Co-Founders
Michelle Zimmerman, Nick Killen, Lou Fabian are the three (3) Co-Founders. We all work in renewable energy, but that is not enough. We have a love for seeing an expansion of the benefits of renewable energy, the impacts to the end user, and changing the face of a community with a positive impact. Couple that our love of Bolivia, that is why we are here. We have a passion for the human race, making this world’s energy consumption more sustainable, providing information via Internet, and helping everyone to lead better lives.
Michelle Zimmerman is the co-founder of Pidola. Her background in both natural resource management and renewable energy development along with her love of travel appreciation of Latin America have led her to the work of Pidola. Michelle is a Senior Developer of Solar Photovoltaic Facilities and is active in natural resource conservation, business planning, nonprofit development, and sustainability.
Michelle’s career has focused on responsible solar energy development for over ten years and she spent eight years in land conservation as executive director of two nonprofit organizations. She has served on a number of conservation focused boards and is in her second term on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission. Michelle prefers spending time in wild land open spaces, traveling and helping others realize their ambitions, enjoying outdoor activities and participating in community events.
Lou Fabian is one of the other co-founders of Pidola. His background was primarily in digital media and marketing, which lead to him to establishing a comprehensive Digital Marketing Team for one of the largest community solar companies in the country. This is where Lou was introduced to and learned about renewable energy, which ultimately lead him to launching Pidola. Lou also had non-profit experience prior to starting Pidola, while on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Mountain Club (CMC).
While not working, Lou loves being in the outdoors… specifically in and on mountains. He’s climbed peaks on three (3) continents, and was a High Altitude Mountaineering Instructor while a member at the CMC. Lou is originally from Philadelphia, the youngest of five brothers and sisters, and acquired his MBA in 2015 from the University of Denver.
Board of Directors
Melinda is a Corporate Transactional Lawyer with 7+ years of in-house and government experience. With a background in drafting, negotiating, and managing a wide range of commercial contracts including: procurement agreements, sales/service agreements, consulting agreements, non-disclosure agreements, licensing agreements, SAAS agreements, commercial leases, EPC agreements, operation and maintenance agreements, and customer agreements. Melinda is also skilled in Renewable Energy, Construction Law, Government Regulation, Intellectual Property, Environmental Compliance and Real Estate Development.
Patrick Kelly is the owner of Hoss Consulting, which offers expert technical services and management capabilities to telecommunications, renewable energy, and critical power projects. He’s also a Member of the American Wind Energy Association, and is on the Distributed Energy Advisory Committee. Patrick brings over 20 years of experience in the vertical asset and power market spaces.
Bryan Kuhn
Bryan Kuhn is a licensed attorney in the state of Colorado (USA), specializing in business and employment law. Bryan also has considerable professional experience with international business deals and is fluent in both written and spoken Spanish. Additionally, he has significant experience purchasing micro-finance note portfolios for investment purposes. Mr. Kuhn founded the local corporation in Ecuador in 2010 and has been developing the business and its investment strategy for the past six years. Bryan received his B.A. from Carleton College and his J.D. (law degree) and M.B.A. from the University of Denver. Furthermore, Mr. Kuhn recently received a Master of Science in Global Finance from New York University and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2016.
Charles has been professionally active in the renewables field for over twenty years with his principal areas of focus being distributed generation projects. Charles served as a staff engineer, technology manager, and team lead at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s National Wind Technology Center over a 12-year period. Charles has spent the balance of his career in technical leadership roles at wind turbine manufacturers, project developers, and renewable energy software companies.
Catherine Wessling is a Senior Accountant at The WhiteWave Foods Company, where she has held various accounting positions over the past eight years. Additionally, Catherine has previously held various finance and accounting positions with increasing responsibility and leadership at companies such as Studio NYL, Inc., Tomorrow’s Heirlooms, Inc., Classic Sport Companies, Inc., Wild Oats Markets, Inc., Meteor Industries, Inc., and ISW, Inc. As a result, Catherine has extensive operations based accounting experience for a variety of different organizations in multiple industries with international operations. Catherine obtained her Bachelor of General Studies in Accounting, Math, and German and a Master of Accountancy from the University of Missouri – Columbia and her Executive MBA from the University of Denver. Catherine has an Inactive CPA License and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation.
Eric Westerhoff
Eric is a Professional electrical Engineer with over 25 years of experience in the solar and wind power profession. He owns and operates Innovative Energy out of Summit County, Colorado. Eric also teaches Design and Installation of Renewable Energy Systems for Solar Energy International.
Laura manages solar project acquisitions for Nautilus Solar Energy, a leading community solar developer Laura has over a decade of experience arranging financing for renewable energy projects. Her previous experience includes providing debt solutions for energy projects at several lending institutions including US Bank and JP Morgan Chase. Ms. York holds a Master’s of Science degree in Global Energy Management from the University of Colorado.