NEW YORK, May 11, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Energy Focus, Inc. (NASDAQ:EFOI), a leader in LED lighting technologies, announced today that Gail Thakarar joined the company as its Chief People Officer. To advance the company’s business strategies and growth goals, in this role, Ms. Thakarar is responsible for leading, developing and expanding the company’s human resources infrastructure, which includes talent acquisition, leadership development, employee engagement, culture enrichment, organizational design and compensation and benefits.

Ms. Thakarar has a strong track record of building and leading complex and global human resources operations for large as well as high-growth entrepreneurial corporations. Her past successes include growing and improving human capital management functions for companies across various industries, resulting in significantly enhanced shareholder value. Ms. Thakarar gained her extensive global experience as a top human resources executive for several Fortune 500 companies, notably General Electric, Glaxo Smith Kline, The Mony Group (acquired by AXA Financial), Countrywide Financial Corporation and Occidental Petroleum. Most recently, she was the Chief Human Resources Officer with AMC Health, a leading provider of virtual care solutions for at-risk populations. She holds an undergraduate degree in Accounting from The University of Bombay, India, and an MBA in Human Resources from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

“We are absolutely proud and pleased to have Gail as part of our leadership team as we look to dramatically strengthen our people capacities and capabilities to facilitate and accelerate our expansion in the U.S. and internationally,” said James Tu, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of Energy Focus, Inc. “Energy Focus believes deeply in attracting, growing and retaining the best talent to enable the company to become the most trusted LED lighting brand in our dedicated markets. Gail brings to us not only a trove of experience and expertise in global talent acquisition and development, but also proven wisdom to build sustainable, scalable and transformational human resources operations from massive conglomerates to technology startups. We very much look forward to her positive and powerful contributions to lay the critical cultural and people foundation for the next phase of our growth.”

“I’m truly thrilled to have joined Energy Focus as a member of its dynamic leadership team,” stated Ms. Thakarar. “I look forward to supporting and contributing to the company’s vision to build an impactful organization by creating triple-bottom-line benefits that encompass people, planet and profit for its stakeholders as well as its customers.”

About Energy Focus, Inc.:
Energy Focus, Inc. is a leading provider of energy efficient LED lighting products and a developer of energy efficient lighting technology. Our LED lighting products provide energy savings, aesthetics, safety and maintenance cost benefits over conventional lighting. Our long-standing relationship with the U.S. Government continues to enable us to provide energy efficient LED lighting products to the U.S. Navy and the Military Sealift Command fleets. Customers include national, state and local U.S. government agencies as well as Fortune 500 companies and many other commercial and industrial clients. World headquarters are located in Solon, Ohio with additional offices in Washington, D.C., New York City and Taiwan. For more information, see our web site at www.energyfocusinc.com.

Investor Contacts:
Energy Focus, Inc.
Marcia J. Miller, Chief Financial Officer
(440) 715-1300
ir@energyfocusinc.com

Darrow Associates, Inc.
Peter Seltzberg, Managing Director
(516) 419-9915
pseltzberg@darrowir.com