Sharon T Rowlands

Sharon T. Rowlands is Chief Executive Officer of Altegrity, Inc., the global risk and security solutions company, with approximately 10,500 employees in locations around the world. Altegrity is the holding company for USIS, Kroll and HireRight. Ms. Rowlands is based in the business’ New York City offices. From 2008 to 2011, Ms. Rowlands was the CEO of Penton Media, Inc., the largest independent business-to-business media company in the U.S., serving the information needs of more than 6 million business professionals every month in industries ranging from agriculture and aviation to electronics, natural products and information technology. Under her tenure, Ms. Rowlands led growth initiatives that included developing the company’s digital and marketing services offerings through the acquisition of a digital marketing services agency, EyeTraffic Media, and accelerated investment in the company’s digital solutions infrastructure. From 1996 to 2008, Ms. Rowlands worked for Thomson Financial in a variety of positions, including President and CEO from 2005 to 2008. As President and CEO, Ms. Rowlands led the direction and development of the corporation’s strategy to accelerate growth and be seen as a business partner to the global security industry. During her leadership, the company introduced the leading-edge platform Thomson ONE, the creation of a multi-asset global trading platform for the over-the-counter market through the acquisition of Tradeweb and partnership with 10 leading investment banks; formed the leading global straight-through processing services provider, Omgeo, in partnership with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation; and completed numerous other acquisitions as well. In terms of growth and profitability, Ms. Rowlands advanced the company’s efficiency at allocating capital under its control (ROIC) from the low single digits to 13 percent, generating approximately $450 million in profit on $2.2 billion in revenue. From 2000 to 2005, Ms. Rowlands served as the corporation’s Global President and Chief Operating Officer. In that role, she developed a strategy which guided Thomson Financial’s transformation from 45 disparate corporate entities to a leading global financial information and technology provider serving thousands of global companies. She integrated the organization and aligned it under a common strategy to become one of the top three leading providers of integrated solutions. She was successful in reversing negative sales and margin trends and setting the stage for four years of significant growth in sales and returns, accelerating international business revenues from the low single digits to over 20 percent. Previously, Ms. Rowlands held executive leadership roles at Financial Times Information (now Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data, Inc.), a leading provider of financial information and analytical software, including service as the Managing Director of Extel Financial, an international stock database provider. Ms. Rowlands earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Newcastle University upon Tyne in the United Kingdom in 1980 and a Post-Graduate Teacher’s Certificate from the University of London’s Goldsmiths College in 1982. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Constant Contact and Altegrity.