Company: XXII
Filing Date: 2025-06-10
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001641172-25-014543
Chunk: 15

Company: 22nd Century Group, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-06-10
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 15
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 our directors, nominees, or executive officers. The Board annually reviews all business and other relationships of directors and determines whether directors meet these categorical independence tests.

Board Leadership Structure and the Role of the Board in Oversight of Risk Management

Our Board of Directors has not adopted a policy requiring that the roles of Chief Executive Officer and chairperson of the Board be separate. Our Board reserves the right to assign the responsibilities of the Chief Executive Officer and chair position as determined by our Board to be in the best interest of our Company. In the circumstance where the responsibilities of the Chief Executive Officer and chair are vested in the same individual or in other circumstances when deemed appropriate, the Board will designate a Lead Independent Director from among the independent directors to preside at the meetings of non-employee director executive sessions.

Currently, Lawrence D. Firestone serves as Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer, and Andrew Arno serves as the Lead Independent Director. Our Board reviews our leadership structure annually and retains the authority to modify this structure to best address our Company’s unique circumstances as and when appropriate.

Our Board is actively involved in oversight of risks that could affect the Company. Our Board has assigned responsibility for addressing certain risks, and the steps management has taken to monitor, control and report such risk, to our Audit Committee, including risks relating to execution of our growth strategy, with appropriate reporting to the full Board. Our Board relies on our Compensation Committee to address significant risk exposures facing our Company with respect to compensation. Our Board receives reports by each committee chair regarding the applicable committee’s considerations and actions, as well as through regular reports directly from officers responsible for oversight of particular risks within the Company.

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Stockholder Communications with the Board

Stockholders wishing to communicate with the Board of Directors or with an individual Board member concerning the Company may do so by writing to the Board or to the particular Board member care of the Corporate Secretary, 22nd Century Group, Inc. The envelope or subject line should indicate that it contains a stockholder communication.

Meetings of Board of Directors

Our Board held 12 meetings throughout 2024. All directors attended at least 75% of meetings of the Board and Board committees on which they served in 2024.

We do not have
a formal policy requiring directors to attend Annual Meetings of stockholders. However, all of our continuing directors who were members
of the Board at the time of our 2024 Annual Meeting attended the meeting virtually, and we anticipate that all continuing directors will
attend the 2025 Annual Meeting.

Executive