Company Leadership
Company Leadership
Prior to joining Nouryon at the creation and spin off 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 premier global coatings supplier, with the leading global automotive refinish business. Prior to Axalta, he 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.
Charlie 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. Charlie 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.
Charlie has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University.
Sean Lannon is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Nouryon. He has executive oversight of the Company’s Finance function and plays a critical role in shaping Nouryon’s financial strategy in support of its commitment to delivering innovative and sustainable solutions to customers.
Mr. Lannon has an established track record of driving financial and operational excellence. He joined Nouryon from Copeland, a leader in HVAC and refrigeration, where he served as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to Copeland, Mr. Lannon held several senior positions in Finance at Axalta Coating Systems, including five years as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to his tenure at Axalta, Mr. Lannon served in various senior finance roles at Styron LLC (Trinseo), Endo Pharmaceuticals, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Mr. Lannon is a Certified Public Accountant in Pennsylvania and holds a B.S. in Accounting from Philadelphia University, where he graduated summa cum laude.
Michael Finn is Executive Vice President, Business Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Nouryon. He oversees Legal, Compliance, Cybersecurity, Executive Compensation, Communications, Sustainability, and Government Affairs.
Michael joined Nouryon in 2018 and has more than 30 years of legal experience. Prior to Nouryon, he spent six years as General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer at Axalta Coatings Systems, and 11 years at General Dynamics, where he held a number of positions, including as General Counsel for Advanced Information Systems, Senior Counsel at GD’s corporate headquarters, and General Counsel and Director of Ethics and Export Compliance at GD’s European subsidiary in London, England. He also held a variety of other legal positions, including an associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the Federal Communications Commission.
Michaelis a member of the board of directors of Nobian, a privately held industrial chemicals business headquartered in Europe. He was recognized with the 2018 General Counsel Impact Award by The Legal Intelligencer and has led legal departments that have received numerous awards and commendations. He provides pro bono legal services to several groups, helping writers, artists and creators in need of legal aid and assistance. He also serves as a mentor to veterans under a Nouryon partnership program with American Corporate Partners.
Michael graduated with honors with a B.S. in Finance from Indiana University and graduated cum laude from New York University’s School of Law.
Jennifer Durbin is Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer at Nouryon. She leads the development and execution of Nouryon’s global human capital strategy, shaping policies and practices that support the company’s organizational goals and workforce needs. Her responsibilities span talent acquisition and development, building leadership capabilities, managing compensation and benefits, enhancing employer branding and employee experience, and overseeing HR operations and technology.
Ms. Durbin joined Nouryon in 2026 from CMC, a publicly held global steel manufacturing and construction materials company, where she served as Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources & Communications Officer. She previously served as Chief Human Resources Officer and held other executive roles at CMC. Earlier in her career, she served for 10 years as Lead Counsel at CMC. Before joining CMC, she was an attorney at Sidley Austin, LLP.
Ms. Durbin is involved in several community and professional organizations, including as a member of the Forum of Executive Women in greater Philadelphia and the Wall Street Journal Chief People Officer Council. Previously, she served on the Dallas Board of the American Heart Association and the Board of Trustees of the Association of Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) Foundation.
She has a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Iowa and a law degree from Boston University School of Law.
Paresh Bhakta is Senior Vice President, Chief Integrated Supply Chain Officer at Nouryon. In his role, he is responsible for the company’s Health and Safety, Procurement and Corporate Supply Chain functions and global manufacturing network that includes approximately 60 sites worldwide.
Paresh joined Nouryon in 2020 from Henkel, where he was the Senior Vice President of Operations. He has also held a variety of senior operational leadership roles at DSM and Celanese. Through his career at DSM and Celanese, he has lived and worked in the Netherlands and China in addition to the US. Paresh has more than two decades of experience in operations with a focus on global manufacturing management, process engineering, and supply chain. Additionally, he has mentored young engineers entering the workforce for nearly 10 years.
Paresh has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
Sandeep Singh is Senior Vice President, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Nouryon. He is responsible for the implementation and execution of Nouryon’s global digital and information technology strategy in support of the company’s business and financial goals.
Mr. Singh joined Nouryon from Hunter Douglas where he was the Global Chief Information Officer and led the transformation of the company’s digital and information technology landscape. Prior to this role, he was Vice President of Information Technology, Campbell Snacks and Enterprise Functions at the Campbell Soup Company. Mr. Singh has also previously held leadership positions at Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and Procter & Gamble Company.
Mr. Singh has a B.S. in agricultural engineering from the College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology (CAET) in Ludhiana, India, and an MBA from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, US.
Joe Lupia is Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Nouryon. He leads the company’s global research and development (R&D) strategy and oversees its R&D, technology, and product stewardship and regulatory affairs functions.
Joe brings more than 30 years of experience in the specialty chemicals and personal care industries. Prior to joining Nouryon, he served as CTO and Head of Product Stewardship at Elementis. Earlier in his career, he held senior leadership positions at BASF, where he led global research teams and technology innovation initiatives.
Joe holds a doctorate in organic chemistry from Seton Hall University and a B.S. in biochemistry from The University of Scranton.
Egbert Henstra is Senior Vice President, Global Transformation and President Netherlands at Nouryon. He is responsible for leading Global Transformation initiatives and oversees Nouryon’s activities in the Netherlands.
Mr. Henstra started his career at Akzo before it became part of Nouryon’s predecessor company. He worked as a market research consultant in the carpet fibers business, then held a variety of financial and general management positions before taking on a leadership role as Managing Director of the Global Ethylene and Sulfur Derivatives business headquartered in Shanghai, China. He also acted as Country Director China.
Mr. Henstra has been a board member of the Royal Association of the Dutch Chemical Industry (VNCI) since 2019.
Mr. Henstra studied Business Economics at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and has a postgraduate Controllers qualification from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Eduardo Nardinelli is Senior Vice President, South America & Global Carbon Business Strategy at Nouryon. In this role, he oversees the advancement of the company’s business portfolio across South America and leads the development and execution of Nouryon’s global strategy to reduce carbon emissions.
Mr. Nardinelli joined Nouryon in 2021 and has more than 30 years of global experience in the chemicals, coatings and automotive industries. Prior to Nouryon, he was president of Global Light Vehicle Coatings at Axalta Coating Systems and previously served as Axalta’s president and general manager in Brazil. Prior to Axalta, Mr. Nardinelli spent more than 16 years at Johnson Controls in management positions of increasing responsibility in South America, China and the US. Before joining Johnson Controls, he held several engineering, commercial and leadership positions at SKF Brazil.
Mr. Nardinelli holds a degree in mechanical engineering from Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado in São Paulo and an MBA from University of São Paulo.
Suzanne Carroll is Senior Vice President of Nouryon’s Consumer and Life Sciences segment. The Consumer and Life Sciences segment focuses on developing ingredient solutions to customize formulations that serve customer needs in important end markets including personal care, cleaning goods, agriculture and food, as well as pharma.
Ms. Carroll joined Nouryon in 2019 from DuPont, where she was Corporate Innovation Strategy Director and previously Global Business Director, Performance Solutions. Prior to DuPont, she spent nine years at the Dow Chemical Company, where she led multiple businesses, including Dow Microbial Control and Dow Food, Pharma and Medical. She started her career at specialty chemicals manufacturer Rohm and Haas, where she worked for 19 years in research and development and a variety of commercial leadership roles.
Ms. Carroll serves as Board Chair of the American Cleaning Institute Board of Directors.
She holds a B.S. Honors degree in Chemistry from Saint Joseph's University in Pennsylvania, US.
Alain Rynwalt is Senior Vice President of Nouryon’s Performance Materials segment. The Performance Materials segment serves customers in polymers, paints and coatings, and related end markets, by focusing on developing solutions for customers to produce, modify, and/or tailor performance and mechanical properties of their products.
Alain started his professional career at Nouryon’s predecessor company more than thirty years ago and has held successive leadership roles in Information Technology, Finance, Marketing, and Sales, based in Europe and Asia. His most recent role was as Senior Vice President of Polymer Specialties.
Alain holds a master’s degree in economics at the University of Ghent and an executive master’s degree in information technology at the University of Brussels. He has also completed Executive Education at Duke University in the US, INSEAD in France, and at IMD Business School in Switzerland.
Joppe Smit is the Senior Vice President of Nouryon’s Resource Solutions segment. The Resource Solutions segment focuses on developing products, process aids, and intermediates used in the conversion of extracted materials into high-value products for end markets including pulp processing, mining, hydrocarbon processing, and lubes and fuels.
Joppe joined Nouryon’s predecessor company more than 25 years ago and has held numerous successive business and functional leadership roles, most recently as Senior Vice President, Natural Resources, Intermediates, Paints and Coatings, and Inorganic Specialties. Throughout his career he has lived and worked in the US, Singapore, China, Sweden in addition to the Netherlands.
Joppe holds a Master of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, where he graduated cum laude. He completed Executive Education at INSEAD in Paris and at IMD Business School in Lausanne.
Sobers Sethi is Senior Vice President, Emerging Markets and China at Nouryon. He is responsible for accelerating the growth of the company’s businesses in emerging markets (Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa) and China.
Sobers joined Nouryon in 2020 from Axalta Coatings System and its predecessor company. He was instrumental in the carve-out of Axalta from its former owner. Prior to that, he also managed his family's automotive businesses.
Sobers studied Economics at Clark University and has an MBA from Cass Business School in London, England.
Vivi Hollertt is Vice President, Chief Sustainability Officer at Nouryon. She is responsible for developing and overseeing Nouryon’s Global Sustainability agenda, including chairing its Global Sustainability Network.
Vivi joined Nouryon’s predecessor company in 2014. Prior to that, she worked for FleishmanHillard, a global communications agency, where she was a director for international accounts at several multinationals, including Royal Philips N.V. She was also a spokesperson for Heineken International.
Vivi serves on the Executive Steering Committee of the Nouryon Women’s Network. She is also co-chair of Arthur W. Page Society in the Netherlands, the premier global professional association for senior strategic corporate affairs and communication leaders. Vivi graduated cum laude with a master’s degree in international communication management from The Hague University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, and a bachelor’s degree in integrated communication management from the University of Applied Sciences in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
For Sustainability related enquiries you can reach out to Vivi.
Amy Chiconas is Vice President, Chief Communications Officer at Nouryon. She leads the company’s global Communications function, including corporate, business and digital communications, public and media relations, and Nouryon branding.
Amy has built a reputation as an executive thought partner who delivers messaging and media critical to corporate strategy by building employee, brand, customer and financial audience confidence. She joined Nouryon from Vibrantz Technologies, where she stood up and led an award-winning team from 2022 to 2025 as the global vice president of communications and brand when Prince, Chromaflo and Ferro came together as one company. Prior to Vibrantz, Amy led the communications function at Ingevity Corporation from 2016 to 2022. Earlier in her career, she also led marketing projects and teams at ArrMaz, SemMaterials, and Maersk Sealand in the US, Denmark and Germany.
Amy is an active member of and contributor to The Arthur Page Society. She holds an MBA from the University of South Carolina and bachelor’s degrees in business administration and Spanish from Southern Methodist University.
For Communications related enquiries you can reach out to Amy.
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