Rising star Justine Bensussen, Nuance Communications
Justine Bensussen, Nuance Communications
Nuance Communications has been on a transformative corporate governance adventure over the past few years that culminated in 2021 with a definitive agreement to be acquired by Microsoft for roughly $20 bn.
Nuance’s 2018 AGM saw just 8 percent of votes cast in favor of say on pay, a result that kick-started a major overhaul involving the hiring of a new CEO and bringing on board several new directors including an independent board chair and more diverse board members.
Wendy Cassity was recruited as the company’s new chief legal officer (CLO) in late 2018 with a mandate to bring about a major overhaul of the company’s corporate governance. Changes included new executive compensation practices and revamped compliance training, as well as a major off-season and in-season shareholder engagement program.
In recognition of this governance turnaround, Cassity was named governance professional of the year (small to mid-cap) and Nuance awarded the governance team of the year (small to mid-cap) trophy at the 2020 Corporate Governance Awards.
Justine Bensussen, director for corporate counsel at Nuance, is the 2021 rising star for her work on that successful governance journey as part of the award-winning team and beyond. She joined the company in February 2019 and soon built cross-functional relationships that were essential for the successful implementation of the new and enhanced governance programs.
Her work between July 2020 and June 2021 included preparing and publishing the firm's first and second annual ESG reports, and she took part in an extensive off-season and in-season shareholder outreach campaign. Among other things, the second ESG report included more diversity information in response to requests from investors during engagements.
She is a rising star and her future is bright
Key player for the company Bensussen designed, implemented and managed an enhanced enterprise risk management program, including designing and administering a risk identification survey, leading a risk assessment review with senior management to identify Nuance’s key risks, managing a continuing risk mitigation and monitoring program and reporting to senior management and the board.
She also led an initiative to narrow down Nuance’s global subsidiary array, eliminating more than 75 entities, led the drafting and review process for the company’s proxy statement and organized its first virtual AGM.
In addition to her work on Nuance’s regular governance work, Bensussen has managed the legal aspects of M&A activity, including the acquisition of Saykara in 2021, the carve-out and divestiture of Nuance’s transcription business in March 2021 and the pending acquisition by Microsoft.
As part of that latter transaction, Bensussen has been helping Microsoft understand Nuance’s governance processes and vice versa, working out how Nuance fits in and what changes may be needed, she says.
In a relatively short period of time with Nuance and as a relatively new member of the governance profession, Bensussen has become a member and secretary of the company’s disclosure committee, a member of its compliance leadership team and a member of its legal leadership team with the CLO and her direct reports.
‘Justine continues to play a key role in the Microsoft sale process [and] other ongoing governance and compliance initiatives at Nuance,’ the company’s award submission reads. ‘She is a rising star and her future is bright.’
