Governance Matters

Tivic Health Joins Our Governance Community

We are pleased to welcome Tivic Health to our Global Governance Community.

Advancing bioletric medicine, Tivic Health understands the need for solid corporate governance.

We are delighted to support them.

Upcoming Events

MARK YOUR CALENDAR for October 18th!

Register for two programs in our Hot Topics Series

CEOs, Boards and Advisors: How to Build a Winning Company

October 18, 2018 Noon – 5pm

If you are a CEO of an early stage company, an investor who aspires to offer expertise as an advisor or board director, or a mentor who wishes to consider governance roles, this workshop is for you!

You are invited to attend this vital program designed to help new CEOs of early stage companies with the best governance and advisory support for success.

Schedule

Date: Oct 18, 2018

Time: Noon- 5pm

Main Schedule:

Noon – 1:00 Registration and Lunch

1:00 - 5:00 Program

5:00 - 6:00 Cocktails and Networking

Location: DLA Piper Offices 2000 University Ave Palo Alto, CA

Enrollment: Register Online at www.boardwise.biz

HOT TOPICS EVENING SESSION

What Does Harvey Weinstein Have To Do With Board Members?

In this era of heightened awareness around sexual harassment in the workplace, does the board have any responsibility to ensure corporate leaders protect employees, vendors, and contractors?

Make no mistake – whether you are in a private or public company -- women are talking. Women who have been asked for favors to make a deal, been treated inappropriately or subjected to “locker room talk” at work will damage your company’s brand and will litigate, holding not only the leadership team but the board accountable.

The total costs paid by companies in fighting or settling sexual harassment cases are difficult to calculate, partly because companies often prefer to settle out of court with the alleged victims signing non-disclosure agreements. Yet, the cost is greater than lawsuits and settlements.

Board Directors recognize that they have responsibility to assess and address corporate climate because toxic work environments, where sexual harassment is business as usual impacts the value investors seek and causes the consternation of activists. Yet, how can directors address it? Too often, attention to this doesn’t become clear until after “bad things” happen.Join us to learn and discuss this important hot topic. You will learn:

What are the early warning signs that a culture is toxic to women or other minorities and includes acceptance of sexual harassment
How to ensure your sexual harassment policies are more than compliance measures
What culture shifts are need in the board room to address sexual harassment
Director accountability for; disclosure, investigation, remediation, and reflection
What proactive measures should be implemented to prevent future misconduct

This is an interactive format, so please bring your experiences and questions and join in on the hearty discussion!

Presenter

Marilyn Nagel is a Boardwise strategic partner focusessed on corporate strategies for diversity and inclusion as well as women’s development. Marilyn has an unusual background that includes more than 30 years of experience in the corporate world as a C-Suite executive, entrepreneur and executive coach. In addition to being Chief Learning Officer of SAMI, a game based training company Marilyn’s consulting firm Ready-Aim-Aspire is widely recognized in the field of diversity and inclusion as well as women’s leadership development and networking.

Prior to starting Ready-Aim Aspire, Marilyn served as CEO of Watermark leading strategic initiatives designed to help women in the Bay Area enhance their personal and professional impact. Before joining Watermark, Marilyn was Chief Diversity Officer at Cisco. She was recognized as a thought leader in creating inclusive environments, and a co-chair of the Conference Board Global Diversity Group as well as senior advisor to the Center for Talent and Innovation.

She serves on the Board of Directors of Ceres Community Project, and has served on the Board of Directors of Watermark, Professional Business Women of California, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME), UPWARD, and Family and Children Services. Marilyn also currently serves on the Advisory Board of The Everest Project, YOL, and Jewish Values Investment Funds as well as the Advisory Council of Courageous Leadership.

Marilyn is the recipient of the Women of Influence Award, the Women Leading the Way TWIN Award, Women Worth Watching award from the Diversity Journal, Black Enterprise Top Executives in Diversity, and Diversity Officer Leadership Award.

In addition to her current work with numerous startups, Marilyn also consults with fortune 500 global companies on developing and implementing diversity strategies. She is an internationally recognized speaker and workshop facilitator on topics such as Building Intentional Connections, Building a Culture of Inclusion, Inclusive Leadership, Executive Presence, Creating Influence, as well as Women’s Leadership and Board Access. She is a blogger for the Huffington Post and frequently contributes to numerous publications. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marilyn-nagel/

Boardwise.biz offers its HOT TOPICS IN GOVERNANCE series to ensure directors and professionals interested in governance stay current on key issues in corporate governance. All professionals are welcome.

October 18th

5:150 – 6:15: Registration, Networking and Beverages

6:15 – 8:15: Workshop

8:15 – 8:30: Q&A and Upcoming Events
Location: DLA Piper Offices 2000 University Ave Palo Alto, CA

REGISTER online at Boardwise.biz

General Attendance Fee: $30

Members of Global Governance Community Discount Rate: $25
( USE $5 discount code: WORK5!)

Board Access Program Members: FREE

Registrater early to ensure a seat!

Making Gender Equality on Boards the New Normal
Bill Sent to Jerry Brown Will Require Women on Boards of Public California Companies

If someone has to go first in the United States, it might as well be California. Often recognized as a trend-setter, California’s pushing for change in gender equality in governance.

Governor Brown has until September 30th to decide whether to sign a measure that will mandate that publicly- traded companies based in California must include at least one women by year end of 2019 and as many as three by the end of 2021, depending on the board size.
While the Assembly narrowly passed the proposal with the bare minimum 41 votes, the Senate approved Bill 826 with a vote of 23 to 9 the next day and passed it to Governor Brown.

The bill has teeth. Companies which do not comply could face a fine up to $300,000 from the California Secretary of State.

Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, a Democrat from Santa Barbara, introduced the measure. She noted: “We need to make sure our business entities are more productive and more profitable. That’s exactly what appointing women to these boards will do.

Sponsored by the National Association of Women Business Owners California, Senate Bill 826 is a top priority for the California Legislative Women’s Caucus this year.

Proponents say women are absent from one-fourth of the boards of directors in the state and California leaders have a responsibility ensure that female voices are included in top-level business discussions.

Opponents and proponents for adopting regulation to force change are highly vocal. Thus, even if Governor Brown signs off, it will not surprise either group if it is challenged legally.

A clear camp holds the opinion companies do not need regulation to do what is right for their companies. Another says change is not happening sufficiently, despite the rational evidence that this change is good for everyone.

Recent studies – consistently cropping up in several countries -- show positive performance results correlated with gender mix on boards. It is more than just the recent studies that make the point. Historical studies make a case for the value of gender equality, overall. Global studies cite gender inequality is associated with lower levels of economic development.* Concomitantly, theoretical economics studies support the positive role of gender equality in facilitation or causing growth, e.g., Lagolof’s 2003 research indicate the reason for Europe’s spurt in economic development correlates with positive changes made in gender equality relative to other regions in the world.

If it rational to say gender equality improves people’s lives, it’s reasonable to say gender equality should be the norm. Those tired of waiting argue that if we need more win-win public policies to flip the switch, let’s get started.

Getting Ready

Our firm takes a strong stand of “board readiness”. Anyone who serves on a board – regardless of gender – should be armed for success by taking initiative to be educated, qualified and certified to serve. Boardwise trains and educates directors on key topics for good governance. We vet and qualify strong candidates. If California will soon need quality candidates, we have them!

* Development and Gender Equality: Consequences, Causes, Challenges and Cures Anne Mikkola University of Helsinki, HECER and RUESG and Carrie A. Miles Center for the Economic Study of Religion at George Mason University, Institute for the Studies of Religion at Baylor University Discussion Paper No. 159 April 2007 Helsinki Center of Economic Research

Boardwise is proud to support the efforts of Malaysia's new program, How Women Lead. We invite anyone interested in their global program to enroll.

How Women Lead --in collaboration with LeadWomen --is calling on aspiring professional and business women leaders around the world to join a Directors membership to build a formidable profile cv directory available for board openings. LeadWomen’s Talent Advisory Positioning Services (LW-TAP) division provides an option for boards sourcing women director candidates to serve on boards.

Current promotional Director membership fee: USD$115.00 till end 2019 and to sign up, click : https://lead-women.com/membership/

Once LeadWomen receives your application, members are giving a login and password to fill in details to complete and will then be able to self-generate and export a curriculum vitae (cv) with a separate section to write a brief profile summary in readiness for submission to board opportunities. Note that each member is responsible for disclosure of their own personal details and would be at their own discretion to adhere to their respective country’s jurisdiction on any legal undertakings.

Time for change has come globally in levelling the playing field in terms of inclusivity and diversity which is progressing to equality. It is an exciting time for women to step up into more leadership positions. All around the world it has become a business imperative to lead inclusively and not to leave marginalized groups especially women behind.

The International Monetary Fund has documented many other macroeconomic benefits associated with women’s empowerment. Reducing gender gaps in employment and education has been shown to help economies diversify their exports. Appointing more women to banking-supervision boards can prevent cosy groupthink, thereby ensuring greater stability and resilience in the financial sector. And reducing gender inequalities also reduces income inequality, allowing for more sustainable growth.

A 2018 McKinsey report, Deliver Through Diversity, found that increased gender diversity leads to both profitability and value creation.

If women played identical roles as men in the labor market, it could add $20 trillion (USD) to global GDP by 2025, according to the report.

Malaysia’s August board openings :

Board openings : https://lead-women.com/board-sourcing/

To source for women board candidates, please click on this link:

https://lead-women.com/directorsourcingrequirementform/

Join Our Global Director Registry

Become a member of the Board Bona Fide Registry as a vetted, qualified director candidate, for consideration by our corporate members, seeking ideal fits for their boards.

If you aspire to serve on a board, contact us to learn about how our Board Bona Fide Registry and Board Access Program can prepare you!