Profile: Scott Svenson, 38

Board member: Pyramid Breweries

Scott Svenson joined his first public board at the age of 27. At the time, he was told he was the youngest director at any company listed on the British stock index called the Footsie.

Now, 11 years later, Svenson has a similar role, this time as one of the youngest directors of a public company in Washington state.

Svenson, 38, joined the Pyramid Breweries board three years ago. Currently, he is the managing partner of The Sienna Group, a private investment group he started in Seattle after selling a coffee chain in the United Kingdom to Starbucks in 1998. Svenson ran Starbucks Europe as president until 1999.

Today, he hardly feels like one of the young bucks, having been initiated to the club of new directors so long ago. Back then, however, he was on the board simply because he was on the executive team, so "it was intimidating," he said.

"There are certain norms and practices and ways of conducting business at the board level you wouldn't have any knowledge of as a 27-year-old," he said. "I was young, we had some high-profile people on the board — I didn't wanted to embarrass myself."

A lesson he learned early was one in ethics. About 18 months into his stint, the chief executive was fired by an unanimous vote of the board.

"That was a quick education," said Svenson, because the CEO was his friend.

What's more, Svenson was directly tied to the CEO's removal. An incident arose — he won't divulge details — and Svenson could either turn a blind eye or report the behavior to the board, he said.

"It became clear to me that I had a set of responsibilities. That was clear cut, there was no navigating around them. It was the ethical thing to do as a fiduciary to the company and the other stakeholders in the business," he said.

Tricia Duryee: 206-464-3283 or tduryee@seattletimes.com