Our Team
Elemental Clean Fuels is led by people who have built, financed, and operated energy infrastructure across North America for decades.
The leadership team at ECF has spent their careers building power plants, landmark energy development projects, structured the financing for billion-dollar facilities as well as the operations that keep these projects running. Experience is the whole point.
Zachary Steele
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
Zach leads Elemental Clean Fuels’ corporate strategy and works closely with the management team to drive growth, operational excellence, and long-term value creation. With over 15 years of experience developing and leading energy companies, he has held executive leadership roles across the renewable energy and hydrogen sectors, including Fusion Fuel and Cedar LNG. Zach founded Enova Energy Group in 2009 and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Rollins University.
Jason Baran
Chief Financial Officer & Co-Founder
Jason oversees Elemental Clean Fuels’ financial operations, capital strategy, risk management, treasury, and financial reporting. An accomplished finance and energy infrastructure executive, he brings extensive experience in strategy, mergers and acquisitions, business development, and capital raising. Prior to ECF, Jason held senior leadership roles with Fusion Fuel, Cedar LNG, and Beowulf Energy, and began his career in investment banking at Citigroup. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Davidson College.
Jeff Crone
Chief Operating Officer & Co-Founder
Jeff leads all technical and operational activity for the company, leveraging his career experience to ensure successful project delivery and safe, reliable operation. With more than 30 years of experience in engineering, operations, and project management across the global energy industry, he has held leadership roles with Buckeye Partners, Kinder Morgan, Shell, and Hess. Jeff holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA from Youngstown State University.
Matt McMonagle
Executive Vice President, Commercial
Matt brings nearly 20 years of experience developing, financing, and scaling clean fuels and renewable energy businesses across North America. His background spans clean hydrogen, energy storage, project development, project finance, policy, fundraising, and commercial strategy. As founder of NovoHydrogen and a former executive with Dimension Renewable Energy, Matt has played a key role in advancing renewable energy projects and supporting significant growth initiatives. His entrepreneurial leadership strengthens ECF’s commercial platform and growth strategy.
Bob Blattler
Executive Vice President, Business Development
Bob has 40 years’ experience in the petrochemical and natural gas transmission sectors in commercial, project management and operations roles. Has led marketing activities; transporter business relations, commercial services and infrastructure development. Fostered enterprise focus while ensuring adherence to Corporate Policies. Led the building of customer relations in markets of influence, driving tactics for success and marketing of new products.
Jessica Verhagen
Senior Advisor
Jessica brings nearly 20 years of experience at the intersection of environmental policy, clean technology, and sustainable finance. She has held leadership roles across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including advancing hydrogen adoption, scaling cleantech ventures, and bringing environmental assets to market. Jessica also played a key role in developing some of North America’s earliest carbon pricing and emissions trading frameworks. Her expertise in capital raising, partnerships, and strategy supports ECF’s long-term growth and impact.
David Lin
Vice President, Commercial
David supports Elemental Clean Fuels’ commercial strategy, focusing on project origination, strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and securing feedstock and offtake agreements across the clean fuels value chain. He brings over 15 years of experience in energy, infrastructure, finance, and business development, including leadership roles at Tidewater Renewables and energy investment banking. David has advised on more than $5 billion CAD in M&A and financing transactions and is both a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Kirk Morrison
Vice President, Project Development
Kirk is a Professional Engineer with nearly 40 years of experience in the global energy and resource sector. Throughout his career, he has led large-scale organizations with more than 2,500 employees and annual revenues exceeding $500 million. He has overseen the permitting, design, and construction of renewable energy projects totaling more than 6,000 MW across six continents, bringing extensive leadership and project development expertise to Elemental Clean Fuels.
Holly Murray
Administrative Services Manager
Holly oversees administrative operations at Elemental Clean Fuels, managing office functions, cross-functional coordination, policy development, compliance, and organizational processes that support efficient business operations. An experienced administrative and operations professional, she brings a background spanning executive leadership support, legal services, and criminal justice. Holly holds a Master of Science in Forensic Science and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and is recognized for her strengths in project coordination, compliance, vendor management, and organizational leadership.
Darin Olson
Vice President, Finance
Darin brings more than 25 years of experience across the midstream energy and technology sectors, with a strong focus on growth strategy, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. He has served as Chief Financial Officer for several organizations, including PureWeb Inc., Terado Gas Storage, and Niska Gas Storage. His extensive leadership experience in financial management, transaction execution, and business growth supports Elemental Clean Fuels’ continued expansion and long-term value creation.
Alexander Renker
Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis
Alexander brings more than 15 years of investment and infrastructure finance experience spanning private equity, public markets, and energy infrastructure. His expertise includes financial modeling, investment underwriting, capital structuring, and strategic analysis across power generation, midstream energy, and digital infrastructure. Prior to joining Elemental Clean Fuels, he held leadership roles with Coventry Bay Group, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, and Point72. Alexander holds a B.A. from Harvard University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Nova Sekhon
Director of Indigenous Affairs
Nova is a Certified Professional Economic Developer (Ec.D.) with more than 10 years of experience working alongside First Nations, local governments, and economic development organizations across Canada. Her expertise spans land governance and planning, regulatory and environmental compliance, Indigenous participation in projects, and regional economic development. At Elemental Clean Fuels, Nova leads Nation-led engagement and governance initiatives, helping ensure Indigenous communities are meaningfully involved in decisions affecting their lands, interests, and economic opportunities.
Jim Shen
Senior Project Manager
Jim is a Professional Engineer with more than 10 years of experience developing clean energy and renewable fuels projects across North America. His expertise spans hydrogen production, energy storage, solar, and zero-emission transportation, including the development and permitting of large-scale hydrogen facilities. Jim has also contributed to key policy initiatives, including the Hydrogen Strategy for Canada and the BC Hydrogen Strategy. He holds a BASc in Chemical and Biological Engineering from the University of British Columbia.
Shannon Ward
Vice President, Human Resources
Shannon leads Elemental Clean Fuels’ Human Resources and People Operations functions, overseeing talent strategy, organizational development, workforce planning, compliance, payroll, and employee relations across North America. With more than 23 years of HR leadership experience, she has built and scaled people operations for growing organizations and distributed teams. Prior to joining ECF, Shannon served as Vice President of Human Resources at Earl Enterprises. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin.