Board of directors

Before joining Nouryon at the creation and spinoff from AkzoNobel in 2018, Charlie 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 global coatings supplier with a leading automotive refinish business. Before Axalta, Charlie served as the CEO and president of the TPC Group in Houston 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.

Charlie is the chairman of the board of directors at Nobian, a privately held industrial chemicals business based in Europe. He is a past chairman and board member for Taminco (NYSE: TAM), U.S. Silica (NYSE: SLCA) and Atotech (NYSE: ATC), has sat on the boards of industry and philanthropic organizations such as the American Chemistry Council, and is a former chairman of the American Coatings Association board of directors. He also serves as a mentor to veterans under a Nouryon partnership program with American Corporate Partners.

Charlie has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University.

_{Back to top}

Julie is executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at Host Hotels & Resorts. She is based in Arlington, Virginia.

Before joining Host, Julie spent more than 16 years in legal, compliance and risk management roles at General Dynamics, most recently as vice president and general counsel of General Dynamics Information Technology. Before that role, she spent 14 years at the General Dynamics corporate headquarters, where she most recently served as staff vice president, deputy general counsel and assistant secretary.

Julie earned a law 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.

_{Back to top}

Brian is a partner and co-head of Americas Corporate Private Equity at The Carlyle Group. 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.

Brian previously served as co-head of U.S. Buyout and Growth and 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.

Brian has served as a director on the boards of several Carlyle investments, including Allison Transmission, Atotech, HD Supply, The Hertz Corporation, Novolex and Signode Industrial Group. He currently serves as a director of Nouryon and ManTech International. He is also a past chairman of the board of directors of the Washington Jesuit Academy.

Brian is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and received his master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School.

_{Back to top}

Gregor is managing director, partner and chairman of Europe Private Equity at The Carlyle Group. He was co-head of the Carlyle Europe Partners investment advisory team from 2009 to 2022. He has been with the firm for since 1997 and is based in London.

Gregor has advised and served on the boards 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 a member of the boards of directors of Flender and Nouryon.

Before joining Carlyle in 1997, Gregor was a manager at I.M.M., a German buyout group. Before that, he was an analyst in Morgan Stanley's mergers and acquisitions department in London.

Gregor is a graduate of University of Cologne and earned his master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School.

_{Back to top}

Volkert is a former managing director and head of Carlyle Solutions at The Carlyle Group. He is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Previously, Volkert was a co-founder, CEO and chairman of AlpInvest Partners and a member of its Investment Committee, with more than 20 years of investment experience. Before 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.

His other board positions include Koninklijke Doeksen B.V., Athora Holdings Ltd., European Biotech Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: EBAC) and Nobian.

Volkert received a master’s degree in law from Leiden Law School in the Netherlands.

_{Back to top}

Curt is the former executive vice president and chief financial officer of Eastman Chemical Co., an advanced materials and specialty additives manufacturer based in Kingsport, Tennessee.

Before his appointment as CFO, Curt served in a variety of financial and enterprise risk management roles at Eastman, including chief accounting officer, director of finance for Asia Pacific and director of internal audit. He also served as an independent auditor with Arthur Andersen in the U.S., Europe and Australia.

Curt is a member of the board and lead independent director of Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LECO), where he serves on the finance and audit committees. He is also a director of Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN), where he serves on the compensation and audit committees.

Curt received his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Iowa State University.

_{Back to top}

Tanaka is a managing director at The Carlyle Group focused on U.S. buyout opportunities in the industrial and transportation sectors. He is based in Washington, D.C.

Tanaka 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. Before joining Carlyle, he was the inaugural Toigo Private Equity MBA Fellow at Carlyle. During the fellowship, he completed a yearlong rotation through Carlyle’s U.S. Buyout group, a Carlyle portfolio company and the Alternative Investment Management team at California Public Employees' Retirement System. Before business school, he worked as an investment banking analyst in the Diversified Industrials group at Barclays Capital.

Tanaka is also a member of the board of directors of Nobian.

Tanaka received his master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Yale University.

_{Back to top}

Greg 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, Greg 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. He currently serves as a director on the boards of Asplundh, CEPSA, Nouryon and Sciens.

Greg received his master’s degree in business administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, and a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and engineering management from Stanford University.

_{Back to top}

Melanie is founder and CEO of Inspirion Group, a consultancy that helps organizations manage disruptive risk and accelerate strategic transformation, with expertise in environmental, social and governance issues. She is based in Toronto.

Melanie has 30 years of experience at companies including PVH Corp., the retail company that owns brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Warner’s. At PVH, she was global chief risk officer and managed various strategic functions, including ESG, cybersecurity, internal audit, enterprise risk management and crisis management. Before PVH, she worked as a management consultant at EY Canada, where she founded and built the climate change and sustainability practice. Melanie started her career as a litigator and an international policy adviser.

She serves on the boards of US Ecology Inc. (NASDAQ: ECOL) and Trillium Health Partners.

Melanie has a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto and a master’s degree in environmental law from the University of London.

_{Back to top}

Martin is a managing director and head of the Global Industrial & Transportation team at The Carlyle Group. He is based in Washington, D.C.

Since joining Carlyle in 2003, Martin 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. Before joining Carlyle, he held positions with Thayer Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and the strategy consulting group of Mercer Management Consulting.

Martin is also a member of the boards of directors of Duravant and Nobian.

Martin received his master’s degree in business administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, and a bachelor’s degree in economics, magna cum laude, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

_{Back to top}

Noelle is president of Cloud Operations & Innovation at Microsoft, the engine that powers the Microsoft Cloud and its services. She is based in Seattle.

She joined Microsoft in July 2017, bringing an operational background in leading large, global teams across geographies and businesses for a Fortune 50 science and technology company. Noelle has more than 25 years of prior experience with The Dow Chemical Company, where she worked across multiple businesses, led more than 25% of its manufacturing base, and led the chemicals division and the global supply chain and customer service functions.

Noelle has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from University College Dublin in Ireland. She also completed executive education at Babson College and the Women on Boards program at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

_{Back to top}

Michael is interim CEO of Klöckner Pentaplast, a global leader in rigid and flexible packaging and specialty film solutions. He is based in Zurich, Switzerland.

Michael was previously chief commercial officer of Amcor from November 2017 to July 2019, when he assumed additional responsibility as president of Amcor’s Flexible Packaging business in Asia Pacific. Before Amcor, he was a member of the Tetra Pak Global Leadership Team and president of Asia, based in Singapore. He was also president of Tetra Pak’s North America business and held senior assignments, including global senior vice president of sales, marketing and product management, and led the company’s businesses across Greater China, Vietnam and Australia.

Michael graduated from Griffith University in South East Queensland, Australia, with a bachelor’s degree in business and holds a master’s degree in business administration from the same university.

_{Back to top}