Corporate Governance
Governance Documents
Committee Composition
Audit Committee | Compensation Committee | Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee | |
---|---|---|---|
Diane Carhart | Audit Committee | ||
Raymond J. Lane | Compensation Committee | ||
Ned Segal | Audit Committee | ||
Christopher Isaac “Biz” Stone | Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee | ||
Donald Thompson | Compensation Committee | ||
Kathy N. Waller | Audit Committee | Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee |
Board of Directors
Mr. Brown also created and opened a center for fuel reformation and has held several industry positions, including Vice Chairman of the Board at The National Hydrogen Association and Secretary of the United States Fuel Cell Council. He is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and, along with Beyond Meat, is the recipient of the United Nation’s highest environmental accolade, Champion of the Earth (2018). Mr. Brown holds an MBA from Columbia University, an MPP with a focus on Environment from the University of Maryland and a BA in History and Government from Connecticut College. We believe Mr. Brown’s strategic vision for our company and his expertise in technology and business operations makes him qualified to serve on our board of directors.
Seth Goldman joined Beyond Meat as a member of our board of directors in February 2013. Mr. Goldman served as Executive Chair of Beyond Meat from October 2015 through February 2020. Mr. Goldman has served as Founder and Chief Change Agent of Eat the Change, including PLNT Burger, a quick-serve restaurant concept, since March 2020. Mr. Goldman was the TeaEO Emeritus and Innovation Catalyst for The Coca-Cola Company’s Venturing & Emerging Brands, a part-time position he held from November 2015 through December 2019. Mr. Goldman co-founded Honest Tea Inc., a bottled organic tea company, in February 1998, which was later sold to The Coca-Cola Company, and previously served as Honest Tea’s President and TeaEO until 2015.
In 2015, Mr. Goldman was named the #1 Disruptor by Beverage World and Beverage Executive of the Year by Beverage Industry magazine. He has also been recognized as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and by the Washington DC Business Hall of Fame. In 2018, Partnership for a Healthier America recognized Mr. Goldman with its Visionary CEO award. Mr. Goldman is the co-chair of the Yale School of Management’s Entrepreneurship Advisory Board and serves on the advisory board of Bethesda Green, a local sustainability non-profit he co-founded (January 2008 to present). He also served on the board of Ripple Foods, a dairy-free plant-based milk company (November 2015 to October 2020), and the advisory board of the American Beverage Association (2013 until 2019) and the Yale School of Management (July 2013 to March 2020).
Mr. Goldman has a BA degree in Government from Harvard College and a Masters of Private & Public Management degree from Yale School of Management and is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. We believe that Mr. Goldman is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive experience working at fast-growing brands in the food and beverage industry, his experience founding and building an entrepreneurial company and his knowledge of sustainable business practices.
Prior to joining Kleiner Perkins, Mr. Lane was President and Chief Operating Officer and a director of Oracle Corporation, a software company. Mr. Lane serves on the Board of Trustees of Carnegie Mellon University, including as Chairman of the Board from July 2009 to July 2015. He also serves on the board of directors of Special Olympics International. Mr. Lane holds a BS degree in Mathematics and an honorary Ph.D. in Science from West Virginia University. We believe that Mr. Lane is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his experience in working with entrepreneurial companies and his experience on other public company boards of directors.
Dr. van Lengerich is the founder of Seeding the Future Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization focusing on food security in sub-Saharan Africa. He also founded Food System Strategies, LLC in 2015, pursuant to which he provides strategic advisory services to companies along the food value chain. Dr. van Lengerich served in an advisory role through Food System Strategies, LLC as our interim Chief Technical Officer and head of Research, Development and Innovation from February 2016 to February 2017 and provided advisory services to us pursuant to an advisor agreement with Food System Strategies, LLC from October 2015 through December 2019. At General Mills, he led the development of key enabling capabilities resulting in both new product innovations driving top line growth and major productivity benefits for General Mills’ Holistic Margin Management program. He also led a new Game Changer program and created a novel “Cashless Venturing” initiative, enabling faster and more disruptive innovations. Dr. van Lengerich is inventor/co-inventor of over 150 national and international patents and patent applications and he is an IFT Fellow.
Dr. van Lengerich has MS and Ph.D. degrees in Food and Biotechnology from the Technical University of Berlin, which awarded him an Honorarium Professorship and where he also teaches Extrusion Processing. We believe that Dr. van Lengerich is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his experience in the food industry and strong food science and technology background.
Mr. Stone was also Chairman of the Board of Polaroid Swing, Inc. from July 2016 to November 2017 and was an independent director of Workpop, Inc. from September 2014 until May 2017. His honors include Inc. magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Decade, TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, GQ magazine’s Nerd of the Year and The Economist’s “Innovation Award.” We believe that Mr. Stone is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive experience in working with entrepreneurial companies.
Mr. Thompson has been a member of the board of directors of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS), a financial services company, since March 2015, and currently serves on its Audit and Executive Committees, and as Chair of its Capital Governance Committee. Mr. Thompson has been a member of the board of directors of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL), a global cruise company, since May 2015, and currently serves on its Talent and Compensation and Safety, Environment and Health Committees. Mr. Thompson has been a member of the Advisory Board of DocuSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU), an electronic signature technology company, since February 2016. He serves on the Board of Trustees of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education and Purdue University (July 2009 to present). Mr. Thompson served as a member of the board of directors of McDonald’s Corp. from January 2011 to March 2015 and as a member of the board of directors of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), an energy company, from May 2007 to April 2013.
Mr. Thompson has a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and a Doctor of Science degree from Excelsior College in Albany, New York. We believe that Mr. Thompson is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his experience in the food industry and his experience on other public company boards of directors.
Ms. Waller has been a member of the board of directors of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE: DAL) since July 2015, and currently serves on its Audit, Corporate Governance and Safety & Security Committees. Ms. Waller has been a member of the board of directors of CGI Inc. (NYSE: GIB) since December 2018 and currently serves on its Audit and Risk Management Committee. Ms. Waller joined the board of directors of Cadence Bancorporation in May 2019. Previously she served on the board of directors of Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V and Monster Beverage Corporation. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Trustees of Spelman College and The Woodruff Arts Center. She received a BA degree in History from the University of Rochester and an MBA in Accounting and Finance from the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester. We believe that Ms. Waller is qualified to serve on our board of directors because she has more than 30 years of experience in accounting and finance at a major public company.
Management
Charles Muth joined Beyond Meat as Chief Growth Officer in May 2017. In addition to his role at Beyond Meat, Mr. Muth serves on the board of directors of Vive Organic, a maker of wellness shots, and Partake Foods, an allergy-friendly snack company. From January 2014 to January 2017, Mr. Muth led the creation of a new entrepreneurial sales and commercial organization within The Coca-Cola Company called Venturing & Emerging Brands as Senior Vice-President. From January 2010 to January 2017, Mr. Muth was Vice President of Sales at Honest Tea Inc. after its acquisition by The Coca-Cola Company. From February 2004 to January 2010, Mr. Muth was Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at The Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Company. Prior to 2004, Mr. Muth served as the Vice President and General Manager of Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc.’s global non alcoholic beverages business unit. Mr. Muth has a BS degree in Marketing and Management from Montclair State University and an MBA degree in Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University.