SEA Board Members

Lilly Lee

Vice President (MPA '23 candidate, EE/DAQA)

Originally from Korea, Lilly worked at the International Energy Agency (IEA)'s World Energy Outlook team as an energy modeler, especially on the transportation sector. Before that, she worked on energy policy and security. She currently works at the Center on Global Energy Policy as an RA, on energy systems modeling and geopolitics of clean energy transition. She enjoys talking about everything and anything energy-related, but especially on sustainable mobility, batteries and hydrogen economy.

Ferdinand Pehamberger

Director of Communications (MIA '23 candidate, EE/DAQA)

Ferdinand is originally from Vienna, but has lived in several places across Europe. He obtained his undergraduate degree in International Relations at IE University in Madrid and went on to work at SiemensÔÇÖ EU Government Affairs office in Brussels. While working in Brussels, he focused on EU transport and energy policy, which allowed him discover the fascinating world of energy and prompted him to choose the EE concentration at SIPA.

Bhavya Jha

Vice President (MPA '23 candidate, EE)

Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Bhavya has also lived in many places across the United States and Europe. After studying international politics and development at Georgetown University, she worked at Tesla for two years with the Environment, Health, and Safety team. There, she developed an interest in lithium-ion batteries. To explore battery recycling practices and policies more broadly, she conducted research in Europe as a Fulbright-Schuman Research Scholar. Most recently, Bhavya supported TeslaÔÇÖs COVID-19 efforts and helped launch Battery Associates. She enjoys running and is a trained dancer, foodie, and extrovert who enjoys hanging out with friends!

Juan Farfan

General Secretary and Treasurer (MIA '23 candidate, EE/DAQA/Management)

Juan Camilo is from Colombia, and he is a physicist with a master's in applied economics. Before SIPA, Juan Camilo worked in climate change policy, designing and evaluating carbon pricing schemes. Also, Juan Camilo contributed to Colombia's climate change goals for the Paris Agreement and assessed the economic impact. He is interested in the economic and financial incentives to deploy low-carbon technologies for the energy transition.

Clara Li

Director of External Affairs (MIA '23 candidate, EE)

Originally from Bethesda, Maryland, Clara graduated from the University of Michigan in 2018 with a B.A. in Public Policy. For the past three years, she have worked as a Solution Consultant in IBMÔÇÖs Salesforce implementation arm, where she gathered healthcare clientsÔÇÖ business requirements and configured their business processes on the Salesforce platform. Outside of work, she was able to further explore her policy passions - from pursuing community organizing work with the Obama Foundation to completing research with UNA-USA Chicago - she developed a renewed interest in social and environmental justice, specifically through the lens of security and migration. Outside of the classroom, she is an avid hiker, dancer, and enjoy ceramics.

Lucas Toh

Director of Treks  (MPA '23 candidate, EE/DAQA/Management)

Originally from Singapore and the Philippines, Lucas is passionate about decarbonizing our energy systems. He is interested in how we can use policy, corporate engagement, and finance to bring about a clean and equitable transformation of the energy sector. Previously, he worked at the World Resources Institute in Washington, D.C. for three years on greenhouse gas emissions and science-based targets. You can normally find him hunting for tropical fruit or Southeast Asian food.

Phoebe Bower

Director of Women in Energy

Phoebe is a lawyer specialised in ESG-focused finance for sovereigns. Her work included the first-ever blue bond issued by the Seychelles, the first-ever sovereign social bond issued by Ecuador, and most recently a number of sovereign loans and bonds linked to the pandemic. She wanted to pursue a masters to broaden her perspective beyond law and also further her technical understanding of energy. She is super interested in gender and climate justice. Accordingly, she is focusing on the EE concentration, with a specialization in Gender.

Ann-Kathrin Merz

Director of Events (MPA '24 candidate, EE/DAQA)

Ann-Kathrin came to SIPA to build a strong foundation of knowledge for a career in decarbonization and to develop her quantitative skills. Prior to SIPA, she worked as a trainee on transatlantic parliamentary diplomacy in the European ParliamentÔÇÖs diplomatic office in Washington D.C. She has also worked at the Boston Consulting Group in Berlin, Germany, where she worked on topics ranging from hydrogen to supply chain sustainability. As an undergraduate, she studied international politics at Georgetown University, where she carried out independent travel research on regional environmental cooperation with the support of the Circumnavigator Foundation. She also interned at the Council on Foreign Relations. In terms of hobbies, she started ballroom dancing with the Georgetown team and has not stopped since.