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Daniel Snyder  

Majority Owner of the Washington Redskins, Founder of Snyder Communications & Primary Investor in Red Zebra Broadcasting

A self-made man and an entrepreneur at heart, Dan Snyder’s life has been consumed by an enduring passion for the people, the team and the community he loves.

Growing up in the D.C. area and attending Redskins games with his father, Gerald, his youth and young adulthood were shaped and inspired by his devotion to the Washington Redskins. Since purchasing the team in 1999, Snyder has put his passion into action. He has consistently led the franchise to new prominence in the community, the business world and the National Football League. Under his leadership, the team has raised millions of dollars for charitable efforts and maintained its place in the top tier of the world’s most valuable sports franchises.

Snyder, 52, continues to be one of the Washington area’s most prominent community leaders and philanthropists. Shortly after purchasing the franchise in 1999, one of Snyder’s first actions as owner was to create the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation (WRCF) in 2000 to utilize the assets of the Redskins and their corporate and community partners to make a positive and measurable impact on youth development in the greater Washington, D.C., region. The foundation focuses on the areas of education, community outreach, and health and wellness, and since its inception, Charitable Foundation programs have made an impact on millions of lives and given back nearly $20 million to individuals, groups and organizations in the community.

In 2016 alone, WRCF hosted nearly 90 events for children and their families, encompassing a broad spectrum of efforts that included supporting more than 20,000 children’s literacy efforts through its Redskins Read Program, launching an innovative in-school health and wellness program for seventh graders in District of Columbia Public Schools, and providing 2,500 families with all the supplies needed to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for their families, among numerous others. Since 2003, Snyder, Redskins players, and other volunteers have also gifted more than 1,152,335 pounds of packaged and fresh food and 490,500 pounds of turkey to area families in need at the team’s annual Harvest Feast. In 2016, the Redskins gifted more than 90,000 pounds of packaged and fresh food and 30,000 pounds of turkey at the annual event at FedExField.

Snyder's philanthropy has even transcended American borders. In the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Matthew in the Caribbean in the fall of 2016, Snyder mobilized to use his private plane to deliver emergency supplies to the region. The efforts began with a plane delivery to the Bahamas, and shortly following a win against Baltimore a day later, Snyder dispatched two Redskins players of Haitian descent to hand-deliver medical supplies straight from the team's training staff to Hospital Bernard Mevs in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Asked on FOX NFL Sunday about his efforts to team up with his players to deliver aid, Snyder said, "What happened in Haiti was obvious. They were in need."

The trips were just the latest instance of Snyder's larger commitment to disaster relief, which has included substantial aid following a devastating tsunami in Indonesia and Thailand in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Following Snyder's 2016 efforts in the Caribbean, Bahamas Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe said, "This organization led by example mobilizing immediately to bring relief to our people who are in need. It is our hope that other organizations will follow the example set by the Redskins."

Beyond his work with the WRCF and his contributions to disaster relief, Snyder has provided significant support to Washington’s Children’s Hospital and the National Center

for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). His support enabled construction of the Snyder Family Emergency Medicine and Trauma Center at Children’s Hospital. He is a member of the Children’s Hospital Foundation Board of Directors. He also funded construction of the Daniel M. Snyder and Family Communication Center at the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Each day, the Center handles hundreds of calls from around the nation from law enforcement organizations, parents of missing children, runaways seeking help, and people responding to the Center’s well-known awareness campaigns on behalf of missing children. In May 2014, Snyder and his wife, Tanya, were honored with the Charles B. Wang International Children’s Award at the NCMEC annual Hope Awards Dinner.

Locally, Snyder was the driving force behind the Redskins donating $35,000 to benefit the restoration of the historic Ashburn Colored School in Loudoun County following acts of vandalism in the fall of 2016. The single-room schoolhouse, operated from its opening in 1892 until 1957, served African American students from elementary school through high school. The donation allowed fundraising efforts to exceed their initial target of $100,000.

In March of 2014, Snyder and the Redskins launched the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation to help Tribal communities with the urgent challenges that plague their reservations. Since its inception, the Foundation has embarked upon more than 420 total projects across 60 Federally Recognized Tribes, spending in excess of $9 million to support Native American charitable causes. The Foundation aims to improve the quality of life for the nearly 700,000 people in those Tribal communities by focusing on the areas of economic development, health and community development, and education and youth programs.

Snyder's support has also impacted the military community, as under his leadership, the organization created Redskins Salute — the team’s official military appreciation club — to amplify the Redskins' decade-long military appreciation initiatives into one comprehensive, year-round platform. The first-of-its-kind program among NFL teams serves, supports and thanks the military community by hosting a variety of events, including pre-game parties for military members prior to each home game, re-enlistment ceremonies at both team headquarters and FedExField, military appreciation events and more. In February 2016, Snyder partnered with the Gary Sinise Foundation to break ground on a new, specially adapted smart home for Capt. Luis Avila, a Redskins fan and veteran who was paralyzed during his time in the U.S. Army.

In 2010, Snyder was honored by Beacon House, a nonsectarian, neighborhood-based organization that supports at-risk youth and families of the Edgewood Terrace community in Washington, D.C., during a community celebration to dedicate the football field at Edgewood Department of Parks and Recreation Center. That same year, Snyder was presented Youth For Tomorrow’s Distinguished Leader Award in recognition of his years of support for the organization’s private, residential school and counseling center in Bristow, Va., which has provided year-round care for more than 900 homeless and at-risk children ages 11-17 from Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. In announcing the award at YFT’s annual Burgundy and Gold Banquet, Hall of Fame Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs, who is also Founder and Chairman of Youth For Tomorrow, said, “Dan Snyder began his support of the kids at Youth For Tomorrow long before I ever considered returning to coach the team in 2004.”

Beyond his charitable efforts, Snyder is prominent in the affairs of the NFL, where his expertise in the fields of marketing and media has been recognized with appointments to the Media Committee, the Business Ventures Committee, the Digital Media Committee (for which he serves as Co-Chair), the International Committee, the Stadium Committee, the Hall of Fame Committee (which oversees the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio), and, separately, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Redskins, who continue to be ranked among the world’s most valuable sports franchises on Forbes magazine’s annual list, remain at the forefront of NFL marketing and business organizations. Since buying the team, Snyder has launched a highly successful retail arm, with several Official Redskins Stores in Virginia and Maryland, as well as mobile units for use at home games and other events.

In the summer of 2013, Snyder and the Redskins moved their annual Training Camp to Richmond, Va., hosting the team’s training sessions at the brand new Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center. During the team’s inaugural three-week stay in the capital, more than 165,000 attended walkthroughs and practices. In addition, the Redskins’ outreach in the community included more than 5,000 kids impacted by the Charitable Foundation’s Play 60 programs and cheerleading programs, as well as 200 high school coaches invited to a concussion clinic held by the Redskins.

In June 2012, Snyder and the Redskins reaffirmed the team’s commitment to the Commonwealth of Virginia, announcing that the team will retain its corporate headquarters by improving its Loudoun County training facility. In the years since, Snyder and the Redskins have annually made improvements to the Inova Sports Performance Center at Redskins Park, including upgrades to the weight room, athletic training facility, locker room, hydrotherapy stations, media availability areas, in-house cafeteria and more.

During Snyder’s 18 seasons as owner of the team, 27 different Redskins have earned a total of 48 Pro Bowl appearances, nine different Redskins have been named All-Pro, and 13 Redskins draft picks have been selected to the All-Rookie Team. In addition, four players from his tenure as owner, Darrell Green, Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders and Jason Taylor, have gone on to induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

FedExField, the team’s wholly-owned stadium in Landover, Md., boasts seating capacity for 82,000 people, and Snyder continues to spearhead efforts to improve the fan experience at the stadium. Tickets to Redskins games have been sold out for more than 40 years. Since he purchased

the team, Snyder has invested more than $100 million in improvements to the facility, including high-speed escalators to the upper deck, updated signage, more than 1,000 flat-screen TVs in concourses and other areas, as well as the League standard-setting Owner’s Club East and Owner’s Club West private luxury suites. In 2010, the Redskins installed two new video boards – 30 feet high and 100 feet wide – in each of the end zones at FedExField. The screens feature state-of-the-art high definition LED displays and tripled the size of the previous end zone video displays. The team also enhanced the fans’ gameday experience with allnew game clocks, play clocks and other in-stadium video displays.

Over the last several years, Snyder and the entire Redskins organization have spearheaded efforts to enhance FedExField's guest experience. Among the improvements implemented with success in recent years have been an increase in the number of stadium gates and new parking plans to reduce congestion and welcome fans in and out more efficiently. The Redskins also upgraded Wi-Fi throughout the stadium, creating better access to enhanced game day features on the Redskins Mobile App and complimentary access to the Red Zone Channel via NFL Mobile for season ticket members.

The club’s media ventures include Redskins Nation, produced by the Redskins Broadcast Network, which is the league’s only year-round, daily 30-minute television show. The team also produces television and radio broadcasts via Redskins.com, a robust editorial and social media staff, and Extremeskins.com, the team’s fan forum. The team also produces a variety of other television programs, broadcast independently as well as in partnership with local television outlets.

Snyder was Founder, Chairman and CEO of Snyder Communications, Inc. and was the youngest CEO of a New York Stock Exchange company at the time. From its launch in 1985, the company grew to a global organization of 12,000 employees with 77 offices in 17 countries and more than $1 billion in annual revenues. The company’s client base included 200 of the Fortune 500, to which it provided targeted marketing solutions, including advertising and marketing services. In March 2000, the company was acquired by the French marketing firm Havas for more than $2.3 billion, at the time the largest such merger in the history of the advertising/marketing industry.

Snyder is Founder and Chairman Emeritus of inVentiv Health (NASDAQ: VTIV). Additionally, Snyder is Founder and Managing Member of the Board of Red Zebra Broadcasting, LLC, which operates radio stations in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia airing Redskins broadcasts, popular national radio shows and locally generated programming. Snyder is active in a variety of other private business ventures, both as an investor and as an advisor to management. He is a frequent invitee to share his experiences and views with business organizations nationwide, and he is enshrined in the Greater Washington Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Snyder and his wife, Tanya, have three children and live in Potomac, Md.

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