About Us

Todd Navarra
CEO

Todd has an extensive background in enterprise software sales and sales leadership, spanning small early-stage startups through IPO and acquisition as well as nearly two decades with global firms such as VERITAS, IBM, SAS, and KPMG. While covering many verticals over his career, Todd has focused mainly on financial services and insurance. Todd enjoys spending time with his family in Pittsburgh and enjoys running and fly fishing.

Robert Boucher
VP Product Innovation

Rob joined WSI in 1998 and was an original member of the team that launched the original WSI EnergyCast platform in 2000. Over the past 16 years, he has led the Energy Product Team at WSI/The Weather Company/IBM during that time the WSI Trader platform has become the pre-eminent weather decision platform for the energy trading industry with well over 350 companies worldwide using the service today. He manages the complete product lifecycle from the initial product deep dive, working closely with customers to identify problems, and developing requirements for products that ultimately solve problems, deliver tangible value and delight the customer. Rob received his bachelor of science degree in Meteorology at Plymouth State University and his master’s degree in Atmospheric Science at Texas Tech University.

Todd Crawford, PhD
VP Meteorology

Todd joined WSI in July 2000 and has played an integral role in the development and maintenance of the energy trading support business over the last two decades, leading up to the acquisition of the WSI Trader business by Atmospheric G2. He has authored numerous works in various industry-specific publications and is regularly quoted on various financial Web sites and newspapers, including Platts and Bloomberg. During his 21-year tenure with the WSI/The Weather Company/IBM, he developed and implemented dynamical and statistical models that are used to make global seasonal forecasts, as well as long-lead forecasts of Atlantic basin tropical cyclone activity. He also developed the patented WSI MarketFirst product in 2006, which allows traders insight into changes in the upcoming weather models. He also developed and patented the Hot Storms Index at WSI, which is used to quickly distinguish which thunderstorm cells are the most dangerous and in need of further investigation. More recently, Dr. Crawford has worked on the IBM science team that has developed a new probabilistic forecasting product that is used by agriculture and energy trading clients, and which recently won an IBM Major Outstanding Technical Achievement Award. Todd received his Ph.D. in meteorology and his master's degree in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma and his bachelor's degree in atmospheric science from the University of Wisconsin.

Frank Lacey
Board Member

Frank has over 20 years of regulatory policy and strategic planning experience in the energy field. He is a recognized industry leader in moving competitive energy markets forward. Prior to forming Electric Advisors Consulting LLC, Frank worked as Senior Vice President for Regulatory and Market Strategy at Comverge Inc./CPower, Director at Direct Energy, the North American affiliate of Centrica, PLC, and in energy and environmental consulting with Arthur Andersen LLP and Putnam, Hayes and Bartlett Inc. Frank holds an MSIA degree from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University with dual concentrations in finance and environmental management. Frank is focused on combining his finance and regulatory backgrounds to produce business strategies that make sense within the current regulatory framework, allowing his clients to extract true value from the markets. 

Mark Downs
Chairman of the Board

Mark Downs is a Partner and Co-Founder of Navigation Capital Partners LP, an Atlanta-based private equity firm that has made control growth and buyout investments in the middle market operating companies. In partnership with Goldman Sachs, its portfolio has included investments in 41 operating companies and assets under management of approximately $375 million. Mark represented Navigation Capital as a lead board member in some of the largest exits achieved from the portfolio. Mark is also a founder and Managing Member of Rio Paloma Holdings, LLC which makes equity investments in emerging SaaS and related companies. Before Navigation Capital Partners, Mark served seven years as a Senior Vice President of Mellon Ventures, a $1.4 billion private equity firm affiliated with Mellon Financial Corporation, where he focused primarily on industrial growth and buyout control equity investments. Before Mellon Ventures, Mark managed Mellon's Leveraged Finance Group and served in various regional assignments for Mellon's Corporate Banking and Middle Market Departments in Chicago and Philadelphia, respectively. Mark earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.B.A from Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

James Caron
Director | Decision Support Meteorology - North America

Upon graduation from the University of Arizona's Atmospheric Science department and Air Force ROTC program, James Caron was commissioned as a U.S. Air Force meteorology officer. While serving in the U.S. military, James received commendation, achievements, and service medals for his involvement in supporting global military aviation missions. Upon completion of his military duty, James worked at Citigroup as an energy commodities meteorologist. While working at Citi, James provided short and long-range forecasts for power and natural gas trading. After quickly making a positive impact at Citi, James was then presented with a unique opportunity to work for Macquarie Bank where he built Macquarie's weather department from the ground up and ran the weather desk providing both historical and forecast weather data. James currently holds the seal of Certified Consulting Meteorologist through the American Meteorological Society.

Ed Vallee
Decision Support Meteorologist

Ed graduated from a small, but world-renowned meteorology program in northern Vermont, now known as Northern Vermont University - Lyndon. He has around a decade of operational meteorological experience ranging from working at small energy and agriculture-focused shops to working for one of the biggest operational forecasting companies in the world, AccuWeather Inc. Before joining Atmospheric G2, Ed also owned and operated his weather consulting firm for 5 years, serving hundreds of customers in the energy and agriculture spaces.