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Ms. Karin Reiss-Haimbala is a Program Manager at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in Vienna, Austria. With over 15 years of experience, she is currently managing a portfolio of projects and programs in the field of Sustainable Energy, Industrial Decarbonisation and Climate Change Adaptation in Industries with a geographical focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.

From 2013 – 2019 she was based at the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) in Praia, Cape Verde and subsequently at the SADC Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE) in Windhoek, Namibia where she provided strategic support to the institutional setup and the development of regional flagship programmes.

Before she joined UNIDO she worked for the Austrian Energy Agency on international collaborations in Energy Policy and Capacity Building in Developing Countries and Countries with economies in transition.

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Carlos Ballesteros Barrado has been the Managing Director of the Spanish National ESCO Association ANESE since 2019. He has more than 15 years of international experience working for top energy companies worldwide in the fields of energy services, engineering, and R&D. Carlos is also been an observer at the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties since 2019 and a Board member of the CEN-CENELEC Joint Technical Committee (CEN-CLC/JTC), where he contributed to the establishment of standards within the scope of Energy Performance Contracts minimum requirements,) prEN 17669 normative and ValerI EN17463 Valuation of Energy-related investments, in line with the relevant CEN and CENELEC Technical Board decisions. Other board positions include:

• Advisory board member for the EU Horizon and Life projects
• Board Committee member of the leading Spanish events related to energy efficiency GENERA, MATELEC INDUSTRIES and GREENCITIES and S-MOVING
• Board Member of OFICINA VERDE (Ayto Madrid), the first one-stop-shop for building renovation in Spain

In addition, Carlos is an active promoter of energy efficiency and ESCO as an implementation framework through publications and international conferences and is also teaching Master’s students in the Energy Sector.

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Dhevan Pillay, a recipient of a Standard Bank scholarship and an Eskom bursar, is a professional engineer who has completed his MSc Engineering degree at the University of KwaZulu Natal.

He headed the drive-in Eskom focusing on demand response and energy efficiency for the large corporate customers in South Africa. He won the Eskom Chairman’s awards in the field of energy efficiency from 2008 to 2010.

Dhevan is an external examiner for Engineering MSc students in UKZN and UJ, and he has published and presented technical papers in many parts of the world including the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

He is the group CEO of LTM Energy, a certified BEE Level 1, Tier 1 ESCO, that has implemented multiple successful case studies in the energy and water management space including renewable energy. LTM Energy was the previous winner of AEA, SAEE, CSR, and AEE (international) Awards for their innovative projects within the green energy space which was implemented with blue-chip clients. In 2020, LTM Energy won 3 global awards for their innovative projects.

He is the current president of the ESCO (Energy Services Companies) Association of Southern Africa (EASA) and a member of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) Industrial Advisory Board. LTM has recently partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to focus on innovative off-grid sanitation, partnered with FNB/RMB on a Green Solutions offering to their clients, and partnered with Nashua on a national rollout.

Dhevan’s challenge and passion are in providing innovative solutions and strong leadership in the “green” economy and in so doing reducing the global carbon footprint.

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Emily McQualter has over 10 years of international experience in various technical and managerial roles in energy efficiency, especially focusing on appliances and lighting.

Emily currently leads the International Copper Association's energy efficiency portfolio with projects in Latin America and Africa. Previously, Emily worked for the International Energy Agency’s Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies (E4) programme, where she managed E4's work in Southeast Asia. Emily spent time in rural Philippines and in Thailand, where she worked for the United Nations Environment Programme, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific on energy efficiency programmes. Emily received a BSc and Master of Natural Resource Management from the University of Melbourne.

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Ms. D’Angiolini works as a Project Manager and Sustainable Energy Advisor at Econoler. Giulia has more than 10 years of experience in the fields of energy efficiency, project design, and project management, as well as training and capacity building. Ms. D’Angiolini holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering and a Doctorate in Energy Engineering, both from the Tor Vergata University of Rome, Italy. At the start of her career, she worked in the construction industry and was involved in thermal engineering, research and development and building energy modelling projects.

Since then, she has worked in many sectors linked to energy efficiency, such as conducting energy market analysis including gender aspects, analyzing the impacts of climate change, as well as elaborating and implementing energy efficiency policies in emerging economies based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

She has expertise in the following sectors: renewable energy; bioclimatic building design; policy for energy transition; market evaluation and studies; capacity building programs and training; energy performance standards and energy labelling systems.

Ms. D’Angiolini has solid expertise in managing international missions thanks to her managing projects for and financed by the European Commission, United Nations programs and agencies, as well as international funds (such as the GEF) in many countries.

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Mary Sotos is the Director of the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). She leads a team dedicated to helping federal agencies achieve sustainable facilities and fleets by assisting with federal-wide data collection and aggregation, developing reporting tools and technical assistance, and offering training and project funding.

Sotos previously served as a senior policy advisor with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, where she launched a revamped "Lead By Example" program to create new strategies to track and manage greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and water use across all state agencies. She also served as the agency's deputy commissioner for energy, directing the state's energy policies and programs. Sotos also worked at the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Program at the World Resources Institute, an international think tank, where she developed new global carbon accounting standards and tools used by thousands of organizations worldwide. Additionally, she partnered with corporate leaders to develop and advance new renewable energy strategies, tools, and policies to decarbonize the grid.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from St. Olaf College and completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Brussels, Belgium.

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Ar. Zulkifli Zahari is the President of Malaysia Association of Energy Service Companies (MAESCO) a post he has held since 2008. By profession, Zulkifli is an Architect. He is also a registered Green Building Facilitator and a Registered Electrical Energy Manager with Energy Commission of Malaysia.

Between 2000 – 2007, he was the Project Director for the Malaysian Industrial Energy Efficiency Improvement Project (MIEEIP) conducted by the Malaysian Government in collaboration with UNDP and GeF, and was appointed as a member of the National Steering Committee of The Building Sector Energy Efficiency Project (BSEEP) in 2011 – 2016, as well as the drafting of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act which is being enacted in 2024.

He is one of the juries for the National Energy Award (NEA) for the Energy Efficiency design and management category for the industrial, commercial and residential sector held annually by the Ministry of Energy.

Since 2014 he has developed MAESCO as the main training provider for certified Energy Efficiency related courses including Energy Management, Energy Auditor and Measurement and Verification which is recognised by the Energy Commission.