Steve Beard is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Covista (NYSE: ATGE).

Beard was named CEO in 2021 and elected Chairman of the Board in 2024. Under his leadership, Covista transformed from a diversified education and training company to one centered on healthcare education.

He joined the company in 2018 as General Counsel and soon became Chief Operating Officer, where he led the now divested financial services segment and the portfolio repositioning that enabled Covista's new strategic direction.

Prior to Covista, Beard served as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Heidrick & Struggles International, where he led the firm's expansion into leadership consulting and organizational development. Earlier, he practiced corporate and securities law at Schiff Hardin in Chicago and served as a law clerk for the Honorable Frank Sullivan, Jr. (ret.), Associate Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court.

Beard serves on the Planet Fitness (NYSE: PLNT) and Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP) board of directors and as board chair of A Better Chicago, a venture philanthropy expanding opportunity for underserved Chicago youth. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his law degree from the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University-Bloomington.