Howard Meitiner

A native of England, Howard Meitiner began his retail career in 1970 with the Debenham Department Store Group as a management trainee and rose through the organization to the position of General Manager of the Debenhams Oxford Street flagship store in London. He left England in 1979 at the age of 26 to join Duty Free Shoppers, (DFS), in Hong Kong as VP Operations. Meitiner remained in the Far East for 11 years, the last five of which he held the position as President of DFS Singapore and Malaysia. Following, Meitiner served as President of various DFS divisions and companies in Taiwan, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. He went on to spend nine years in San Francisco for DFS, where he was responsible for Operations, Marketing, Merchandising and Business Development. In 1995 DFS was acquired by the Louis Vuitton/Moet Hennessy Group. Two years later, Meitiner was tasked with launching Sephora in the USA and Japan. In 2001, he moved to New York to work with a private equity firm engaged in retail turnaround activities and spearheaded the reorganization of The Museum Company and Fortunoff, as CEO and COO respectively.

Since 1979, Meitiner has pursued his interest in supporting charities that provide help for children in need by serving on non-profit boards and directly funding such charities through organizations that were under his management. This dedication to youth in need eventually led to a position on the board of Phoenix House in 2004 to support of their mission of service to adolescents and adults suffering from substance abuse.

In June 2006, Meitiner provided six months of consultancy support and advice to Phoenix House of New York. He was appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer in January 2007 to help strategically redesign this leading non-profit organization. During Meitiner’s eight year tenure, Phoenix House was transformed through many initiatives, including the introduction of an electronic health record system. Other projects included the diversification of revenue streams, implementation of evidence-based and medication-assisted treatments, as well as innovations in technology, rebranding, website development and the establishment of a social media presence. Additionally, Meitiner broadened and diversified the service continuum and intensified business development, including mergers and acquisitions. These strategies fueled the need for Meitiner to create and fill high-level staffing positions with professionals and specialists to manage the resulting growth and complexity associated with running a national organization.

Today, Meitiner provides consultancy and assistance to not-for-profit organizations that require strategic support in evaluating and resolving operational and other performance challenges.