The VIrunga Power TEam
Brian Kelly
CEO, Founder
Brian brings almost two decades of emerging markets power and utilities development and investing experience to Virunga Power. After starting his career in power sector Mergers & Acquisitions as an investment banker in Asia, he moved to Africa to start Virunga Power in 2011 and subsequently also led investment strategy during the formation and launch years of a renewable energy private equity fund. His passion is to bridge the gap between global infrastructure investment and the opportunity to develop, finance, and operate projects and companies that bring electricity to the unconnected and under-served areas of sub-Saharan Africa.
Brian has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, and lives with his family in Nairobi, Kenya.
Josiah Brand
Chief Operating Officer
Josiah joined Virunga Power full-time in 2019 as the COO, having been involved externally since the company’s concept stage. He brings to the company a wealth of prior experience in operations, strategy, and management that includes work as a utility operations Director at Alix Partners in the US and Caribbean, in operational efficiency and strategic planning at Ernst & Young, and as an officer in the US Marine Corps. He leads Virunga Power’s day-to-day operations and plays a key role in strategy, investment, and project development.
Josiah has a BS in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia University and London Business School. He lives with his family in South Africa.