Irina Markina

Managing Director, Chief Decarbonization Officer

Irina Markina is the Managing Director and Chief Decarbonization Officer at Ara Partners. Irina leads the firm’s decarbonization strategy, decarbonization investment diligence, portfolio decarbonization performance measurement and management, and value creation.

Prior to joining Ara Partners, Irina was a global Corporate Sustainability Manager at Baker Hughes, a $36 billion energy technology company, where she was instrumental in operationalizing the company’s sustainability strategy and operating model across its global business. Prior to this, Irina served as the Senior Energy Advisor at the European Union Delegation to the United States, where she provided technical guidance and directed the European Commission’s cooperation on energy and decarbonization strategy with U.S. government agencies.

Doug Marsan

Manager, APEX

Doug Marsán is a Manager on the Project Execution and Operations team, where he focuses on effective capital project delivery across Ara’s industrial portfolio.

Prior to joining Ara, Doug worked at ExxonMobil in project management and operations, where he contributed to the development of multi-billion dollar refining and chemicals projects from early design through commissioning. Most recently, he transitioned to scaling climate technologies in early-stage venture capital at Clean Energy Ventures and at a point-source carbon capture startup.

Doug holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. He received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Master of Engineering from the Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Cian McComb

Principal

Cian McComb is a Principal at Ara and he is involved with all aspects of the firm’s investment process.

Prior to joining Ara in 2024, Cian was a Principal at Treïs, a London-based single-family office focused on growth equity investments in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and the circular economy. Before Treïs, he was the first team member at Clearwater’s Dublin office, where he advised founder-led companies and private equity funds on M&A transactions. Cian began his career in the real estate funds division at Ernst & Young in Luxembourg.

Cian received a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Galway and was admitted as a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in 2018.

Haodong Meng

Senior Accountant

Haodong Meng is a Senior Accountant at Ara and is involved in various aspects of Ara’s finance operations team, including accounting, audit, and investor reporting for the funds.

Prior to joining Ara in 2025, Haodong was a Senior Associate at PwC, a global professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Haodong primarily worked on audits of domestic and international private entities in the traditional engineering industry.

Haodong received a Master of Law from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and a Master of Accountancy from Rice University. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant.

Jane Merkler

Content and Events Manager

Jane (Giuffrida) Merkler is the Content and Events Manager on the Marketing and Communications team at Ara Partners. With nine years of experience in marketing, she specializes in thought leadership, events, and brand storytelling, driving strategic communication and top-line growth.

Prior to joining Ara, Jane was the Director of Marketing at a Marketing and Communications agency, where she led client growth strategies for VC-backed startups. In addition to her role developing marketing strategies for clients, Jane oversaw the execution of more than 30 annual agency events, including a flagship three-day conference.

Jane graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Sociology. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, running, and spending time outside with her husband and Golden Retriever.

Chumani Mokoena

Associate

Chumani Mokoena is an Associate at Ara, where he focuses on identifying and evaluating prospective investments, executing transactions and portfolio company management. 

Prior to joining Ara, Chumani was a Business Analyst at McKinsey & Co serving major global utilities with renewables, gas, coal and nuclear power strategy and operations. Chumani received his BS in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin Madison, and MS in Nuclear Science and Engineering from MIT.

Mary Murphy

Executive Assistant

Prior to joining Ara Partners, Mary Murphy was Executive Assistant/Office Manager and Fund Accountant at The Rohatyn Group (formerly Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo) specializing in private equity and emerging markets. She also served as a Personal/Executive Assistant for a prominent philanthropic family office in Boston.

Mary holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Southern Maine. She spends most of her free time enjoying outside activities.

Padraig Murphy

Analyst, Private Equity

Padraig Murphy joined Ara Partners as an Analyst in 2025, supporting the broader investment team on portfolio company management and investment execution.

Before joining Ara, Padraig was an Investment Manager at Goodbody Capital Partners, an Irish private equity team providing growth capital to Irish SMEs. Padraig also worked on the Mezzanine Finance team at Allied Irish Banks.

Padraig holds a BSc. in Finance from University College Cork and is a CFA charterholder.

Karthik Narasimhan

Chief Operation Officer and Chief Legal Officer

Karthik Narasimhan manages all aspects of Ara’s legal and compliance functions. He has significant experience in transaction execution and structuring and tax matters.

Prior to joining Ara, Karthik was a Vice President and Senior Counsel at Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (NYSE: AMG), a publicly traded company that invests in leading boutique investment management firms.  Karthik advised AMG on a variety of domestic and international transactions. Prior to joining AMG, Karthik was an associate in the Boston office of Goodwin Procter, a prominent global law firm, where he counseled public and private companies and private equity firms on mergers and acquisitions, fund formation and other transactional matters.

Karthik holds a Bachelor of Arts from Brandeis University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School.

Katie Norton

Executive Assistant

Prior to joining Ara, Katie Norton was an Executive Assistant at Intervale Capital, LLC.

Katie received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Lisa O’Brien

General Counsel, Europe

Lisa O’Brien joined Ara in 2021, and serves as General Counsel, Europe.

Lisa previously served as General Counsel for Aksiom Group and has over twenty years of experience in finance and corporate law.  Prior to joining  Aksiom, Lisa was a partner in the New York office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where she was a member of the Partnership Council and a Co-Head of the US Energy and Infrastructure practice. Her transaction expertise includes private equity, energy and infrastructure, project finance and corporate finance and securities in both the US and Europe.

Lisa earned her JD from Georgetown University Law Center, was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Geneva and received her undergraduate degree from Smith College.

Abbie O’Connor

Executive Assistant And Office Manager, Dublin

Prior to joining Ara Partners, Abbie was the Executive Administrator for the Chief Executive’s Office of Primark, an international clothing retailer. Prior to Primark, Abbie was the Executive Assistant to the office of the Chief Executive at lululemon, another global retailer. Before that, she was the Executive Assistant for the CEO & COO of Charitable Impact, an online fundraising platform based in Vancouver, Canada.

She started her career as an Administrator on the client services team of Interstrust, a corporate service provider.

Abbie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative and Cultural Industries from Dublin Institute of Technology.

Myles O’Shaughnessy

Managing Director

Myles O’Shaughnessy is a Managing Director at Ara and is involved with all aspects of the firm’s investment process.

Before joining Ara as a Principal in 2021, Myles served as a Vice President at Aksiom Group. Prior to Aksiom, Myles was a Vice President in the Corporate Credit Group of Guggenheim Partners where he was responsible for European corporate debt investments including syndicated and direct middle market leveraged loans as well as high yield bonds across the energy, utilities, infrastructure, services and chemicals sectors. Previously, Myles worked in a number of trading and operations roles within financial services.

Myles received a Bachelor of Commerce from University College Dublin and a Master of Finance from The University of New South Wales, Sydney.

James O’Shea

Vice President

James O’Shea is a Vice President at Ara, where he is focused on identifying and evaluating investment opportunities as well as transaction execution and portfolio company management.

James joined Ara in 2023 from PEAL Capital, a generalist UK lower mid-cap private equity firm. James was previously an Investment Banking Associate at Bank of America Securities in its UK Coverage Group and was a power, natural gas and carbon credits trader at institutions such as Royal Bank of Canada (Toronto), Just Energy (Toronto) and ESB (Dublin).

James holds an MBA with Distinction from INSEAD, a BE (Hons) in Electrical Engineering from University College Dublin and is a CFA charterholder.

Laura Olvera

Executive Assistant, APEX

Before becoming a part of Ara Partners, Laura worked as a personal assistant and house manager for a high net worth individual. Preceding this role, she provided support to various executives and C-Suite members through the digital platform at Waste Management.

Outside of her professional life, she cherishes spending time with her son, and holding the role of an avid baseball mom.

Harper Pertchik

Analyst, Energy

Harper Pertchik is an Analyst on the Energy investment team, specializing in identifying and evaluating investment opportunities and supporting transaction execution.

Before joining Ara Energy, Harper served as an ESG and Government Affairs & Global Policy Analyst at Nikola Motor Company, where she played a key role in shaping strategies for waste management, sustainability, policy advocacy, and regulatory compliance. She also worked as a Business Development Specialist at Ecolution Power, contributing to the expansion of renewable energy technologies.

Harper holds a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Resource Economics with a minor in Sustainability from the University of Tennessee.

Gina Pilot

Senior Associate, Infrastructure

Gina Pilot is a Senior Associate at Ara, where she is focused on the Firm’s infrastructure strategy.

Prior to joining Ara in 2022, Gina was an Analyst at Green Giraffe, a financial advisory firm focused on renewable energy, where she focused on M&A transactions in the offshore wind, solar, and hydrogen sectors. Prior to joining Green Giraffe, Gina was a Senior Strategy Analyst at Accenture Strategy, where she advised public companies in the power & utilities and chemicals industries on various growth strategies.

Gina holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Susanth Rajanala

Operations Analyst

Susanth Rajanala is an Operations Analyst at Ara.

Prior to joining Ara in 2024, Susanth worked as a Portfolio Analyst at CBRE, where he played a key role in managing a multibillion-dollar commercial real estate portfolio across various property types and participated in the closing process for multiple deals.

Susanth holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Outside of work, he enjoys watching and playing basketball, running, and exploring Houston’s food scene.

Max Ray

Senior Associate, Infrastructure

Max Ray is a Senior Associate at Ara, focusing on the firm’s Infrastructure strategy.

Before joining Ara in 2024, Max was a Senior Associate at Abry Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, where he worked on the tech-enabled services and communications team. In this role, he was responsible for evaluating new investment opportunities and driving value creation within current portfolio companies. Prior to Abry, Max was an Associate at Grain Management, a private equity firm specializing in communications infrastructure.

Max holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Holy Cross.

Jay Reynolds

Operating Partner

Jay is an Operating Partner at Ara with 20 years of experience in the energy industry across commodity trading, mid and downstream infrastructure and energy transition.

In 2014, he co-founded Zenith Energy, an early mover in the development of storage and logistics for the distribution of renewable fuels. As Chief Commercial Officer at Zenith, he was integral to the creation and operation of a global liquids storage business with 28 facilities in the United States, Europe and South America. Jay served as a director of several of Zenith’s international subsidiaries.

His strategic leadership in M&A included significant transactions totaling over $1 billion, including the take-private acquisition of a publicly traded MLP. Jay was also instrumental in multiple exits involving the divestiture of assets to prominent strategic buyers.

Prior to Zenith, Jay was a Managing Director and co-Head of the US subsidiary of LITASCO, a global commodity trading firm, which had annual revenues regularly exceeding $10 billion. He led and closed complex domestic and international joint ventures, P&L sharing agreements and supply and offtake agreements across various global markets.

Jay serves on the Board of Directors of The Energy Cooperative Association of Pennsylvania, a non-profit cooperative supplying renewable power and gas to residential and commercial members.

He holds a Juris Doctor from Temple University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Loyola University Maryland.