The Management Team Behind GridPoint Intelligence

Mark Danzenbaker has been with GridPoint since 2009 in several leadership positions. As CEO since 2016, Mr. Danzenbaker is responsible for the development and execution of the company’s mission to accelerate the world’s transition to a sustainable future by creating an intelligent energy network of grid-interactive buildings. Prior to GridPoint, Mr. Danzenbaker was with Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Mr. Danzenbaker holds an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and a B.S. degree from James Madison University.

Thomas Kloster, Chief Financial Officer, is a strategic finance executive with over three decades of experience enhancing the performance of tech-enabled businesses. As CFO of Gridpoint, Mr. Kloster is responsible for partnering with and supporting the company’s leaders to drive growth of our industry-leading intelligent network while directly overseeing all financial matters. He is focused on optimizing GridPoint’s financial structure to support the company’s rapid growth, driving cost initiatives, evaluating corporate and business development opportunities and managing investor relationships.

Throughout his career, Mr. Kloster has successfully enhanced the performance of multiple SaaS based tech-enabled businesses resulting in strategic sales or public equity offerings. He also has extensive experience leading corporate finance functions, raising debt and equity capital, and negotiating and integrating mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Kloster holds a B.B.A in Accounting from the University of Texas and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Mike Ratliff is the chief technology officer at GridPoint, a leader in building energy management and optimization technology that decarbonizes commercial buildings and drives grid modernization. With three decades of experience in technology, Mr. Ratliff oversees GridPoint’s software, hardware, and firmware as well as product strategy and IT. He is focused on translating complex technical topics for business decision-making.

Previously, Mr. Ratliff served as chief technology officer at Comverge, a leader in integrated cloud-based demand response and energy efficiency, where he built an entire software development department and platform from the ground up and tightly integrated the hardware and software teams. As chief technology officer at Enbala, an aggregator of distributed energy resources, he was responsible for re-platforming and commercializing utility-directed distributed energy resource management systems. At CPower, Mr. Ratliff served as senior vice president of Utility Solutions, where he expanded a traditional demand response model into a utility-directed effort.

Mr. Ratliff earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Purdue University.

Derek Booth, chief customer officer, brings a wealth of experience to GridPoint, boasting a distinguished career that spans over two decades in service delivery and transformational leadership, with a notable tenure at Johnson Controls. He is an accomplished professional, recognized for his strategic prowess in operations management. Throughout his career, Booth has exemplified a remarkable ability to yield exceptional results in terms of revenue, net income, and customer expansion. Esteemed for his leadership and mentoring skills, he has a well-documented history of fostering talent and spearheading high-performance teams. Booth’s steadfast commitment to excellence and his capacity to inspire his colleagues are perfectly aligned with the ethos and values of the company.

Thomas Nelson is General Counsel and Senior Vice President for GridPoint and is responsible for the company’s legal affairs. Previously, Mr. Nelson was Of Counsel at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he represented clients on a variety of intellectual property and litigation matters. Prior to that, Mr. Nelson performed engineering, sales, and marketing roles at organizations in the electronics sector. Mr. Nelson holds a B.S in Electrical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and a J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law. He is a member of the New York, District of Columbia and Virginia bars and is a registered patent attorney.

With over 20 years leading teams at GridPoint, Jennifer Faulkner is uniquely positioned in her current role as VP of Strategic Initiatives to lead the development and execution of strategic projects that enhance customer satisfaction and improve scalability. Ms. Faulkner is driven by the mission of empowering customers to optimize their energy consumption and values continuous learning and innovation in that endeavor.  Ms. Faulkner holds an MBA from Radford University Davis College of Business & Economics.

Alex has spent the last fifteen years in the Facilities industry, where he built and led large multisite maintenance and managed service programs for brands like 7-Eleven, ExxonMobil, McDonalds, Michaels, and more. Alex has been instrumental in streamlining processes, driving program value, expanding relationships, growing revenue, and saving his customers millions of dollars.   Prior to the Facilities world, he owned and operated several successful entrepreneurial start-up ventures and worked in the advertising and print marketing world. Alex is an industrial engineer by trade and a passionate process improvement enthusiast. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University and is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt.

Greg Morehead is the VP of Hardware Engineering at GridPoint, a leader in building energy management and optimization technology that decarbonizes commercial buildings and drives grid modernization. In this role, Greg is responsible for the design and manufacture of the systems deployed to building sites and ensuring their successful implementation into the grid and GridPoint’s energy management solution. Prior to GridPoint, Greg developed and deployed utility scale battery storage solutions based on flow battery technologies. Greg has decades of experience developing system automation solutions for the industrial, manufacturing, defense, and energy sectors.

Marcia Degnan is a seasoned marketing professional with over 20 years of experience driving growth and positioning companies as industry leaders. With a focus on energy, sustainability, and environmental SaaS sectors, she excels in crafting innovative marketing strategies and navigating unique market challenges. Marcia’s leadership extends to building high-performing teams, directing comprehensive marketing efforts, and ensuring alignment with business objectives to enhance ROI.

Marcia holds degrees in Strategic Communications and Communication Design from Penn State University.

Christopher Ash is a visionary VP of Product, renowned for leading disruptive market ventures and fostering organizational growth. With a stellar track record of achieving competitive win rates and spearheading initiatives that fueled company expansion, he excels in assembling cohesive teams and driving collaboration. His customer-centric approach and strategic leadership have consistently propelled product lines to market dominance.

Yury Velikanau, Vice President of Software Engineering at GridPoint, brings over two decades of experience in software engineering. With a humble approach to leadership, Yury has guided high-performance teams, contributing to innovative projects in e-commerce, real estate and fintech sectors. Yury holds an M.S. in Business Administration and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science.

Jason Ruiz is a strategic finance leader with over two decades of experience valuing businesses and building financial, management, and investor reporting and analytics. At GridPoint, Mr. Ruiz leads FP&A activities including budgeting, financial and management reporting, and strategic financial analysis.