About Us

Matt Tormollen

Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Tormollen holds a BS in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland and post-graduate studies in Information Technology at The Johns Hopkins University.

Mr. Tormollen leads Ascend with a 25-year track record of building high-performance teams, driving operational excellence, and unlocking value for customers in business-critical SaaS-solution and service companies in the global energy market.  He is a proven leader in creating sustainable growth through product, market, and international expansion, as well as buy-side and sell-side M&A across the energy, fuel, software developer, R&D, and AI & machine learning sectors.

Prior to Ascend, Mr. Tormollen was CEO of POWWR, a global provider of risk management and sales automation solutions to more than 50 retail energy suppliers and 1,000 energy brokers.  He has also been an investor and strategic advisor in climate tech, most notably at carbon capture start-up Earthly Labs.

Rushton McGarr

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. McGarr holds an MBA with honors from the Red McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas and a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of North Carolina.

Mr. McGarr brings over 20 years of operational and financial expertise to Ascend, having scaled multiple PE and VC-backed technology companies in executive roles. He has a proven track record of supporting growth, both organically and through M&A, and has led shared services teams in sectors including consumer products and enterprise solutions.

Before joining Ascend, Mr. McGarr served as CFO of Vitruvi Software, a construction management SaaS platform. Brought in by Bow River Capital after their acquisition in 2023, he restructured costs and enhanced financial transparency with improved reporting and budgeting.

Prior to Vitruvi, Mr. McGarr was the CFO of ColdQuanta, a quantum research and development company backed by Foundry Group, where he helped secure $130 million in equity financing.

Career highlights also include co-founding Market Force Information, a technology-enabled information business that grew to over 500 employees before its acquisition by a private equity firm.

Ari Greenberg

Chief Revenue Officer

Mr. Greenberg holds a BS in BS Information Technology & Management from Syracuse University.

Mr. Greenberg leads Ascend Analytics' growth and go to market strategies, including teams in business development, demand generation, and customer success. Mr. Greenberg brings decades of commercial leadership with a proven track record of building and transforming high-performing sales organizations across energy analytics, SaaS, and go-to-market execution globally.

Most recently, Mr. Greenberg served as Vice President of Global Sales at Zema Global, a data integration and analytics firm, where he built a global sales team and helped launch a data-driven GTM strategy to increase ARR and market penetration. Prior roles at Darcy Partners, AlphaSense, and S&P Global highlight Mr. Greenberg’s strength in leading cross-functional teams, forecasting with precision, and cultivating customer-first cultures that deliver sustained growth.

Shalom Goffri, PhD

Chief Delivery Officer

Dr. Goffri holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge and a BA in Physics from the Israel Institute of Technology.

Dr. Goffri brings extensive expertise in power markets, power asset valuation, procurement strategy, decarbonization, and due diligence to Ascend Analytics. He advises private and public sector clients on clean energy business strategy, technology and market assessments, policy analysis, and M&A. His knowledge spans wholesale markets, community solar, and distributed resources.

Before joining Ascend, Dr. Goffri led the power markets team at Guidehouse's Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure practice, focusing on M&A due diligence and strategy projects in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. He has developed detailed cost, performance, and financial models for clean energy systems and analyzed the levelized cost of energy across various global regions and technologies.

Dr. Goffri also has a background in research, having worked at the University of Cambridge, UK, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  

Keith Aubin, PhD

Vice President of Engineering

Dr. Aubin holds MS and PhD degrees in Applied Physics from Cornell University and a BS in Physics and  BS in Applied Mathematics from the University of Rhode Island.

With academic and work experience in portfolio theory, rocket science, and nano-biotechnology, Dr. Aubin's main interest is in the application of advanced mathematics to complex problems. As Vice President of Engineering, he has lead Full Stack activities for 18 years. Prior to working for Ascend, Keith held a position at MIT Lincoln Laboratory as a system and architecture analyst.

Dr. Aubin has published his work in a number of journals, proceedings, and book chapters. He is also an inventor on several issued or pending patents.

Sarah Jeffers

Head of People & Talent

Ms. Jeffers holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Colorado Denver, and a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification from HRCI.

Ms. Jeffers serves as the Head of People & Talent at Ascend Analytics, where she focuses on driving employee engagement, optimizing performance, and building high-performing teams in a fast-growth environment.

With over 12 years of human resources experience across aerospace, software, and consumer goods industries, Ms. Jeffers brings a broad range of expertise and deep knowledge within the HR function.

Prior to joining Ascend, Ms. Jeffers was a People and Culture Business Partner at Tomorrow.io, an AI-centric software company focused on building resilience to weather-related threats. While there, she supported recruiting, performance management, management coaching, and organizational culture-building efforts. Prior roles also include Director of People & Culture at Broadnet and Head of HR roles at GoldBug and MusclePharm.

Leela Gill

Head of Marketing

Ms. Gill earned her MBA from Fuqua School of Business, Duke University and her BS in Engineering from University of California, Berkeley.

Ms. Gill leads Ascend Analytics' marketing team, helping to further fuel the business's rapid growth.  She is an accomplished full-stack marketing leader specializing in revenue acceleration for B2B SaaS companies.  Ms. Gill's expertise spans a comprehensive range of key marketing disciplines, including go-to-market strategy, demand generation, brand awareness, field marketing, public relations, and analyst relations.
 
Prior to joining Ascend Analytics, Ms. Gill was Chief Marketing Officer for several high-tech AI-driven Silicon Valley startups where she helped double and triple business revenue year-over-year.

Michael Huisenga

Senior Managing Director of SmartBidder

Mr. Huisenga holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, with Specialization in Sustainable Energy Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Iowa.

Mr. Huisenga leads the SmartBidder team at Ascend Analytics providing overall business unit management and direction with strategic growth initiatives. He also acts as a subject matter expert for bid optimization supporting Ascend's commercial team activities that include sales enablement and training, executing customer acquisition strategies, product marketing and positioning, sales demos and trials, webinar and conference speaking roles, along with executing commercial partnerships.  Since Joining Ascend in 2023, SmartBidder assets under management have grown five-fold.  

Prior to joining Ascend Analytics, Mr. Huisenga was a Senior Vice President and Energy District Business Line Leader with WSP USA, a Top 5 ranked design firm by Engineering News Record (ENR), spending 15 years in roles covering sustainability services, renewable energy, and management.

Rahm Orenstein

Managing Director of Ascend Energy Exchange

Mr. Orenstein holds an MBA from Reichman University and a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tel Aviv University.

Mr. Orenstein leads Ascend Energy Exchange – Asset Sales, an analytics-based marketplace that enables Ascend customers to buy and sell high quality energy storage and renewable energy projects in a streamlined and efficient way, wrapped by Ascends’ unique suite of analytical and consulting services, thereby maximizing reach and value.   

Prior to joining Ascend, Mr. Orenstein spent 15 years holding executive positions in the renewable energy industry, including as CEO of Sunflower Sustainable Investment, Ltd (TASE: SNFL), a global developer and IPP of renewable energy and energy storage; VP Business Development – Energy Storage and VP Business Development – Americas, at Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ORA), a global developer and IPP of renewable energy and energy storage. Prior to that, Mr. Orenstein spent nine years with ECI Telecom (now Ribbon Communications) in various senior capacities covering product management, business development, and pre-sales engineering.

Brandon Mauch, PhD

Senior Managing Director of PowerSIMM

Dr. Mauch holds a PhD in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas.

Dr. Mauch, Senior Managing Director of PowerSIMM, leads a team of analysts at Ascend in providing modeling support for resources planning and risk management. Since Ascend in 2018, Brandon has led projects on behalf of utilities, project developers, non-profits, and state agencies. He also provides guidance and oversight on Ascend’s develop of PowerSIMM.

Prior to joining Ascend, Dr. Mauch was a Senior Program Manager for CLEAResult Consulting where he managed utility energy efficiency and demand response programs for Midwestern utilities. Before that, he was a Utility Regulation Engineer for the Iowa Utilities Commission where he worked on regional energy policy issues, resource planning and rate cases for Iowa’s investor-owned utilities.

Brent Nelson, PhD

Senior Managing Director of Market Intelligence

Dr. Nelson holds PhD and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley.

Dr. Nelson leads the long-term power market forecasting practice at Ascend Analytics, advising clients on emerging market dynamics and strategic long-term investment strategy. His knowledge spans wholesale markets, financial modeling, emerging technologies, and energy systems analysis.

Prior to joining Ascend, Dr. Nelson was an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Northern Arizona University, while also holding a collaborative appointment at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL), focusing on energy systems analysis and decarbonization. He also worked for the US Department of Energy from 2014-2016, focusing on R&D and commercialization strategy for energy efficiency and load flexibility.  He has extensive experience in energy technology and energy system modeling, with a focus on understanding market opportunities for emerging technologies.

Michael Fisher, PhD

Senior Managing Director of PowerVAL

Dr. Fisher holds a PhD in energy policy from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in Economics and BAS in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Fisher leads the valuation team which produces bankable asset valuations and revenue forecasts for solar and storage.  In the last 3 years, Dr. Fisher has consulted on over $5B of asset transactions, where he provides guidance on market outcomes and risks for developers, lenders, and investors.
 
Prior to Ascend, Dr. Fisher worked in corporate development for an unregulated development arm of a regional utility company. He also has experience leading commercial teams in distributed generation development. His doctoral research at Carnegie Mellon explored the technical, economic, and emissions impacts of distributed storage participating in wholesale and retail markets.

Robert LaFaso

Director of Market Intelligence

Mr. LaFaso holds a MS in Engineering Management from the Colorado School of Mines and a BS in Energy Systems Engineering from the University of Wyoming.

Mr. LaFaso leads Ascend Analytics’ Market Intelligence (AscendMI) day-to-day practice area, which encompasses the development of long-term supply-stack, market-price, and project-economics forecasts. His work influences Ascend's software suite, as AscendMI forecasts drive the analytics behind PowerSIMM and PowerVAL. Mr. LaFaso conducted the Valuation Due Diligence for significant M&A transactions, including the multi-gigawatt portfolios behind TerraGen’s sale to Masdar and Origis Energy’s sale to Antin Infrastructure Partners.

Carlos Blanco, PhD

Managing Director of Risk Management

Dr. Blanco holds a PhD in Finance from Universidad Complutense, Madrid, where he was awarded magna cum laude distinction. He also has a masters degree in Investments and International economics from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Dr. Blanco provides expertise to Ascend's clients in the areas of analytic modeling, forecasting, optimization and simulation, while also contributing to advance the software product and services to meet the evolving client needs.

Dr. Blanco is an internationally recognized expert in energy risk management and climate change risk. He works globally with Ascend customers on development of risk management policy and procedures. His expertise in risk management and climate risk has been highly sought after by corporations for training and board presentations. Dr. Blanco has uniquely linked risk policies consistent with renewables and storage and the attributes of Ascend software. Prior to joining Ascend, he was the co-founder and managing director of Black Swan Risk Advisors, where he worked with leading organizations worldwide on a wide range of advisory and education projects. Dr. Blanco has published over 150 articles on a wide range of financial and commodity risk management topics and taught finance at the University of California, Berkeley.

He also served as the former VP of Risk Solutions at Financial Engineering Associates, where he was a member of the Executive Management Committee as well as an essential contributor in the development and client support of financial and energy derivatives pricing and market risk management models.

William Hargett

Vice President of Consulting Services

Mr. Hargett holds an MBA from the IESE Business School and a BS from William & Mary Research University.

Mr. Hargett, VP of Consulting Services, has broad experience and a record of success in project and business development within BESS and conventional and renewable generation systems. While leading Ascend’s Market Consultancy Services, he has supported capital raise processes on over 15GW of solar and BESS facilities in every ISO in the United States.

Prior to Ascend, Mr. Hargett held senior business development positions at Quanta Services, Abengoa, and Skyfuel, providing EPC and technology services to many of the clients he currently serves at Ascend.  He is also the co-founder of SolarMultiple, an enhanced evaporation technology provider for produced water mitigation, as well as being a 5th generation farmer currently leasing 12MWdc of solar in Illinois.

Carley Dolch

Managing Director of Energy Risk Solutions

Ms. Dolch earned her BS from Rutgers University.

Ms. Dolch is the Managing Director of Energy Risk Solutions, where she leads portfolio management, resource planning, and reliability analysis.

Ms. Dolch brings to Ascend Analytics over 15 years of energy market experience, including optimizing reliability and financial margins, settlements, and bringing to market innovative software analytics that assist companies to best manage increasingly complex market conditions.

Prior to Ascend, Ms. Dolch was a business development leader at Integ Consulting, a leading software firm specializing in generation solutions for utilities.  In her role as Senior Director of Generation Services, Ms. Dolch oversaw asset reliability, the analysis of lost opportunity costs during outages meter data optimization, and launch of a versatile analytics tool.  Her achievements included the expansion into international markets, and the establishment of a substantial market share in the private equity sector.

Paul Eory

Director of Utilities & Corporates

Mr. Eory earned his BBA in International Business & Economics from Saginaw Valley State University.

Mr. Eory leads business development in the utilities and corporates sectors, specializing in asset valuation, asset optimization, portfolio management, and long-term planning. His work also includes advising hyperscalers on data center site selection and power supply design to accelerate development and reduce time to market.

Before joining Ascend, Mr. Eory spent ten years at Lansing Board of Water & Light, where he led IRPs, FP&A, rate design, and strategic initiatives at Michigan’s largest municipal utility.

Mr. Eory also served on the Board of the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED) program, supporting R&D efforts that drive innovation and operational improvements in public utilities.