Board of Directors

With three decades of expertise, Howard Kaplan is an authority in private and ESOP-owned companies, consulting on governance and fiduciary matters. In addition to his private practice, Kaplan serves on five private boards, including as chairman of one board, and additional chairs of executive compensation, governance, and nominating committees. Kaplan also serves as a fiduciary process expert in federal court. Prior to Kaplan Fiduciary, he headed fiduciary practices at top-tier trust companies. He is a frequent lecturer at the UC San Diego’s Beyster Institute and Kent State’s OEOC. Howard Kaplan is a long-term member of the NCEO and the ESOP Association. 

Dan is a partner at Boulay PLLP and the leader of the firm’s ESOP practice. He specializes in audit and other financial reporting engagements for public, private and ESOP-owned clients in a variety of industries. Through his work over the past 12 years, Dan has become very passionate about employee ownership and how ESOPs can play a powerful role in closing the wealth gap in the United States. As a member of the NCEO’s board, Dan aims to continue to find ways to increase the number of companies that transition from private to ESOP ownership, while counteracting misinformation about ESOPs. Finally, he is committed to providing comprehensive education to new and existing ESOP companies. In his free time, Dan enjoys spending time with his family, golfing, traveling, and coaching and playing hockey.

Susan Kildahl is CFO of NHS Northstar, Inc., a disability services provider in northern Minnesota.  Leading the transition of NHS Northstar to an ESOP, she came to see the advantages to ESOP companies when employees understand ESOP structure, culture and financial benefits.  Involvement in the NCEO helped her identify opportunities to make the employee ownership experience even better by helping sellers plan past the transaction, motivating leaders to coach employees to participate through responsible decision making, and educating participants at every level on factors that impact valuation. This led to developing educational sessions that simplify complex financial topics as well as demonstrate how guiding principles can empower decision making at every level. She joined the NCEO's Executive Committee on April 1, 2024.

Donald joined Web Industries in 1973 after attending the Florida Institute of Technology. With more than 45 years at Web, he has served as Manufacturing Supervisor, Plant Manager, General Manager, VP of Manufacturing, company president from 1991 – 2015, and CEO from 1995 – 2018. When an employee-owner of Web Industries, his main goal was to grow Web’s business while preserving the key company tenets of building healthy relationships, serving customers with excellence, and respecting the inherent worth of individuals. Under Mr. Romine’s leadership, Web transitioned into a 100% employee-owned corporation, empowered people to develop their full potential, and expanded the company’s capabilities to meet the high-tech needs of its business partners.

Corey Rosen, Ph.D., is the cofounder and senior staff member of the NCEO. He co-authored, along with John Case and Martin Staubus, Equity: Why Employee Ownership Is Good for Business (Harvard Business School Press, May 2005) and, with John Case, Ownership: Reinventing Companies, Capitalism, and Who Owns What (Berrett-Kohler, 2022). He has written, edited, or contributed to dozens of books, articles and research papers on employee ownership. He is generally regarded as the leading expert on employee ownership in the world. Rosen received his Ph.D. in political science from Cornell University in 1973, after which he taught politics at Ripon College in Wisconsin before being named an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in 1975. He worked on Capitol Hill for the next five years, where he helped initiate and draft legislation on ESOPs and employee ownership. In 1981, he formed the NCEO. He serves on seven ESOP company boards.

Timothy Garbinsky is the Communications Director at the NCEO. In his role, Tim works with volunteers, allied organizations, and the press to creatively and effectively disseminate information about employee ownership and advance the NCEO's mission. He earned his BA from Duke University in 2009 and has since worked as a content creator and an educator, skills which he transfers to the NCEO. Originally from the D.C. metropolitan area, Tim now lives in California's Central Valley with his wife and son.

Daniel Goldstein has 25+ years of managing and advising companies and other organizations, including business strategy, acquisitions, direct investments, portfolio design, building teams, culture, and purpose-driven philanthropy--spanning several continents, many jurisdictions, and multiple languages.  At the end of 2023, Daniel retired as CEO of Folience, a 100% ESOP-owned holding company. He has served on the board of the Employee Ownership Expansion Network (EOX), the board of The ESOP Association, and the Employee Ownership Foundation’s Executive Committee.  Daniel is an Executive Fellow at the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing and a Fellow at the UK-based Ownership at Work think tank.

Linshuang (pronounced “Lin-Shang”) Lu is a Principal at Praxis Consulting Group. She provides organization development, strategic planning, leadership development and culture change services to nonprofits and employee-owned companies. She is passionate about helping organizations develop their leaders and foster deeper staff engagement in order to create better workplaces and achieve greater impact. Linshuang serves on the Ownership Culture Committee of the ESOP Association, and regularly speaks and writes on topics related to employee ownership culture, leadership development, and diversity, equity and inclusion. She has previously served on the Board of the NCEO and the ESOP Association. Linshuang holds a Master of Science in Organization Development from American University.