Board of Directors

Kevin Penn is a Senior Partner at American Securities and serves as Chairman of the SOLV Energy Board. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Learning Care Group, NWN Carousel and Conair, and sits on the boards of Trace3 and Blue Bird Corporation. Prior to joining American Securities, Penn founded and led ACI Capital Co., LLC. Earlier in his career, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at First Spring Corporation and held leadership roles at Adler & Shaykin and Morgan Stanley. Penn holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Adam Abram is the Founder and former Chairman of James River Group Holdings, Ltd. He has established three property casualty insurance groups—two publicly traded—and founded Piedmont Community Bank, which grew into one of North Carolina’s largest community banks before its sale in 2016. Earlier in his career, Abram led Adaron Group, Inc., a commercial real estate development firm responsible for approximately four million square feet of projects. Abram serves on several boards, including the Urban Institute, and is Chairman of the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. He earned a B.A. in History from Harvard University.

George Hershman is the CEO of SOLV Energy, which he founded in 2008 and has grown into one of the nation’s leading utility scale solar and energy infrastructure providers. With more than 30 years of construction and renewable energy experience, Hershman has delivered more than 20 GW of projects and serves on the Boards of SEIA and the American Clean Power Association.

Bill Jackson is the Managing Director and CEO of Chicago Associates, a private investing company. He has served as a SOLV Energy board member since 2021. Jackson previously held senior roles at Johnson Controls, including President of both its Automotive Interiors and Electrics divisions and later President of the Building Business. He oversaw global building systems operations generating approximately $14 billion in revenue. Earlier, Jackson spent more than 20 years at Booz & Company, where he was a senior partner and global leader of the Industrials Group. He holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Steve Lerner is the Founder and Managing Partner of the Blue Hill Group, an investment firm supporting entrepreneurial companies. He has served on numerous boards across industries, including Sterling Cellular, Bandwidth.com, Accent Energy, Piedmont Community Bank Holdings, Yadkin Bank and Presidio Network Solutions. Lerner currently serves on the boards of Next Century Spirits, Data Decisions Group and the North Carolina Railroad, and is Chair of the Carolina Angel Network. Earlier in his career, he taught at the Kenan Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and held multiple leadership roles at UNC CH, including Trustee and Chair of the Finance Committee. Lerner holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Daniel McQuade is the Managing Director and Lead Director of the STO Building Group Board at Global Infrastructure Solutions Inc. (GISI), a role he has held since 2018. Under his leadership, STO has grown into the largest privately held building contractor in the U.S., delivering major projects for Fortune 500 clients. Prior to GISI, McQuade served as Group President of Construction Services at AECOM, overseeing a global business of more than 14,000 employees across 25 countries. Earlier, he was President of Tishman Construction, managing landmark commercial, hospitality and infrastructure projects. McQuade holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Fordham University.

David Portnoy is a Partner at American Securities and serves as a Director of Integrated Global Services. He previously held board roles with Acuren, Conair, Ulterra and ViaPath Technologies. Before joining American Securities in 2013, Portnoy worked in Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan in the Leveraged Finance Group. He received a B.S. in Economics and an MBA from the Wharton School.

Michael Sand is a Partner at American Securities and a member of the Investment Committee. He serves as Chairman of the Board for CPM, Integrated Global Services and ViaPath Technologies. Sand has also held board roles with Acuren, CS Energy, Blue Bird, Delphi Midstream, Fairmount Santrol, MW Industries, PDM Bridge, Ulterra Drilling Technologies and Unison Site Management. Prior to American Securities, he worked at Goldman Sachs in M&A and strategic advisory. Sand holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Nancy Stefanowicz is Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at NFI. Since joining NFI in 2006, she has led HR strategy for more than 18,000 employees across North America, overseeing all HR functions and driving initiatives aligned with enterprise goals. Prior to NFI, Stefanowicz held HR leadership positions at Hess, Pennzoil and Circle K. She completed Executive Education at Harvard Business School.

Laura Stern is the Head of U.S. Tax Credits at Marex, where she leads its transferable renewable energy tax credit business. Stern co founded Nautilus Solar Energy and served as Co CEO, growing it into one of the longest standing solar developers in the U.S. Under her leadership, Nautilus developed, financed, owned and operated more than $1.5 billion in solar assets. Prior to co founding Nautilus, Stern was a Project Finance Banker specializing in wind and gas fired generation. She holds a B.A. with honors from Harvard College and an M.A. in International Economics from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.