Leadership Opportunities Within the IECA
Energy credit professionals like yourself help fulfill the mission of the IECA by serving in volunteer positions on the Board of Directors. IECA board members have the unique opportunity to work alongside other industry leaders and expand their network all while having a positive impact on the industry. The IECA Advisory, Nomination and Elections Committee is responsible for making recommendations for board candidates but members may make nominations per the procedures outlined in the IECA bylaws.
Interested in becoming more involved in IECA? View our path to leadership to explain how you can work your way up the IECA ladder!
View our IECA Past Presidents
If you're interested in joining a committee or have any questions, contact Heather Buerger at hbuerger@ieca.net.
IECA Board of Directors
Board members listed below have volunteered time and effort to further the IECA's mission and help create the best possible association for its members.The Executive Committee is composed of the President and Vice Presidents who oversee the overall operations of the IECA. IECA Directors specialize in ensuring the effectiveness of specialized areas within IECA and work alongside the Executive Committee.
Executives
Craig Enochs, President
Reed Smith, LLC
Craig Enochs is a partner in the Houston office of the law firm Reed Smith, LLP. He assists clients in a wide array of energy transactions that include physical and financial products and complex credit structuring. His clients run the gamut across the energy industry, including merchants, producers, generators, end users, municipalities, lenders and hedgers. Prior to entering private practice Craig worked in the legal department of TXU Energy Trading Company. He is a committed member of CLEG who has chaired two Gap Risk Working Groups for the IECA and who speaks regularly on issues relating to the energy industry, particularly as they relate to credit. Craig graduated from the University of Houston in 1994 (B.A. Psychology) and The University of California Hastings College of the Law in 1996 (J.D.). His wife Tammi attends as many IECA conferences as she can squeeze into her schedule and they have three children.
Franco Negri, First Vice President
ATCO Group
Franco is the Senior Manager, Credit, Insurance & Treasury Services at ATCO Group, an integrated energy, housing, transportation, and infrastructure solutions company. ATCO was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Franco leads a team of credit, insurance and treasury professionals who manage multiple areas of risk across the company, including complex business development projects and trading of various commodity portfolios. He joined ATCO in 2013 and has 16 plus years of experience as a credit risk professional. Prior to joining ATCO, Franco held various position at TransAlta Corporation and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Franco holds a B.Comm. Finance from the University of Calgary. He has been a member of the IECA since 2006 and served as the Chair of the Canadian Regional Education Committee in 2017, served on the Board of Directors from 2018 to 2020, Co-Chaired the Membership Committee from 2018-2020 and was the VP of Marketing, Communication and Technology from 2021-2022.
Jay Hoellen, Past President
Tenaska
Jay Hoellen is Vice President, Credit Risk at Tenaska, Inc. He has been in this role at Tenaska since 2001. Jay currently is active in managing the day to day credit functions of the natural gas trading at Tenaska Marketing Ventures. Jay has been active in the IECA since 1998 having served as Technology Committee chairperson, Gas, Liquids, and Electricity Committee chairperson, Assistant Treasurer and has been a member of the Conference Management Committee for a number of years. He was also honored as co-2012 Member of the Year for his work on the website redesign project and is a graduate of the IECA Leadership Program. Jay graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelor’s degree in Finance. He is married to Jill and they have two children, Kate and Kyle.
Neal Brandemark, Treasurer
PETRONAS Energy Canada Ltd.
Neal is the Risk Manager at PETRONAS Energy Canada Ltd., a natural gas producer and Canadian subsidiary of PETRONAS, Malaysia’s fully integrated multinational oil & gas corporation. At PETRONAS, Neal is responsible for the credit risk, market risk, contract administration and marketing accounting functions, as well as the corporate insurance program. Prior to joining the company in 2014, Neal held various roles in credit, risk and capital markets at Nexen, EPCOR, Duke and TransCanada. Neal holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance from the University of Calgary, is a Chartered Financial Analyst, and a Certified Treasury Professional.
A member of the IECA since 2001, Neal has held various IECA leadership positions since 2007 and most recently, in 2019, served as VP, Membership. Locally, Neal volunteers with Momentum, a non-profit community economic development organization focused on poverty reduction, where he has been on the Momentum Board of Directors since 2016 and is currently Momentum’s Treasurer.
Neal has called Calgary home for over 30 years, and can often be found skiing, cycling or golfing in the nearby Rocky Mountains, along with his wife Maureen and their two daughters.
Mark Holler, Assistant Treasurer
Tenaska
Mark Holler is the Director of Credit Risk for Tenaska Power Services Co. Mark joined TPS in 2007 and has the led the credit department since 2008. TPS offers utilities, municipalities, large commercial and industrial clients and independent power producers a variety of optimization, risk management, power trading and settlement services. Mark is an active member of various regional credit working groups and has previously chaired the Southwest Power Pool Credit Practices Working Group, as well as the ERCOT Credit Work Group. Mark has been an active member of the IECA since 2008, and has previously chaired the United States Regional Education Group, as well as the Credit Analytics Education Group. Prior to joining TPS, Mark held positions as a market analyst for a business consulting firm and as a business analyst for an independent bank in Dallas. Mr. Holler has a Bachelors degree in Economics and Finance from the University of Texas at Dallas and is a graduate of the IECA CRMCP course.
Phil Lookadoo, Vice President of Education
Haynes Boone, LLP
Phil Lookadoo is a partner in the D.C. office of Haynes and Boone, LLP and is the current chair of the Dodd-Frank Working Group of the IECA. Phil has been practicing law in the energy sector for more than 30 years and has represented developers of fossil fuel-fired and renewable power generation facilities, obtaining FERC approvals under the Federal Power Act and PURPA, negotiating project contracts, project financing agreements, and related M&A agreements. Phil has an active commodity trading practice, including physical supply and financial derivatives transactions involving oil, natural gas, various petroleum products, electricity, RECs, ethanol, biodiesel, RINs, and other commodities. Phil has been recognized by Chambers USA as one of America’s leading energy lawyers. Phil holds a B.S. in Physics from West Virginia University, a M.S. in Nuclear Physics from University of Virginia and a J.D. from Emory University School of Law.
Nithya Venkatesan,Vice President of Sustainability
Navitas Assurance Partners
Nithya Venkatesan has over 15 years of risk management experience spanning credit risk, market risk and enterprise risk. She currently serves as Manager, Risk Controls for Hess Corporation (Hess) globally. Hess is a leading global independent energy company engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. The company has an industry-leading position in two key U.S. shale plays — the Bakken in North Dakota and the Utica in Ohio. Hess is also one of the largest producers in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and a key natural gas producer and supplier to Peninsular Malaysia and Thailand. The company is engaged in exploration and appraisal activities offshore Guyana, participating in one of the industry’s largest oil discoveries in the past decade with the first phase of a planned multiphase development of the Liza Field in Guyana underway. Her responsibilities include managing the day-to-day credit and market risk functions, oversight and reporting of the regulatory requirements associated with commodity risk, supplier credit risk and financial reporting related to commodity risk hedge accounting. She has been a member of the IECA since 1998 and currently serves on a few committees. Raised in Houston, Nithya now lives with her family in Sugarland, TX.
Directors
Directors 2020-2023
Ender Cheung
Cenovus Energy Inc
Ender Cheung is a Specialist, Credit Risk with Cenovus Energy Inc.. She joined Cenovus Energy in 2012 and provides credit support for downstream commodity marketing & hedging activities, upstream joint venture & supply chain management and treasury investment risk. Prior to joining Cenovus, Ender was at Nexen Inc. where she eventually became Team Lead, Credit for Global Crude Oil overseeing the credit risk management function for the international crude oil portfolio. Ender is a committee member of the Canadian Regional Education Committee and served as Chairperson in 2019-2020. Ender holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of Calgary and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder. Outside of work, Ender spends her time with her husband Sopheara and two children, Sydney and Everett.
Mikhaela McDonald
Wilbury Stratton Consultants Limited
Mikhaela's experience spans human capital recruitment and market analysis, with extensive relations. She has a proven track record of facilitating introductions and placements of key individuals and team moves for the global IECA membership base and beyond.
Mikhaela is regularly mandated to provide clients with strategic information, relating to macro considerations, structure evaluation, competitor analysis, market mapping and industry intelligence. In recent years, Mikhaela has worked closely with traditional energy clients who are diversifying their focus to incorporate renewables and cleantech. Her existing client base includes global dominators & blue chips to some of the most advanced start-ups seen in the last decade across areas such as energy, renewables, space & satellite, emissions monitoring and cyber security.
Holding a BA Hons in International Business and E-commerce, Mikhaela avidly enjoys supporting the IECA endeavours in future proofing the organisation through technology. Outside of work, Mikhaela owns, competes and trains horses in the discipline of Eventing and is a Level 1 British Dressage Steward, protecting the welfare of the horse in the competitive environment.
Kevin Page
Tenaska
Kevin Page is an Associate General Counsel for Tenaska’s energy management and natural gas marketing companies. In over a decade of legal practice, he has gained significant experience by assisting clients with physical and financial energy transactions, credit arrangements, bankruptcy matters and regulatory issues. Prior to joining Tenaska, Kevin practiced law in the Houston offices of Reed Smith, LLP and Jackson Walker L.L.P. He has been a member of the IECA since 2011 and has served in various positions, including co-chair of the Contracts and Legal Education Group (CLEG) for two years. Kevin graduated from Baylor University in 2003 (B.B.A. Marketing and Economics) and from Baylor University School of Law in 2006 (J.D.). He and his wife Nicole live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area with their two sons, Collin and Declan, and their two daughters, Savannah Grace and Lucy.
Naeem Jones
Castleton Commodities LLC
Naeem is responsible for the management of credit risk globally, with a focus on Castleton’s oil trading platform. This role involves risk management on daily transactional flow, counterparty credit management, credit structuring of origination initiatives, and management of select trade finance activities.
With 17 years of experience in the commodity industry, Naeem has covered a multitude of traded products. Prior to joining CCI, Naeem has had experience working in the oil refining, merchant trading, and banking sectors.
Directors 2022 - 2025
Kevin Sullivan
OneSource Risk Management
Kevin Sullivan is First Vice President, Energy Specialty at OneSource Risk Management Canada Inc. Kevin specializes in structuring unique trade credit and working capital solutions for the North American energy sector. OSRM acquired Kevin’s firm, Pangaea Global Risk Management, in 2016. Kevin has over 20 years of experience in the trade credit insurance industry, structuring deals globally across all sectors as both a broker and underwriter. Kevin earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Dalhousie University. Over his career, he has had the opportunity to live and work in various cities across Europe and North America
including London, Edinburgh, Galway, Arnhem, Toronto, San Francisco, and Vancouver. He currently resides in Calgary, AB.
Anne Line Laurien
ADNOC Global Trading
Anne Line Laurien is the Department Manager for Credit Risk Management at ADNOC Global Trading (AGT) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. AGT is the trading arm for refined products within Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and was founded in 2020. Anne Line has been involved in the set-up of the Credit Risk Management Department from the beginning, leveraging her 20 plus years of experience as a credit risk professional in bank and multiple corporate credit positions. Prior to joining AGT, Anne Line was a Senior Credit Risk Manager at Vattenfall Energy Trading in Hamburg, Germany. She holds a Master’s degree in International Business from Nord University in Norway and has been an active member of the IECA since 2017, serving as Chair of the Education Sub-Committee since January 2020 and as Chair of the European Regional Education Committee since January 2022. As of October 2020 she lives with her husband and son in Abu Dhabi.
John Vedra
Concord Energy
John Vedra currently serves as the Risk Officer at Concord Energy Holdings, LLC. Prior to joining Concord, John served in various risk management, credit, and commercial roles in the energy sector. He started as a risk and credit analyst with Xcel Energy, then moved into a commercial role with BP Energy Company, where he worked with various producers in the Rocky Mountain region. John also spent four years with Antero Resources as a Risk & Credit Manager, implementing all middle office functions, as well as the Director of Gas Scheduling.
John graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and from the University of Colorado at Denver with his MBA.
Seasoned finance professional with 15 years of experience in energy credit and 20 years in the energy industry. Strong negotiation skills including risk mitigation terms for parent guarantees, letters of credit, master agreements including NAESB, EEI, ISDA with Power and Gas Annexes, and structured deals. Proficient ongoing portfolio management to evaluate and recommend changes to company credit/risk policies and parameters. Solid analytical abilities to evaluate financial strength of companies of varying size and industries. Establish and maintain counterparty and vendor relationships. Collaborate with regulatory, legal, audit, IT, and commercial to achieve company goals and business success. Comprehensive evaluation of process automation needs as well as testing effectiveness and completeness of solution implementation.
