Our Leadership

Steven Kobos has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Excelerate Energy since 2018. During his tenure, Steven has led Excelerate Energy through significant milestones and challenges, including the Company’s landmark initial public offering and listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2022, its critical support of European energy security following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the Company’s strategic expansion of its operations in Latin America, the Middle East, North America, and Asia Pacific. Under Steven’s leadership, Excelerate Energy brought fleet management in-house through the creation of wholly owned subsidiary Excelerate Technical Management, providing best in class reliability for global customers.

An industry veteran and thought leader, Steven has been integral in shaping global policy and business discussions regarding the advancement of energy security and accessibility in developed and developing markets. He is a frequent panel speaker in key industry conferences including CERAWeek, the Indo-Pacific Business Forum, and the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum. Steven currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Bangladesh Business Council.

Prior to his appointment to President and CEO in 2018, Steven served for 11 years as a board member and as corporate counsel for Excelerate.

Steven holds a Juris Doctorate, with highest honors, and a Bachelor of Arts, from the University of Oklahoma.

Dana A. Armstrong has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Excelerate since 2020. Dana has over 25 years of experience leading both public and private companies and a demonstrated track record of enhancing shareholder value and achieving profitability improvements.

Prior to her current role, between 2015 and 2020, Dana was the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Scientific Drilling International, a leading energy services provider and manufacturer. Before joining Scientific Drilling, between 2007 and 2015, Dana served in various leadership roles at ION Geophysical, a global provider of technology-driven geophysical solutions, including Vice President and Treasurer from 2012 until 2015. Prior to that, Dana held various senior financial leadership roles at Thermo Fisher Scientific, a world leader in serving science.

Dana holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from the University of Houston. She is also a licensed C.P.A.

Oliver Simpson is Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for Excelerate Energy, responsible for contracting and chartering FSRUs, oversight of current customer contracts and relationships, sourcing and supplying LNG flows, and natural gas marketing. Oliver joined Excelerate in 2014 and has served as Vice President, Commercial since 2017. In his role as Vice President, Commercial, Oliver managed the commercial shipping business, supported and executed a wide range of deal types, and acted as a subject matter expert on all Excelerate transactions.

Prior to joining Excelerate, Oliver worked for Fearnley Offshore LLC for 5 years where he served as Head of LNG Chartering and LNG Shipbroker. During his time at Fearnley Offshore LLC, Oliver provided support and consulting services on LNG market trading opportunities to clients globally.

From 2004 to 2008, Oliver served in a number of roles in Risk and Gas Trading under Total’s Gas & Power business in both Europe and North America.

Oliver holds a Master of Arts in Modern History from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

David Liner is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Excelerate Energy. With over 25 years of leadership and maritime experience in the oil and gas industry, he has a proven track record of project execution and a commitment to safe operations.

Most recently, David was with SeaRiver Maritime, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil where he was responsible for commercial operations of up to 80 ocean-going vessels.

Prior to his tenure at SeaRiver, David served as the Chief Officer of Commercial & Planning at Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat) where he led business development in the FSRU, LNG, and LPG sectors, and he served in leading roles in multi-billion-dollar development projects for ExxonMobil.  David began his career in the regulatory arena with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), working in the United States and South Korea on new construction, repair, and conversion projects, and subsequently worked as a consultant for engineering firms developing various marine and offshore projects in U.S. domestic and international markets.

David holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Ocean Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Alisa Newman Hood is Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Excelerate Energy. Alisa brings her impressive 20-year worldwide legal, government relations, and energy policy background to the role. Alisa joined Excelerate Energy in 2019 as Senior Vice President, negotiating financing agreements, EPC contracts, and vessel charters with international counterparties while managing the company’s U.S. government relations function in Washington, DC.

Before joining Excelerate Energy, Alisa served as General Counsel of ARTIC, a Qatari real estate holding company of 35+ luxury, internationally branded hotels. Previously, Alisa served as General Counsel of Akfel Commodities, parent company of the largest private importer of natural gas and largest trader of gas and power in Turkey, and as General Counsel of Aluminium Bahrain, where she guided the company through its IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

From 2012 to 2016, Alisa served as senior advisor to the US Special Envoy for International Energy Affairs at the State Department. She began her legal career in the project finance and energy practice at White & Case LLP in New York and Washington. She lends her expertise to media outlets and has published several op-eds and articles on energy-related topics, including The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Los Angeles Times, and and South China Morning Post. She was previously a term member and is currently a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Alisa holds a B.A. from Brown University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she has been on the adjunct faculty teaching oil and gas law since 2007.

Amy Thompson is Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Excelerate Energy. With over 22 years of progressive human resources experience in global oilfield services organizations, Amy has held various leadership roles in the U.S. and the Middle East.

Prior to joining Excelerate Energy, Amy was Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Apergy Corporation, a leading provider of highly engineered technologies that help companies drill for and produce oil and gas. In this role, she led the HR function in the start-up of Apergy as a new public company.

Before that, Amy held various HR roles within Baker Hughes, an international industrial service company and one of the world’s largest oil field services companies, and she served as a Human Resources Advisor for Oxy, a hydrocarbon exploration company.

Amy holds a B.S. in Human Resources Management from Louisiana State University and an M.B.A in Global Business from The University of Dallas.