Abdishakur Mohamoud co-founded Qorax and is CEO of Enersom, Qorax’s Somalia subsidiary. He has many years of experience working in the energy sector and other infrastructure projects in East Africa. He began his career as the project coordinator for a US $4MM initiative to upgrade the largest airport in Somaliland, in which he managed relationships between the Chinese, Kuwaiti, and Somali stakeholders. Later, he was the Business Development Officer for General Electric Company (GECO), Hargeisa’s largest aggregated public utility holding with over 70% of the local market. Most recently, he was tapped by the World Bank to lead the Somalia country study for its global Readiness for Investment in Sustainable Energy initiative.

Abdishakur leads operations on the ground for Qorax through Enersom as the region’s energy sector specialist. In addition to managing operations, he led the execution of an IRB-certified market research survey to understand energy consumption patterns in local households. As part of this initiative, he built relationships with relevant government ministers, regulators, and utilities. In the course of his work with Qorax, Abdishakur has led business development meetings with key energy sector stakeholders in Puntland, southern Somalia, and Kenya.

Abdishakur earned a BA in Finance from Abaarso Tech University and a Master of Engineering Management (MEM) from Gollis University, both in Somaliland. He also studied Electronic Information Engineering at Huazhong University of Science & Technology, in Wuhan, China. He is fluent in Somali, Mandarin, Arabic, and English.

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Nicolas co-founded Qorax. He leads business development and coordinates Qorax’s international relationships. Previously, he was a program development officer at Abaarso Tech University in Hargeisa, Somaliland. Before that, he worked with the educational programs of a national Islamic charity in Indonesia as a Fulbright Scholar with the U.S. State Department.

Nicolas earned a BA in English from Amherst College and a Master in City Planning in the International Development Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At MIT, he was a fellow at the Legatum Center for Development & Entrepreneurship and The MasterCard Foundation.

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Nigel co-founded Qorax. He leads operations, project management and strategy. Previously, Nigel was part of the founding team of Brightfields, a specialized utility scale solar developer that focuses exclusively on the redevelopment of environmentally impaired property.

At Brightfields, he was part of a team that built a pipeline of over 200 MW of solar projects nationwide. He has participated in the financing of over $30 million in solar PV projects, including the 3 MW Scituate Solar Array, the second largest landfill solar array in Massachusetts and the recipient of the 2014 Project of the Year Award from PV America. Scituate is the first municipality in Massachusetts to be powered 100% by renewable energy.

Nigel received a BA from Amherst College, where he studied the materials science and system design of photovoltaics and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. He is an Echoing Green Fellow and a recipient of the Harold Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Award.

In addition to Qorax, Nigel is a board member at Cradle for A Cause, an organization that hosts charity lacrosse tournaments to build community action and support high-impact local and national non-profits.

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Eric advises Qorax on the identification of technologies, products, and distribution strategies that will promote economic democracy and environmental protection. He has extensive experience in the clean energy sector, including developing materials for solar cells and waste remediation technologies for the oil and gas industry.

Eric received a BS from Cornell University in Materials Science and a PhD in Polymer Science and Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Eric works full-time as the Technology Evaluation Specialist at MIT’s D-Lab, where identifies technologies that can be brought to scale for positive social impact.

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Claudia Schwartz advises Qorax on potential strategic partnerships in the east and Horn of Africa. Claudia works in the off-grid energy sector as a part of President Obama’s executive Power Africa initiative. She manages the east Africa off-grid energy portfolio at the US African Development Foundation, a federal agency focused on African-led private sector development.

Claudia has worked in a variety of countries in eastern Africa including Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Somaliland. She holds a master’s degree in development economics and international business from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Brown University.

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Rajiv advises Qorax on issues related to business strategy and governance. Rajiv has extensive experience as a management consultant with Arthur D. Little, advising both private and public sector clients across countries in the Middle East and South East Asia. He has worked on several projects in the renewable energy sector especially related to solar PV. His expertise lies in growth strategy and organization design.

Rajiv has worked with organizations such as the United Nations (DESA and OHRLLS), and the Prime Minister’s Office of India. He also co-founded 91springboard, a business incubator in India. He holds a master’s degree in management from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and a bachelor’s degree in engineering (information technology) from Mumbai University. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in international affairs with a focus on development economics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

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