iCatalysts is an open innovation and software firm with a highly experienced team of experts with deep expertise in the energy, materials, industrial, telecommunications, and utility industries providing strategy, assessment, and marketplace and business acceleration services. Learn more about us.
TOM JENSEN
Managing Director
Thomas Jensen is the Managing Director of iCatalysts and Co-Founder of Entrepreneur Futures Network (EFN). Tom has 30 years of experience starting and accelerating venture-backed companies and leading global consulting practices and projects for Fortune 500 companies.
Tom leads iCatalysts strategy and open innovation services and directs our technology advisory, coaching and acceleration work.
Tom served as Global Practice Director of Sustainable Solutions at SAIC, an $11 Billion Fortune 500 company that is an international leader in technology innovation, development and applications. Tom served as principal founder and vice president at Formatics Technologies, a venture capital-backed software company spun off from SAIC that used big data and intelligent matching to accelerate sustainable manufacturing in the chemical and food processing industries.
Tom has taught venture design at the University of California at Berkeley, lectured at Columbia and UC Berkeley’s Business Schools, and lectured in engineering and environmental management at Stanford University.
He earned a BA in economics from the University of California at Los Angeles and an MA from the Claremont Colleges.
STEVEN MESSNER
Director
Steven is an expert in clean technology and energy production and generation technologies, markets and policy. He has over 30 years of experience in private industry and consulting.
He has written and reviewed more than 100 grant and contract proposals to government agencies.
Steven has led consulting work for many public and private sector clients in the past decade such as the City of Santa Clarita, the City of Los Angeles, the Port of San Diego, the Port of Portland, SMUD, Bank of America, SAP, Talisman Energy UK, Mittal Steel, Hellenic Petroleum, Toyota, and Hess Corporation.
Steven is a graduate of Stanford University.
PO CHI WU
Senior Advisor
Po Chi helped found EFN at UC Berkeley in 2003. He leads EFN’s entrepreneur and coach/mentor curriculum development and advises the organization on special projects including recent research on mentoring funded by the Kauffman Foundation and research on human capital in innovation funded by the State of California. Po Chi serves as an advisor to SkyDeck, UC Berkeley’s accelerator and regularly mentors and advises startups in EFN and SkyDeck programs. Po Chi recently served as a visiting professor teaching entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley and as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Business and Management at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology where he has initiated programs in innovation and entrepreneurship at all levels. His 30 years of experience as a highly successful international venture capitalist and entrepreneur provides a unique perspective and a rich context for everything he does. Po Chi is also a Partner and co-founder of FutureLab Consulting, LLC, which offers a comprehensive approach that combines meaningful strategic modeling, effective consulting, world-class training and software. Previously, he was co-founding Executive Director of the Global Innovation Research Center, Peking University and an Adjunct Faculty at the University of San Francisco. Earlier, Po Chi was a co-founder and Managing Director of DragonBridge Capital, an investment advisory firm that focused on early-stage, technology-focused companies in China. Among other publications, he is a co-author of Agile Innovation – The Revolutionary Approach to Accelerate Success, Inspire Engagement, and Ignite Creativity (Wiley, 2014). Po Chi holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University and BA degrees in Mathematics and Music from the University of California at Berkeley.
CASSIE CORAVOS
Engagement Director
Cassie Coravos is responsible for leading engagement across EFN’s various programs. She is managing outreach for Empower Innovation, managing EFN’s international programs, and she is organizing and executing events under EFN’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) contract.
Cassie’s expertise is in designing programs and services for entrepreneurs and innovators. Prior to EFN, she led events, planning, and logistics management for a variety of organizations including the National Coalition for Community Capital, DesignCore Detroit, Venture for America, and Jiang China Design’s Innovation Bootcamp. She also served as the Capital Programs Manager for the Build Institute, a small business accelerator focused on equitable entrepreneurship and innovation. In this position, she served as a partner and technical assistance provider of $2M neighborhood-based fund, launched in Fall 2017. She hosted funding panels and workshops for the community by building relationships with banks, PwC, the AARP Foundation, and community development financial institutions and service organizations. She has a Bachelor of Science in Manufacturing and Design Engineering from Northwestern University.
SABINE BENDENOUN
Manager
Sabine is equally passionate about (1) supporting organizations to integrate social and environmental responsibility in their strategy, culture and operations and (2) coaching teams to accelerate value delivery while improving performance and enhancing organizational agility.
She has over 20 years experience collaborating with both public and private sector clients across industries both in the United States and Europe; notably in Technology, Healthcare, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Utilities, Government, Construction, Non-Profits, Small Businesses and Start-Ups.
Sabine thrives in areas of innovation and change; understanding critical factors, conceptualizing plans and ideas, building consensus, and overcoming resistance to empower teams to effectively drive change while delivering value. Past projects range from conducting in-depth corporate sustainability opportunities & risks assessments and facilitating stakeholder workshops to develop city-wide comprehensive sustainability strategies and mulit-year plans, to identifying climate related risks to energy generation and distribution infrastructure and developing state-wide energy assurance plans.
Sabine has a Masters Degree in Quality, Environmental, Health & Safety Management from Centre d’Etudes Supérieures Industrielles (CESI) and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the George Washington University.