Executive Management

Thomas Healy is the CEO at Hyliion, leading the company’s strategic growth in the commercial transportation industry. A mechanical engineer by trade with a passion for racing and motorsports, he founded the company in 2015 with the mission to bring the advantages of hybrid technology to tractor trailers. Under his leadership, Hyliion has raised $52 million in capital to date and acquired Gentherm’s battery division to fuel its ongoing innovation in hybrid electric technology.

A serial entrepreneur, Thomas founded two prior start-ups and was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2017. He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a dual bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and engineering and public policy.

Patrick Sexton is the CTO at Hyliion, where he develops, optimizes and implements powertrain solutions for Class 8 truck electrification. An experienced engineering and operations leader, Patrick has an extensive background in product development, commercialization, operations, program and change management, and organizational gap analysis.

Patrick previously served as director of engineering and powertrain innovations at Dana Incorporated. Prior to that, he held various engineering and consulting positions with General Compression, Fallbrook Technologies, AVL, Ricardo, Ford Motor Company and JCB. Patrick has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and manufacturing engineering from Cork Institute of Technology and holds numerous technology patents.

Sherri Baker is the CFO at Hyliion, where she oversees Hyliion’s financial operations and strategy, including financial planning and analysis, accounting, treasury, tax and investor relations. Baker has nearly two decades of finance and accounting leadership experience, as well as a strong understanding of investor relations, M&A and manufacturing operations, including go-to-market and engineering functions.

Prior to joining Hyliion, Sherri previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for PGT Innovations, a publicly traded, national leader and advanced manufacturer of premium windows and doors from March 2019 to January 2021. While there, Baker was responsible for the company’s finance strategy, budgeting and planning, accounting, legal, IT, financial reporting, and investor relations functions.

Sherri holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Accounting from the University of North Texas.

Gallagher has extensive background in strategic planning, growth initiatives, and process implementation in the commercial vehicle and automation industries. He joins Hyliion from Jacobs Vehicle Systems, where he served as President of the industry-leading supplier to the heavy-duty commercial truck market. Previously in his career, he has held executive roles within Danaher and Fortive where he successfully led a number of global business units. Gallagher graduated from the University of Lowell with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.

Oxholm comes to Hyliion with more than two decades of domestic and international experience and a track record of managing complex business transactions, litigation and new market entries for some of the automotive and transportation sectors’ most advanced companies, including LoJack Corporation, Ford Motor Corporation and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

Most recently, he served as vice president, deputy general counsel and chief compliance officer for Meritor, Inc., a leading global provider of on and off highway commercial truck and other agricultural and military vehicle parts, systems and solutions. In that role, he supported and directed strategic and tactical corporate legal initiatives for the company’s largest business unit among other responsibilities.

Cherian comes to Hyliion with nearly three decades of domestic and international experience in engineering, purchasing, and sales across industry leaders such as Meritor, Ford Motor Company, GM, and Dana. He started his career in the heavy truck industry at Meritor in engineering and subsequently moved into various roles in purchasing. He continued to build on these experiences while at Ford and GM, as he took on roles of increasing responsibility and leadership in their respective global purchasing organizations.

Most recently, Cherian was the senior director of electrification and North America OEM sales for Dana’s Commercial Vehicles business. In this role, he was responsible for driving the growth of electrified powertrain solutions at Dana, including establishing commercial relationships with OEM and fleet customers. Prior to this role, Cherian oversaw the Global Commercial Vehicles Purchasing organization at Dana, where he was responsible for delivering critical cost savings initiatives, supply chain strategies, and developing key supplier relationships.

As the Vice President of Human Resources for Hyliion Ms. Held is responsible for leading the human resources department, with a focus on developing and executing recruiting, talent acquisition and employee relations strategies that represent the organization’s culture and values. As a member of the executive team, Ms. Held contributes directly to long and short-term strategic objectives of the organization while maximizing organizational effectiveness. She oversees HR programs and initiatives that enhance the employee experience and partners with leaders across the organization.

Ms. Held has over 15 years of human resources management experience with 11 years in leadership roles. Prior to joining Hyliion, she was the Director of Human Resources for Dura Medic LLC, a durable medical equipment organization with over 100 employees in 23 states. Earlier in her career, she held leadership positions in the sports and entertainment industry. She has extensive experience in evaluating and improving process and efficiencies through technology and has expertise in creating superior human resources departments. Ms. Held also served in HR management roles with Legends, City of McKinney, Circuit of the Americas, and HEB Center.

Ms. Held holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Cultural Anthropology and American Ethnic Studies from Kansas State University, and later earned a Masters’ degree in human resource management from Chapman University.