Leadership Team

Charles E. Jones

President and Chief Executive Officer
Member, Board of Directors
FirstEnergy Corp.

Chuck Jones is president and chief executive officer of FirstEnergy.  

Jones began his career with Ohio Edison as a substation engineer in 1978. He held a variety of positions across the service territory, and in 1995 was named the president of Ohio Edison’s Penn Power subsidiary. He returned to Akron in 1996 as division manager. Jones was named the president of FirstEnergy’s Northern Region in 1997, vice president of Regional Operations in 2001, senior vice president of Energy Delivery and Customer Service in 2003, and president of FirstEnergy Solutions in 2007. He was named senior vice president of Energy Delivery and Customer Service in 2009, senior vice president and president of FirstEnergy Utilities in 2010, executive vice president and president of FirstEnergy Utilities in 2014, and to his current position on January 1, 2015.

Leila L. Vespoli

Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Regulatory Affairs, and Chief Legal Officer
FirstEnergy Corp.

Leila Vespoli’s key responsibilities of corporate strategy, regulatory affairs, and legal matters are closely aligned with FirstEnergy's regulated priorities. She is also responsible for Federal, State and Local Governmental Affairs and Economic Development, Rates, Corporate Affairs & Community Involvement and Business Development. Vespoli also chairs the FirstEnergy Foundation

Vespoli began her career in 1984 as an associate attorney with Ohio Edison, which merged with Centerior Energy in 1997 to form FirstEnergy. After a series of promotions, she was appointed associate general counsel in 1997 and named vice president and general counsel in 2000. Vespoli was named senior vice president and general counsel in 2001, executive vice president and general counsel in 2008, and vice president, Markets and chief legal officer in 2014. She was elected to her current position in 2016.

James F. Pearson

Executive Vice President, Finance
FirstEnergy Corp.

Jim Pearson leads the finance functions for FirstEnergy. He was named to his current position effective March 2018. 

Pearson began his career at Ohio Edison subsidiary, Penn Power, in 1976. Ohio Edison later merged with Centerior Energy in 1997 to form FirstEnergy. Pearson held several positions in the Accounting Department before being named the director of Financial Reporting at Ohio Edison in 1992. He was promoted to group controller for FirstEnergy Solutions in 2001. In 2004, Pearson was named group controller of FirstEnergy’s Strategic Planning and Operations Group, and he was named treasurer of FirstEnergy in 2005. He was promoted to vice president and treasurer in 2006, and to senior vice president and treasurer in 2012.  He was elected senior vice president and chief financial officer in 2013 and executive vice president and chief financial officer in 2015.

Samuel L. Belcher

Senior Vice President and
President, FirstEnergy Utilities

Sam Belcher is responsible for FirstEnergy’s 10 regulated electric utility operating companies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York, as well as the company’s transmission assets and investments. He is also responsible for energy delivery, customer service, compliance with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission transmission requirements, and energy efficiency activities. 

Belcher joined FENOC as senior vice president and chief operating officer in 2012 from Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, where he was senior vice president, Site Operations. Earlier, he held the positions of site vice president and plant general manager at Constellation’s Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station. Prior to Constellation, Belcher served as director of Fleet Operations at FENOC and held a number of operations leadership positions with Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station and Entergy Nuclear’s River Bend and Arkansas Nuclear One.

He was named the president and chief nuclear officer for FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., in 2015, and named to his current position effective March 2018.

Gary Benz

Senior Vice President, Strategy
FirstEnergy Service Company

Gary Benz leads the ongoing refinement of FirstEnergy's corporate strategy and long-term business forecast, monitors strategy implementation, and oversees development of new business opportunities. He was appointed to his current position in June 2015.

Benz joined the company in 1989 as an attorney. He was promoted to senior counsel in 1997 and associate general counsel in 2000. He was named the director of Business Development in 2009 and executive director in 2011. He was promoted to vice president of Supply Chain in 2012.

Dennis Chack

Senior Vice President, Product Development, Marketing and Branding
FirstEnergy Service Company

Dennis Chack has overall responsibility for corporate branding, corporate communications, and marketing of services and energy efficiency programs. He was appointed to his current position in June 2015.

Chack began his career in the Transmission Engineering Department of Ohio Edison in 1969. He held a number of management positions in marketing and sales with the company before being promoted to vice president of FirstEnergy Solutions in 1999. He was named the regional president of the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company in 2001, and president of Ohio Operations in 2011.

Michael J. Dowling

Senior Vice President, External Affairs
FirstEnergy Service Company

Mike Dowling is responsible for FirstEnergy’s local, state and federal Governmental Affairs; Energy Policy; State Regulatory Affairs and Market Policies; Economic Development; Corporate Affairs and Community Involvement, and the FirstEnergy Political Action Committee.

Dowling joined Ohio Edison as a member of the Communications Department in 1986. In 1990, he joined the Governmental Affairs Department and was named manager of Federal Governmental Affairs in 1997. He was named vice president of Federal Governmental Affairs in 2001. In 2004, Dowling was named vice president of Supply Chain and was promoted to vice president of Governmental Affairs in 2005. In 2008, he was named vice president, Communications and promoted to vice president, External Affairs in 2010. He was named to his current position in 2011.

Bennett L. Gaines

Senior Vice President, Corporate Services and 
Chief Information Officer
FirstEnergy Service Company

Bennett Gaines is responsible for the delivery of Information Technology (IT) services, including FirstEnergy’s corporate IT strategy and governance process, as well as the company’s communications and data network. He also is responsible for both physical and cyber Corporate Security, Flight Operations and Supply Chain. He was appointed to his current position in 2012.

Gaines joined FirstEnergy in 2006 as vice president, Information Technology/Corporate Security and chief information officer. Earlier in his career, he was vice president and chief information officer at Cincinnati-based Cinergy Corp., where he was responsible for the delivery of IT services and telecommunications and network operations.

Charles D. Lasky

Senior Vice President, Human Resources
and Chief Human Resources Officer 
FirstEnergy Service Company

Charles Lasky administers the company’s employee pay and benefits program, and is responsible for employee relations and recruiting, compliance, organizational effectiveness, labor relations, and safety.

Lasky joined the company in 1986 as an engineer at the W.H. Sammis Plant in Stratton, Ohio. After serving in various engineering positions at Sammis and other locations, he was promoted to planning supervisor at the R.E. Burger Plant, in Shadyside, Ohio, in 1992, and to Industrial Relations coordinator in the Akron General Office from 1994 to 1995. Lasky then served in various fossil operations and plant management positions before being named the director of the Bruce Mansfield Plant, in Shippingport, Pa., in 2001. From 2004 through 2015 Lasky held several vice president roles in Fossil Operations. He was named senior vice president, Human Resources, in 2015, and to his current position effective March 2018.

Steven E. Strah

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
FirstEnergy Service Company

Steve Strah was named senior vice president and chief financial officer of FirstEnergy in March 2018.  His responsibilities include Accounting, Corporate Risk, Internal Auditing, Investor Relations and Treasury.  

Previously, he was senior vice president and president of FirstEnergy Utilities, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp.

Strah began his career with The Illuminating Company in 1984. He later served as director of Business Services for FirstEnergy's Northern Region – Ohio, and director of Operations Support Services for the company's Western Region – Ohio. In 2001, he was named the president of the Northern Region for Jersey Central Power & Light, and in 2005, he was named the regional president of Ohio Edison. He was promoted to vice president, Distribution Support, for FirstEnergy Utilities in 2011, and to his current position in 2015.

Jason J. Lisowski

Vice President, Controller and
Chief Accounting Officer 
FirstEnergy Service Company

Jason J. Lisowski is vice president, controller, and chief accounting officer, responsible for the controller, tax, and accounting functions across FirstEnergy.

Lisowski joined the company in 2004 as an assistant accountant, progressing through professional accountant and analyst positions before being named manager, Corporate Budgeting & Forecasting, in 2010. Lisowski was promoted to manager, Financial Reporting and Technical Accounting in 2011. He advanced to assistant controller, FES and FirstEnergy Generation in 2012, and was named controller and treasurer for FES in 2017. He was named to his current position in March 2018.

Robert Reffner

Vice President and General Counsel 
FirstEnergy Service Company

Robert P. Reffner is FirstEnergy's vice president and general counsel.

He joined FirstEnergy as vice president, Legal, in 2007 and was elected to his current position in 2013.  Earlier in his career, Reffner served as a partner at Brouse McDowell, a business law firm in northeastern Ohio. 

Reffner was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1977 and is a member of the Ohio State and Akron Bar Associations. He was listed in Best Lawyers in America for many years while in private practice, specializing in corporate law. In addition, he also has been recognized as one of northeast Ohio’s leading lawyers by Inside Business. was listed in Northern Ohio Live as one of the region’s top lawyers, and was named an Ohio Super Lawyer by Cincinnati Magazine.

Ebony Yeboah-Amankwah

Vice President, Corporate Secretary 
and Chief Ethics Officer
FirstEnergy Service Company

Ebony Yeboah-Amankwah is responsible for the Corporate, Real Estate and Records & Information Compliance departments.

She joined the company in 2005 as an attorney supporting the company’s Treasury Department. She was promoted several times in the Legal Department, developing expertise in the area of state regulatory affairs. She joined the External Affairs Department in 2011 as executive director of State Affairs supporting legislative and regulatory matters before returning to the Legal Department in 2012 as executive director, State and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Legal Affairs. Yeboah-Amankwah advanced to vice president, State, and Federal Regulatory Legal Affairs in January 2017. She was named to her current position in July 2017.