Management Team

Our leadership team brings together senior executives with proven expertise in the commodity, energy and financial markets.

If you'd like to learn more about how our team can help you meet your environmental business goals, please contact us.

Angela SchwarzPresident and Chief Executive Officer

Angela Schwarz, Chief Executive Officer, joined Element in 2007. She has over two decades of experience in the energy industry, and closed over $3 billion of energy outsourcing and infrastructure contracts with Fortune 100 companies in both the deregulated and regulated power and gas markets. In 2009, Angela was promoted from Vice President of Development where she was responsible for building a development portfolio of wind, solar, methane and greenhouse gas mitigation projects to Chief Operating Officer where she oversaw all development, marketing and trading activities for the Company. Prior to joining Element, Angela was Managing Director at Enron Energy Services (EES) responsible for running EES's commercial origination group. Following Enron's bankruptcy in 2001, Angela worked on behalf of the Creditor's Committee until 2003 to manage the liquidation of some of EES's most valuable assets. She also held senior sales and operating positions at Trilogy and Honeywell.

Jeffery ParkerChief Financial Officer

Jeff joined Element in 2007 and manages Finance, Risk and Business Development. Prior to Element, Jeff worked at GE Capital where he structured a broad range of financing transactions and business acquisitions. Prior to joining GE, Jeff held various finance positions at Xcel Energy and Enron. He began his career in investment management focusing on fixed income structured products. Jeff is a CFA charter holder and earned his MBA from the Olin Business School at the Washington University in St. Louis. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Politics from Lake Forest College and completed the Financial Management Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Randall LackChief Marketing Officer

Randall Lack is a successful entrepreneur within the environmental commodity and alternative energy industries for over a decade. In 2005, he co-founded Element and currently serves as a Chief Marketing Officer. Mr. Lack has extensive experience in structuring environmental commodity transactions including biomethane, emissions, renewable energy credits and greenhouse gases. Mr. Lack is an acclaimed speaker and media resource in the areas of Biomethane, Renewable Energy Credits, Greenhouse Gas Trading, Regional Emission Markets, and pending emissions legislation and currently serves on the Board of the Renewable Natural Gas Coalition. Mr. Lack received his BBA in Business from the University of Houston.

Keri Richardson BevelGeneral Counsel

Keri joined Element in 2009 and was promoted to serve as the Company’s General Counsel in 2011. In her previous roles with the Company, Keri was responsible for negotiating various biomethane offtake, marketing and development agreements and managing compliance matters for EM Biogas, LLC and the Huckabay Ridge Anaerobic Digestion Facility. Prior to joining Element, Keri served as an Assistant General Counsel for The Structure Group and also as Vice President and Counsel for Lehman Brothers Private Equity. Keri also worked in private practice at Simpson Thacher and Bartlett LLP, where she specialized in corporate and securities matters, mergers and acquisitions and private equity. Keri holds a BSBA in Accounting and Master of Accountancy from Auburn University and received her Juris Doctor from the Duke University School of Law.

Ken NelsonSr. Vice President - Renewables Marketing

Ken has over 20 years of experience in physical and financial energy markets throughout North America. Ken currently manages the Renewables desk at Element Markets where he oversees trading and asset management of Renewable Energy Credits and Renewable Fuel Credits. Ken came to Element from Citigroup where he traded Midwest forward power. Prior to that, he worked at Sempra Energy Solutions where he served as Regional Pricing Vice President for the NEPOOL, NYISO, PJM and MISO power books. He also managed the WECC and ERCOT term power books and the NYMEX, West and Midwest Gas books. Ken has also worked at TransAlta, Dynegy, PG&E Energy Trading, Enron and Texaco Gas Marketing. Ken holds a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana, and an MBA in Finance and Business from the University of Houston.

Mike TaylorSr. Vice President - Emissions Credit Marketing

Mike manages the emissions trading and asset management desk in carbon programs, emission reduction credit programs, and federal and regional allowance programs across the United States. Mr. Taylor has over a decade of experience in energy trading specializing in environmental trading. He served three years on the Board of Directors of the Environmental Market Associations. Prior to Element Markets, Mr. Taylor was US Emissions Trader with Louis Dreyfus Energy Services and prior to that he was the Senior Trader in Coal and Emissions with NRG Energy where he was responsible for optimizing the emissions portfolio for the 20,000 MW fleet and adding incremental value through trading in the environmental markets. Prior positions held by Mr. Taylor in emissions and energy trading industry includes CRAI and Enron. Mr. Taylor holds a Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, from Louisiana State University.

John SniffenSr. Vice President – Project Management

John joined Element in 2006 and manages various aspects of project development including off-take agreement structuring and negotiation. He has extensive experience in the complex energy infrastructure and commodity markets in development, finance and trading roles. John structured commodity transactions and led project acquisitions and divestitures in the deregulated electricity and natural gas markets. Prior to joining Element, John worked in principal and consulting roles at leading energy companies such as AEP and Exelon. He has a BS in Systems Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Alan JacksonVice President – Engineering Services

Alan joined Element in 2011 and oversees all aspects of project engineering and development. He has experience in construction and operation of large facilities across the biomethane, CNG and LNG industries. In addition to his gas industry experience, Alan spent 15 years at Boeing in various engineering and environmental capacities. Alan started his career as a Reservoir Engineer with Arco Alaska. He has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Oklahoma State University.

Rodney A. CasidaVice President & Controller

Mr. Casida is a licensed CPA with over 17 years in financial reporting and tax experience. He has worked in both private industry and public accounting. In industry, Mr. Casida has worked for Swift Energy Co. a Houston based oil and gas producers and American General Hospitality, Inc., a hotel management and real estate investment trust company. He spent over a decade working in public accounting performing attest and tax services to small to mid-size businesses in the local Houston area. Mr. Casida joined Element Markets in 2007. He received his BBA in Business from Texas Christian University and is a CPA licensed in the state of Texas. He is also a member of the Texas Society of Public Accountants as well as the AICPA.