Meet the Team — Jim Donovan | Sungage Financial

Meet the rest of the team:

Mike Gilroy

CEO

Mike has over 20 years of experience growing specialty finance businesses by working closely with channel partners.

Mike’s involvement with solar began as an investor and board observer for Sungage in 2015. Prior to that, Mike was the CEO of Springstone Financial, a health care financing business he co-founded that was acquired by LendingClub. Springstone partnered with over 20,000 medical and dental practices to provide affordable payment options up to $50,000. Prior to Springstone, Mike led the scale up of AmeriFee, a patient financing business that was acquired by Capital One. Earlier in his career, he held sales, marketing, and business development positions at Corning Inc. and Dentsply International. Mike holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Michael Giles

CTO & CPO

Mike is a serial entrepreneur who has focused on conceptualizing, creating and delivering successful software products for the past 20 years.

Those products have ranged from enterprise content management, business process automation, and cloud-based, mobile communications to consumer social bookmarking and travel meta search. In addition to founding several companies, including Otalo and Furl (sold to LookSmart), Mike has advised startups, helped grow Vitria from an early startup to a multibillion-dollar public company, and raised four children. Mike holds a bachelor's degree in physics from Oberlin College.

Sara Ross

Co-Founder

Sara founded Sungage Financial following her own experience purchasing solar.

After acting as the general contractor for an award-winning deep energy retrofit of her own home, Sara started a business to help solar contractors meet the needs of residential consumers. She has been a vocal proponent of renewable energy with speaking engagements throughout the country and is a member of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, Solar Connecticut, and the Renewable Energy and Efficiency Business Association. Sara has worked previously for the City of New York, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, USAID, and Abt Associates performing policy and economic analysis. She holds an MPA/ID from the Harvard Kennedy School. In her current role as a board member, Sara continues to be a voice guiding Sungage’s direction and contribution to the clean energy transition while also connecting us to our roots.

Peter Nguyen

Head of Capital Markets

Peter has over 25 years of experience in capital markets and finance, including senior investment banking positions at Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and Citigroup.

Within the fintech space, he has driven strategic initiatives in capital development and funding (debt and equity), FP&A, credit, and risk across several asset classes, including solar at Sunlight Financial. Peter holds a degree in finance from the University of Houston and an MBA with a concentration in financial engineering from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

Evan McDaniel

Director of Software Development

Evan has been leading software development teams for the past 20 years with a focus on creating the structure and processes that allow for the efficient creation of complex web-based software systems.

As a marketing technologist, Evan has led teams that delivered web applications for Fortune 100 companies, including Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, and IBM. Some of the projects Evan has led include web-based, e-learning management systems for HP, Honda, and Toyota Financial Services and mobile sales enablement tools for Fidelity National Information Services (FIS)

Matt Thomsen

Head of Strategic Partnerships

Matt came to Sungage from Accenture where he spent many years growing and building sales teams to deliver industry-leading management and technology consulting products.

He has a long track record of initiating strategic partnerships with SMB and Fortune 500 companies and specializes in developing successful B2B relationships. He developed his passion for the solar industry while working with SolBid, a solar engineering and procurement software company. Matt is a graduate of Keene State College.

Megan Lucier

Director of Marketing

Megan brings 25-plus years of brand management and strategic marketing experience to the team.

Megan’s career started in advertising but she honed her marketing skills in corporate marketing, including Staples, TJX, Timberland, and LendingClub. She is happiest when directing and motivating teams that deliver winning marketing campaigns. She is a graduate of Colgate University and has served on her local Conservation Commission for years.

Meaghen Walsh

Director of Human Resources

Meaghen cares for the company’s most precious asset: our people. Directing the recruiting, hiring, development, and training of our team, Meaghen’s focus is always on forward momentum.

A human resources and recruitment professional, Meaghen came to Sungage from DataRobot, a leading end-to-end enterprise AI platform, where she developed a workforce of talented data scientists, engineers, and thought leaders. Meaghen also has a passion and talent for creating healthy and delicious gluten-free food and co-founded Me & Mo, a subscription food delivery service in San Francisco. Meaghen earned her bachelor's degree from University of Miami.

Doug Pierce

Director of Sales

Doug brings 15 years of experience in renewable energy along with a strong focus on building partner relationships and developing new markets.

Doug is intimately familiar with our channel partners’ perspective having served as Vice President and then as President at RevoluSun, a long-term Sungage installer partner. At Sungage, Doug managed key accounts in Illinois, Texas, and the Mid-Atlantic region and most recently took on the role of leading the field sales team operation. He consistently delivers customer success through exceptional service. Doug earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Connecticut Business School.

Chris Hervieux

Director of Customer Success

Chris is a client relationship and service management professional with significant experience and dedication to driving customer satisfaction and loyalty.

He has led teams in financial services, affiliate marketing programs, business advisory risk management, and employer benefits solutions for companies such as Gradifi Solutions (E*TRADE Financial, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley) and Enquiron (now part of Zywave). Working in both small and large companies, both publicly and privately held, he operates with a laser focus on relationship building, service quality, and operational efficiency. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Johnson & Wales University.

Jim Donovan

Chief Credit and Risk Officer