CNX is governed by a Board of Directors of seven members, all of whom are independent under New York Stock Exchange rules, other than Mr. Deluliis.
William N. Thorndike, Jr.
Chairman of the Board, age 59
William N. Thorndike, Jr. joined the CNX Board in October 2014. Mr. Thorndike was named our Chairman on May 11, 2016. He currently serves as a member of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and ESCR Committee. Mr. Thorndike is currently the Managing Partner of The Cromwell Harbor Partnership, a private investment company. Before Cromwell, he founded Housatonic Partners, a private equity firm, in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1994. Prior to founding Housatonic Partners, Mr. Thorndike worked with T. Rowe Price Associates, a global asset management firm, and Walker & Company, a publishing company, where he was named to the Board of Directors. Mr. Thorndike has served as a director of over 30 companies since founding Housatonic Partners. He is currently a Co-Chairman of Perimeter Solutions (NYSE: PRM) and a director of several private companies, including Carillon Assisted Living, LLC; Banyan Software; and QMC International, LLC. He also serves as a Trustee of WGBH, a public broadcaster serving southern New England. Mr. Thorndike is the author of “The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success.” Mr. Thorndike brings nearly 30 years of investment and board experience to the CNX Board. He has extensive leadership experience in evaluating strategic alternatives and helping to build value for shareholders across a variety of industries. He has a breadth of financial, strategic and human resource knowledge with specific expertise in the areas of capital allocation and compensation.
Nicholas J. DeIuliis
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director, age 54
Nicholas J. DeIuliis has served as a Director and the Chief Executive Officer and President of CNX Resources Corporation since May 2014. Mr. DeIuliis has more than 30 years of experience with the Corporation. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Mr. DeIuliis is a registered engineer in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a member of the Pennsylvania bar.
Robert O. Agbede
Director, age 67
Robert O. Agbede joined the CNX Board in January 2022. Mr. Agbede currently serves as a member of the Audit, Compensation, NCG, and ESCR committees. He is the Chairman and CEO of Chester Group Inc., a holding company for technology, engineering, and energy related investments and also the former CEO and owner of Chester Engineers, which was, prior to its merger with Hatch Associates in 2017, the largest African‐American‐owned engineering, water/wastewater treatment, energy, and environmental engineering firm in the United States. Mr. Agbede is also the Chairman and CEO of Chester LNG, LLC, a subsidiary of the Chester Group, which designs and owns several Intellectual Properties on micro-LNG systems for use as virtual pipelines to deliver natural gas to remote locations or as standalones for off the grid power generation or fueling. He is the Chairman of Sigma Paint Nigeria, a coating manufacturing and marketing company in partnership with Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries. Mr. Agbede is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pittsburgh and he is the Chairman of the Board of Visitors of its Swanson School of Engineering. In 2000, he was inducted into the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering Hall of Fame. The Chester Group’s endowments and scholarships at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, presently valued at over $4 million, support African American student enrollment and retention primarily in Engineering and Sciences. Mr. Agbede adds to our Board an extensive business management and executive leadership background from his 40-plus year career as an energy entrepreneur.
J. Palmer Clarkson
Director, age 66
J. Palmer Clarkson joined the CNX Board in May 2017. He is the founder and, from 1992 until his retirement in 2022, served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Bridgestone HosePower, LLC, previously Hosepower, the largest U.S. based service provider of hydraulic and industrial hoses used in construction machinery, mining, oil field equipment and factories. Mr. Clarkson currently serves as Chairman of the ESCR Committee and as a member of the Compensation Committee and NCG Committee. Mr. Clarkson is a former board member of Bridgestone HosePower, LLC and Bridgestone Industrial Products Group – Japan and currently sits on the Board of Directors of Enerpac Tool Group Corp., the Jacksonville Port Authority (JaxPort) and is the Chairman of the Lake Doctors, Inc. Mr. Clarkson previously served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Anchor Coupling Company from 1987 to 1992. He also sits on the boards of several nonprofit organizations. Mr. Clarkson brings to our Board over 32 years of hands-on experience as an entrepreneur, business builder and manager. He has extensive experience across various operating sectors providing goods and services to the energy industry.
Maureen E. Lally-Green
Director, age 73
Maureen E. Lally-Green joined the CNX Board in June 2013. Ms. Lally-Green currently serves as Chair of the NCG Committee and is a member of the Compensation Committee and ESCR Committee. Ms. Lally-Green served as the Dean/Interim Dean of the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University (Kline Duquesne) from 2016 until her retirement in 2019. She is presently an Adjunct Professor of Law at Kline Duquesne. She has served on the board of Federated Mutual Fund Complex since August 2009 and was appointed to serve on its audit committee in May 2013. She previously served as an elected Judge of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, Associate General Secretary, Diocese of Pittsburgh, counsel for a major corporation, and counsel for a federal agency. Ms. Lally-Green also serves or has served as director of a variety of nonprofit corporations in the legal, higher education, health and social services arenas. Ms. Lally-Green brings over 40 years of legal experience to our Board that includes a diversity of experience while serving as a Judge on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania State (a statewide appellate court), her service with a major corporation and the federal government, her activities in the state-wide and local legal communities and her experience with, among other things, corporate governance due to her service on a number of boards of non-profit entities and the for-profit Federated Mutual Fund Complex.
Bernard Lanigan, Jr.
Director, age 75
Bernard Lanigan, Jr. joined the CNX Board in May 2016. Mr. Lanigan currently serves as Chair of the Audit Committee and as a member of the ESCR Committee and NCG Committee. He co-founded and has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Southeast Asset Advisors, Inc., an investment advisor and wealth management company, since 1991. He also co-founded and has served as Chairman of Lanigan & Associates, P.C., a certified public accounting and consulting firm, since 1974. He also serves on the boards of nonpublic companies and various endowments and private foundations. Previously, Mr. Lanigan served on the boards of directors of Texas Industries, Inc., Rayonier, Inc., and Ruby Tuesday, Inc.. Mr. Lanigan brings to our Board over four decades of leadership experience with large, complex and diverse organizations. He is a certified public accountant and has over 40 years of experience in financial, tax, accounting, investment advising, capital allocation, strategic consulting, risk assessment, valuations and mergers and acquisitions matters, including as both advisor and principal in a variety of industries including energy.
Ian McGuire
Director, age 44
Ian McGuire joined the CNX Board in July 2019. He currently serves as Chair of the Compensation Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee and ESCR Committee. In 2018, he founded Tempus Partners, an investment firm, where he has since served as an investment partner. Prior to founding Tempus Partners, Mr. McGuire was an investment partner at SPO Partners & Co., an investment firm, where he was part of a small investment team that had responsibilities for all aspects of the firm’s portfolio investments. Prior to working at SPO Partners & Co., Mr. McGuire was an investment banker in Goldman Sachs’ natural resources group. Cumulatively, Mr. McGuire has over 16 years of investment banking experience, with an emphasis in the energy and natural resources sectors. Mr. McGuire received his B.A. from Middlebury College and his M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Having founded Tempus Partners, an investment firm, and served as an investment partner at SPO and an investment banker with Goldman Sachs, Mr. McGuire provides our board with substantial insight into financial-related matters and the energy industry.
Board Committees
Our Board has four standing committees: Audit; Compensation; Environment, Safety and Corporate Responsibility; and Nominating and Corporate Governance. For more information on our Board committee charters, click here.
Director membership on our committees is as follows:
|
Committee Memberships |
Name |
Age |
Director Since |
Occupation |
Independent |
AC |
CC |
NCG |
ESCR |
Nicholas J. Deluliis |
54 |
2014 |
Chief Executive Officer,
President and Director of CNX |
|
|
|
|
X |
Robert O. Agbede |
66 |
2022 |
CEO of Chester Group Inc. and Chairman and CEO of Chester LNG, LLC |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
J. Palmer Clarkson |
63 |
2017 |
Chairman of the Lake Doctors, Inc. and former President and Chief Executive Officer of Bridgestone HosePower, LLC |
X |
|
X |
X |
C |
Maureen E. Lally-Green |
71 |
2013 |
Former Judge—Superior Court of Pennsylvania and former Dean of Kline School of Law of Duquesne University |
X |
|
X |
C |
X |
Bernard Lanigan, Jr. |
72 |
2016 |
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Southeast Asset Advisors, Inc. |
X |
C |
|
X |
X |
William N. Thorndike, Jr. |
56 |
2014 |
Managing Partner of The Cromwell Harbor Partnership |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
Ian McGuire |
44 |
2019 |
Founder of Tempus Partners |
X |
X |
C |
|
X |
1 AC—Audit Committee, CC—Compensation Committee, ESCR—Environment, Safety and Corporate Responsibility Committee, NCG—Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, C—Chair, X—Member
For further information, including our directors’ other significant positions and commitments and nature of them; competencies as to economic, environmental and social impacts; membership in under-represented social groups; and stakeholder representation, please see CNX’s most recent Proxy Statement under the Financials section on our Investor Relations page.
Oversight of Economic, Environmental and Social Performance
The CNX Board committees are tasked with oversight responsibilities ranging from economic and financial matters relating to the business to the impact of CNX’s operations upon the environment and the communities in which we live and work. The Board and each Board committee receives information and training from CNX's senior management team to further develop and enhance theBoard’s collective knowledge of economic, environmental and social topics. The Board and certain Board committees have authority to delegate their authority to senior executives and other employees including economic, environmental and social topics relevant to CNX, to the extent permitted by law and our corporate governance documents.
Board’s Role In Risk Management
Our management team is responsible for the management and assessment of risk at CNX and communicating those risks to our Board. Through regular presentations to the Board and the appropriate committees (as determined by the subject matter of the particular risk), which occur at least quarterly, management identifies and discusses material risks affecting the Company and our business, including reviewing economic, environmental and social matters.
Under our Corporate Governance Guidelines, the Board is charged with assessing major risks facing the Company and reviewing options for their mitigation with the assistance of the various committees. Even when a risk has been delegated to a particular committee, the Board as a whole continues to monitor such risk through its receipt and review of reports by the respective committees at each regularly scheduled Board meeting. To assist in the identification and management of risk, the Board and senior management regularly consult with shareholders and other stakeholders to identify issues.
The Audit Committee assists the Board in its general oversight of, among other things, CNX's policies, guidelines and related practices regarding risk assessment and risk management, including the risk of fraud. As part of this endeavor, the Audit Committee reviews and assesses the Company’s major financial, legal and similar risk exposures and the steps that management has taken to monitor and control such exposures. The Audit Committee also reviews and assesses the quality and integrity of CNX's public reporting, the Company’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, the performance and independence of the company’s independent auditors, the performance of the internal audit department, the effectiveness of CNX's disclosure controls and procedures, and the adequacy and effectiveness of the Company’s risk management policies and related practices.
Our Environmental, Safety and Corporate Responsibility Committee addresses various topics associated with the environment, safety and corporate responsibility. This committee reviews (i) any material compliance issues with health, safety and environmental laws, (ii) any material pending or threatened administrative, regulatory or judicial proceedings regarding health, safety or environmental matters, (iii) management’s response to the foregoing matters and (iv) issues of corporate responsibility and security (including cybersecurity).
Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee addresses risks associated with our management structure by reviewing, among other matters, the qualifications and backgrounds of our directors on an annual basis to ensure that our Board is composed of individuals who are capable of providing appropriate oversight to our executive management team.
Finally, our Compensation Committee reviews and comments on our succession planning and assesses whether our compensation policies and practices incentivize excessive risk-taking.
Communications With The Board of Directors
To communicate critical concerns, including those relating to economic, environmental and social topics, to the board, interested persons may do so by writing to the Board, to the attention of the Corporate Secretary at CNX Resources Corporation, 1000 Horizon Vue Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317, or by sending an e-mail to directors@cnx.com. The Corporate Secretary will relay all such communications to the Board in its entirety or to individual directors (as appropriate) at the next regularly scheduled Board meeting (or earlier if necessary) except for spam, junk mail, mass mailings, solicitations, resumes, job inquiries or other matters unrelated to CNX. Communications that are intended specifically for the Chairman or the independent directors are to be sent to the street address or e-mail address noted above, to the attention of the Chairman or the independent directors, as intended.