Our Team
Meet the passionate, mission-driven leaders who champion Arevon’s success.
Executive Leadership
Kevin Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Kevin Smith brings more than 35 years of experience in both renewable energy and conventional energy to his role as Chief Executive Officer at Arevon, with the last 15 years in solar and energy storage. Since joining Arevon in mid-2023, the company has closed project financings of more than $3 billion and started construction on 2,000 megawatts of projects. The company continues to expand its expertise and footprint in the U.S., while fostering a diverse and inclusive company culture. For the last five years, Smith has served on the Board of Directors of the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Prior to joining Arevon, Smith served as CEO Americas for London-based Lightsource bp, where he spearheaded the company’s expansion into the U.S. market. Under Smith’s leadership, Lightsource bp successfully developed more than $4 billion in solar assets and established a 20,000 megawatt development pipeline of projects. Prior to Lightsource bp, Smith was CEO for SolarReserve, Senior Vice President at Invenergy, LLC, President of Insight Energy, and Chief Operating Officer in London for Rolls-Royce Power Ventures. At Invenergy, Smith led the company’s development activities and early entry into the wind energy markets in 2004, resulting in one of the largest privately owned renewable energy company in the U.S.
Over his career, Smith has actively led the development, financing, and construction of privately-owned energy projects in 26 states in the U.S. and more than a dozen countries across five continents with power sales contracts valued at more than $70 billion. Smith earned his MBA from the University of Chicago and his Mechanical Engineering degree from Purdue University. In 2008, Purdue University named him the Mechanical Engineer of the Year for his service in the energy industry.
Bob Krakauer
Chief Financial Officer
Bob Krakauer is Arevon’s Chief Financial Officer, leading the company in strategic financial planning, analysis, and operational finance. He brings over 30 years’ experience in optimizing and developing finance operations, 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 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 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 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 is a seasoned industry professional, with extensive experience from global, large-scale renewable energy companies and an established track record of driving project pipeline growth. As Chief Development Officer, Montana oversees the strategic and efficient expansion of Arevon’s early-stage development portfolio, which currently exceeds 6 gigawatts (GW). Montana also supports the company’s ongoing success and entry into new markets in the U.S. and leads the execution of the company’s greenfield project development efforts. Montana has served as a Board Member of numerous clean energy associations including Clean Grid Alliance and is a Board Member and Co-founder of the Du Nord Foundation.
Before joining Arevon, Montana held several executive roles at Lightsource bp, most recently as Senior Vice President of Portfolio Management. In this position, she oversaw a 20 GW pipeline of solar and energy storage projects in the U.S. while guiding late-stage project development through to construction, including monitoring the U.S. portfolio’s financial health and schedules. As Vice President of Development, Montana led a 15 GW development portfolio of clean energy projects across the eastern half of the U.S., managing a team who successfully advanced projects from greenfield origination to construction. Prior to that, she worked in key roles for BayWa r.e. and EDF Renewables, leading the development of utility-scale projects in PJM and MISO.
Montana earned a Master of Public Policy from American University, School of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies from Hamline University in Saint Paul, MN.
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 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, Market Operations and Structuring
Daniel Casement 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 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 and wind and 600 MWh 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 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 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 financing. 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 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 a Master of Business Administration in Finance at the Wharton School and an AB at Brown University.
Lydia Li
Director, Investment
Lydia Li serves as Director of Investment at Arevon and is responsible for originating, evaluating, and executing 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 Bachelor of Arts in Government and Economics from Claremont McKenna College and a Master of Business Administration from MIT Sloan School of Management.
Brindavani Malladi
Vice President, Interconnection
Brindavani (Brinda) Malladi 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 the University of New Brunswick.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.