By The Conference Board
3.8
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The podcast currently has 32 episodes available.
Geralyn Ritter knows about personal and organizational resilience. She was on Amtrak Train #188, which derailed outside Philadelphia in 2015 at 106 miles per hour. The crash killed eight people and injured more than 200. Geralyn was critically wounded. Her doctors use the word “miraculous” to describe her survival and recovery. She also knows about organizational resilience, as the current Head of External Affairs and ESG for Organon, following twelve years at Merck, where she held numerous leadership positions, including Senior Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Assistant General Counsel, Head of Global Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility, and President of the Merck Foundation. She is the author of Bone by Bone: A Memoir of Trauma and Healing.
In part one of this two-part podcast, Paul Washington, Executive Director of the ESG Center, speaks with Geralyn about surviving the accident, her road to recovery, and lessons in personal resilience. They discuss the importance of optimism, acceptance, an action orientation, connection, and a sense of purpose. They discuss how these traits are equally important for leaders, organizations, and society.
In part two, they go deeper into the subject of organizational resiliency, with practical insights on how to develop a more resilient organization, including the role of ESG in creating a healthy organization, the link between resiliency and sustainability, maintaining resilience in a hybrid work environment, and the value of sharing stories of personal resilience in building a stronger organization.
The discussion spans 9/11 to the COVID-19 pandemic to Silicon Valley Bank, with insights for all of us on resilience.
Related Resources:
Bone by Bone: A Memoir of Trauma and Healing, Geralyn S. Ritter, June 2022
Consider Operational Resilience a Competitive Advantage, The Conference Board, 2023
C-Suite Outlook 2023: On the Edge: Driving Growth and Mitigating Risk Amid Extreme Volatility, The Conference Board, January 2023
Crisis Management in the Era of "No Normal," The Conference Board, September 2021
Five Ways a Sustainability Strategy Provides Clarity During a Crisis, The Conference Board, April 2020.
Geralyn Ritter knows about personal and organizational resilience. She was on Amtrak Train #188, which derailed outside Philadelphia in 2015 at 106 miles per hour. The crash killed eight people and injured more than 200. Geralyn was critically wounded. Her doctors use the word “miraculous” to describe her survival and recovery. She also knows about organizational resilience, as the current Head of External Affairs and ESG for Organon, following twelve years at Merck, where she held numerous leadership positions, including Senior Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Assistant General Counsel, Head of Global Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility, and President of the Merck Foundation. She is the author of Bone by Bone: A Memoir of Trauma and Healing.
In part one of this two-part podcast, Paul Washington, Executive Director of the ESG Center, speaks with Geralyn about surviving the accident, her road to recovery, and lessons in personal resilience. They discuss the importance of optimism, acceptance, an action orientation, connection, and a sense of purpose. They discuss how these traits are equally important for leaders, organizations, and society.
In part two, they go deeper into the subject of organizational resiliency, with practical insights on how to develop a more resilient organization, including the role of ESG in creating a healthy organization, the link between resiliency and sustainability, maintaining resilience in a hybrid work environment, and the value of sharing stories of personal resilience in building a stronger organization.
The discussion spans 9/11 to the COVID-19 pandemic to Silicon Valley Bank, with insights for all of us on resilience.
Related Resources:
Bone by Bone: A Memoir of Trauma and Healing, Geralyn S. Ritter, June 2022
Consider Operational Resilience a Competitive Advantage, The Conference Board, 2023
C-Suite Outlook 2023: On the Edge: Driving Growth and Mitigating Risk Amid Extreme Volatility, The Conference Board, January 2023
Crisis Management in the Era of "No Normal," The Conference Board, September 2021
Five Ways a Sustainability Strategy Provides Clarity During a Crisis, The Conference Board, April 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic shone a spotlight on the level of health inequity in the US, where access to health care can depend on a person’s zip code, income, insurance, and contacts in the medical profession. This podcast discusses the role that companies – and, specifically, boards of directors – can play in helping to address this problem, which accounts for approximately $320 billion in the US.
The discussion makes clear that all companies – not just those in the health sector – can play a role through the health and other benefits they provide to their employees; and that boards can ensure that their companies address health equity as part of their broader strategy to attract, retain, and develop the workforce they need to execute the firm’s strategy.
In this podcast, Paul Washington, Executive Director of the ESG Center, speaks with two experts: Dr. Jay Bhatt, Executive Director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and the Deloitte Health Equity Institute, and Dr. William Payne, a founding member of the Black Directors Health Equity Agenda, a Chicago-area orthopedic surgeon and co-founder of the telehealth platform MyOwnDoctor about health equity. They discuss what it means, why it’s an issue the business community should pay attention to, and the role of the board and C-Suite in driving meaningful progress on this issue.
Related resources:
Equitable Pay and Health Care Top Consumer Wish List for Corporate Social Initiatives (Research report, July 2022)
The Role of Corporate Citizenship in Addressing Health Equity (Webcast, April 2022)
C-Suite Outlook 2023: On the Edge: Driving Growth and Mitigating Risk Amid Extreme Volatility (January 2023)
The US Deloitte Health Equity Institute
US Health Care Can’t Afford Health Inequities
The ESG reporting landscape is quickly evolving. Not only is it cluttered with an ever-growing number of rating agencies, initiatives to harmonize reporting frameworks and standards are underway, and regulations are rapidly arising in many jurisdictions – making ESG disclosure a business reality rather than a passing fad. So what’s a company to do?
In this podcast, Merel Spierings, Corporate Governance Researcher at the ESG Center, speaks with Andrew Fowler, Partner at the law firm of Hughes Hubbard & Reed about how companies can prepare for upcoming disclosure requirements – specifically the SEC’s proposed rules on climate. They also discuss a free resource that Hughes, Hubbard, and Reed recently put out, How to ESG: A Resource Guide for Establishing an ESG Program for your Company, which provides practical guidance on addressing emerging ESG norms and requirements.
Natural disasters are increasing in both frequency and intensity. Yet, only 22 percent of corporate citizenship executives say their number one priority is preparedness – taking action to mitigate the effects of a natural disaster before it occurs. Only 3 percent of corporate citizenship executives prioritize long-term recovery and reconstruction.
In this podcast, Patty McIIreavy, President and CEO of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy speaks with Lindsay Beltzer and Jeff Hoffman from The Conference Board ESG Center to discuss the impact of Hurricane Ian and why the traditional playbook of responding with dollars, in-kind donations, and volunteers, while critical, is not enough. A greater focus on disaster preparedness and long-term recovery projects can pay dividends for both companies and communities and ensure these programs have maximum impact over time.
Additional Resources:
Resources from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy:
In this podcast, Paul Washington, Executive Director of the ESG Center, speaks with Leah Malone, Director of the Governance Insights Center at PwC, and author of Board Effectiveness: A Survey of the C-suite (2021 Edition) to discuss what’s driving the gap between board performance and expectations, how the C-suite’s view of the board compares to what directors see when they look in the mirror, and several practical steps that companies can take to close the gap.
Additional Resources:
Toward Stakeholder Capitalism
Join Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Congressman Ken Buck (R-CO) and Gretchen Carlson, the woman whose lawsuit helped ignite the #MeToo movement and who co-founded the non-profit Lift Our Voices, to discuss the recent groundbreaking bipartisan legislation, The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act.
Passed with strong bipartisan support in February, the legislation marks one of the most significant workplace reforms in the last 50 years. Under the legislation, employers would be prohibited from requiring workers to settle discrimination and harassment claims through arbitration. Instead, employees have the choice to file suit in court with their own legal representation.
Listen to learn:
Traditionally, corporate board members played a limited – and only occasional – role in discussions with investors. But now investors expect to hear from independent directors on the board’s oversight of ESG issues. And companies are recognizing that involving their directors in discussions with investors can have significant near-term and long-term benefits.
In this podcast, Paul Washington, Executive Director of the ESG Center, speaks Bill Ultan, Managing Director at Morrow Sodali, to discuss what’s happening, why, the do’s and don’ts of effective engagement, and how both directors and investors can make their engagements as constructive as possible. As more companies involve their directors in shareholder engagement, they should do so with a clear purpose in mind and ample preparation beforehand.
Additional resources:
Six Ways Boards Can Prepare for a Challenging Proxy Season
2022 Proxy Season Preview and Shareholder Voting Trends
Evolving Trends in ESG Disclosure: Morrow Sodali Q&A with Maryann Waryjas
Lighthouse – March 2022 Edition
For the year ahead, what are the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) priorities of business leaders around the world? This year’s annual survey of the C-suite provides fascinating ESG insights. Listen to this ESG News and Views podcast as Chuck Mitchell, Executive Director of Content Quality, unpacks the findings with Paul Washington, Executive Director of the ESG Center.
The podcast currently has 32 episodes available.