Wendi Carpenter

Wendi B. Carpenter (Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, Retired), age 65, currently serves as the Principal and Founder of Gold Star Strategies LLC, a management consulting firm, since January 2012. Previously, Rear Admiral Carpenter served as the tenth President of the State University of New York Maritime College from 2011 to 2013 and as the State of New York Special Envoy for Maritime Matters from 2011 to 2014. Prior to that, from 1977 to 2011, she served a distinguished 34-year career as a Naval Officer in the United States Navy, where she served in various roles, including commanding or serving as deputy in organizations overseeing worldwide maritime and air operations, logistics, facilities management, and training of forces, culminating in her reaching the rank of Rear Admiral. She also served in key advisory roles and board positions with private, education, and government organizations during her time in the Navy. Rear Admiral Carpenter currently serves on the board of directors of SkyWater Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYT), a United States based semiconductor foundry, since October 2020, where she also serves as Chair of the Compensation Committee. Additionally, Rear Admiral Carpenter serves as a member of the Board of Advisors of Kokes Marine Technologies LLC, a marine research and component testing and evaluation company, since March 2018. Previously, she served as a Member of the Affordable Housing Advisory Council to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, a United States Federal Home Loan Bank, from January 2016 to December 2019. Also, Rear Admiral Carpenter served as an Advisor to the Secretary General World Maritime Organization and World Maritime University Board of Governors, a post graduate research institution in maritime and ocean-related studies, from October 2013 to May 2015. Rear Admiral Carpenter holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Georgia and a Master of Arts in International Relations from Salve Regina University, and is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval War College. Rear Admiral Carpenter has also completed numerous executive courses in business, organizational transformation, and diplomacy, including the Capstone Program at the National Defense University and the Senior Policy Course at the NATO School.