President Sylvia Burwell has been nominated for election to the board of directors for Kimberly-Clark, an office supply and paper product company, the company announced in a press release on March 7.
The board of directors will hold an election in late April at its annual meeting of shareholders.
Kimberly-Clark’s portfolio of brands includes names such as Huggies and Kleenex. The company had more than $19 billion of revenue in 2021. At the time of publication, the company’s stock was valued at $126.59 per share.
"We are excited about our plans to add Sylvia to the board," Mike Hsu, chairman and CEO of Kimberly-Clark wrote in the press release. "Her diverse senior leadership experience in academia and the public sector, along with her international perspective, will contribute to our board conversations as we execute our growth strategy, and inspire our purpose led brands working to uplift the lives of millions around the world."
According to an email from a Kimberly-Clark spokesperson the company, Burwell will receive an annual retainer of $105,000. Additionally, she will receive an annual grant of restricted share units valued at $185,000. These amounts will be prorated to reflect a partial year of service for 2022, the spokesperson said. Based on the 2021 compensation reported in the company’s most recent Schedule 14A form, the retainer increased from $100,000 and the restricted share units increased from $180,000.
“Our objectives are to ensure our director compensation keeps pace with changes in practices in director compensation and allows Kimberly-Clark to effectively attract qualified candidates for Board service.” the spokesperson wrote. “Further, Kimberly-Clark reinforces a practice of encouraging stock ownership by our directors by granting restricted share units that are not paid out until the director leaves the Board (these are not shares of common stock). In this way, they align the director’s interests with the interests of our stockholders.”
According to the Schedule 14A form, Burwell’s qualifications for the position include satisfying financial literacy requirements of the New York Stock Exchange, leadership experience as a senior executive officer, international experience and providing “diversity of background and viewpoint from her academic background and deep government experience.”
Burwell is not currently on any boards of publicly traded companies. She serves on the board of GuideWell Mutual Holding Corporation, a privately held mutual insurance company; the board of directors for the American Council of Education; and the board for the Council on Foreign Relations.
American University spokesperson Elizabeth Deal said that this position is a personal obligation of Burwell’s, not a University one.
“President Burwell will participate in periodic meetings, in her personal capacity, which will not affect her service to the university. Her appointment will not impact university procurement procedures,” Deal wrote in an email to The Eagle.
