Sunday, March 27, 2022

Meet GANNETT's Dodgy Board of Directors (From GANNETT's 2021 Proxy Statement)

Unadorned by journalists, these are the corporate oligarchs who must be held  responsible for the dumbing down of the St. Augustine Record, which has slashed staff, news coverage and now no longer publishes a print edition on Saturdays:


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Name, Position, Age
Description
Michael E. Reed 
Chairman of the Board and 
Chief Executive Officer 
Age: 54 
Director since November 2013 
 
 
Mr. Reed has been Chairman of the Board since May 2019, and he has served as our Chief Executive Officer and President, and a member of our Board, since November 26, 2013. Previously, he had been Chief Executive Officer of GateHouse Media, Inc. (“GateHouse”), our predecessor, since January 2006 and served in this position when GateHouse filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in September 2013. He was a member of the board of directors of GateHouse since October 2006. Mr. Reed formerly served on the Board of Directors for the Newspaper Association of America, including one year as Chairman. He formerly served on the Board of Directors for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, from 2009 to 2014. Mr. Reed also formerly served as a director of the Associated Press and Chairman of the Audit Committee for the Associated Press. Mr. Reed currently also serves on the Board of Directors of TouchCare Holdings LLC. 
  
Mr. Reed has a deep understanding of our operations, strategy and people, as well as our industry, serving in senior executive capacities in the newspaper and publishing industries for more than 20 years. Mr. Reed also has extensive corporate board experience.
 
 
Kevin M. Sheehan 
Lead Director 
Age: 67 
Director since November 2013 
Lead Director since May 2019 
 
 
 
Mr. Sheehan has been a member of our Board since November 2013, and as Lead Director since May 2019. He was a member of the board of directors of GateHouse from October 2006 through November 2013 and served in this position when GateHouse filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in September 2013. From August 2016 to September 2018, Mr. Sheehan served as a director of, and from June 2018 to October 2018, as a senior advisor to, Scientific Games Corporation, a provider of games, systems and services for casino, lottery, social gaming, online gaming and sports betting. Mr. Sheehan served as the chief executive officer and president of Scientific Games from August 2016 until June 2018. From February 2015 through August 2016, Mr. Sheehan taught full time as the John J. Phelan, Jr. Distinguished Visiting Professor of Business at Adelphi University. Mr. Sheehan currently serves as a director and a member of the audit committee, and commencing in April 2021, the chairman of Dave & Buster’s (Nasdaq: PLAY), a director and member of the audit committee of Navistar, Inc., (NYSE: NAV), and a director and a member of the audit committee of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HRI) and its wholly-owned subsidiary The Hertz Corporation. Mr. Sheehan previously served as a director of Bob Evans Farms (Nasdaq: BOBE) from April 2014 to May 2017. 
  
Mr. Sheehan has significant experience in a senior management capacity for large corporations. Specifically, his experience as the chief executive officer and chief financial officer of several large corporations provides him with important experience and skills, as well as an understanding of the complexities of our current economic environment. Mr. Sheehan also brings significant financial expertise to our Board and is a Certified Public Accountant.
 
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Name, Position, Age
Description
Vinayak R. Hegde 
Director 
Age: 51 
Director since February 2021 
 
 
 
Mr. Hegde has served as president and chief operating officer at Blink Health LLC, a digital health company that uses its technology platform to make prescriptions affordable and conveniently accessible for patients, since July 2020. From September 2018 to July 2020, Mr. Hegde served as the vice president of global growth and performance marketing and traffic and chief marketing officer Airbnb Homes, at Airbnb, which operates an online marketplace and hospitality service for leasing or renting short-term lodging. From October 2014 to September 2018, Mr. Hegde served as the senior vice president and global chief marketing officer at Groupon, Inc., a company that operates online local commerce marketplaces that connect merchants to consumers by offering discounted goods and services in Europe, North America and Africa. Mr. Hegde has served as a director of LifeVantage Corporation (Nasdaq: LFVN) since February 2017. 
  
Mr. Hegde has significant digital and operational experience in leadership positions at multiple large corporations. His experience as chief operating officer and chief marketing officer at innovative and fast-growing companies is considered extremely valuable to assist the Board in our digital transformation efforts.
 
 
Theodore P. Janulis 
Director 
Age: 62 
Director since January 2014 
 
 
Mr. Janulis founded and has served as a principal of Investable Oceans, an investment platform focused on sustainable ocean investing, since September 2019. From January 2014 until June 2016, Mr. Janulis served as the Chief Executive Officer of CRT Greenwich LLC, a financial services company. Prior to that, Mr. Janulis served as Chief Executive Officer of Aurora Bank FSB, a federal savings bank, from September 2008 to January 2013. Before Aurora, Mr. Janulis spent 23 years at Lehman Brothers in various senior management roles including Global Head of Mortgage Capital, Global Head of the Investment Management Division, which included Neuberger Berman, and Global Co-Head of Fixed Income. Mr. Janulis also served on the firm’s Executive Committee. 
  
Mr. Janulis’ knowledge, skill, expertise and experience, including his extensive senior management experience, his service as chief executive officer of two companies and his significant financial background, as evidenced by his professional and educational history, provides us with valuable experience at the board level.
 
 
John Jeffry Louis III 
Director 
Age: 58 
Director since November 2019 
 
 
Mr. Louis has served as a director since November 2019. He served as a director and as Chairman of the Board of Legacy Gannett from June 2015 to November 2019. Mr. Louis previously served as a director of TEGNA, Inc., Legacy Gannett’s former parent, from October 2006 until June 2015. Mr. Louis is the co-founder of Parson Capital Corporation, a Chicago-based private equity and venture capital firm, and served as its chairman from 1992 to 2007. He currently serves as a director of The Olayan Group and S.C. Johnson and Son, Inc. 
  
Mr. Louis has financial expertise, with substantial experience in founding, building and selling companies and in investing in early stage companies from his years of experience in the venture capital industry as a leader of Parson Capital and as an entrepreneur who has founded a number of companies and provides the Board with a valuable perspective.
 
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Name, Position, Age
Description
Maria Miller 
Director 
Age: 64 
Director since October 2019 
 
 
Ms. Miller joined our Board in October 2019. Ms. Miller has a more than 30-year career in innovative marketing and digital communications, spanning the consumer products, financial services, e-commerce, travel, hospitality and cruise industries. Most recently, she served as Chief Marketing Officer for Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line from June 2017 to January 2019 2019. Ms. Miller also held various senior marketing roles at several companies, including Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE: NCLH), Dave & Buster’s, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLAY), Elance, Inc. (now Upwork) (Nasdaq: UPWK), Avis Rent A Car, Inc. (Nasdaq: CAR), American Express (NYSE: AXP), the General Foods Corporation and The Shulton Group. Ms. Miller serves on the board of directors of Playa Hotels & Resorts N.V. 
  
Ms. Miller’s extensive marketing experience as well as her strong digital communications background are skills our Board highly values. In addition, Ms. Miller has extensive executive leadership experience.
 
 
Debra Sandler 
Director 
Age: 61 
Director since November 2019 
 
 
Ms. Sandler serves as president and chief executive officer of La Grenade Group, LLC, a privately held consulting firm that she founded in 2015 and advises a wide range of clients on marketing innovation and overall business development. Ms. Sandler served as a director of Legacy Gannett from June 2015 to November 2019. Ms. Sandler served as chief health and wellbeing officer of Mars, Inc., a manufacturer of confectionary, food, and pet food products, from July 2014 through June 2015, having served as president, Chocolate, North America from April 2012 to July 2014, and chief consumer officer, Mars Chocolate, North America from November 2009 to March 2012. Prior to joining Mars, Ms. Sandler spent ten years with Johnson & Johnson in a variety of leadership roles and, before that, 13 years with PepsiCo. She serves as a director of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (Nasdaq: KDP), Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG), Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE: ADM), a trustee of Hofstra University, and is a member of the Executive Leadership Council. Ms. Sandler is a regular speaker on topics such as diversity and inclusion, multicultural business development and health and wellbeing in the consumer packaged goods industry. Ms. Sandler has served a member of the Board of Executive Managers of Pharmavite, LLC since 2017. 
  
Ms. Sandler has strong marketing and operating experience and a proven record of creating, building, enhancing and leading well-known consumer brands as a result of the leadership positions she has held with Mars, Johnson & Johnson and PepsiCo.
 
 
Laurence Tarica 
Director 
Age: 71 
Director since January 2014 
 
 
Mr. Tarica has served as a member of our Board since January 2014. He was president and chief operating officer of Jimlar Corporation (“Jimlar”), a member of the Li and Fung Group and a designer, distributor, and supplier of footwear, from March 1991 until his retirement in December 2014. Mr. Tarica serves on the board of directors of D’Addario and Company, a manufacturer of musical instrument accessories. Mr. Tarica also serves on the Advisory Board of the New York Mets. 
  
Mr. Tarica’s knowledge, skill, expertise and experience, specifically his experiences in a variety of business divisions, including sales and marketing, his development of Jimlar’s digital services and social media strategy and his over 20 years of operational and leadership experience as the president and chief operating officer of Jimlar, are attributes our Board considers highly valuable.
 
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Name, Position, Age
Description
Barbara Wall 
Director 
Age: 66 
Director since November 2019 
 
 
Ms. Wall has served on our Board since November 2019. She served as the chief legal officer of Legacy Gannett from June 2015 to November 2019, and as its interim chief operating officer from March 2019 to November 2019. She previously held various other positions with TEGNA, Inc., where she worked for thirty years. 
  
Ms. Wall brings extensive First Amendment and legal expertise in addition to a deep knowledge of Legacy Gannett and its history and operations.


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