How the best in governance is achieved
Welcome to this special report on the 14th annual Corporate Governance Awards from Corporate Secretary. In this publication, we speak to the winners and look inside their work to show why they received their awards. We hope to share some of the best practices and cutting-edge thinking that goes into GRC work today, and in so doing help others find their own solutions and new ways to support their companies and enhance their own governance programs.
In the first few months of 2021, as vaccines were being made widely available across the US, there was for a time hope that things would swiftly return to a semblance of pre-pandemic normality. Sadly, those hopes were not fully realized. The health crisis, political upheaval and economic uncertainty created difficulties for everyone – including boards of directors and governance teams.
As always, however, GRC professionals have responded admirably and proven to be adept in finding new ways to maintain standards and overcome new challenges for which they may have little experience or guidance. Among many other things, they negotiated a historic proxy season, gave thought to vital issues of diversity, equity and inclusion and found ways to report around a range of ESG topics.
Our awards recognize achievements by governance professionals in areas such as hosting AGMs, compliance and ethics programs, ESG reporting, entity management, proxy statements, engagement and – for the first time this year – corporate transactions. The submissions for this year’s awards highlight the exertions and creativity of many across the governance community.
Unfortunately, the lack of a return to pre-pandemic levels of comfort and safety meant that for the second year we were unable to host the Corporate Governance Awards in person.
Thankfully, technology was on hand to allow us to meet virtually and I know many of you were able to gather in whatever way possible with immediate colleagues and share a glass of champagne or other celebratory beverage. We hope you enjoyed the evening as much as we did.
We at Corporate Secretary truly appreciate your continued support for the awards, whether in filing submissions, acting as sponsors and other partners or being audience members and readers of this report who are interested in some of the best work being done in today’s governance world.
I’d also like to extend special thanks to the judges, who have devoted a great deal of time and thought to analyzing entries and choosing the winners. Our panel this year is Anna Catalano, Joan Conley, Lucy Fato, Matthew Geekie and Eileen Kamerick. Their expertise and insight have been invaluable.
Thank you for reading and for your support of Corporate Secretary. I hope you find this special report insightful and I hope to speak with you soon, particularly as we return to in-person and hybrid events in 2022.
Ben Maiden Editor-at-large, Corporate Secretary ben.maiden@corporatesecretary.com +1 212 430 6876
Editor-at-large Ben Maiden Managing editor & chief copy editor Kathleen Hennessy Design and production executive James Noden Head of marketing Marie Paul
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