| Item 5.02. | Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers |
On June 9, 2023, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Evergy, Inc. (“Evergy”) elected Neal A. Sharma, 46, to serve on the Board effective June 9, 2023, for a term expiring at Evergy’s 2024 annual meeting of shareholders. Mr. Sharma has not been appointed to any Board committees in connection with his election to the Board. Determinations regarding the Board committees, if any, to which Mr. Sharma may be appointed in the future will be made in accordance with Evergy’s usual practices. The Board determined that Mr. Sharma is independent and meets the applicable director independence requirements of the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC and Evergy’s director independence standards, as adopted by the Board.
Mr. Sharma co-founded Digital Evolution Group (“DEG”), a full-service digital marketing and commerce agency which was sold in 2018. From 2018 until 2022, he continued to serve as Chief Executive Officer of DEG, now part of global agency holding company, Dentsu Group, Inc. Mr. Sharma has served as President, Dentsu Shop since January 2022 in a solutions-oriented advisory role, and also serves in an advisory capacity to startup companies in which he invests and on several non-profit boards, including MRI Global and the Truman Library Institute. Mr. Sharma earned a bachelor’s degree from American University in 1998 and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Kansas in 2001.
Mr. Sharma will receive compensation for his Board service consistent with the compensation received by Evergy’s other non-employee directors as disclosed in the Summary of Evergy, Inc. Non-Employee Director Compensation, effective as of May 4, 2021, on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) as Exhibit 10.14 to Evergy’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021. Evergy also entered into an indemnification agreement with Mr. Sharma in the same form as has been entered into with other directors and officers, on file with the SEC as Exhibit 10.2 to Evergy’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2018. The indemnification agreement provides indemnification to the extent allowed under Missouri law.
Other than the foregoing matters, there is no arrangement or understanding between Mr. Sharma and any other persons pursuant to which Mr. Sharma was selected as a director, nor are there any transactions required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
