Leadership & Board of Directors

Dana Guernsey is a leading expert in global energy markets and brings fifteen years of experience developing virtual power plant and demand-side energy management products and first-of-its-kind programs to her role as Chief Executive Officer. Previously, as Chief Product Officer, Dana led the development of Voltus’s technology-enabled distributed energy resource platform, which connects Voltus’s customers and technology partners to the value that they can extract from their local energy markets, while contributing to a more resilient and decarbonized electric grid.

Before co-founding Voltus, Dana was Director of Product Marketing at FirstFuel, which offers cloud-based engagement software to help utilities deepen relationships with their business customers and increase energy efficiency. Prior to FirstFuel, she led corporate development and go-to-market strategies at Ambri, an MIT spinout company commercializing batteries for large-scale energy storage on the electric grid. Prior to that she was the Director of Energy Markets at EnerNOC, where she led a team responsible for the profitable management of the company’s complex portfolio of nearly 10,000 MWs of demand response assets, covering dozens of wholesale electricity markets and regulated utilities across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Dana grew up in New York City and holds an M.S. in Engineering Management, B.S. in Engineering, and B.A. from Dartmouth College. In her now home state of Massachusetts, recognized as the U.S. leader in energy efficiency by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Dana was named a Mass High Tech “Woman to Watch” in 2014 for her groundbreaking work in the energy and technology industries. Outside of work, Dana is likely to be found on the ski slopes, biking, or hiking with her husband and two children.

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Matt co-founded Voltus to pursue his passion for a cleaner energy future. As President of Voltus, Matt is responsible for Voltus’s new market entry and for developing customer solutions that marry leading technology, energy markets knowledge, and straightforward and compelling value propositions.

Prior to founding Voltus, Matt was the CEO of EcoFactor, a connected home software developer and operator of the award winning, 70 MW residential demand response program with Nevada Energy. Prior to that, Matt held VP of Sales roles at Bidgely and at EnerNOC. At EnerNOC, Matt secured EnerNOC’s first utility contract and spearheaded its initial international efforts, which resulted in the acquisition of two Australian demand response companies and in EnerNOC’s largest non-US portfolio. He also built from scratch EnerNOC’s two largest US markets, PJM and TVA, growing them from 0 to 2,000+ MW and 0 to 500+ MW, respectively. Matt led worldwide sales for EnerNOC’s 200-person commercial and industrial sales team, 15-person utility solutions team, and 40-person energy intelligence software team.

Neil Lakin joined Voltus to use his passion for building great technology to help create a smarter grid. Neil brings his world-class experience designing cloud-connected hardware to his role as CTO, where he is leading a team to build the technological infrastructure that will enable Voltus to deliver industry-best value to customers. His passion for solving big problems using the “Internet of Things” sets the foundation for Voltus to elegantly scale into a global leader.

Previously, as Chief Technology Officer and founder of MindMe, Neil developed wireless technology for networked microgrids in developing world markets. His engineering consulting firm has brought more than a dozen products to market for early-stage startups and multinational corporations. Neil enjoys working on every aspect of the Internet of Things: building scalable cloud architecture, designing hardware, and using data science to extract insights from networked sensors.

Neil graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in Physics and completed his M.Eng. in Computer Science at Cornell University. A former teacher, Neil enjoys sharing his love of technology with young people by teaching coding camps, including at his alma Mater, Cornell, and mentoring at hackathons around the country.

Jon brings his passion for clean energy and years of expertise to his role as Chief Regulatory Officer. He received two Presidential appointments to serve as a Commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a total of seven years, and he was the longest serving Chairman of that 1,500 person agency (5 years). He held the corporate position of Chief Policy Officer for SolarCity, the largest provider of distributed solar energy systems in the U.S., and was also in state government as General Counsel at the Nevada Public Utilities Commission and Nevada’s first Consumer Advocate under the Office of Attorney General.

During his FERC tenure, he led efforts to make the U.S. power grid cleaner and more efficient by promoting and integrating renewable energy, demand response, energy efficiency and storage. He championed FERC’s landmark Order 1000 which required grid operators to integrate solar and wind resources into the network, created FERC’s Office of Energy Policy and Innovation to promote new efficient technologies and oversaw the development of the Office of Energy Infrastructure Security focused on cyber and physical security of our Nation’s energy security assets.

In addition to Voltus, Jon is CEO at GridPolicy, Inc. He has written extensively and been published on numerous subjects related to energy policy and practice in such publications as the Energy Bar Journal, Public Utilities Fortnightly, and Greentech Media. He has lectured on distributed energy resources, energy market reform, and emerging grid structures at Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Princeton, the Beijing Energy Club among other venues. Wellinghoff received a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Nevada, Reno, a M.A.T. in Mathematics from Howard University, and J.D. from Antioch School of Law. He currently calls Berkeley, California home.

Laurie brings over 25 years of experience and expertise to her role as Chief Legal Officer. Throughout her career, she has represented high-growth, innovative public and private technology companies, helping those companies grow and scale quickly. Prior to Voltus, Laurie was CLO at AgileThought, a leading provider of digital transformation and consulting services to Fortune 1000 clients. She also served as General Counsel at Fuze, a leading cloud-based communications provider for the modern global enterprise, and General Counsel at Shutterstock (NYSE: SSTK), a leading global provider of imagery and music headquartered in New York City.

Earlier in her career, Laurie was Deputy General Counsel at Boston-based EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC), now known as Enel X, a leader in demand response and energy intelligence software, where she spent seven years managing and growing its legal operations for the full lifecycle from an IPO-stage company to a global public company leader in its industry.

Laurie began her legal career practicing corporate and securities law at the Boston office of WilmerHale, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financings, and public company representation. She received her B.A. from Georgetown University and her J.D. from Northeastern School of Law.

Kelly joined Voltus to combine her passion for go-to-market strategy with clean energy innovation. As Chief Customer Officer, Kelly leads the company's customer-facing operations, unifying marketing, customer success, project operations, and dispatch teams to deliver exceptional experiences across the customer lifecycle. She has a talent for taking the complex world of distributed energy resources and distilling it down in a way that's engaging and approachable for customers and prospects alike. Kelly thrives on driving operational excellence and helping every Voltan achieve personal and professional success.

Kelly arrived at Voltus after three years in the world of commercial product startups, first as Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Waggletooth and then as Director of Customer Analytics at Qore Performance. Prior to her entrepreneurial endeavors, Kelly served on the Admissions Committee of the George Washington University. Her foray into the energy industry began as an Analyst at DC Energy, where she traded Financial Transmission Rights in PJM's deregulated electricity market.

Kelly graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in Chemistry and Environmental Studies. You can find her before the sun rises swimming with her masters team. After hours, she's most likely driving her three kids to a myriad of after-school activities or watching true crime documentaries with her husband. Kelly resides in Vienna, Virginia outside Washington, DC.

Mike joined Voltus as CFO to continue his passion for building mission driven businesses. He brings more than 20 years of Finance experience, having spent his career in both operating and advisory roles. Mike joined Voltus from Apeel Sciences, where he served as Vice President of Corporate Finance, leading all aspects of finance and accounting. Prior to Apeel, Mike was Vice President of Finance at Sonos (NASDAQ: SONO), leading several functions including Global FP&A, M&A and Investor Relations. At Sonos, Mike played a critical role in guiding the company’s transition from pre-IPO to public company. Mike joined Sonos after 10 years in Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan, advising companies on capital markets and M&A transactions.

Mike graduated from Georgetown University with a B.S.B.A. and earned his MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. In addition, he is a CFA charterholder.

Outside of work, Mike spends his weekends traveling to his kids’ soccer and basketball games throughout Southern California.

Arielle most recently served as VP of Product at SPAN, where she launched the company's next-generation hardware and software platform and its utility product line, SPAN Edge, which delivers coordinated multi-home load flexibility for the distribution grid. She is also a Product Exec in PG&E's Innovation Incubator.Before SPAN, Arielle spent more than six years at Amazon leading new product initiatives for the Energy & Sustainability team in Devices & Digital Services. Earlier, she spent more than eight years at Google, where she led renewable energy investments in the US and emerging markets and launched a battery and financing product to bring affordable electricity to under-electrified communities in East Africa.

Jess is a strategist and marketing leader with a track record of building leading brands, products and high performing teams across the energy sector. Previously, Jess served as Vice President of Marketing at resi VPP firm Everyday Electric (formerly Renew Home) where she led a full-stack marketing function. Prior to that, she spent over six years at Google as Head of Global Product Marketing for Energy and Connectivity, driving strategy across a portfolio of hardware and services generating hundreds of millions in revenue. 

Her career also includes leadership roles at Nest Labs and Opower, where she spearheaded high-impact B2B and B2C go-to-market strategies, product launches, and enterprise positioning. Jess got her start in the energy space at Pacific Gas and Electric where she held roles in corp strategy and HR. And, she began her marketing career at Sterling-Rice Group, developing foundational positioning strategies and new offerings for major consumer products companies. 

Jessica holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and a BA in Psychology from Cornell University. Based in Boulder, Colorado, she is an avid outdoor enthusiast and hobbyist chef.

Sam Scuilli is Vice President of Sales at Voltus, leading the sales team across all nine wholesale power markets in the U.S. and Canada. With nearly 20 years in the energy industry, Sam has deep energy markets expertise, focused on optimizing demand response revenue and energy usage for sophisticated customers.

Before Voltus, Sam held leadership roles at Enel X and EnerNOC spanning international markets. He holds a BA in Public Policy from Stanford University and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Emily Orvis is the Vice President of Energy Markets at Voltus, where she leads the team that manages distributed energy resources and policy in all nine North American wholesale markets. Before Voltus, Emily worked at a small startup building solar-powered microgrids for energy access in emerging markets, and also worked at Earthjustice, the non-profit environmental law organization. Emily holds a BA from Columbia University and a Master of Environmental Management degree from Yale University.

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