Sarah Kent

Chair of Portfolio Services

Sarah joined the Ara team in 2021 as an Operating Partner bringing her experience of establishing, growing and leading global organizations.

Up until 2020, Sarah was the CEO of Kentech an energy services business. During her tenure at Kentech, the company evolved from being a family owned business operating in a few countries to an organization with a Private Equity owner and 4,000 people across 19 countries. She is proud of the culture and the strength of the platform that was created over her 16 years at the company. Kentech’s reputation was that it was a place where employees were valued as humans that could thrive and grow together. This resulted in an excellent safety performance and creating a solid foundation to enable the company to continue to grow after her departure to become a $1bn revenue organization.

She holds an Honours Electrical Engineering Degree from UCD, Ireland and spent the early part of her career working in the electronic payments and software industry with American Express, RSA Security and Keycorp. Sarah lives in Dubai, UAE with her husband, Colum and their three kids. She is an avid inquirer with great interest in relationships and making a difference to the people and environment that she is part of.

Brian Spears

Director, APEX

Brian Spears is Director on the Project Execution and Operations team, focused on effective project development in Ara’s industrial portfolio. Brian has over 20 years of capital project experience through technical and managerial roles with GE and ExxonMobil. He has held key leadership roles on global multi-billion dollar projects and has expertise in cost estimating, project controls, project execution planning, project management, and contract strategy.

Brian also served for nine years in the US Navy as a submarine officer and holds a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the University of Mississippi.

Jesse Jardine

Director, APEX

Jesse Jardine is a Professional Engineer with focused experience in project management and systems completion. Jesse previously worked for four years in clean energy and ten years in oil & gas.

Jesse has overseen aspects of the design, planning, execution, commissioning, and operations of five world-class mega projects with ExxonMobil. He has demonstrated an ability to perform in high-pressure environments and markets with site-based, offshore, and brownfield expatriate assignments across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Jesse comes from Fluence Energy, where he supported the IPO process (NASDAQ: FLNC) and led projects in the company’s flagship portfolio in Latin America, including the world’s most extensive solar integration with battery energy storage project in the Andes Mountains of Chile.

Jesse holds a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from Dalhousie University in Canada and a Project Management Professional certification through Rice University.

Laura Olvera

Executive Assistant, APEX

Before becoming a part of Ara Partners, Laura worked as a personal assistant and house manager for a high net worth individual. Preceding this role, she provided support to various executives and C-Suite members through the digital platform at Waste Management.

Outside of her professional life, she cherishes spending time with her son, and holding the role of an avid baseball mom.

Justin Ward

Manager, APEX

Justin Ward is a Manager on the Project Execution and Operations team, where he focuses on improving operations in Ara’s industrial portfolio.

Prior to joining Ara, Justin worked at ExxonMobil in process engineering and manufacturing optimization. Most recently, he worked as a management consultant at Kearney, where he advised clients on strategic operations across energy, consumer goods, and technology industries.

Justin graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering.

Doug Marsan

Manager, APEX

Doug Marsán is a Manager on the Project Execution and Operations team, where he focuses on effective capital project delivery across Ara’s industrial portfolio.

Prior to joining Ara, Doug worked at ExxonMobil in project management and operations, where he contributed to the development of multi-billion dollar refining and chemicals projects from early design through commissioning. Most recently, he transitioned to scaling climate technologies in early-stage venture capital at Clean Energy Ventures and at a point-source carbon capture startup.

Doug holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. He received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Master of Engineering from the Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Lance Shaw

Project Commercial Development, APEX

Lance Shaw is focused on Project Commercial Development on Ara’s Project Execution and Operations (APEX) team.  Lance has over 20 years of project development and execution, operations and engineering experience, primarily with ExxonMobil.

Lance also served for six years in the United States Marine Corps.  He holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from California State University-Sacramento, a Masters of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Victoria Fradette

Senior Manager, APEX

Victoria Fradette is a member of the Project Execution and Operations team as Senior Manager based in Houston, TX. Her focus in her role is to provide best in class Human Resources related support to Ara’s portfolio of companies. Prior to joining Ara, Victoria worked at Kent for four years as a Senior HR Business Partner where she was responsible for building the HR program for the organization in the USA and Canada. Before joining Kent, Victoria worked for SGS for eight years in several HR roles in Fort McMurray, AB, Tulsa, OK and Houston, TX.

Victoria holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Regina and a Master’s Degree from the University of South Carolina in Human Resource Management. She has also completed her Leadership Coaching Certification through Rice University.

David Touhey

Managing Director, Head of APEX

David Touhey is Managing Director, Head of Project Executions and Operations, focused on the best in project development with respect to Ara’s industrial portfolio. Prior to joining Ara, David was the Executive Vice president for Kent, a global EPC, Operations and Maintenance business. At Kent, David was a key member of the executive team that grew the organization from 4,000 people across 19 countries to 12,500 people across 26 countries. During his time at Kent, he was the executive sponsor and trusted advisor to his clients, which included ExxonMobil, BP and Chevron in the space of early project investment planning and execution strategies. David’s program execution philosophy is the alignment of owner, EPC, commissioning, start-up, and operations phases of development planning during the investment decisions of projects to ensure all project stakeholders are aligned on the business strategy of the project investment decision.

David holds a Bachelor’s in electrical services engineering from Technological University Dublin, Ireland and a Master’s of Science in Strategic Leadership and Management from Nottingham Trent University in the UK.

Rajesh Athirathnam

Director, APEX

Raj is a Director on the Project Execution and Operations team, where he focuses on current and new process technology evaluations and emerging technology readiness levels across Ara’s industrial portfolio. He will also manage engineering contractor engagements.

Raj has over 25 years of engineering, technology, projects, and operations experience working for process licensors, end users, and EPC companies including Honeywell UOP, KBR, Pall, and Koch Industries. Raj joins the APS team after spending around 10 years with Honeywell holding titles of General Manager – Global LOB, Senior Director of Engineering, and Global Director of UOP Equipment.

Raj holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering Degree from National Institute of Technology – India, a Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University – College Station and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Houston – Victoria. Raj is a certified Professional Engineer (Mechanical), Project Management Professional (PMP), and a Six Sigma Green Belt.

Les Cox

Director, APEX

Les Cox is a global QHSSE professional with expertise in risk management, regulatory compliance, and sustainability across energy, infrastructure, and telecommunications. As Director on the APEX team at Ara Partners, he leads health and safety initiatives, advancing a beyond-zero approach with sustainable practices.

Previously, he held leadership roles at Kent, Kentech and IHS Towers, including directing the integration of Kentech and Kent to create a global energy business driving the energy transition. Holding a postgraduate qualification in OHS Sciences from Edith Cowan University, Les combines technical expertise and a collaborative approach to align safety, leadership and culture with true value creation where organizations, their people and the planet can realize the opportunity to thrive.

Daisy Zhu

Senior Consultant, APEX

Daisy Zhu joins Ara as part of the Project Execution and Operations team (APEX) in the role of Senior Consultant. Her role involves close collaboration with the Ara team and portfolio companies in evaluating operating model assumptions, assessing operations performance, and driving operations improvement initiatives.

Daisy joins the APEX team after spending over four years with EY, most recently as a Senior Consultant, Supply Chain and Operations. Prior to EY she spent time with Suncor energy completing project completion data analytics on project delivery performance. Daisy holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Calgary.