Our Team

The Odyssey team uniquely brings together sector-specific experience with software engineering expertise.

Cathy Zoi

Executive Chairman/Co-Founder

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Cathy served in the Obama Administration as Assistant Secretary and Acting Under Secretary of Energy where she oversaw more than $30 billion in energy investments. She was the founding CEO of Frontier Power (a subsidiary of SunEdison), the Alliance for Climate Protection (established by U.S. Vice President Al Gore), and the Sustainable Energy Development Authority. Cathy has also been an investor at Silver Lake and Bayard Capital and serves on several boards. She was Chief of Staff for Environmental Policy in the Clinton White House and she pioneered the Energy Star program at the US EPA. Cathy has a B.S. in Geology (Hons) from Duke University and a M.S. in Engineering from Dartmouth.

Emily McAteer

CEO/Co-Founder

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Emily was Chief Revenue Officer of Frontier Power, a SunEdison subsidiary developing solar microgrids in India and Africa. Emily also worked in advanced energy management at EnerNOC and Yahoo, developed climate investment solutions at RiskMetrics Group, and received a Fulbright Fellowship to address off-grid solar lighting solutions in rural India. Emily holds a BA from Brown University, an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Ben Shinyambala

VP of Engineering

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Before coming to the United States, Benjamin grew up in various parts of Tanzania, and has first-hand accounts of the challenges of living in areas with limited access to electricity. Ben has over 10 years of experience designing, implementing and leading development of scalable enterprise software applications using cloud based and non-cloud based architecture across numerous industries. Ben holds an M.S in Applied Computer Science from Northwest Missouri State University.

Brock Taute

Director of Product

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Brock spent four years leading the engineering of microgrids and utility-scale renewables for Invenergy, one of the largest global developers in the world.  While there, he built his own database management software and a data analytics platform to forecast power plant performance.  Prior to that, he was co-founder and CEO of a mini-grid optimization company.  Brock holds a BS in Physics from Nebraska Wesleyan University and an MS in Engineering from Stanford.

Jessica Ognibene

Customer Success Manager

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Jessica worked at the US National Energy Renewable Energy Laboratory on alternative fuels and transportation trends. Jessica holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from University of Colorado, with a focus on biology and ecology.

Yoshiyuki Takahashi

Software Engineer

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Yoshiyuki was a front-end developer with the government contractor, Telesis Corporation. Yoshiyuki has more than 15 years of professional IT experience in Japan as a developer, development support technician, and testing engineer for Microsoft. Yoshiyuki has a B.S. in Electrical and Electronics System Engineering from Teikyo University.

James Wang

Lead Energy Analyst

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James has a background in power systems and renewable energy. He has served as a business consultant in Zambia to increase rural electrification and received a Fulbright to conduct research in France on the impact of energy storage in microgrids. Currently, an E.I.T pursuing his P.E., James holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Environmental Science from Santa Clara University

Kathryn Fluehr

Customer Delivery Manager

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Kathryn has worked in customer-facing roles in the SaaS space and is excited to be supporting rural electrification efforts with Odyssey Energy. She holds a BA in History, with a focus on Environmental Studies, from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of New Mexico.

Ola Oresanya

Energy Analyst

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Ola has experience in the energy access sector as a project manager and business development manager developing renewable energy mini-grid projects in Nigeria. Ola holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology with a focus on Power and Energy Systems.

Chris Karera

Data Scientist

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Chris has experience in project development, data analytics, and energy systems modeling. His main passion is developing renewable energy solutions especially for the growing need for energy in Africa. He holds a master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University Africa with a focus on Energy Systems and Applied Machine Learning.

Amon Tumwebaze

Data Analyst

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Amon Tumwebaze worked as a Data Scientist at Rwanda Revenue Authority and BBOXX Rwanda and managed Mobile Banking at Vision Fund Rwanda. He holds a Master’s degree in Science and Information Technology from Carnegie Mellon University Africa with a focus in Applied Machine Learning and Cyber Security. He is passionate about solving problems facing different industries using Applied Machine Learning.

Caroline Watetu

Customer Success Analyst

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Carol is a member of the Global Women’s Network for Energy Transition. She is passionate about clean energy and its accessibility. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication from Daystar University with a focus on Electronic Communication.