Sam Charleston joined Americold as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer in January 2022. She is responsible for leading all talent initiatives to support the overall business direction and formulating appropriate organization strategies for the future development, attraction, onboarding, and retention of high-caliber talent.

Ms. Charleston has deep experience in HR and the supply chain with a proven record of accelerating performance, building organizational capability, and developing talent across a variety of companies.  Prior to joining our company, she was Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Talent & Culture at Newell Brands.  Before joining Newell Brands, she spent over 20 years with Kraft Foods in roles spanning logistics, customer service, change management, and HR.

Ms. Charleston holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Clark Atlanta University and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.  She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Second Nature Brands.

Marc J. Smernoff has served as our Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President since August 2015. Prior to that, he served as our Chief Administrative Officer and Executive Vice President from August 2014 until August 2015.

From August 2004 through April 2015, he served as a Director at The Yucaipa Companies, LLC. Prior to joining Yucaipa, from 2003 to 2004 he was a Manager in the Transaction Services group at KPMG, and from 2000 through 2002, he was an investment banking associate at Wells Fargo Securities.

Mr. Smernoff was a member of our board of trustees from March 2008 until December 2009 and served on the board of directors of Eimskipafélag Islands hf (NASDAQ OMX: EIM) from September 2009 until September 2018.

Mr. Smernoff is a certified public accountant. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his Master’s in Business Administration from UCLA.

Nathan Harwell joined Americold as Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Officer in September 2023. He is also the company’s Secretary and is responsible for the company’s legal, risk management, and compliance functions.

Prior to joining Americold Mr. Harwell served as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary for U.S. Xpress Enterprises, a premier provider of trucking and logistic services. He has previously served as General Counsel at Rinnai America Corporation, Senior Counsel at Medtronic, Inc. and Exide Technologies, and Division Counsel at D.R. Horton, Inc. Additionally, he has law firm experience with Johnson, Hobgood & Rutherford LLC and King & Spalding, LLP.

Mr. Harwell holds a JD from Mercer University and a BS from Carson-Newman College.

Robert Chambers joined the Americold Executive Leadership Team in January 2020 as Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Chambers is responsible for global business development and account revenue growth for an array of products and supply chain solutions.

Mr. Chambers brings nearly 20 years of commercial finance and accounting experience to Americold. Most recently, he held the title of Chief Financial Officer for Saia, a publicly traded transportation logistics company. Previously, Mr. Chambers was the Vice President of Commercial Finance at Americold where he was instrumental in developing the Company’s commercial business rules and underwriting process.

Mr. Chambers is a certified public accountant with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Accounting from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida.

Richard Winnall was appointed Chief Operating Officer, International in August 2022.  He joined Americold in January of 2019 as the Managing Director, International and held the role of Managing Director, Asia Pacific and Latin America prior to his appointment as Chief Operating Officer, International.

Mr. Winnall is responsible for leading Americold’s International operations and critical support functions to enable the organization to drive efficiency and provide best-in-class service to customers.  Mr. Winnall has deep executive experience within some of the largest logistics companies in the world, having previously served at DHL Supply Chain (DPDHL Group) in Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Linfox in the Asia Pacific region. He holds a Master of Science Management, Intermodal Transport from the University of Denver, Colorado, and a Master of International Business from Swinburne University, Melbourne, and is a graduate of the GAICD International Company Directors Program.

Scott Henderson was appointed Executive Vice President & Chief Investment Officer in March 2023, after serving as Senior Vice President, Capital Markets, Treasury, and Investor Relations since joining the company in 2018.

Mr. Henderson is responsible for leading Americold’s investment and other capital allocation activities. He has deep experience across capital markets, M&A, corporate finance and investor relations. Prior REIT experience includes working at SITE Centers and STAG Industrial. He also worked in REIT Finance at Citizens Bank.

Mr. Henderson holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BSBA from Washington University in St. Louis.

Michael Spires was appointed Chief Information Officer in December 2022. He is responsible for global information technology and leads Americold’s IT team to provide customers the highest level of systems security and leading-edge supply chain technologies to support their business.

Mr. Spires brings over 20 years of executive-level technology leadership experience to Americold, having previously served in senior roles at The Hackett Group, Cognizant Technology Solutions, and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Mr. Spires holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BS in Finance from Bradley University.

Bryan Verbarendse joined Americold as Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer in August 2023. He is responsible for leading Americold’s North America operations and critical support functions to enable the organization to drive efficiency and provide best-in-class service to customers.

Mr. Verbarendse has more than 31 years of experience in retail and wholesale grocery supply chain. Prior to joining Americold he served as Senior Vice President of Distribution and Replenishment for Albertson’s. He has also served as Group Vice President of Distribution at Albertson’s and held General Manager roles at Albertson’s and SUPERVALU.

Mr. Verbarendse holds a BBA in Finance from Boise State University.