GOVERNANCE
Responsive leadership fosters a business environment that promotes long-term growth. Kraton’s robust governance is designed to identify, manage, and oversee risks and opportunities associated with our business.
Our Board of Directors and management effectively exercise oversight responsibilities. To maintain our commitment to ethics and transparency, we utilize a number of policies and procedures.
Board of Directors
KAREN A. TWITCHELL
CHAIRPERSON
JOSEPH B. DONAHUE
DIRECTOR, MEMBER OF STRATEGY, SUSTAINABILITY & INVESTMENTS COMMITTEE, & Audit and Compliance Committee
JONGHYUN KIM
VICE CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF DL CHEMICAL DIRECTOR, MEMBER OF THE MDC Committee AND SS&I COMMITTEE
DANIEL (DAN) J. PHELAN
DIRECTOR AND CHAIRMAN OF MDC COMMITTEE
ROBERT R. FREI JR.
DIRECTOR, CHAIRMAN OF the SS&I COMMITTEE AND MEMBER OF THE MDC COMMITTEE
JONGHYUN KIM
VICE CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF DL CHEMICAL DIRECTOR, MEMBER OF THE MDCC AND SS&I COMMITTEE
Joseph B. Donahue
DIRECTOR, MEMBER OF SS&I COMMITTEE and A&C Committee
ROBERT R. FREI JR.
DIRECTOR, CHAIRMAN OF SS&I COMMITTEE AND MEMBER OF THE MD&C COMMITTEE
Sung Hoon (SH) Jang
DIRECTOR, Member of the SS&I Committee
KAREN A. TWITCHELL
CHAIRPERSON
Ms. Twitchell was named a director in December 2009. From 2010 to 2013, Ms. Twitchell served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Landmark Aviation. From 2001 to 2009, Ms. Twitchell was a Vice President and Treasurer of LyondellBasell Industries. Prior to that, she served as a Vice President and Treasurer of Kaiser Aluminum Corporation and Southdown, Inc. Before joining Southdown, Ms. Twitchell was an investment banker with Credit Suisse in its corporate finance department. Ms. Twitchell serves on the board of directors of Calumet Specialty Products Partners since August 2022. Ms. Twitchell served on the board of directors of KMG Chemicals, HMTX Industries and Trecora Resources.
Ms. Twitchell holds a B.A. in economics from Wellesley College and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.
Sung Hoon (SH) Jang
DIRECTOR, MEMBER OF THE Strategy, Sustainability & Investments Committee
Mr. Jang is responsible for establishing and executing DL Chemical’s business strategy in his role as Chief Strategy Officer. In this role, Mr. Jang is also responsible for leading and accelerating the future growth of DL Chemical.
Before joining DL Chemical in April 2022, Mr. Jang has served for 35 years at LG Chem where he held several leadership positions in innovation, strategy, new business development and R&D. As the executive in charge of management innovation, he led standardization and digitization of business processes, promotion of digital transformation, and operation of innovation tasks to enhance companywide efficiency. He also led the role of developing and incubating LG Chem’s future growth engines as a strategy executive and focused on growth potential and profitability of LG Chem’s business portfolio. In the early days of LG’s battery business, LG Energy Solution, Mr. Jang was responsible for management strategy. In this role he set up long-term business strategy for automotive batteries and ESS batteries. He also led ESS battery business for 5 years.
Sung Hoon Jang received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Textile Engineering (Polymer Major) from Seoul National University and his PhD in Polymer Science from the University of Akron, USA.
JONGHYUN KIM
VICE CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF DL CHEMICAL DIRECTOR, MEMBER OF THE MDCC AND SS&I COMMITTEE
Mr. Jonghyun KIM was appointed our Member of the Board and Member of MDC and SSI committee in 2022. Mr. Kim is Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DL Chemical, our parent Company.
Previously Mr. Kim was the Chief Executive Officer of LG Energy Solution until 2021. Since 1998, Mr. Kim held various leading executive positions in LG Chem specialized in corporate innovation, strategy and business leader in chemical, IT material and Li-ion Battery.
Mr. Kim holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul and Master’s degree in Business Administration from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
DANIEL (DAN) J. PHELAN
DIRECTOR AND CHAIRMAN OF MDC COMMITTEE
Dan retired from GlaxoSmithKline in December 2012 after 31 years. He was Senior Advisor to the CEO from 2011 to 2012. From 2008-2010, he was Chief of Staff with global responsibility for Corporate Strategy and Development, Human Resources , Information Technology, Real Estate and Facilities, Environmental Health and Safety, Employee Health, Security, and Aviation. He was Senior Vice-President, Human Resources from 1994 -2008, a member of the Corporate Executive Team from 1994-2010, and was an advisor to three Chief Executives.
He is the Senior Independent Director of Indivior PLC (formerly Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals) and also chairs the Remuneration Committee. He was a member of the Board of Directors of TE Connectivity from 2006-2022 and was Chair of the Management Development and Compensation Committee.
Dan holds a B.A. from Rutgers College, an M.A. from The Ohio State University, and a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law. He is admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He served as an officer on active duty and the reserves in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps from 1971-1977.
ROBERT R. FREI JR.
DIRECTOR, CHAIRMAN OF STRATEGY, SUSTAINABILITY & INVESTMENTS COMMITTEE AND MEMBER OF THE MANAGEMENT, DEVELOPMENT AND COMPENSATION COMMITTEE
Mr. Frei was named a director in March 2022. Mr. Frei worked for McKinsey & Company, Inc. for 35 years. During his 20 years as a Senior Partner he co-led McKinsey’s Oil & Gas Practice globally for 5 years and co-led McKinsey’s Agriculture & Chemicals Practice globally for 10 years. He also worked extensively with private-equity firms on investments and divestments and with their portfolio companies within these and other industries.
Mr. Frei holds a BA in economics from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Joseph B. Donahue
DIRECTOR, MEMBER OF STRATEGY, SUSTAINABILITY & INVESTMENTS COMMITTEE
Joe Donahue served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of TE Connectivity, a $14B manufacturer of connectors, sensors, and surgical minimally invasive assemblies supplying the automotive, industrial, medical, aerospace, and communications/consumer markets. As COO (2011 -2018), Joe was responsible for all aspects of the company’s corporate global operations including supply chain, manufacturing, EHS, facilities, technology, and the company-wide lean initiatives. A key component to the company’s significant gross margin and customer service improvements was the operations wide lean initiative he staffed and led. Joe also led the country company based organizations in China, India, and South America.
In addition to his COO role, Joe was responsible for the $900M Subcom undersea cable business from 2016 to 2018 and President of TE’s Network Solutions segment from 2013 to 2015. This was a $3.5B multi divisional segment with 4,500 employees worldwide where he led all aspects of the business. Joe was the executive responsible for the divestiture of the $2B Broadband Networks Solutions division within the segment as the company made strategic decisions around its future portfolio. The $3B proceeds were critical in providing capital to reshape the company’s focus.
Prior to the assignment above, Joe led the company’s largest segment, the $6B Transportation Solutions organization from 2007 to 2012. This segment was comprised of four divisions servicing the Global Automotive, Industrial & Commercial Transportation, and Aerospace and Defense markets. He led the segment’s successful transformation following the exit from the 2009/2010 economic crisis. Moves made during that crisis significantly influenced subsequent market share and profit gains. Joe and his family relocated to Germany in 2011 for 3 years to rebuild the European Automotive management team which in turn led to solidified market positions with German automotive technology leaders. In 2012, Joe was also the executive sponsor for the $2B acquisition of Deutsch Connector Systems which added strategic harsh environment product lines to both the Aerospace Business and our Industrial & Commercial Transportation business.
From 1982 to 2006, he held a wide variety of engineering, manufacturing and general management positions at AMP/TE. He lived in both Japan and China and worked throughout Asia earlier in his AMP career where he assisted in developing key manufacturing capabilities in Taiwan, Singapore, and Korea. Joe was appointed as China general manager when TE opened its first joint venture facility in Shanghai in 1992. Joe has extensive experience and long standing relationships in Europe, Japan, China and India as a result of his expatriate assignments.
Joe holds a BS in Biological Sciences and an MS in Plastics Engineering from University of Lowell, Lowell, MA. He holds an MS in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Lehigh University. Joe is retired and living in Raleigh, NC. He serves as a board member for MKS Instruments, Andover MA, a semi conductor equipment manufacturing interest.