BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today marks Enviva Inc.’s first full trading day as a corporation on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: EVA) following its successful conversion (the “Conversion”) from Enviva Partners, LP, a master limited partnership, to Enviva Inc. (“Enviva”), a Delaware corporation, on December 31, 2021. As part of the Conversion, Enviva also announced the appointment of three new members to its board and changes that will further strengthen its executive leadership team.
Enviva is pleased to welcome Eva T. Zlotnicka, Martin N. Davidson, Ph.D., and Fauzul Lakhani to the board of directors of Enviva Inc., joining fellow directors Ralph Alexander, John C. Bumgarner, Jr., Jim H. Derryberry, Gerrit (“Gerrity”) L. Lansing, Jr., Pierre F. Lapeyre, Jr., David M. Leuschen, Jeffrey W. Ubben, Gary L. Whitlock, and Janet S. Wong, each of whom had also served on the board of directors of the general partner of Enviva Partners, LP prior to the Conversion. All of the directors of Enviva Inc., except Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Keppler, meet the NYSE standards for independence.
“It’s an honor to welcome three exceptionally talented individuals to the Enviva board,” said Keppler. “Eva, Martin, and Fauzul bring critical business acumen and unique perspectives to the boardroom that are key to our long-term success. As a leader in impact investing with a deep background not only in environmental science and sustainability but also in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) analytics, we are very pleased that Eva has agreed to chair Enviva’s Health, Safety, Sustainability, and Environmental committee of the board. Martin is one of the foremost thought leaders on diversity, organizational behavior, and leadership and, prior to joining the board, had been engaged with Enviva, advising on diversity and employee initiatives. Fauzul joins the Enviva Inc. board following his service as a member of the board of Enviva’s prior sponsor, and we are looking forward to the continuity of the breadth and depth of his expertise with Enviva and his understanding of the energy sector and capital markets. Collectively, we believe the strategic counsel of Eva, Martin, and Fauzul will be invaluable as we chart our path forward.”
Today, Enviva also announced changes to its executive leadership team. Roxanne Klein has joined Enviva as its new Chief Human Resources Officer. Ms. Klein most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Knoll, Inc., one of the world’s leading global manufacturers of office and other furniture, from 2015 until 2021. With more than 20 years of human resources leadership experience in a variety of businesses, Ms. Klein has an extensive and proven background building successful talent acquisition and development teams and driving best practices in people management and social impact. Ms. Klein’s substantial expertise will help Enviva attract, retain, develop, and grow the necessary human resources to guide Enviva through this exciting, expansive period of growth.
Thomas Meth, a co-founder of Enviva and leader of Enviva’s global marketing and sales strategy for the past seventeen years, has been promoted to the role of Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Meth has been instrumental in the company’s growth, developing solutions to complex issues in Enviva’s supply chain while working with Enviva’s customers to lower their dependence on coal and other fossil fuels. As Enviva enters new markets across the globe, Mr. Meth will lead the effort to explore additional applications for sustainable wood biomass, particularly in hard-to-abate industrial sectors. He will also continue to guide Enviva’s pledge to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its operations and enable other industries to do the same.
“As part of our conversion from a partnership to a corporation, I believe we have evolved our proven, successful business into an even better corporate structure,” said Keppler. “Given the long-term contracted nature of our business and the tremendous opportunities we see ahead as the world continues to focus on the energy transition and decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors in order to reach net-zero and limit the effects of climate change, our success will be driven by the people who choose to work with and for Enviva today, tomorrow, and every day moving forward. I am incredibly proud of the diverse and independent board of directors and the tremendously accomplished leadership team we have assembled at Enviva to lead the way. It is very exciting to join them as we start the next chapter of this amazing business as Enviva Inc.”
Appointed Director Biographies
Eva T. Zlotnicka is a Founder, Managing Partner, President, and member of the Management Committee of Inclusive Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based investment firm that partners with companies that enable solutions to address environmental and social problems. Before founding Inclusive Capital Partners, she was a Founder and Managing Director of the ValueAct Spring Fund and Head of Stewardship at ValueAct Capital. Prior to joining ValueAct Capital in 2018, Ms. Zlotnicka spent more than ten years on the sell side. Most recently, she was U.S. lead Sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (E.S.G.) equity research analyst at Morgan Stanley. Ms. Zlotnicka is a director of Unifi, Inc., where she serves on the Audit Committee and serves as chairman for the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. Ms. Zlotnicka was previously a director of Hawaiian Electric Industries, where she was a member of the Compensation Committee. Ms. Zlotnicka also serves as a member of the Investor Advisory Group for the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Corporate Governance and Finance at N.Y.U. Law. Ms. Zlotnicka also co-founded Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy (WISE), a global professional community. She has two B.S.c. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, including one from the Wharton School, and an M.B.A and a Master of Environmental Science degree from Yale University.
Martin N. Davidson, Ph.D., is the Johnson & Higgins Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. He currently serves as senior associate dean and global chief diversity officer for the school. He teaches, conducts research, and consults with global leaders to help them use diversity strategically to drive high performance. His thought leadership has changed how many executives approach inclusion and diversity in their organizations. His book, The End of Diversity as We Know It: Why Diversity Efforts Fail and How Leveraging Difference Can Succeed, co-authored with Heather Wishik, introduces a research-driven roadmap to help leaders more effectively create and capitalize on diversity in organizations. Dr. Davidson has consulted with leaders of a host of global firms, government agencies, and social profit organizations, including Bank of America, The World Health Organization, The Walt Disney Company, Credit Suisse Group, The Nature Conservancy, and the U.S. Navy SEALs. Dr. Davidson has been featured in numerous media outlets, including The New York Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, National Public Radio, and CNN. He has been a member of the Darden faculty since 1998. Previously, he was a member of the Amos Tuck School of Business faculty at Dartmouth College. He earned his A.B. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from Stanford University.
Fauzul Lakhani is a Principal of Riverstone Holdings L.L.C. Prior to joining Riverstone in 2012, Mr. Lakhani was with Credit Suisse in the Global Investment Banking Group. While at Credit Suisse, Mr. Lakhani worked on M&A transactions and capital markets financings, with a focus on the energy sector. Mr. Lakhani graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.B.A. in Finance. He currently serves on the B.B.A. Advisory Board of the McCombs School of Business.
About Enviva
Enviva Inc. (NYSE: EVA) is the world’s largest producer of industrial wood pellets, a renewable and sustainable energy source produced by aggregating a natural resource, wood fiber, and processing it into a transportable form, wood pellets. Enviva owns and operates ten plants with a combined production capacity of approximately 6.2 million metric tons per year in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi. Enviva sells most of its wood pellets through long-term, take-or-pay off-take contracts with creditworthy customers in the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Japan, helping to accelerate the energy transition and to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors like steel, cement, lime, chemicals, and aviation fuels. Enviva exports its wood pellets to global markets through its deep-water marine terminals at the Port of Chesapeake, Virginia, the Port of Wilmington, North Carolina, and the Port of Pascagoula, Mississippi, and from third-party deep-water marine terminals in Savannah, Georgia, Mobile, Alabama, and Panama City, Florida.
To learn more about Enviva, please visit our website at www.envivabiomass.com. Follow Enviva on social media @Enviva.
Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
The information included herein and in any oral statements made in connection herewith include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included herein, regarding Enviva’s future financial performance, as well as Enviva’s strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects, plans, and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. When used herein, including any oral statements made in connection herewith, the words “could,” “should,” “will,” “may,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” the negative of such terms, and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions about future events and are based on currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, Enviva disclaims any duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements, all of which are expressly qualified by the statements in this section, to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. Enviva cautions you that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of Enviva.
