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Derrick Burks

Derrick Burks

Independent Trustee

Derrick Burks

Independent Trustee

Background: Mr. Burks was a partner at Ernst & Young, LLP, a public accounting firm, from June 2002 until his retirement in June 2017 and served as the managing partner of the Indianapolis office from 2004 to 2017. From 1978 to 2002, Mr. Burks was employed by Arthur Andersen LLP, a public accounting firm, where he served for three years as the managing partner of the Indianapolis office. Mr. Burks has been a director of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE: ELS), a real estate investment trust (“REIT”), since February 2021. Mr. Burks has been a director of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK), one of America’s largest energy holding companies, since March 2022. Mr. Burks was previously a director of Vectren Corporation, a publicly traded regional energy company, from 2017 until the time of its sale in 2019 and was a member of its Audit Committee and Finance Committee. He is a former member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Indiana CPA Society and a former Commissioner of the Indiana State Board of Accountancy. Mr. Burks has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Indiana University Foundation since 2019 and a member of the Board of Directors of Regenstrief Foundation since 2020. He is actively involved in civic and community activities working with various agencies, including Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business Dean’s Advisory Council. Mr. Burks received a B.S. in Accounting from Indiana University.

Qualifications: Throughout his career, Mr. Burks has served companies in various industries, including energy, manufacturing, mass merchandising, and logistics with a focus for more than 25 years in real estate and REITs. Mr. Burks’ business experience, spanning small businesses, large international corporations and public companies, and his extensive merger and acquisition, capital markets, enterprise risk and SEC expertise, particularly in the REIT space, brings valuable insight to our Board.