About
Management
Lake’s best-in-class management team have a broad depth of international experience encompassing finance, human resources, law, accounting and community engagement, with a focus on delivering for all stakeholders.
Peter Neilsen
Chief Financial Officer
Peter is a chartered accountant with more than 20 years’ experience in all facets of financial management, asset management and leadership.
He has served in a range of positions including as CFO, company secretary, finance manager and other senior executive positions for a number of listed and unlisted companies in the energy and natural resources sector. These have included Barrick, Xstrata and Round Oak.
He has been involved in reducing operation expenses up to $100M through cost analysis, performance improvements and contract negotiations, acquisitions of up to $80M and managed revenues in excess of $5Bn.
John Freeman
Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel
Mr Freeman is a highly accomplished legal executive with over 30 years’ experience in leading global companies. His extensive experience leadership experience includes serving as Chief Legal Officer, Executive Vice President and Corporate Secretary for McDermott International; General Counsel and Executive Vice President for Technip S.A.; Global Ethics and Compliance Director for Baker Hughes, in addition to other legal and compliance positions within that organisation.
Mr Freeman has also served as Prosecuting Attorney for the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Mr Freeman holds a JD from the Washington & Lee University School of Law, and B.B.A. from The University of Texas, Austin.
Mark Anning
Head of Legal, Australia and Company Secretary
Mr Anning has practiced at Partner level in private practice, and in-house at CEO and Chair direct report level for several ASX and NASDAQ listed companies. His 30 years in legal and corporate practice has seen him specialise in corporate and commercial law, dispute resolution, risk management, and corporate governance.
Mr Anning is a Chartered Secretary and holds the qualifications of Bachelor of Commerce and LLB (Hons) from the University of Queensland and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Governance. He is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and is admitted to practice in all Commonwealth Courts and the Supreme Courts of Queensland and Victoria.
Gentry Brann
Chief People and Administration Officer
Lake’s first Chief People and Administration Officer, Gentry Brann brings deep expertise in Human Resources at leading organisations. Ms Brann has over 25 years’ experience leading HR and Communications functions.
She joins Lake from McDermott, where she led the company’s strategic focus on inclusion and diversity, as well as human resources, communications and marketing, real estate and facilities, and global travel. Other previous roles include serving as Senior Vice President of Communications and Brand Management at CB&I, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications for The Shaw Group, and other various roles at ICF International, ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Archer Malmo Advertising and Public Relations Agency.
Ms Brann holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University. She is also a graduate of the Advanced Leadership Program at Rice University’s Jones School of Business.
Amalia Sáenz
Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Country Manager, Argentina
An experienced energy and natural resources lawyer based in Buenos Aires, Sra. Sáenz is assisting Lake and its local team in Argentina in engaging with local stakeholders and preparing for the development of clean lithium in Argentina.
Sra. Sáenz is a partner at the law firm, Zang, Bergel & Viñes in Buenos Aires, where she leads the firm’s energy and natural resources practice.
A leading member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, Sra. Sáenz has extensive experience in energy and resources, including merger and acquisition, financing, joint venture and operating agreements in Argentina. She has also worked in Central Asia and the United Kingdom, gaining experience in exploration and production development across international borders and cultures.
Sra. Sáenz was appointed Lake’s Vice President, Argentina Corporate Affairs on 1 February 2023, having served previously as a Non-Executive Director since 28 July 2021. In her new role, she will lead Lake’s government relations team, oversee corporate social responsibility programs, and steer community and stakeholder engagement in Argentina.
Sra. Sáenz currently serves as Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Country Manager, Argentina, overseeing Lake’s activities in its key area of operations, Argentina.
Karen Greene
Senior Vice President – Investor Relations and Communications
Ms Greene is an accomplished investor relations executive with over 20 years’ experience in leading US companies.
Her investor relations leadership experience includes Senior Vice President, Global Client Experience and Corporate Communications, member of Senior Leadership Team at Q4 Inc, Toronto; and as Managing Director, Public Investor Relations at Hamilton Lane Corp and Actua Corporation in the US.
Ms Greene has an M.B.A., Boston University and Temple University, Dean’s List; and B.A., Political Science, Dean’s List, University of Rochester and the Universite de Sorbonne, Paris, France.
Scott Munro
Senior Vice President – Technology, Strategy and Risk
Mr Munro has significant experience and skills in strategic partnerships, corporate strategic planning, and technology development. In addition, he has experience of creating new business units and growing them rapidly to deliver large-scale industrial developments.
Mr Munro has overseen the successful delivery of large-scale industrial projects in international markets and has broad
experience including general management, strategic planning, partnership development and overseeing technology
development.
Hi prior roles have included Corporate Development Officer at McDermott International with responsibility for Strategy
Development, following a period as Business Unit leader for the company’s Americas, Europe, and Africa (AEA) Business
Unit and overseeing its re-entry into these geographical areas.
In addition to these primary roles, Mr Munro also sat on the board of directors of the McDermott / Baker Hughes Joint Venture consultancy company, io consulting, and the Low Carbon Technology development business NETPower as it
moved through pilot plant delivery.
Sean Miller
Senior Vice President, Field Development and Evaluation
An experienced mining company commercial executive, Mr Miller was appointed in August 2022 to fast-track development of Lake’s three lithium brine projects in Argentina’s Jujuy Province, comprising Cauchari, Olaroz and Paso.
Mr Miller has significant experience and skills in project execution, supply chains, contracts and procurement, and project optimisation.
Mr Miller has overseen the successful delivery of multibillion-dollar projects in both Australia and international markets. He has broad experience including general management, strategic planning, supply chain, finance, legal, information technology, sustainable development and human resources in both greenfield projects and brownfield sites.
His prior roles include being head of commercial operations for The Carmichael Rail Project in Queensland; Commercial Development Director at the Kamoto Copper Company Copper and Cobalt mine in Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of Congo; Manager – Contracts & Procurement for Glencore’s North Queensland Metals; and Superintendent Metal Handling at Rio Tinto’s Boyne Smelters Ltd.