Rob Hanson

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

For over a decade, Rob Hanson has led Monolith as its co-founder and chief executive officer, driving toward the vision of “Building the world’s largest clean hydrogen and materials company.” Monolith has developed the world’s first commercial scale methane pyrolysis technology which uses 100% clean electricity to convert natural gas into low-emission hydrogen and carbon black, an essential raw material used in manufacturing everyday rubber and plastic products. Hanson earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and is a sought-after speaker through the U.S. Department of State and many of the world’s most respected energy conferences. Prior to his time at Monolith, Hanson was the global director of product management at AREVA Solar, the solar division of the world’s largest nuclear company.

Amy Ostermeyer

Chief Development Officer

Amy Ostermeyer is the chief development officer for Monolith and is responsible for identifying, planning and implementing the organization’s growth strategies. Since joining Monolith, Ostermeyer led the transition of the company’s headquarters from California to Nebraska, executed successful strategies around meeting Monolith’s extensive yet specific staffing needs, provided clear guidance for Monolith’s continued growth through the COVID pandemic, and forged strong partnerships with local communities and regulatory entities. In doing so, she created the blueprint for which she is now taking Monolith’s environmentally advantaged technologies to market.

Prior to joining Monolith, she began her career at Talent Plus before taking on roles as the director of human resources at Bryan Health and the chief operating officer at Tabitha Healthcare. A native Nebraskan, Ostermeyer holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a juris doctorate from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Matt Harper

Chief Information & Security Officer

Matt Harper is Monolith’s Chief Information Security Officer, overseeing Monolith’s overall IT architecture and data security practices. Specializing in cybersecurity and risk mitigation, Harper has experience in the public sector with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well the private sector, serving in executive information security roles for companies in the Fortune 500.

Harper has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Public Science in Public Administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Additionally, Harper earned and has since maintained his CERT - Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight from Carnegie Mellon University and credentials as a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).

Russell Webb

Chief Operating Officer

As Chief Operations Officer for Monolith, Russell Webb is responsible for leading manufacturing, environmental health & safety, capital projects and supply chain strategies. In his role, he works closely with the company’s commercial, development and technology teams to continue the company’s growth journey.   

Prior to joining Monolith, Webb’s over 30-year career spanned leadership roles at Texaco, Huntsman, Columbian Chemicals, Orion Engineering Carbons and INEOS Styrolution. Webb earned his Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. 

Suzanne Grafton

Chief Accounting Officer

Suzanne Grafton is the Chief Accounting Officer of Monolith, where she oversees all aspects of the company’s accounting and financial operations. She serves as a strategic business partner working cross-functionally to optimize outcomes for Monolith and drive profit and growth.

Prior to Monolith, Grafton served as Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer for Kansas City Southern from July 2017 to May 2023. From 2006 to 2017, Grafton held various roles with increasing responsibility in the finance organization at Kansas City Southern, including Vice President of Audit and Enterprise Risk Management and Vice President of Accounting. She spent the early part of her career in public accounting at Deloitte after receiving her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting from Creighton University.

Tim Rens

Chief Financial Officer

Tim Rens is the chief financial officer for Monolith. He has spent nearly 30 years in various accounting, financial and leadership positions associated with the downstream processing of raw materials including mined minerals, natural gas and crude oil. He has extensive experience in the areas of leadership within private equity owned business, organizational startup, partnership structures, debt and equity capital transactions, and mergers and acquisitions. He has focused primarily on startup opportunities for the last two decades having been in a leadership role with five startup companies since 1995. 

Prior to joining Monolith, Rens held CFO positions at Philadelphia Energy Solutions LLC, Executive AirShare Corporation, and CVR Energy, Inc., respectively. Before joining CVR Energy, Inc., he was a consultant to Pegasus Capital Investors. From November 1995 to January 2002, Rens was the controller and chief financial officer of Farmland MissChem Limited and Farmland Hydro L.P., respectively. He received a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Central Missouri State. 

Alex Hoermann

Vice President of Technology

Alex Hoermann is the vice president of technology at Monolith where he leads the development of our core technology which enables the clean and reliable production of low-cost carbon black with a natural gas feedstock. Prior to Monolith, Hoermann served as the director of product engineering at AREVA Solar, a division of recently renamed Orano, a French multi-national group specializing in nuclear power. During his tenure there, Hoermann was instrumental in the commercialization of a fledgling solar thermal technology, culminating in the construction of a 250MW plant in Rajasthan, India. He started his career at Applied Materials, where he worked on a disruptive product introduction in electro-copper plating. 

He has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from MIT and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Stanford. He has published several patents in the fields of copper plating, solar energy, and carbon black production.

Chuck Firth

Vice President, Safety, Health & Environment

As Monolith’s Vice President of Safety, Chuck Firth, P.E., leads safety initiatives across the company, its operations, and its established and future facilities. He is responsible for directing environmental, health and safety protocols and ensuring regulatory compliance across the company.

Prior to accepting the position at Monolith, Firth served as the Vice President of Environmental, Health & Safety at BKEP Materials in Denver, Colorado. Chuck has over two decades of leadership experience as a safety, health and environmental expert in the energy sector. He received Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degrees from Auburn University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Baylor University.

Tom Lahey

Vice President of Carbon Black Sales

Tom Lahey is the Vice President of Carbon Black Sales at Monolith. Prior to joining, Lahey garnered nearly three decades of experience in sales management at global chemical and industrial manufacturing organizations. In his role, Lahey is responsible for the sales function of Monolith’s cleanly made carbon black product.

Prior to joining Monolith, Lahey served in sales management roles at Evonik Degussa Corporation for 17 years, including as a Global Key Sales Account Director responsible for global tire and specialty plastic and Ink accounts. He earned his bachelor's degree in Logistics and Material Management at Georgia College and State University.

Ned Hardman

Vice President & R&D Fellow, Carbon

Ned Hardman is vice president of research and development fellow, carbon for Monolith where he is responsible for all analytical analysis, development of new products, and product portfolio management. Hardman began his career at Cabot Corporation in the performance and new business segments where he held a variety of technology development positions working on the manufacture of new and unique carbon black grades as well as alternative carbon nanoparticles, such as graphene. After leaving Cabot, he continued to work on carbon nanoparticles in leadership roles at XG Sciences where he was a senior project manager.

Hardman received his B.S. from Texas Lutheran University and then graduated from UC Davis with a Ph.D. in chemistry. After UC Davis, Hardman was a postdoctoral researcher at Los Alamos and at Ruhr Universitat Bochum as a von Humboldt Fellow. He is a member of the American Chemical Society.

Kelsey Roste

Vice President, Decarbonized Solutions

Kelsey Roste is vice president of decarbonized solutions at Monolith. Roste leads the company’s decarbonization corporate strategy, value proposition, product positioning and go-to-market plan of commercial-scale carbon black and hydrogen. Roste brings over 15 years of experience in the energy industry to her role.

Prior to joining Monolith, Roste worked in the renewables, power and infrastructure sectors, contributing to deal execution, commercial negotiations and integration, project development and financial modeling. She graduated with a BA in economics and mathematics from the University of Alberta.

James Premkumar

Vice President of Finance

James is a VP Finance at Monolith Materials Inc. where he leads capital markets activities including strategic planning, investor relations, financial analysis as well as all fundraising efforts. Prior to joining Monolith, he served as VP of Finance for a multi-billion-dollar LNG and pipeline project development on the west coast of Canada. Prior thereto, James worked at a North American private equity firm, investing $2+ billion in numerous early and late-stage energy and energy technology companies. James started his career at RBC Capital Markets, where he worked in the Global Energy Group. 

James received a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Calgary and a Master of Management from Harvard University. He is a registered Professional Engineer and a CFA Charterholder.

Rachel Livek

Chief People Officer

Rachel Livek is Monolith’s Chief People Officer, overseeing all aspects of human resource management, including talent acquisition and management, leadership development, compensation and benefits, compliance, succession planning, employee engagement, and diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Before joining Monolith, Livek served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for a global utility-scale energy storage solutions (BESS) provider, Chief Administrative Officer for a leading financial services design and distribution firm, as well as a consultant specializing in human resource and change management strategies for industrial manufacturing and technology firms. Livek earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.