Corporate Board Member’s Board Committee Peer Exchange provides an exclusive setting for public company directors and general counsel to share insights and solutions with their peers while discussing critical board leadership challenges and opportunities facing their organizations.
There will be no press present at any of the Peer Exchange sessions, and there will be no record of session proceedings, ensuring a forum for candid, in-depth discussion. No Powerpoints and no sales pitches. Peer-driven, action-oriented conversations leading to tangible takeaways. Participants are divided into small peer groups based on their board position and their company’s annual revenue. Seasoned advisers will help facilitate robust conversations.
Prior to the event, Corporate Board Member will solicit input from confirmed participants to develop the most relevant agenda for each committee session.
In an era of constant disruption and shifting stakeholder expectations, boards must challenge long-held assumptions to foster forward-thinking strategies and build resilience. This panel will explore how best-in-class boards are leveraging diverse perspectives to challenge entrenched thinking, anticipate emerging trends, mitigate risks and navigate uncertainty with agility. We’ll examine specific tactics to help your board drive better decision-making, strengthen organizational resilience, and lead with purpose through more intentional governance efforts.
Director, EY Americas Center for Board Matters
Board Member, AMD; IBM Fellow Emeritus; Retired EVP of Innovation and Technology, IBM
Board Member, Annaly Capital Management, Otis Worldwide Corporation and Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings
As regulatory landscapes evolve here and abroad, public companies must stay ahead of both global policy trends and domestic requirements. In this session, hear directly from a leading voice at the SEC as we explore the regulatory priorities shaping 2025 and beyond. From ESG disclosures and human capital reporting to cross-border compliance challenges, you’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of what’s in the SEC’s enforcement plans for the year ahead and how to prepare for upcoming changes.
Senior Vice President, Leadership Insights, DDI
President and Chief Executive Officer, Verisk
Our Board Leadership Awards recognize exemplary companies and individuals who go beyond the basic requirements of governance, regulation and compliance and serve as models for other companies and individuals to emulate. After another year of continued—and new—challenges, the 2025 Awards seek to shine a light on those boards who are making a positive impact serving all of their stakeholders—shareholders, employees, customers, partners and communities. We’re excited to showcase the very best in corporate governance at a time when great examples matter more than ever before:
Being a strong board leader requires bold decisions, especially in times of crisis and disruption. But disruption is nothing new. Every decade—every year—brings disruption. What separates the best boards—and in turn the best companies—from the rest is the ability to project resilience in the face of challenges. And the ability to balance the push-pull of short-termism versus long-term needs, being a culture carrier, making sure you have the right people in the right seats on your C-suite team, and projecting resilience in the face of challenges—are just a few parts of the job of a director. We’ll sit down to unpack some of the key lessons from this year’s Board Leadership Award honorees to help you more confidently lead your own organizations to grow no matter the circumstances.
Author, Boards That Lead and Boards That Deliver
Retired Host, Inside America’s Boardrooms; Co-Founder, Corporate Board Member
CEO, AlixPartners
Chair of Board, Mastercard International
Chairman of the Board, Molina Healthcare Inc.
Join fellow attendees for some festive networking as we celebrate our award honorees together in-person!
Gather with director peers and subject matter experts to explore pertinent board issues in a small group setting to allow for ample Q&A and idea sharing.
Highly effective board-CEO relationships depend on trust and communication. Join your peers for a conversation on maximizing output of time together, getting to the topics that matter, managing conflicts and embracing diverse views, and mastering power dynamics.
Featured Speakers:
Rick DeRose, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Acertitude
Kevin O’Neill, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Acertitude
Elon Musk’s moonshot grants brought conversations around large, special equity awards to the forefront this year. Has your board considered the merits of special equity incentives for your CEO and other key executives, along with the key considerations like Say on Pay risk, ISS and Glass Lewis criticism, and shareholder/activist investor pushback? Join your peers for a discussion on special compensation actions, including balancing retention, e.g. granting RSUs, and performance alignment, e.g. stretch performance goals tied to share price or other hurdles, special contracts, enhanced severance or change-in-control-protection, and more.
Featured Speaker:
The job of corporate director is transforming, requiring boards to rethink traditional structures and make a thoughtful assessment of the individuals sitting around the table. What conversations is your board having around how the new director profile is evolving? What steps is (or should) your board be taking to identify current and potential future skill gaps. Join your peers to make sure your board has a robust board assessment and succession plan in place to make sure you have the right skills and perspectives around the table to drive your company’s long-term strategy forward.
Featured Speaker:
Effective board leadership doesn’t happen by chance—it requires ongoing evaluation, accountability and, when necessary, course correction. But how do directors ensure their board leaders—chairs, lead directors, and committee heads—are driving strong governance? And what happens when leadership isn’t working? This discussion will explore:
Director, PwC Governance Insights Center
Director, PwC’s Governance Insights Center
The board plays a crucial role in overseeing AI opportunities and risks. However, only about a third of companies have designated AI oversight to a specific leader or group within their organizations, and only a quarter have assigned AI oversight to a new or existing board committee according to our What Directors Think report. In this session with the Diligent Institute, we will explore effective uses of AI, future potential, and who should lead the charge when it comes to strategic integration. We’ll discuss why aligning AI strategy requires more than just a tech background and how to develop your board’s approach while keeping up with the regulatory environment.
Board Member, ZoomInfo; Former Chief Privacy Officer and VP, Google
Executive Director, Diligent Institiute
Board Member, Credit Suisse Funds, Chief Data Scientist, Numerati® Partners LLC
Board Chair, DocuSign; Board Member, Costco Wholesale Corporation, Sana Biotechnology; Former CEO, Frontier Communications
Concurrent breakouts offer a chance to dive deeper into today’s most pressing boardroom issues—alongside subject matter experts and fellow directors facing similar challenges. With smaller groups, you’ll have more opportunity to ask questions, share experiences, and walk away with insights you can put to work.
Topics will include:
We will explore how board effectiveness is impacted by corporate governance structure, board composition and practices, and common strategic and risk circumstances. This scenario-based session will help you benchmark your board’s performance by uncovering factors and practices that foster board effectiveness and agility on key governance areas including:
Featured Speakers:
It can be unnerving when an activist investor privately contacts a board, or worse, publicly publishes a letter outlining its criticism or wages a proxy contest to replace the board. How is a director, CEO or GC supposed to react? In this simulation, attendees will walk through the phases of an activist campaign from their initial private outreach through either settlement or proxy fight. Alongside specialist activism counsel, investment bankers and public relations professionals are the two other critical advisors to companies. This session will help you learn how to navigate the complex dynamics of handling an activist, particularly since these actions play out in the public sphere.
Featured Speakers:
In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital transformation and AI advancements, cybersecurity has never been more critical. Boards of Directors are now expected to play a pivotal role in safeguarding their organizations from both traditional cyber threats and the unique risks posed by artificial intelligence. Join us for a compelling discussion featuring two cybersecurity experts from Google Cloud’s Office of the CISO as they delve into the expanded responsibilities of Boards in establishing robust cybersecurity governance in the age of AI.
Featured Speakers:
From executive compensation to ESG disclosures and proxy communications, today’s boards are making high-stakes decisions in an environment where investor expectations are evolving—and increasingly vocal. But are boards always aligned with what stakeholders want, or think they want?
This interactive session brings together experts in investor relations, governance policy, and compensation strategy to unpack the disconnects that often emerge between boardroom assumptions and shareholder perspectives. Through real-world examples and point-counterpoint discussion, we’ll explore how boards can build trust, strengthen engagement, and avoid unforced errors in moments that matter most.
Executive Director, Council of Institutional Investors
Partner, Meridian Compensation Partners
Leader, U.S. Center for Corporate Governance, BDO
Most boards approach CEO succession with a clear goal: minimize risk, ensure continuity, and avoid surprises. But in a rapidly evolving environment—where strategic priorities shift and leadership demands are changing—readiness alone isn’t enough. Relevance is what matters.
This interactive session will use real-world CEO transitions to explore how succession can become a powerful lever for transformation. Through case-based discussion, we’ll examine how boards can align future leadership profiles with evolving strategy, spot early signals that new strengths may be needed, and use the transition moment to reset and reenergize the organization. You’ll walk away with fresh insights on how to turn a leadership handoff into a strategic inflection point—not just a safe landing.
Senior Vice President, Leadership Insights, DDI
Disruption is not a problem or challenge to be avoided or tamed, but rather it’s a vital force for positive change — is very relevant and “of the moment” for directors and corporate leaders. The world’s best-selling author James Patterson and renowned leadership expert Patrick Leddin will help you embrace disruption to achieve extraordinary results. Don’t let the status quo be the silent killer in your organization. Learn how to implement a Positive Disruptor Loop as a to think differently about your organization’s future. Because it’s not about “surviving” disruption, it’s about instigating disruption and harnessing it to your advantage.
Author, The 5-Week Leadership Challenge; Co-Author, Disrupt Everything; Global Leadership Practice Leader, FranklinCovey
World’s Best-selling Author; Co-Author, Disrupt Everything
