Leadership
Matt Orosz, Ph.D.
Founder and CEO
Dr. Orosz is a chief executive and renewable energy systems engineer with 15 years of leadership experience in engineering design, technology innovation, social entrepreneurship and energy project management as a co-founder of MIT spin-out STG International, as project manager at Cogenra Solar, and as CEO of OnePower. As company founder and project leader, he is responsible for corporate strategy, overseeing global business development, directing technical and financial divisions, and leveraging innovation and a world-class team to drive value in energy access. He holds a US patent in Solar Energy Conversion and has managed cross-cutting teams in academic research labs, energy start-ups and venture-backed solar companies with a direct responsibility for complex, multi-million-dollar high technology energy projects.
Dr. Orosz is an Echoing Green Fellow, Fulbright Scholar, and former Peace Corps volunteer, where he proudly served in Lesotho (2000-2002). Living in Phamong in the Mohale’s Hoek district without electricity for two years served as the motivation for his passion for designing and collaboratively implementing energy infrastructure solutions, and his career focus on global energy access is built on a foundation made in Lesotho. As Director of STG, he founded the most advanced rapid prototyping manufacturing facility in Lesotho with collaborators from the Lesotho government’s Appropriate Technology Services. In 2014, STG Lesotho, a locally registered association, became Africa’s first firm to export solar technology (designed and built in Lesotho) to customers in Europe.
He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, a S.M. in Technology and Policy, and an M. Eng. in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He holds a B.S. degree in Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College.
Amy Mueller, Ph.D.
Founder and Director
Dr. Mueller is on the Board of Directors of OnePower and has been contributing to energy projects in Lesotho since 2006 in roles as diverse as engineering, finances, and project development. Dr. Mueller provides perspective for OnePower’s work based on her expertise in both electrical engineering and environmental science, balancing the demands of efficient hardware and environmental responsibility. Outside of her work with OnePower, Dr. Mueller is a Professor of Engineering and Science at Northeastern University (Boston, MA) and a Founding Director of STG International, the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that built the groundwork in Lesotho for OnePower’s current projects and growth.
David Song
Director of Operations,
David joined OnePower as Director of Operations after 9 years of working in the US solar industry. His experience spans utility-scale solar PV and storage project development, construction, and asset management as well as residential solar. At 1PWR, David leads an operations team responsible for building the company’s project pipeline and optimizing internal processes.David was a Peace Corps Volunteer in a village without electricity in the Berea district. He taught English at a local high school and worked on HIV/AIDS prevention and education. He was exposed to renewable energy in a rural setting, charging his cell phone through a solar panel.
David obtained a master’s degree in international policy from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a bachelor’s degree in political science from University of California, Irvine.
Kopano Tsenoli
Director
Mr. Tšenoli is Chief Engineer at the Department of Appropriate Technology Services (ATS) in the ministry of Communications, Science & Technology. He has been working in the research and technology sector for 18 years, of which 9 years has been as Chief Engineer at ATS. He has amassed a wealth of experience in research and technology initiatives in Lesotho and other countries through numerous networking platforms. He has been involved with pilot solar electrification projects in the rural part of Lesotho since 2006 as president of the local NGO Solar Turbine Group (STG) Lesotho, responsible for a number of initiatives in rural electrification and technology transfer. He has experience in community stakeholder engagement and needs assessment through participation in community development initiatives, of which he has participated in an unprecedented nationwide appropriate technology needs assessment study.
Mr. Tšenoli is the focal person on a number of MOU’s with a number of research and technology organizations in the SADC region. Furthermore, he has participated in in the development of project proposals and implementation of multi-stakeholder projects. As an engineer, he worked on the design, development and manufacture of various appropriate technology products like manual irrigation pumps, solar food dryers, energy efficient wood burning stoves, etc.
Academically, he has obtained a Bachelor of Science (BSc.) Mechanical Engineering degree at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He further obtained an honours degree in Technology Management at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, an excellent course on the management of a technology oriented enterprise. Currently he is studying towards a masters degree in Technology Management at the University of Pretoria.
Palama Kelepa
Financial and Grants Manager
Palama Kelepa is the Financial and Grants Manager at OnePower who believes that maintaining sponsor relations should be Grants managers first priority. Before being named Financial and Grants Manager in January 2022, Palama was Grants Manager and Project administrator and was the Sponsor main point of contact for compliance and progress reporting.
Prior to joining OnePower, Palama worked for a number of non-governmental organizations as a Sub Award Manager, Senior Finance Officer, Finance Officer, and accountant/Business Manager. He was in charge of financial reporting and compliance, as well as participating in compliance audits and external audits, pre-selection and selection of grantee partners and sub-recipients, capacity building for sub-recipients/sub-contractors, review of sub-recipient internal control systems and transactions, budget formulation, and budget monitoring. He has also assisted and trained supervisors in financial management, internal control systems and budget monitoring.
He holds General Accounting qualification from Centre for Accounting Studies Lesotho, he is currently perusing Chartered Accountant qualification with one exam outstanding.
Teboho Noko
Lead Electrical Engineer
Joined OnePower in 2020 and has been contributing to energy projects since then. Teboho worked for a number of years in mining sector before joining onepower.