Our team.
National Grid Partners has expertise and discipline in Incubation and Pathfinding, Corporate Venture Capital, Innovation, Venture Acceleration and Business Development. Learn more about this passionate group, made up of proven technology and innovation executives, below.
Lisa Lambert
Chief Technology & Innovation Officer
and Founder & President
Chief Technology & Innovation Officer and Founder & President
Lisa Lambert is Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at National Grid and Founder & President of National Grid Partners. She is responsible for leading investments and innovation initiatives across the company.
Prior to National Grid, Ms. Lambert was a Managing Partner at The Westly Group, a clean technology private venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley, where she was responsible for investments in energy technology companies. Prior to The Westly Group, she worked at Intel Corporation for 19 years and was Vice President and Managing Director of Intel Capital’s Software and Services sector and the Founder and Managing Director of the $125 million Intel Capital Diversity Fund.
During Ms. Lambert’s tenure at Intel Capital, she led equity investments, incubations, business development projects, and innovation projects for Intel. She also managed an apprenticeship program designed to train high potential professionals in innovation and investment disciplines. Ms. Lambert led global investments in over 100 companies over her career at Intel Capital such as VMware (IPO), MySQL (acquired by SUN), Endeca (acquired by Oracle), JBoss (acquired by RedHat), and managed a large organization of investment professionals. Ms. Lambert produced top decile returns, including seven IPOs and over 40 M&A exits and delivered operating returns through commercial agreements with strategic partners. Ms. Lambert has been a director on the board of several portfolio companies and currently sits on the board of directors for Laredo Petroleum, an independent energy company with headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and UL Corporation, a global safety science leader helping companies to demonstrate safety, enhance sustainability, deliver quality, manage risk and achieve regulatory compliance, and Pathr.ai, a spatial intelligence technology company that accesses location data to identify highly actionable business insights. Until very recently she served on the board of directors for the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).
Ms. Lambert began her career at Owens-Corning as a software developer, and also worked in sales, strategy, and business development roles. Ms. Lambert is the founder/CEO, and chair of UPWARD, a global network of executive women. UPWARD is a non-profit organization with 16 chapters, over 60 corporate sponsors, and nearly 6000 members worldwide. Ms. Lambert earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Management Information Systems from The Pennsylvania State University.
Innovation
Disruptive initiatives and new businesses that support National Grid’s Vision
Brian Ryan
Vice President, Innovation
Vice President, Innovation
Brian leads the Innovation team at National Grid Partners. Previously, Brian spent four years leading innovation efforts at New Zealand’s largest distributor of gas and electricity and transformed the culture of a traditional electricity distribution company to be recognized internationally, as leader in energy, environmental, social and commercial innovation. Reporting to the CEO Brian led the Emerging Technology team that focused on the company’s growth and development, through the implementation of disruptive customer solutions and new technologies. Brian also managed Solar, Battery storage and the Vector Communications businesses, across New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Brian holds an Engineering degree and an Honours MBA from the University of Cork, Ireland.
Arnaldo Arnal
Manager, Innovation
Arnaldo Arnal
Manager, Innovation
Arnaldo.Arnal@nationalgrid.com
Arnaldo works in the intersection of sustainability, innovation and energy, driving disruptive innovations to solve the toughest challenges and bring affordable, equitable and clean energy to our customers. He was part of the founding team of one of Latin America’s largest SME accelerators based in Colombia, where he helped scale the program to over 800 companies. He has worked in multiple social impact accelerators in the US. Arnaldo has trained over 1000 corporates, students and entrepreneurs worldwide on innovation practices. He has a passion for the outdoors and spends his spare time trail running, mountain biking, kitesurfing, and rock climbing.
Dan Avery
Manager, Innovation
Dan Avery
Manager, Innovation
Dan is an experienced proposition and venture designer for FTSE 100 and equivalent leading global businesses, having worked as an innovation lead at Deloitte Digital and afterwards going it alone as an independent consultant. More recently Dan spent time in Medellin, Colombia, where he co-founded a Smart City lab to tackle big challenges facing the city. Dan studied Mechanical Engineering at Newcastle University and cut his teeth as part of the founding team of a confectionary start-up making sustainable chewing gum that went global. Following this he launched his own craft beer brand and gained national distribution in the UK. In his spare time Dan loves spending time outdoors and is always game for an adventure. He once road-tripped all the way to Outer Mongolia.
Aimee Bailey
Director of Innovation & Portfolio Management
Director, Innovation & Portfolio Management
Aimee joined the NGP Innovation team in August 2021. As Director of Innovation and Portfolio Management, she works to codify and continuously improve National Grid’s innovation operating model, while providing market sizing and competitive analysis to the innovation team. Aimee has worked in the energy sector for over a decade at the intersection of technology, policy and business. Her sustained focus is on cleantech commercialization and the energy transition. In her prior role, she was the Director of Decarbonization and Grid Innovation at community energy agency Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE), where she was on the executive leadership team and oversaw $25M+ in investments in pilots and programs spanning clean power supply, building electrification, transportation electrification, and grid integration. Prior to SVCE, she held positions at several energy companies and agencies, including EDF, PG&E and the US Department of Energy. Aimee has a BSE in materials science from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, a PhD in physics from Imperial College in London, and an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.
Kevin Bosma
Manager, Innovation Reporting
Kevin Bosma
Manager, Innovation Reporting
Kevin Bosma oversees innovation reporting for NGUSA. He comes from National Grid’s Leadership Development Program (LDP), where he gained experience with the clean transportation vertical in customer product growth, with previous assignments in strategy and regulatory strategy. Kevin and his partner live in South Boston and have two large dogs and spend most of their free time enjoying the outdoors or socializing with family and friends. He holds a dual graduate degree from the University of Michigan (MBA/MS ’20 & MS ’15).
Sander Cohan
Director, US Innovation
Director, US Innovation
Sander has more than 18 years of experience identifying growth opportunities and driving new strategies within international energy and industrial companies, connecting emerging technology with commercial markets. He has served as chief strategist, advocate and project director for technology development projects in diverse areas such as next-generation solar and wind, long-duration energy storage, robotics, data analytics, geothermal energy, hybrid renewables, agrivoltaics, and marine energy. Prior to National Grid, Sander held a number of innovation roles within the Italian utility Enel, working with local and global business units to drive the company’s progress towards carbon neutrality and sustainability goals. He previously founded ESAI Energy’s work in clean transportation fuels and electric vehicles. Sanders has an M.A. in Energy Policy and International Finance from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. in History from Columbia University.
Samantha Drinkwater
Innovation Portfolio Manager
Innovation Portfolio Manager
samantha.drinkwater@nationalgrid.com
Samantha Drinkwater brings more than a decade of relationship management experience to her role as Innovation Portfolio Manager at National Grid Partners, where she applies her operational and analytical skills to the pursuit of a more sustainable future. Prior to National Grid, Sam acted as a trusted advisor to several Fortune 500 Corporate Venturing teams, helping explore and synthesize the practices that drive innovation programs within an enterprise. Sam spent her early career working extensively at the cutting edge of diagnostics and emerging cancer therapies. In her free time, she practices and teaches yoga and hones her green thumb with sustainable gardening.
Ben Gill
Manager, UK Innovation
Manager, UK Innovation
Marc Gut
Manager, Innovation
Manager, Innovation
Maria Fernanda Juarez
Manager, Innovation
Maria Fernanda Juarez
Manager, Innovation
mariafernanda.juarezmedal@nationalgrid.com
Maria Fernanda is passionate about purpose-driven innovation and entrepreneurship. She has led many corporate innovation projects and designed strategies to create value through innovation in the financial sector. With experience facilitating Design Sprints, Innovation Workshops and Open Innovation Challenges, she has helped multidisciplinary teams across industries explore, test, and implement innovation programs.
Additionally, she was part of the founding team of a local marketplace and social network designed to connect expeditioners with tour guides and sustainable experiences in Guatemala.
Maria studied Business with a minor in Entrepreneurship and is currently in the process of getting a master’s degree in Innovation. She enjoys spending her free time collecting LPs, playing music, reading about behavioral economics, traveling, and being outdoors with her friends and family.
Ishneet Kaur
Director, Innovation Reporting
Director, Innovation Reporting
Ishneet joined National Grid Partners (NGP) in October 2019 as a Manager in the innovation team. She is responsible for reporting on the innovation activities and performance across National Grid U.S. Her analytical background, people skills, and motivation to have an impact makes this role a perfect fit. Before joining NGP, she was a part of McKinsey & Company focusing on risk management, anti-money laundering, and due diligence for the banking sector. Ishneet holds an M.S. in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University.
Stephen Marland
Director, Innovation
Director, Innovation
stephen.a.marland@nationalgrid.com
Stephen has had experience in project management, strategy, finance, regulation and commercial roles. He specialised in energy-system scenario planning, technology scouting, and innovation strategy and delivery. Stephen has been with National Grid since 2001 and had several roles in Gas Distribution, GB System Operator (power and gas) and Corporate Development teams. Stephen has a Ph.D. and Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Birmingham (UK), is an Associate Member of the IChemE, member of the Institute of Directors, and has an MBA from Warwick Business School (UK).
Nick Rancis
Manager, Innovation
Nick Rancis
Manager, Innovation
nicholas.rancis@nationalgrid.com
Over the past 10 years, Nick has worked across a wide range of roles in corporate innovation and venture creation, bridging new (and often difficult) energy-related technologies into the marketplace. Most recently, he served as Director of Commercial Operations at Ginkgo Bioworks, managing Ginkgo’s spin-off companies in the energy and sustainability sectors. Previously, as Director and Lead of Fraunhofer USA’s open innovation, startup validation, and scouting platform, Nick focused on incubating and evaluating dozens of early-stage energy technologies in partnership with Fortune 500 corporate clients such as Shell, Exxon, PG&E, NYSERDA, and Toyota. Before Fraunhofer, Nick served as co-founder or founding team member of three venture-funded, utility related startups, where he was responsible for product development strategy, commercialization, regulatory compliance and customer success.
Over his career, Nick has mentored teams and startups from accelerators, NGOs, and national labs such as the National Science Foundation (I-CORPS); U.S. Department of Energy; Cleantech Open; and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). In addition, he has served as a board member of the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the Leeds School of Business. Nick holds a BS in Microbiology from Colorado State University, an MBA from Babson College, and seven patents. He lives in Marblehead, MA, with his wife and daughter.
Sarah Telfer
Director, Innovation Reporting
Sarah Telfer
Director, Innovation Reporting
Sarah Telfer is the Group Innovation Reporting Manager leading on the UK portfolio. Sarah has been with National Grid for 8 years holding a variety of roles across Capital Delivery, Finance and more recently Regulation. Sarah is a chartered management accountant with CIMA, is qualified with the Institute of Asset Management and has a B.A in Economics & Social Studies from the University of Manchester.
Pathfinding & Incubation
Future-proofing National Grid: Seed through expansion stage
Andre Turenne
Vice President, Pathfinding and Incubation Investments
Vice President, Pathfinding and Incubation Investments
Andre.Turenne@nationalgrid.com
Andre Turenne is Vice President of Pathfinding and Incubation Investments, National Grid Partners. Andre has more than 30 years of venture capital, business development, operating and technical experience in the technology sector. His investment experience spans a wide range of areas, including enterprise software & services, SaaS/cloud, Data Analytics/AI, IT & network infrastructure, IoT/connected, digital utility/smart grid; wireless and security. Andre was previously a senior vice president of D. E. Shaw & Co., a global investment and technology development firm, and a Partner at D. E. Shaw’s venture capital unit. Prior to joining D. E. Shaw, Andre was a managing director of NeoCarta Ventures, a venture capital investment firm. Prior to that, he served as senior manager of strategic investments at Intel Capital, the venture capital unit of Intel Corporation. He has also held roles in engineering, operations and product marketing. Andre’s investments at National Grid Partners include Dragos, RiskIQ (acquired by MSFT), AiDash, Aperio Systems, Spark Cognition, Sitetracker, Aporeto (acquired by PANW) and Copperleaf Technologies. Select investments prior to National Grid Partners include PGP (Acquired by Symantec), PanTerra Networks, Asetek (IPO), Cavium Networks (IPO), Meru Networks (IPO), Red Hat (IPO), VA Linux (IPO) and WebLogic (acquired by BEA).
Bobby Kandaswamy
Senior Director, Investments
Senior Director, Investments
Bobby.Kandaswamy@nationalgrid.com
Bobby Kandaswamy is Senior Director, Investments on NGP’s Pathfinding and Incubation team. Bobby brings a unique combination of investment experience and hands-on entrepreneurial experience building and leading startups. He was previously an investment director at Intel Capital for 17 years, where he led early stage investments in Emerging Technologies including Clean Energy and the Smart Grid.
Bobby is a founder-friendly investor with a true appreciation for the entrepreneur’s journey. His entrepreneurial experience includes: Founder and CEO of IsoNetic, a next generation network security company; CEO of toSense, an AI enabled digital health company; and most recently co-founder and CEO of Forbie, an AI and NLP-based company focused on helping patients better manage their cancer. Bobby has also held management roles in product development, engineering and operations at Global 100 companies.
Bobby holds an MBA from Kellogg/Northwestern University, a MS in Industrial Engineering from Northern Illinois University and a BE in Mechanical Engineering from PSG Tech, India. Away from work, he enjoys running marathons, cycling and raising German Shepherds.
Raghuram Madabushi
Director, Pathfinding & Incubation
Director, Pathfinding & Incubation
Raghuram.Madabushi@nationalgrid.com
Raghu is a Director at National Grid Partners investing in early stage companies in the broad enterprise SW vertical. Raghu has 20+ years of experience with technology, capital markets, and IP/innovation.
He comes from SRI Ventures and GE Ventures prior to that, where he invested in deep tech and industrial infrastructure (SW, HW, and telecom). Prior to this, he managed a large portfolio of collaborative open-source technology projects while at the Linux Foundation and headed the startup investing business at Intellectual Ventures (IV) helping invest in early stage startups.
Prior to IV, Raghu held buy-side and sell-side roles at Wall Street firms (Oppenheimer & Co, Collins Stewart) and brings extensive experience in the hardware and software design space having worked in various roles including, semiconductor fabrication, chip design, systems architecture, strategy, and marketing (Texas Instruments, Intel, Cadence Design Systems).
Raghu received an MBA in Finance and Investments from Southern Methodist University and an MS in Computer Engineering from Iowa State University, and currently serves as a Kauffman Fellow. You can often catch him honing his mean backhand at a badminton court, with fellow investors and founders.
Patrick Walsh
Director, Pathfinding & Incubation
Director, Pathfinding & Incubation
Patrick.Walsh2@nationalgrid.com
Mr. Walsh joined National Grid Partners in 2018 to focus on investments in emerging technology that will shape the future of energy for National Grid and our customers. Prior to National Grid, Mr. Walsh spent 11 years at Intel Capital investing in software and related technology companies. Before investing for Intel Capital, Mr. Walsh worked in technical sales, product marketing, and software/hardware development for Intel Corporation. Mr. Walsh graduated from Oregon State University with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science; and from Boston University with an MBA/Finance.
Corporate Venture Capital
Strategic Investments: Early through expansion stage and fund-of-fund
Pradeep Tagare
Vice President, Corporate Venture Capital
Vice President, Corporate Venture Capital
Pradeep.Tagare@nationalgrid.com
Pradeep Tagare joined National Grid Partners from Intel Capital where he worked for over 13 years in Silicon Valley and India. At Intel Capital, Pradeep led 16 investments which resulted in 2 IPOs and 8 M&A exits with 3 Unicorns in the portfolio. Prior to Intel Capital, Pradeep spent over 12 years in Silicon Valley in technology/product marketing roles at startups such as Inference, BroadVision, Healtheon, and as an entrepreneur starting Yopa, a mobile middleware software company (acquired by XDrive/AOL). Pradeep has an M.S.E.E from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a BE (EE) from the University of Bombay, and is a Kauffman Fellow.
Kristian Bodek
Director, Corporate Venture Capital
Director, Corporate Venture Capital
Kristian.Bodek@nationalgrid.com
Kristian Bodek is Director of Corporate Venture Capital, NGP. He is responsible for sourcing and deriving strategic and financial value from investments in external venture capital funds, including Energy Impact Partners. Previously, Kristian was a senior member of the power practice at IHS Markit, a research and advisory firm. He led techno-economic, market fundamentals and policy analyses on a range of topics spanning generating technology cost and performance to electricity demand forecasting. While at IHS Markit he also developed and chaired the CERAWeek Energy Innovation Pioneers program, a platform for introducing established companies to innovative startup companies working across the energy value chain. Kristian holds a BS in Physics from Bates College and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Technology & Policy from MIT.
Ian Cooper
Managing Director, Head of CVC Europe
Managing Director, Head of CVC Europe
Ian Cooper joined National Grid Partners from Ardent Capital, where he was Chief Operating Officer. During his tenure at Ardent Capital, Ian oversaw new and follow-on investments into more than ten early stage companies. Prior to Ardent, Ian spent ten years with Intel Capital based in their London, UK office, where he made investments into 13 companies, which resulted in 1 IPO and 7 M&A exits, one of which was a Unicorn. Before joining Intel Capital, Ian worked for four years in corporate finance with Paris-based investment bank Bryan Garnier and Associates, was Founder and CEO of cybersecurity startup Cequrux and worked in consulting for IBM. Ian holds a MBA from HEC Paris and a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Psychology from the University of Cape Town.
Business Development
Creating value for National Grid and our portfolio companies via strategic engagements
Tom Williams
Vice President, Business Development
Vice President, Business Development
Thomas.Williams5@nationalgrid.com
Tom was appointed to Vice President, Business Development in June 2020, from his role as Head of Finance for National Grid Partners. Tom has held a number of senior finance roles within National Grid, joining the company in 2012, and has extensive experience in driving strategic and operational performance across large areas of the UK regulated business. Most recently, he was leading a team responsible for the finances of Operations, Capital planning, Asset Engineering and an efficiency transformation program, all across a multi-billion pound portfolio in the UK. Prior to joining National Grid Tom worked in Deloitte’s corporate finance practice focusing on corporate restructuring, insolvency and lender due diligence. Tom is a chartered accountant with the ICAEW, is qualified with the Institute of Asset Management and has a B.A in Economics, Politics and International Relations from the University of Warwick.
Brett Chandler
Director, Business Development
Brett Chandler
Director, Business Development
Brett.Chandler@nationalgrid.com
Brett joined National Grid Partners in October 2021 via National Grid’s New England electric business unit. As Director of Business Systems & Compliance, he led the team responsible for deploying the strategic roadmap for National Grid’s enterprise-wide construction and project management systems.
Brett began his career with National Grid in 2009 and also has held roles with the Office of the COO; Safety, Health & Environment; Capital Delivery; and has also held roles with the Office of the COO; Safety, Health & Environment; and Capital Delivery. He holds an MBA from Suffolk University and a BS in Marketing & Business from Syracuse University. He lives in Melrose, MA with his wife and their two children.
Deane Copson
Director, UK Business Development
Deane Copson
Director, UK Business Development
Deane joined National Grid Partners, Business Development in February 2021, from his role as Head of UK Domain Architecture in National Grid’s IT Organization. Deane joined National Grid in 2018 as the Business Domain Architect for Electricity, Gas transmission and Capital Delivery and has extensive experience in driving transformational technology initiatives across large areas of the UK regulated business.
Most recently, he was defining the future architecture and IT strategy across the T2 regulatory period. Deane has a passion for disruptive technology, prior to joining National Grid he was the Global Head of Enterprise Architecture for Deloitte focused on the introduction new and innovative technologies and operating models for Deloitte’s clients and practitioners and was a key member of the team who built Deloitte’s Cloud practice. Prior to Deloitte, he worked for several large organizations including Mercedes and Barclays and also started his own software and services company.
Niki Kesharaju
Manager, Business Development
Niki Kesharaju
Manager, Business Development
Niki.Kesharaju@nationalgrid.com
Niki Kesharaju is part of NGP’s UK Business Development team and has been with National Grid for two years, previously in Electricity Transmission New Infrastructure’s Performance and Strategy team. There, Niki primarily led the Net Zero Construction project set up to achieve National Grid’s Net Zero targets by 2025/6. The role saw her working closely with sustainability, innovation and procurement, as well as externally with the supply chain and other infrastructure clients.
Prior to National Grid, Niki worked in the automotive industry with roles across functions such as materials strategy, programme delivery and procurement, where she achieved her APM Project Management Qualification and her Six Sigma Green Belt. Niki holds an MEng in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Sheffield.
Alongside her career, Niki is very passionate about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She sits on the Women in National Grid (WiNG) committee, progressing equal opportunities for professional development and enabling a network of diverse talent. Niki also provides mentoring to support the development of young adults in STEM careers. In her spare time, she enjoys indoor rock climbing, keeping fit at the gym and cooking.
Eliza Tortorella
Director, Business Development
Director, Business Development
Eliza.Tortorella@nationalgrid.com
Eliza joined National Grid Partners in August 2021 from National Grid Ventures, where she was Director of M&A Project Management. She project managed renewable energy transactions including the acquisition of Geronimo Energy in 2019. Since starting with National Grid in 2013, Eliza also has worked in the Customer Organization, New Energy Solutions and Global Procurement; she previously led partnerships and procurement for demand management, AMI, and solar programs, among others. She has experience engaging stakeholders and guiding initiatives from program design and regulatory approvals to sourcing strategy and implementation. Prior to National Grid, Eliza was an EH&S Leadership Associate at United Technologies Corporation focusing on global sustainability and field safety. Eliza has a Master of Environmental Management with a concentration in energy from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment.
Daniel Velez-Lopez
Director, Business Development
Director, Business Development
DanielValez.Lopez@nationalgrid.com
Daniel has over 10 years of experience researching energy and environmental economics and policy, including work on energy demand, renewable energy integration and adaptation to climate change. He has worked at policy think tank Resources for the Future and consulted for both the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. He completed his PhD in Public Policy at Harvard University in May of 2019 before joining National Grid.
Daniel White
Director, Business Development
Director, Business Development
Daniel.J.White@nationalgrid.com
Daniel White joined National Grid Partners from Thimbleberry Research L.L.C., a finance and strategy consulting firm he founded after leaving The Boston Consulting Group. Before BCG, he was a finance manager at Intel Capital, where he led finance activities for the Enterprise and New Devices investment sectors. Daniel held several finance and strategy roles over the course of his 10-year career at Intel, and he began his career in the institutional equity research group at boutique investment bank D.A. Davidson & Co. Daniel is a CFA charter holder, a licensed CPA, and a Certified Management Accountant. He has an MBA with distinction from Cornell University and graduated magna cum laude from the College of Idaho. He also completed the Private Equity & Venture Capital executive education program at Harvard Business School.
Venture Acceleration
Building an entrepreneurial culture for National Grid
Jonathan Glass
Director, Venture Acceleration
Director, Venture Acceleration
Jonathan.Glass2@nationalgrid.com
Jon has over twenty years of executive experience in corporate development, corporate venture investing, technology commercialization, new business creation, product development and IP licensing. He has led strategic transactions in the technology, industrial, and financial services sectors across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
From 1998 to 2014, Jon served in multiple executive roles at General Electric. As the business development leader at GE Licensing, Jon acquired strategic patent and technology portfolios and worked with external companies, investors and entrepreneurs to launch new products and businesses around GE’s intellectual property assets. As managing director at GE Equity, Jon worked closely with GE’s business units to source, structure, close and manage a portfolio of strategic venture capital, private equity and joint venture investments. As managing director at GE Capital’s commercial lending business, he led new product development initiatives, including the launch of GE’s first interest rate derivatives business.
Immediately prior to National Grid Partners, Jon served as a leader at several technology start-up companies. As the chief commercial officer at Vener8 Technologies, an innovative business which partners with Fortune 50 corporations to license and commercialize its partners’ proven technologies in new markets, Jon structured new corporate partnerships, identified candidate technologies from each partner, and developed new businesses around licensed technologies. Jon also co-founded and led Wise Labs, an open innovation platform company that connects world-class scientists, engineers and technologists to businesses seeking new invention ideas and deep technical expertise. Jon began his career as a consultant with Mercer Management Consulting (now known as Oliver Wyman), where he advised Fortune 500 clients in the technology, financial services, consumer goods, and transportation sectors.
Jon received an MBA, with honors, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an AB, magna cum laude, from Harvard College. Jon lives with his wife and two children in Connecticut and enjoys cycling, cooking and rooting for Boston sports team in his spare time.
Xiaolong Hu
Venture Fellow
Xiaolong Hu
Venture Fellow
Xiaolong has been with National Grid for 5 years and held several positions within the core UK business. He specialised in power system engineering, product development, UK electricity regulation, and strategy development and delivery.
Before joining NGP he was a Strategy Officer in National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), where he worked alongside senior executives to shape business strategy and deliver a clean, affordable and reliable future energy system. Prior to that, he was the lead system design engineer of over 80 grid connection projects, including offshore wind farms, interconnector, nuclear, energy storage, EV charging stations and data centres, and he was responsible for engagement with clients ranging from energy giants to technology start-ups.
He holds PhD and BEng (Hons) degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Manchester (UK). He is an executive member of CIGRE UK National Committee and keen to inspire young generation into STEM.
Brian Lotsbom
Venture Fellow
Venture Fellow
Brian.Lotsbom@nationalgrid.com
Brian earned a BS in Finance from Providence College and jumped into the financial services industry, working for Merrill Edge for more than three years. He attained his Series 7 (General Securities Representative) and Series 63 (Uniform Securities Agent) licenses and was selected to pilot and lead all new development for the company-wide Authenticated Chat Platform. Ever since, he’s been passionate about product development and how the implementation of new technology can deliver value to a business and its clients. That led him to National Grid, where he joined its US Gas Business Unit’s transformation team.
At National Grid Gas, Brian worked as a product analyst and product owner. He led cross-functional teams to design and implement asset management, maintenance and inspection technologies and digitalization initiatives across National Grid’s US territory. At National Grid Partners, Brian is focused on developing the NextGrid Alliance, a utility innovation consortium launched by National Grid. In his spare time, he enjoys playing basketball and guitar and catching the latest Marvel movies.
Crispin Maconick
Venture Fellow
Venture Fellow
Crispin.Maconick@nationalgrid.com
Crispin helps leads the NextGrid Alliance initiative and advises the Venture Acceleration and Innovation functions at National Grid Partners.
Prior to joining NGP, he worked as a Sustainability Consultant with various UN agencies, including UNICEF and UNDESA. He advised senior leaders on monitoring and assessing the impact of UN programs for sustainable development, poverty reduction and incorporation of marginalized populations; he also co-authored sections of the UN Global Sustainable Development Report 2016. Crispin previously worked with low- and moderate-income children in the New York City public education system as a tutor and mentor. He is bilingual (French), loves to travel and is committed to ensuring an equitable, sustainable clean energy future for all through disruptive innovation.
He holds a MS in Sustainability Management from Columbia University and BA in Philosophy and Sociology from the University of Sussex.
Tim Singer
Venture Fellow
Venture Fellow
Tim was appointed to the Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) and Incubation team at National Grid Partners (NGP) in August 2020. He earned a dual-degree MEM/MBA at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. In 2019, Tim was a graduate school summer intern with NGP’s CVC team.
He is passionate about a career dedicated to fighting climate change at the source and will be working to accelerate our clean energy transition through finance, adoption of low-carbon energy infrastructure, emerging technologies, and holistic decarbonization solutions. Tim has worked with Rocky Mountain Institute’s Business Renewables Center, the California Energy Commission, and the United States Peace Corps.
Elizabeth Ramachandran
Venture Fellow
Venture Fellow
Elizabeth.Ramachandran@nationalgrid.com
Elizabeth is an accomplished analytics professional and has been with National Grid for 12 years. She has held positions within Customer Service and Advanced Data & Analytics concentrating on forecasting, variance analysis, and optimization. Prior to joining NG, she was a consultant for ADP and Broadridge where she implemented optimal cost solutions for print productions. She has taught undergraduate mathematics at various colleges and universities as an adjunct professor and completed a fellowship with the National Science Foundation. Elizabeth has a PhD in Applied Mathematics with a focus on Operations Research.
Advisory & Administrative
Swati Dasgupta
Strategic Director, Advisory Board
Strategic Director, Advisory Board
Swati.Dasgupta@nationalgrid.com
Swati’s expertise is driving emerging growth through corporate venturing and external innovation. She currently leads National Grid Partners’ Advisory Board, made up of National Grid senior executives. The Advisory Board drives new business for National Grid by leveraging the capabilities of National Grid Partners. Prior to NGP, Swati was with Next47, a global venture firm created by Siemens to identify and create its next generation businesses. At Siemens, she worked primarily with startups in AI, IOT, Big Data, Cloud, and edge computing in order to help Siemens leverage and accelerate digitalization. Before Next47 and Siemens, Swati was a long time member of IBM Venture Capital Group. Swati started her career in venture capital at SOFTBANK, where she led global portfolio development and international scaling. Early in her career, Swati was Desktop Segment Manager at IBM Microelectronics and senior product manager in storage and PCs at Digital Equipment Corporation. She has a Master of Science in Management from MIT Sloan School of Management. She currently represents National Grid Partners on the NREL Investor Advisory Board.
Alex Mallozzi
Chief of Staff and Executive Advisor
Chief of Staff and Executive Advisor
Alex.Mallozzi@nationalgrid.com
Alex joined National Grid Partners in April 2021 and is Chief of Staff for Lisa Lambert. He has been with National Grid for 8 years and has held several positions within the downstate New York Gas Business Unit in various engineering roles, such as Gas Materials & Standards, R&D, and City State Construction (Public Works). He also has held supervisor and operational roles in Gas Field Operations, Customer Meter Services, and Resource Coordination. Alex holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and an MBA from Marist College near his hometown. He loves the outdoors and enjoys running, hiking, camping, and surfing whenever he gets the chance.
Linda Ponikvar
Events Director
Events Director
Linda.Ponikvar@nationalgrid.com
Linda joins National Grid Partners with nearly 30 years administrative experience in the legal and tech sectors. Her experience spans from large global firms as a Law Firm Administrator to Executive Assistant for tech giants such as Safra Catz and Larry Ellison (CEOs, Oracle Corporation). On any given weekend, you might find Linda enjoying walks on the beach with her two pups Sadie & Oliver, relaxing by a fire with friends in her backyard, or wine tasting at one of the local wineries.
Selina Tan
Executive Assistant & Office Manager
Executive Assistant & Office Manager
Selina is an Executive Assistant and Office Manager at National Grid Partners. Selina has a strong background in high-tech companies and in venture capital, having worked in both Intel Capital/M&A and Intel Treasury for many years. Originally from Singapore, Selina grew up immersed in a multicultural society. She enjoys working with people of all walks of life. In her free time, Selina enjoys hiking, seeing friends, spending time with her husband and two children. She also loves to travel, especially to places with tropical weather.
Valerie Aubel
Executive Assistant, Officer Manager
Executive Assistant, Officer Manager
Valerie.Aubel@nationalgrid.com
Valerie Aubel joins National Grid Partners from Thrasys, Inc., a healthcare IT provider, where she supported business operations for a complex project implementation in Alameda County. Earlier, she held a finance and accounting role with Marvel Marketers, a marketing automation and business intelligence consultancy serving companies worldwide. She also served with the McKesson Foundation as product and distribution manager for Giving Comfort, a charity program that provides cancer patients with care packages. She helped the program successfully expand across North America, more than doubling in size. With a combination of project management, decision-making and problem-solving skills, she exceeds strategic objectives and delivers value for organizations; Valerie is a world traveler and her passions include swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, dancing and jigsaw puzzles.
Kathleen Stannard
Personal Assistant
Personal Assistant
Kathleen.Stannard@nationalgrid.com
Kathleen has over 20 years’ experience providing EA support to senior executives at high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. Her background includes experience supporting business groups in Finance, Marketing, Sales, Human Resources and Health Care Technology. In her personal time Kathleen enjoys spending time with family, cooking, traveling, training with her running club and working on creative projects.
Corporate Functions
Mitchell Carroll
Vice President & Deputy General Counsel
Vice President & Deputy General Counsel
Mitchell.Carroll@nationalgrid.com
Mitch Carroll joined National Grid from Morgan Lewis & Bockius where he was a partner in the Energy & Project Finance Group. Mitch has more than 20 years of private practice and in-house experience representing developers, investors, sponsors, financial institutions and other asset owners in the energy and infrastructure sectors. In addition to extensive experience in development, construction, financing, M&A and restructuring of energy and infrastructure projects, Mitch has experience in corporate venture capital in the energy technology sector while at TechQuest Capital. Mitch earned a LL.M in Financial and Banking Law from Boston University School of Law, JD from New England Law and a BA in Economics from Boston College.
Peter Delevett
Director of Communications & Marketing
Director of Communications & Marketing
Peter.Delevett@nationalgrid.com
Kevin Hyzak
Finance Business Partner
Finance Business Partner
Kevin was appointed to Finance Business Partner in June 2020, following his role as Manager, Business Development. While in Business Development, Kevin led efforts to analyze the attractiveness of various investment opportunities with the functional deal makers across the National Grid Partners group (i.e., Innovation, Incubation, Corporate Venture Capital, and Business Development). As a Principal Analyst at National Grid Ventures, he played a key role in evaluating dozens of potential projects and opportunities from a financial and strategic perspective. In addition to involvement in the financial analysis for the Geronimo Energy acquisition, Kevin led the financial analysis related to Sunrun asset investments and contributed to the analysis surrounding the grid services partnership. Prior to National Grid, Kevin worked as a consultant within the energy space primarily valuing nonregulated and regulated energy assets and contracts. Kevin holds an AB in history from Princeton University. Back when he had spare time, Kevin enjoyed playing Frisbee, baking (and eating) donuts, and making the rounds at comedy open mics.
Virginia Limmiatis
Content Manager
Content Manager
virginia.limmiatis@nationalgrid.com
Ginnie spent a decade leading Strategic Communications and Media Relations in Syracuse, NY before joining National Grid Partners. In that role, she worked closely with local, regional and trade media and represented Grid as an on-camera spokeswoman. She served as Public Information Officer during storms and led crisis/emergency communications planning and response; written press releases and talking points; and identified, created and delivered key messaging to external audiences through a variety of traditional and digital communications channels. She’s also written employee features and helped coach senior management on media strategies and tactics while delivering expertise in strategic communications, storytelling and thought leadership.
Ginnie began working with National Grid in 2008, when she was Communications Manager for its NorthEast Power Alliance joint venture. She previously was part of NASA’s Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program in Syracuse, where among other projects she developed a K-12 STEM outreach curriculum.
Virginia earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations with a concentration in communications from the University of Scranton, from which she also holds a master’s in American history.
Rebecca Martin
Head of Employee Communications & Engagement
Head of Employee Communication & Engagement
Rebecca.Martin@nationalgrid.com
Rebecca Martin is the Internal Communication Business Partner to National Grid Partners. In her role, she helps the business find and tell its story in a way that makes colleagues sit up and listen.
Rebecca joined National Grid from international beauty company Coty, where she was Global Campaigns Manager. She started her career as a Public Relations apprentice for Visa, where she had a front row seat to the rise of contactless and frictionless payments.
In her spare time, Rebecca enjoys travelling and connecting with people through social dancing. Following a trip to the Dominican Republic, she was inspired to enter the world of dancing, starting with salsa but then finding her way into Bachata and Kizomba.