Kathleen Walsh - Director | Beam Therapeutics (BEAM) Executive Profile & Compensation

About Kathleen Walsh

Independent director (Class II) of Beam Therapeutics since January 2021; age 69 as of April 18, 2025. Walsh is a seasoned healthcare operator and public-sector executive, currently serving as Secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services since January 2023. She holds a B.A. and Master of Public Health from Yale University, with deep experience leading academic medical centers and biopharma operations .

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Tenure	Committees/Impact
Boston Medical Center	President & CEO	March 2010 – January 2023	Led major urban academic health system; operational and financial stewardship
Brigham and Women’s Hospital	EVP & COO	2005 – 2010	Oversight of clinical operations at leading academic medical center
Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research	Chief Operating Officer	Not disclosed	Biopharma R&D operations leadership
Massachusetts General Hospital	Senior VP Medical Services; roles at MGH Cancer Center	Not disclosed	Clinical operations leadership at top-tier academic hospital
NYC hospitals (Montefiore, Columbia Presbyterian, St. Luke’s–Roosevelt, NYC HHC)	Hospital administrator	Not disclosed	Multi-institution hospital administration experience

External Roles

Organization	Role	Tenure	Committees/Notes
Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services	Secretary	Since Jan 2023	Statewide health policy and administration leader
Navigant Consulting, Inc. (public company)	Director	2017–2020	Audit Committee member
WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (public company)	Director	2017–2020	Audit Committee and IT Committee member
Boston Public Health Commission; Massachusetts Hospital Association; Yale University; Association of American Medical Colleges; Pine Street Inn	Member	Not disclosed	Non-profit/academic governance and community health engagement

Board Governance

Independence: Board determined Walsh is independent under Nasdaq rules; she is also designated an “audit committee financial expert” under Item 407 of Regulation S-K .
Committees: Member, Audit Committee and Compensation Committee (not Chair) .
Attendance and engagement: Board met four times in 2024; each director attended at least 75% of applicable meetings, and non‑employee directors held executive sessions at each regular meeting; directors attended the 2024 annual meeting .
Lead Independent Director: Mark Fishman, M.D., serves as Lead Independent Director (Walsh not in this role) .
2025 nomination: Walsh is a Class II nominee for re‑election to a term ending at the 2028 annual meeting .

Fixed Compensation

Component (2024)	Amount ($)
Board cash retainer	45,000
Audit Committee member fee	10,000
Compensation Committee member fee	7,500
Total cash fees earned	62,500

Notes:

Fee structure shown reflects policy; Walsh’s committee memberships match the cash total reported for 2024 .
2025 fee schedule unchanged from 2024 for these roles .

Performance Compensation

Equity Component (2024)	Grant Date Fair Value ($)	Grant Structure
Annual non‑employee director stock option grant	385,241	Annual options granted at the annual meeting; vest in full by the next year’s annual meeting or first anniversary of grant, subject to continued service

Performance metric framework tied to director pay:

Compensation Metric Type	Applies to Director Compensation?
PSUs or performance‑conditioned equity	No explicit director PSUs/performance targets disclosed; director equity is time‑vested options
Cash bonus linked to KPIs	Not applicable for directors (cash is retainer/committee fees per policy)

Other Directorships & Interlocks

Company	Status	Tenure	Committee Roles	Potential Interlocks/Conflicts
Navigant Consulting, Inc.	Prior public company board	2017–2020	Audit Committee	None disclosed with Beam
WellCare Health Plans, Inc.	Prior public company board	2017–2020	Audit, IT Committees	None disclosed with Beam
Current public company boards	None disclosed	—	—	—

Expertise & Qualifications

Education: B.A. and Master of Public Health (Yale University) .
Designation: Audit Committee Financial Expert .
Domain expertise: Large-scale healthcare operations, hospital administration, biopharma R&D operations (Novartis) .
Public-sector leadership: State HHS Secretary (complex regulatory and policy experience) .

Equity Ownership

Item	Amount
Beneficial ownership (shares)	41,658; <1% of outstanding common stock (100,557,094 shares outstanding)
Options held (as of 12/31/2024)	64,772 options to purchase common stock
Hedging/pledging	Company policy prohibits hedging and pledging of company securities by directors

Governance Assessment

Committee effectiveness: Dual membership on Audit and Compensation, with “audit committee financial expert” designation, strengthens financial oversight and pay governance; both committees met four times in 2024 .
Independence and attendance: Independent under Nasdaq rules with at least 75% meeting attendance and participation in executive sessions—supports robust oversight culture .
Pay and alignment: Director pay skews to equity via annual options ($385,241) alongside modest cash fees ($62,500), indicating ownership alignment; as of year‑end, Walsh held 64,772 options and 41,658 shares beneficially, though ownership remains <1% given company size .
Shareholder signals: 2024 say‑on‑pay support for NEOs was ~98%, suggesting investor confidence in compensation governance overseen in part by Walsh’s committee; Beam also maintains clawback and anti‑hedging/pledging policies .
Conflicts/red flags: No related‑party transactions disclosed involving Walsh; Section 16(a) compliance reported for 2024; no pledging permitted—no specific conflicts identified .

RED FLAGS: None identified in proxy for Walsh (no related‑party transactions, no delinquent filings, anti‑pledging/hedging policy in place) .