aligns decision makers and stakeholders to achieve business targets. Forbes named her 30 Under 30 in 2016. She has previously been the Board Director for the Green Button Alliance and co-chaired the Finance Committee while on the board of Women in Cleantech and Sustainability. She holds a Master’s of International Economics with a focus on China econometrics and energy policy from UC San Diego.
She curated a website and newsletter of all the energy, tech, and career development events in the San Francisco Bay Area for three years. She is originally from metro-Detroit, paints abstract landscapes, and is a Girl Scout Gold Awardee.
Speaking engagements
April 21, 2021 U.S. - ASEAN Innovation Circle Mentorship Panel, US Department of State
CleanCon: Clean Energy 101 Bootcamp, November 4, 2017, University of San Francisco
CALSEIA annual dinner, 2017
Keynote, Intersolar, July 10th 2017
Invited to speak at the Commission on Environmental Cooperation , the environmental branch of NAFTA, June 27-28 2017 on Prince Edward Island
Distinguished speaker at Berkeley's Philomathia Foundation Forum, April 20th, 2017
Stanford University lecture, April 11th 2017
LAUNCH festival, April 5th 2017
Solar Power Asset Management & Performance Conference, January 19-20, 2017 "Get it Right the First Time: Finding the ‘Right Programs’ to Avoid the Big Problems"
Podcasts
Stacking Benjamins, January 2016, Does Technology Plus Energy Equal a Unicorn Investment?
The Interchange, Greentech Media, GTM Squared Show Me the Data: Can Utilities and Distributed Energy Companies Share Nicely?
Authored articles
TechCrunch, Dec 12, 2015 Can Tech Solve Climate Change?
How I went from Junior Analyst to CEO in a year
Articles in which Elena is quoted:
Grist, Heather Smith. March 30, 2016. They aren’t shiny unicorns, but these startups shine when it comes to clean energy
An Outlet in Entrepreneurship; The School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego
Powerhouse: the startup making solar the most accessible energy in the world. Katie Fehrenbacher. The Guardian. April 20th, 2017.
2016
U.S. Energy Storage Summit, Greentech Media, December 8th 2016
SPUR The Future of Clean Energy in Cities December 5, 2016
Sino-US Clean Energy Innovation Fest by Power Labs, Shanghai, China, November 2016
Solar Energy Industries Association Women's Enegagemnt Conference , October 20th, 2016
Solar Power International , Setember 15, 2016
VERGE Hawaii 2016
Moderator: Clean Energy Software: Are Investors Ready? March 23rd 2015 Featuring VCs
White House Briefing on Climate, February 17th 2016, Business Forward
2015
Greentech Media's Solar Market Insight Conference, November 2015, Panel: Solar Software as a Service
Girls in Tech Pitch Night USA, November 10 2015
Women in Cleantech and Sustainability Talks at Google, November 7 2015
Berkeley Cleanweb Hackathon, October 24th 2015
White House Office of Science and Technology, Prizes in the Public Sector, Winner Spotlight, October 7, 2015
Hackbright Academy
SolarUp, August 2015
Cleantech Forum, March 18 2015
Her Strengthfinder 2.0 traits are:
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2014 Strengths:
Strategic Futuristic Activator Maximizer Individualization |
2018 Strengths:
Activator Futuristic Command Self-Assurance Ideation |
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Micro-content created by Elena:
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