EFN Team
EFN’s team includes our executive director, staff that specialize in various topics, and experts who engage on specific projects.
Meet our Team
Thomas Jensen
Executive Director
Tom Jensen founded EFN in 2003 when he was inspired by a mentor-based venture design class at UC Berkeley which he lectured and mentored for. He is EFN’s Executive Director. Over his 30 year career, Tom also founded public-private partnerships, start-ups and consulting practices that use technology to address important problems in energy, environment, and manufacturing and supply chain. Tom served as a consulting director at SAIC, a $11 Billion Fortune 500 company that is an international leader in technology innovation, development and applications. Over 20 years at SAIC, he held positions as the Global Practice Director for Sustainable Solutions and as a director in the company’s utility practice. Tom served as principal founder and vice president at Formatics Technologies, a 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 to Columbia and UC Berkeley’s Business Schools, and lectured in engineering and environmental management at Stanford University. He earned a BA in economics from University of California at Los Angeles and an MA from the Claremont Colleges.
Lee Bruno
Editorial and Content Lead
Lee Bruno has worked with EFN for more than 10 years as a consultant, including as a venture advisor/mentor, writer and strategist. Recently, he led a digital strategy for EFN-managed online platforms including Empower Innovation. He also takes a leadership role in our events and partnership development programs.
Lee has more than 25 years of experience as a journalist and analyst in the technology sector. As a seasoned innovation and market researcher, Lee brings deep experience in researching, analyzing and writing about emerging technology, market and investment trends in multiple segments including cleantech, health and IT.
His writings have appeared in several leading publications like The Guardian, MIT Tech Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review and The Economist.
He has held key editorial positions as Director of Special Reports at The 451 Group, an IT analyst firm and prior to that at Red Herring where as a senior editor he developed award winning briefings on hi-tech industry trends. Lee is currently director of strategic research at E-Cubed Ventures, LLC, a technology venture development and strategy firm.
He graduated with a B.S. in Biology from San Francisco State University and a M.A. in Journalism from Boston University.
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.
Deanne Fitzmaurice
Photojournalist & Filmmaker
As a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial and commercial photographer and filmmaker, San Francisco-based Deanne Fitzmaurice is most known for her unique ability to go behind the scenes to discover and convey personal, intimate and emotional stories through images.
Deanne consults with EFN to help share inspiring stories of EFN entrepreneurs, innovators and our programs and managed sister networks such as the Empower Innovation Network. View her recent video on Empower Innovation and our Innovators.
Deanne, a Nikon Ambassador, is an assignment photographer with publications including Sports Illustrated, ESPN, National Geographic and many other respected outlets. Deanne has also partnered with foundations and non-profits including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Lucile Packard Foundation.
After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Academy of Art University, she began her career as a staff photographer for the San Francisco Chronicle. When not on assignment, Deanne often lectures and teaches workshops. She is proud to be a Nikon Ambassador and the co-founder of Think Tank Photo, with her husband, photographer Kurt Rogers.
Deanne is represented by National Geographic Image Collection.
Examples of Deanne’s Wind Farm Photography
Jamie Horowitz
Design and Social Media Lead
Jamie Horowitz is responsible for EFN’s graphic and UI/UX design, and management of EFNOnline and and social media presence. She has two years of experience with EFN and the Smithsonian Institution. Jamie will graduate from the George Washington University with degrees in computer science and Interactive Design in May 2022.
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.