Events

Careers & Opportunities in the Energy Transition

Past Event Faculty House at Columbia University

Presidential Ballroom, 3rd Floor

64 Morningside Drive

New York, NY 10027

The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs Women in Energy initiative invites you to join us for a conversation about careers and opportunities in the energy transition. The event will commence with an overview of the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition. Our featured speakers working in finance, traditional energy, and consulting will then discuss the energy transition. How do they view the energy transition? What roles will be needed as the transition accelerates?

The event will culminate with a fireside conversation featuring an executive recruiter who will impart valuable insights regarding the talent profile that energy companies are presently seeking, as well as the skills and experiences that companies are currently requiring and will demand in the future.

Moderator: 
Daniela Bushiri,  PhD Candidate, Chemical Engineering, Columbia University 

Panelists:
Maria Jelescu Dreyfus, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Ardinall Investment Management
Deepti Koikara Lindal, Partner, and Head of New York Office, Rystad Energy
Sunaina Pai Ocalan, Senior Director of Corporate Strategy and Climate Change, Hess Corporation

Fireside Chat with Talent Expert: 
Justine Gordon, US Private Capital and Americas Infrastructure Practice Leader, Egon Zehnder 

Biographies

  • Maria Jelescu Dreyfus spent fifteen years at Goldman Sachs, where she most recently served as a portfolio manager and managing director in the Goldman Sachs Investment Partners Group. She currently serves as a director on the board of Pioneer Natural Resources; Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation; on the board of CDPQ, one of Canada’s largest pension plans; and the advisory board of Eni Next, Eni SpA’s corporate venture arm. She sits on the advisory board of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, on its executive committee, and serves as co-chair of its Women in Energy program. Ms. Dreyfus has held her CFA since 2004 and holds a dual degree in economics and management science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  • Deepti Koikara Lindal is a partner at Rystad Energy and head of the New York office. She joined Rystad’s global headquarters in Oslo, Norway in January of 2012 and within four months of her tenure, moved to officially open the New York office. Over the last eleven years, she has helped grow Rystad’s brand and business within the financial community, working closely with banks and investors to meet their energy data needs.. She graduated from Barnard College with a degree in economics.
  • Sunaina Pai Ocalan is the Sr. Director of Corporate Strategy and Climate Change for Hess Corporation based in New York. In this role, she works closely with the executive management team evaluating the opportunities and strategic issues affecting the company’s performance and future direction. In her role leading the climate change strategy, Ms. Ocalan is leading the company’s global efforts to integrate its sustainability objectives with the business strategy including defining the company’s path to achieve net zero emissions.  Ms. Ocalan started her career with Schlumberger in Houston, TX, working as a wireline design engineer for the flagship MDT and coring tool. Ms. Ocalan has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Rice University.
  • Justine Gordon is the US Private Capital and Americas Infrastructure Practice Leader for Egon Zehnder. Justine works actively with investors, developers, and corporations across the real assets value chain on organizational, Board, and talent matters. Justine commands knowledge of her focus sectors with 20 years of financial investing and advisory experience, primarily in energy and power infrastructure leading the Real Assets secondaries and co-investing business at AlpInvest Partners (the Carlyle Group), and building the direct energy and power infrastructure businesses at RREEF Infrastructure and Guggenheim Partners. Justine began her private equity career at Chartwell Investments before that, she was a chartered accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and an investment banker at Morgan Stanley. 

Advance registration is required. This event will be hosted in person and capacity is limited. 

This event is open to the press, and registration is required to attend. For media inquiries or requests for interviews, please contact Natalie Volk (nv2388@columbia.edu).For more information about the event, please contact energypolicyevents@columbia.edu.

Contact

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If you have any questions or would like to get involved, please don't
hesitate to reach out using the form or send email directly:
womeninenergy@columbia.edu

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