Carishma Gokhale-Welch is the federal sector partnership development manager at NREL, where she collaborates with a diverse group of federal agency partners on their clean energy transition objectives.
Prior to this role, her work focused on clean energy planning and strategy in the U.S. and in emerging markets. As the Principal Investigator for Communities LEAP, she led complex, multi-stakeholder technical teams that provide place-based technical assistance to support low-income, energy burdened communities with energy transitions. She also partnered with USAID and State Department in Asia and North Africa, working with diverse stakeholders to scale up and deploy advanced energy systems and clean energy transitions. In addition, she led NREL’s partnership activities with the Army’s Office of Energy Initiatives, which included conducting microgrid feasibility assessments and technoeconomic analyses to enhance energy resilience.
Before coming to NREL, her work involved overseeing activities ranging from strategic planning, building partnerships and new initiatives, to mine reclamation and watershed management. Raised in India, she was educated at the University of Mumbai and at Yale University, where she earned a master’s in environmental management.