Life Storage Inc., a self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT) and management company, announced changes to its board of directors. Susan Harnett has been newly elected, while company co-founder and director Charles “Chuck” E. Lannon plans to retire in May, according to a press release.

Harnett will be a member of two committees: audit and risk-management, and compensation and human capital. She’s expected to stand for re-election at the May annual shareholders meeting.

Harnett has been a board member for OFG Bancorp, a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based financial holding company, since 2019, serving on its audit/risk and compliance committees. She also served as an independent director and committee member for First Niagara Financial Group, a publicly traded bank with $40 billion in assets, from 2015 until its acquisition by KeyCorp in 2016.

From 2012 to 2015, Harnett was chief operations officer of North America for QBE Insurance Group Limited. Prior to that, she held four key positions at Citigroup between 2001 and 2012, including head of retail banking and deputy CEO of Citibank Europe, the Middle East and Africa; CEO of Citibank Germany; head of global business performance; and, finally, president of local consumer lending.

Harnett has been a mentor to several digital startups and is the co-founder of two: Juntos and EqualFuture Corp. She earned a bachelor's degree from Marquette University and an executive master’s degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She also received a National Association of Corporate Governance Directors Fellowship.

“We are excited to announce Sue’s addition as a director of Life Storage,” said Mark Barberio, non-executive chair of the company’s board of directors. “Her distinguished career as a proven business leader with extensive executive, retail, financial services and technology expertise, as well as her public company board and leadership experience, will provide valuable perspective as the company continues to build shareholder value.”

Lannon has been president of consulting firm Strategic Advisory since 1995. He also co-founded Northtowns Imaging Inc., a medical diagnostic-imaging company, in 1995, then sold it in 1999.

Lannon has served as an officer and board member of several nonpublic companies, including as vice chairman for Kinex Pharmaceuticals LLC, a cancer-drug pharmaceutical company, which changed its name to Athenex Inc. and began publicly trading in 2017. Since 2013, he’s served on the board of Royal Oak Realty Trust, a private REIT, where he’s currently the lead independent director and serves on various committees.

“On behalf of the board, I thank Chuck for his dedicated service over the past 25 years,” Barberio said. “Chuck’s contributions to Life Storage since he co-founded the company in 1985 have been immense, and we wish him all the best in his relocation to Florida.”

Based in Buffalo, N.Y., Life Storage operates more than 900 storage facilities in 31 states and Ontario, Canada. Its portfolio of owned and managed facilities comprises more than 65.8 million square feet.

Source:
Businesswire, Life Storage, Inc. Announces Changes to the Board of Directors