Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to everything we do. Arevon thrives on and celebrates different views, beliefs, and values. We are committed to our talented team and partners, regardless of background or affiliation, and to actively promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our business. We strive to be a place where you can be you and bring your whole self to work

In 2021, Arevon launched its DEI Task Force, composed of team members from all levels across the business. The taskforce works in collaboration with Arevon’s leadership to foster an environment of learning and celebration. It also recommends policies and systems that drive equitable practices, with a goal of reducing incidents of bias and discrimination. At Arevon, we strive to increase growth opportunities for all of our team members. We are committed to removing barriers and biases in the workplace for all employees and vendors.

Executive Team

Kevin Smith

Chief Executive Officer

Kevin Smith

Chief Executive Officer

Smith joins Arevon with more than 30 years of experience in both conventional and renewable energy. Most recently, he was CEO Americas for London-based Lightsource bp, where he drove the company’s expansion in the U.S. market, with more than $4 billion in assets entering operation or construction over the last four years, while building the development team and compiling a 20,000 MW development pipeline.

Prior to leading Lightsource bp’s expansion in the U.S., Smith was CEO for SolarReserve, Senior Vice President at Invenergy, LLC, President of Insight Energy, and Chief Operating Officer of London-based Rolls-Royce Power Ventures. Over his career, Smith has actively led the development, financing, and construction of privately-owned energy projects in 25 states in the U.S. and more than a dozen countries across five continents, focusing on solar generation over the last 15 years. He earned his MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago and his Mechanical Engineering degree from Purdue University.

Bob Krakauer

Chief Financial Officer

Bob Krakauer

Chief Financial Officer

Bob Krakauer joins Arevon as the Chief Financial Officer, leading the company in strategic financial planning, analysis, and operational finance. He brings more than 30 years’ experience in optimizing and developing finance operations, as well as implementing major strategic programs and improving business performance. He has led multiple leveraged buyouts and successfully raised capital in public and private equity, debt, and credit markets. His extensive experience as a senior executive and Chief Financial Officer spans multiple industries including semiconductor manufacturing and enterprise software. Bob previously served as CFO of Lifelock, MagnaChip Semiconductor, ChipPAC, and Allied Signal Electronic Materials. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Master of Business Administration in Operations and Decision Science from Santa Clara University in California.

Justin Johnson

Chief Operating Officer

Justin Johnson

Chief Operating Officer

Justin Johnson is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Arevon. As COO, Justin and his team are responsible for all development, construction, and operations activities for the nation’s second-largest solar portfolio. Justin has more than 20 years of energy and operations experience in procurement, asset management, performance and engineering management, development, and construction. He was instrumental in founding Arevon in 2017 and led the organization in its role as exclusive asset manager to the Capital Dynamics Clean Energy Infrastructure funds. Justin previously held senior roles at Capital Dynamics, EDP Renewables and Horizon Wind Energy. Prior to joining the renewable energy industry, Justin served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force for seven years in flight test engineering and project management roles. Justin is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and earned a Master of Business Administration from Babson College.

Denise Tait

Chief Investment Officer

Denise Tait

Chief Investment Officer

Denise Tait is Chief Investment Officer at Arevon, overseeing the company’s project finance and investment activities. She brings more than 30 years of experience to this role and has a proven track record in managing billions of dollars of assets, executing financial transactions, and leading teams.

Denise joins Arevon after serving as Co-President for Starwood Infrastructure Finance, a leading real estate and infrastructure finance company, and she also worked for more than 20 years at GE Capital, holding various senior financial roles in credit and origination lending as well as serving as the Global Head of Project Finance Debt – Managing Director.

Denise graduated from American University’s Kogod School of Business, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Finance.  She is currently Board Chair of Earthplace and was previously the Finance Chair.

Tommy Greer

Chief Commercial Officer

Tommy Greer

Chief Commercial Officer

Tommy Greer is Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Arevon, where he is responsible for all commercial activities within the organization across multiple technological sectors. Prior to joining Arevon, Tommy spent more than 13 years at EDP Renewables where he served as the Head of Origination for North America and was responsible for executing more than 5,000 MW of PPAs with load-serving entities, corporations, traders, and institutional customers. During his time there, the structured power and environmental attribute transactions completed by his team exceeded $7 billion in notional value. Tommy holds a Master of Arts in Climate and Society from Columbia University, a Master of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California, and a Master of Business Administration from Rice University.

Shanelle Montana

Chief Development Officer

Shanelle Montana

Chief Development Officer

Vesco Petrov

General Counsel

Vesco Petrov

General Counsel

Vesco Petrov is the General Counsel of Arevon and is responsible for all legal operations. Vesco has more than a decade of legal experience honed in a law firm, start-up, and public corporation setting. Across these venues, Vesco has specialized in utility-scale solar generation transactions, with a specific focus on EPC, M&A, warranty, and dispute resolution matters. Prior to joining Arevon, Vesco held legal positions with First Solar, DEPCOM Power, and Bradley Arant Boult & Cummings. Vesco holds a Bachelor of Science in Materials Engineering from the University of Arizona and a Juris Doctor from the University of Alabama.

Jon Faltis

Chief People Officer

Jon Faltis

Chief People Officer

Jon Faltis is Chief People Officer at Arevon. Jon has over a decade of experience in human resources and talent management at various infrastructure companies providing engineering, architecture, construction management, and project management.  Previously, he served as Chief Business Officer and Chief Accounting Officer overseeing Arevon’s financial accounting and reporting, tax, treasury, and financial operations. Jon has nearly two decades of experience in leadership roles in corporate management, finance/accounting, human resources, information technology, and general business operations across a broad range of leading companies in the energy and infrastructure industries. Prior to Arevon, Jon held senior roles at Capital Dynamics on the Clean Energy Infrastructure team and was instrumental in founding Arevon in 2017. Earlier in his career, Jon spent a decade in various Chief Financial Officer roles for energy and infrastructure firms. Jon holds a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

Senior Leadership

Daniel Casement

Vice President, Power Markets

Daniel Casement

Vice President, Power Markets

Daniel is Vice President of Market Operations and Structuring at Arevon where he oversees the management of Arevon’s merchant solar and storage portfolio. He brings more than 15 years of experience in electricity and commodity markets. Prior to joining Arevon in 2021 Daniel worked at sPower for three years, where he led the structuring and analytics team and helped structure more than 1 GW of solar and storage deals. He also worked at AES for eight years in various commercial and risk management roles with a focus on merchant generation assets. Daniel holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and law from the University of Manchester.

Josh Coon

Vice President, Development

Josh Coon

Vice President, Development

Josh Coon is a Director of Development at Arevon, where he leads the development and execution of PV solar and battery energy storage projects in the Western U.S. Prior to his time at Arevon, Josh spent more than four years managing renewable energy projects at EDP Renewables and is experienced in all stages of the project lifecycle from greenfield development through construction. Throughout his career, Josh has been responsible for the development of over 1 GW of renewable energy projects and has constructed more than 500 MW of solar/wind and 600MWh of energy storage. Josh holds a Bachelor of Science in Energy Engineering from Pennsylvania State University with a focus on renewable energy technologies.

Katherine Gensler

Vice President, Government Affairs and Marketing

Katherine Gensler

Vice President, Government Affairs and Marketing

Katherine Gensler is the Vice President of Government Affairs and Marketing for Arevon, leading the company’s strategic engagement with federal and state government officials. In addition, she heads the marketing and communications team, crafting the Arevon message for a wide variety of external audiences, from financial partners to community stakeholders. Previously, she spent 13 years with the Solar Energy Industries Association, expanding its advocacy before Congress and the Administration on behalf of the U.S. solar industry. Katherine also served as an energy analyst at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, where she advised the Commission on electricity and natural gas policies throughout the west. She holds a Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin. Committed to educating the next generation of energy leaders, Katherine serves on the Board of Visitors of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

Eric Huswick

Vice President, Finance

Eric Huswick

Vice President, Finance

Eric Huswick is the Vice President of Finance at Arevon where he oversees Development and Construction Accounting and Tax and also works closely with Arevon’s M&A and Project Finance teams. Eric has played key roles in Arevon’s IRA implementation, corporate and transaction restructurings, and raising more than $2 billion of debt and tax equity financings. Eric previously worked for more than five years at Deloitte, focusing on global tax reporting, audit, and compliance for large multinationals as well as real estate and financial institutions. Eric is a CPA and has a Master’s in Taxation from the University of Denver and a BBA, accounting concentration from the University of Washington.

Nimmi Kavasery

Managing Director, Project Finance

Nimmi Kavasery

Managing Director, Project Finance

Nimmi Kavasery is a Managing Director of Project Finance at Arevon, where she manages the negotiation and execution of project financings and structuring of tax equity partnerships. She has 15 years of financing experience, including more than a decade of executing clean energy transactions. Nimmi joins Arevon after a 10-year tenure at Bank of America, where she most recently co-led the Bank’s tax credit syndication desk and previously underwrote the Bank’s tax equity investments. Prior to Bank of America, Nimmi held various equity and debt underwriting roles at GE Capital – Energy Financial Services. Nimmi earned an MBA in Finance at the Wharton School and an AB at Brown University.

Lydia Li

Director, Investment

Lydia Li

Director, Investment

Lydia serves as Director of Investments at Arevon and is responsible for originating, evaluating, and executing on investments across renewable generation and battery storage sectors. Prior to Arevon, Lydia was an investor at Generate Capital, where she led sustainable infrastructure investments with a focus on renewable power, hydrogen, and mobility. She also worked at Commonfund Capital as a private equity investor in natural resources and Macquarie Capital as an investment banker. Lydia earned a B.A. in Government and Economics from Claremont McKenna College and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Brindavani Malladi

Vice President, Interconnection

Brindavani Malladi

Vice President, Interconnection

Brindavani Malladi (Brinda) is the Head of Transmission and Interconnection at Arevon, where she leads strategic transmission and market assessments and manages the interconnection of new projects in markets across the United States. Prior to joining Arevon, Brinda spent over 13 years at PJM performing generation interconnection, deactivation, and transmission expansion studies with focus on process improvements. Earlier in the career Brinda wrote and published technical papers on Congestion Pricing and Interconnection process. Brinda holds a Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering and Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of New Brunswick.

Chris Matthews

Vice President, Development

Chris Matthews

Vice President, Development

Chris Matthews is the Director of Project Development at Arevon, where he oversees the development of projects in the Midwest and eastern regions of the U.S., focusing on MISO, SERC, PJM, and NYISO. Prior to joining Arevon, Chris was a Senior Project Development Manager with AES Clean Energy where he led greenfield development and permitting of DG and utility-scale solar and solar + BESS projects in NYISO and PJM. Earlier in his career, he spent 4 years developing distributed and utility-scale wind, solar, and battery storage projects with EDP Renewables and Greensmith Energy. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Geosciences from Virginia Tech.

Nick Maynard

Vice President, Engineering

Nick Maynard

Vice President, Engineering

Nick Maynard has been with Arevon for nearly two years and has more than 12 years of experience in engineering, construction, and the project management of large commercial and utility-scale photovoltaic & BESS projects in the United States and Guam. His experience in renewable energy includes engineering, finance, and construction support for greenfield development and merger and acquisition projects. Before joining Arevon, Nick led the design, installation, and commissioning of approximately 2.0GWdc of solar PV projects, amounting to approximately $2 billion in capital. Since joining Arevon, Nick has engineered another 1.5GWdc of PV and 760MW of BESS in California, Nevada, and Indiana. As the Senior Director of Engineering, Nick’s responsibilities include executive reporting, the establishment of processes and procedures, fatal flaw analysis, negotiation of EPC technical language, review of QA/QC reports, cold and hot commissioning, and owner engineer’s support. Nick obtained a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado.

Anand Narayanan

Senior Vice President, Asset Management

Anand Narayanan

Senior Vice President, Asset Management

Anand Narayanan is Vice President of Asset Management at Arevon. He brings more than a decade of experience in solar operations and maintenance and deep knowledge of the various market drivers and technology improvements happening in the solar industry. Prior to joining Arevon, Anand held various roles at First Solar Energy Services, including performance engineer and technical sales manager. At First Solar, Anand was responsible for selling third-party O&M services and brought in more than $2.5 million of annual margin via long-term O&M contracts. Prior to that, Anand was responsible for performance reporting, analysis, and operations. Anand graduated from Arizona State University with a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, specializing in Energy and Power Systems, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Technology for Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

Greg Patzer

Vice President, Construction

Greg Patzer

Vice President, Construction

Greg Patzer is the Senior Director of Construction at Arevon where he helps support the various execution teams as their respective projects move from late-stage development through commercial operation. Greg brings to the role more than 27 years of construction experience in the infrastructure, conventional power, commercial building, and renewables industries. A native of Arizona, Greg obtained a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from Arizona State University. He is also a proud Army veteran having served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Tina Raether

Vice President, Accounting

Tina Raether

Vice President, Accounting

Tina Raether is the Vice President of Accounting at Arevon where she provides technical and operational leadership across the accounting and financial reporting functions. Prior to joining Arevon, Tina was an Assurance Director at PwC within the Asset and Wealth Management practice with more than 13 years of public accounting experience. Her responsibilities included leading both public and private audit engagements, business development, recruiting, and learning and development course facilitation. Tina graduated magna cum laude from Arizona State University with a Master of Science in Accountancy and a certificate in International Business. Tina is an active CPA in Arizona and a member of the AICPA and Arizona Society of CPAs.

Jeremy Rand

Vice President, Procurement

Jeremy Rand

Vice President, Procurement

Jeremy Rand is the Vice President of Procurement at Arevon. His team is responsible for sourcing all capital equipment, EPC, O&M, and Service contracts. Jeremy has more than 10 years of renewable energy experience in performance engineering, EPC, Solar/BESS O&M, construction, and risk management. Prior to joining Arevon, Jeremy was the Director of Sales Operations and Fulfillment with First Solar, coordinating all shipments, deliveries, and contract management for First Solar’s module, EPC, and O&M businesses.

Deirdra Redmon

Vice President, Treasurer

Deirdra Redmon

Vice President, Treasurer

Deirdra Redmon is the Treasurer at Arevon, where she manages corporate liquidity and leads the structuring and raising of corporate and non-project sources of capital. Prior to Arevon, Deirdra spent more than six years in the Treasury team at First Solar, Inc., four of those as Assistant Treasurer, and six years leading corporate and manufacturing financing during her tenure at the company. She has more than 10 years of Treasury and Public Accounting experience and is also a CPA. Deirdra holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Master of Accounting from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

Joe Santo

Director, Investment

Joe Santo

Director, Investment

Joe is a Director on the Arevon Investment team, where he leads sourcing, underwriting, and execution of renewable energy and energy transition investments. Prior to Arevon, he worked at NextEra Energy for four years where he was responsible for M&A, evaluating and investing in distributed generation, community solar, storage, microgrids, fuel cells, hydrogen, and mobility opportunities. Prior to NextEra, Joe worked at GE Ventures where he was focused on investment opportunities in energy storage, mobility, and grid optimization. Earlier in his career, Joe worked as an attorney in the private equity and mergers and acquisitions practice group of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where he assisted clients on more than $80 billion of transactions. Joe holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Government from Dartmouth College.

Paul Smerchanski

Vice President, Origination

Paul Smerchanski

Vice President, Origination

Paul Smerchanski is Vice President of Origination at Arevon Energy where he is responsible for finding customers for clean energy projects across North America. He has spent over a decade at renewable and energy storage project developers working on projects in the US and Canada, in roles spanning development, strategy, and origination. Paul has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manitoba and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.