Corporate Governance

Andrea Bertone

Appointed: February 2019

Experience

Andrea Bertone is the former President of Duke Energy International. She spent 15 years at Duke Energy, including seven years as President of Duke Energy International with executive responsibility for coal, gas and hydro assets across a number of countries. Prior to her time at Duke Energy, Ms. Bertone was Latin America counsel with Baker & McKenzie. She began her career as an attorney in Sao Paulo, Brazil, including an in-house corporate attorney for TAM Airlines. Other directorships include Waste Connections, Amcor plc, and Drax Group plc, where she seves as Chair Designate.

Education

Ms. Bertone earned a Bachelor of Law from the University of Sao Paulo Law School in Brazil and a Master of Law in International and Comparative Law from Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Bill Champion

Appointed: July 2020

Experience

Bill Champion served as Principal of Gladiator Mining Group LLC from 2014 to 2017, where he pursued global investment opportunities across a wide range of mineral and metal commodities. Prior to that, he spent 12 years at Rio Tinto PLC, in a number of executive management roles for the company, including as Managing Director of Rio Tinto’s former Australian coal assets, as well as diamond and copper segments.

Mr. Champion is also currently an independent director of Buenaventura Mining Co. Inc., Peru’s largest, publicly traded precious metals company.


Education
Mr. Champion earned a pair of Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering and Biological Sciences from the University of Arizona. He also attended the W.P. Carey School of Business Executive MBA Program at Arizona State University.
 

Nicholas Chirekos

Appointed: April 2017

Experience

Nicholas J. Chirekos served in various investment banking roles at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. from 1987 until his retirement in 2016. He was most recently the Managing Director, North America Head of Mining from 2002 to 2016. Prior to that, he served as the Global Head of Mining and Metals. Mr. Chirekos serves on the Board of Directors for New Gold Inc. (Chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, and Human Resources and Compensation Committee member) and TimkenSteel Corp. (Audit Committee), as well as the Executive Advisory Board at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business. 

Education

Mr. Chirekos earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Denver and a Master of Business Administration from New York University.

Stephen Gorman

Appointed: April 2017

Experience

Stephen Gorman is the former Chief Executive Officer of Air Methods Corporation. Previously, he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Borden Dairy Company from 2014 until his retirement in July 2017. Prior to joining Borden Dairy, he was with Delta Air Lines, Inc. from 2007 to 2014, where he was the Chief Operating Officer. From 2003 to 2007, Mr. Gorman served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Greyhound Lines, Inc. Mr. Gorman was also the Executive Vice President, Operations Support and President, North America for Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. from 2001 to 2003. Other directorships include ArcBest Corporation, Grupo Aeroméxico, S. A. B. de C. V. and Bradley University. 

Education

Mr. Gorman earned a Bachelor of Science from Eureka College and a Master of Business Administration from Bradley University.

Jim Grech

Appointed: June 2021

Experience

James (Jim) Grech has over thirty years of experience in the coal and natural resources industry. He joined the company in June 2021 as President and Chief Executive Officer and member of the company’s board of directors and the Executive Committee of the board.

Mr. Grech has substantial operational, commercial and financial experience in mining and other energy business operations, as well as extensive experience in utilities and capital markets.

Mr. Grech has held executive leadership roles throughout his career, most recently he served as Chief Executive Officer of Wolverine Fuels from 2018 to 2021. Other positions held include President of Nexus Gas Transmission, Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President of Consol Energy and Vice President at DTE Energy.

Mr. Grech is a board member of America’s Power, the National Mining Association and Blue Danube Incorporated and is a member of the Coal Industry Advisory Board of the International Energy Agency.

Education

Mr. Grech holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Lawrence Technological University. He also completed the executive development program of the Wharton Business School.

Joe Laymon

Appointed: April 2017

Experience

Joe Laymon served Vice President, Human Resources and Corporate Services for Chevron Corporation from 2008 until his retirement in 2017. Prior to joining Chevron, Mr. Laymon worked at Ford Motor Company from 2000 to 2008, where he was the Vice President, Human Resources and later the Group Vice President, Corporate Human Resources and Labor Affairs. He also served as the Vice President, Human Resources, U.S. and Canada Region for Eastman Kodak Company from 1996 to 2000. Other directorships include Clark Atlanta University, BoardRoomIQ.com, United Way of the Bay Area and Clearwater Paper Corporation.

Education

Mr. Laymon earned a Bachelor of Science from Jackson State University and a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Wisconsin.

Bob Malone

Experience

Bob Malone currently serves as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Peabody Energy Corporation, a position he was appointed to in 2017 following the Company’s emergence from bankruptcy. He joined the pre-bankruptcy board in July 2009.

He was elected Executive Chairman, President and CEO of First Sonora Bancshares, Inc., a privately-held bank holding company, in 2014. He also serves as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the First National Bank of Sonora, Texas (dba Sonora Bank), a community bank owned by First Sonora Bancshares, Inc., a position he has held since 2014. He joined First Sonora Bancshares and Sonora Bank in October 2009 as President and Chief Executive Officer. He is a retired Executive Vice President of BP plc and the retired Chairman of the Board and President of BP America Inc., at the time the largest producer of oil and natural gas and the second largest gasoline retailer in the United States. He served in that position from 2006 to 2009. Other directorships include Halliburton Company and Teledyne Technologies Incorporated.

Education
Mr. Malone holds a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering from The University of Texas at El Paso and was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he earned a Master of Science in Management.