GIC Judge 2025

Melissa Pegus

Melissa is a Partner with Future Economy Fund at SecondMuse Capital.

Melissa Pegus is a seasoned investor and serial operator with nearly two decades of experience driving growth and profitability in the tech sector.

Dr Innocent is ex-NASA and brings extensive expertise in deep tech, hard tech, and prototype development for technologies deemed nationally critical, spanning over 16 years. As the General Partner of Frankenbuild Ventures, or F(v) for short, Cvic invests in the hardware (& hardtech-enabled AI) of climate tech, focusing on space dual-use, blue-economy, infrastructure, & green solutions. She is an EiR at Blue Institute Labs, and a member of Syndicate 708. Notably, Dr Innocent recently gave a technical opinion at the United Nations, addressed the Dept of Labor in Benin for hardtech and AI, is a Recast and VCInclude fellow, and is beyond excited to support the V4C Global Innovation Challenge.

Shaina is a mission-driven leader bringing 15+ years of experience working at the intersection of cities, technology and innovation and a passion for building early-stage teams and companies.

As Director of Program Innovation and Acceleration at The New York Climate Exchange, a new non-profit designed to accelerate climate solutions, Shaina is building the organization’s tech incubation offerings and partnerships.

Shaina spent 7+ years at Newlab, a venture platform focused on deep tech and climate. There she guided the Applied Innovation offering as VP of Product & Programs bringing together startups, government leaders, investors, and large enterprises to identify challenges, design and pilot solutions, and invest in outcomes that catalyze growth and help to decarbonize companies, industries and cities.

Shaina was a founding member of Bloomberg Associates, a civic consultancy established by Michael R. Bloomberg to advise mayors in cities including London, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro,, Los Angeles and Oakland. Previously Shaina worked at the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment as part of the team who appointed New York City’s first Chief Digital Officer, published New York City’s Digital Roadmap and created the ‘Made in NY’ campaign.

Watson Millison is a Senior Planning Analyst on the Innovation Hub team within the Research & Development department at Con Edison. His team scouts for and demonstrates pre-commercialization stage technologies to address challenges across Con Edison’s electric, gas, and steam systems. His areas of expertise include energy efficiency, building decarbonization, and program management – and he’s held multiple roles in the energy and sustainability space. He has a B.A. in Growth and Structure of Cities with an Environmental Studies concentration from Haverford College, and a M.S. Sustainability Management from Columbia University.

Cheikh Dramé is a dynamic, multilingual, and results-driven global strategic leader with a track record of translating business analysis into actionable roadmaps, driving market penetration and $150M+ budget optimization. He is currently Manager, Market Segmentation & Growth – Commercial & Industrial (C&I) at National Grid, one of the world’s largest utilities, where he is responsible for developing and executing C&I strategy and go-to-market plans. Cheikh previously held other roles at National Grid as a Small & Medium Business (SMB) Lead Strategist and a Finance Business Partner to National Grid’s Chief Customer Officer, where he partnered with leaders across the Customer organization to develop their budgets, quarterly rolling forecasts, identify opportunities, as well as risks and mitigation to drive financial performance across the US business. Before joining National Grid, Cheikh was a Senior Strategy Analyst at Johnson Controls where he supported various workstreams including market sizing, business unit strategy, mergers & acquisitions, microgrid strategy & business development.

Cheikh is also involved in the cleantech space as a startup Advisor, as well as a mentor,
coach, and grant applications reviewer/judge for accelerators supported by NYSERDA, MassCEC, NECEC/Cleantech Open Northeast, Scale for ClimateTech, and ClimateTech Expertize Network.

Cheikh is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Wolof.

Parker has deep experience in climate tech startups, venture capital, and community building. For the last three years he has been instrumental in shaping Newlab’s membership offering, with a focus on partnerships, relationship building, and operations, while also maintaining and growing the membership community to 300+ high growth climate and deep tech startups. As Senior Manager of Startup Operations, Parker serves as a super connector between the individual members at Newlab and the resources available through the Newlab ecosystem.

Lauren Wang is an urban planner committed to serving the people and communities standing up to the climate crisis. At the Trust for Governors Island, she leads climate piloting opportunities for testing technology-based urban climate solutions in real-world environments and facilitates climate action programs for people of all ages and backgrounds. Lauren also teaches at The City College of New York, where she collaborates with the NYC Climate Justice Hub. Her previous experience includes managing climate adaptation and housing resiliency initiatives at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice and NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Allison Lim, Ph.D., is a strategic sustainability professional with expertise in climate tech innovation, technology scouting, and circular economy solutions. As an Innovation Analyst at RTI International, she leads cross-functional teams in identifying emerging technologies and developing actionable sustainability strategies for global corporations and NGOs. Allison specializes in chemicals of concern, polymer innovation, and advanced materials, with a track record of guiding startups and industry leaders in navigating the evolving landscape of climate technology.

With a Ph.D. in Materials Science and a background spanning research, consulting, and stakeholder engagement, Allison brings deep technical insight and a systems-level approach to evaluating breakthrough solutions. Her work in market research, risk assessment for energy infrastructure, and industry foresighting equips her with a sharp perspective on scalable innovations. Passionate about mentoring and fostering impact-driven solutions, she is excited to support early-stage startups at Venture For Climate Tech in driving transformative change.