About Orivia
Every company has an origin story.
Orivia builds on the public service legacy of Clarence Tucker, former Deputy Mayor of Fire and Police, and father of our founder.
Ours begins long before Orivia existed.
When infrastructure is tested, it's too late to prepare.
L. Michelle Ware-Allen
Founder & CEO · PMP, PMI-ACP
Designed for the worst day
Long before I built software, I learned how to think about risk.
I grew up in Akron, Ohio, in a family where public service wasn't a profession, it was simply what you did.
My father, Clarence Tucker, spent forty years as a firefighter and public servant. He taught me that preparation isn't pessimism. It's responsibility. Every time I get into a car, I still hear his voice reminding me to fasten my seatbelt. A seatbelt is designed for the day you hope never comes. Infrastructure should be built the same way.
My grandmother, Clara Horton, taught me another lesson. The people who needed the most help were never an afterthought. They were the first people cared for.
Between them, they taught me the philosophy that still guides this company:
Prepare before you're tested. Protect the people who need it most.
Then the lesson became personal.
Over the last fifteen years, I worked in public service and infrastructure, including energy projects across Africa, where reliable electricity was never guaranteed. I saw communities designing resilience because they had no other choice.
Then my own life changed. Today I live with health conditions that make reliable electricity and protection from extreme heat necessities, not conveniences.
When the power goes out, I'm not watching the story on the news. I'm living it.
That experience changed how I think about buildings. Most people see buildings as assets. I see them as systems people depend on.
Why we built Orivia
Challenges that rarely get discussed together.
Buildings today face pressures that most organizations tackle separately. We don't.
- Building Performance Standards
- Extreme heat
- Grid instability
- Growing electricity demand
- Capital constraints
Orivia was founded to bring those conversations together into one clear picture. Because a building that performs well during normal conditions isn't enough. It needs to perform when it's tested.
What we believe
What we hold to.
Infrastructure should protect people first.
Technology matters because people depend on it.
Model to prioritize. Measure to prove.
We use models to identify where action is needed. We use documented measurements to validate what happened. We clearly distinguish between the two.
Trust comes from transparency.
Every recommendation should be explainable. Every conclusion should be traceable. Every assumption should be visible.
Build with communities, not just for them.
Through the Lighthouse Fellowship, we're preparing Maryland's next generation of building performance professionals while solving today's challenges.
Our home
Proudly based in Maryland.
Orivia Tech is based at the bwtech@UMBC Energy and Cyber Incubator. We partner with researchers, public agencies, utilities, and building owners to help communities prepare for a changing energy future.
Our work spans compliance, resilience, building energy intelligence, and workforce development, but it all serves one purpose. Helping buildings perform when people need them most.
Meet the team
A small team, training the next one.
Leadership team
L. Michelle Ware-Allen
Founder & CEO
PMP | PMI-ACP | CAITL
2024 Watson Institute Sustainability Fellow
Haisel Cruz
Operations and Rural Innovation Lead
The inaugural cohort
Responsible AI Lighthouse Fellowship
Our inaugural Responsible AI Lighthouse Fellowship cohort brings together twelve fellows from UMBC, the University of Maryland College Park, and Morgan State University, each stepping into a defined professional role on our building energy intelligence teams.
Endegena Assefa
Energy Informatics Analyst, Lead
Jacob Lontoc
Building Energy Intelligence Engineer, Lead
Akanksha Madhu Kiran
Energy Data Scientist, Lead
Romain Geofrey Donfack Dzeinse
Energy Software Developer
Jin Nagashima
Building Data Analyst
Hamoud Hassan
Building Performance Analyst
Camron Headen
Energy Informatics Analyst
Areeba Rehman
Climate Communications Strategist
Makir Compton
Building Cybersecurity Specialist
Jordan Jackson
Smart Grid Systems Technician
Nadia Faruqui Gauto
Environmental Sustainability Analyst
Fareedah Owolabi
Environmental Standards Analyst
Together, they reflect the breadth of talent shaping the next generation of building energy intelligence professionals across Maryland.
Guidance and oversight
Advisory Team
Clarence Tucker
Public Safety, Worst Day Design, and Life Skills Development and Coaching
Germaine Allen
Agentic AI, Engineering Design, Clinical Informatics
Joy Ware
Instructional Design and Educational Technology
AMG Empowers
Professional Development and Coaching
The future we're building
One building at a time.
Imagine a world where every building owner understands exactly how their building performs. Where compliance isn't a surprise. Where resilience is designed, not improvised. Where data leads to confident decisions instead of costly guesses.
That's the future we're building.