leadership
Chaberton Energy
Executive Team
Your project will succeed in the hands of Chaberton’s world-class, multidisciplinary team. Our management team of global industry leaders each brings 20+ years of experience to bear on the work we do each day. They are bolstered by Chaberton’s full team of 50 professionals who move nimbly and deliver depth and breadth of experience in service to Chaberton’s projects.
Stefano Ratti
Chief Executive Officer
Stefano Ratti is the Founder and CEO of Chaberton Energy. Stefano brings more than 20 years of experience in development of energy infrastructure projects, management, and professional services. Throughout his career, Stefano has helped companies reach their growth aspirations and led the development of numerous clean energy infrastructure projects. Prior to founding Chaberton, Stefano developed projects for third-party owners, including the origination and development of more than 100 MW of distributed solar energy projects in the mid-Atlantic.
Stefano also built and led a greenfield development team at Enviva, a leader in the production and logistics of solid biofuels, and led, from conception to financing and construction, the development of projects representing nearly one billion dollars of invested capital. Prior to working at Enviva and Chaberton, Stefano held executive positions at AREVA, was a project leader at the Boston Consulting Group, and also worked at General Electric (Power Systems), Navigant Consulting, and the Center for Environmental Energy Engineering at the University of Maryland.
Stefano received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, magna cum laude, in Mechanical and Energy Systems Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan and has completed executive education programs at Duke University, Babcock University, and Harvard Business School. Stefano previously served on the Board of Directors for the Chesapeake Solar and Storage Association (CHESSA) and is an active member in his community, serving on the Board of Trustees for the Avalon and Brookewood Schools. Stefano lives in Maryland with his wife, Michelle, and their three sons.
Michael J. Doniger
Chief Operating Officer
In his role as Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer for Chaberton Energy, Mike leads the company’s development, engineering, and business operations teams.
Committed to Lean/Operations Excellence principles, Mike began his career in the U.S. Navy culminating in service as Chief Engineer of a nuclear-powered submarine. In 2008, realizing the growing need for leadership in the clean energy industry, Mike joined a young biomass-to-energy start-up that grew to be the world’s leading supplier of utility-grade wood pellets. Mike held a number of senior engineering, operations and development positions as the company grew to a $1B market capitalization deploying over $500M in growth capital and implementing the processes necessary to operate 7 manufacturing facilities, 4 ports, and nearly 600 people. Subsequently, Mike led a 1,200+ person Amazon distribution center outside Richmond, Virginia, implementing same-day delivery service in 2019.
Mike currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Chesapeake Solar and Storage Association (CHESSA). He holds a B.S. in Systems Engineering with merit from the U.S. Naval Academy, a Master’s in Engineering Management from Old Dominion University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Georgetown University. He lives outside Richmond, Virginia, with his wife, Luan, and two sons, Benjamin and Aden.
Senake Gajamera
Chief Financial Officer
Senake Gajamera is Chaberton Energy’s Chief Financial Officer, leading partnership development and the company’s finance, accounting, and legal functions. He brings 18 years of energy sector finance experience to Chaberton, having closed transactions worth more than $20 billion.
Previously, Senake was ENGIE’s Head of Acquisitions, Investments, and Financial Advisory for Latin America. While there, he played an instrumental role in growing the company’s wind and solar footprint to 1.7 GW while managing an investment analysis and transaction execution team of 14 located across Chile, Mexico, and Peru.
Senake also has held roles with Astris Finance LLC, Jadwa Investment, Competitive Power Ventures, Taylor-DeJongh, and Navigant Consulting.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from Middlebury College, and a Master’s degree in Energy and International Finance from Johns Hopkins University.
Erica Brinker
Chief Commercial & Sustainability Officer
Erica Brinker is Chief Commercial and Sustainability Officer for Chaberton Energy. Passionate about sustainability, renewable energy, and making an impact, Erica has worked on products that transform industries like green fuel and sustainable buildings for Honeywell (Nasdaq: HON), utility-scale hardware and software at Array Technologies (Nasdaq: ARRY), and now with Chaberton Energy, where she develops solar projects that offer communities access to clean, green energy, especially for low-to-moderate income families.
Prior to joining Chaberton, she was Chief Commercial Officer and Head of ESG for the global leader in renewable energy, Array Technologies. In this role she led product management, customer and product support, marketing and product management, strategy, ESG, sales enablement, and government relations. Before joining Array, Erica spent 10 years with blue chip leader Honeywell, where she was Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Commercial Excellence.
Erica currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA). She has been recognized for her efforts as a ‘Nasdaq ESG Trendsetter’ for her work in standing up a brand new ESG program with major impact. She is also a Forbes Business Council Contributor. She holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University. She completed a Harvard Business School certificate program in Sustainable Business Practices. Erica resides in Phoenix, Arizona, with her five children and husband.