Leadership

Joan Amble has had a storied career in finance, most recently serving as Executive Vice President, Finance, and Comptroller for American Express. Prior to holding senior leadership positions at American Express, Ms. Amble spent more than a decade at General Electric, most recently serving as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for GE Capital Markets, overseeing securitizations, debt placement, and syndication, as well as structured equity transactions. She has extensive experience in corporate governance, having served on the Board of Directors of Broadcomm Corp, Brown-Forman, Sirius XM Holdings Inc., and as an independent advisor to the Executive Committee of the U.S. affiliate of Société Générale S.A. Ms. Amble currently serves on the Board of Directors of Zurich Insurance Group AG, BuzzFeed and Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. She is currently the president of JCA Consulting, LLC. Throughout her career, Amble has been a tremendous advocate for the professional development of women in business. She is the co-founder of W.O.M.E.N. in America, a leadership program launched in the fall of 2009.

Theresa Condor is Chief Operating Officer at Spire and has served in a variety of roles since February 2013, most recently as our Executive Vice President, General Manager of Space Services and Earth Intelligence. She has also served as one of our directors since November 2015. From August 2008 to February 2012, Ms. Condor was with Citi Group Inc., where she served most recently as Vice President of Trade Risk Distribution at the Latin America Desk and previously as a Rotating Management Associate. Ms. Condor holds a B.A. in Government from Cornell University and an M.I.A. in International Finance and Policy from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Mr. Hoke’s career spans 25 years and five continents in various industries, often focusing on digitalization. He was most recently Chief Executive Officer of the Airbus Defence and Space division of Airbus SE and served as a member of the Airbus Executive Committee. Before joining Airbus, he worked at Siemens AG, where he held various executive-level positions including General Manager for the Transrapid Propulsion and Power Supply Subdivision, President of Siemens Transportation Systems China, the first Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Africa and the Division Chief Executive Officer of Industrial Solutions in Germany. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Brunswick, Germany and is an Alumni of the Young Global Leader Program of the World Economic Forum.

Stephen Messer has served as one of our directors since May 2014. Mr. Messer has served as Member at Zephir Worldwide LLC, a venture capital firm, since 2012. Mr. Messer has served as Vice Chairman and Co-Founder at Collective[i], a predictive analytics company, since January 2008 and as President and Co-Founder of World Evolved Services, LLC, a venture capital firm, since January 2006. Prior to this, Mr. Messer served as Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at LinkShare Corporation, an affiliate marketing service company acquired by Rakuten, Inc., from 1996 to 2005. Mr. Messer currently serves on the board of directors of several private companies and on the advisory boards for multiple venture capital firms. Mr. Messer holds a B.A. in Government and Law, History from Lafayette College and a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University.

Peter Platzer is one of our co-founders and has served as our President, Chief Executive Officer, and as one of our directors since September 2012. Prior to this, Mr. Platzer served as Senior Portfolio Manager at Vegasoul Capital, LLC, an asset management firm, from September 2010 to September 2011, and as Director, Proprietary Trader at Deutsche Bank AG, from July 2007 to December 2010. Mr. Platzer also served as Head of Quantitative Research at TRG Management LP, also known as The Rohatyn Group, from May 2003 to July 2007. Mr. Platzer holds a Dipl. Ing (equivalent to B.S., M.S., and PhD qualification exam) in Physics from the Technical University of Vienna, an M.Sc. cum laude in Space Science and Management from the International Space University, and an M.B.A. summa cum laude from Harvard Business School.

William D. Porteous has served as one of our directors since May 2014. Since August 2000, Mr. Porteous has been with RRE Ventures, LLC, a venture capital firm, where he currently serves as a General Partner and the firm’s Chief Operating Officer, having previously served as a Principal and an Associate. Since 2004, Mr. Porteous has also served as Co-Chairman and Founder at the Dockery Farms Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to preserving the historic property and heritage of Dockery Farms. Mr. Porteous served as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University from January 2003 to May 2018. He has served on the board of directors of several private companies. Mr. Porteous holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University, an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, and an M.Sc. in Economics and Industrial Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Tim Braswell oversees all aspects of Spire’s global human resources activities, including recruitment, talent development, employee systems, and health and wellness program management. Mr. Braswell most recently spent eight years with MetLife, where he served as Senior HR Partner for C-suite leaders of global finance, risk management, internal audit, legal affairs and compliance. Prior to this role, he was Chief HR Officer for MetLife’s joint venture with PNB in India, based in Mumbai. In that capacity, Mr. Braswell led a significant amount of change across the organization in collaboration with the CEO and the company’s Board of Directors. Prior to his time at MetLife, Mr. Braswell held senior HR positions in the US, Japan and the Latin America region at Merck. He also supported the global HR efforts at Johnson & Johnson as well as Hughes Network Systems. Mr. Braswell received his Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management from the University of South Alabama and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Jeroen Cappaert is one of our co-founders and serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Spire, focusing on ensuring future technology developments deliver what the business needs. With a background in electronics engineering and aerospace engineering, Jeroen’s previous work and research includes high-enthalpy flow simulation, computational mechanics and fluid dynamics, spacecraft avionics and payload design, geo-engineering, and low-thrust astrodynamics at NASA Ames, Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, International Space University. Jeroen’s education includes a MSc in Space Studies from the International Space University, a Master thesis on Uncertainty quantification for hypersonic flow simulation from Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, an MSc in Mechanical Engineering (Cum Laude) and BSc in Mechanical Engineering (with a minor in Electrical Engineering) from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

Theresa Condor is Chief Operating Officer at Spire and has served in a variety of roles since February 2013, most recently as our Executive Vice President, General Manager of Space Services and Earth Intelligence. She has also served as one of our directors since November 2015. From August 2008 to February 2012, Ms. Condor was with Citi Group Inc., where she served most recently as Vice President of Trade Risk Distribution at the Latin America Desk and previously as a Rotating Management Associate. Ms. Condor holds a B.A. in Government from Cornell University and an M.I.A. in International Finance and Policy from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Boyd Johnson is our Chief Legal Officer. Before joining Spire, Mr. Johnson helped lead two successful public offerings and ten acquisitions as General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Compliance Officer at SPS Commerce. Prior to that, Mr. Johnson served as Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Merrill Corporation, where he created and ran its SaaS Contract Management Business Unit. He also served as General Counsel at MTS Systems Corporation, successfully completing many strategic acquisitions and divestitures, including domestic and international operations. Mr. Johnson received his Juris Doctor degree from University of North Dakota School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in aviation from University of North Dakota.

Thomas Krywe has served as our Chief Financial Officer since October 2020. Mr. Krywe previously served as our Co-Chief Financial Officer from December 2018 to October 2020, as our Vice President, Finance and Sales Operations from June 2018 to December 2018, and as an Executive Financial Consultant from October 2017 to May 2018. Prior to joining us, Mr. Krywe served as Vice President, Finance at Jive Software, Inc., a communication software company, from September 2015 to September 2017, and as Senior Director of Finance of the Data Protection Division at Dell EMC, a data storage and information security company and subsidiary of Dell Technologies Inc., from January 2013 to September 2015. Mr. Krywe served as Vice President of Finance and Accounting at 2Wire, Inc., a home networking customer premises equipment manufacturer acquired by Arris International, Plc, from June 2008 to November 2012. Mr. Krywe holds a B.S. in Commerce, Finance from Santa Clara University.

John Lusk has served as our Chief Executive Officer, Spire Maritime since January 2023. Mr. Lusk previously served as our Chief Operating Officer, Spire Maritime from January 2022 to December 2023; Vice President and General Manager, Spire Aviation and Spire Weather from July 2019 to December 2021; and as our General Manager, Spire Maritime from August 2018 to September 2020. Prior to Spire, John was Principal at The Lusk Group, LLC, a strategic consulting and advisory firm that he founded, and also served as the Entrepreneur-In-Residence at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Earlier in his career, John was Chief Revenue Officer at ChefSteps, a food and technology company acquired by Breville USA, Inc., and CEO and Founder of Rivet & Sway, an online retailer for women’s eyewear. He’s also held executive leadership roles in numerous SaaS-based organizations, including Whitepages and Microsoft. John holds a B.B.A. in Management Information Systems from Southern Methodist University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Peter Mabson has served as our Chief Strategy Officer, Spire Maritime since January 2023. Mr. Mabson previously served as CEO, Spire Maritime following Spire's acquisition of exactEarth in November 2021. Prior to joining Spire, he was President and CEO of exactEarth for more than 13 years, and he has more than 30 years of experience in the space sector.

Peter Platzer is one of our co-founders and has served as our President, Chief Executive Officer, and as one of our directors since September 2012. Prior to this, Mr. Platzer served as Senior Portfolio Manager at Vegasoul Capital, LLC, an asset management firm, from September 2010 to September 2011, and as Director, Proprietary Trader at Deutsche Bank AG, from July 2007 to December 2010. Mr. Platzer also served as Head of Quantitative Research at TRG Management LP, also known as The Rohatyn Group, from May 2003 to July 2007. Mr. Platzer holds a Dipl. Ing (equivalent to B.S., M.S., and PhD qualification exam) in Physics from the Technical University of Vienna, an M.Sc. cum laude in Space Science and Management from the International Space University, and an M.B.A. summa cum laude from Harvard Business School.

Joel Spark is co-founder and Chief Satellite Architect at Spire Global, a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services. He is responsible for advancing Spire's satellite technology and supporting customers with unique technical needs. Joel holds a master’s degree in space management from the International Space University, and a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Carleton University with a specialization in structures, systems, and vehicle design.

Johnny Truong has led Engineering at Spire Global since February 2019. Prior to joining the Spire, he was Senior Director of Infrastructure and Operations at Medallia, a SaaS company, from 2015 to 2019. Prior to Medallia, Johnny was a Senior Director at Nvidia and managed Engineering Operations and Infrastructure. Johnny has a BASc in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo.