Board of Directors

Doug Brown

Chairman

Mr. Brown is one of only a handful of globally recognized senior executives to have led multiple successful billion dollar exits in the water space. He was the founder, Chairman and CEO of AquaVenture Holdings, which he led to a listing on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) in 2016 and subsequently sold to Culligan Water for US$1.2 billion in 2020 while he was serving as Chairman. Mr. Brown was also CEO of Seven Seas Water, an AquaVenture Holdings business. He was previously CEO of NYSE-listed Ionics, Inc., which was acquired by GE Water for US$1.3 billion in 2005. Prior to Ionics, Mr. Brown was CEO of Advent International, a global private equity firm. Mr. Brown’s experience spans the US, Europe, South America, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Africa and Southeast Asia.

Melanie Leydin

COMPANY SECRETARY

Melanie Leydin serves as Company Secretary at Fluence Corporation. A Chartered Accountant and Registered Company Auditor, Ms. Leydin has 25 years’ experience in the accounting profession and 20 years’ experience in company secretarial services. Ms. Leydin is the co-founder of Leydin Freyer, a leading outsourced accounting and company secretarial services firm based in Melbourne, Australia.

Ms. Leydin earned a Bachelor of Business degree in Accounting and Corporate Law from Swinburne University. She is also a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia, an independent professional association for company secretaries, governance advisers, and risk managers in Australia, committed to promoting sound practice in governance and risk management.

Mel Ashton

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Mel Ashton is a former Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) and a former Fellow of The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), specializing in corporate finance and restructuring with over 40 years of varied experience.

Mel Ashton is the former Chair of Cullen Wines (Australia) Pty Ltd, former Director of The Hawaiian Group, and previous Acting CEO of Royal Flying Doctor Service in Western Australia. He has also been President and Director of CAANZ, and Vice President and Director of Fremantle Football Club Ltd, who hold the Australian Football League license for the Fremantle Dockers.

Mel Ashton holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Western Australia. In 2019 Mel was awarded a Meritorious Service Award which recognizes an outstanding contribution to CAANZ and the Accounting Profession.

Tom Pokorsky

Advisor to the CEO and Board

After a distinguished 50-year career in the water industry, Tom Pokorsky retired as CEO and Managing Director of Fluence Corporation in December 2025. His leadership was instrumental in driving Fluence’s recent strategic transition and turnaround. Tom now serves as a strategic advisor to the company.

Mr. Pokorsky has of global CEO experience across North America, Europe, China and Israel, leading both public and private water businesses. He has delivered returns of 5–10x with IRRs up to 50% and built multiple high-growth companies during his career. Tom founded and expanded Nexom, generating 25% annual revenue growth and 50% EBITDA growth before its sale to KKR. Earlier, at Water Pollution Control Corporation (later Sanitaire), Mr. Pokorsky doubled revenue and profits, oversaw its sale to ITT Industries, and subsequently grew revenue at ITT’s Advanced Water Treatment group (now part of Xylem) from $60M to $350M in four years, including $100M of organic growth and five acquisitions across three continents.

Ben Fash

CEO and Managing Director

Ben Fash is the CEO and Managing Director of Fluence Corporation, bringing more than 20 years of water-industry and capital-markets experience. He combines deep financial operating expertise with a strong track record in M&A, capital raising, company building and strategic leadership.

Mr. Fash joined Fluence in 2023 as CFO, where he played a key role in the company’s strategic transition and turnaround. Previously, he served as CFO of Dumas Mining and as EVP & CFO of Newterra, a global provider of modular water and wastewater treatment solutions. At Newterra, he partnered with private equity owners to double the size of the business through organic growth and M&A while dramatically increasing profitability and improving cash flow management, culminating in a successful exit in 2020.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Fash worked in private equity at Birch Hill Equity Partners and began his career in investment banking at Credit Suisse and RBC Capital Markets.

Mr. Fash graduated with a degree in Economics and Law from Williams College in Massachusetts.

Paul Donnelly

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Paul Donnelly serves as Non-Executive Director for Fluence Corporation. Mr. Donnelly is an accomplished financial services executive with international experience across all aspects of capital markets.

Mr. Donnelly is Chief Executive Officer of Flagstaff Partners, an independent corporate advisory firm.

Previously, Mr. Donnelly was an Executive Director at Macquarie Capital, where he worked for 25 years in various roles, including President & CEO of Macquarie’s Canadian operations, and Global Head of Equity and Debt Capital Markets.

Mr. Donnelly has a broad range of investment banking experience, in Australia and internationally, with particular skills in capital markets. Over his thirty-year career he has gathered deep transactional experience advising on significant and complex transactions for leading Australian and international companies.

Nikolaus Oldendorff

Non-Executive Director

Nikolaus Oldendorff is working as managing director of Reederei Nord GmbH in Germany that currently operates around 35 vessels in the transportation of crude and petroleum products, various dry bulk commodities and the transportation of containers. He is also engaged as a start-up and venture capital investor and holds several board seats around the globe.

Nikolaus earned a Masters degree from the CASS Business School in London.