Leadership - Pond & Company

Pond’s Executive Leadership Team

Pond provides engineering, architecture, planning and program/construction management services to public and private clients worldwide. Our project teams work together to deliver remarkable results, emphasizing our personal commitment, innovation and integrity.

Bob Williams

President, Chief Executive Officer

Melly Gao

Chief Financial Officer

Michelle Boulineau

Chief Human Resources Officer

Bryan Evans

Executive Vice President, Energy

James McNabb

Executive Vice President, Infrastructure

Bob Ruch

Executive Vice President, Federal

Alex Holbrook

Executive Vice President, Life Sciences & Industrial

President, Chief Executive Officer

Robert P. Williams (Bob) serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Pond. With more than 20 years of expertise in finance, strategy development and systems implementation, he leads the Executive Leadership Team with the overall responsibility of growth and risk management of the firm. Bob has been instrumental in modernizing operations management and driving performance since he took on leadership of the firm in November 2021.

Bob began his tenure at Pond on September 11, 2013, as the Director of Civil Engineering. He served in numerous roles of increasing responsibility throughout his successful career at Pond including Vice President of the Community Development program; Senior Vice President of the infrastructure vertical; and Executive Vice President of the industrial vertical. Bob became a shareholder in 2017 and a member of the Board of Directors in July 2019.

Prior to joining Pond, Bob served as Vice President at Travis Pruitt and Associates. He previously also worked in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, serving as Engineer of Record for multiple municipalities simultaneously. Concurrently, Bob served 20 years in the Army National Guard, enlisting in 1986 as a Private First Class and retiring in 2006 at the rank of Major. His last activation was an assignment to the Joint Staff at JTF Guantanamo in 2004-2005 during which he was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal for his contributions while being dual-hatted as the J3-5 Future Plans Operation Officer and Task Force Engineer. Bob is a graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Chief Financial Officer

Melly Gao joined Pond in 2020 and serves as the Chief Financial Officer. As a member of the Board of Directors, she plays a key role in strategic decision-making, driving scalable, sustainable growth, and improving corporate governance.

Melly brings over 20 years of extensive experience in operations, finance, and IT from Fortune 100 enterprises. In her earlier career, she spent more than 12 years at Stanley Black & Decker and Securitas Systems, serving in various impactful roles including VP of Finance, Corporate Controller, and Director of System Implementations. She was responsible for overseeing financial reporting, pricing, operational control, and managed multiple ERP and data warehouse implementations, along with M&A integrations. Before joining Pond, she led the financial shared services operations at U.S. Security Associates from 2015 to 2019.

Melly earned her Master of Science in Computer Information Systems and Master of Accountancy from Georgia State University. She received her Bachelor of Science in Economics from Nan Kai University, China.

Chief Human Resources Officer

Michelle Boulineau serves as the Chief Human Resources Officer and a member of Pond’s executive team. With a proven track record of driving organizational growth and transformation, she plays a pivotal role in shaping the company’s human resources strategy and execution. She oversees all aspects of HR for Pond and its employees, including total rewards, talent management, and development, ensuring alignment with the company’s overarching goals and objectives.

Michelle joined Pond in 2021 and has more than 20 years of experience in the professional services industry. Prior to joining Pond, Michelle served as a strategic advisor to business leaders of Global 1000 companies, specializing in enhancing organizational, HR, and people performance. In her 12 years with The Hackett Group, she led numerous benchmarking and advisory engagements and assisted her clients in leveraging best practices to transform their organizations and foster high-performance workplaces. With her extensive background and strong commitment to excellence, she focuses on delivering leading people practices that strengthen Pond's culture and position as an employer of choice.

Executive Vice President, Energy

Bryan Evans serves as the Executive Vice President of Pond’s energy vertical and a member of Pond’s executive team. He is a team-oriented leader with more than 30 years of experience in consulting engineering and construction. Bryan is strategically focused on growing Pond’s defense fuels, commercial, and utility markets related to energy storage, transmission, and delivery.

Bryan joined the firm in 2014 after Pond's acquisition of his company, Corrosion & Integrity Solutions. Since then, he has been focused on client diversification and growth in the commercial and utility markets. His expertise has helped grow Pond’s niche regulatory compliance services including corrosion control, coatings, and pipeline integrity. Bryan developed Pond's power delivery service line.

Bryan received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering technology from Southern Polytechnic State University. He is an Association of Materials Protection & Performance (AMPP) Cathodic Protection Specialist and Senior Corrosion Technologist, and an American Petroleum Institute (API) API 570 Piping Inspector.

Bryan serves on the AMPP Standards Program Committee and General Committee. He is an instructor for the Appalachian Underground Corrosion Short Course at West Virginia University and a track lead for the inaugural Southeast Corrosion Short Course. Bryan is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI), the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), and the National Petroleum Management Association (NPMA).

Executive Vice President, Infrastructure

James McNabb serves as the Executive Vice President for Pond’s infrastructure vertical and a member of Pond's executive team. He focuses on the strategic growth of Pond’s transportation, aviation, architecture, PLACE and environmental/water resources programs for public and private sector clients. Through a client-focused approach, the infrastructure team successfully delivers tailored solutions for the natural and built environments. James joined Pond in 2020 and has been an integral part in providing a vision that has led to significant infrastructure business line growth through increased market presence, service offerings, and geographic expansion.

With 25 years of experience, James has focused his career in leading the delivery of transportation and infrastructure solutions. He has served public clients at the local, state and federal levels as well as private clients through traditional design, design-build, public private partnerships and CM-at-risk delivery methods. Through true client partnerships, his teams have won numerous professional awards and industry recognitions. James prides himself on building a culture of teamwork fostered by trust, collaboration, engagement, and performance. James attended The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, where he earned a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is both a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) and Structural Engineer (SE) in Georgia.

Executive Vice President, Federal

Bob Ruch serves as the Executive Vice President for Pond’s federal vertical and a member of Pond's executive team. He is responsible for ensuring the growth and delivery of top-tier services to Pond’s federal clients. This entails providing strategic direction, managing investments, and monitoring returns while serving DoD and civilian agencies.

Bob joined Pond in 2020, bringing with him a wealth of experience from previous roles in large firms and organizations. Before his tenure at Pond, he served in the U.S. Army for thirty years, retiring as a Colonel. During his military career, he held command positions within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and collaborated extensively with federal agencies.

In recent years, Bob has focused on enhancing Pond's federal vertical by establishing a robust sales organization and improving contracting capacity. He has also overseen the development of operational infrastructure to support a larger customer base. Bob maintains active engagement with governmental entities, notably through involvement with the Society of Military Engineers, where he is a Fellow and has held leadership positions at both local and national levels.

Bob earned a degree in geo-environmental science from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, a master's in engineering management from Saint Martin's University, and a master's in strategic studies from the US Army War College, Carlisle.

Executive Vice President, Life Sciences & Industrial

Alex Holbrook serves as the Executive Vice President for Pond’s life sciences and industrial verticals and a member of Pond's executive team. He focuses on the strategic management of medical device, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, distribution, air and water quality, food and beverage, and chemical markets. His philosophy of customer-focused specialized services and expertise is essential to these vital industries.

Alex joined Pond in 2014 to continue his 25 years of providing quality services to repeat clients in the healthcare, industrial, pharmaceutical, food, manufacturing, and medical device industries. His unwavering passion for providing valuable services has garnered customers’ trust. While at Pond, he initiated the life sciences and industrial verticals, spurring exciting growth opportunities for Pond’s employees, especially in process engineering, piping, instrument & controls, preconstruction, and construction management services.

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