Performeks LLC is dedicated to improving the performance of public and private agencies that deliver basic services to our society in the environmental, energy, water and health sectors. We help organizations to monitor and evaluate their performance and motivate them to share the results with the public.
Shakeb Afsah
President and CEO
Shakeb Afsah is an environmental economist and the founder of Performeks LLC, a consulting firm based in Bethesda MD. Before starting the environmental data and research company in 2002, he was at the World Bank’s Development Economics Research Group. He specializes in regulatory management systems and data disclosure, and advises governments and corporations on environmental, resource management and social responsibility issues. He also leads The CO2 Scorecard Group, a web-based initiative on energy and climate policy analysis.
Shakeb is best known for implementing the environmental ratings and public disclosure program for the Government of Indonesia in 1995 (see World Bank press release). This path breaking work continues to serve as a model for environmental programs adopted by many countries including China, India, the Philippines, Egypt, Ghana, Ukraine and Vietnam. Most recently, he helped the Government of Ghana launch their disclosure program, making it the first country in Africa to integrate transparency into its environmental regulations.
Through a variety of consulting assignments he provides advisory services to senior public officials, CEOs and top management of private corporations. While at the World Bank he served as a resident adviser to the Ministers of Environment in Indonesia and the Philippines, and his innovative work on environmental transparency earned him two consecutive nominations for the Bank’s annual Award for Excellence. His research on the impact of environmental information on communities and markets continues to be the foundation for many important peer-reviewed papers, reports, and books.
His technical expertise includes database architecture and techniques for processing large volume datasets. He has developed several computer models for monitoring and evaluation and holds a US patent on a methodology for measuring environmental performance of firms. His current research with his business partner Eric Ness focuses on “Big Data” applications using natural language processing and statistical tools to understand public perception and sentiment embodied in tweets, blogs, news reports and other online sources.
He has lectured and co-authored papers with researchers from leading universities and think tanks, including the World Bank, Resources for the Future, University of Gothenburg and Harvard University. He is also a research associate with the Environment for Development initiative, run by the Environmental Economics Unit at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Mr. Afsah has a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi, and a Masters of Public Policy (MPP) from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Eric Ness
Chief Technology Officer
Eric Ness specializes in developing web strategies and applications for statistical analysis, data visualization and online communication. Eric has developed several web tools that apply techniques from multivariate statistics and natural language processing to visualize complex numerical and textual databases, and display the results on a user-friendly web interface. He research efforts are available for discussions at http://eric.ness.net. He is also the developer of the CO2 Scorecard website, a popular destination for policy analysts, researchers, journalist and bloggers interested in country-level data on CO2 emissions and energy use.
He also conducts media reviews and develops trend analytics to track reputational risks of organizations in cyber space. He conducts IT readiness analysis for organizations and advises them on cost-effective information strategies and solutions.
Eric was also a reporter for a DC based company that produced radio news covering agriculture. He held press credentials for the U.S. Capitol, U.S. Department of Labor, and U.S. department of Commerce, and conducted numerous interviews with dozens of U.S. Senators and Congressman. He has a number of hobbies that include creating and maintaining two Linux live operating systems. Eric is also a musician and an avid rubik's cube solver. Eric brings his multi-disciplinary experiences to develop innovative web solutions for clients.
Ted Burns
Infrastructure and Green Finance Specialist
Ted Burns has advised companies on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising and restructuring in a wide range of industries including power, mining, cement, financial services, hospitality, life sciences, software and telecom. He also specializes in corporate performance management, including the use of the Balanced Scorecard. Mr. Burns has lived in India, Indonesia and South Korea to execute national-level power sector reform programs. He has successfully implemented various high-impact consulting assignments such as the development of financial plans to raise capital for Infrastructure Development and Finance Company (IDFC) in India. He previously worked as a management consultant with IBM Corporation and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), holds an MBA in finance from Columbia University and is a CPA.
Mr. Burns serves as the Treasurer and CFO of the CO2Scorecard Group, overseeing the finances and internal management of the company as well as contributing his expertise to the design and presentation of the Group's benchmarking and scorecard services. He is also a principal at Orlando, FL based Vesta Capital Inc.