INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CREDIT ASSOCIATION
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Leadership
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!
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.
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.
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.
Franco is the Director, Capital Markets, Credit & External Disclosure 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.
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.
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.
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.
Directors
Claude is part of the firm’s global environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice, and is highly-regarded in weather risk management, adaptive finance and the voluntary carbon markets. He has been involved in the design and implementation of carbon registries. Claude is also active in the social financing arena, advising Multilateral Development Banks and Supranational organizations on the financing of educational projects in the developing world. He also works with various NGOs and philanthropic foundations to provide innovative financing and credit risk mitigation structures.
Claude is heavily involved in the firm’s global derivatives practice and brings more than 26 years’ experience in the global derivatives markets, both as a lawyer and as a banker. He advises on all forms of credit risk mitigation and counts Sovereigns, Supranationals, corporates and financial institutions in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America amongst his clients.
In addition, Claude is a member of the United Kingdom’s Financial Markets Law Committee and a P.R.I.M.E. Finance expert and also served two terms as a board director of the Weather Risk Management Association. He has been ranked as a leading lawyer in legal directories for many years.
Becky is the Vice President, Energy Risk Underwriting for Allianz Trade. Her vast experience in the energy sector brings a deep understanding of the energy market and risk management to the Allianz Energy team. Prior to her role with Allianz Trade, Becky served in credit risk management roles for various companies including World Fuel Services, DRW Energy, CITGO Petroleum, Dynegy and Duke Energy. Her responsibilities entailed credit underwriting, contract negotiations including risk mitigation terms for parent guarantees, letters of credit, master agreements and structured deals. She has also worked for credit risk management software providers to guide product changes to improve efficiency and user friendliness.
Becky is currently serving her second term as membership chair and sits on the IECA Board of Directors. Additionally she is involved with the IECA Centennial planning committee and IECA Sustainability committee She has volunteered her time on various IECA committees include past Co-Chair of the USREC, the Vice Chair of the Products and Services committee as well as an active member of DPEG, CLEG and CAEG as well as participating in the Contracts Provision Review working group. She has been a member of the IECA since 2005.
Maria Holeman serves as the Head of Credit Risk at Uniper Global Commodities North America, bringing with her over two decades of credit risk expertise across diverse sectors such as banking, investments, and energy. Uniper specializes in providing natural gas energy storage services and a range of environmental products aimed at fostering climate-friendly fuel and power markets. The company is actively involved in sourcing US natural gas for liquefaction and export to LNG markets worldwide. Operating under the umbrella of Uniper SE, one of the largest power generators globally and a prominent energy commodities trader, Uniper plays a crucial role in both domestic and international markets.
Maria has been an integral part IECA since 2008 and currently serves as the Chair of the Credit Analytics Education Committee. She has further distinguished herself as a member of the inaugural cohort of the IECA Credit Risk Management Certificate Program. Originally hailing from Chicago, Maria earned her Bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Illinois. She currently resides in Houston with her husband Christopher.
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.
Maurits is Managing Director for Marsh Singapore Pte Ltd, responsible for the delivery of growth strategy for Marsh Credit Specialties in Asia. He also Chairs the Global Commodity Trading Solutions (CTS) team.
He has been stationed in various locations in Europe and is currently living in Singapore supporting the IECA Asia Chapter. For over 15 years, Maurits has focused on working with commodity traders and their lenders in mitigating operational and financial risks in the areas of Marine, Credit and Political Risk. He was part of the initial Credit Specialties team developing the framework of the award-winning Marsh ESG Risk Rating.
Prior to joining Marsh in 2015 Maurits worked as an insurance broker for 9 years. He has been a guest speaker at the Geneva University for the Master in Commodity Trading as well as the Commodity Diploma. Maurits has been an active member of the IECA, being part of the Education Sub-Committee before moving to Singapore.
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.
Having been in the energy industry for 20 years, Samantha has had the opportunity to grow her professional repertoire of experience and knowledge in Credit Risk, Contracts, Insurance and Systems (technology). Her experience includes working in Risk Management at Direct Energy, Capital Power (5 years) and Suncor (11 years). She currently works with Keyera Corp. as the Manager of Credit & Insurance. She has been a member of the IECA for 15 years and completed a Board appointment with the IECA in 2016.
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