As of July 31, 2022, our Board was composed of 13 Directors, 12 of whom were independent. Our Governance and Nominating Committee Charter assigns oversight of the identification of sustainability risks and opportunities, and the development and implementation of sustainability goals to the Committee. We continue to build Board engagement in environmental and social issues, with the help of added sustainability experience from Directors, Julie Lagacy, Chief Sustainability and Strategy Officer, Caterpillar Inc. and Beth Whited, Executive Vice President – Sustainability and Strategy, Union Pacific Corporation.
Board Diversity
RPM emphasizes diversity and inclusion at all levels of the company, starting with the Board. Women have been represented on the RPM Board for three decades.
Since adopting the Rooney Rule, a mandate to include diverse candidates in the selection pool for vacant Board seats, we have made significant strides in improving our Board’s gender diversity. General (retired) Ellen Pawlikowski was appointed to the RPM Board of Directors in FY23. Pawlikowski is a retired four-star general of the United States Air Force and is an independent consultant, providing expertise to industry and academia on strategic planning, program management, logistics, and research and development.
Read more about our Directors in our most recent Proxy Statement.
Building a Better World Oversight Committee
RPM established the Building a Better World Oversight Committee in 2021 to support our ongoing commitment to responsibly serve and engage our associates, customers and stakeholders on critical sustainability matters. The Oversight Committee reports to the Governance and Nominating Committee of the Board of Directors. Members of the Committee include, among others, the Vice President – Corporate Benefits & Risk Management; Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer; Vice President – Environmental, Health and Safety; Vice President – Operations; and the Director of Sustainability. The Building a Better World Oversight Committee is chaired by the Vice President – Compliance and Sustainability, Associate General Counsel.
The Building a Better World Oversight Committee center leads the identification of sustainability and climate-related risks and the processes for developing and managing sustainability related goals. The Chair of the Building a Better World Oversight Committee reports regularly to the Governance and Nominating Committee of the Board to provide timely insight into important sustainability and climate-related issues. The Committee created dedicated subcommittees of subject matter experts that focus on addressing and managing risks, opportunities and strategies as well as developing initiatives and programming in support of our pillars in the Building a Better World framework: Our Products, Our People and Our Processes.
CEO Compensation
A portion of our CEO’s compensation is discretionary and includes consideration of goals related to the development of diverse candidates for management positions. The level of discretionary compensation is determined by the Compensation Committee as part of their annual evaluation. Read more in our most recent Proxy Statement.