Rachelle Yowell, Chief Executive Officer
Rachelle is the CEO and co-founder of Celerity Consulting Group, Inc. Rachelle has over a decade of experience in consulting and management of large projects. From June 1994 through December 1999, she was a member of the management team of ZIA Information Analysis Group and a major contributor to the start-up efforts and success of the firm. From 1991 through 1994, Rachelle was a consultant for a large international consulting firm, Peterson Consulting. She graduated from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley in 1991. At U.C. Berkeley, Rachelle emphasized finance and accounting in her studies.
Chris Yowell, President
Chris has over two decades of litigation consulting experience, in both the information management and forensic accounting arenas. He is particularly versed in managing large-scale and complicated discovery matters. Chris also has extensive experience in the regulatory environment, assisting in-house and outside counsel, and regulatory and other business personnel with information management services and solutions – from data collection to document review to data analysis and production support – to address compliance and regulatory issues. Prior to Celerity, Chris co-founded ZIA Information Analysis Group. He started his career at Peterson & Company after graduating from Oregon State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Engineering Management. His studies included engineering, project management, and construction cost and schedule control.
Norman Yee, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Norman has almost two decades of experience in discovery management, trial support and forensics. In addition to managing numerous complex litigation projects from initial strategy to implementation, he has also provided expert testimony on computer forensics issues and served as an independent third-party expert on production methodology. Prior to joining Celerity, Norman co-founded Certus Consulting Group, a litigation consulting firm, after starting his career at Peterson Consulting. He has presented numerous CLE and educational seminars related to technology to law firms, bar associations, and corporate counsel. Norman graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.S. in Business Administration.
Brian M. Daubin, Vice President, Design and Engineering Services
Brian has over 16 years of experience managing teams and departments in the areas of mapping, estimating, gas control and records/document control. Brian has significant engineering and operations experience in gas transmission and gas distribution. Prior to joining Celerity, Brian was the Director of Gas Control Strategy and Support at PG&E and held positions as a Drafting Supervisor, District Superintendent for the McDonald Island storage field, Manager of Strength Test & Digs Programs, and Director of Gas Mapping. He has served as an acting member of the Operations Safety Regulatory Action Committee of the American Gas Association. In addition, he was an active committee member for the San Bruno NTSB investigations proceedings, PG&E’s Gas Records OII proceedings, and many other Gas regulatory investigation efforts. Brian is a certified Bentley MicroStation CAD (computer assisted design) operator and has more than 20 years of professional CAD experience. Brian received his Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from California State University, Sacramento.
Daniel E. Meredith, PE, Vice President, Engineering Services
Daniel brings over 24 years of utility industry experience and leadership to the Engineering Services practice. As Director and VP at Cascade Natural Gas Corporation, CGC Resources Inc., and Montana-Dakota Utilities Company, he was responsible for broad areas of engineering and operations services, including pipeline safety and compliance, engineering, measurement, gas control, GIS/mapping, corrosion control, major project construction and fabrication, land and right-of-way, environmental permitting and sites, third-party operations services and industrial gas sales. Daniel holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Washington, as well as a Professional Engineering license in mechanical engineering from the State of Washington.
Luano Nomellini, Vice President, Utility Consulting Services
Luano is chartered with ensuring client needs for records and information integrity are met through optimal project design, technology, and staffing. He has decades of natural gas and utility experience, leading projects and teams to ensure utility and gas records quality and to develop and maintain effective documentation processes and systems. His specific expertise includes mapping; systems management; process improvement; scanning and attribute coding; and team staffing, development, and management. Most recently, Luano was a Manager of Gas Transmission Mapping/Scanning and Attributing at Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E). Other positions at PG&E included Gas Engineering Manager, and Estimating and Mapping Supervisor. Luano holds a Business Degree from California State University, Fresno.
Christopher Purdy, Vice President, Analytical and Litigation Services
Christopher has over 17 years experience in litigation consulting. Prior to joining Celerity, Christopher was a founding partner of Certus Consulting Group and a Project Manager at ZIA information Analysis Group. He has significant experience in the development and execution of electronic and hard copy discovery strategies. Christopher also has extensive financial and data analysis experience, creating analytical databases from financial and business documents to support or assess damages claims or to determine potential client exposure. In addition, he has provided trial support, including assisting counsel with trial and witness preparation, and has provided Superior Court declarations in successful support of his client’s electronic discovery strategies. Christopher received his Bachelor Degree from the University of Delaware in 1990 and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
William Blastic, Executive Consultant & Electric Utility Practice Co-Leader
Mr. Blastic brings over 36 years of utility industry leadership and consulting experience to Celerity. In 27 years at Pacific Gas & Electric Company, he held Director level positions in engineering, electric operations, customer service, quality management, and emergency management. Prior to joining Celerity, Mr. Blastic was the Vice President of Business Services for GTS Engineering & Consulting. He has broad experience developing and implementing strategic objectives to maximize business results while enhancing organizational effectiveness and commitment. Mr. Blastic holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois.
David Bradley, PE, Executive Consultant & Electric Utility Practice Co-Leader
Mr. Bradley has over 37 years in the Electric and Gas utility industry, working in many Engineering and Management positions for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. He has over 30 years of experience as a Distribution and Transmission Engineer and Manager. He has served in positions as diverse as the Manager of Vegetation Management to Program Manager of New Customer Connections, to the Lab Manager at PG&E’s Applied Technology Services. Mr. Bradley holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City, SD. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of California.
Josephine Chan, Director
Josephine has over six years of experience within the utility industry. She has worked extensively in risk and compliance assisting clients with data collection, analysis, and review to deliver information needed in the regulatory support process. Josephine is especially adept at managing large, multidisciplinary teams in collaboration to perform records retrieval, document coding, and document review in support of business, legal, and engineering analysis. She also has significant experience working with clients in designing work-flow processes across internal groups. Josephine received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a focus in International Relations from the University of California, San Diego.
Joseph Derting, Director of Information Technology
Joseph has over 17 years of electronic discovery experience and has been a pioneer in the development and implementation of eDiscovery software, methodology and processes. At Celerity, Joseph manages the portfolio of eDiscovery applications and oversees custom discovery and information management development projects. He has taught electronic discovery theory to over 300 professionals in Europe and North America and has been a featured speaker at numerous seminars, CLE courses and educational events. Joseph is certified by Oregon State University in Computer Forensics and trained in the use and presentation of electronic evidence in Court, often appearing in U.S. District Court on behalf of clients. He has multiple industry software certifications such as Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) as well as a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. Joseph graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration.
Ephraim Dewar, Director of Electric Operations & Electric Utility Practice Leader
Mr. Dewar has over 25 years of experience in the electric utility industry. His experience in Transmission and Distribution design, construction and system operations, gives him a unique perspective to evaluate and meet the needs of his clients. He has worked or consulted for some of the major investor owned utilities in the USA, including ConEdison in New York City, Florida Power and Light (FPL), WE Energies, Duke Energy, Florida and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG &E). His expertise in the areas of engineering, operations and maintenance, system operations, system hardening, distribution construction, project management, underground network design, process re-engineering, root cause analysis and change management, has made him a highly sought-after consultant in the Industry. Ephraim holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of North Dakota and a Master of Arts Degree from Liberty University.
Chris Farley, Director, Utility Services
Chris has 20 years of consulting experience across a broad range of areas including information management, strategy, product development, sales, technical implementation, and analysis. Chris has worked extensively in the regulatory environment over the past ten years, collaborating with cross-functional teams from law, engineering, and regulatory relations to gain approval for large-scale capital projects in the utility industry. Chris started his career in technology services consulting before joining ZIA Information Analysis Group. His experience also includes management positions in the software industry and utility consulting. Chris graduated from Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.
Christopher Pearson, Director
Christopher has over six years of consulting experience primarily supporting natural gas and electric utilities with major document and data validation efforts. These include providing on-site support to pipeline integrity teams to determine and validate Maximum Allowable Operating Pressure (MAOP), perform annual Class Location Studies, and audit Leak Survey records. Christopher most recently managed a review of pipeline maps and geospatial data to determine compliance based on utility standards and federal regulations. Christopher also has significant experience overseeing and maintaining document databases to ensure a traceable, verifiable, and complete lineage between data and documents. Christopher received his Bachelor of Science in Political Science with emphasis in Law and Politics from Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin.
Kirill Satchkov, RCA, Director
Kirill has almost a decade of experience in litigation technology, early case assessment, eDiscovery, and database management. Kirill specializes in delivering and administering custom litigation data platforms for use in landmark legal cases. He has successfully developed and deployed project best practices, management standards, and methodologies that ensured the effective completion of high-visibility electronic evidence discovery initiatives. Kirill has had extensive involvement in data processing, large-scale forensic collections, and the vetting of project specific eDiscovery solutions. He is certified by the University of Washington in Digital Forensics and holds numerous industry certifications including being a Relativity Certified Administrator (RCA). Kirill graduated from the University of Washington with dual degrees in Economics and the Russian Language.
Donna Schmidt, Director of Finance
Donna oversees the Finance and Accounting functions at Celerity to ensure efficient day-to-day transactions and operations, effective systems and controls, and accurate planning, budgeting, and forecasting. Before joining Celerity, Donna was the Director of Human Resources and Finance at a world-famous ballet company. Prior to this, she has held senior accounting or controller positions at a range of companies including law firms, a private equity firm, and an Internet software company. Donna received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Golden State University. She is also a Certified Payroll Professional (CPP).
Charles Tsuji, RCA, Director
Charles has over 10 years of litigation support experience specializing in eDiscovery, computer forensics, technology risk management, data loss prevention, and document management practices. Most recently, Charles worked for an information security law firm where he advised clients on the collection, preservation, and production of ESI; drafted ESI-related discovery requests; and led document review teams. He also managed computer forensic projects investigating the misappropriation of confidential company information and violations of internal I.T. Use Policies. Charles received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington and his law degree from Seattle University School of Law.
J. Kris Virostek, PE, Director
Kris is a Director with Celerity Consulting Group, Inc., and has over 22 years of experience as an Engineer working with organizations such as GTS Engineering and Consulting and Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Kris has significant experience as an Engineer in the natural gas utility business, having managed the operation and maintenance of natural gas systems, coordinated compliance audits, created business plans, managed budgets, and developed an emergency response plan. Kris has coordinated and monitored the replacement of natural gas pipelines and has modeled and analyzed natural gas distribution and transmission systems using various software programs. In addition, she has coordinated and performed compliance reviews of local gas operation and maintenance activities as well as developed and managed the update of engineering and operations standards, compliance plans, and performance reports. Kris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering, as well as a Professional Engineering license in civil engineering from the State of California.
