![](https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Melanie_Little_Med_230120_225754.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=f39a521c59b668e4ac4edda0bac42258 320w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Melanie_Little_Med_230120_225754.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=de2ff35deaea43c5b4357579be58ae55 540w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Melanie_Little_Med_230120_225754.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=cdf5e9cc7e04b5ae456d45f73d93ba10 768w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Melanie_Little_Med_230120_225754.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=2d1f78bef6153e88fb71d6bf7837350e 1024w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Melanie_Little_Med_230120_225754.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1200&s=4de50acad90dfa0a99f0bbdaed5a4f68 1182w)
Melanie Little
President, Chief Executive Officer
Melanie Little is the President and Chief Executive Officer for Colonial Pipeline Company, the largest refined petroleum products pipeline system in the United States. She joined Colonial Pipeline in January 2023 with more than two decades of experience in the energy industry.
Prior to joining Colonial, Melanie served as the Chief Operating Officer at Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P., with responsibility for assets in 15 states, consisting of 12,000 miles of pipelines, 55 terminals, and a team of more than 1,400.
Before being promoted to COO, Melanie served in various leadership roles at Magellan, with the opportunity to lead teams in operations, commercial, and compliance.
Prior to joining Magellan in 2004, she worked for The Williams Companies, Inc. She previously held project management positions in the areas of environmental remediation as a contractor for the Department of the Army. Melanie is a Veteran, serving in the U.S. Army, Army Reserve, and the Georgia National Guard.
Melanie holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from the United States Military Academy and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
In 2023, Melanie joined the Board of Directors of Cenovus Energy (CVE), the second-largest Canadian oil and natural gas producer, refiner, and upgrader. She serves on the boards of the American Petroleum Institute – the largest U.S. trade association for the oil and natural gas industry – and the Liquid Energy Pipeline Association. Melanie also serves on the National Petroleum Council.
Melanie previously served on the boards of Diversified Energy Company (DECPF), where she chaired the Remuneration Committee, Discovery Lab, where she chaired the Exhibits Committee, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
![](https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/1.1.3a6-Clay-Miller-Headshot-crop.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=79a0f717396ccf5e42ed0aef47718821 200w)
Clay Miller
SVP, Chief Financial Officer
Clay Miller is Colonial’s senior vice president and chief financial officer. He is responsible for the company’s financial operations and related controls, and supports its commitment to safe and reliable operations, profitable growth, and disciplined cost management. He has more than 20 years of experience that include private-to-public company transactions and executing post-transaction plans of transformation, securing capital for growth and operating needs, installing acquisition and integration capabilities, managing relationships with financial regulators, and implementing cost-management practices.
Clay leads the company’s strategic analysis, treasury, accounting, tax, financial regulatory reporting, project management office, and procurement functions. Under Clay’s leadership the company recently completed the construction of its new corporate headquarters facility and primary command center. Clay previously served as the company’s corporate controller. He has fostered high-performance teams and more broadly enhanced the culture through initiatives that assess and develop potential talent.
Prior to joining Colonial in 2013, Clay served as vice president and corporate controller of a leading chemical manufacturer, marketer, and service provider he helped guide through a spin-off that rendered it an independent public company. Following this transaction, Clay helped lead transformational cost-reduction initiatives that enabled the company to recapitalize and initiate an acquisition-based growth strategy that added new lines of business and expanded the company’s operations globally. Clay began his career in public accounting where he held positions at Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young.
Clay earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration as well as a master’s degree in accountancy from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. He holds a master’s in business administration from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. In addition, Clay is a certified public accountant. He has been a member of various professional organizations throughout his career and has served on the Liquid Energy Pipeline Association’s Accounting Committee. And Clay was recently named to the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business CFO Roundtable Advisory Board.
![](https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/David-Gray-VP-and-General-Counsel-Colonial-Pipeline_web_230120_230042.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=30706110aac9aafd936da7ebc718bf28 320w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/David-Gray-VP-and-General-Counsel-Colonial-Pipeline_web_230120_230042.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=fd351cfd09b0c99cf637fdfc65d82766 540w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/David-Gray-VP-and-General-Counsel-Colonial-Pipeline_web_230120_230042.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=c8f31dbaddc20289dd2917d69c11b1d0 768w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/David-Gray-VP-and-General-Counsel-Colonial-Pipeline_web_230120_230042.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=20abea6c3c838197c22634517ccccdc7 962w)
David Gray
SVP and General Counsel
David Gray is Colonial’s senior vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer, and corporate secretary. He is an experienced executive with over 20 years of diverse experience in the energy sector, including leading legal, commercial, risk, audit, compliance, and regulatory groups with a focus on the safe, reliable, and profitable transportation and storage of fuels. His experience includes high-growth environments in heavily regulated energy businesses, and he has deep experience in setting and driving business strategy, building and leading high-performing teams, building trusted relationships with partners, regulators, and stakeholders, and driving top-performing cultures of ethics, compliance, and safety.
David leads the company’s Legal, Audit, Enterprise Compliance, and Information Governance groups, and is actively engaged in representing the company with various industry groups, including Liquid Energy Pipeline Association (LEPA). David has more than 25 years of legal experience in complex regulatory environments, primarily focused on the energy industry.
Prior to joining Colonial in 2019, David was senior vice president for the midstream business of EQT Corporation, one of the largest midstream providers in North America. In this role, he was responsible for business development, asset optimization, and the rates and regulatory departments. Under David’s leadership, the midstream business experienced record growth, driven by large-scale and transformational greenfield builds and asset optimization projects, which ultimately resulted in the successful IPO of Equitrans Midstream Corporation. He also was instrumental in building strong relationships with partners, regulators, and stakeholders.
During his tenure at EQT, David also served as general counsel for Equitable Gas Company, providing the legal oversight of the sale of that business, and assistant general counsel for midstream and commercial. He provided extensive legal oversight in various areas, including regulatory, commercial, corporate governance, litigation, and environmental matters. Prior to EQT, he was assistant general counsel for FirstEnergy and Allegheny Energy, Inc., and he has approximately 12 years of experience in private law practice with several firms.
David is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in economics. He holds a juris doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
![](https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Jamie-cropped-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=7c93d643883d309a46dfd37e385ff8fd 320w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Jamie-cropped-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=70ae0aa093fbdace5e35eded296bc6a8 540w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Jamie-cropped-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=6d7ce0bbda5dfd5ca0978e62ef4df5f9 768w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Jamie-cropped-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=fb67dea7e167fc89189beadc2434502b 1024w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Jamie-cropped-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1200&s=b890fb83d248250800078a3191d69b0b 1200w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Jamie-cropped-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1440&s=f9d73520b62934109b79f7b69b1feb69 1440w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Jamie-cropped-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1920&s=7cca56eade3b126bf09b52f9f20ea534 1920w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Jamie-cropped-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=2560&s=3ec298b0368c17fa2fc3245adaf6e5b0 2495w)
Jamie Chapman
SVP, Technical Services
Jamie Chapman came to Colonial in 2021 to lead the Engineering and Asset Integrity teams after spending nine years with Kinder Morgan, directing engineering and project management teams on primarily liquid refined products pipelines coast to coast and internationally.
Prior to his work with Kinder Morgan, Jamie’s background includes additional engineering leadership roles, project management, and design experience with engineering consulting firms.
He began his career serving six years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where he earned multiple awards for outstanding service and performance and separated as a Captain. In addition, he holds a master’s degree in civil engineering from the Missouri University of Science & Technology and earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at Tulane University.
Jamie now leads the Technical Services group, which is comprised of our Asset Integrity, Engineering, Corporate and Field Project Management teams.
Jamie is a current member of the Pipeline Research Council International Executive Assembly and participates in the American Petroleum Institute and the API Committee on Pipeline Standards.
![](https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Chris-cropped-1_231103_134515.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=91a34173f2f3b9fa3a85fa617f3d8747 320w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Chris-cropped-1_231103_134515.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=72f6a68fa4a57321411b06d71660dbae 540w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Chris-cropped-1_231103_134515.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=83f72dda8ccda86fa85e536f0b4f2c84 768w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Chris-cropped-1_231103_134515.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=e8fb49c71e71fb840ef075a0f8d4faf9 1024w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Chris-cropped-1_231103_134515.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1200&s=83d73ef824d94675fd1cf43fea553a2e 1200w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Chris-cropped-1_231103_134515.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1440&s=b92d2deb174ed9123a10ca38d82a8d6c 1440w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Chris-cropped-1_231103_134515.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1920&s=2389d35be5b2d1d8b1e26f1ea2a8dfc9 1920w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Chris-cropped-1_231103_134515.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=2560&s=498205e4cc01703f3d095d57401fa956 2560w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Chris-cropped-1_231103_134515.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=3840&s=ec0a7e578ccbba97d3c5548a3e9d5516 2633w)
Chris Smith
VP, People and Communications
As Colonial Pipeline’s Vice President of People and Communications, Chris Smith is responsible for leading Colonial’s human resources (HR) strategy and operations, including total rewards, talent acquisition, leadership and employee development, employment practices and HR technology, and enterprise communications.
Chris joined Colonial in July 2018 as the Director of People Technology and Business Intelligence with over 20 years of experience. She is a results-oriented leader who motivates and encourages her teams to partner cross-functionally to deliver strategic initiatives. During her tenure, Chris has been promoted into additional leadership positions including Chief of Staff and Senior Director of People Technology and Process Improvement as well as Vice President, People Services and Rewards.
Prior to joining Colonial, Chris served in various roles across different industries, leading teams with a focus on HR transformation, project management, system implementations and process improvement. Chris began her career at Accenture where she managed and consulted with multiple clients to deliver successful projects across people, process and technology.
Chris is a graduate of Florida State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems (MIS).
![](https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Afshean-Talasaz-002.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=0c05af86308e301f3d6bd995a25328e3 320w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Afshean-Talasaz-002.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=9a1252d4278c6f430fcc82f14ddb9bea 540w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Afshean-Talasaz-002.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=296dd9e53fb3b37353f41d43bd5b4ea2 768w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Afshean-Talasaz-002.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=57fef3aaada73fa931acb9808aa5490d 800w)
Afshean Talasaz
SVP, Chief Technology and Data Officer
Afshean Talasaz is a senior vice president and Colonial’s Chief Technology and Data Officer. He leads the Technology team as well as the Optimization, Efficiency & Innovation team. He joined Colonial Pipeline in March 2023.
Before joining Colonial, Afshean served as the Director of Digital Innovation and Enterprise Architecture at Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P., with responsibility for Digital Innovation, Data, Architecture, Cloud, and Technology Strategic Partnerships across the enterprise.
Prior to his role at Magellan, Afshean served in various leadership roles in the upstream sector in Corporate Planning, Strategic Planning, M&A, Data Science & Advanced Analytics, and Digital Transformation.
Afshean holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Central Oklahoma. He also serves on the board of the Oklahoma Center for Non-Profits.
![](https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Mike-Sims.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=03f7f67d46a6722cf521635c85789b49 320w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Mike-Sims.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=8db96219f4e3b60a03998298100bce17 540w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Mike-Sims.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=0fc7f333bdfc694d856c9a6ef7d35a30 768w, https://colpipe.imgix.net/media/Team/Mike-Sims.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=c2fc3dda2a03ab726d2f13ef1209c768 800w)
Mike Sims
VP, Commercial Affairs
Mike Sims is Vice President of Commercial Affairs at Colonial, where he leads the Colonial Pipeline Commercial Affairs Team and the COLPipe Marketing affiliate. Mike joined Colonial in May 2024.
An experienced leader in the midstream sector with nearly 30 years of experience in the energy industry, Mike is focused on engaging with Colonial’s shippers and customers, identifying and implementing organic growth opportunities, and building out the COLPipe Marketing team as the affiliate grows.
Prior to joining Colonial, Mike spent nine years at Kinder Morgan leading multiple commercial teams responsible for the company’s crude oil pipelines, crude oil and transmix processing assets, and crude oil marketing functions – standing up and managing its affiliated trading and marketing business.
Mike has also held leadership roles at TEPPCO Partners and Enterprise Products in commercial midstream asset management, business development, business strategy, trading/marketing and acquisition arenas. Mike started his career as a consultant at Ernst & Young and holds a bachelor’s degree in business analysis from Texas A&M University.