AccuWeather Appoints Three Dynamic Industry Leaders to its Board of Directors -- Laura Lang, Lisa Shalett and Sean Cohan
Dr. Joel Myers: "AccuWeather is thrilled to welcome this distinguished and diverse cadre of accomplished leaders, who will best represent all who work here as well as the more than 1.5 billion people worldwide who use and depend on our products and services for the protection of life and property."
STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Nov. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- AccuWeather Global Weather Center-- Global weather and digital media leader AccuWeather today announced that it has appointed three renowned and talented industry leaders to its Board of Directors: Laura Lang, Founder and Managing Director of Narragansett Ventures; Lisa M. Shalett, retired Goldman Sachs partner; and Sean Cohan, President of Wheelhouse Entertainment. The appointments are subject to approval by the shareholders.
The appointments reflect AccuWeather's continued growth as a powerful force in weather technology and media as well as a provider of weather warning and consultation services to more than half of the Fortune 500 companies and thousands of other business globally. AccuWeather Board Member Robert Friedman, CEO of Bungalow Media + Entertainment and a 37-year veteran of the entertainment industry, headed the search committee for the new appointees. Friedman was recently inducted into Broadcast & Cable's Hall of Fame.
"We are delighted to welcome Laura, Lisa and Sean to our now 11-member Board of Directors," said Dr. Joel N. Myers, AccuWeather Founder, CEO and Chairman. "As a growing, global brand trusted everywhere around the world, AccuWeather is thrilled to welcome to our Board this distinguished and diverse cadre of accomplished leaders, who will best represent all who work here as well as the more than 1.5 billion people worldwide who use and depend on our products and services for the protection of life and property."
Myers added, "AccuWeather continues to gain significant velocity as the dominant force in providing the most accurate weather forecasts and warnings globally. The achievements and combined superior expertise in digital media, innovation, entrepreneurship, and business development of these three highly skilled leaders are ideally matched to AccuWeather's strategic direction, and will be valuable resources in our continued growth trajectory."
Laura Lang is the Founder and Managing Director of Narragansett Ventures, a strategic advisory firm focused on digital business transformation and growth investing. She is an experienced public and private Board Director, with expertise in digital transformation, data, content, and marketing strategy innovation.
Prior to founding Narragansett Ventures in 2014, Lang served as the Chief Executive Officer of TIME Inc., a division of Time Warner. She led the digital transformation of their publishing business prior to its launch as an independent publicly traded company.
Lang previously worked for Digitas, the largest digital integrated marketing agency in the world. She joined Digitas in 1999 and was appointed Global Chief Executive Officer in 2008. As CEO, Lang led the company's transformation from a direct marketing business to a high-growth, data-driven, digital industry leader. She holds Board positions at VF Corporation, Steiner Leisure, ICX Media and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
She is also an Advisor to L Catterton. Lang is a graduate of Tufts University and earned her MBA from The Wharton School of Business.
"This is a dynamic and exciting time for AccuWeather as it continues to grow its expansive global and digital footprint," said Lang. "I am honored to be joining the Board of an organization with such a strong history of leadership, scale and impact in the important work of understanding our weather."
Lisa Shalett is a retired Goldman Sachs Partner who now advises and invests in growth companies and serves on public and private boards. Known for her agility, she has distinguished herself in her ability to thrive in large organizations as well as fast-growing ones, and is focused on using her considerable, diverse business expertise and operational experience to help growing companies run well and scale, and help large organizations stay innovate.
Over her 20 years at Goldman Sachs, Shalett held a number of leadership roles, ranging from Head of International Equities, leveraging her Japan expertise, to Chief Operating Officer of Global Compliance, Legal and Internal Audit as the regulatory environment intensified, and, most recently, Global Head of Brand Marketing and Digital Strategy, managing Goldman's brand during the financial crisis, serving as change agent and transforming the way the firm communicated with its stakeholders. She brings expertise in digital, media, data analytics, corporate brand and reputation management, "Regtech," financial markets, and innovation.
Since leaving Goldman, Shalett served as Chief Marketing Officer of a fast-growing millennials-focused media company, and Head of Strategic Innovation at Brookfield Asset Management, one of the largest global alternative asset managers in real estate, infrastructure, and renewable energy and power. She currently serves on the Board of digital agency Bully Pulpit Interactive, and previously served on boards of Brookfield Property Partners, and PerformLine, the leader in brand and regulatory compliance. Shalett earned her B.A. in East Asian Studies from Harvard and MBA from Harvard Business School.
"Weather is such a fascinating source of content, context, relevance and data," Shalett said. "I am inspired by the vision, growth, creativity and constant innovation at AccuWeather, as well as the trust in its brand. I am very excited and honored to be joining this Board."
Sean Cohan serves as president of Wheelhouse Entertainment, a media and marketing venture. There he is responsible for driving content and marketing opportunities across multiple businesses and platforms, including talent, brand, and other strategic, corporate partnerships for the company.
Prior to Wheelhouse, Cohan worked at A+E Networks for nearly 15 years. He served as president of international and digital media, where he oversaw two of the company's rapid growth/ transformation units and was a member of the executive and senior leadership teams.
He was responsible for the company's brands, services, content and digital business outside of the U.S., and all U.S. domestic digital activities, including sites, apps, digital-first content studio, distribution and licensing. He launched A+E's content and brands, such as History and Lifetime, into nearly every global market and a range of branded digital services from direct-to-consumer subscriptions to voice assistant applications.
Cohan has been named a Digital All Star by Broadcasting & Cable, ranked in Top Five of CableFax's "Most Influential Minorities in Cable," and was called one of the "Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America" by Savoy Magazine.
He was recognized in Digital TV Europe's 50, in Cablefax 100, as a NAMIC Luminary, and his team received a Webby nomination for use of machine learning and Diversity Leadership Award from Broadcasting and Cable.
Prior to his tenure at A+E Networks, Cohan held positions at Primedia, Morgan Stanley, NBC and A.T. Kearney. He is a director/ trustee on the boards of The Opportunity Network, Parrish Art Museum, the Banff World Media Festival, and 2btube. He is a graduate of Harvard and holds an MBA from Stanford University.
Said Cohan, "AccuWeather has a rich history, universal brand, tremendous global reach, strong leadership, and a very bright future. I am honored and delighted to join the Board of this venerable, rapid growth company and look forward to its continued global, multi-platform advancement and success."
About AccuWeather, Inc. and AccuWeather.com — AccuWeather, recognized and documented as the most accurate source of weather forecasts and warnings in the world, has saved tens of thousands of lives, prevented hundreds of thousands of injuries and tens of billions of dollars in property damage. With global headquarters in State College, PA and other offices around the world, AccuWeather serves more than 1.5 billion people daily to help them plan their lives and get more out of their day through digital media properties, such as AccuWeather.com and mobile, as well as radio, television, newspapers, and the 24/7 AccuWeather Network channel. Additionally, AccuWeather produces and distributes news, weather content, and video for more than 180,000 third-party websites. Among AccuWeather's many innovative and award-winning features available free to the public are MinuteCast® Minute by Minute™ forecasts with Superior Accuracy™. Furthermore, AccuWeather serves more than half of Fortune 500 companies and thousands of businesses globally.
Dr. Joel N. Myers, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, established AccuWeather in 1962 and is considered the "father of modern commercial meteorology." Dr. Myers, a leading creative thinker and visionary, has been named "the most accurate man in weather" by The New York Times and one of the top entrepreneurs in American history by Entrepreneur's Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs.
AccuWeather, RealFeel, RealFeel Shade, WinterCast, and MinuteCast are all registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature, AccuWeatherIQ, AccuWeather RealImpact, AccuWeather RI, AccuWeather MinuteCast, AccuWeather Network, Minute by Minute and Superior Accuracy are all trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All other trademarks, product names and logos are the property of their respective owners.
The AccuWeather app for Android phone and tablet users is free at the Google Play store. The AccuWeather iOS app is free at www.AppStore.com. Visit accuweather.com for additional information.
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