Erica Engle

Principal

Erica Engle is a Principal at Ara Partners. She has over 25 years of experience across power markets, structured deals, trading, and commercial strategy in the energy sector.

Prior to joining Ara, Erica served as Chief Commercial Officer of a Brookfield portfolio company, where she led the buildout of the company’s M&A, origination, trading and analytics functions. Before that, Erica built and led the commercial structured origination team at AES Clean Energy, structuring complex power purchase agreements and innovative clean energy solutions for hyperscalers and large corporate buyers, including managing the first-of-its-kind 24/7 clean energy structure with Google.

Drawing on her early career in trading, Erica integrates market analytics, contract structuring, trading and optimization capabilities, bridging gaps between market fundamentals, customer priorities and investor returns.

Erica holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and supporting her children’s sports activities.

Erika Gerstenberger

Policy Counsel

Erika Gerstenberger is Policy Counsel at Ara Partners, based in Washington, D.C. She advises on regulatory and legislative developments to maximize opportunities for government incentives and minimize legal risk, including strategic guidance on how government actions may affect portfolio companies and how to engage policymakers to achieve positive outcomes for the firm and portfolio companies.

Before joining Ara, she served as an Attorney-Advisor in the U.S. EPA’s Office of General Counsel in the Air and Radiation Law Office, where she advised senior leadership on Clean Air Act regulatory development, drafted and defended complex rulemakings, and coordinated closely with DOJ in appellate litigation. Previously, as a Law Fellow at the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, she managed a global strategic climate litigation portfolio, developed science-based legal strategies, organized high-level climate science trainings, and engaged with international treaty bodies and policymakers. In private practice, Erika represented clients in large-scale renewable energy siting and permitting at the boutique environmental law firm Young Sommer, LLC. She also clerked at the New York State Attorney General’s Office in the Environmental Protection Bureau, where she supported enforcement and advisory work on a wide range of environmental statutes.

Erika holds a Juris Doctor from Vermont Law School, a Master of Science in Law and Public Policy from Northeastern University, and a dual-major Bachelor of Science in pre-law track programs from the State University of New York.

Outside of work, Erika enjoys traveling the globe, playing piano, visiting museums, and all manner of outdoor activities with her partner, daughter, and dog.

Juan Luis García

Associate, Infrastructure

Juan Luis García is an Associate at Ara, focusing on the Firm’s Infrastructure strategy, where he is focused on identifying and evaluating investment opportunities as well as transaction execution and portfolio company management.

Prior to joining Ara, Juan Luis worked at Plenium Partners, where he was an Associate in an infrastructure fund. Prior to that, he was a Senior Analyst at Goldman Sachs in the Investment Banking Division within the Natural Resources team, Covering EMEA.

Juan Luis holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from URJC.

Robert McIntosh

Senior Associate

Robert McIntosh is a Senior Decarbonization Associate at Ara, focusing on technical, economic, and emissions analysis to support the Ara’s investments and portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Ara, Robert was a Performance Strategy Manager and Energy Subject Matter Expert at Partners in Performance (acquired by Accenture in 2024), where he led decarbonization programs for global industrial clients — developing roadmaps and implementation plans across metals, mining, manufacturing, logistics providers, data centers, and utilities. Previously to that, he served as Director of Energy Programs at Eastern Research Group, overseeing climate and energy initiatives for federal, state, and municipal clients and coordinating multi-stakeholder planning processes. Earlier in his career, Robert was a Program Manager at Rocky Mountain Institute, managing major energy and industrial strategy programs across India, China, and the U.S.

Saurabh Kumar

Senior Decarbonization Associate

Saurabh Kumar is a Senior Decarbonization Associate at Ara Partners.

Before joining Ara, Saurabh led Impact Measurement & Management at Clean Energy Ventures, a leading early-stage climate-tech investment firm. Prior to that, Saurabh was an Impact & Sustainability Analyst at Energy Impact Partners specializing in impact measurement and due diligence for prospective investments. He also worked as a Research Assistant at the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business analyzing the market penetration of sustainability-marketed consumer goods and as a Teaching Fellow working on courses in Corporate Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship.

Saurabh graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Business with Concentrations in Sustainable Business and Economics from the Stern School of Business at New York University and a minor in Public Policy & Management from the Wagner School of Public Service.

Yuan Rotella

Market Research Analyst

Yuan is a Market Research Analyst at Ara Partners.

Previously, Yuan was a Marketing and Communications Intern at Ara.

Yuan received a Bachelor of Arts in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Boston College.