Board of Directors
Denis Sverdlov
Chairman of the Board
Mr. Sverdlov founded Arrival and established its operations in the UK in 2015 and has served as its Chief Executive Officer from March 2016 until November 2022. In November 2022 Mr. Sverdlov stepped down as CEO and was appointed as Chairman of the Board. Prior to founding Arrival, Mr. Sverdlov served as Deputy Minister for Communications and Mass Media in Russia from July 2012 to August 2013. Mr. Sverdlov was co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Yota from 2007 to 2012, which at the time was the largest 4G telecommunications operator in Russia. Mr. Sverdlov oversaw the successful sale of Yota for $1.5 billion. Prior to working at Yota, Mr. Sverdlov was the co-founder and managing partner of Korus Consulting, one of the top IT consulting companies in Russia from 2003 to 2007. In 2000, Mr. Sverdlov founded his first company, IT Vision, an IT consulting company. Mr. Sverdlov graduated cum laude with a degree in Finance from St. Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics in 2000.
Alain Kinsch
Mr. Kinsch has served as our Director since March 2021. Mr. Kinsch served as an audit partner at Ernst & Young S.A. (“EY”) from 2004 through 2020. During Mr. Kinsch’s time at EY, he served as EY Luxembourg Country Managing Partner and EMEIA Private Equity Fund Leader from 2009 through 2020. Previously, Mr. Kinsch served as EY Luxembourg Private Equity Leader from 2004 through 2012. At EY, Mr. Kinsch served a portfolio of clients including private equity funds, banks and mutual funds as well as industrial and commercial companies as signing audit partner and engagement partner on consulting, valuation and M&A mandates. Prior to joining EY, Mr. Kinsch served in various positions of increasing responsibility at Arthur Andersen in Luxembourg from 1995 through 2002, beginning as an Assistant leading up to his position as Senior Manager. Beginning in 2021, Mr. Kinsch began serving as an independent director of Aperam S.A. (Euronext Amsterdam: APAM), a stainless and specialty steel producer, and serves on its Audit & Risk Management Committee and as Chairman of its Remuneration, Nomination & Corporate Governance Committee. Mr. Kinsch is a Certified Public Accountant. He has received a M.B.A. from INSEAD Fontainebleau and a M.Sc. Business from the University of Paris-Dauphine.
Chair of the Audit Committee
Tawni Nazario-Cranz
Ms. Nazario-Cranz has served as our Director since March 2021. Ms. Nazario-Cranz currently works as a Venture Operating Partner at the San Francisco-based venture firm SignalFire, as well as a strategic advisor to various VC firms throughout Silicon Valley. With more than 25 years of experience working for some of the world’s most innovative companies, Ms. Nazario-Cranz has overseen cultural and operational change at the likes of Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Waymo, Cruise and many more. During her time at Netflix (2007-2017), as Chief Talent Officer (CHRO), she pioneered the company’s innovative and high-performing business culture, authoring Netflix’s Unlimited Maternity & Paternity Leave policy and co-authoring the company’s first culture deck. Beyond Netflix, Ms. Nazario-Cranz also scaled and built out the core HR functions at Waymo (2018-2019) and Cruise Automation (2017-2018) as Chief People Officer.
Chair of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Member of the Audit Committee
Kristen M. O’Hara
Ms. O’Hara has served as our Director since March 2021. Ms. O’Hara is a strategic marketing professional who has worked for several global enterprises in the media industry. Ms. O’Hara, is currently Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Hearst Magazines. Ms. O’Hara served as VP Business Solutions of Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) from September 2018 to October 2018, and prior to that, served as Chief Marketing Officer, Global Media for Time Warner Inc. (now Warner Media, LLC), a position she held since 2011. Earlier executive roles with Time Warner Inc.’s Global Media Group include Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Client Partnerships, and from 2002 to 2004, Ms. O’Hara was the Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Sales Strategy for the Time Inc. division of Time Warner Inc. From 1993 to 2002, Ms. O’Hara served in several positions at global marketing communications firm Young & Rubicam Inc., driving business development and brand strategy for blue chip advertisers. Ms. O’Hara has been a member of the board of trustees of the Signature Theatre Company since 2012. She was formerly a member of the boards of directors of MDC Partners Inc. (Nasdaq:MDCA) from 2019 to 2020, Iconix Brand Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ICON) from 2016 to 2018, and the Data & Marketing Association. Ms. O’Hara received a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross.
Member of the Compensation Committee
Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Rexford J. Tibbens
Mr. Tibbens has served as our Director since March 2021. Mr. Tibbens is an experienced executive with a proven history of building strong cultures, and repeated success in innovating and growing businesses whilst building a lasting culture. Prior to being named President and Chief Executive Officer of Frontdoor, Inc. (NASDAQ: FTDR) in 2018, Mr. Tibbens served as Chief Operating Officer of Lyft (NASDAQ: LYFT) from 2015-2018, where he worked to expand the on-demand transportation company’s service to every US state, and launched a series of crucial strategic initiatives, including their Nashville support center and Express Drive. Mr. Tibbens also worked as a Vice President at Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) from 2011-2015, where he led the technical and product development of Prime Now, preceded by twelve years at Dell (NYSE: DELL) working in a variety of operations and logistics roles, and nine years at Toyota (LON: TYT) as Logistics Manager.
Member of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Audit Committee
Chair of the Strategic Planning and Operations Committee
Avinash Rugoobur
Mr. Rugoobur has served as our Director since March 2021. Mr. Rugoobur has served as the President of Arrival from July 2020 until November 2022 after initially joining as the Chief Strategy Officer for Arrival in March 2019. Prior to joining Arrival, Mr. Rugoobur was the Head of Strategy and M&A for General Motors Cruise from September 2017 to January 2019. Mr. Rugoobur also co-founded Curve Tomorrow, a leading digital health technology company in Melbourne, Australia in October 2009 where he served as Co-CEO until July 2018, and Bliss Chocolates (now known as Smoor) in Bangalore, India where he served as the Product, Innovation and Marketing Officer from 2008 to 2009. Prior to and after Bliss, Mr. Rugoobur served in multiple engineering and management roles at General Motors, including approximately four years leading advanced technology activities in Silicon Valley. Mr. Rugoobur was responsible for the acquisition of Cruise, General Motor’s self-driving car division, for approximately $1 billion. Mr. Rugoobur received a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, Mechatronics with Honors from the University of Melbourne and a Postgraduate Certificate in Knowledge Management.