Team
Emilie Mazzacurati, Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Emilie is a climate tech entrepreneur and investor with 20 years of experience working at the intersection of climate change and capital markets. She was the founder and CEO of Four Twenty Seven, a climate risk analytics firm that pioneered the use of climate science in financial decisions and was acquired by Moody’s in 2019. Previously, Emilie was Head of Research at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon, where she directed research and modeling on carbon markets and decarbonization. Emilie is also a Board Member of Climate Resilience for All, a gender-focused climate adaptation nonprofit dedicated to the protection of people and livelihoods from extreme heat and all its impacts.
Emilie holds a Master’s of Political Science from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (France) and a Master’s of Public Policy from UC Berkeley.
Katie MacDonald, Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Katie MacDonald is a climate activist, investor, and innovation policy expert. Before Tailwind, Katie served as Director of Tech to Market at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) where she was responsible for the organization’s early-stage startup investment portfolio. Previously, Katie led Partnerships at Greentown Labs, North America’s largest climate tech incubator, and as the Executive Director of Cleantech Open Northeast, a regional accelerator for climate tech startups based in Boston. Katie is a Truman National Security Project Security Fellow and leads the organization’s Climate Affinity group.
Katie is a graduate from University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Osama Idrees, Venture Partner
Osama is a venture investor with 15 years of experience across industrials, manufacturing, energy, and the built environment. He originated and ran Électrité de France’s (EDF) North America corporate venture capital arm to accelerate their net-zero transition. Prior to EDF, he was next47’s Innovation Manager (Siemens’ Global VC) and invested in emerging technologies at Chevron Technology Ventures.
Osama holds a BS in Power Mechanical Engineering from Ain Shams University (Cairo, Egypt) and an MBA from UC Davis Graduate School of Management.
Elle Hempen, Venture Partner
Elle is an entrepreneur, strategist and investor with experience scaling startups through acquisition, and deep expertise spanning the public and private sectors. She was CEO and Co-Founder of The Atlas, which was acquired by GovExec in 2020 and a graduate of 500 Startups. She also served on the Obama administration at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, during which she coordinated global resilient infrastructure partnerships and federal tribal grant programs.
Elle holds a BA in Public Policy and International Cooperation from the University of Michigan, and a MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Brooke Zhang, Senior Associate
Brooke Zhang is a Senior Associate with Tailwind. Prior to Tailwind, Brooke developed the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program at an environmental law firm and worked as an in-house consultant with multiple climatetech companies. Brooke was the project manager for a pioneering hardtech climate incubator that Urban Future Lab and Secondmuse led.
Brooke holds an M.S. in Sustainability Management from Columbia Climate School and is a graduate of UC Berkeley.
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