Future Fluency

When Climate Enters the Boardroom Mar 17, 2022

Speaker Bios:

Maryanne Hancock: CEO of Y Analytics, the arm of TPG responsible for the impact and ESG mandates of the firm. Previously, Hancock spent ~20 years at McKinsey and Company, where she was a senior partner.
Melody Meyer: Director, BP, AbbVie, and National Oilwell Varco; President, Melody Meyer Energy LLC and Women with Energy LLC
Melissa Paschall: Director, Governance, Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets, Ceres

How Can the Private Sector Address Climate Change? Mar 03, 2022

Speaker Bios:

Maryanne Hancock: CEO of Y Analytics, the arm of TPG responsible for the impact and ESG mandates of the firm. Previously, Hancock spent ~20 years at McKinsey and Company, where she was a senior partner.
Melody Meyer: Director, BP, AbbVie, and National Oilwell Varco; President, Melody Meyer Energy LLC and Women with Energy LLC
Melissa Paschall: Director, Governance, Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets, Ceres

Future Trends: Outside Influences on Corporate Governance Feb 17, 2022

FEATURED GUESTS

Ram Charan

Ram Charan is a world-renowned business consultant, author, and speaker who has spent the past 40 years working with many top companies, CEOs, and boards. Charan was first introduced to business while working in the family shoe shop in a small town in northern India, where he was raised. He served on the faculties of Harvard Business School and Northwestern University before pursuing consulting full-time. Charan has won several awards, including the Bell Ringer award at GE’s Crotonville Institute and best teacher award at Northwestern. He was among BusinessWeek‘s top ten resources for in-house executive development programs. Charan has authored more than 30 books since 1998 that have sold over four million copies in more than a dozen languages. He has also written for Harvard Business Review, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Time, Chief Executive, and USA Today. Charan is a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources

Judy Samuelson

Judy Samuelson is founder and executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program and author of Six New Rules of Business: Creating Real Value in a Changing World (2021). Signature programs under Samuelson’s leadership include a 10-year campaign to disrupt Milton Friedman’s narrative about corporate purpose, the Aspen Principles of Long-Term Value Creation, and a partnership with Korn Ferry to rethink executive pay. She previously worked in legislative affairs in California and banking in New York’s garment center and ran the Ford Foundation’s office of program-related investments. Samuelson blogs for Quartz at Work. She is a Bellagio Fellow and a director of the Financial Health Network.

Stilpon Nestor

Stilpon Nestor is the executive chair of Morrow Sodali EMEA. He is also the executive chair and founder of Nestor Advisors, a company that Morrow Sodali acquired in early 2021. In this latter role, he has advised the boards of some of the largest companies and financial institutions in the European Union and emerging markets in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East across a variety of sectors. Until 2002, Stilpon was the head of the Corporate Affairs Division at the OECD, leading the team which produced the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance in 1999. Stilpon is a nonexecutive director of the Arabian Construction Co., one of the largest contractors in the Gulf. He is currently a member of the UK Institute of Directors (IoD) Advisory Board on Corporate Governance and cochairs its working group on governance and technology. He is a regular public speaker on governance.

Mike Lubrano

Mike Lubrano is managing director of Valoris: Stewardship Catalysts, and an adjunct professor of Sustainable Finance and Impact Investment at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. Lubrano also teaches the International Corporate Governance Network’s signature “Governance, Stewardship, and Sustainability” course and served as ICGN’s Education Programme advisor. Lubrano was a cofounder and managing director, Corporate Governance and Sustainability, at Cartica Management LLC. Earlier, Lubrano worked at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group; served as advisor to the Ministry of Finance of Chile for the development of its corporate governance reforms; and was one of the group of experts that designed Brazil’s Novo Mercado. Lubrano is a cofounder of the Latin America Corporate Governance Roundtable. He is currently a director of FIBRA ECO. He is the coauthor of Governance, Stewardship and Sustainability (2021).

SHOW NOTES

mpact of Technology on the Future of Corporate Governance

Ram Charan: Three factors every board must consider

Need to have a view of the outside world that is not purely driven by management. Need independent view of the outside
Technology: must focus is critical because a company cannot be everything to everyone. Must have the right CEO a
Capital Allocation: balance between short term and long term

Technology will be a critical driver of enabling a board to understand these three critical areas
Effective agenda setting to improve the effective time of board meetings

Stilpon: Royal Post upgraded many of its digital systems. How can boards fully kick the tires on a reporting system that is fully algorithmic? Boards must be more generalist and with access to more information from the outside.

Technology will change employee participation in the boardroom.

Judy Samuelson: Era of hyper transparency. Employees have good sightlines into business decision making and ability to follow the money in a way never previously possible. Authentic leadership is keeping your promises and outsiders and employees are now able to apply a level of scrutiny never previously possible with new technology.

Technology empowers employees to build consensus and communicate with each other in ways previously not available to other generations

Judy Samuelson: Cultural barrier to employees represented on board. Employees have same long-term interest in the companies success. In the knowledge economy ignore them at your own peril. Employees are the centerpiece of the success of the business.

How will the pandemic impact corporate governance moving forward:

Ram Charan: Cycle time is reducing, communicating with competitors. 6 boards meetings for boards usually sometimes 4

Judy Samuelson: the pandemic ushered in a new era of private, public partnership

Total reshaping of executive compensation. Move away from stock in order to incentivize long-term interests and success.
“Cannot have a successful business in a failed society”

Stilpon: Impacts the new “distributed board” era and will impact the agendas and consolidation of the agendas to allow for more deep diving into the issues during meetings, but less consequential stuff can be distributed to be completed outside of meetings.

What knowledge and skills will future board members need?

Stilpon: More well-rounded generalists rather than direct specialists on specific topics.

Ram Charan: Many board members still don’t have the basic finance knowledge (balance sheets)

Judy Samuelson: Need more women on boards and need more diversity

Final Statements

Ram Charan: Broaden focus but cannot focus solely on stakeholders, have the right CEO, focus the agenda every year, employees need to be rewarded in same way as top management to decrease inequality

Stilpon Nestor: Companies will become much more social animals. Boards will be freed from the short-termism and be more strategic. Variable architecture in their composition, more distributed boards and distributed duties

Challenge: going to new social companies is lacking a complete and fulsome accountability structure to replace the shareholder accountability model

Judy Samuelson: Shareholder accountability is not the solution.

How will the culture of boards evolve? Status quo will not get us where we want to go. More diversity and supporting the executive to do some difficult and “unpopular” things.

Future Trends: What Today can Teach us About the Future Feb 03, 2022

FEATURED GUESTS

Ram Charan

Ram Charan is a world-renowned business consultant, author, and speaker who has spent the past 40 years working with many top companies, CEOs, and boards. Charan was first introduced to business while working in the family shoe shop in a small town in northern India, where he was raised. He served on the faculties of Harvard Business School and Northwestern University before pursuing consulting full-time. Charan has won several awards, including the Bell Ringer award at GE’s Crotonville Institute and best teacher award at Northwestern. He was among BusinessWeek‘s top ten resources for in-house executive development programs. Charan has authored more than 30 books since 1998 that have sold over four million copies in more than a dozen languages. He has also written for Harvard Business Review, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Time, Chief Executive, and USA Today. Charan is a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources

Judy Samuelson

Judy Samuelson is founder and executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program and author of Six New Rules of Business: Creating Real Value in a Changing World (2021). Signature programs under Samuelson’s leadership include a 10-year campaign to disrupt Milton Friedman’s narrative about corporate purpose, the Aspen Principles of Long-Term Value Creation, and a partnership with Korn Ferry to rethink executive pay. She previously worked in legislative affairs in California and banking in New York’s garment center and ran the Ford Foundation’s office of program-related investments. Samuelson blogs for Quartz at Work. She is a Bellagio Fellow and a director of the Financial Health Network.

Stilpon Nestor

Stilpon Nestor is the executive chair of Morrow Sodali EMEA. He is also the executive chair and founder of Nestor Advisors, a company that Morrow Sodali acquired in early 2021. In this latter role, he has advised the boards of some of the largest companies and financial institutions in the European Union and emerging markets in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East across a variety of sectors. Until 2002, Stilpon was the head of the Corporate Affairs Division at the OECD, leading the team which produced the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance in 1999. Stilpon is a nonexecutive director of the Arabian Construction Co., one of the largest contractors in the Gulf. He is currently a member of the UK Institute of Directors (IoD) Advisory Board on Corporate Governance and cochairs its working group on governance and technology. He is a regular public speaker on governance.

Mike Lubrano

Mike Lubrano is managing director of Valoris: Stewardship Catalysts, and an adjunct professor of Sustainable Finance and Impact Investment at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. Lubrano also teaches the International Corporate Governance Network’s signature “Governance, Stewardship, and Sustainability” course and served as ICGN’s Education Programme advisor. Lubrano was a cofounder and managing director, Corporate Governance and Sustainability, at Cartica Management LLC. Earlier, Lubrano worked at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group; served as advisor to the Ministry of Finance of Chile for the development of its corporate governance reforms; and was one of the group of experts that designed Brazil’s Novo Mercado. Lubrano is a cofounder of the Latin America Corporate Governance Roundtable. He is currently a director of FIBRA ECO. He is the coauthor of Governance, Stewardship and Sustainability (2021).

SHOW NOTES

Megatrends shaping corporate governance

Judy Samuelson: Employees are changing the power structure

Much better window into corporate accountability than investors or management, or regulators

Stilpon: Control of corporations is changing. Concentration of control with multiple voting rights, SPACs.2.) Much more voice outside of the company. Corporations are becoming much more social animals than economic animals (corporations are political actors). 3.) Ebb and flow of regulation post 2008

Ram Charan: Public boards now have a new boss and the Engine #1 example is proof of that. The new boss is the long-term, permanent investor (passive, BlackRock, Vanguard, Atavists). Drivers: Sustainability and the new boss is 24/7

What is the effect of the debate of the purpose of the corporation

Stilpon: Not quite sure that in spite of the UK CorpGov code and BRT announcement, not sure we have actually seen companies putting purpose into action, and it remains to be seen how companies will “hardwire” purpose into strategy, actions, and compensation incentives.

Could simply be a way of dodging accountability to shareholders by diluting the accountability across multiple stakeholder constituencies

Ram Charan: Purpose goes back to Harvard Business school since the 1930s. India culturally practices giving 10% of profit to charity. Purpose has been practiced for decades and it merely means that the current efforts of social engagement are not enough.

Judy Samuelson: Stakeholder is a bad term, but we need business to be at the table. The law around corporate purpose is not holding us back, but it is the system and infrastructure that keeps the shareholders at the top and front and center to business objectives. Employees are better at accountability than shareholders, and can better account for companies aligned to the promises and expectations set out in BRT. Strong focus on what the company is doing and producing tied to that purpose and what the effects it is having in doing and producing those things on the community it operates in? Derive purpose from this

17:00: Moment of huge change with directors retiring in the new normal. We need new innovation at the level of governance. CEO must assess the entire ecosystem of the business, external and internal. Rethink committee structure, employees are not going to be quiet, companies are returning 90% of profits to shareholders in buybacks and dividends
Imminent and measurable: composition and diversity are improving but not there yet. 2.) increasing compensation between the top and the bottom, front line workers is untenable
Talking about how the business model works and what it is designed to do and then what is the impact in the real world of that model

Stilpon: Skeptical, startup model with purpose is potentially a way towards instituting the purpose into the organization

Large Companies – Is there a dichotomy between the bosses and players a large company has versus mid and small cap that are not high-profile (not as big targets for activists and passive investors)

Judy Samuelson: Not sure. Capital is not scarce and many companies simply go public as a means of providing an early escape hatch for their early investors, but they do not actually need capital.

Large and small is not the right distinction. Focusing on culture and impact. Inequality needs to bring everyone to the table
Crisis is driving change. Larger companies as they are targeted as they provide a means of bringing the entire vendor, supply chain, and ecosystem to the table to drive change. Small is much more dynamic so it will be interesting to see how they impact this space

Stilpon: Large companies are just engaged in a political communications exercise.

Podcast Break Jun 03, 2021

We’re pushing the pause button on the podcast for just a bit, but we’ll be back to cover the issues you care about. So subscribe and keep an eye out for more.

When Diversity Is Good for the Group May 20, 2021

FEATURED GUESTS

David Rock

Dr. David Rock is the Co-founder and CEO of the NeuroLeadership Institute (NLI). The Institute is a 23-year-old cognitive science consultancy that has advised over 50% of the Fortune 100. With operations in 24 countries, the Institute brings neuroscientists and leadership experts together to make organizations better for humans through science. Rock has authored four successful books including Your Brain at Work, a business best-seller. He has written for and been quoted in Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider,CNBC, Forbes, Fortune, Inc., USA Today,BBC, The Boston Globe, and more. He holds a professional doctorate in the Neuroscience of Leadership from Middlesex University in the UK.

RELATED RESOURCES

David Rock, Heidi Grant, and Jacqui Grey, "Diverse Teams Feel Less Comfortable — and That’s Why They Perform Better," Harvard Business Review.
Mark A. Thornton and Jason P. Mitchell, Theories of Person Perception Predict Patterns of Neural Activity During Mentalizing

Beyond ‘Pinkwashing:’ Insights From Global Board Diversity Mandates May 06, 2021

FEATURED GUESTS

Ruth V. Aguilera

Ruth V. Aguilera (Harvard University, Ph.D.) is the Darla and Frederick Brodsky Trustee Professor in Global Business and Distinguished Professor, International Business and Strategy at Northeastern University’s D'Amore-McKim School of Business. She is also a Visiting Professor at ESADE Business School in Spain. Her research interests lie at the intersection of strategic organization and global strategy, specializing in international corporate governance and corporate social responsibility/sustainability. She has written close to a hundred academic and professional articles on these research topics. She is an Associate Editor at the Academy of Management Review and Consulting Editor at the Journal of International Business Studies. She serves on the board of directors of the Strategic Management Society and the International Corporate Governance Society and is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business and the Strategic Management Society. Aguilera teaches executives and advises companies on issues related to corporate governance across a variety of countries (Spain, U.K., Mexico, Peru, etc.) and organizations on areas that range from the development of effective corporate governance of family-owned businesses to improving ESG performance and D&I practices.

Venkat Kuppuswamy

Venkat Kuppuswamy is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University. His research investigates the influence of race and gender in entrepreneurship and other economic domains, including interventions to mitigate racial and gender biases in these contexts. In 2020, he was the inaugural recipient of the prestigious Bradford-Osborne Research Award from the University of Washington, the first national award to recognize research published in peer-reviewed journals that contributes to advancing the growth of businesses owned by people of color. He was also the recipient of the best paper award from the Journal of Business Venturing in 2019 for his work on racial bias on crowdfunding platforms. His research has been covered by numerous publications including The Atlantic, Forbes, NPR, and the Harvard Business Review. He is affiliated with the Center for Emerging Markets at Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business, which supports his research on corporate governance in emerging markets. Prior to Northeastern University, Kuppuswamy served on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and he received his Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from Harvard Business School.

RELATED RESOURCED

Resources for India’s COVID-19 Crisis, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
Aguilera, Ruth V., Venkat Kuppuswamy, Rahul Anand, “What Happened When India Mandated Gender Diversity on Boards ,” Harvard Business Review(February 05, 2021).

Coming Soon Apr 29, 2021

We’ve got some great news. We’ll be back with all-new episodes of the Future Fluency podcast beginning May 6. Be sure to listen in and subscribe!

An ‘Unprecedented’ Year Dec 03, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Shai Akabas

Shai Akabas is BPC’s director of economic policy. He has conducted research on a variety of economic policy issues, including the federal budget, retirement security, and the financing of higher education. Akabas joined BPC in 2010 and staffed the Domenici-Rivlin Debt Reduction Task Force that year. He also assisted Jerome H. Powell, now Chairman of the Federal Reserve, in his work on the federal debt limit. For the past several years, Akabas has steered BPC’s Commission on Retirement Security and Personal Savings, co-chaired by former Senator Kent Conrad and the Honorable James B. Lockhart III.

Akabas has been interviewed by publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, and has published op-eds in The Hill and The Christian Science Monitor. He has been featured as an expert guest several times on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal.

Prior to joining BPC, Akabas worked as a satellite office director on New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 2009 campaign for reelection. Born and raised in New York City, he received his B.A. in economics and history from Cornell University and an M.S. in applied economics from Georgetown University.

Jennifer Glass

Jennifer Glass is the Centennial Commission Professor of Liberal Arts in the Department of Sociology and the Population Research Center of the University of Texas, Austin. She has published over 60 articles and books on work and family issues, gender stratification in the labor force, mother’s employment and mental health, and religious conservatism and women’s economic attainment, with funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She received the Jessie Bernard Award in 2020 from the American Sociological Association, the Harriet Presser Award in 2019 from the Population Association of America, the 2016 Best Publication Award from the Family Section of the American Sociological Association, the Reuben Hill Award from the National Council on Family Relations in 1986, and has thrice been nominated for the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research. Her work has appeared in the Monthly Labor Review, American Sociological Review, Demography, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, and Social Forces, among others. She is currently the Executive Director of the Council on Contemporary Families, and past Chair of the Social Sciences and Population (B) Study Section at the National Institutes of Health.

Ira Kalish

Dr. Kalish is the Chief Global Economist of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. He is a specialist in global economic issues as well as the effects of economic, demographic, and social trends on the global business environment. He advises Deloitte clients as well as Deloitte’s leadership on economic issues and their impact on business strategy. In addition, he has given numerous presentations to corporations and trade organizations on topics related to the global economy. He is widely traveled and has given presentations in 47 countries on six continents. He has been quoted by the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and The Financial Times. Dr. Kalish holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Vassar College and a PhD in international economics from Johns Hopkins University.

Nate Wong

Nate Wong leads the day-to-day operations of the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovationat Georgetown University that seeks to scout, surface, and scale promising ecosystem-centered solutions in the impact space. The Center works directly with leading practitioners and students around its two main portfolios centered around making finance more equitable and improving how governments use the tools of data and digital to deliver better services to its residents. Prior to coming to the Center in 2018, Nate helped launch and direct two social impact units at Deloitte Consulting and more recently at Boston Consulting Group’s non-profit, the Centre for Public Impact in the US. He has worked in over 10 different countries, helping partners maximize their social impact. Nate has worked on issues around economic development/ mobility and inclusive entrepreneurship including stints at Obama Foundation, Acumen, Endeavor, and TechnoServe. Nate has an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BS in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia. When not in a pandemic, you can find him exploring the DC food scene, getting lost in a travel book, throwing ceramics, or improving his boxing technique.

RELATED RESOURCES

“Taking Stock of the Market: A Conversation With Kim Parker,” Future Fluency podcast (NACD, Nov. 19, 2020).
“Where the Money Meets the Road: A Conversation With Shai Akabas,” Future Fluency podcast (NACD, Jul 23, 2020).
“Emerging Workforce Trends: A Conversation With Dr. Jennifer Glass,” Future Fluency podcast (NACD, Aug. 06, 2020).
"Flattening the Inequity Curve: A Conversation with Nate Wong," Future Fluency podcast (NACD, Sept. 10, 2020).

Taking Stock of the Market: A Conversation With Kim Parker Nov 19, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Kim Parker

Kim Parker is director of social trends research at Pew Research Center. She oversees research on emerging social and demographic trends, manages major survey projects, and writes and edits reports. Parker was previously the associate director of social and demographic trends research and the research director for the Center’s political unit. Prior to joining Pew Research Center, she worked as a research associate at the American Enterprise Institute. She holds a master’s degree in American government from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College. Parker is an author of studies on a variety of topics including gender and work, the changing American family, generational change, higher education, the Great Recession, the middle class, aging, military veterans and Asian Americans. Parker frequently discusses social and demographic trends with journalists and has been interviewed by broadcast outlets such as NPR, NBC, MSNBC and C-SPAN.

RELATED RESOURCES

Igielnik, Ruth, “Few in U.S. owned stocks outside of 401(k)s in 2019, fewer said market had a big impact on their view of economy.” Pew Research Center, September 25, 2020.
Menasce Horowitz, Juliana, Ruth Igielnik, and Rakesh Kichhar, “Most Americans Say There Is Too Much Economic Inequality in the U.S., but Fewer Than Half Call It a Top Priority.” Pew Research Center, January 9, 2020.
Parker, Kim and Richard Fry, “More than half of U.S. households have some investment in the stock market.” Pew Research Center, March 25, 2020.
Schaeffer, Katherine, “6 facts about economic inequality in the U.S.” Pew Research Center, Frbruary 7, 2020.

When ESG Is About ‘Value, Not Values:’ A Conversation With Leah Rozin Nov 05, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Leah Rozin

Leah Rozin joined the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) in 2019 as the senior manager of Research. Prior to joining NACD, she was Vice President at ISS Corporate Solutions (ICS) where she served as the principal advisor for the Sustainability Suite working with corporate clients understand the ESG landscape and improve disclosure practices. She joined ICS in 2015 from the Corporate Executive Board where she specialized in investor perception studies and investor messaging.

RELATED RESOURCES

Rozin, Leah. "Understanding the Board’s Role in ESG," NACD BoardTalk blog (Sept. 22, 2020).

NACD. Strategic Oversight of ESG: A Board Primer (Sept. 22, 2020; NACD member exclusive).

Cyrus Taraporevala letter, State Street Global Advisors (Jan. 28, 2020).

NACD ESG Oversight Resource Center

Latino Representation in the Boardroom: A Conversation With Esther Aguilera Oct 22, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Esther Aguilera

EstherAguilerabrings together accomplished executives at the highest levels of corporate governance to advance diversity in the boardroom. She is recognized as a social entrepreneur and turnaround specialist leading scale-up, innovative change and managing high performance teams. She brings a 25-year record of success executing strategic business plans to drive organizational effectiveness, growth and impact. Previous positions included leading the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) for 11 years as its President & CEO, principal at the Dewey Square Group, senior advisor to the Secretary of the US Department of Energy, executive and legislative director of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), and a policy analyst at the National Council of La Raza. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy from Occidental College and completed the Harvard Corporate Governance Executive Program in 2005.

RELATED RESOURCES

Latinas Only 3.3% of Women Appointed to California Boards Since SB 826 Legislation Enacted, LCDA press release (March 2, 2020).

The Latino Corporate Directors Association Publishes New Research on the State of Latino Representation on F1000 Corporate Boards, LCDA press release (Nov. 12, 2019).

Mcgreevy, Patrick. "Newsom signs law mandating more diversity in California corporate boardrooms," Los Angeles Times (Sept. 30, 2020).
A Call to Action for Equity and Inclusion in the Boardroom. The Diverse Corporate Directors Coalition.

Short Break Oct 08, 2020

We’re taking a break this week to participate in the virtual NACD Summit. We’ll be back with another episode of Future Fluency on October 22nd.

Benchmarking Engagement with Hispanic Stakeholders: A Conversation with Eric Lopez Sep 24, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Eric Lopez

Eric Lopez is the Director of Corporate Accountability at the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR). He is responsible for the collection and analysis of diversity and inclusion data from U.S. based companies across the country, including HACR Corporate Members and Fortune 500 companies to understand current trends in the advancement of Hispanic inclusion in Corporate America. Through his work, Eric supports HACR’s broader research efforts to ensure corporate responsibility in the areas of Employment, Procurement, Philanthropy, and Governance. Eric joined the HACR team in March 2015, as Manager of Research. In this capacity, he managed the HACR research databases, analyzed relevant trends in academic research, and collected raw data from the HACR Corporate Inclusion Index (CII) to develop Hispanic inclusion best practices. Prior to working at HACR, Eric was the CEO and Founder of GlobeServe Consulting where he managed the analytical, fundraising, and event needs for nonprofit and for-profit organizations in the Washington D.C. area.

RELATED RESOURCES

Jens Manuel Krogstad; Luis Noe-Bustamante. Key facts about U.S. Latinos for National Hispanic Heritage Month (Pew Research Center, September 10, 2020).
Society for Human Resource Management and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. The Changing U.S. Workforce: The Growing Hispanic Demographic and the Workplace (September 14, 2016).
Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility. Corporate Inclusion Index.

Flattening the Inequity Curve: A Conversation with Nate Wong Sep 10, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Nate Wong

Nate Wong leads the day-to-day operations of the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University that seeks to scout, surface, and scale promising ecosystem-centered solutions in the impact space. The Center works directly with leading practitioners and students around its two main portfolios centered around making finance more equitable and improving how governments use the tools of data and digital to deliver better services to its residents. Prior to coming to the Center in 2018, Nate helped launch and direct two social impact units at Deloitte Consulting and more recently at Boston Consulting Group’s non-profit, the Centre for Public Impact in the US. He has worked in over 10 different countries, helping partners maximize their social impact. Nate has worked on issues around economic development/ mobility and inclusive entrepreneurship including stints at Obama Foundation, Acumen, Endeavor, and TechnoServe. Nate has an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BS in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia. When not in a pandemic, you can find him exploring the DC food scene, getting lost in a travel book, throwing ceramics, or improving his boxing technique.

RELATED RESOURCES

Padró, Miguel, “America’s Corporate Governance System Is Racist Too,” Aspen Business and Society, June 29,2020.
US Digital Response
Wong, Nate and Audrey Voorhees, “Hard-wiring Corporate Purpose in the Age of COVID-19,” Beeck Center, May 15, 2020.
Wong, Nate and Vaishant Sharma, “Here's how to make sure the economic recovery from the pandemic helps the people who need it most,” Business Insider, June 20, 2020.
Zarek, Cori, “Power of Organizing and Networks in Crisis (and Everyday),” Beeck Center, April 1, 2020.

Consumer Trends and Changing Behaviors: A Conversation With Kian Bakhtiari Aug 27, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Kian Bakhtiari

Kian Bakhtiari is the founder of The People, an award-winning youth powered consultancy. He was formerly Head of Strategy at Dentsu Aegis Network, one of the largest media and advertising groups in the world. For his contributions to marketing, he has been named as one of the Top 50 Future Leaders by the Financial Times. He is also a global judge for the Festival of Media, a One Young World Ambassador, and an Agenda Contributor to the World Economic Forum. Kian regularly writes about marketing through a Millennial and Gen-Z lens for Forbes‘ CMO Network.

RELATED RESOURCES

The Great Reset: Insight Into Post-Pandemic Consumer Behavior.https://indd.adobe.com/view/6b21a0f2-7ba9-4516-aa57-cfbbfca7d1ee (The People)

Bonus Episode: The Parent Trap Aug 13, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Jennifer Glass, Ph.D.

Jennifer Glass is the Centennial Commission Professor of Liberal Arts in the Department of Sociology and the Population Research Center of the University of Texas, Austin. She has published over 60 articles and books on work and family issues, gender stratification in the labor force, mother’s employment and mental health, and religious conservatism and women’s economic attainment, with funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She received the Jessie Bernard Award in 2020 from the American Sociological Association, the Harriet Presser Award in 2019 from the Population Association of America, the 2016 Best Publication Award from the Family Section of the American Sociological Association, the Reuben Hill Award in 1986 from the National Council on Family Relations, and has thrice been nominated for the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research. Her work has appeared in the American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Monthly Labor Review, and Demography, among others She has chaired the Sex and Gender Section, the Family Section, the Organizations and Work Section, and served as Vice-President of the American Sociological Association.

Dr. H. Elizabeth Peters

H. Elizabeth Peters, an Institute Fellow in the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population at the Urban Institute, is a labor economist and demographer with more than 30 years of experience in social and family policy research. Her work focuses on family and social investments in children and youth, family outcomes and risk factors, the role of the family as a social safety net, and the impacts of public policies on father involvement. She has several current projects that assess the impact and implementation of policies such as paid leave and schedule control that help workers manage work and nonwork responsibilities related to family. Her previous research has examined the effects of public policies such as divorce laws, child support policy, child care policy, taxes, and welfare reform on family and child behaviors and outcomes.

Before joining Urban, Peters was a professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University and was the founding director of the Cornell Population Center. She is currently Professor Emerita at Cornell. From 1993 to 2004, she was a partner in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development–funded Family and Child Well-Being Network, where she directed the network’s fatherhood efforts. She was also a member of the steering committee that guided the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics’ Nurturing Fatherhood initiative. Peters earned her MPP and PhD in economics from the University of Chicago.

RELATED RESOURCES

Emerging Workforce Trends: A Conversation With Dr. Jennifer Glass Aug 06, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Jennifer Glass, Ph.D.

Jennifer Glass is the Centennial Commission Professor of Liberal Arts in the Department of Sociology and the Population Research Center of the University of Texas, Austin. She has published over 60 articles and books on work and family issues, gender stratification in the labor force, mother’s employment and mental health, and religious conservatism and women’s economic attainment, with funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She received the Jessie Bernard Award in 2020 from the American Sociological Association, the Harriet Presser Award in 2019 from the Population Association of America, the 2016 Best Publication Award from the Family Section of the American Sociological Association, the Reuben Hill Award in 1986 from the National Council on Family Relations, and has thrice been nominated for the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research. Her work has appeared in the American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Monthly Labor Review, and Demography, among others She has chaired the Sex and Gender Section, the Family Section, the Organizations and Work Section, and served as Vice-President of the American Sociological Association.

RELATED RESOURCES

Barton Edgerton, “Strategy, Workforce Issues Top Director Concerns Post-Crisis, Survey Finds,” NACD BoardTalk Blog (June 9, 2020).
Linda Smith, Ben Wolters, “Challenges Child Care Programs and States Face in Reopening and Beyond,” Bipartisan Policy Center blog (Jun 23, 2020).

Where the Money Meets the Road: A Conversation With Shai Akabas Jul 23, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Shai Akabas

Shai Akabas is BPC’s director of economic policy. He has conducted research on a variety of economic policy issues, including the federal budget, retirement security, and the financing of higher education. Akabas joined BPC in 2010 and staffed the Domenici-Rivlin Debt Reduction Task Force that year. He also assisted Jerome H. Powell, now Chairman of the Federal Reserve, in his work on the federal debt limit. For the past several years, Akabas has steered BPC’s Commission on Retirement Security and Personal Savings, co-chaired by former Senator Kent Conrad and the Honorable James B. Lockhart III.

Akabas has been interviewed by publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, and has published op-eds in The Hill and The Christian Science Monitor. He has been featured as an expert guest several times on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal.

RELATED RESOURCES

Hoagland, G. William, Ben Gitis, Shai Akabas. "It Doesn’t Have to Be All or Nothing: How Unemployment Insurance Could Support Work and Continue to Provide Financial Relief." Bipartisan Policy Center, July 8th, 2020.

Gladstone, Nicko, Shai Akabas, Nora Cahill, Charlotte Houghton. "Racial Inequities Have Long Existed in the Economy. A New BPC Survey Shows COVID-19 Made Them Worse." Bipartisan Policy Center, June 22nd, 2020.

Watkins, Kara, Shai Akabas. "The savings gap for Americans is a key component of economic stability -- here’s what we can do about it." Bipartisan Policy Center, July 1st, 2020.

Elis, Niv. "Women suffering steeper job losses in COVID-19 economy." The Hill, May 25th, 2020.

Evidence-Based Belonging: A Conversation With Dr. Stephanie J. Creary Jul 09, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Stephanie J. Creary, PhD

Stephanie J. Creary, PhD is an identity and diversity scholar and field researcher, an assistant professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and affiliated faculty member of Wharton People Analytics. Dr. Creary’s research investigates the work that people in organizations do to manage identity and diversity and improve the quality of relationships across differences at work. She regularly shares her research and applied insights with academic and practitioner audiences and the media. She also leads the Leading Diversity@Wharton Speaker Series as part of the Leading Diversity in Organizations course she has developed and teaches at Wharton. Prior to joining the Wharton faculty, Dr. Creary was on the faculty of Cornell University. She has served as a research associate at Harvard Business School and The Conference Board in NYC researching corporate diversity and inclusion practices.

RELATED RESOURCES

Knowledge@Wharton: How to Begin Talking About Race in the Workplace

Creary, Stephanie J., Nancy Rothbard, Elena Mariscal,Olivia Moore, Jared Scruggs, and Natalia Villarmán. “Evidence-Based Solutions for Inclusion in the Workplace: Actions for Middle Managers.” Wharton, May 2020.

Fourth of July Break Jul 02, 2020

We are taking a bit of a break this holiday week, but will be back next week with a new episode.

Fair and Sustainable Start With “E”: A Conversation With Leo Strine Jun 18, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Leo E. Strine Jr.

Leo E. Strine, Jr., is of Counsel in the Corporate Department at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Before joining the firm, he was the Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court from early 2014 through late 2019. Before becoming the Chief Justice, he had served on the Delaware Court of Chancery as Chancellor since June 22, 2011, and as a Vice Chancellor since November 9, 1998.

In his judicial positions, Mr. Strine wrote hundreds of opinions in the areas of corporate law, contract law, trusts and estates, criminal law, administrative law, and constitutional law. Notably, he authored the lead decision in the Delaware Supreme Court case holding that Delaware’s death penalty statute was unconstitutional because it did not require the key findings necessary to impose a death sentence to be made by a unanimous jury.

Mr. Strine holds long-standing teaching positions at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches diverse classes in corporate law addressing, among other topics, mergers and acquisitions, the role of independent directors, valuation, and corporate law theories. He is a member of the American Law Institute, and currently serves as an advisor on the project to create a restatement of corporate law.

Mr. Strine also serves as a Senior Fellow of the Harvard Program on Corporate Governance and as an advisor to Penn’s Institute for Law & Economics. From 2006 to 2019, Mr. Strine served as the special judicial consultant to the ABA’s Committee on Corporate Laws. He also was the special judicial consultant to the ABA’s Committee on Mergers & Acquisitions from 2014 to 2019.

Mr. Strine speaks and writes frequently on the subjects of corporate and public law, and particularly the impact of business on society, and his articles have been published in The University of Chicago Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Duke Law Journal, Harvard Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and Stanford Law Review, among others. On several occasions, his articles were selected as among the Best Corporate and Securities Articles of the year, based on the choices of law professors.

RELATED RESOURCES

Strine Jr, Leo E. "Toward Fair and Sustainable Capitalism: A Comprehensive Proposal to Help American Workers, Restore Fair Gainsharing Between Employees and Shareholders, and Increase American Competitiveness by Reorienting Our Corporate Governance System Toward Sustainable Long-Term Growth and Encouraging Investments in America’s Future." (October 3, 2019).

Strine, Leo. "Toward Fair and Sustainable Capitalism," Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance. (October 1, 2019).

“About the Division of Corporations.” Delaware Division of Corporations (accessed June 17, 2020), https://corp.delaware.gov/aboutagency/.

Warner, Judy. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood” (An interview with Delaware Supreme Court Justice Leo E. Strine Jr.) NACD Directorship magazine (May/June 2015).

Special Episode: Work to be Done Jun 05, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Catrice M. Jackson

Catrice is CEO of Catrice-ology Enterprises, an international anti-racism speaker, and a best-selling author. She’s a self-described “straight up, on the rocks with no chaser” voice for racial justice who is unapologetic and unflinching with her anti-racism message. She founded SHETalks-WETalk™ race talks for women and WETalks for women of color. Jackson serves up the hard truths necessary to eliminate the lethal infection of racism from humanity. She is a licensed mental health practitioner, a licensed professional counselor, and she is pursuing a doctoral degree in organizational psychology at Walden University. Jackson is also a certified domestic abuse and sexual assault advocate, trainer, and speaker.

Howard Ross

Howard Ross is a lifelong social justice advocate and is considered one of the world’s seminal thought leaders on identifying and addressing unconscious bias. He is the author of Reinventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance, and the Washington Post bestseller, Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives. His latest book, Our Search for Belonging: How Our Need to Connect is Tearing Us Apart, published in May 2018. Ross has specialized in the synthesis of neuro-cognitive and social science research and direct application related to diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility work. In 47 of the United States and over 40 countries, Ross has successfully implemented large-scale organizational culture change efforts in diversity and cultural integration for academia, governmental institutions, professional services corporations, Fortune 500 companies, and other organizations.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Ross, Howard J. Reinventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose, and Performance. Rowman & Littlefield, 2011.

• NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity

• NACD. “The Thin Red Line“ Future Fluency. (May 30, 2019).

• Lopez, German. “There are huge racial disparities in how US police use force." Vox, Sept. 11, 2018.

• Edwards, Frank, Hedwig Lee, and Michael Esposito. “Risk of being killed by police use of force in the United States by age, race–ethnicity, and sex.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116, no. 34 (2019): 16793-16798.

• History.com. “Tulsa Race Massacre.” (updated: Oct. 21, 2019; original: Mar. 8, 2018).

• NAACP. “History of Lynchings.”

• Torres, Sam. “Hate crimes against African Americans: The extent of the problem.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 15, no. 1 (1999): 48-63.

• Erin Duffin. “Hate crime in the U.S..” Statista (Feb. 7, 2020).

• Lillianna Byington, Brittany Brown, Andrew Capps, News21 Staff. “Black Americans Still Are Victims Of Hate Crimes More Than Any Other Group.” The Center for Public Integrity (Aug. 21, 2018).

• John R. Allen. “White-Supremacist Violence Is Terrorism.” The Atlantic, February 24, 2020.

• Southern Poverty Law Center. “Civil Rights Memorial.”

Truth be Told: A Conversation with Dr. Jennifer Kavanagh May 28, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Dr. Jennifer Kavanagh

Jennifer is a senior political scientist. She leads RAND’s Countering Truth Decay initiative, a portfolio of projects exploring the diminishing reliance on facts and analysis in U.S. political and civil discourse. Jennifer is also the Director of the Strategy, Doctrine, and Resources program in RAND’s Arroyo Center, which supports the U.S. Army. Jennifer’s research interests include the changing media landscape, the effects of the new information environment on national security, and military strategy. Jennifer is a faculty member at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and teaches research methods courses as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. While completing her Ph.D., she was a Department of Homeland Security fellow and completed a research internship at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Kavanagh graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in government and a minor in Russian language. She earned her Ph.D. in political science and public policy at the University of Michigan.

RELATED RESOURCES

Kavanagh, Jennifer. Michael D. Rich. Truth Decay. RAND Corporation.

Countering Truth Decay. RAND Corporation.

NACD Resource Center: Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis

Trust in a Changing World: A Conversation with Richard Edelman May 21, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Richard Edelman

Richard Edelman is the CEO of Edelman, a global communications firm. The firm was named to Advertising Age's 2019 A-List and was honored as "PR Agency of the Decade" by both Advertising Age and The Holmes Report.

Richard has extensive experience in marketing and reputation management, having led assignments with major corporations, NGOs, and family businesses in over 25 industries worldwide. He has counseled countries in every region of the world on economic development programs. As the creator of the annual Edelman Trust Barometer, Richard has become one of the foremost authorities on trust in business, government, media, and NGOs.

In 2020, Richard was inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Advertising Hall of Fame. In 2019, he was named the PR Agency Professional of the Past 20 Years by PRWeek and was inducted into the publication's Hall of Fame; in 2014, he was inducted in the Arthur W. Page Society's Hall of Fame. Richard is regarded as an industry thought leader and has posted weekly to his blog since 2004.

He serves on the Board of Directors of the Ad Council, the Atlantic Council, the Children's Aid Society, the Gettysburg Foundation, the 9/11 Museum, and the National Committee on US-China Relations. He is a member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, World Economic Forum, and PR Seminar.

Richard earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1978 and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1976.

RELATED RESOURCES

Barry, John M.. The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. Penguin Random House.

The 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer Spring Update: Trust and the Covid-19 Pandemic. May 5, 2020, Edelman.

Edelman, Richard. “The Great Influenza.” May 13, 2020, Edelman.

NACD Resource Center: Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis

The world remade by COVID: Planning scenarios for resilient leaders. Deloitte.

Planning at Home and Abroad: A Conversation with Admiral James Stavridis (Part II) May 14, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Admiral James Stavridis

Admiral James Stavridis is an Operating Executive of The Carlyle Group, following five years as the 12th Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. A retired 4-star officer in the U.S. Navy, he led the NATO Alliance in global operations from 2009 to 2013 as Supreme Allied Commander with responsibility for Afghanistan, Libya, the Balkans, Syria, counter-piracy, and cybersecurity. He also served as Commander of U.S. Southern Command, with responsibility for all military operations in Latin America from 2006-2009. He earned more than 50 medals, including 28 from foreign nations in his 37-year military career.

Earlier in his military career, he commanded the top ship in the Atlantic Fleet, winning the Battenberg Cup and a squadron of destroyers and a carrier strike group in combat. In 2016, he was vetted for Vice President by Hillary Clinton and subsequently invited to Trump Tower to discuss a cabinet position in the Trump Administration.

Admiral Stavridis earned a Ph.D. in international relations and has published nine books and hundreds of articles in leading journals worldwide. His 2012 TED talk on global security has close to one million views. Admiral Stavridis is a monthly columnist for TIME Magazine and Chief International Security Analyst for NBC News, and has tens of thousands of connections on the social networks.

RELATED RESOURCES

Larson, Erik. The Splendid and the Vile. Penguin Random House.

Stavridis, James. “The US Military Has Untapped Potential in Fighting This Virus.” April 11, 2020, Bloomberg.

Stavridis, James. “The Military Can Help Win the Fight Against Pandemics.” April 22, 2020, Bloomberg.

Stavridis, James. “As the West Fights Coronavirus, Its Enemies Wage Cyberwar.” April 24, 2020, Bloomberg.

Stavridis, James. Sailing True North. Penguin Random House.

Stavridis, James. “ Navy Hospital Ships Will Be Used in the Fight Against COVID-19. But There's Much More the Military Can Do in This Crisis.” March 23, 2020, Time.

Stavridis, James. “My Family Worried for Me While I Served Overseas. Now I Worry for Them While They Serve on the Home Front.” April 21, 2020, Time.

NACD Resource Center: Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis

Leading from the Heart: A Conversation with Admiral James Stavridis (Part I) May 07, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Admiral James Stavridis

Admiral James Stavridis is an Operating Executive of The Carlyle Group, following five years as the 12th Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. A retired 4-star officer in the U.S. Navy, he led the NATO Alliance in global operations from 2009 to 2013 as Supreme Allied Commander with responsibility for Afghanistan, Libya, the Balkans, Syria, counter-piracy, and cybersecurity. He also served as Commander of U.S. Southern Command, with responsibility for all military operations in Latin America from 2006-2009. He earned more than 50 medals, including 28 from foreign nations in his 37-year military career.

Earlier in his military career, he commanded the top ship in the Atlantic Fleet, winning the Battenberg Cup and a squadron of destroyers and a carrier strike group in combat. In 2016, he was vetted for Vice President by Hillary Clinton and subsequently invited to Trump Tower to discuss a cabinet position in the Trump Administration.

Admiral Stavridis earned a Ph.D. in international relations and has published nine books and hundreds of articles in leading journals worldwide. His 2012 TED talk on global security has close to one million views. Admiral Stavridis is a monthly columnist for TIME Magazine and Chief International Security Analyst for NBC News, and has tens of thousands of connections on the social networks.

RELATED RESOURCES

Larson, Erik. The Splendid and the Vile. Penguin Random House.

Stavridis, James. “A Naval Captain’s Brave Fight Against Coronavirus.” April 1, 2020, Bloomberg.

Stavridis, James. “The US Military Has Untapped Potential in Fighting This Virus.” April 11, 2020, Bloomberg.

Stavridis, James. “The Military Can Help Win the Fight Against Pandemics.” April 22, 2020, Bloomberg.

Stavridis, James. “As the West Fights Coronavirus, Its Enemies Wage Cyberwar.” April 24, 2020, Bloomberg.

Stavridis, James. Sailing True North. Penguin Random House.

Stavridis, James. “ Navy Hospital Ships Will Be Used in the Fight Against COVID-19. But There's Much More the Military Can Do in This Crisis.” March 23, 2020, Time.

NACD Resource Center: Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis

Culture, Care, and Creativity: A Conversation with Dawn Zier Apr 30, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Dawn Zier

Dawn Zier is an independent board director and accomplished CEO best known for engineering a remarkable turnaround of the iconic brand, Nutrisystem (Nasdaq: NTRI). Throughout her career, she has successfully architected and led enterprise-wide transformations and turnarounds propelled by innovative product and marketing breakthroughs.

Dawn currently serves on the Board of Directors of Hain Celestial Group (Nasdaq: HAIN) and Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE), where she chairs the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees. She also brings significant Compensation and Audit Committee expertise and has helped navigate several activist situations. Her leadership and board experience afford her deep understanding and appreciation for best practices and strong governance, future-focused planning, and engaged leadership. As a sought after thought leader, she frequently speaks and keynotes on such topics.

People and Culture in Times of Change: A Conversation with Johnny C. Taylor Jr. Apr 16, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. SHRM drives social and economic change in the workplace and fosters mutually beneficial work environments that serve both business and employees. Mr. Taylor is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors a weekly column, "Ask HR," in USA Today. Mr. Taylor's career spans over 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive, and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit space. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/Interactive Corp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures and Blockbuster Entertainment Group, McGuireWoods LLC and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. He is a member of the US Department of Commerce's American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and Chair of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He serves on the boards of the University of Miami, Jobs for America's Graduates, and the American Red Cross and as an adviser to Safe Streets & Second Chances.

From Shutters to Face Shields: A Conversation with Rick Skidmore Apr 09, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Martin Whittaker

Martin Whittaker is the founding CEO of JUST Capital. He is also co-founder and Board member of the CREO Syndicate, a family office investment network, a Board member of the Carbon Disclosure Project U.S., a member of the Forbes Finance Council, and Forbes Contributor, and an advisor to Mission Driven Capital Partners, a private equity firm. Previously, Martin was a founding partner and investment committee member at Sonen Capital, an impact investing firm, where he led private equity, real asset, and direct investing activities. Martin has also served as Director of MissionPoint Capital Partners, Senior Vice President at Swiss Re, and Managing Director at Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, Inc. Martin has also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto, provided expert testimony on environmental markets to the US Senate, guest lectured at multiple business schools, and consulted for major corporations on sustainability and impact-related matters. He has been an invited speaker, published writer and contributor via television, print, social media and conferences throughout his career.

Rick Skidmore

Rick founded his current company, Timberlane, in 1995, based on a passion for fine craftsmanship and a gaping need in the industry. Timberlane manufactures exterior window shutters and is located in Montgomeryville, PA.

Timberlane "dresses" the homes of leaders (the White House), iconic buildings (Disney World), universities, and private homes through the US and abroad. Then Hollywood called, and Timberlane began working with set designers and has been featured in countless motion pictures and Broadway shows. Timberlane became the first shutter company to develop a formal partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and has worked on major renovations of countless national landmarks.

Timberlane has been featured in numerous on-air programs, including PBS, ABC's Extreme Home Makeover, Home Edition, Designing Spaces, Curb Appeal, P. Allen Smith, Katie Brown Workshop and This Old House.

Rick has led sessions at Drexel University and the Wharton School of Entrepreneurial Studies, focusing on the required balance between academics and real-world practical learnings. Rick is a member of the Young President's Organization (YPO), has been recognized for three consecutive years by Inc. Magazines top 500 list, the Philadelphia 100, and Wood 100 for being one of the fastest-growing companies in the US. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice from Temple University. Rick also provides mentorship to entrepreneurs and early and mid-stage start-ups.

Before starting Timberlane, Rick was successful in the insurance and investment industry, building teams, brands, and portfolios.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Protecting Front Line Healthcare Workers With American Made Products.

• JUST Capital. “ Announcing the 2020 Rankings of America’s Most JUST Companies.” (December 2019).

A Message Regarding COVID-19 Mar 19, 2020

Hey, Future Fluency listeners! This is Bruno Falcon, your producer, and editor. I am sure all of you have been impacted by the challenges the spread of COVID-19 has caused. We had hoped to have a new episode for you this week but feel that while our episodes on Purpose and Family Leave remain important, they don’t speak to the current pressing concerns of you, our audience. Additionally, we take the health of our guests, hosts, and staff very seriously. We have decided to step back and assess how to offer our listeners the most valuable content while taking the best care of our team. Thank you so much for being a part of our listening community, and an additional thank you to the NACD members listening in. Stay tuned for updates and new episodes and stay safe and healthy out there! Until next time, this is Future Fluency.

A Short Break Feb 20, 2020

Hey, Future Fluency listeners! This is Bruno Falcon, your editor, producer, and interim host. We are taking the next few weeks off but will be back on March 19th with a brand new episode. Thank you so much for being a part of our listening community, and a special thank you to the NACD members listening in. We look forward to bringing you more fresh content next month.

Making Meaning: How Purpose Happens Feb 06, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

David Horsager

David Horsager, MA, CSP, CPAE, is the CEO of Trust Edge Leadership Institute, national bestselling author of The Trust Edge, inventor of the Enterprise Trust Index™, and director of one of the nation's foremost trust studies: The Trust Outlook™. His work has been featured in prominent publications such as Fast Company, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal. David has advised leaders and delivered life-changing presentations on six continents, with audiences ranging everywhere from FedEx, Toyota, and global governments to the New York Yankees and the Department of Homeland Security. Get free resources and more at www.DavidHorsager.com and www.TrustEdge.com.

David A. Rodriguez

David A. Rodriguez assumed the role of Executive Vice President and Global Chief Human Resources Officer for Marriott International in 2006. Rodriguez was appointed a corporate officer in 2000. In 2004, he was appointed to the board's committee for excellence that focuses on advancing employee wellbeing and inclusion in the company. He joined Marriott International and assumed the role of Senior Vice President, Human Resources, in 1998. In 2003, he was appointed Executive Vice President with corporate-wide responsibility for various human resources functions as well as for the Marriott Lodging division. Before joining Marriott International, Rodriguez held various human resources leadership positions at Citicorp (now Citigroup). He is on the board of directors for Human Resources Policy Association, the board of governors for the Health Transformation Alliance, is a vice chair of the American Health Policy Institute, and is a member of the HR People + Strategy Executive Advisory Council. Rodriguez was inducted as a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources in 2014.

Jason Dorsey

Jason Dorsey is a pioneering Gen Z, Millennial, and generations speaker and researcher. He is on a mission to separate myth from truth to solve generational challenges for leaders. Jason has served on both public and private company boards. He was on the board of Ultimate Software when the company was acquired for approximately $11 billion last year. Jason has received more than 1,000 standing ovations for his unique presentations. He's headlined events around the world, spanning nations like India, Singapore, Switzerland, Chile, the United Kingdom, and France. Jason is President of The Center for Generational Kinetics (CGK). CGK works with more than 100 clients annually to solve tough generational challenges in areas from sales and marketing to recruiting and innovation. CGK's PhD-led team has now conducted more than 60 generational studies on four continents in multiple languages. Jason's new book is titled Zconomy: How Gen Z Will Change the Future of Business—and What to Do About It, and is slated for release July 2020. To learn more about Jason and his unique speaking and research, visit JasonDorsey.com.

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. SHRM drives social and economic change in the workplace and fosters mutually beneficial work environments that serve both business and employees. Mr. Taylor is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors a weekly column, "Ask HR," in USA Today. Mr. Taylor's career spans over 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive, and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit space. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/Interactive Corp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures and Blockbuster Entertainment Group, McGuireWoods LLC and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. He is a member of the US Department of Commerce's American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and Chair of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He serves on the boards of the University of Miami, Jobs for America's Graduates, and the American Red Cross and as an adviser to Safe Streets & Second Chances.

Trisa Thompson

Trisa Thompson is currently a member of the Advisory Board for Pledgeling, Inc., a software company in Los Angeles, CA, that offers technology solutions to engage customers, employees, and partners in social impact missions while growing your business through charitable giving. She also is an advisor to Plan C Advisors, a global consultancy helping boards of directors and CXOs navigate climate-related business issues. Trisa also serves on the Board of Governors, was the former chair of LifeWorks, and serves on the board of The Miracle Foundation. Most recently, she joined the national board of the Green Electronics Council, an organization advocating for sustainable IT by supporting both manufacturers and large scale purchasers. GEC manages and licenses the world's largest ecolabel, EPEAT. Before that role, Trisa recently retired from Dell Technologies Inc. At Dell, she was the Senior Vice President and Chief Responsibility Officer, with responsibility for Dell's Legacy of Good program, including strategic giving, sustainability, entrepreneurism, and DWEN, the Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network. Before this role, Trisa was a Senior Vice President in Dell's Legal Department for 12 years. She has served as a judge for the global Circular Awards with the World Economic Forum, and was on the national corporate advisory board for the American Red Cross. Trisa received the 2008 Volunteer of the Year award from the United Way of Austin. In addition, the National Diversity Council awarded her the Most Powerful and Influential Women of Texas Award in 2014 and named her as one of the Top 50 Women in Technology in the United States.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Barton , Rachel, Masataka Ishikawa, Kevin Quiring, and Bill Theofilou. “To Affinity and Byond: From Me to We, The Rise of Purpose-Led Brands.” Accenture Strategy.

• Bravery, Kate, Anca de Maio, Joana Silva, Valeriia Brodnikova, Karen Shellenback, and Tamar Hudson. “2018 Global Talent Trends Study: Unlocking Growth in the Human Age.” Mercer.

• Dorsey, Jason, Denise Villa PhD. *Zconomy: How Gen Z Will Change the Future of Business—and What to Do About It*. (July 2020).

• Parker, Kim, Nikki Graf, and Ruth Igielnik. “ Generation Z Looks a Lot Like Millennials on Key Social and Political Issues.” Pew Research Center (January 17, 2019).

• JUST Capital. “ Announcing the 2020 Rankings of America’s Most JUST Companies.” (December 2019).

• Trust Edge Leadership Institute. “The 2020 Trust Outlook.” (2020).

• NACD Resource Center: Oversight of Corporate Culture

The Purpose of Purpose Jan 23, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

David Horsager

David Horsager, MA, CSP, CPAE, is the CEO of Trust Edge Leadership Institute, national bestselling author of The Trust Edge, inventor of the Enterprise Trust Index™, and director of one of the nation's foremost trust studies: The Trust Outlook™. His work has been featured in prominent publications such as Fast Company, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal. David has advised leaders and delivered life-changing presentations on six continents, with audiences ranging everywhere from FedEx, Toyota, and global governments to the New York Yankees and the Department of Homeland Security. Get free resources and more at www.DavidHorsager.com and www.TrustEdge.com.

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. SHRM drives social and economic change in the workplace and fosters mutually beneficial work environments that serve both business and employees. Mr. Taylor is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors a weekly column, "Ask HR," in USA Today. Mr. Taylor's career spans over 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive, and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit space. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/Interactive Corp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures and Blockbuster Entertainment Group, McGuireWoods LLC and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. He is a member of the US Department of Commerce's American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and Chair of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He serves on the boards of the University of Miami, Jobs for America's Graduates, and the American Red Cross and as an adviser to Safe Streets & Second Chances.

Martin Whittaker

Martin Whittaker is the founding CEO of JUST Capital. He is also co-founder and Board member of the CREO Syndicate, a family office investment network, a Board member of the Carbon Disclosure Project U.S., a member of the Forbes Finance Council, and Forbes Contributor, and an advisor to Mission Driven Capital Partners, a private equity firm. Previously, Martin was a founding partner and investment committee member at Sonen Capital, an impact investing firm, where he led private equity, real asset, and direct investing activities. Martin has also served as Director of MissionPoint Capital Partners, Senior Vice President at Swiss Re, and Managing Director at Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, Inc. Martin has also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto, provided expert testimony on environmental markets to the US Senate, guest lectured at multiple business schools, and consulted for major corporations on sustainability and impact-related matters. He has been an invited speaker, published writer and contributor via television, print, social media and conferences throughout his career.

Sonya Sepahban

Sonya Sepahban is an independent board member, tech investor, and entrepreneur. Leveraging her engineering and technology background and her operational expertise and profit-and-loss experience, Sepahban has built successful business ventures and advanced systems in the United States and globally. Sepahban is currently CEO of OurOffice Inc., a software company leading a new product category in human resources technology. OurOffice is the provider of an integrated platform that leverages data and machine learning to empower companies with deep insights, curated solutions, and actions to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion. Previously, Sepahban's career spanned world-class, high-tech organizations such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Fortune 500 companies, and technology startups. Most recently, Sepahban was senior vice president at General Dynamics with significant global responsibilities. Sepahban serves on the board of Cooper Standard, a publicly-traded automotive company, and has held board seats and advisory roles at nonprofits, startups, and investment funds.

Trisa Thompson

Trisa Thompson is currently a member of the Advisory Board for Pledgeling, Inc., a software company in Los Angeles, CA, that offers technology solutions to engage customers, employees, and partners in social impact missions while growing your business through charitable giving. She also is an advisor to Plan C Advisors, a global consultancy helping boards of directors and CXOs navigate climate-related business issues. Trisa also serves on the Board of Governors, was the former chair of LifeWorks, and serves on the board of The Miracle Foundation. Most recently, she joined the national board of the Green Electronics Council, an organization advocating for sustainable IT by supporting both manufacturers and large scale purchasers. GEC manages and licenses the world's largest ecolabel, EPEAT. Before that role, Trisa recently retired from Dell Technologies Inc. At Dell, she was the Senior Vice President and Chief Responsibility Officer, with responsibility for Dell's Legacy of Good program, including strategic giving, sustainability, entrepreneurism, and DWEN, the Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network. Before this role, Trisa was a Senior Vice President in Dell's Legal Department for 12 years. She has served as a judge for the global Circular Awards with the World Economic Forum, and was on the national corporate advisory board for the American Red Cross. Trisa received the 2008 Volunteer of the Year award from the United Way of Austin. In addition, the National Diversity Council awarded her the Most Powerful and Influential Women of Texas Award in 2014 and named her as one of the Top 50 Women in Technology in the United States.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Barton , Rachel, Masataka Ishikawa, Kevin Quiring, and Bill Theofilou. “To Affinity and Byond: From Me to We, The Rise of Purpose-Led Brands.” Accenture Strategy.

• Bravery, Kate, Anca de Maio, Joana Silva, Valeriia Brodnikova, Karen Shellenback, and Tamar Hudson. “2018 Global Talent Trends Study: Unlocking Growth in the Human Age.” Mercer.

• Parker, Kim, Nikki Graf, and Ruth Igielnik. “Generation Z Looks a Lot Like Millennials on Key Social and Political Issues.” Pew Research Center (January 17, 2019).

• JUST Capital. “ Announcing the 2020 Rankings of America’s Most JUST Companies.” (December 2019).

Automations' Uneven Terrain Jan 09, 2020

FEATURED GUESTS

Shelley Stewart III

Shelley is a leader within McKinsey's Marketing & Sales Practice and focuses primarily on serving B2B clients. He has worked with numerous privately held and publicly traded companies across the automotive, chemicals, diversified industrial, technology, and medical device industries to help clients identify opportunities for accelerated growth, design new go-to-market models, improve the effectiveness of sales-force deployment, and improve margin through comprehensive pricing programs.

Alongside his client work, Shelley is an active leader in driving national initiatives in both recruiting and external relations on behalf of the McKinsey Black Network. Additionally, he co-leads McKinsey's research on building black wealth in the United States. He has published articles and is a speaker on the topic. Shelley is also an advisor to the New Jersey Law and Education Empowerment Program, a not-for-profit serving underprivileged high-school students in the greater Newark community, and a member of the Advisory Council for National Black MBA.

Before joining McKinsey, Shelley spent five years in the financial services industry. He held a variety of roles at an investment banking firm, including in structured lending and bond and derivative trading. Shelley subsequently founded Dreadnought Capital Management, an investment advisory firm focused on illiquid fixed-income assets. He served as Dreadnought's head of trading and risk and participated in numerous investments of more than $250 million.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Cook , Kelemwork, Duwain Pinder, Shelley Stewart III, Amaka Uchegbu, and Jason Wright. “The future of work in black America.” McKinsey & Company (October 2019).

• Noel, Nick, Duwain Pinder, Shelley Stewart III, and Jason Wright. “The economic impact of closing the racial wealth gap.” McKinsey & Company (August 2019).

AI, Bias and Unintended Consequences Dec 12, 2019

FEATURED GUESTS

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. SHRM drives social and economic change in the workplace and fosters mutually beneficial work environments that serve both business and employees. Mr. Taylor is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors a weekly column, "Ask HR," in USA Today. Mr. Taylor's career spans over 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive, and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit space. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/Interactive Corp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures and Blockbuster Entertainment Group, McGuireWoods LLC and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. He is a member of the US Department of Commerce's American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and Chair of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He serves on the boards of the University of Miami, Jobs for America's Graduates, and the American Red Cross and as an adviser to Safe Streets & Second Chances.

Ifeoma Ajunwa
Dr. Ajunwa is an Assistant Professor of Labor and Employment Law in the Law, Labor Relations, and History Department of Cornell University's Industrial and Labor Relations School (ILR), and Associated Faculty Member at Cornell Law School. She is also a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard Law School and an Affiliate of the Center for the Study of Inequality at Cornell University. Dr. Ajunwa's scholarly articles have been published or are forthcoming in both top law review and peer-review publications. Dr. Ajunwa has been invited to present her work before governmental agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Dr. Ajunwa's writings have also been published in popular media such as the NY Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, the Harvard Business Review, the ACLU Blog, and others. Dr. Ajunwa's forthcoming book, The Quantified Worker, which examines the role of technology in the workplace and its effects on management practices as moderated by employment and anti-discrimination laws, will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2020.

Rich Sternin

Richard Sternin currently serves as Associate Director, Strategic Recruiting Projects, at EY. In this role, he acts as project lead for artificial intelligence recruitment in EY's Global Innovation and Client Technology teams. Before joining EY, he led talent and recruitment at Sentient Technologies, LendingClub, and—more recently—at Hearsay Systems.

Shelly Palmer

Shelly Palmer is a business advisor and technology consultant. He helps Fortune 500 companies with digital transformation, media, and marketing. Named LinkedIn's Top Voice in Technology, he is the co-host of "Think About This with Shelly Palmer & Ross Martin" on the Westwood One Podcast Network. He covers tech and business for Good Day New York, writes a weekly column for Adweek, is a regular commentator on CNN and CNBC, and writes a popular daily business blog. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.

Sonya Sepahban

Sonya Sepahban is an independent board member, tech investor, and entrepreneur. Leveraging her engineering and technology background and her operational expertise and profit-and-loss experience, Sepahban has built successful business ventures and advanced systems in the United States and globally. Sepahban is currently CEO of OurOffice Inc., a software company leading a new product category in human resources technology. OurOffice is the provider of an integrated platform that leverages data and machine learning to empower companies with deep insights, curated solutions, and actions to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion. Previously, Sepahban's career spanned world-class, high-tech organizations such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Fortune 500 companies, and technology startups. Most recently, Sepahban was senior vice president at General Dynamics with significant global responsibilities. Sepahban serves on the board of Cooper Standard, a publicly-traded automotive company, and has held board seats and advisory roles at nonprofits, startups, and investment funds.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Ajunwa, Ifeoma. “Beware of Automated Hiring.” The New York Times (October 8, 2019).

• Ajunwa, Ifeoma. “The Paradox of Automation as Anti-Bias Intervention.” 41 Cordozo, Law Review (October 10, 2016).

• Mullainathan, Sendhil. “Biased Algorithms Are Easier to Fix Than Biased People.” The New York Times(December 6, 2019).

• Palmer, Shelly. “The Top Emerging Job of 2019: Artificial Intelligence. Specialist.” (December 11, 2019).

Bonus Episode: The NACD CES Experience (Toothbrushes, Tractors and Tide, Oh My!) Nov 28, 2019

Opportunities and threats posed by disruptive forces and events can make or break an organization's ability to create long-term value. These issues—many related to the rise of new technologies—need to be front and center on board agendas. While many boards tend to focus on known risks, what can directors do to better navigate the disruptive threats no one saw coming?

This is where the NACD CES® Experience comes in.

As the recognized authority on leading boardroom practices, NACD has curated an exclusive experience for directors to attend, learn, and network their way through CES®, the world's largest and most influential technology show. Join an intimate group of your director peers and gain exclusive access to CES. Tour the show and expand your perspective on cutting-edge technologies and how they relate to strategy discussions in the boardroom. See, firsthand, the innovations and breakthrough ideas that will disrupt your current organizations if the board and management aren't paying attention. Understand what's possible for the future of your companies' business models.

Register today at NACDonline.org/CES

The Human Machine Partnership Nov 14, 2019

FEATURED GUESTS

Paul Daugherty

Paul Daugherty is Accenture's chief technology and innovation officer. Daugherty oversees Accenture's overall technology strategy, research and development, and ecosystem relationships, and is responsible for developing Accenture's business in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud, and blockchain. Daugherty is chair of the board of directors of Avanade, on the board of directors of Girls Who Code and the Computer History Museum, as well as on the advisory boards for Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan and the Block Center for Technology and Society at Carnegie Mellon University. Daugherty is co-author of Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (2018), a seminal book providing a much-needed management playbook for the business of AI.

Siddharth Suri

Siddharth Suri is a computational social scientist whose research interests lie at the intersection of computer science, behavioral economics, and crowdsourcing. His early work analyzed the relationship between network topology and human behavior. More recently, Sid has studied the crowd workers who power many modern apps, websites, and artificial intelligence (AI) systems. This work culminated in a book he co-authored with Mary L. Gray titled Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass (May 2019). Sid earned his Ph.D. in Computer and Information Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007. After that, Sid was a postdoctoral associate in the Computer Science department at Cornell University before moving to the Human & Social Dynamics group at Yahoo! Research. He was also was a founding member of Microsoft Research–New York City and recently joined the Adaptive Systems and Interaction group of Microsoft Research–AI.

Shelly Palmer

Shelly Palmer is a business advisor and technology consultant. He helps Fortune 500 companies with digital transformation, media, and marketing. Named LinkedIn's Top Voice in Technology, he is the co-host of "Think About This with Shelly Palmer & Ross Martin" on the Westwood One Podcast Network. He covers tech and business for Good Day New York, writes a weekly column for Adweek, is a regular commentator on CNN and CNBC, and writes a popular daily business blog. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.

Sonya Sepahban

Sonya Sepahban is an independent board member, tech investor, and entrepreneur. Leveraging her engineering and technology background and her operational expertise and profit-and-loss experience, Sepahban has built successful business ventures and advanced systems in the United States and globally. Sepahban is currently CEO of OurOffice Inc., a software company leading a new product category in human resources technology. OurOffice is the provider of an integrated platform that leverages data and machine learning to empower companies with deep insights, curated solutions, and actions to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion. Previously, Sepahban's career spanned world-class, high-tech organizations such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Fortune 500 companies, and technology startups. Most recently, Sepahban was senior vice president at General Dynamics with significant global responsibilities. Sepahban serves on the board of Cooper Standard, a publicly-traded automotive company, and has held board seats and advisory roles at nonprofits, startups, and investment funds.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Association of American Medical Colleges. “New Findings Confirm Predictions on Physician Shortage,.” (April 23, 2019)

• Daugherty, Paul and Wilson, H. James. Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Harvard Business Review Press, 2018.

• Gray, Mary L., and Suri, Siddharth. Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass. Eamon Dolan Books, 2019.

• Johnsson, Julie, and Shukovsky, Paul. “Boing%E2%80%99s">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-13/boeing-s-humans-step-in-after-robots-fumble-assembly-of-777-jets?cmpid=BBD111419_OUS&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=191114&utm_campaign=openamericas_blank”>Boing’s Humans Step In After Robots Fumble 777 Jets Assembly.” Bloomberg (November, 13th 2019).

• Maloo, Praveen. “

Empowering the Talent Spectrum Oct 31, 2019

FEATURED GUESTS

Rajesh Anandan

Rajesh Anandan is an impact entrepreneur and growth architect. He is the co-founder and CEO of Ultranauts, a software and data quality engineering startup where 75% of employees are on the autism spectrum. Ultranauts has been named a FastCompany World Changing Idea, MIT SOLVE Challenge Winner, and Interbrand Breakthrough Brand. Rajesh is also the founder of Unicef Kid Power, the world's first wearable-for-good named one of TIME magazine's 25 Best Inventions. Rajesh began his career at Microsoft, then joined Bain & Co., and most recently, launched and ran Unicef Ventures. Rajesh has a BSc and MEng in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT with concentrations in artificial intelligence, systems dynamics, and economics.

Libby Sartain

As CHRO of both Yahoo! Inc. and Southwest Airlines, Libby Sartain led significant business transformation initiatives as a member of executive leadership teams and guided global human resources efforts focusing on attracting, retaining, and developing employees. Both Yahoo! and Southwest were listed on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work for in America and the Fortune 500 during her tenure. Sartain serves as the compensation committee chair on the boards of both Shutterfly, Inc. and ManpowerGroup. She also serves on the board of AARP, where she is vice chair. Sartain was a director of Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc., from 2005 to 2012. She is also currently chair of the SHRM Foundation board.

Rich Sternin

Richard Sternin currently serves as Associate Director, Strategic Recruiting Projects, at EY. In this role, he acts as project lead for artificial intelligence recruitment in EY's Global Innovation and Client Technology teams. Before joining EY, he led talent and recruitment at Sentient Technologies, LendingClub, and—more recently—at Hearsay Systems.

RELATED RESOURCES

• “Disability Inclusion: Is Your Board On Board?” by Lonnie Pacelli, NACD BoardTalk, February 15, 2019.

• Getting to Equal: The Disability Inclusion Advantage, by Accenture, AAPD, and Disability:IN

• NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity

Workforce, by Design Oct 17, 2019

FEATURED GUESTS

Rajesh Anandan

Rajesh Anandan is an impact entrepreneur and growth architect. He is the co-founder and CEO of Ultranauts, a software and data quality engineering startup where 75% of employees are on the autism spectrum. Ultranauts has been named a FastCompany World Changing Idea, MIT SOLVE Challenge Winner, and Interbrand Breakthrough Brand. Rajesh is also the founder of Unicef Kid Power, the world's first wearable-for-good named one of TIME magazine's 25 Best Inventions. Rajesh began his career at Microsoft, then joined Bain & Co., and most recently, launched and ran Unicef Ventures. Rajesh has a BSc and MEng in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT with concentrations in artificial intelligence, systems dynamics, and economics.

Sonya Sepahban

Sonya Sepahban is an independent board member, tech investor, and entrepreneur. Leveraging her engineering and technology background and her operational expertise and profit-and-loss experience, Sepahban has built successful business ventures and advanced systems in the United States and globally. Sepahban is currently CEO of OurOffice Inc., a software company leading a new product category in human resources technology. OurOffice is the provider of an integrated platform that leverages data and machine learning to empower companies with deep insights, curated solutions, and actions to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion. Previously, Sepahban's career spanned world-class, high-tech organizations such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Fortune 500 companies, and technology startups. Most recently, Sepahban was senior vice president at General Dynamics with significant global responsibilities. Sepahban serves on the board of Cooper Standard, a publicly-traded automotive company, and has held board seats and advisory roles at nonprofits, startups, and investment funds.

Rich Sternin

Richard Sternin currently serves as Associate Director, Strategic Recruiting Projects, at EY. In this role, he acts as project lead for artificial intelligence recruitment in EY's Global Innovation and Client Technology teams. Before joining EY, he led talent and recruitment at Sentient Technologies, LendingClub, and—more recently—at Hearsay Systems.

RELATED RESOURCES

• NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity

'Uberization' and Understanding the Future of Work Oct 03, 2019

FEATURED GUESTS

Simon Holland

Simon Holland is a partner at Oliver Wyman’s Organizational Effectiveness Practice, advising his clients on how to successfully implement change strategies. With 30 years’ worth of consulting experience in the United States and the United Kingdom, Holland specializes in cultural and organizational change, leadership, talent and learning, as well as performance improvement. Holland was instrumental in developing a tool at Oliver Wyman that uses data analytics and insights to help organizations better understand their pathways to significant change.

Libby Sartain

As CHRO of both Yahoo! Inc. and Southwest Airlines, Libby Sartain led significant business transformation initiatives as a member of executive leadership teams and guided global human resources efforts focusing on attracting, retaining, and developing employees. Both Yahoo! and Southwest were listed on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work for in America and the Fortune 500 during her tenure. Sartain serves as the compensation committee chair on the boards of both Shutterfly, Inc. and ManpowerGroup. She also serves on the board of AARP, where she is vice chair. Sartain was a director of Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc., from 2005 to 2012. She is also currently chair of the SHRM Foundation board.

Sonya Sepahban

Sonya Sepahban is an independent board member, tech investor, and entrepreneur. Leveraging her engineering and technology background and her operational expertise and profit-and-loss experience, Sepahban has built successful business ventures and advanced systems in the United States and globally. Sepahban is currently CEO of OurOffice Inc., a software company leading a new product category in human resources technology. OurOffice is the provider of an integrated platform that leverages data and machine learning to empower companies with deep insights, curated solutions, and actions to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion. Previously, Sepahban's career spanned world-class, high-tech organizations such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Fortune 500 companies, and technology start-ups. Most recently, Sepahban was senior vice president at General Dynamics with significant global responsibilities. Sepahban serves on the board of Cooper Standard, a publicly-traded automotive company, and has held board seats and advisory roles at nonprofits, start-ups, and investment funds.

Rich Sternin

Richard Sternin currently serves as Associate Director, Strategic Recruiting Projects, at EY. In this role, he acts as project lead for artificial intelligence recruitment in EY's Global Innovation and Client Technology teams. Before joining EY, he led talent and recruitment at Sentient Technologies, LendingClub, and—more recently—at Hearsay Systems.

Siddharth Suri
Siddharth Suri is a computational social scientist whose research interests lie at the intersection of computer science, behavioral economics, and crowdsourcing. His early work analyzed the relationship between network topology and human behavior. More recently, Sid has studied the crowd workers who power many modern apps, websites, and artificial intelligence (AI) systems. This work culminated in a book he co-authored with Mary L. Gray titled Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass (May 2019). Sid earned his Ph.D. in Computer and Information Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007. After that, Sid was a postdoctoral associate in the Computer Science department at Cornell University before moving to the Human & Social Dynamics group at Yahoo! Research. He was also was a founding member of Microsoft Research–New York City and recently joined the Adaptive Systems and Interaction group of Microsoft Research–AI.

RELATED RESOURCES

Gray, Mary L., and Siddharth Suri. Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass. Eamon Dolan Books, 2019.

Starfish and Failure Sep 19, 2019

FEATURED GUESTS

Anurima Bhargava

Anurima Bhargava is the founder and president of Anthem of Us, a strategic advisory and consulting firm that promotes dignity and justice within corporations, schools, and communities. She was chief of the Educational Opportunities Section of the US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division from 2010 to 2016, and served on the White House Task Force to Prevent Campus Sexual Assault. In December 2018, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Bhargava to serve as US Commissioner on International Religious Freedom. From 2016-2017, Bhargava was a Fellow at the Institute of Politics and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. Before joining the Justice Department, she was counsel and director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Education Practice, counsel at the New York City Department of Education, and an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. She serves on several boards, including Doc Society, Poverty Race Research Action Council, and the Advisory Board for Public Service at Harvard.

Jia Jiang

As the founder and CEO of Wuju Learning, Jia Jiang is at the helm of a company that trains organizations to become fearless through rejection training. Jiang’s blog, “100 Days of Rejection Therapy,” documents and analyzes his journey to discover and conquer the fear of rejection. Jiang is a TED speaker and the author of the bestselling book, Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection. He is also known as the Rejection Guy.

Howard Ross

Howard Ross is a lifelong social justice advocate and is considered one of the world’s seminal thought leaders on identifying and addressing unconscious bias. He is the author of Reinventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance, and the Washington Post bestseller, Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives. His latest book, Our Search for Belonging: How Our Need to Connect is Tearing Us Apart, published in May 2018. Ross has specialized in the synthesis of neuro-cognitive and social science research and direct application related to diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility work. In 47 of the United States and over 40 countries, Ross has successfully implemented large-scale organizational culture change efforts in diversity and cultural integration for academia, governmental institutions, professional services corporations, Fortune 500 companies, and other organizations.

Kaiton Williams

Kaiton Williams is the cultural technologist in residence at Impact America Fund, a social impact venture capital firm investing in high-growth companies that enhance the economic well-being of marginalized communities in America. Williams is a systems engineer and a human-computer interaction researcher, with experience building large-scale Internet services and studying the intertwined cultural and technical issues that have grown around them. Before joining Impact America, Williams held senior engineering roles at Microsoft.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Jiang, Jia. Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible. Random House, 2016.

• Ross, Howard J. Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.

• Report of the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on Culture as a Corporate Asset.

• NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity

In-Depth: The Elephant in the Room Sep 05, 2019

FEATURED GUEST

Mary-Frances Winters

Mary-Frances Winters is the founder and CEO of The Winters Group, Inc., a 35-year-old global organization-development and diversity and inclusion consulting firm. She was named a diversity pioneer by Profiles in Diversity Journal in August 2007. She received the Winds of Change award from the Forum on Workplace Inclusion in 2016 for her contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Winters was also featured in Forbes*’ June 2016 publication that honored some of the Washington, DC, area’s most powerful women. Winters is the author of four books: *We Can’t Talk about That at Work!: How to Talk about Race, Religion, Politics, and Other Polarizing Topics (2017); Only Wet Babies Like Change: Workplace Wisdom for Baby Boomers (2002); Inclusion Starts With “I” (2003); and CEO’s Who Get It: Diversity Leadership from the Heart and Soul (2006). Winters also authored a chapter in the book Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion (2013) and numerous articles.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Winters, Mary-Frances. We Can't Talk About That At Work! How to Talk about Race, Religion, Politics, and Other Polarizing Topics. Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1 edition (April 23, 2017).

• NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity

In Depth: Addressing Bias and Embracing Belonging Aug 22, 2019

TRANSCRIPT

Please click here to view a transcript of this episode of Future Fluency.

FEATURED GUEST

Howard Ross

Howard Ross is a lifelong social justice advocate and is considered one of the world’s seminal thought leaders on identifying and addressing unconscious bias. He is the author of Reinventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance, and the Washington Post bestseller, Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives. His latest book, Our Search for Belonging: How Our Need to Connect is Tearing Us Apart, published in May 2018. Ross has specialized in the synthesis of neuro-cognitive and social science research and direct application related to diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility work. In 47 of the United States and over 40 countries, Ross has successfully implemented large-scale organizational culture change efforts in diversity and cultural integration for academia, governmental institutions, professional services corporations, Fortune 500 companies, and other organizations.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Ross, Howard J. Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.

• NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity

• Report of the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on Culture as a Corporate Asset.

In Depth: The Awakening Aug 08, 2019

TRANSCRIPT

Please click here to view a transcript of this episode of Future Fluency.

FEATURED GUESTS

Catrice M. Jackson

Catrice M. Jackson is the global visionary leader of the Awakened Conscious Shift, the CEO of Catriceology Enterprises, an international speaker, and a best-selling author. She’s a self-described “straight up, on the rocks with no chaser” voice for racial justice who is unapologetic and unflinching with her anti-racism message. She founded SHETalks-WETalk™ race talks for women and WETalks for women of color. Jackson serves up the hard truths necessary to eliminate the lethal infection of racism from humanity. She is a licensed mental health practitioner, a licensed professional counselor, and she is pursuing a doctoral degree in organizational psychology at Walden University. Jackson is also a certified domestic abuse and sexual assault advocate, trainer, and speaker.

RELATED RESOURCES

• NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity

In Depth: Brains and Bias Jul 25, 2019

TRANSCRIPT

Please click here to view a transcript of this episode of Future Fluency.

FEATURED GUESTS

Lisa Feldman Barrett

Lisa Feldman Barrett is a University Distinguished Professor of psychology and director of the Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory at Northeastern University, with research appointments at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She also educates lawyers, judges, and other legal actors about emotion, neuroscience, and the law for her work for Harvard’s Center for Law, Brain and Behavior. Her research focuses on the nature of emotion from the perspectives of both psychology and neuroscience. She is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada and recently received a Guggenheim fellowship. Barrett won the 2018 Lifetime Mentor Award from the Association for Psychological Science and a 2007 Director’s Pioneer Award from the US National Institutes of Health. Barrett’s articles have appeared in the New York Times, Popular Science, Nautilus, Cosmopolitan, and Time. Her TED Talk, viewed more than four million times, was chosen as one of the most popular of 2018. Barrett is the author of How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain (2017).

RELATED RESOURCES

· Feldman Barrett, Lisa. How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain. Mariner Books; reprint edition, 2018.

· NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity

The CHRO as Chief Innovation Officer Jul 11, 2019

TRANSCRIPT

Please click here to view a transcript of this episode of Future Fluency.

FEATURED GUESTS

Laszlo Bock

Laszlo Bock is the CEO of Humu Inc., a company that makes work better through science, machine learning, and a little bit of love. From 2006 to 2016, Bock was senior vice president of People Operations at Google and a member of Google's management team. Bock is credited with creating the field of "people analytics," the application of academic-quality rigor and Google-paced innovation to people management. He also led the development of the Google Cloud Jobs API and what is now known as Google for Jobs. He joined Google from the General Electric Co., and earlier was a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. In 2010 he was named "Human Resources Executive of the Year" and in 2015 the "HR Professional of the Decade." His bestselling book, WORK RULES! Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead (2015), has been published in more than 20 languages.

Andrea Hoffman

Andrea Hoffman is an advisor, dealmaker, strategist, speaker, author, and the founder and CEO of boutique management consulting firm Culture Shift Labs (CSL). CSL advises companies, cities, and philanthropists on growth and innovation through diversity and inclusion. Andrea consults with C-suite executives across a wide range of industries on finding new growth opportunities. By helping clients see past long-held perceptions regarding the intersection of innovation, inclusion, and diversity, she guides them to insights that unlock new business opportunities. As a top-tier confidential advisor, strategist and dealmaker for the past two decades, she has leveraged proprietary methodologies to solve diversity issues and expand revenue for clients such as BMW, Carnegie Hall, Credit Suisse, GE Ventures, Lumina Foundation, Shutterfly, SAP, Kapor Center for Social Impact, Ford Motor Company, Verizon, Scholastic, Sony Electronics, and Time-Life, among others.

Lori Knowlton

Lori Knowlton has a deep background working at software startups and currently serves as Chief People Officer for Silicon Labs, a company that makes silicon, software, and solutions for a more connected world. Before Silicon Labs, Knowlton served as Chief People Officer at HomeAway.com from 2007-2016. She currently serves on the board of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas and is a member of the Global Semiconductor Alliance's Women's Leadership Council.

David A. Rodriguez

David A. Rodriguez assumed the role of Executive Vice President and Global Chief Human Resources Officer for Marriott International in 2006. Rodriguez was appointed a corporate officer in 2000, and in 2004, to the board of directors' Committee for Excellence that focuses on advancing employee wellbeing and inclusion in the company. He joined Marriott International and assumed the role of Senior Vice President, Human Resources in 1998. In 2003, he was appointed Executive Vice President with corporate-wide responsibility for various human resources functions as well as for the Marriott Lodging division. Before joining Marriott International, Rodriguez held various human resources leadership positions at Citicorp (now Citigroup). He is on the board of directors for the Human Resources Policy Association, the board of governors for the Health Transformation Alliance. He is a vice chair of the American Health Policy Institute and a member of the HR People + Strategy Executive Advisory Council. Rodriguez was inducted as a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources in 2014.

Libby Sartain

As CHRO of both Yahoo! Inc. and Southwest Airlines, Libby Sartain led significant business transformation initiatives as a member of executive leadership teams and guided global human resources efforts to attract, retain, and develop employees. Both Yahoo! and Southwest were listed on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work for in America and the Fortune 500 during her tenure. Sartain serves as the compensation committee chair on the boards of both Shutterfly, Inc. and ManpowerGroup. She also serves on the board of AARP, where she is vice chair. Sartain was a director of Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc., from 2005 to 2012. She is also currently chair of the SHRM Foundation board.

Skip Spriggs

Skip Spriggs is President and CEO of The Executive Leadership Council, the preeminent membership organization for black CEOs, board directors, and senior-most executives at Fortune 1000, Global 500, and equivalent companies. He leads the organization's efforts to increase the number of global black executives in C-Suites, on corporate boards, and in global enterprises. Spriggs most recently served as senior executive vice president and chief human resources officer at TIAA. He has held executive leadership roles at The Home Depot, Levi Strauss & Co., and CIGNA Corp., where he served as senior vice president of human resources, chief diversity officer, and president of the Cigna Foundation. He is currently a member of the boards of TIAA, FSB (TIAA Direct), Savannah State University's College of Business Administration, and the Institute for Corporate Productivity.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Charan, Ram, Dominic Barton, and Dennis Carey. "People before strategy." Harvard Business Review 93, no. 7/8 (2015): 62-71.

• Garton, Eric, and Michael C. Mankins. "Engaging your employees is good, but don’t stop there." Harvard Business Review (July/August 2015).

• NACD Resource Center: CEO Succession Planning and Talent Oversight

• NACD Resource Center: Oversight of Corporate Culture

Identity in the Workplace Jun 27, 2019

TRANSCRIPT

Please click here to view a transcript of this episode of Future Fluency.

FEATURED GUESTS

Tonie Leatherberry

Antoinette (Tonie) Leatherberry is a Principal in Deloitte’s Risk and Financial Advisory practice. She has had a distinguished career with the firm, spanning over 28 years, serving Fortune 100 manufacturing, retail, and consumer business clients. Tonie also serves as the Board Relations Leader for the Risk and Financial Advisory practice. Tonie serves as the President of Deloitte Foundation, whose mission is to drive initiatives that develop future leaders through education. She also serves as Board Chair of The Executive Leadership Council and on several advisory boards. Tonie has received numerous accolades, most notably as one of the top 25 consultants by Consulting Magazine and by Black Enterprise as one of the Most Powerful Women in Business. She has also been recognized as one of Pennsylvania’s Top 50 Women in Business, The Network Journal*’s annual list of 25 Influential Black Women in Business, *Savoy magazine as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America and one of the Top 100 under 50 Leader by Diversity MBA Magazine.

Skip Spriggs

Skip Spriggs is President and CEO of The Executive Leadership Council, the preeminent membership organization for black CEOs, board directors, and senior-most executives at Fortune 1000, Global 500, and equivalent companies. He leads the organization’s efforts to increase the number of global black executives in C-Suites, on corporate boards, and in global enterprises. Spriggs most recently served as senior executive vice president and chief human resources officer at TIAA. He has held executive leadership roles at The Home Depot, Levi Strauss & Co., and CIGNA Corp., where he served as senior vice president of human resources, chief diversity officer, and president of the Cigna Foundation. He is currently a member of the boards of TIAA, FSB (TIAA Direct), Savannah State University’s College of Business Administration, and the Institute for Corporate Productivity.

Mary-Frances Winters

Mary-Frances Winters is the founder and CEO of The Winters Group, Inc., a 35-year-old global organization-development and diversity and inclusion consulting firm. She was named a diversity pioneer by Profiles in Diversity Journal in August 2007. She received the Winds of Change award from the Forum on Workplace Inclusion in 2016 for her contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Winters was also featured in Forbes*’ June 2016 publication that honored some of the Washington, DC, area’s most powerful women. Winters is the author of four books: *We Can’t Talk about That at Work!: How to Talk about Race, Religion, Politics, and Other Polarizing Topics (2017); Only Wet Babies Like Change: Workplace Wisdom for Baby Boomers (2002); Inclusion Starts With “I” (2003); and CEO’s Who Get It: Diversity Leadership from the Heart and Soul (2006). Winters also authored a chapter in the book Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion (2013) and numerous articles.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Winters, Mary-Frances. We Can't Talk About That At Work! How to Talk about Race, Religion, Politics, and Other Polarizing Topics. Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1 edition (April 23, 2017).

• Lopez, German. " There are huge racial disparities in how US police use force." Vox, Nov. 14, 2018.

• NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity

The Pipeline Problem & Myth Jun 13, 2019

TRANSCRIPT

Please click here to view a transcript of this episode of Future Fluency.

FEATURED GUESTS

Andrea Hoffman

Andrea Hoffman is an advisor, dealmaker, strategist, speaker, author, and the founder and CEO of boutique management consulting firm Culture Shift Labs (CSL). CSL advises companies, cities, and philanthropists on growth and innovation through diversity and inclusion. Andrea consults with C-suite executives across a wide range of industries on finding new growth opportunities. By helping clients see past long-held perceptions regarding the intersection of innovation, inclusion, and diversity, she guides them to insights that unlock new business opportunities. As a top-tier confidential advisor, strategist and dealmaker for the past two decades, she has leveraged proprietary methodologies to solve diversity issues and expand revenue for clients such as BMW, Carnegie Hall, Credit Suisse, GE Ventures, Lumina Foundation, Shutterfly, SAP, Kapor Center for Social Impact, Ford Motor Company, Verizon, Scholastic, Sony Electronics, and Time-Life, among others.

Skip Spriggs

Skip Spriggs is President and CEO of The Executive Leadership Council, the preeminent membership organization for black CEOs, board directors, and senior-most executives at Fortune 1000, Global 500, and equivalent companies. He leads the organization’s efforts to increase the number of global black executives in C-Suites, on corporate boards, and in global enterprises. Spriggs most recently served as senior executive vice president and chief human resources officer at TIAA. He has held executive leadership roles at The Home Depot, Levi Strauss & Co., and CIGNA Corp., where he served as senior vice president of human resources, chief diversity officer, and president of the Cigna Foundation. He is currently a member of the boards of TIAA, FSB (TIAA Direct), Savannah State University’s College of Business Administration, and the Institute for Corporate Productivity.

Beth Stewart

Beth Stewart is the founder and CEO of Trewstar Corporate Board Services, a firm that places highly-qualified women candidates on corporate boards. Her clients range from Fortune 10 to mid- and small-cap and pre-IPO companies across industries throughout the US. Beth brings over 20 years of experience as a corporate board director to Trewstar, including previous directorships at Carmax, General Growth Properties, and Avatar Holdings. Beth started her career at Goldman Sachs as one of the first analysts in the investment banking division. After graduating from business school, she rejoined Goldman Sachs and continued her career in Real Estate investment banking. She went on to be an active investor and consultant as well as an adjunct professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Business. A recognized expert on board placements, Beth has been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, and HBS Alumni magazine and has appeared on Yahoo! Finance.

Hope S. Taitz

Hope S. Taitz is currently the CEO of ELY Capital. She began her investment banking career as a mergers and acquisitions analyst at Drexel Burnham Lambert. Now acting as an investor and advisor with expertise in media, technology, and the consumer, Taitz helps innovative enterprises grow through financial leadership and connections to established corporations. Taitz, a strong advocate of women on boards, currently sits on the boards of Athene Holding Ltd., MidCap Finco Holdings Ltd., Greenlight Capital Re Ltd., Summit Hotel Properties Inc., and ATTN. She previously served on the boards of Apollo Residential Mortgage Inc., Diamond International Resorts Inc., as well as Lumenis Ltd. Taitz’s nonprofit service includes sitting on the board of the New York City Foundation for Computer Science Education and previously included service on the board of nonprofit Girls Who Code.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Stuart, Spencer. "The US board index.” New York: Spencer Stuart (2018).

• Perry, Mark J. "Only 53 US companies have been on the Fortune 500 since 1955, thanks to the creative destruction that fuels economic prosperity.” AEIdeas. (May 23, 2018).

• NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity

The Thin Red Line May 30, 2019

TRANSCRIPT

Please click here to view a transcript of this episode of Future Fluency.

FEATURED GUESTS

Catrice M. Jackson

Catrice M. Jackson is the global visionary leader of the Awakened Conscious Shift, the CEO of Catriceology Enterprises, an international speaker, and a best-selling author. She’s a self-described “straight up, on the rocks with no chaser” voice for racial justice who is unapologetic and unflinching with her anti-racism message. She founded SHETalks-WETalk™ race talks for women and WETalks for women of color. Jackson serves up the hard truths necessary to eliminate the lethal infection of racism from humanity. She is a licensed mental health practitioner, a licensed professional counselor, and she is pursuing a doctoral degree in organizational psychology at Walden University. Jackson is also a certified domestic abuse and sexual assault advocate, trainer, and speaker.

Richard Rothstein

Richard Rothstein is a Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Policy Institute and a Senior Fellow, emeritus, at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and of the Haas Institute at the University of California (Berkeley). He is the author of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. The book recovers a forgotten history of how federal, state, and local policy explicitly segregated metropolitan areas nationwide, creating racially homogenous neighborhoods in patterns that violate the Constitution and require remediation. He is also the author of Grading Education: Getting Accountability Right (2008); Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap (2004); and The Way We Were? Myths and Realities of America’s Student Achievement (1998). Other more recent books include The Charter School Dust-Up: Examining the Evidence on Enrollment and Achievement (co-authored in 2005); and All Else Equal: Are Public and Private Schools Different? (co-authored in 2003).

RELATED RESOURCES

• Rothstein, Richard. The color of law: A forgotten history of how our government segregated America. Liveright Publishing, 2017.

• US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. "Civil rights data collection data snapshot: School discipline." Issue brief no. 1 (2014).

• NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity

Safety Dance May 16, 2019

TRANSCRIPT

Please click here to view a transcript of this episode of Future Fluency.

FEATURED GUESTS

Anurima Bhargava

Anurima Bhargava is the founder and president of Anthem of Us, a strategic advisory and consulting firm that promotes dignity and justice within corporations, schools, and communities. She was chief of the Educational Opportunities Section of the US Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division from 2010 to 2016, and served on the White House Task Force to Prevent Campus Sexual Assault. In December 2018, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Bhargava to serve as US Commissioner on International Religious Freedom. From 2016-2017, Bhargava was a Fellow at the Institute of Politics and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. Before joining the Justice Department, she was counsel and director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's Education Practice, counsel at the New York City Department of Education, and an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. She serves on several boards, including Doc Society, Poverty Race Research Action Council, and the Advisory Board for Public Service at Harvard.

Laszlo Bock

Laszlo Bock is the CEO of Humu Inc., a company that makes work better through science, machine learning, and a little bit of love. From 2006 to 2016, Bock was senior vice president of People Operations at Google and a member of Google's management team. Bock is credited with creating the field of "people analytics," the application of academic-quality rigor and Google-paced innovation to people management. He also led the development of the Google Cloud Jobs API and what is now known as Google for Jobs. He joined Google from the General Electric Co., and earlier was a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. In 2010 he was named "Human Resources Executive of the Year" and in 2015 the "HR Professional of the Decade." His bestselling book, WORK RULES! Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead (2015), has been published in more than 20 languages.

Kesha Cash

Kesha Cash is the Founder and General Partner at Impact America Fund, a social impact venture capital firm investing in high-growth companies that foster economic agency among low-income communities in the US. Before launching Impact America Fund, Cash co-founded Jalia Ventures with Josh Mailman to invest in mission-driven entrepreneurs of color. She has also been an investment associate at Bridges Ventures in the United Kingdom and has worked as an operational consultant to small businesses in inner-city Los Angeles and as a mergers and acquisitions analyst at Merrill Lynch. Cash was recently named one of Fast Company's "100 Most Creative People in Business" and is the subject of a 2016 Stanford Graduate School of Business case study on how to form a successful impact venture capital firm. She currently serves on the board of directors of EILEEN FISHER, Inc.

Daniel Coyle

Daniel Coyle is a former senior editor and now a contributing editor at Outside magazine, where he has covered outstanding performers for years. He has written for Sports Illustrated, The New York Times Magazine, and Play. Coyle has appeared as a guest on Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, Nightline, ESPN, CNN, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Talk of the Nation, and numerous other national programs. Coyle is the bestselling author of The Little Book of Talent (2012) and The Talent Code (2009). His book, The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups (2018), identifies three essential skills that generate cohesion and cooperation and explains how diverse groups learn to function with a single mind. Coyle has been nominated twice for the National Magazine Award and has been featured in The Best American Sports Writing (2007).

Catrice M. Jackson

Catrice M. Jackson is the global visionary leader of the Awakened Conscious Shift, the CEO of Catriceology Enterprises, an international speaker, and a best-selling author. She's a self-described "straight up, on the rocks with no chaser" voice for racial justice who is unapologetic and unflinching with her anti-racism message. She founded SHETalks-WETalk™ race talks for women and WETalks for women of color. Jackson serves up the hard truths necessary to eliminate the lethal infection of racism from humanity. She is a licensed mental health practitioner, a licensed professional counselor, and she is pursuing a doctoral degree in organizational psychology at Walden University. Jackson is also a certified domestic abuse and sexual assault advocate, trainer, and speaker.

Howard Ross

Howard Ross is a lifelong social justice advocate and is considered one of the world's seminal thought leaders on identifying and addressing unconscious bias. He is the author of Reinventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance, and the Washington Post bestseller, Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives. His latest book, Our Search for Belonging: How Our Need to Connect is Tearing Us Apart, published in May 2018. Ross has specialized in the synthesis of neuro-cognitive and social science research and direct application related to diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility work. In 47 of the United States and over 40 countries, Ross has successfully implemented large-scale organizational culture change efforts in diversity and cultural integration for academia, governmental institutions, professional services corporations, Fortune 500 companies, and other organizations.

Skip Spriggs

Skip Spriggs is President and CEO of The Executive Leadership Council, the preeminent membership organization for black CEOs, board directors, and senior-most executives at Fortune 1000, Global 500, and equivalent companies. He leads the organization's efforts to increase the number of global black executives in C-Suites, on corporate boards, and in global enterprises. Spriggs most recently served as senior executive vice president and chief human resources officer at TIAA. He has held executive leadership roles at The Home Depot, Levi Strauss & Co., and CIGNA Corp., where he served as senior vice president of human resources, chief diversity officer, and president of the Cigna Foundation. He is currently a member of the boards of TIAA, FSB (TIAA Direct), Savannah State University's College of Business Administration, and the Institute for Corporate Productivity.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Bock, Laszlo. Work rules!: Insights from inside Google that will transform how you live and lead.. Twelve, 2015.

• Coyle, Daniel. The culture code: The secrets of highly successful groups.. Bantam, 2018.

• Report of the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on Culture as a Corporate Asset.

• NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity

Biased by Nature May 02, 2019

TRANSCRIPT

Please click here to view a transcript of this episode of Future Fluency.

FEATURED GUESTS

Lisa Feldman Barrett

Lisa Feldman Barrett is a University Distinguished Professor of psychology and director of the Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory at Northeastern University, with research appointments at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She also educates lawyers, judges, and other legal actors about emotion, neuroscience, and the law for her work for Harvard’s Center for Law, Brain and Behavior. Her research focuses on the nature of emotion from the perspectives of both psychology and neuroscience. She is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada and recently received a Guggenheim fellowship. Barrett won the 2018 Lifetime Mentor Award from the Association for Psychological Science and a 2007 Director’s Pioneer Award from the US National Institutes of Health. Barrett’s articles have appeared in the New York Times, Popular Science, Nautilus, Cosmopolitan, and Time. Her TED Talk, viewed more than four million times, was chosen as one of the most popular of 2018. Barrett is the author of How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain (2017).

Laszlo Bock

Laszlo Bock is the CEO of Humu Inc., a company that makes work better through science, machine learning, and a little bit of love. From 2006 to 2016, Bock was senior vice president of People Operations at Google and a member of Google’s management team. Bock is credited with creating the field of “people analytics,” the application of academic-quality rigor and Google-paced innovation to people management. He also led the development of the Google Cloud Jobs API and what is now known as Google for Jobs. He joined Google from the General Electric Co., and earlier was a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. In 2010 he was named “Human Resources Executive of the Year” and in 2015 the “HR Professional of the Decade.” His bestselling book, WORK RULES! Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead (2015), has been published in more than 20 languages.

Howard Ross

Howard Ross is a lifelong social justice advocate and is considered one of the world’s seminal thought leaders on identifying and addressing unconscious bias. He is the author of Reinventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance, and the Washington Post bestseller, Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives. His latest book, Our Search for Belonging: How Our Need to Connect is Tearing Us Apart, published in May 2018. Ross has specialized in the synthesis of neuro-cognitive and social science research and direct application related to diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility work. In 47 of the United States and over 40 countries, Ross has successfully implemented large-scale organizational culture change efforts in diversity and cultural integration for academia, governmental institutions, professional services corporations, Fortune 500 companies, and other organizations.

RELATED RESOURCES

· Feldman Barrett, Lisa. How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain. Mariner Books; reprint edition, 2018.

· Ross, Howard J. Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.

· Wansink, Brian, and Jeffery Sobal. "Mindless eating: The 200 daily food decisions we overlook." Environment and Behavior 39, no. 1 (2007): 106-123.

· Sahakian, Barbara; LaBuzetta, Jamie Nicole. Bad Moves: How decision making goes wrong, and the ethics of smart drugs. Oxford University Press; reprint edition, 2013.

· NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity

What's Diversity Got to Do With It? Apr 18, 2019

TRANSCRIPT

Please click here to view a transcript of this episode of Future Fluency.

FEATURED GUESTS

Anurima Bhargava

Anurima Bhargava is the founder and president of Anthem of Us, a strategic advisory and consulting firm that promotes dignity and justice within corporations, schools, and communities. She was chief of the Educational Opportunities Section of the US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division from 2010 to 2016, and served on the White House Task Force to Prevent Campus Sexual Assault. In December 2018, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Bhargava to serve as US Commissioner on International Religious Freedom. From 2016-2017, Bhargava was a Fellow at the Institute of Politics and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. Before joining the Justice Department, she was counsel and director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Education Practice, counsel at the New York City Department of Education, and an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. She serves on several boards, including Doc Society, Poverty Race Research Action Council, and the Advisory Board for Public Service at Harvard.

Howard Ross

Howard Ross is a lifelong social justice advocate and is considered one of the world’s seminal thought leaders on identifying and addressing unconscious bias. He is the author of Reinventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance, and the Washington Post bestseller, Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives. His latest book, Our Search for Belonging: How Our Need to Connect is Tearing Us Apart, published in May 2018. Ross has specialized in the synthesis of neuro-cognitive and social science research and direct application related to diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility work. In 47 of the United States and over 40 countries, Ross has successfully implemented large-scale organizational culture change efforts in diversity and cultural integration for academia, governmental institutions, professional services corporations, Fortune 500 companies, and other organizations.

Hope S. Taitz

Hope S. Taitz is currently the CEO of ELY Capital. She began her investment banking career as a mergers and acquisitions analyst at Drexel Burnham Lambert. Now acting as an investor and advisor with expertise in media, technology, and the consumer, Taitz helps innovative enterprises grow through financial leadership and connections to established corporations. Taitz, a strong advocate of women on boards, currently sits on the boards of Athene Holding Ltd., MidCap Finco Holdings Ltd., Greenlight Capital Re Ltd., Summit Hotel Properties Inc., and ATTN. She previously served on the boards of Apollo Residential Mortgage Inc., Diamond International Resorts Inc., as well as Lumenis Ltd. Taitz’s nonprofit service includes sitting on the board of the New York City Foundation for Computer Science Education and previously included service on the board of nonprofit Girls Who Code.

RELATED RESOURCES

· Fry, Richard, and Kim Parker. "Early Benchmarks Show'Post-Millennials' on Track to Be Most Diverse, Best-Educated Generation Yet: A Demographic Portrait of Today's 6-to 21-Year-Olds." Pew Research Center (2018).

· Ross, Howard J. Reinventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose, and Performance. Rowman & Littlefield, 2011.

· "From me to we: The rise of the purpose-led brand." Accenture (2018).

· NACD Resource Center: Board Diversity