2019 Board Leadership Awards - Corporate Board Member

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The Corporate Board Member 2020 Board Leadership Awards

Corporate Board Member magazine announces the second annual Board Leadership Awards, honoring 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.

The awards underscore the role that corporate governance and effective board leadership plays in driving a company’s success and a board’s contribution to long-term value.

In an era when many businesses are being attacked for not contributing to society, the awards seek to shine a light on those who are making a positive impact serving all of their stakeholders — shareholders, employees, customers, partners and communities.

The awards will recognize individuals or groups of individuals in three categories:

Independent Director of the Year
Recognizing a non-executive chairman or lead director who has demonstrated a passion for advancing the principles of good governance.
Courage in the Boardroom
Recognizing a full board that has demonstrated exemplary leadership in overcoming a significant challenge in the boardroom with a well-constructed response to a major incident.
Greatest Impact On Corporate Boards
Open to boards, investors, regulators (past and current), and other corporate governance leaders, recognizing the recipient’s actions that have significantly influenced how all public company boards think about an emerging issue.

The application deadline is December 1, 2019.

Awards will be presented on April 2-3, 2020 at Corporate Board Member’s 16th annual Boardroom Summit in New York. Coverage of the award recipients will be included in the Q3 2020 issue of Corporate Board Member magazine.

For additional questions, contact: BoardAwards@chiefexecutive.net

Submit A Nomination

Nomination FAQs

What are the Board Leadership Awards?

Corporate Board Member’s Board Leadership Awards will recognize outstanding individuals and boards who go beyond the basic requirements of governance, regulation, and compliance, aiming for and obtaining excellence and serving as models for other companies and individuals to emulate. The awards underscore the role that corporate governance and effective board leadership play in driving a company’s success and a board’s contribution to long-term value.

What are the criteria for each award category?

Independent Director of the Year

This award will recognize a non-executive chairman or lead director who has demonstrated a passion for advancing the principles of good governance. The honoree has the ability to objectively solve the most difficult boardroom challenges, as well as the proven experience to offer independent, sound guidance when the company faces hurdles and opportunities. The honoree effectively leads the board in its interactions with the CEO/management to create a collaborative culture.

Courage in the Boardroom

This award will recognize an individual director or full board that has demonstrated exemplary leadership in overcoming a significant challenge in the boardroom. The award recipient will exemplify a well-constructed response to a major incident. Examples could include, but are not limited to, an unexpected CEO departure, proxy battle, cyber attack, reputational crisis, a customer crisis, or financial turnaround, among others. The individual director or full board may have executed a difficult decision in the face of differing opinions within the board or between the board and management.

Through the response, the award recipient sets an example for other boards to follow when faced with unforeseen challenges. Throughout the challenge, the company will have demonstrated uninterrupted business operations in the midst of an adverse or crisis situation.

Greatest Impact On Corporate Boards

This award is open to boards, investors, regulators (past and current), and other corporate governance leaders. The award recipient’s actions will have significantly influenced how all public company boards think about an emerging issue.

Examples could include, but are not limited to:

a board with exemplary board diversity initiative with transparent board refreshment efforts
a board with exemplary ESG program implemented and communicated to shareholders
a board that places high value on shareholder relations through demonstrated willingness to participate in meaningful, transparent dialogue with shareholders to work through shareholder engagement challenges
an investor whose perspectives have had a recognizable impact on board behaviors and opinions
a governance thought leader whose work has had a demonstrated positive impact on how boards approach a certain governance issue

Who is eligible?

Independent Director of the Year: Non-executive Chairmen and Lead Directors of publicly traded companies
Courage in the Boardroom: Public Company Board
Greatest Impact on Corporate Boards: Individual director of public company; investor, activist, regulator, academic, corporate governance adviser, or other influencer in corporate governance

Who can submit a nomination?

Entries may be self-nominated or submitted on behalf of an individual or corporation by those who work with them, or by outside vendors and service providers.

What are the nomination requirements?

Materials submitted in support of nominations should relate to qualifications and activities from January 1, 2019 through December 1, 2019. All entries must be received by December 1, 2019 to be eligible for consideration. Eligible entries will consist of an entry form and executive summary. The judges panel will reach out for any necessary supplemental information.

How will the nominations be judged?

The award recipients will be selected by an independent panel of public company directors.

What do award winners receive?

All award finalists will be provided a complimentary registration to attend Corporate Board Member’s 16th annual Boardroom Summit on April 2-3, 2020 at the Grand Hyatt in New York. The awards luncheon will be held during the Summit on April 2, where the winners in each of the 3 categories will be announced.

Each award recipient will be profiled in the Q3 2020 issue of Corporate Board Member magazine.

Submit a nomination