About Us

Tod Hynes is Founder and President of XL Fleet. Tod founded the company as XL Hybrids in 2009 and leads the company’s corporate strategy initiatives. Tod is also a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he has taught graduate course, Energy Ventures, since 2008. Previously, Tod was director of alternative energy at Citizens Energy where he launched the company’s wind development business. Prior to Citizens Energy, Tod founded a consulting and engineering company in distributed power generation. Tod also co-founded the MIT Clean Energy Prize and co-chaired the Energy Committee of the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Conventions (CERC), the organization that greened the 2004 U.S. presidential Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention. He has a Bachelor of Science in management science from MIT.

Dimitri is CEO of XL Fleet. He is an accomplished transportation industry executive who has led impressive growth, expansion and innovation throughout his career. Prior to joining XL as CEO, Dimitri successfully scaled the hybrid power systems division of Eaton Corporation by 15x within two years, and delivered record profits for the North American P&L of AVL Powertrain Engineering. He previously worked at General Motors and McKinsey & Company, has a mechanical engineering degree from MIT, and an MBA from Northwestern University. Dimitri brings a strong customer focus, broad and deep functional capability, global supply and sales experience, and proven organizational leadership to drive an era of sustainable growth for XL.

Brian is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services, logistics, and fleet industries. He has over 20 years of leadership experience in marketing, product management and sales, with a track record of building winning teams. Brian has spent the past 12 years in the fleet industry, most recently with Element Fleet Management where he served as Senior Vice President of Sales. Previously, Brian served as SVP of Sales at GE Capital and Director of New Business Development at Schneider National. Brian has a BS in Marketing from Towson University and an MBA with a concentration in Marketing from the University of Phoenix.

Mike is XL Fleet’s CTO and VP of Engineering, responsible for leading the company’s product development efforts and optimizing its engineering and IT infrastructure to drive innovation and growth. Prior to joining XL, Mike was President of IAV, an automotive engineering firm specializing in building electrified powertrains that could scale to meet the needs of major OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. Previously, he was Director of Engineering at AVL Powertrain Engineering, where he led all aspects of design, analysis, development, systems, calibration, controls and certification for AVL’s powertrain engineering programs. He has also served in leadership and engineering roles for OEMs and Tier 1s including Ford and Denso. Mike holds an ME degree from Kingston University in London.

Colleen Calhoun serves as the Vice President and General Manager of the Company’s XL Grid division, which provides commercial and municipal fleet customers with charging infrastructure, energy storage and power solutions for fleets, and advances XL Fleet’s Electrification as a Service Offering. Colleen is a clean energy executive who spent over two decades at General Electric in senior leadership roles across its energy, power and finance businesses.

Colleen spent twenty-five years at GE across several roles at the company including head of GE Energy Ventures, leader of Marketing & Strategy for GE’s Power & Water business and head of the Global Growth Markets platform for Energy Financial Services. Colleen was a senior member of the team that launched Current, powered by GE, a leading provider of energy efficiency and digital productivity solutions for commercial buildings and cities, where she served as the Chief Marketing Officer and head of Business Development and was instrumental in the divesture of the business from GE in 2019. Most recently, Colleen has been an advisor to Commonwealth Fusion, Quaise Inc. and several other corporations while helping them grow and scale their energy-focused businesses. She is a member of the Board of Directors for Quaise, Inc. and the Clean Energy Trust.

Colleen earned her bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

As Vice President of Supply Chain and Production, Rob is responsible for optimizing XL’s supplier partner and installation ecosystem and scaling it for growth. Rob has two decades of diverse supply chain experience across a wide range of industries, for global manufacturers including Hewlett Packard, Philips Electronics, Millipore, and E Ink. Prior to joining XL, Rob served as Chief Operating Officer and AVP Global Supply Chain at YFY Group’s North America packaging and electronics businesses. As the architect and leader of complex insourcing and outsourcing initiatives, he has directly enabled significant business expansion, cost reduction, and risk management across the US, Mexico, and Asia. Rob holds a BBA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an MBA from Bentley University. He earned a Six Sigma Black Belt certificate from the Air Academy Associates.

Jim Berklas is a senior legal and M&A executive who serves as XL Fleet's General Counsel and VP of Corporate Development, where he oversees the Company’s legal and compliance functions and executes upon its corporate development initiatives. Prior to joining XL Fleet, Jim founded a boutique investment bank representing smaller domestic manufacturers and served as the Chief Growth Officer, head of M&A and general counsel of medical device and packaging manufacturer Westfall Technik, where he led the acquisition of 17 companies and improved profitability by over 40%. Jim has 25 years of legal experience, 11 years of public company leadership and has closed over 200 acquisition and financing transactions. He earned his law degree at Harvard University and his B.A. at UCLA.

Deb Frodl serves as XL Fleet Chair and a member of the Board of Directors. She also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Renewable Energy Group, Inc. Prior, Deb served as the Global Executive Director for Ecomagination at General Electric (GE), where she transformed GE's global clean technology innovation strategy. She served as Chief Strategy Officer & Global Alternative Fuels Leader for GE, leading the company to decarbonize customers and its commercial fleet through deployment of alternative fuel vehicles. Earlier in her career, Deb gained over twenty years of senior executive experience at GE Capital, serving in roles including Senior Vice President and CEO and President. She serves on the Advisory Boards for the Clean Energy, Education & Empowerment for Women Initiative, a collaboration between U.S. Department of Energy, MIT and Stanford, National Renewable Energy Lab, Joint Institute of Strategic Energy Analysis and the University of MN, Institute on the Environment. She is a certified Governance Fellow for the National Association of Corporate Directors and member of Women Corporate Directors. Deb completed an executive program, Making Corporate Boards Most Effective, at Harvard Business School and Directors Consortium, at Stanford Business School. She holds an M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas and B.S.B.A. from Minnesota State University.

Tod Hynes is Founder and President of XL Fleet. Tod founded the company as XL Hybrids in 2009 and leads the company’s corporate strategy and operations. Tod is also a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he has taught graduate course, Energy Ventures, since 2008. Previously, Tod was director of alternative energy at Citizens Energy where he launched the company’s wind development business. Prior to Citizens Energy, Tod founded a consulting and engineering company in distributed power generation. Tod also co-founded the MIT Clean Energy Prize and co-chaired the Energy Committee of the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Conventions (CERC), the organization that greened the 2004 U.S. presidential Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention. He has a Bachelor of Science in management science from MIT.

Dimitri is CEO of XL Fleet. He is an accomplished transportation industry executive who has led impressive growth, expansion and innovation throughout his career. Prior to joining XL as CEO, Dimitri successfully scaled the hybrid power systems division of Eaton Corporation by 15x within two years, and delivered record profits for the North American P&L of AVL Powertrain Engineering. He previously worked at General Motors and McKinsey & Company, has a mechanical engineering degree from MIT, and an MBA from Northwestern University. Dimitri brings a strong customer focus, broad and deep functional capability, global supply and sales experience, and proven organizational leadership to drive an era of sustainable growth for XL.

Declan Flanagan is a member of XL Fleet’s Board of Directors. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Onshore Business Unit of Ørsted A/S. From 2009 until its acquisition by Ørsted in 2018, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Lincoln Clean Energy. From December 2007 to July 2009, Declan served as Chief Executive Officer of E.On Climate and Renewables North America. From April 2003 through December 2007, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Airtricity North America LLC. Declan is a former member of the boards of both the American Wind Energy Association and the Solar Energy Industries Association and is currently Chairperson of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE). He holds a B.Sc in environmental science from National University of Ireland, a M.Sc in environmental management from University of Ulster and an MBA in accounting and finance from Northwestern University.

Kevin Griffin is a member of XL Fleet’s Board of Directors. Kevin founded MGG Investment Group in 2014 and is the CEO and CIO of the firm. Prior to launching MGG, he was a Managing Director with Highbridge Principal Strategies, where he was a senior member of the Specialty Lending Platform and a Member of the Highbridge Credit Committee. Previously, he was the Head of Private Investing for Octavian Funds, a $1.4 billion hedge fund focused on global investing across debt and equity structures. Before Octavian, Kevin was part of Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG) in charge of originating and underwriting investment opportunities for the Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund. Prior to Fortress, he was an investor with one of the first publicly traded BDCs, American Capital (NASDAQ: ACAS), where he was involved in numerous equity buyout and subordinated debt investments.

Kevin began his career with Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin’s Investment Banking Division, focusing primarily on distressed M&A and financial restructurings. During his 20-year career, he has originated and invested over $5 billion across the capital structure of middle market businesses, including distressed and 363 bankruptcy purchases, and has led all structuring and legal documentation with a focus on capital preservation and protecting rights in bankruptcy. Post-investment, he has sat on numerous boards of directors and has implemented various restructuring changes and targeted distressed and opportunistic acquisition opportunities. The M&A Advisor in May 2015 named Kevin a winner of its 40 Under 40 Emerging Leaders Award. He earned his BSBA in Finance from Georgetown University.

Chris Hayes is a member of XL Fleet's Board of Directors. Chris is a visionary leader who has continually pioneered new markets while delivering exceptional financial results. Most recently Chris has been deeply involved in the clean energy and sustainability sector.

Currently, Chris is founder and managing partner of Alturus. Alturus invests in sustainable infrastructure projects. Chris was founder and managing partner at Altenex. They created and brought to market the “virtual power purchase agreement” which made it possible for Fortune 500 companies to purchase offsite wind power. This contract structure remains the industry standard today and resulted in over $5bn in transactions through Altenex.

Chris received his BSBA in Finance from the University of Denver. He enjoys spending time outdoors on the ocean and in the mountains with his family.

Jon Ledecky is a member of XL Fleet’s Board of Directors. He is co-owner of the New York Islanders in the National Hockey League. Jon is also a private equity investor who has been the co-founder or initial investor in companies that have raised over $20 billion in financing.

Jon founded U.S. Office Products in 1994 and by 1997 the Company had become the fastest entrant in the history of the Fortune 500 with annualized sales of nearly $4 billion. U.S. Office Products owned Mail Boxes, Etc. (now the UPS Store) and several other brands that eventually became independent public and private companies. He has served on over 15 public company boards during his career.

Jon is an honors graduate of Harvard College and also graduated from Harvard Business School. Jon served on the National Commission on Entrepreneurship and at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He has also been honored as the Anti-Defamation League Man of the Year and was the International Franchise Association’s “Free Enterprise Award” winner.

Niharika is a member of XL Fleet’s Board of Directors and serves as the Chair of the Audit Committee. Niharika is a finance executive with global experience and has worked in New York, Michigan, Mumbai, Shanghai and Singapore. She has over 22 years of experience with General Motors including multiple CFO roles for its Cadillac brand, International Operations and Purchasing and Supply Chain finance. In addition, she served as Vice President Finance and Treasurer of GM and played a key role in GM’s restructuring and IPO. Niharika holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and completed the GM-Stanford Transformational Leadership Program.

Sarah Sclarsic is a member of XL Fleet’s Board of Directors. She is an experienced investor, founder, and advisor to technology companies focused on decarbonization. She co-founded pioneering carsharing company Getaround, and helped build Modern Meadow, a biotechnology company making alternatives to animal products. The startup companies that Sarah has worked with have created billions of dollars in enterprise value. Sarah holds a B.A. from Harvard University. She currently conducts research on carbon removal at MIT and invests in climate tech companies.

Mr. Dennis Beal served as Vice President of global vehicles at FedEx Express. Mr. Beal retired in 2014 after 17 years with FedEx Express and FedEx Freight, where he was responsible for all vehicles on and off road including alternative fuel vehicles and the FedEx Express research and development division. He spearheaded the FedEx Express programs to maximize energy efficiency and minimize carbon footprint through initiatives such as vehicle aerodynamics and vehicle light-weighting. He worked with all facets of vehicle technologies, including hybrid electric, all-electric, natural gas, hydrogen and biofuels, along with modified internal combustion technologies. He has 46 years of experience in the transportation industry. He has been a Member of Advisory Board at XL Hybrids Inc. since March 30, 2015.

Rick is an advisor to XL Hybrids, along with being a very active board member and advisor to many businesses and educational institutions. Rick had a 32-year career with General Motors before working with XL Hybrids, starting on the company’s financial staff in New York and ending as President and Chief Executive Officer of GM. He was instrumental in the establishment and building of GM’s largest global business, GM China, and in the creation and growth of GM’s OnStar business. After retiring from GM in 2009, he has been actively involved with a number of auto/technology startup businesses, as well as serving as board member and advisor to many businesses and institutions. Rick also works with not-for-profit activities like the Duke Kushan University Advisory Board. Rick earned his BA, summa cum laude, from Duke University and his MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Bill Aulet is the managing director for the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship at MIT, and Professor of the Practice at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to joining MIT, Bill had a 25-year record of success in business with IBM, Viisage, Cambridge Decision Dynamics and SensAble Technologies, which became a two-time Inc. Magazine 500 Fastest-Growing Private Company. He has directly raised more than $100 million in funding for his companies, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in market value for those companies. He is a regularly featured speaker at management leadership programs speaking on topics such as entrepreneurship, financial strategies, and operational excellence. A former professional basketball player, Bill also earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Harvard University and an SM from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Ed Tekeian serves as a Member of Technical Advisory Board at XL Hybrids Inc. Previously, Ed has been leading technical teams in startups for over 20 years, including interests in computer vison, 3D printing and medical devices. He was Chief Technology Officer at Kuvee, and led development of engineering viruses used as speed pathogen sensors at Sample6. He also worked on the development of 3D scanning and patient positioning systems for dentistry and cancer therapy as Vice President of Engineering at Brontes Technologies and Zmed. He is currently Director of Software at Formlabs, while also serving as a board member for XL Hybrids. He holds a BS from Columbia University and an MS in Computer Science from Tufts University.

Ed has 25 years of leadership experience in electric power conversion technology and product development for hybrid/electric powertrain and electric power generation applications. Formerly CTO and executive vice president of engineering at Free Flow Power, a renewable generation project development company focused on hydropower, he led the development of a hydrokinetic turbine system that generated energy from the Mississippi River currents. Previously, Ed was director of engineering development at Satcon, a leading U.S. alternative energy electric power conversion company, and prior to that was with the General Electric Aircraft Engine business. Ed was a DOT/FHWA Eisenhower Doctoral Fellow for the MIT-Industry Consortium on Advanced Automotive Electrical/Electronic Components and Systems. He has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in mechanical engineering, and a Master of Science and Doctorate in electrical engineering from MIT.

Teasha is the Director of Engineering at Ultra Capital, a sustainable infrastructure investment firm. She leads a team that builds tools for financial risk analysis, commodity market prediction, and workflow optimization. Teasha was the co-founder and CTO of EverVest, a software platform for financial modeling and risk analysis of renewable energy projects that was acquired by Ultra Capital in 2016. As CTO, she was responsible for product management and technical development of the probabilistic risk analysis system. Prior to founding EverVest, Teasha was a researcher at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory where she helped develop machine learning algorithms to predict weather patterns. She earned a BS in Physics from MIT and was a Jack W. Goss fellow for Entrepreneurship. Teasha was named a 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Energy category.