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GOVERNANCE MATTERS

September, 2021  

 

Welcome our latest graduates from our Board Professional Certification Program:

 

Lori Pouquette, VP Xilinx

Barbara Young, Sr. Managing Director, Cresset

Jeffrey Bahlash, Partner Comstock Investors

 

Our latest program included 14 professionals committed to board readiness on key topics. Reach out to us if you seek a highly qualified director to serve on your board! 

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“I wanted to express how much I enjoyed the Board Certification Program and how informative it was.  I especially enjoyed the breakout sessions which allowed me to connect in more depth with colleagues.”  --Susan Loveall, CFO The Carey School

 

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Board Evaluation

An independent board evaluation can introduce new ideas for best practices. 

We conduct independent board evaluations based on best practices and opportunities for improving board performance and contribution.
Contact us to learn about our review process.

 

 

In today’s workplace, diversity is a fact. Inclusion is the competency we must develop to take full advantage of its value. The return for companies who master this are significant. Directors have the duty to ensure and monitor these benefits: access to a broader pool of potential employees, ability to attract a more skilled workforce talented individuals prefer a diverse workplace, richer and more creative solutions, improved effective communication among diverse groups of customers, higher innovation and increased retention of the best workers.

 

  FACULTY FOR OUR PROGRAM     
 

Dr. Donna Hamlin

 

Professor Dr. Fed van Eenennaam

 

Brian Barnier

Marily Nagel

Jen McClure

 

Read More About Us 

at 

https://boardwise.biz/board-certification-program.html

 

 

A portfolio investing in firms that perform well on material ESG issues could outperform the stock market up to 6%+

 

 Is Your Firm Ready?

 

 

Guest Author:

Heidi Lubin, eSix Development

 

 

 

PWC’s 2020 annual corporate directors survey found that only 38% of board members think ESG issues have a financial impact on the company.[1]  Yet, 67% think climate change should have a role in strategy formation.[2]  These days, it’s hard to argue otherwise.  In the last two weeks alone, Hurricane Ida is estimated to have caused up to $80 billion in damage.[3]  California’s recent Caldor Fire narrowly missed the worst of catastrophic impacts on South Lake Tahoe, only due to the profound efforts of more than 4,600 firefighters and only after it had already burned 214,000+ acres and at least one town.[4]  Smoke from wildfires in the Western U.S. and Canada has blanketed much of North America periodically throughout the summer. 

 

Major organizations and coalitions are also ramping up their advocacy efforts. In preparation for the forthcoming UN General Assembly in mid-September and the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, UK in November, the editors of 220 health journals worldwide — including The Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine, The British Medical Journal and The National Medical Journal of India — published a simultaneous call imploring global leaders to take urgent action to keep average global temperature increases below 1.5°C.[5]  These editorial boards cited alarming statistics noting: 1) “in the past 20 years, heat-related mortality among people older than 65 years has increased by more than 50%”; 2) “decline in global yield potential for major crops, falling by 1.8–5.6% since 1981” and 3) called for the divestment from fossil fuels by health institutions, who have already divested upwards of $42B.[6]

 

 

 

Regulatory reform is likely to follow these efforts, however, so are vast opportunities to align business with the major investments required to facilitate this transition.  Nevertheless, recent reviews of the preparedness of corporate boards to address climate change found many were highly unprepared.  For example, Ceres’ 2018 review of the Fortune 2000 found that only 10% of boards were regularly reviewing sustainability issues.[7]  The recent study completed by the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business found less than 1% of board directors serving the Fortune 100 had climate expertise.[8] 

 

In its coverage of this study, Bloomberg highlighted the need to recruit board directors, who may be younger or nontraditional applicants, but who may have great depth of expertise assessing climate change risk, restructuring assets and leading climate positive investments and strategies.[9]  Boards will need to become climate proficient and will need to hire, or even mentor directors who have the expertise to help them define the strategy and speed of their climate transition, mentor staff to define KPIs accordingly, assess the materiality of SASB suggestions and anticipate regulation – but who may not be traditional applicants.  And the rewards are not mere corporate citizenship; firms that perform well on ESG metrics tend to outperform the market.[10] 

 

We are confident your firm can as well.

 

 

Heidi Lubin

Ms. Lubin is a real estate developer and serial entrepreneur focused on the related challenges of climate change and housing affordability.  Ms. Lubin has served pre-revenue organizations to multinationals $3B+ in revenue and her expertise includes intra- and entrepreneurship, restructuring, ESG with particular depth on sustainability, project finance, acquisitions, negotiation and contracting, due diligence, law & regulatory affairs, business development, innovation and design. She is also a co-author of a forthcoming book entitled, The Building Decarbonization Practice Guide: A Zero Carbon Future for the Built Environment.

 

 

References

1. PWC Governance Insights Center, 2020 Annual Corporate Directors Survey, 2020.

2. Ibid.

3. https://www.sbsnews.com/news/hrricane-ida-damage-80-billion-accueweather-estimates/

4. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Caldor-Fire-is-a-different-type-of-enemy-forcing-16435074.php

5.https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01915-2/fulltext

6.Ibid.

7.CERES. “Systems Rule: How Board Governance Can Drive Sustainability Performance” May 2018.

8.Whelan, Tensie, U.S. Corporate Boards Suffer from Inadequate Expertise in Financially Material ESG Matters (January 1, 2021). NYU Stern School of Business Forthcoming

9.Bloomberg Green.  June 17, 2021.

10.Khan, Mozaffar and Serafiem, George and Yoon, Aaron, Corporate Sustainability: First Eveident on Materiality (November 9, 2016).  The Accounting Review, Vol. 91, No. 6, pp.1697-1724

 

 

REGISTER SOON!

 

OUR BOARD PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION PROGRAM BEGINS OCTOBER 1ST

 

 

 

Seats are limited so save yours. Details at https://boardwise.biz/board-certification-program.html 

Registration online

 

 

Serving as a board director is both an honor and a duty. This program equips directors with the understanding about their responsibilities, the current and emerging challenges and trends which face them and the fundamental knowledge and skills they need to be capable contributors to public, private and advisory boards. Arm yourself for success with this highly interactive program and secure a level one board certification.

 

WHAT MAKES THIS PROGRAM DIFFERENT

 

Our Board Professional Program is for aspiring and current board members who want to increase their ability to engage meaningfully in discussions of leading-edge topics, ask sharper questions more easily, delve to the core of critical issues and improve proportional impact in a boardroom to create more shareholder value – not just conceptually, but tangibly by helping management think more critically about decisions.

Boardwise offers 8, 2-hour modules of training that span from “welcome to the boardroom” to leading-edge technology application, including AI-Decision Science and Cybersecurity.

Our modules are strikingly different from other programs. Other programs are structured as more lecture-oriented knowledge downloads, often around regulatory and compliance topics to prepare for test-taking or compliance.

In contrast, Boardwise modules offer:

  • Guest speakers and breakout sessions that enable peer-to-peer discussion and immediate “learn by doing.”
  • Leading-edge topics such as AI and Decision Science, Cybersecurity, Data and Digitization. The discussion orients to a topic – drawing on life experiences – to understand the concepts and limitations, assumptions that can trap, errors frequently made by management, and sources of success and failure.
  • This enables participants to ask sharper questions – questions that help lift management out of the weeds, challenge existing knowledge/assumptions/frameworks and see with new lens/perspectives to avoid wasteful churns and pivots.
  • As one person said, it seems “Montessori-style.” Modules and discussions are designed to enable knowledge retention and application to empower you in your boardroom.

TOPICS AND CONTENT

This program has two components.

 

INITIAL ORIENTATION – assessment and personal one-one one video call with Boardwise expert

 

Participants complete an online Board Bona Fide® assessment to establish current board readiness. You have a one-hour private session with a board expert coach to review your profile; discuss what type of board is the best match and explore suggestions for how to achieve your goal to serve on a board.

 

GOVERNANCE EDUCATION SESSIONS – live educational sessions online

 

The live interactive program includes eight sessions, each of which is two hours.

 

The modules include presentations and interviews with experts on governance and the hot topics which directors must address today, including:governance differences among countries, cybersecurity, risk management and decision-making, artificial intelligence, strategic designs, financial foundations and emerging challenges in digital transformation and diversity.

Each session includes interviews with topic experts, facilitated presentations related to director duties and cares on the topic and experiential board exercises based on real-world situational cases. Cases are used for board simulations and discussion. Homework assignment are provided a week prior to each session for participants to read and prepare.

 

Governance Sessions Topics

  • FUNDAMENTALS OF BOARD SERVICE
  • GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
  • FINANCIAL FOUNDATIONS
  • BOARD’S ROLE IN STRATEGY AND INNOVATION
  • BOARDS AND BIG DECISIONS: CYBER&BIO SECURITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT
  • BOARDS AND BIG DECISIONS: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DECISION-MAKING
  • BOARDS AND BIG DECISIONS: ROLE OF BOARDS IN THE DIGITAL AGE
  • THE CEO, YOUR BOARD STYLE AND BOARD DYNAMICS

Why This Program?

Taught by world-class global experts in corporate governance, you will:

  • Learn the latest in governance issues and how to manage them;
  • Prioritize board roles and responsibilities;
  • Understand the economic, legal, reputation and fiduciary responsibilities of directors;
  • Feel empowered to ask the right questions and make important decisions
  • Understand and improve your effectiveness on a board;
  • Learn about best practices for evaluating company financial and strategic performance;
  • Improve committee effectiveness and personal director contributions;
  • Consider ways to improve board mix, meeting effectiveness, relationships with shareholders and stakeholders and increase overall corporate reputation;
  • Compare practices and ideas with director colleagues from other companies who participate;
  • Become a more effective, knowledgeable leader in corporate governance.

Join those board directors who understand: board learning is a permanent commitment.

 

ADDITIONAL BONUS

 

Participants receive a free ione-year membership in MOGUL. As a strategic parnter of Boardwise, MOGUL connects you to confidential Executive and Board of Directors opportunities from world-class companies.Learn more https://onmogul.com/jobs