Our Leadership

Azeez Mohammed was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Reworld™ in December 2021.

Mr. Mohammed has broad functional experience in technology, finance and operations and experience working in 27 different industry segments, including sustainability sectors such as solar, wind, hydrogen and electric vehicle charging. He served as Executive Vice President at Bloom Energy, where he was responsible for international expansion to help countries and businesses transition away from fossil fuels.

For more than 20 years, Mr. Mohammed worked at General Electric, leading multiple standalone industrial businesses. He served as President & CEO of GE Power Conversion, a $2B, 8000-person business which provides solutions to electrify the world’s industries. Previously, he led GE Power Services in the Middle East and Africa, and GE Energy Services in Latin America. He began his career at GE Research and was selected for GE’s Corporate Audit Staff, a prestigious consulting and leadership development organization.

Mr. Mohammed holds both a master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology at Madras. He also has 25 international patents and has been published in numerous journals. He plays an active role in community organizations such as Junior Achievement and Habitat for Humanity, and through his family trust he supports women’s empowerment and children in need.

Brendan Ferretti joined Reworld™ in April 2024 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He oversees all aspects of the company’s financial function including treasury, tax, accounting, financial reporting, capital budgeting and forecasting. 

Mr. Ferretti has over 20 years of global leadership experience across a range of industries. Prior to joining Reworld™, Mr. Ferretti served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Fishawack Health, a pharmaceutical commercialization company, where he oversaw finance and information technology, business solutions, and the legal and compliance functions. Previously, he held global finance and operating leadership roles at publicly listed organizations, including ITT and General Electric.

Mr, Ferretti earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Hamilton College and is a First Movers Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Tequila Smith joined Reworld™ in May 2022 as Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer. She is responsible for the repositioning and execution of sustainability strategy for Reworld™, focused on amplifying the company’s sustainability achievements through the coordination of programs and initiatives. 

Prior to joining Reworld™, Ms. Smith spent more than two decades working in the power generation industry. She served as vice president of Sustainability for Georgia Power Company, the largest of the four electric utilities owned and operated by Southern Company, one of the nation’s largest generators of electricity. There, she led the implementation of the Environmental, Social and Governance strategy. Previously, she was vice president of Charitable Giving for the Alabama Power Company, president of the Alabama Power Foundation and executive director of the Alabama Business Charitable Trust Fund. 

Ms. Smith earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She also holds a Master of Arts in Communication Studies from the University of Alabama.

Gagan Sood serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Growth Officer for Reworld. In this role he oversees commercial governance, sales excellence, key product lines including carbon-negative solutions, and other growth initiatives. 

Mr. Sood joined Reworld in May 2022 as Chief Transformation Officer, responsible for the company’s corporate priorities and actionable initiatives to guide it into the next phase of growth. 

Prior to joining Reworld, Mr. Sood was Chief Executive Officer, Americas for GE Power Conversion, a GE subsidiary, where he oversaw the company’s Latin America and North America operations. Previously, while serving as Chief Experience Officer/Chief Operating Officer for GE Power Conversion, Mr. Sood led the conceptualization and execution of the company’s transformation plan, achieving profitable growth for the business and accomplishing a culture transformation to a “customer first” approach. 

Mr. Sood holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (E&E) from Gulbarga University and a Master of Business Administration from Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a Lean Practitioner and certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

Adel Omrani serves as president of Reworld's East Region. In this position, he oversees all aspects of the company's sustainable materials management operations in the northeastern United States. 

Mr. Omrani joined Reworld in August 2022 as Executive Vice President, Safety, Operations & Engineering. In this role, he oversaw Reworld's nearly 40 Waste-to-Energy operations in North America. He assumed his current role in January 2023. 

Prior to joining Reworld, Mr. Omrani served as a Regional President & CEO in GE Gas Power, one of GE’s largest industrial businesses. There, he led a $1.5B business responsible for all commercial and operational aspects of a 20GW installed base power generation equipment and services business. Prior to this role, Mr. Omrani served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer for various power generation and services business units. Mr. Omrani began his career as a design engineer with GE Aviation and later advanced to the role of General Manager, Contractual Services, Africa for GE Power & Water. 

Mr. Omrani holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tennessee Space Institute. He is a Lean Practitioner and certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt.

Amir Hafzalla joined Reworld in January 2023 as President, South Region. In this position, he oversees all aspects of the company's sustainable materials management operations in the southeastern United States. 

Prior to joining Reworld, Mr. Hafzalla worked in multiple roles at General Electric, primarily in power generation services. His last role was as President & CEO of FieldCore, a business serving customers in the gas, steam and renewable power generation segments of the oil and gas industry based in Atlanta, GA. Previously, he held multiple global P&L leadership roles. 

Mr. Hafzalla holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington and is Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certified.

Paul Stauder serves as Executive Vice President of Business Development for Reworld, spearheading the growth of the company's environmental services footprint through M&A and greenfield development. 

From 2015 to 2022, Mr. Stauder served as President of Reworld’s Environmental Solutions subsidiary, leading its development into a consolidated business with $325 million in annual revenue. Previously, he was senior vice president of business management with primary responsibility for all business aspects involving Reworld’s North American WTE facilities. Mr. Stauder originally joined Reworld in 1997 and has served in a number of positions in finance and regional operations. 

He has more than 25 years’ experience in waste and environmental services, construction and energy generation. 

Mr. Stauder earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Rhode Island and a Master's in Business from Pepperdine University.

Tom Kenyon serves as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, responsible for all aspects of Reworld’s risk management and legal functions, including support for M&A, governance, commercial, corporate functions, and litigation. He joined the company in March 2020. 

Prior to Reworld, Mr. Kenyon worked at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. for 17 years, holding a variety of positions in the company's law department, culminating in his role as General Counsel, Americas. Previously, he practiced law at Dechert LLP in Philadelphia, PA, primarily as a litigator in the firm’s antitrust group. 

Mr. Kenyon graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Philosophy and earned his law degree from the University of Michigan.

Ginny Angilello joined Reworld as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources officer in April 2018. Ms. Angilello is responsible for all aspects of Reworld’s human resources organization, including talent acquisition and retention strategy, organizational culture initiatives, benefits and compensation, diversity and inclusion and employee engagement efforts. 

Prior to joining Reworld, Ms. Angilello spent 17 years at Honeywell International, in roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as vice president, Human Resources for Performance Materials & Technologies (PMT), Integrated Supply Chain (ISC). In this position, she led global human resources in ISC for the PMT business unit comprised of approximately 10,000 employees at 90 operating sites. Her key areas of focus included manufacturing, procurement, supply planning, logistics and engineering. Prior to this position, Ms. Angilello was Vice President, Global Operations for Honeywell’s HR services division; global director of Human Resources, Specialty Materials; and Senior Director of US and Canada HR Services Operations. 

Ms. Angilello earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Connecticut and a Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School. She is also Six Sigma Green Belt certified.

Sami Chaudhury joined Reworld™ in April 2024 as Executive Vice President, Operations. He leads all of the Central Operations teams including Strategic Sourcing, IT, Lean, Health & Safety, Maintenance, Engineering and Metals.

Mr. Chaudhury has more than 25 years of experience across finance and operations in multiple industry segments. He most recently worked at Nielsen as the CFO for Nielsen Gracenote and their Portfolio Analytics business. In his time at Nielsen, he worked closely with their Operations, Technology, Engineering and Product Development teams.

Previously, Mr. Chaudhury held various operational finance roles of increasing responsibility at General Electric. He also worked as an engineer at Tata Motors in India. 

Mr. Chaudhury holds a graduate degree in Engineering and an MBA from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, India. He is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.

Howard L. Lance currently serves as non-executive chairman of the board of Summit Materials, an aggregates-based construction materials company, as non-executive chairman of the board of Change Healthcare, a leading healthcare information technology company, and as a director of New Vista, a defense and aerospace special-purpose acquisition corporation.

Mr. Lance previously served as president and chief executive officer of Maxar Technologies from 2016-2019. He served as an executive advisor to The Blackstone Group from 2012-2016. Mr. Lance served as president and CEO of Harris Corporation between 2003-2012. Previously, he served as co-president of NCR Corporation and chief operating officer of its Retail and Financial Group. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lance spent 17 years at Emerson Electric Co., holding a number of senior management positions.

Mr. Lance has a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Bradley University and a master’s degree in Management from Purdue University.

Sue Klug served as Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer for Republic Services, a leading waste management company. She was responsible for marketing to businesses and customers, communications, digital platforms, new product development and analytics.

Previously, Ms. Klug was Chief Marketing Officer for Unified Grocers, the largest wholesale grocery distributor in the western United States. She also worked in operational and marketing roles for several supermarket chains, as well as for a leading marketing firm catering to the consumer packaged goods industry.

Currently, Ms. Klug is a member of the Board of Directors of TWANG, a privately held seasoning company. She also serves on the advisory board of the University of Southern California Graduate School of Business and has been a board member for several other businesses and non-profit organizations.

Ms. Klug holds both a bachelor’s degree in Food Industry Management and an MBA from the University of Southern California. She has won numerous honors and accolades, including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Volunteer of the Year award.

Elliott Laws is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Crowell & Moring, where he is co-chair of the firm's Environment & Natural Resources Group and is a member of the Government Affairs Group. He provides strategic counseling and legal, policy and crisis management advice on environmental and energy policy issues.

In 2011 he was appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to serve as Administrative Trustee for the environmental response trust (Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response or “RACER” Trust) established by the U.S. Government to clean up and repurpose for redevelopment the former properties of "Old" General Motors Corp.

Mr. Laws previously served as president of safety, health and environment for Texaco Inc. He worked as an assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, responsible for regulatory and policy development and implementation for solid and hazardous waste management. Previously, he was a Justice Department and EPA attorney and a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney.

Mr. Laws has a bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University and earned his law degree from Georgetown University.

Seth Myones is president of Ridge LLC, which focuses on providing interim leadership to businesses in transition and assistance in negotiating complex public/private environmental services agreements. 

Mr. Myones previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Reworld from 2012 to 2015. He spent 26 years at Reworld and its predecessor company, Ogden Projects, in various leadership roles, including senior vice president of business management and president of Reworld Americas. 

Mr. Myones has a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the University at Buffalo and an MBA in Finance from New York University.

Alex Pease is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at WestRock, a global leader in sustainable paper and packaging solutions. He led a $1 billion productivity initiative and has driven efficiencies across the company's diverse global footprint.

Mr. Pease previously served in similar roles at: CommScope, a global telecommunications software and equipment manufacturer; Snyder's-Lance, a consumer packaged goods and snack foods company; and EnPro Industries, a specialty manufacturing company. He also worked as a principal for McKinsey & Company and spent six years in the United States Navy, serving as a Navy SEAL Platoon Commander.

Mr. Pease has served on the boards of American Bath Group and Whitehorse Finance. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

Bob Preston is the chief executive officer of Synagro, North America’s largest biosolids management firm. An experienced business leader, Mr. Preston previously served as CEO of GSE Environmental, Davis-Standard, LLC and J.B. Poindexter, Inc.

Mr. Preston began his career at DuPont, and moved into senior operating positions at Allied-Signal, Johnson Electric and Honeywell before becoming Eastman Chemical Company’s Asia president.

Mr. Preston has a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Northeastern University and a master’s degree in Engineering from Rutgers University. He is a Six Sigma Black Belt.

Katherine Ryzhaya is the founder and chief executive officer of Marvel Power Group, an advisory and brokerage services platform for renewable natural gas and power. She previously co-founded energy storage company AMS and served as its chief commercial officer.

Ms. Ryzhaya has nearly 20 years of experience running infrastructure businesses and closing complex energy transactions. She served as interim CEO of Renovar, a Shell Digital Ventures company, and was chief commercial officer for Lightsource BP.

Ms. Ryzhaya holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of San Francisco and an MBA from Duke University.

JD Vargas is managing director of the Infrastructure Team for EQT Partners. He joined the company in January 2021.

Prior to EQT, Mr. Vargas worked at First Reserve, an energy and infrastructure private equity firm, focused on investments in utilities, transportation and logistics and other sectors. Before that, he served as an analyst at Morgan Stanley.

Mr. Vargas holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the London Business School.