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Houston Chapter In-Person Event | The Private Board Director Playbook: Evaluating Strategic Alternatives
Amegy Tower
1717 W. Loop S | Houston Room 24th floor
Houston, TX 77027
Wednesday, April 23, 2025, 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM CDT
Category: Houston

The Private Board Director Playbook: Evaluating Strategic Alternatives

Overview

Join the Private Directors Association for a critical discussion on evaluating strategic alternatives. Our expert panel will guide you through key considerations for private company board directors, equipping you to make informed decisions about the company's future.


Registration

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION (Expires on April 16th, 2025)
$35 Member Registration
$45 Non-Member Registration

STANDARD REGISTRATION
$45 Member Registration
$55 Non-Member Registration

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Panelist

   Angela John
   Independent Director
   Parkland Corporation, TETRA Technologies

Angela is a strategic advisor and credential public company board member with over 16 years of commercial leadership experience in the energy sector, including leading supply and trading teams at bp and developing commercial strategies for our energy future at the Williams Companies.  

In 2021, Angela began serving as an Independent Director for Parkland Corporation (TSX:PKI), an international food and convenience store operator and independent fuel supplier listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.  Angela is currently a member of the Environmental, Safety, and Sustainability Committee and the Human Resources and Compensation Committee.  She previously served on the Governance, Nominations, and Ethics Committee.

In 2024, Angela joined the TETRA Technologies (NYSE:TTI) board as an Independent Director serving on the Audit and Nominating, Governance and Sustainability Committees.  TETRA Technologies is an energy solutions company with operations in six continents and strategic capabilities in aqueous chemistry and engineering, providing opportunities in oil and gas, as well as energy expansion initiatives, including lithium, bromine, and desalination technologies.

Angela is a member of the U.S. National Petroleum Council.  She also volunteers on the University of Houston Energy Management Institute Advisory Board and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Houston Chapter Membership Committee.  

Angela is NACD Directorship Certified and holds a CERT certificate in Cybersecurity Risk Oversight from Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute.  She earned a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Houston.


   Tony Gerbino
   Chairman, CEO
   ErgoGenesis Workplace Solutions, LLC

Tony Gerbino is Chairman and CEO of ErgoGenesis Workplace Solutions, LLC, the Navasota, Texas-based manufacturer of BodyBilt Ergonomic Seating. For over 30 years, BodyBilt has been an industry leader in ergonomic workplace seating products distributed worldwide. Because of its comfort and quality, BodyBilt seating is the choice of many of the largest companies in the country. 

Tony is an operating executive with broad experience in manufacturing, retail, wholesale distribution companies, and higher education institutions. Tony has expertise in advancing enterprise value by aligning and advancing the enterprise’s sales, marketing, operations, and finance capabilities. Additionally, Tony focuses on developing winning strategies and their execution to align with organizational capabilities.

Before joining Freestone Partners, a Houston-based private equity firm that acquired ErgoGenesis in 2013, Tony spent 12 years as a turnaround and restructuring advisor. First as a founding member of Bridge Associates, a New York-based turnaround and crisis management firm, and later with Grant Thornton, where he was a Director in the Corporate Advisory & Restructurings Services group in Houston.

Board Experience

  • Serves as Chairman & CEO of ErgoGenesis Workplace Solutions, LLC

  • Serves on the Board of Directors of Cyclone Steel Services, LLC, in Houston, Texas. Cyclone is a specialized steel plate processor whose products and services are designed to manufacture many large steel projects, including those used in offshore oil rigs and various types of tubular steel project requirements.

  • Tony has served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Saint Leo University in Florida and has spent over 20 years chairing various committees, pioneering the audit committee, chairing the business affairs committee for 10 years, and chairing a restructuring committee. 

  • Tony has twice served on the Executive Search Committee of Chicago's Board of Trustees of the Turnaround Management Association. The TMA has over 10,000 international members and is the leading organization providing corporate restructuring and renewal services.

  • Tony has served as President of the Turnaround Management Association in Houston.

   Sylvia Barnes
   CEO
   Tanda Resources, LLC
Ms. Barnes is CEO of Tanda Resources LLC, a privately held investment company, and a seasoned public company independent board member with experience on seven NYSE, NASDAQ and TSX listed companies.  Her board expertise includes being Chair of Audit, Governance and Compensation Committees and managing environmental, social and governance, risk management, conflict committee and shareholder activism matters.

Ms. Barnes has successfully executed a variety of mergers, acquisitions and divestiture transactions for energy clients, and advised on IPO's, public and private equity offerings and private debt and equity placements.

She began her career as a reservoir engineer for an affiliate of Exxon and was a licensed petroleum engineer. She received a BSc in Mechanical Engineering (Dean's List) from the University of Manitoba, and an MBA from York University.


Moderator

    John Melko
    Partner
    Foley & Lardner

John Melko focuses his practice on complex sales, acquisitions, bankruptcies and financings in the energy sector throughout the United States, as well as offshore and bluewater shipping-related issues in both foreign and domestic cases and financings.

With years of cross-border and multinational experience in a broad range of industries, John has worked across sectors including food service; oil and gas exploration, production, transportation, refining, and marketing; electric generation and transmission; renewable energy projects; blue water shipping; airlines; and retail cases and workouts. He previously co-chaired Foley’s national Bankruptcy & Business Reorganization Practice and serves as an advisory member of the firm’s Energy & Infrastructure Sector.

He has represented:

  • Borrowers and debtors in possession
  • Creditors and creditors’ committees
  • Securitized noteholders
  • Trustees
  • Investors

Buyers of assets and businesses in and out of restructuring or bankruptcy settings. Throughout his career, John has helped guide clients through dislocations in those industries out of court workouts as well as chapters 7, 11 (including sub-chapter V), and chapter 15 procedures.

John is also a Certified Public Accountant (non-active).


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 Prospects may only attend two events per calendar year.