Corporate Governance

Don Baer is Worldwide Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Burson-Marsteller, a WPP, Inc. company that is one of the world’s largest strategic communications businesses. Don took on the role in 2012, when he also became Chair of Burson-Marsteller’s sister research firm Penn Schoen Berland. Don has been a member of Burson-Marsteller’s global senior management team since 2008 and has led major client engagements in every sector and part of the world. In 2011, he became Co-founder/Chair of Palisades Media Ventures, a public affairs and news media content development company co-owned with WPP.

Don’s career has spanned leading roles as a media and communications executive for important business, government and non-profit organizations, and he has played a significant role in American politics and policy for the last two decades. He has had extensive strategic, creative and operational experience at top-tier public- and private-sector organizations including the White House and major global companies.

From 1998 to 2007, Don helped lead global media company Discovery Communications. As Senior Executive Vice President for Strategy and Development and an executive committee member, he drove significant growth in Discovery’s online offerings, including acquisitions of digital businesses and the launch of its first mobile video services, and oversaw the Discovery/New York Times Company joint venture in the Discovery Times Channel.

From 1994-98, Don was a senior adviser to President Bill Clinton, serving as Assistant to the President and White House Director of Strategic Planning and Communications and, before that, as Chief Speechwriter/Director of Speechwriting and Research.

From 1985-93, Don was a journalist. For seven years, at U.S. News & World Report, he covered politics and the White House and, as an assistant managing editor, oversaw national and international coverage. He also worked at The American Lawyer, has written for publications including The New York Times and POLITICO, was a CBS News on-air analyst and has appeared on many TV news shows. Since 2000, he has been a writer of the annual Kennedy Center Honors TV production, winning two Writers Guild of America awards.

In the for-profit sector, Don serves on the Board of Directors of Meredith Corporation and digital start-up Fora.tv. In the non-profit sector, he is Chair of the Board of Directors of PBS, the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service, and on the Boards of The Urban Institute and The News Literacy Project. Don is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Reuters Editorial Advisory Board. In 2013, he was inducted into the North Carolina Halls of Fame in Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations.

Don received a B.A. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Phi Beta Kappa), a Master’s in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a J.D. from The University of Virginia School of Law. He and his wife, Nancy Bard, have two sons and live in Washington, D.C.

Mell Meredith Frazier has been a member of the Meredith Corporation Board of Directors since 2000 and was elected Vice Chairman in 2010. She is Chairman of the Board, Meredith Corporation Foundation. Meredith began her career at Meredith Corporation in 1976 and held various positions throughout the company, including editorial, financial, marketing and production positions in publishing; acquisition and financial analysis in broadcasting; and various corporate staff positions through 2003. Most recently, Meredith was Director of Corporate Planning. She was named Vice President of the Meredith Corporation Foundation in 1999, and she assumed her current position as Chairman in 2003.

In addition, Meredith serves as Vice President of the E.T. Meredith Foundation and as a board member of the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation. Meredith is Vice Chairman of Rebuilding Together’s national Board of Directors and an Advisory Council member with Rebuilding Together Greater Des Moines. Recently, she served on the Boards of Simpson College and Bankers Trust Company. Meredith is an honorary trustee of the Des Moines Art Center and Dowling Catholic High School Foundation Board.

Frederick B. Henry has been a member of the Meredith Corporation Board of Directors since 1969. He is President of the Bohen Foundation, New York, NY. Henry has been President of the Bohen Foundation since 1985. From 1981 through 1984, he was an investor in various private business ventures. He practiced law with Morgan Lewis and Bockius, Philadelphia, from 1970 until 1977.

Henry is a 1963 graduate of the Deerfield Academy, and he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in l967 from Dartmouth College. Henry received a Juris Doctorate degree in 1970 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Henry is Chairman of the Foundation for Arts Initiatives, formerly the American Center Foundation. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees, and Executive, Governance and Nominating Committees of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and of the Board of Trustees of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York and Dia Art Foundation, NY. Henry also previously served on the board of the Whitney Museum of American Art, NY, where he was a Vice President and Chairman of the long-range planning committee.

Beth Kaplan is currently the managing member of Axcel Partners, LLC investing and advising consumer facing early stage and growth companies.

Prior to this, Beth was President and Chief Operating Officer at Rent the Runway, a fashion technology company disrupting the way women get dressed. In her role, Beth worked closely with the co-founders and oversaw finance, operations, merchandising, customer insights, business development, and retail.

Prior to joining Rent the Runway, Beth served as President and Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer, and Director at General Nutrition Centers Inc. where her she led strategic initiatives surrounding the marketing & merchandising of GNC stores, developing a high growth ecommerce platform, and product development of proprietary products. Beth played an integral role in the company’s 2011 IPO, the most successful IPO that year. Prior to GNC, Beth served as Executive Vice President and General Manager at Bath & Body Works where she oversaw the merchandising and marketing of the new flagship store format.

Prior to Bath & Body Works, Beth was the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising at Rite Aid Drugstores, and prior to that spent 16 years at Procter & Gamble, her last role being President and General Manager of the Cosmetics and Fragrance division, including Cover Girl and Max Factor.

Beth holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been recognized in the industry for her work on several occasions including Drugstore Marketer of the Year in 1998 and one of Advertising Age’s Top 10 “Women to Watch” in 1999. She was the keynote speaker at the 2016 Baltimore Sun Women to Watch event.

In addition to Rent The Runway and Meredith, Beth is currently a director of the Howard Hughes Corporation (NYSE: HHC), a director of Framebridge, a venture funded company disrupting the custom framing business, a director of Leesa Sleep, a direct to consumer mattress company, and a director of Care/of, and on-line subscription nutritional supplements company. She previously held public company board seats at Blackboard, and the First Years. Beth also serves on the Board of Overseers of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Beth splits her time between Miami, Florida and Baltimore, Maryland, and is married with two sons. She competes nationally in Pro/Am Ballroom Dance, and recently landed a top 6 position in a national competition.

Philip A. Marineau has been a member of the Meredith Corporation Board of Directors since 1998. In January 2009, Marineau became a partner at LNK Partners based in White Plains, NY. He retired from Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&CO.) in November 2006, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer since September 1999. LS&CO. is a leading global apparel company, with sales in more than 110 countries. For most of its 153 years, LS&CO. had been an apparel manufacturing company. Marineau and his leadership team transformed LS&CO. into a consumer-driven marketing company. This has included launching Levi Strauss Signature®, a worldwide brand for value-conscious consumers; overhauling the Levi’s® and Dockers® brand product ranges and marketing; and streamlining the company in order to bring products to market faster and more efficiently.

Marineau has an extensive record of achievement in consumer products marketing and management. Prior to joining LS&CO., Marineau was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Pepsi-Cola North America from 1997 to 1999. Under his leadership, Pepsi outgrew Coke in North America for the first time in years. From 1996 to 1997, Marineau was President and Chief Operating Officer of Dean Foods Company where he oversaw a substantial increase in both sales and earnings. He led the successful repositioning of milk as a beverage rather than a food item.

Prior to Dean Foods, Marineau was a 23-year veteran of the Quaker Oats Company where he held progressively more responsible positions, including President and Chief Operating Officer from 1993 to 1996. As COO, he had worldwide responsibility for the company and its brands, including Gatorade, which he is credited with growing to more than a $1 billion global powerhouse in the sports-drink industry. He also helped to build many other well-known Quaker brands around the world.

Currently, Marineau is also a board member of Shutterfly, Inc., Kaiser Permanente, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, the Holy Family Day Home, the Fritz Institute, and Georgetown University.

Marineau received his Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University in 1970. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History at Georgetown University in 1968.