Our Team

Raluca leads Improving Livelihoods and Human Capital Development as part of Electricity Access Team. The initiative aims at promoting productive use of electricity and electrification of public institutions, which are expected to enhance the socio-economic impact of the electrification programs.  In the context of Covid-19, she coordinates ESMAP’s support to the electrification of health and vaccine storage facilities. She also co-leads the energy access program in Myanmar. Raluca started her career at the World Bank in Africa Energy Sector where she managed Africa Electrification Initiative and various lending energy projects.  Prior to joining ESMAP, she designed results-based financing for access to infrastructure in Global Partnership on Output-based Aid.

Rutu is part of the energy access team, leading the work on providing energy access to displaced persons, marginalized and host communities as well as linking this work humanitarian settings. She works with task teams to operationalize this work as well as coordinate 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. Her focus is on implementing ESMAP products in the field.

She also leads several World Bank projects and operations in East Asia Pacific and Africa and has worked previously on projects in the MENA region, ECA region as well. Her work focuses on energy access, energy efficiency, climate change and clean cooking. Prior to joining the World Bank, she worked at the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), focusing on mitigation, adaptation, and sustainable development. She also at the European Commission at the Directorate General Trade’s Sustainable Development Unit and at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. She has studied at the University of East Anglia UK; Wageningen University, the Netherlands and Yale University and Harvard University, USA.

Sheoli co-leads the Energy Subsidy Reform Facility; and provides strategic, operational, and technical support to the ESMAP Program Manager, as well as advice and guidance to ESMAP team. She joined ESMAP in September 2016 after six years in the Energy Practice in the World Bank’s South Asia Region where she worked on utility governance, regulation, and performance in India; and on system-wide sector strategic issues in Bangladesh. She has broad cross-sectoral experience stemming from assignments in infrastructure operations in Latin America, environmental policy and regulatory research, and country services. Sheoli spent 2006-07 on External Service at the Secretariat to the Committee on Infrastructure in the Planning Commission in India, working on government investment policy initiatives and public-private partnerships frameworks for infrastructure. Sheoli holds a PhD in Economics from Northwestern University.

Talal supports the ESMAP Energizing Renewables program and the Sustainable Renewables Risk Mitigation Initiative (SRMI) team. His work focuses on the integrated approach for scaling up effective deployment of renewable energy globally.

Prior to joining the World Bank, Talal’s work focused on designing and building grid-connected solar PV plants for commercial and industrial applications in Canada. Later, he worked on advancing off-grid and hybrid solar PV systems in the Middle East and North Africa region, and advised various organizations including UNICEF, WHO, and GIZ in the context of the deployment of renewable energy for critical services in humanitarian and stabilization.  Talal has field experience in development and implementation of renewable energy strategies in the Gaza strip, Sudan, and Syria.

Talal holds a Masters of Engineering from the University of Toronto focusing on energy systems, and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Nottingham.

Tarek is part of the Accelerating Decarbonization, Energy Storage, Innovative Solar, and Utilities for the Energy Transition teams. He serves as ESMAP’s technical backbone for electric mobility, coordinates the knowledge work on battery sustainability, and contributes to the efforts on distributed photovoltaic systems. Tarek supports the World Bank operations on transport electrification and decarbonization in Europe, Southeast Asia, and in the MENA region. Prior to joining the World Bank, he worked for the German development agency GIZ on various sustainable energy projects in Africa and the MENA region. Tarek holds a Master’s degree in Electric Engineering and Information Technology from the Technical University of Munich.

Tatia is part of the Energy Access team, with a focus on integrating mini grids and off-grid solar into electrification programs. Previously, Tatia spent nearly six years in the World Bank’s Africa region, working on mainstreaming grid-based, mini grid, and off-grid energy access solutions into lending projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, promoting regional power integration in West Africa, and supporting the energy efficiency agenda in Energy and Extractives Global Practice. Before joining the World Bank, Tatia worked with Sidar Global Advisors, where she oversaw research and business intelligence in the energy and infrastructure sectors for Eurasian public and private sector clients. She holds an MA International Economics, International Affairs and Energy Policy from the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, and an MSc in European Political Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Tigran works with the SEforALL Knowledge Hub and Renewable Energy Teams. Previously, Tigran worked as a Private Sector Development Specialist, managing the Getting Electricity indicator of the Doing Business report. Tigran is originally from Armenia, where he managed the IFC Armenia Sustainable Energy Finance Project, promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy finance in Armenia and throughout the Europe and Central Asia and the Middle East and North Africa regions. Before that, Tigran worked with USAID and other donors to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in Armenia, working with the private sector, as well on policy and regulatory aspects. Tigran holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Yerevan State Engineering University and a MA in Public Policy, with a concentration in Energy Policy, from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Yabei is a senior energy specialist, leading the Clean Cooking Fund. She manages the global knowledge products, engages and coordinates with internal and external partners, and supports clean cooking programs development and implementation in Africa and South Asia. Yabei has over 15 years of experience in household energy, energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate change, environment health, and urban development. Before she joined ESMAP in 2017,  Yabei had managed various energy projects in East Asia and Pacific (EAP) and Europe and Central Asia (ECA) regions. She led the regional flagship program the EAP Clean Stove Initiative with country programs in China, Mongolia, Indonesia, and Lao PDR; and coordinated efficient and clean heating projects in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Prior to joining the World Bank, Yabei worked at the Joint Global Change Research Institute with focus on solar energy and climate change modeling. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Maryland, a Master in City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a BA in Finance from Renmin University of China.

Zuzana is a renewable energy specialist, leading the Innovative Solar program, working extensively distributed and floating solar, energy storage and socio-economic benefits of renewables, including jobs.  Zuzana is advising on renewable energy in Industrial Decarbonization and Utilities for Energy Transition programs and supports World Bank solar and storage deployment operations in West Africa and Morocco. Previously, she worked for the International Renewable Energy Agency in Abu Dhabi and the International Energy Agency in Paris. With 15 years of experience in the energy sector, Zuzana’s areas of expertise include: renewable energy markets and policies; power sector modelling; energy accounting; and statistics. Zuzana holds an MSc in Mathematics from Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, and an MA and a PhD in Economics from the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education in Prague, the Czech Republic.