Marco Garvasi of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Biography:

Marco Gervasi is a young professional in the fields of energy, climate, and sustainable development, with nearly a decade of international experience. He began his career at the age of 21, contributing to efforts to expand access to energy, water, and sanitation services for rural communities across Sub-Saharan Africa. He later worked on renewable energy and green hydrogen development projects in Europe, including at Snam S.p.A. and Meteln S.p.A. Today, he serves at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), where he promotes financing for sustainable energy systems and green industrialization in emerging and developing countries.

Josh Oxby of IEEE PES and IRENA Youth Council

Biography:

Josh Oxby is an international advisor on just and inclusive energy transitions, working across AI for energy access, green skills, and participatory energy governance. He has shaped global policy through his roles with UNDP, UN-ECE, UNFCCC, the IEA, UK Parliament, and the Scottish Government.  At the UNDP Sustainable Energy Hub, Josh led global youth and multilateral engagements at the intersection of AI and energy. He also currently serves as the Secretary General’s Global Youth Focal Point for the SDG7 and sits on the UN SDG7 Technical Advisory Group.

Known as the "kilted voice of clean energy", Josh connects systems thinking with cultural identity, making energy policies not just strategic, but ensures that they are designed to serve people, not just power.

Phil Gonski of IEEE Region 2, Burns Engineering

Biography:

Philip (Phil) Gonski, P.E., is currently a Director at Burns Engineering and an industry leader in Distributed Generation and Renewable Energy.

After graduating from the University of Illinois–Urbana with a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering, Phil worked for Sargent and Lundy in Chicago, designing power plants across the world.  He later obtained a Master’s degree from University of Illinois–Chicago in Energy Engineering.

At Burns, notable projects have included over 5 GW of distributed power generation; including the Philadelphia Navy Yard, multiple military microgrid projects, numerous BESS projects, fleet charging, the JFK NTO Microgrid, and countless other distributed generation installations across the country.

Phil is very active in the technical community and was distinguished as the Delaware Valley and IEEE Philadelphia Young Engineer of the Year, a CSE 40 under 40 awardee, and ENR MidAtlantic 40 under 40 recipient.

He has previously served as the IEEE Philadelphia Section Chair, IEEE Region 2 Treasurer, and IEEE USA Treasurer.  He is currently the IEEE Region 2 Director Elect.

Phil resides in Philadelphia with his wife and young daughters.

Vasilisa Vershinina

Biography:

Vasilisa Vershinina is an experienced journalist and content creator with a diverse background in international media production across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America, and North America. Her professional experience includes roles as an editor and screenwriter for a nationwide broadcaster in Russia, as well as leading production efforts for a nonprofit international organization focused on youth and social initiatives. Currently, she is developing an independent documentary project aimed at addressing significant societal issues, while also exploring the application of social media formats and trends to enhance public awareness of critical social challenges. 

She is a member of the National Writers Union (U.S.) and the International Federation of Journalists (EU).

Biography:

Dr. Prantik Saha is a management consultant at Black & Veatch where he co-leads the firm’s practice of advising clients on investment and adoption of emerging technologies in the power and energy sectors. With 5.5 years of scientific research (R&D) and 3.5 years of consulting experience in clean energy, he advises clients on solar PV, energy storage, data centers, low-carbon fuels, carbon capture, and battery recycling projects. Leveraging his deep domain knowledge of clean energy technologies, he assists clients reach their decarbonization and energy transition goals. His clientele spans across investors, utilities (electric), independent power producers, and technology providers

Biography:

Sajith Wijesuriya, PhD is the YP Vice Chair of IEEE Young Professionals Lead on Climate, Sustainability, and Innovation processes and the TAB representative from YP. He is also the IEEE MGA representative to IEEE Technology for a Sustainable Climate Matrix Organization (TSCMO). Sajith is also a Researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the United States.

He obtained his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines in 2020. He currently works at the Building Thermal Energy Science (BTES) group in Mechanical and Thermal Engineering Sciences (MTES) directorate at NREL. His research involves grid-level decarbonization, increasing resilience of human settlements against extreme climates, advanced building energy modeling and advanced thermal energy storage systems analysis.

In addition to that he is a Visiting Scientist at the Colorado School of Mines. Furthermore, as a part of his researcher position he works for three Clean Energy Ministerial work streams.