Our Company

Willem van der Ven

Willem van der Ven brings more than 25 years in the energy business, with 18 years of experience in renewables. His responsibilities at Leeward include leading field and energy services, asset management, EHS, fleet procurement, operational engineering, control center and data analytics.

Prior to Leeward, Mr. Van der Ven served as VP, Power Operations for Enbridge and also held senior leadership roles at Atlantic Power Corporation, KR Wind Inc. and Suzlon Energy Corp. He has extensive experience in developing and implementing corporate growth strategies within the renewable energy sector and has played integral roles in establishing new departments, teams and markets for corporations that place high value in company cultures of safety, reliability and performance.

Mr. Van der Ven holds an international executive master’s in business administration from the University of Twente, a master’s degree in electrical energy systems from the Technical University of Eindhoven, a bachelor’s degree in control systems from the Technical Academy in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and an associate degree in electronics from the Technical Academy in Nijmegen.

Chris Loehr

With more than 20 years of total experience in the energy industry, Chris Loehr has spent the last 15 years focused on renewables and joined the company in 2012. His responsibilities at Leeward include finance, accounting, financial reporting, treasury, and risk management.  He has closed more than $1B of project and corporate finance transactions with our company.

Previously, as Director of Finance for Invenergy, he oversaw more than $700M of natural gas financings and over $2B of wind financings—totaling more than 2,400 MW of installed capacity of energy assets.

He also held various finance roles at Edison International, Enron Corp, and investment banking at Jefferies & Co.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Rice University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Rebecca Fisher

Becky Fisher brings more than 25 years of strategic leadership in Human Resources, with progressive experience directing all aspects of HR for small-, mid- and large-cap organizations. Ms. Fisher is responsible for leading the company’s human resources strategy and systems, talent acquisition, talent management, total rewards, diversity & inclusion, and cultural development.

Prior to Leeward, Ms. Fisher spent the majority of her career with PepsiCo, Inc., where she led large-scale organizational and culture transformation and talent management. During her 14 years at PepsiCo, Ms. Fisher’s roles included Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Talent Management; Vice President of Human Resources, PepsiCo Customer Teams & PepsiCo America Foods; Vice President of Human Resources, Frito-Lay; and Senior Director of Human Resources, Frito-Lay. Ms. Fisher has spent the last two years providing strategic HR consulting to private and public companies as HR and Business Consultant at Fisher Consulting Partners, LLC. She also currently serves on the board of directors of SunOpta where she chairs the compensation committee.

Ms. Fisher holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and minor in Business Administration from Texas Christian University.

Andrew Flanagan

Andrew Flanagan leads our development team, overseeing the strategic growth of our portfolio of over 5,000 MW of wind, solar, and energy storage development projects. He has more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry, including development, power marketing, project finance, operations, and asset management of wind, solar, and natural gas power generation projects across North America and Europe.

Mr. Flanagan joined our team in 2011 and previously led asset management and development for the company including the origination of the initial solar development business that was sold in July 2015.

Prior to joining the company, Mr. Flanagan was Vice President of Development at Invenergy and held various development and asset management roles at Calpine Corporation.

Mr. Flanagan earned a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering Systems from the United States Merchant Marine Academy and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Theodore D. Matula

Tedd Matula has more than 25 years of legal, transactional, and renewable energy experience. He currently manages all aspects of our legal department and leads corporate development efforts to meet our strategic growth plan.

Over his career, Mr. Matula has been responsible for legal aspects of the development, construction, acquisition, and related financing of over 3,500 MW of installed capacity of renewable and conventional energy assets.

Prior to joining Leeward, he co-founded and served as Managing Director of High Road Clean Energy in Austin, Texas, a solar development company. He was also Vice President and General Counsel of Tierra Energy before its acquisition by Duke Energy, where he continued as Deputy General Counsel overseeing legal support to its renewables business. Prior to his in-house positions, Mr. Matula practiced corporate finance and securities law at Hogan & Hartson, in Denver, Colorado, and Vinson & Elkins, in Dallas, Texas.

Mr. Matula holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Philosophy and a Juris Doctor from Southern Methodist University.

Eran Mahrer

Eran Mahrer brings more than 20 years’ experience, including over 15 years in the renewable energy industry. He is responsible for leading Leeward’s corporate and technology strategy, government affairs, public affairs, ESG and communications functions.

Prior to joining Leeward, Mr. Mahrer worked at First Solar for more than six years where he served as Vice President of Market Origination and Government Affairs. During this time, he was responsible for First Solar’s U.S. origination team positioning the company’s modules, development assets and power marketing with focus on asset owners and electric utilities.  He also led the company’s Government Affairs organization, engaging nationally working to ensure that solar energy resources were appropriately considered and leveraged as part of the nation’s sustainable energy transition.  Mr. Mahrer and his team worked across all stakeholder groups to ensure that solar technologies were well understood, appropriately valued, and thoughtfully integrated.

Mr. Mahrer also served as the Executive Vice President of Strategy and Programs for the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA). He joined SEPA in 2012 and led the organization’s efforts in driving utility and solar industry strategies and practices in support of solar energy. His experience also includes serving as Arizona Public Service Company’s (APS) Director of Renewable Energy and Resource Portfolio Planning. In his 11 years with APS, he led the company’s renewable energy strategy, renewable and customer program resource planning, regulatory interface on many renewable matters and implementation of all renewable programs.

Mr. Mahrer received his MBA from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, a Master of Science from Washington State University and his Bachelor of Science from the University of California, San Diego.

Mark Hensley

Mark Hensley oversees Leeward’s project execution and procurement teams and is responsible for managing the engineering, construction and procurement teams from green field project development through construction and bringing our solar and wind assets online. Mr. Hensley has 25 years of experience in the construction and renewable energy fields having first entered the solar industry in the mid-1990s.

Prior to Leeward, Mr. Hensley worked at First Solar for 13 years exiting the company as Vice President of Operations for the Americas on the Global Business Development team. Upon the acquisition of First Solar’s development pipeline by Leeward, Mr. Hensley was  managing a portfolio of First Solar functions including the engineering, procurement and construction of First Solar’s development assets and the negotiation, management, and fulfilment of solar module supply contracts for customers in the Americas.

Mr. Hensley holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts.

Caitlin Beer

With more than 10 years counseling clients in the energy industry, Caitlin Beer has extensive experience in the development, acquisition, construction, financing, and management of renewable energy projects, transmission assets, and other energy investments.

A partner in the Pittsburgh office of K&L Gates LLP before joining our team, Ms. Beer specialized in real estate law with a particular focus on wind, solar, biomass, and battery storage projects.

Ms. Beer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University and a Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law.

Beth Deane

Beth Deane has more than 25 years of legal experience across a spectrum of practice areas, including development, construction, M&A, financing, litigation and renewable energy.  She is responsible for energy procurement, interconnection and other aspects of renewable energy development.

Before joining Leeward, Ms. Deane was Chief Counsel of Project Development at First Solar, Inc., a solar manufacturing, construction, and development company with over 17 GW of installed capacity globally.  In that role, she is involved in all aspects of solar project development, including real estate, permitting, interconnection, tax, and power procurement, as well as having responsibility for other transactional, litigation, regulatory, and corporate matters.

Prior to joining First Solar, Ms. Deane was Of Counsel at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, where her practice was focused on environmental law, including compliance with hazardous waste, water and air requirements, regulatory strategy, permitting, civil and criminal litigation, land use, and redevelopment of contaminated property.  Prior to that, she was at Munger, Tolles & Olson, where she gained experience in litigation, employment and corporate law.

Ms. Deane attended the Yale Law School and the University of Cincinnati, where she earned a B.A. in Economics.

Matt McGowan

Matt McGowan leads Leeward’s Commercial Team, which is responsible for asset management, engineering, purchasing, and information services. He has more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry in both renewable and conventional energy projects. Mr. McGowan has been a part of the team since 2011.

Prior to joining the company, he served as Director of Commercial Management at Calpine, where he managed all commercial aspects of 2,500 MW of installed capacity of natural gas fired projects.

Mr. McGowan holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Jennifer Shears

Jennifer Shears has been part of our leadership team since 2012, when she joined our predecessor company, Infigen Energy. Ms. Shears is responsible for all accounting, tax, and financial reporting for Leeward Renewable Energy.

A licensed Certified Public Accountant in Oklahoma and Texas, she worked in public accounting with an emphasis in tax before transitioning to the energy industry.

Ms. Shears earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Oklahoma State University.

Carley Huie

Carley Huie began her career with our company in 2010. She now has over 10 years of experience in human resources, holding both the Senior Human Resources Professional certification and the SHRM Senior Certified Professional designation from the Society of Human Resources Management.

Her many responsibilities include recruiting, training, onboarding, and managing talent, overseeing payroll and employee benefits, and leading our organizational development plan.

Ms. Huie holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Organizational Behavior/Human Resources from the University of North Texas.