Board of Directors
Robert M. Zak
Director and Chair of the Board
Mr. Zak became a Director of Rand in 2005 and was appointed Chair of the Board in December 2021. Mr. Zak has served as the non-executive Chair of Merchants Mutual Insurance Company (Merchants) since April 2021. From 1995 to April 2021, Mr. Zak served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Merchants, which operates under the trade name Merchants Insurance Group. He joined Merchants in 1985 and served in a number of finance roles until 1995. Prior to that, his career was in public accounting.
Erland E. Kailbourne
Director
Mr. Kailbourne became a Director of Rand in 1999 and served as the Chair of the Board until December 2021. Mr. Kailbourne has served as a Director of Albany International, Inc. (NYSE: AIN) since 1999 and served as the Chairman of the Board from 2020 until February 2024. He also previously served as its Chairman of the Board from May 2008 until February 2019. From 2006 until 2018, Mr. Kailbourne was a Director of Financial Institutions, Inc. and its subsidiary, Five Star Bank. He retired as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (New York Region) of Fleet National Bank, a banking subsidiary of Fleet Financial Group, Inc. in 1998.
Adam S. Gusky
Director
Mr. Gusky has served as the Chief Investment Officer of East Asset Management, LLC (East) since its inception in 2010 and has served as the Chief Investment Officer for East Resources Acquisition Company, a special purpose acquisition company, from its incorporation in May 2020 until the completion of its business combination transaction with Abacus Life, Inc. (Abacus) in June 2023. He currently serves as a Director of Abacus (Nasdaq: ABL). In addition, Mr. Gusky served on the investment committee of Rand Capital Management, LLC, which is the external investment adviser for the Corporation and responsible for all aspects of the Corporation’s investment process, from November 2019 until March 2023. Prior to joining East, Mr. Gusky worked for CNN/Sports Illustrated and o2 Wireless Solutions. Mr. Gusky earned both his Master of Business Administration (class of 2006) and his Bachelor of Arts degrees from Duke University (class of 1997).
Benjamin E. Godley
Director
Mr. Godley has served as the CEO of Point B Partners, a public relations and marketing services firm, since August 2022. Previously, he was President and Partner at Greenough Communications. Prior to that, he was the co-founder and CEO of Contributor Development Partnership, a for-profit corporation focused on improving the operational efficiency and revenue generation capacity of the public media system. Mr. Godley also served for ten years as COO of WGBH (a media broadcaster and the largest producer of PBS content with annual revenue of $250 million). Prior to joining WGBH, Mr. Godley served as Senior Advisor/Deputy National Finance Director on Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign, and he was a member of Governor Romney’s senior staff as Director of Governmental Affairs for the Commonwealth. Earlier in his career, Mr. Godley co-founded and was President and CEO of CGN Marketing & Creative Services (acquired by Bain/Epsilon) and also held marketing and management roles at Hill & Knowlton Public Relations and IBM.
Cari Jaroslawsky
Director
Ms. Jaroslawsky is the founder and President of Compliance Right, LLC, a board and executive consulting service provider. Prior thereto, Ms. Jaroslawsky served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Eaton Mission Systems, which is an aerospace and defense company owned as part of Eaton Aerospace, from January 2019 until her retirement in December 2022, and as Senior Vice President of Finance from 2016 to 2019. Prior to her position with Eaton Mission Systems, Ms. Jaroslawsky served as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Servotronics, Inc. from 2005 until 2016. Ms. Jaroslawsky is a Certified Public Accountant and began her career as an accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers.