Sonder Announces New Appointments to Its Board of Directors
Sonder Holdings Inc. (“Sonder”), a leading next-generation hospitality company that is redefining the guest experience through technology and design, today announced new appointments to its Board of Directors.
Frits van Paasschen, current member of the Board and former Starwood Hotels President & CEO, has been named Lead Independent Director. Van Paasschen has served on Sonder’s Board since February 2020. Janice L. Sears, former Managing Director and Western Region Head at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, will join the Board and serve as Audit Committee Chair. Van Paasschen and Sears join Manon Brouillette, Nabeel Hyatt and Vivek Pattipati on Sonder’s Board.
“We are privileged to benefit from Frits’ significant experience in building and operating a premier hospitality brand as a public company CEO and he has been a great strategic partner to this business as a member of the Sonder Board. I am thrilled to have him take on the expanded role of Lead Independent Director,” said Francis Davidson, Co-Founder and CEO of Sonder and Chair of the Board.
“We’re also very excited to welcome Janice to Sonder’s Board. Her deep experience in real estate as well as corporate governance will be strong additions to Sonder’s board as we accelerate our growth and prepare to enter the public markets,” continued Davidson.
Sonder’s Board of Directors also includes Manon Brouillette, Nabeel Hyatt and Vivek Pattipati.
Brouillette was appointed as a Director in June 2020. She currently serves as Chief Operating Officer and Deputy CEO for Verizon Consumer Group. She was formerly President and Chief Executive Officer of Vidéotron, a Canadian telecommunications company. Brouillette serves on the board of directors of the National Bank of Canada, as well as Altice USA.
Hyatt has served as a Director since February 2016. Hyatt is General Partner at Spark Capital, a venture capital firm and was formerly Co-founder and CEO of Conduit Labs, later acquired by Zynga Inc., a social game developer, where he later served as General Manager.
Pattipati has served as a Director since September 2018, as a Partner at Valor Management LLC and was formerly a Director at Madison Dearborn Partners.
These recent appointments for Sonder’s Board of Directors come at a time of accelerating growth for the company after it recently announced plans to be publicly listed through a combination with Gores Metropoulos II, Inc. (Nasdaq: GMIIU, GMII and GMIIW).
The company also recently reported second quarter results, highlighting record quarterly revenue and raised revenue outlook for 2021. Sonder has also expanded its product offering into corporate travel as well as announced a significant expansion of the Company’s presence in the Middle East.