Planet Fitness Adds Healthcare-Education CEO Steve Beard to Board to Strengthen Governance

Hampton, N.H. disclosure: Planet Fitness recruits healthcare-education CEO to board

Health-education executive expected to sharpen governance for expansion

Planet Fitness appoints Steve Beard to its board, bringing the fitness franchisor’s board to nine directors, the company says. The announcement, issued from Hampton, New Hampshire via PRNewswire on Feb. 9, identifies Beard as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Covista Inc. (formerly Adtalem Global Education Inc.). Planet Fitness frames the move as a strategic governance addition intended to bolster oversight as the chain scales its national footprint and seeks to improve member retention.

Beard arrives with a record of transforming Covista into a focused healthcare-education company that operates five accredited institutions and serves more than 97,000 students and some 385,000 alumni across clinical disciplines. Planet Fitness highlights his mix of operational rigor and legal expertise — Beard has served as Covista’s COO and general counsel, spent more than a decade at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles rising to chief administrative officer after a stint as general counsel, and began his career practicing corporate and securities law with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions and governance. Chairman Stephen Spinelli Jr., Ph.D., says the appointment brings new perspectives and complementary expertise to help drive brand success.

The company positions Beard’s background in large-scale operational transformation and regulated-sector governance as directly relevant to the fitness industry’s current priorities: expanding club footprint, improving member acquisition and retention, and managing operational and regulatory risk. Planet Fitness, one of the largest and fastest-growing fitness center operators with more members than any other fitness brand, signals that it expects Beard to contribute to oversight of risk, talent and long-term results as it pursues continued growth.

Beard’s recognition on the 2025 TIME100 Health list is noted in the release, underscoring his profile in healthcare education. His prior roles in executive search and corporate law are presented as strengthening Planet Fitness’s boardroom capabilities in talent management and strategic transactions.

The appointment reflects a broader corporate governance trend in the fitness and consumer services sector: companies are increasingly recruiting directors with expertise in adjacent regulated industries — such as healthcare education and professional services — to navigate scaling operations, regulatory compliance and workforce development as they expand nationally.