Daniel Yates, CEO, Founder
As CEO and Founder, Yates is responsible for the vision, strategy and leadership of OPOWER. Prior to founding OPOWER, Dan was founder and CEO of Edusoft, the leading educational software company providing assessment platforms to US public school districts. Dan sold the 150-person, $20M revenue company to Boston-based publisher Houghton Mifflin in 2004.
After his departure from Houghton Mifflin, Dan embarked on a year-long adventure with his wife, driving from the Arctic Sea in Alaska to the southern tip of South America. This voyage caused Dan to dedicate himself to working to help sustain what remains of our beautiful natural world.
In 2009, Dan was named a "Tech Titan" by Washingtonian magazine and was a finalist for the Ernst and Young 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Dan received his B.A. in Computer Science, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Harvard University.
Alex Laskey, President, Founder
As President and Founder, Alex is OPOWER’s public face, responsible for engaging utility and government partners in OPOWER’s vision and products. He is highly sought-after as a speaker at energy-related conferences and fora throughout the country and abroad. In his role as OPOWER’s President, Alex was invited to the White House to meet with President Obama and discuss innovation and job creation in the green economy.
Prior to OPOWER, Alex enjoyed a career in politics and policy serving as a campaign manager, strategist and public opinion analyst for several candidates nationwide. Alex provided strategic consulting on several statewide ballot measures for The Nature Conservancy, The Trust for Public Land, and The League of Conservation Voters. Alex has worked for the White House and on a presidential campaign.
Before turning to politics and policy, Alex produced the award-winning feature film, Assisted Living, and worked as the director of new business and strategy for The Romann Group, a New York-based advertising agency.
Alex received his B.A. in History of Science from Harvard University.
Jay Kimmelman, Director
Jay Kimmelman is a successful entrepreneur and now a passionate advocate for issues related to global poverty. Prior to founding NewGlobe, Jay was founder with Yates of Edusoft, a leading educational software company. After selling Edusoft to Houghton Mifflin, Jay embarked on a multi-year endeavor to research the obstacles facing impoverished families as they struggle to increase their opportunities for better health and education. After research in developing regions throughout India, East Asia, and Southeast Asia, Jay joined his partner, anthropologist Shannon May, as a resident of a 1400-person, rural farming village in Liaoning Province, China. The experience advising transnational development agencies and government officials led Jay and Shannon to start NewGlobe, a micro-lending practice to encourage entrepreneurship as well as a high school scholarship program.
Mr. Kimmelman received his B.A. in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Harvard University.
Jon Sakoda, Director
Jon serves as Partner at New Enterprise Associates, focusing on technology and renewable energy investments, as well as the firm's investing activities in Latin America.
Prior to joining NEA, Jon was an entrepreneur and co-founder of IMlogic, Inc. (acquired by Symantec Corporation) and served as its Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Products. Prior to founding IMlogic, he worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co. where he focused on venture capital investments for their Private Equity Group. Jon earned his A.B. degree at Harvard University in Chemistry.
In addition to his directorship at OPOWER, Jon serves as a board member at Suniva, Inc, and led NEA’s investments in SunEdison and Spring Wireless. Jon also serves as a board observer to BandGap engineering, Channel Advisor, and JobFox. He also serves on the National Venture Capital Association's Clean Technology Advisory Council where he advises on federal policies to promote investments in U.S.-based energy technology companies.
Mark Sugarman, Director
Mark Sugarman serves as Managing Partner at MHS Capital, a venture capital fund backed by an extraordinary group of technology executives and entrepreneurs. MHS Capital’s team includes senior executives from every major internet portal, and a deep roster of serial entrepreneurs who have built some of the leading software and Internet companies. MHS Capital primarily invests in bootstrapped software and internet companies and sponsors serial entrepreneurs to do small tech buyouts.
In addition to his directorship at OPOWER, Mark’s board memberships include Fonality, iLike, and Magnify 360. Additional portfolio companies include: Adisn, Courttrax, Edusoft (acquired by Houghton Mifflin), Eventmonitor, Giftcertificates.com, Getsmart (acquired by Providian now part of Lendingtree) (IACI), Nutrisystem (NTRI), Savi Technology (acquired by Lockheed Martin), Venturebeat, Verticlanet (VERT), 1stup.com (acquired by CMGI).
Harry Weller, Director
Harry Weller serves as a General Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), focusing on technology and renewable energy investments, as well as NEA's activities in China. Harry was named one of the "50 Most Powerful People in Networking" by Network magazine and one of the region's "Titans of Technology" in Washingtonian magazine. He has been honored numerous times in Forbes magazine’s “Midas List” as one of the most successful venture capitalists in America.
Prior to joining NEA, Harry was a Partner at FBR Technology Venture Partners where he worked with several successful startup teams. Early in his career, Harry managed strategy and technology initiatives in the financial, energy and telecommunications industries for the Boston Consulting Group and Deloitte & Touche Management Consulting. Prior to his business career, Harry served as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Harry received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his bachelor’s degree in Physics from Duke University.
In addition to his directorship at OPOWER, Harry serves as a board member for Availink, Clearspring, Leadtone, MediaBank, Quit Hit, Realtime Worlds, and Suniva. Harry serves on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA), is a past Chairman of MAVA Capital Connection, and co-founded the Young Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (YAVA).