Our Team

Practice Manager of the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) at the World Bank

In this role, Gabriela oversees a global portfolio of analytical and advisory activities in the energy sector, as well as the Bank’s energy climate finance operations. 

Ms. Elizondo-Azuela, a Mexican national, joined the Bank in 2003.  Prior to assuming her current position at ESMAP, Gabriela worked in the Latin America and Caribbean Energy Unit and other various Energy units across regional and global teams, contributing to a range of innovative operations in the areas of energy access, clean energy, climate change and became the Global Lead for Clean Energy for the Global Practice. As the Global Lead, she has championed the introduction of innovative initiatives, most recently in the areas of digitalization of energy sector infrastructure and utilities of the future. Ms. Elizondo-Azuela has more than 25 years of professional experience in the environmental and energy fields with specializations in power sector reform, regulatory design, private sector development, power sector planning, renewable energy, and climate change.

Before joining the Bank, she worked for private consulting firms and academia.

Ms. Elizondo-Azuela is a graduate of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (MX) in Chemical Engineering, has a Master of Environmental/Water Resources Engineering degree from the University of Michigan (USA), a PhD of Energy Economics from Imperial College London (UK), and various postgraduate diplomas from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA).

Adwoa joined the Bank as a Young Professional in the Africa region in 2018 as an Energy Specialist focusing on: (a) sector reforms; (b) energy access; (c) regional trade; (d) renewable energy development; and (e) utility reforms. She brings a solid track record of experiences in developing and delivering complex operations in sector and utility reforms, access, power generation, network rehabilitation and reinforcement and regional integration.  Her work in ESMAP will focus on co-leading the Energy Subsidy Reform facility and Electricity Access.

Adwoa holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Durham – UK having researched on electricity sector reforms, electricity access, market design and competition. She also holds an Msc in Energy Economics and Policy from the University of Surrey- UK.  Prior to joining the Bank, she founded and managed an energy consulting firm AA Emery Energy and petroleum Consult which worked to facilitate energy projects into Ghana. Adwoa is a Management Committee Member for Access for Women in Energy and was fellow at the Durham Energy Institute. She tutored macroeconomics and environmental economics to undergraduate and master’s students at the University of Durham. In addition to her core research interests, she also worked on smart electricity systems and was seconded to Hellenic Telecommunications Organization S.A.  in Greece where she worked in a team to explore regulatory challenges of smart grid development and deployment.

Adwoa has extensive operational experience having worked in Eswatini, Tanzania, the West Africa Power Pool, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Liberia, Vietnam, Ghana, Liberia, Comoros, Burundi, and Burkina Faso.

Alisha worked as an ESMAP consultant for the past 3 years, implementing the MTF surveys and country diagnostic reports in Nepal and Liberia, and supporting the development of the clean cooking agenda. More recently Alisha worked with the South Asia (Nepal) and East Africa (Uganda and Somalia) regional teams. As an Energy Specialist, Alisha will be part of the ESMAP Energy Access team, focusing on the newly-established Clean Cooking Fund.

Prior to joining the World Bank, Alisha was an Associate in Research at the Duke Household Health and Energy Initiative. She also worked at other research and consulting organizations such as the International Water Management Institute, EY-Parthenon Group, and Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations.

Alisha holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Sanford School of Public Policy (Duke University), and a BA in Economics from St. Xavier’s College (University of Mumbai).

Anders will focus on enhancing the ESMAP’s Energy Data Platform and will support ESMAP and operational teams in conducting socio-economic assessments of coal mine closure and coal power plants, among other activities.

Anders joins the World Bank from the World Resources Institute (WRI), where he served as Resource Watch Director, leading a multidisciplinary team that developed open data and geospatial tools to support energy and climate risk initiatives across programs and country offices throughout the institute.

Before WRI, he served as Senior Open Data Officer at Natural Resource Governance Institute where he worked with governments in countries such as Ghana, Tanzania, Tunisia, and the Philippines to increase transparency and improve fiscal governance in the extractives sector. Anders is a dual national of Denmark and the United States. He holds a MSc and a BSc in Political Science from the University of Copenhagen and has a Data Science Certificate from Georgetown University. During his studies, he completed additional coursework in law and political science at McGill University (Canada) and the University of Iceland. He is fluent in English and Danish. 

Anna’s primary area of focus is supporting ESMAP and World Bank regional operational teams on results monitoring, evaluation and knowledge management, as well as our reporting to donors and portfolio management functions.  Previously, Anna worked in the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) for over 4 years focusing on revamping PPIAF’s monitoring and evaluation system and fostering the culture of learning from the ongoing and completed projects for evidence-based and impactful design of technical assistance. Prior to joining the World Bank, Anna worked with the United Nations and National Democratic Institute country offices in Armenia, where she oversaw democratic governance, electoral participation and gender related projects. Anna holds an MA in Development Economics and Public Policy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University) and MA in International Affairs from Yerevan State University.

Ashish leads the Integrated Electrification Strategies and Planning team and is a member of the Mini Grids team at ESMAP. His work focuses on geospatial least-cost electrification planning and optimizing the rollout of grid, off-grid and mini grid solutions towards universal electricity access, including the development of the Global Electrification Platform. Ashish is responsible for the development of mini grid portfolio planning methodologies and their implementation in World Bank operations and is also supporting energy access projects in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Sudan. Prior to joining the World Bank, he worked at the public utilities commission in Massachusetts. Ashish holds a BA in Economics from Hamilton College and an MA in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University.

Barbara Ungari, Operations Analyst

Energy Access | Leave None Behind

As part of the ESMAP energy access team, Barbara supports the work on providing energy access to displaced persons, marginalized and host communities as well as linking this work humanitarian settings. Barbara also supports the operationalization of the ESMAP’s Leave None Behind program, as well as support the coordination with internal Bank colleagues in the Fragile Conflict and Violence Team as well as with external stakeholders at the UN and NGO actors active in this space.

Barbara has over 10+ years of experience in years of experience in international development & project and program management in the fields of energy access, energy efficiency, renewable energy, e-mobility, social & environmental framework, climate change mitigation, gender & social inclusion. She has supported various World Bank operations and engagements in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Colombia, India, Lao PDR, Maldives, Mozambique, Pakistan, Rwanda, Vietnam, Zambia.

Barbara holds a Master in Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change at the Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy.

Besnik is part of ESMAP’s Energy Access team, focusing on electrification and innovative financing for expanding energy access. Within the World Bank, Besnik has provided technical support to projects related to off-grid electrification,  electricity demand stimulation, clean cooking, and economic analysis of electricity access projects. Prior to the Bank, Besnik was a researcher with the Natural Resource Governance Institute. Besnik holds a BA degree in International Relations from Stanford University and a MA in International Economic Policy from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. 

Brenda leads ESMAP’s Portfolio Team, including its monitoring and evaluation efforts. Brenda also serves as an advisor, supporting the ESMAP program manager in trust fund, financial, and partnership management. Previously, Brenda worked as a financial analyst of energy and transport projects in Russia and Central Asia. She has over 20 years of experience in portfolio reviews and assessments of outcome, institutional development impact, and sustainability of World Bank programs and projects, as well as trust funds, financial, and resource management.

Brenda holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a BS in Biochemistry/Biophysics from the University of Pittsburgh.

Bryan is part of the ESMAP SEforALL Knowledge Hub team, focusing on the Multi-Tier Framework. He also serves as the focal point for ESMAP’s work on geospatial electrification planning and supports Lighting Global activities. Previously, as a consultant, Bryan was a field coordinator for the Multi-Tier Framework energy access global survey in Rwanda, Uganda, Myanmar, and Cambodia; supported the power-agriculture nexus component in the Africa Geospatial Electrification Planning activity and an assessment of mini-grid operators in several countries; and was a member of the Nigeria electrification project team. Prior to this, Bryan worked in the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia region on energy subsidy reform and the impact of cross-subsidization on industrial competitiveness. Bryan holds two MAs in Public Policy and Political Science from Georgetown University (USA) and Kyunghee University (Korea).

Chandra leads the global battery storage program at the World Bank. The World Bank has made the commitment to accelerate deployment of battery storage in the developing world with an aim to finance 17.5 GWh of new battery storage in developing countries by 2025.

Chandra also leads the energy climate finance team which is responsible for mobilizing climate finance from Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), Green Climate Funds (GCFs) and other sources for the Energy and Extractives practice at the World Bank. He has over 20 years of experience between The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on energy efficiency, energy access, and renewable energy access across 15 countries in South Asia, East Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa.

Chandra holds a PhD in Energy and Environmental Policy from the University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware.

Chong provides technical assistance and knowledge management support to the Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) Grid Integration Support initiative, focusing on power system analysis/planning and energy storage systems. He also supports the Power System Planning team, performing analysis for the network impacts of VREs, and several World Bank projects, assessing the technical requirements for VRE penetration. Prior to joining the World Bank, Chong worked for LS Industrial Systems, specializing in Energy Management Systems and Microgrids. Chong holds a PhD in Power System Engineering from Korea University.