Leadership
Rod BaltzerChief Executive Officer
Chris ParkerChief Commercialization Officer
Sophie McCallumChief of Staff
Jesse SloaneExecutive Vice President of Engineering
Steve AirhartPresident of Freestone, Principal Scientist
Paula Whitten-DoolinGeneral Counsel
Rod Baltzer
Chief Executive Officer
Chris Parker
Chief Commercialization Officer
Formerly a senior civil servant reporting directly to the British Prime Minister on the digital transformation of the UK’s economy and public services, Parker has sixteen years of experience delivering consultancy and change management at the board level. His experience working for government leaders and blue-chip companies across 40 countries is focused on the development of transformational services and on nurturing public-private partnerships to drive market innovation. Parker has more than 30 years of experience in stakeholder engagement, governance and partnership development for innovative solutions.
Sophie McCallum
Chief of Staff
Sustainability enthusiast experienced in launching companies from the ground up. An executive passionate about startups, McCallum’s expertise lies in growing and scaling companies, fostering collaboration, and implementing systems and work methods to increase company efficiencies. She has worked in the banking, healthcare and technology industries including BNP Paribas.
Jesse Sloane
Executive Vice President of Engineering
Jesse is a licensed Professional Engineer and former United States Naval Officer. His work with the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program included the management and oversight of shipment, packaging, and dry cask storage operations for the Navy’s spent nuclear fuel inventory. As a consultant, Jesse led risk assessments related to nuclear fuel fabrication facilities and transportation operations for large-scale nuclear companies operating both domestically and internationally.
Steve Airhart
President of Freestone, Principal Scientist
Steve Airhart has over 20 years of experience as a geologist specializing in environmental investigations, compliance, spill response, and cleanup actions.
He has been a consultant to government contractors and private industry throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alaska and has served as project manager and key technical contributor to dozens of projects. Steve has performed site assessments for industrial and commercial sites, as well as complex investigations of hazardous and radioactive wastes for the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site.
Paula Whitten-Doolin
General Counsel
Paula is a seasoned legal and governance leader who has served as a strategic advisor to executives and boards across multinational organizations. She currently serves as an independent director at Vuzix (VUZI) and a board advisor to Cemvita. In prior roles including General Counsel of Ideanomics and Head of Legal, Americas for Neste, Paula led legal, HR, and ESG functions through major transformations, acquisitions, and complex regulatory matters. At Neste, she supported landmark agreements with major U.S. airlines and helped advance the company’s leadership in sustainable aviation fuel. Paula began her career as a litigator at Weil, Gotshal & Manges and holds a JD from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and a BS from Caltech.