NextGen Directors Program

Adam Berlew – Mr. Berlew is currently the chief marketing officer at Equinix. He previously held senior marketing and strategy roles at Atlassian and Google, where he also served as an advisory board member for CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth fund. Mr. Berlew has prior executive experience at Brocade, Dell, and CSSI, after starting his professional career at Boston Consulting Group. He currently serves on the board of Stifel Financial, where he is a member of the Compensation and Risk committees.  Mr. Berlew is an alumnus of the NextGen Directors program.

 

Jennifer Carlson – Ms. Carlson is a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, where she is a member of the Corporate & Financial Services Department and the Capital Markets practice, and the Co-Chair of the Public Company Advisory Practice. Previously, she spent a decade at Mayer Brown as a partner in their corporate and securities practice and began her legal career at Skadden. She represents companies and underwriters in a variety of capital markets and finance transactions, including debt and equity offerings, and liability management transactions. Ms. Carlson regularly advises companies on SEC disclosures, stock exchange compliance and fiduciary duties.

 

Deborah Diaz – Ms. Diaz is the former chief technology officer and deputy chief information officer of NASA, where she oversaw global data and system infrastructure, technology innovation, and regulatory stewardship. She also served as chief information officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology, and held multiple executive technology positions at other agencies such as U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, GSA, USAID and World Bank.  Ms. Diaz currently serves on the boards of Archer Aviation, where she is chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee; Primis, where she is the chair of the Enterprise Risk Committee, and ZeroAvia.  Ms. Diaz is an alumnus of the NextGen Directors program.

 

Ike Harris – Mr. Harris is the former corporate vice president of Global Supply Chain Operations at ZT Systems, a technology company specializing in the designing, manufacturing, and delivering server solutions for cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Prior to ZT Systems, Mr. Harris previously held supply chain leadership roles at Cisco and Hewlett-Packard.  He currently serves on the board of Lumentum, where he is a member of the Compensation Committee and Enterprise Risk Work Group. Mr. Harris is an alumnus of the NextGen Directors program.

 

Christine Heckart – Ms. Heckart is the founder and chief executive officer of Xapa, a gamified app designed to develop leaders at all levels of an organization. She previously served as chief executive officer of Scalyr, a venture-backed data analytics platform acquired by SentinelOne. Previously she held senior leadership roles at Cisco, Brocade, ServiceSource, NetApp, Microsoft, Juniper Networks and TeleChoice. She currently serves on the board at Contentful and SiTime and previously was a board member at 6sense and Lam Research.  Ms. Heckart is Directors Academy board member.

 

Wayne Hewett – Mr. Hewett currently is the chairman of Cambrex as well as the chairman of Quotient Sciences.  He previously was the chief executive officer of Klockner Pentaplast Group, Arysta LifeScience, and Momentive Performance Materials where he led the sale of the business from GE to private equity. Mr. Hewett began his professional career at GE and was chief executive officer of several businesses, including GE Advanced Materials, GE Silicones, GE Plastics Pacific, and GE Toshiba Silicones.  In addition, Mr. Hewett currently serves on the boards of The Home Depot, where he chairs the Leadership Development and Compensation Committee; UPS; and Wells Fargo, where he chairs the Finance Committee.

 

Heather Hiles – Heather Hiles is an entrepreneur, investor, and corporate board member. As the founder of the Pathbrite portfolio platform, Hiles had the distinction of raising the largest venture capital fund, and had the largest exit, for any Black woman.  In 2020, Hiles co-founded a seed-stage venture capital fund and previously invested in innovation at the Gates Foundation. Heather built the first statewide online community college, preparing and placing Californians in tech-related jobs. Today, Heather is investing in the healthcare education space. Hiles has served on dozens of boards and currently chairs one private company board while serving on the Audit and Nomination/Governance committees of a public company board, Udemy.

 

Dr. Amy Hillman – Dr. Hillman is the executive director of the New Governance Lab at Arizona State University, and the Rusty Lyon Chair of Strategy and Professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business at the university. She is also the former dean of the W. P. Carey School of Business and past president of the Academy of Management. Earlier in her career, she held faculty positions at the University of Western Ontario, Michigan State University and Texas A&M University. Dr. Hillman currently serves on the board of B:Side Capital.  She previously served on the boards of AMERCO, Bashas', and CDK Global where she was chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee.

 

Renee Hornbaker – Ms. Hornbaker is the founder and chief executive officer of Storey & Gates LLC, a consulting firm that provides business advisory services, and the former executive vice president, chief financial officer and board member at Stream Energy, a retail energy company that was acquired by NRG Energy in 2019. She previously held chief financial officer roles at Shared Technologies and Flowserve. Earlier in her career, she held senior finance leadership roles at Phelps Dodge and Circle K.  Ms. Hornbaker currently serves on two public company boards, Berry Corporation where she is board chair and also chairs the Audit Committee, and Eastman Chemical where she chairs the Finance Committee and was previously the chair of the Audit Committee.  She also serves on three private company boards, Ausenco, Global Advanced Metals and Freeman Company, where she is chair of the Finance Committee.

 

Dr. Chris Howard – Dr. Howard is executive vice president and chief operating officer of Arizona State University. He has spent the past two decades in academia, previously serving as president of Robert Morris University and Hampden-Sydney College, and vice president for leadership and strategic initiatives at the University of Oklahoma. Earlier in his career, he held corporate leadership roles at General Electric and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Howard currently serves on the boards of AvalonBay Communities and Ellucian.  He previously served on the National Security Education Board, appointed by President Barack Obama.

 

Darrell Jackson – Mr. Jackson’s professional career spanned over 37 years at Shore Bank, BMO Harris Bank and Northern Trust in executive roles overseeing private banking, investment, trust, commercial banking and wealth management organizations before he was named CEO of Seaway Bank and Trust in 2014. He has been a peer advisory board best practice chair at Vistage Worldwide the past seven years.  Mr. Jackson currently serves on the boards of Amalgamated Bank, where he chairs the Nominating and Governance Committee, FTC Solar, Janus Henderson Investors U.S. LLC, Dome Construction and Gray-Bowen-Scott. He previously served on the boards of Delaware Place Bank and Seaway Bank.  Mr. Jackson is an alumnus of the NextGen Directors program.

 

Susan Levine – Ms. Levine is a partner and member of the North American Private Equity team at Bain Capital Private Equity. As head of talent, Ms. Levine leads the human capital agenda across Bain’s North America portfolio which includes ensuring its companies have strong boards and senior leadership teams aligned with each organization’s strategic objectives.  Prior to joining Bain Capital, Ms. Levine served as Bain & Company’s director of North America marketing and client development and previously worked at Barents Group, advising clients M&A activities across emerging markets. She currently serves on the board of TI Fluid Systems and previously on the board of Diversey. Ms. Levine is also a Directors Academy board member.

 

Marizu Madu – Mr. Madu is a principal with Pay Governance, an independent executive compensation advisory firm. He has over 20 years of experience working with board compensation committees and management on all aspects of compensation related to executives, independent directors and the broader workforce. Prior to Pay Governance, Mr. Madu was a vice president at Pearl Meyer and previously worked at Towers Watson.

 

Bob Maricich – Mr. Maricich is the executive chairman and founder of ANDMORE (formerly International Market Centers) and served as chairman and chief executive officer of the company from 2011-24.  The company is the premier omnichannel wholesale marketmaker serving gift, home furnishings, and apparel industries.  In 2011, he pioneered the formation of International Market Centers, L.P., securing over $1 billion in funding from Bain Capital and Oaktree Capital Management enabling the strategic consolidation of major showroom properties in High Point, NC and the World Market Center in Las Vegas, creating the world’s largest network of permanent showroom and tradeshow facilities for furnishings, décor and gift sectors.  Prior to IMC, Mr. Maricich served as CEO of Century Furniture Industries, and president and CEO of American Drew Furniture and held leadership roles at American of Martinsville, Flexsteel Industries and Texaco.

 

Jonathan Mariner – Mr. Mariner served as chief financial officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2002 to 2014 and then chief investment officer until 2016. Following his retirement from MLB, he launched a new app, TaxDay, that tracks the time you spend working or living in different states to facilitate accurate residency reporting when individuals file their tax forms. He also served as chief administrative officer, chief people officer and board member of Enjoy Technology from 2020-22. Mr. Mariner is currently a general partner at Harbinger Sports and he serves on the boards of Delaware North, Five9, Overtime, and Rocket Companies, where he chairs the Audit Committee. He previously served on the board of McGraw Hill Education, Ultimate Software and Tyson Foods.

 

Kim McCaslin – Ms. McCaslin is a partner and head of the North America Private Equity Portfolio Group at Bain Capital Private Equity and has served on a number of portfolio company boards. Prior to joining Bain Capital, she served as vice president, M&A and corporate development at Capital One Financial. Ms. McCaslin was also a principal at Mercer Management Consulting, where she advised companies across a variety of industries. She began her career at Accenture, focusing on business process redesign and financial systems development projects.

 

Keith Meyer – Mr. Meyer is the co-founder and president of the Directors Academy, and also the global head of the CEO & Board Practice at Major, Lindsey & Africa. Mr. Meyer was founder and managing partner of Park Avenue Advisors and previously was vice chairman and managing partner of the Global Board Consulting Practice, and co-leader of the North America CEO & Board Practice, at Heidrick & Struggles. In addition, Mr. Meyer held a variety of operations, corporate development, and finance leadership roles with Exxon and PepsiCo. He was also a member of McKinsey’s global Energy Practice. He has previously been named to the list of 100 most influential people in corporate governance. Mr. Meyer is a Directors Academy board member.

 

Mike Millegan – Mr. Millegan served as president of Verizon Global Wholesale Group and concurrently President of the company’s Digital Media Services business, where he focused on global carrier, wireless and cable company network requirements from 2007 until his retirement in 2013. Previously, Mr. Millegan was senior vice president and market president for Verizon’s Midwest Operations and senior vice president of the company’s Enterprise/Wholesale business unit. Mr. Millegan also led the Logistics/Supply Chain business unit as the senior vice president from 2000 to 2004. Mr. Millegan is a member of the Axis Capital Holdings board where he chairs the Human Capital and Compensation Committee, and the Portland General Electric board where he chairs the Audit and Risk Committee. Previously, Mr. Millegan served on the Wireless Telecom and CoreSite boards, and he is a NextGen Directors program alumnus.

 

Dr. Pamela Puryear – Dr. Puryear is the former executive vice president and global chief human resources officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance. Previously, she was senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Zimmer Biomet, and senior vice president and chief talent officer at Pfizer. Earlier in her career, she served as vice president of organizational development and chief talent officer at Hospira. Dr. Puryear currently serves on the boards of SpartanNash, Standard Motor Products, and Fetch Pet Insurance.  She chairs the Compensation Committees for all three of her current boards. Dr. Puryear previously served on the boards of NextGen Healthcare and Rockley Photonics and is an alumnus of the NextGen Directors program.

 

Lynn Tetrault – Ms. Tetrault has more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare sector.  She is chair of the NeoGenomics board and a board member at Alumis and Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, where she chairs their Compensation and Management Development Committee. Ms. Tetrault served as executive vice president of Human Resources and Corporate Affairs at AstraZeneca Plc and held a variety of other executive roles during her 20+ years with the company. She is also the founder and principal of Anahata Leadership, an advisory firm focused on supporting the well-being and development of executive women.

 

Tamar Thompson – Ms. Thompson currently serves as vice president of Global Patient Experience and Insights Medical Affairs at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, having previously led the company’s global corporate affairs following the merger with AstraZeneca in 2021. Earlier in her career, she held senior roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb, ADVI and Kimbell & Associates.  She also held leadership roles in health policy and claims reimbursement at Avalere Health, Lantheus, Bracco, GE, Beacon Health Options and Humana. Ms. Thompson currently serves on the boards of Avidity Biosciences and Catalyst Pharmaceuticals where she is the chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee.   Ms. Thompson is an alumnus of the NextGen Directors program.

 

Tony Wells – Mr. Wells is a venture partner at AZ-VC, Arizona’s largest venture fund. He is the former chief media officer of Verizon, served as chief brand officer of USAA, and was the chief marketing officer at Schneider Electric North America, ADT, and 24 Hour Fitness. Earlier in his career, he held marketing and sales leadership roles at Visa, General Motors R*Works, SFX Sports Group, The Mills Corporation and Nissan.  Mr. Wells is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps.  He is currently a member of the Amalgamated Bank, Nexstar Media Group, TripleLift and Yelp boards. Mr. Wells is an alumnus of the NextGen Directors program.

 

James D. White – Mr. White is the former Chair, president and chief executive officer of Jamba Inc. and previously held senior executive roles at Safeway, Gillette and Ralston Purina. He is the co-founder of Culture Design Lab focused on developing and guiding CEOs, boards, and executive leaders on designing high-performance organizations with purpose. Mr. White is an experienced board chair and has served on over 20 pre-IPO, public and private boards during the past 20 years. He is currently the chair of The Honest Company board and a member of the Bay Club, CAVA, Greenlight, Schnuck Markets and Simply Good Foods Company boards.  His prior board service includes Adtalem Global Education; Affirm, where he was lead independent director; Hillshire; Medallia and Panera Bread. Mr. White is also co-founder and board chair of the Directors Academy.

 

Rhonda White – Rhonda White is a board member at Kiteworks, a board advisor at Air Protein, and a co-founder and chief operating officer of Culture Design Lab. She is a former chief marketing officer at MobileIron and Centrify, and she held executive and marketing roles at RocketFuel, an early AI company, Symantec, and Porter Novelli. She has over 25 years of strategic leadership experience in cybersecurity, technology, and consumer sectors.  She has a track record of operationalizing growth strategies, repositioning companies for market expansion, and supporting successful exits. Ms. White is an alumnus of the NextGen Directors program.

 

Felicia Williams – During her 20-year career with Macy's, Ms. Williams held various senior-level leadership roles including interim chief financial officer; executive vice president, controller and enterprise risk officer; senior vice president, treasury and risk management; and chief audit executive. Ms. Williams also served for three years as the Macy’s fellow for CEO Action for Racial Equity, a first of its kind, business-led coalition committed to advancing racial equity and social justice through public policy and corporate engagement.  She had previous experience in global finance, treasury, and audit roles with The Coca-Cola Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Arthur Andersen. Ms. Williams currently serves on the boards of Paycom and Anywhere Real Estate, where she chairs the Audit Committee for both boards, and she is also a board member at NeoGenomics. Ms. Williams was also the Audit Committee chair for Meridian Bioscience prior to the sale of the company.