Board of Directors
Prior to joining Nouryon at the creation and spin off from AkzoNobel in 2018, Mr. Shaver served as Chairman and CEO of Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) from its inception in 2013. While at Axalta, his team led the company’s transformation into a premier global coatings supplier, with the leading global automotive refinish business. Prior to Axalta, Mr. Shaver served as the CEO and President of the TPC Group in Houston, Texas, from 2004 to 2011. He began his career with The Dow Chemical Company, where he held a series of operational, engineering and business positions from 1980 to 1996.
Mr. Shaver is the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nobian, an industrial chemicals business headquartered in Europe. He has served as past Chairman and Board member for a number of public companies, including Taminco (NYSE: TAM), US Silica (NYSE: SLCA), and Atotech (NYSE: ATC). He also serves as a mentor to veterans under a Nouryon partnership program with American Corporate Partners. Mr. Shaver has also served on the boards of several industry and philanthropic organizations, including the American Chemistry Council and is a past Chairman of the American Coatings Association Board of Directors.
Mr. Shaver has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University.
Member of the Board of Directors
Chair of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee
Julie Aslaksen is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. She is based in Arlington, Virginia.
Prior to joining Host, Ms. Aslaksen spent over 16 years serving in a variety of legal, compliance and risk management related roles at General Dynamics, most recently as Vice President and General Counsel of General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT). Prior to her role at GDIT, Ms. Aslaksen spent 14 years at the General Dynamics corporate headquarters, where she most recently served as Staff Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Assistant Secretary.
Ms. Aslaksen earned her juris doctor degree from American University Washington College of Law and her bachelor’s degree from the College of William & Mary. She is a member of the state bars for the District of Columbia and Maryland.
Member of the Board of Directors
Brian A. Bernasek is a Partner and Co-Head of Americas Corporate Private Equity at Carlyle. Carlyle’s Americas Corporate Private Equity business has $67 billion in assets under management with diversified investments spanning industries, geographies, and strategies. He is also a member of Carlyle's Leadership Committee and serves on several firm investment committees.
Mr. Bernasek previously served as Co-Head of US Buyout and Growth as well as Head of the Global Industrial team at Carlyle. He joined Carlyle in 2000 and previously held positions in New York with Investcorp International, a private equity firm, and Morgan Stanley & Co., in its Investment Banking Division.
Mr. Bernasek has served as a director on the board of several Carlyle investments, including Allison Transmission, Atotech, HD Supply, The Hertz Corporation, Novolex and Signode Industrial Group. He currently serves as a director on the Board of Nouryon and ManTech International. He is also a past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Washington Jesuit Academy.
Mr. Bernasek is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Member of the Board of Directors
Chair of the Executive Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee
Gregor Boehm is Managing Director, Partner and Chairman of Europe Private Equity at Carlyle. Previously he was Co-Head of the Carlyle Europe Partners investment advisory team between 2009-2022. He has been with the firm for 25 years and is based in London.
Mr. Boehm has advised and served on the board of a number of European investments during his time at Carlyle including Axalta, Alloheim, Ameos, Andritz, Atotech, AZ Electronic Materials, Beru, Messer Cutting and Welding, Honsel and HT Troplast. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Flender and Nouryon.
Prior to joining Carlyle in 1997, Mr. Boehm was a Manager at I.M.M., one of Germany's leading buyout groups. Prior to that he was an Analyst with Morgan Stanley's M&A department in London.
He is a graduate of Cologne University and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Member of the Board of Directors
Volkert Doeksen is a former Managing Director and Head of Carlyle Solutions at The Carlyle Group. He is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Previously, Mr. Doeksen was a co-founder, CEO and Chairman of AlpInvest Partners and a member of the Investment Committee, with over 20 years of investment experience. Prior to that, he was a Partner at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in New York and a Director at Kleinwort Benson Ltd. He also worked at Dillon Read and Morgan Stanley in London, England.
His other board positions include Koninklijke Doeksen B.V., Athora Holdings Ltd. and European Biotech Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: EBAC) and Nobian.
Mr. Doeksen received a LL.M. (Master of Laws) from Leiden Law School in Leiden, the Netherlands.
Member of the Board of Directors
Chair of the Audit Committee
Curt Espeland is the former CFO and Executive Vice President of Eastman Chemical Company, an advanced materials and specialty additives manufacturer based in Kingsport, Tennessee, US.
Prior to the appointment as CFO, Mr. Espeland served in a variety of financial and enterprise risk management roles for Eastman, including Chief Accounting Officer, Director of Finance - Asia Pacific and Director of Internal Audit. He also served as an independent auditor with Arthur Andersen in the US, Europe, and Australia.
Mr. Espeland is a member of the board and Lead Independent Director for Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LECO), while also serving on the board’s finance and audit committees. Additionally, he is a director of Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN), while also serving on the board’s compensation and audit committees.
Mr. Espeland received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and BBA in Accounting from Iowa State University.
Member of the Board of Directors
Member of the Audit Committee
Tanaka Maswoswe is a Managing Director at The Carlyle Group focused on US buyout opportunities in the industrial and transportation sectors, based in Washington, D.C., US.
Mr. Maswoswe has been a key contributor to several of the firm’s investments, including Axalta Coating Systems (formerly DuPont Performance Coatings), Signode Industrial Group, Atotech and Nouryon. Prior to joining Carlyle, he was the inaugural Toigo Private Equity MBA Fellow at Carlyle. During this Fellowship, he completed a year-long rotation through Carlyle’s US Buyout group, a Carlyle portfolio company, and the Alternative Investment Management team at CalPERS. Prior to business school, he worked as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Diversified Industrials group at Barclays Capital.
Mr. Maswoswe is also a member of the board of directors of Nobian.
Mr. Maswoswe received his MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Economics from Yale University.
Member of the Board of Directors
Member of the Corporate Responsibility Committee
Member of the Audit Committee
Greg Nikodem is a Managing Director at The Carlyle Group, focused on buyouts, privatizations and strategic minority investments in the industrial and business services sectors.
Since joining Carlyle in 2003, Mr. Nikodem has been actively involved with the firm’s investments in Asplundh Tree Experts, Accudyne Industries, ADT CAPS, Atotech, CEPSA, JMC Steel, Nouryon, Sciens Building Solutions and Veyance Technologies, among others.
Mr. Nikodem currently serves as a director on the boards of Asplundh, CEPSA, Nouryon and Sciens.
Mr. Nikodem received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, and a B.S. in industrial engineering and engineering management from Stanford University.
Member of the Board of Directors
Chair of the Corporate Responsibility Committee
Melanie Steiner is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Inspirion Group, a consultancy that helps organizations manage disruptive risk and accelerate strategic transformation, with deep domain expertise in all elements of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). She is based in Toronto, Canada.
Ms. Steiner has 30 years of experience with companies including PVH Corp., the retail company that owns brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Warner’s. At PVH Corp., she was the Global Chief Risk Officer and managed various strategic functions including ESG, cybersecurity, internal audit, enterprise risk management and crisis management. Prior to her role at PVH Corp., she worked as a management consultant at EY Canada where she founded and built the climate change and sustainability practice. Ms. Steiner started her career as a litigator as well as an international policy advisor.
She currently serves as a board member at US Ecology, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECOL) and Trillium Health Partners.
Ms. Steiner has a LL.B. (J.D.) from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto and a LL.M. in environmental law from the University of London, UK.
Member of the Board of Directors
Member of the Executive Committee
Chair of the Compensation Committee
Member of Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee
Martin W. Sumner is a Managing Director and Head of the Global Industrial & Transportation team at The Carlyle Group. He is based in Washington, D.C., US.
Since joining Carlyle in 2003, Mr. Sumner has led or been a key contributor to several of the firm’s investments, including Allison Transmission, Atotech, AxleTech International, Axalta Coating Systems, Centennial Resources Development, Nouryon, United Components, Veyance Technologies and Wildhorse Resources, among others. Prior to joining Carlyle, he held positions with Thayer Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and the strategy consulting group of Mercer Management Consulting.
Mr. Sumner is also a member of the board of directors of Duravant and Nobian.
Mr. Sumner received his MBA from Stanford University, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, and a B.S. in Economics, magna cum laude, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Member of the Board of Directors
Member of the Audit Committee
Member of the Corporate Responsibility Committee
Noelle Walsh is Corporate VP of Cloud Operations & Innovation at Microsoft, the engine that powers the Microsoft Cloud and its services. She is based in Seattle, Washington, US.
She joined Microsoft in July 2017, bringing her strong operational background in leading large, global teams across geographies and businesses for a Fortune 50 Science and Technology company. Ms. Walsh has over 25 years of prior experience with The Dow Chemical Company, where she worked across multiple businesses, leading over 25% of its manufacturing base, as well as the chemicals division of businesses and the global supply chain and customer service functions.
Ms. Walsh graduated from University College in Dublin, Ireland, with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering, Executive Education at Babson College, and Women on Boards at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Member of the Board of Directors
Member of the Audit Committee
Michael Zacka is President, Flexibles Europe, Middle East & Africa for Amcor plc, a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging solutions. He is based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Mr. Zacka joined Amcor in July 2017 as Chief Commercial Officer, and from November 2017 to July 2019, he assumed additional responsibility as President of Amcor’s Flexible Packaging business in Asia Pacific. Prior to Amcor, he was a member of the Tetra Pak Global Leadership Team and was the President of Asia based in Singapore. He was also the President of their North America business, and had senior assignments including Global Senior Vice President Sales, Marketing and Product Management, and led the Tetra Pak businesses across Greater China, Vietnam, and Australia.
Mr. Zacka graduated from Griffith University in South East Queensland, Australia, with a Bachelor of Business and holds an MBA from the same university.
