Company: NSA-PB
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001628280-25-015431
Chunk: 6

Company: National Storage Affiliates Trust
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 6
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 determined that Mark Van Mourick qualified as an independent trustee as required by the NYSE listing standards, SEC rules, and our Guidelines and Independence Standards. In making these determinations, the Board considered the relationships and transactions described below under "Certain Relationships and Related Transactions."

#### LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Leadership of our Board is vested in our executive chairperson and our lead independent trustee. We do not have a formal policy regarding whether the roles of chairperson of the Board and CEO should be separated. Rather, the CNCG Committee and the Board make this determination based on relevant facts and circumstances to establish a structure that meets our needs at that time, enhances the understanding and communication between management and the Board, allows for better understanding and evaluation of our operations, and improves the Board's ability to perform its oversight role. Currently, we have separated the roles of chairperson of the Board and CEO. Ms. Fischer serves as executive chairperson, Mr. Nordhagen serves as vice chairperson, and Mr. Cramer serves as CEO (in addition to his role as president) and is a member of the Board. In connection with establishing this structure, the CNCG Committee and the Board determined that the separation of the roles, together with Ms. Fischer's, Mr. Nordhagen's, and Mr. Cramer's service on our Board, meets our Company's needs and the above goals.

In recognition of the importance of the Board's independent oversight role and the need to maintain a strong independence from management, we require our Board to annually elect one independent trustee to serve as lead independent trustee when the chairperson of the Board is not independent. In 2024 and, subject to his re-election at the Annual Meeting, in 2025, our Board re-appointed Paul W. Hylbert, Jr. as lead independent trustee, a role he has served in since 2016. Our lead independent trustee works with Ms. Fischer, our executive chairperson, Mr. Nordhagen, our vice chairperson, and Mr. Cramer, our president and CEO and a member of our Board, to establish the agenda for regular meetings of our Board. Mr. Hylbert also serves as chair of regular meetings of our Board when our executive chairperson is absent, presides at executive sessions, serves as a liaison among our executive chairperson, our CEO, and our independent trustees, and encourages dialogue between our independent trustees and NEOs. He also establishes the agenda for meetings of our