Section 5 Corporate Governance and Management
| Item 5.02. | Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. |
(c)
On December 21, 2022, Wayne H. Calabrese was appointed Chief Operating Officer of The GEO Group, Inc. (“GEO” or the “Company”) effective as of December 21, 2022.
Mr. Calabrese, 72, prior to his appointment as Chief Operating Officer served as GEO’s Senior Vice President of Legal Services from September 2021 through December 20, 2022. Mr. Calabrese originally joined GEO as Vice President of Business Development in 1989 and served in a range of increasingly senior positions, retiring in December 2010 as Vice Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company. Before joining GEO, Mr. Calabrese held various legal positions in Ohio for the City of Akron, Summit County, and the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, after which he was a partner in a small law firm in Akron, Ohio. He received his bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education from the University of Akron and his Juris Doctor from the University of Akron Law School. Mr. Calabrese brings extensive knowledge and experience to GEO’s management team. His legal training and experience, together with his prior service in various GEO leadership positions, makes him uniquely qualified to serve as GEO’s Chief Operating Officer.
Mr. Calabrese has no direct or indirect material interest in any transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K, has no arrangement or understanding between him and any other person relating to his appointment as an officer required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 401(b) of Regulation S-K and has no family relationships required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 401(d) of Regulation S-K.
The Company and Mr. Calabrese will enter into a new or amended employment agreement reflecting Mr. Calabrese’s appointment as Chief Operating Officer, which will establish his annual base salary, his eligibility to receive a target annual performance cash award equal to a percentage of his annual base salary, and his eligibility to participate in the Company’s stock incentive plan, consistent with the compensation packages provided to other senior management executives, as determined by the Company’s Compensation Committee. Mr. Calabrese’s compensation arrangement prior to his appointment as Chief Operating Officer provided for an annual base salary of $525,000, a target annual performance cash award of 75% of his annual base salary and participation in the Company’s stock incentive plan, as determined by the Company’s Compensation Committee.
(d)
On December 27, 2022, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of GEO, having received the recommendation of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, approved the expansion of the size of the Board from nine to ten members until the end of Ms. Anne Foreman’s term as a director. Ms. Foreman will not be seeking reelection to the Board at the end of her current term at the 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “2023 Annual Meeting”), Upon the expiration of Ms. Foreman’s current term, the number of directors will decrease from ten to nine.
Also effective December 27, 2022, the Board appointed Ms. Lindsay Koren to serve as a director on the Board of GEO for a term expiring at the 2023 Annual Meeting, at which time her continued service on the Board will be subject to renomination and shareholder approval. The appointment of Ms. Koren was not pursuant to any arrangement or understanding between her and any other person.
Ms. Koren is currently the Senior Vice President, Division General Counsel for Darden Restaurants, where she leads the Ethics & Compliance program, and has been with Darden Restaurants since 2015. Ms. Koren served as a Senior Director for international compliance and an Assistant General Counsel at Walmart from January 2011 until early 2015. At Walmart, Ms. Koren advised the business on legal and compliance matters for Walmart’s global business, operating in 26 countries. Ms. Koren also previously served as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice from 2004 to 2007, representing the government in appellate litigation matters, and as an attorney advisor to the Chief Immigration Judge.
Ms. Koren will be compensated in accordance with the Company’s previously disclosed compensation program for directors who are not employees as described under the heading “Director Compensation” in the Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A for the Company’s 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders filed on March 17, 2022, and as may be amended in the future.
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