Mark D. Gerstein is a trusted advisor, consensus builder, and expert in financial, legal, and governance matters with more than four decades of experience guiding boards and executive leadership teams through complex corporate transformations. His extensive public and nonprofit board service includes leadership on executive committees, audit committees, and in multiple chair roles for nationally recognized organizations.

Mr. Gerstein currently serves on the Board of Directors of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), a global media and marketing leader. At Omnicom, he is a member of the Audit Committee, which includes oversight of risk management and cybersecurity, and of the Finance Committee, which reviews significant financing, acquisition, and divestiture activity. His experience with SEC compliance, public company governance, and shareholder engagement – including activism and large-scale investor relations – brings valuable oversight to the boardroom.

In the nonprofit sector, Mr. Gerstein has been deeply involved with Youth Guidance – which creates and implements school-based programs nationally for challenged urban youth – since 1999, serving as past Board Chair and now as a long-time Executive Committee member. Under his leadership as Chair, the organization achieved transformational growth – nearly doubling its revenues and tripling the number of students served nationally through school-based programs for challenged urban youth.

He co-chaired the Dean’s Advisory Council for the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, where he helped evolve the Council from an alumni honorific into an engaged advisory body working directly with university leadership. In recognition of his contributions, he received the David B. Hermelin Award for Volunteer Leadership.

Mr. Gerstein is a member of the Executive Committee of the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a major popular music venue with more than $45 million in annual revenue. He also chairs Ravinia’s Community Relations and Governmental Affairs Committee, strengthening the organization’s civic engagement and public profile.

Professionally, Mr. Gerstein serves as a Senior Advisor at PJT Partners (NYSE: PJT), a global investment bank, where he counsels clients on a variety of matters, including corporate governance and shareholder engagement matters.

Previously, he spent more than 25 years at Latham & Watkins LLP, where he was the Global Chair of Mergers and Acquisitions and led the group’s expansion from $200 million to nearly $900 million in revenues. He also founded and led the firm’s Shareholder Activism practice, establishing it as a global industry leader. Mr. Gerstein advised numerous Fortune 500 and mid-cap boards on public company governance, complex M&A, restructuring, IPOs, and shareholder relations across sectors including industrial, automotive, energy, technology, real estate, and media. His contributions earned recognition as a Hall of Fame M&A lawyer by Legal 500 and as a Senior Statesperson by Chambers USA.

Mr. Gerstein earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School (1984), where he later served on the Advisory Council. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan (1981) and is an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law, where he has taught since 2012.

He is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).

Omnicom Group Inc., Board Director, Audit Committee Member, and Finance Committee Member

PJT Partners, Senior Advisor

Youth Guidance, Board Chair and Executive Committee Member

Northwestern University, Pritzker School of Law, Adjunct Professor

University of Michigan, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, Dean’s Advisory Council Co-Chair

Ravinia Festival, Board Trustee and Executive Committee Member

Latham & Watkins LLP, Global Chair – Mergers & Acquisitions

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Partner – Mergers & Acquisitions

University of Chicago, The Law School, Juris Doctor (JD)

University of Michigan, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, Bachelor of Arts

Economic Club of Chicago, Member

National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), Member