Meeting/Event Information

Join us at our program on November 30^th where our esteemed panelists will discuss:

Board Composition: board age, tenure, leadership structure, diversity continue to be of interest to shareholders, regulators, and other stakeholders. However, perceptions on boards regarding the value and/or impact of each of these on company performance continue to vary. The group will discuss how these factors along with recent trends in new candidate director profiles are playing out in practice.

Board Performance: recent surveys have indicated that many board members are increasingly critical of their peers, however that doesn’t always translate into changes in the boardroom. Among other things, the group will discuss trends in board self-assessment processes and strategies to help improve performance, including considerations if the conclusion is to remove a director.

Shareholder Expectations: balancing shareholder expectations around ESG, corporate citizenship, and DEI has become more challenging as these topics gain in controversy.  Layer onto that, expectations by employees, consumers, and other stakeholders for companies to take positions on issues that may not necessarily be related to the company’s core business and that are bound to be difficult board-level conversations. The group will discuss ways directors can create an environment to avoid conflict within the boardroom, as well as lessons learned from a few real-world examples.

Panel:

Paul De Nicola – Principal at PwC's Governance Insights Center where he works to extend the firm's thought leadership in the area of corporate governance. A frequent speaker at forums for directors and governance professionals, Paul advises boards, executive teams, and investors on emerging governance issues.  Paul DeNicola is a Principal at PwC's Governance Insights Center where he works to extend the firm's thought leadership in the area of corporate governance. A frequent speaker at forums for directors and governance professionals, Paul advises boards, executive teams, and investors on emerging governance issues. He has twice been named to Directorship Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in U.S. corporate governance. Paul is also an Associate Professor at New York University's Stern School of Business where he teaches courses in corporate governance and professional responsibility. He serves on the boards of The Society for Corporate Governance and the New Jersey Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He is also a member of the Markets Advisory Council of the Council of Institutional Investors.

Stephen Cooke – After more than 37 years, Steve is now retired from the international law firm of Paul Hastings LLP.  Steve has a through and comprehensive understanding of the roles and duties of directors and the committees on which they serve as well as the issues facing directors today.  Steve currently teaches graduate level courses on board governance and business law at the University of California, Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business. He is a frequent speaker on governance and securities law topics, has co-authored a chapter in a practice guide for investor relations officers and written numerous articles on the disclosure requirements of public companies.

Lenin Lopez – Moderator – As a Vice President at Woodruff Sawyer, Lenin supports clients across the insurance brokerage firm’s entire Management Liability practice and leverage his unique in-house experience to advise boards and management teams on risk mitigation strategies. He does this by bringing a business-minded perspective on corporate governance, securities compliance and public company reporting.  He has a deep level of experience in counseling public company boards and management teams in helping them to navigate a range of legal and business matters, including corporate governance, securities law compliance, D&O insurance, capital markets transactions, executive compensation, and other general corporate matters. Lenin has served as in-house counsel to a variety of public companies, most recently leading the US corporate governance and securities function at Takeda.