As we approach the end of 2017, this edition of C-Suite reflects upon the critical issues facing executives and boards. At one of our recent Board Leadership Forums, the chief investment stewardship officer at one of the largest institutional investors noted that board composition and structure, executive compensation, and board oversight of risk have been the key issues on their agenda this year. On cue, our feature stories reflect these topics directly.
First, we were honored to host the architects of the National Football League’s Rooney Rule on a panel in New York City this fall. For those of you unfamiliar with the rule, Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Dan Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, joined together in 2002 to lead an initiative that mandated teams to interview at least one minority candidate for vacant head coaching and front office positions. Several years ago, current Commissioner Roger Goodell extended the rule to interviewing women for positions at the League offices.
The success stories from the NFL are amazing, and many in corporate governance have discussed implementing a similar rule for board elections. It wouldn’t surprise me to see that become a reality in the near future. Along with Commissioner Tagliabue himself, Jim Rooney, Dan’s son, Robert Gulliver, the CHRO at the NFL, and Capricia Penavic Marshall, Former Chief of Protocol of the United States during the Obama administration, are featured in an exclusive C-Suite interview that serves as our cover story.
In addition, our editor-in-chief Dan Marcec sat down for an exclusive interview with Luis A. Aguilar, a former SEC Commissioner who served from 2008 to 2015—an “interesting” time in the agency’s history, as the two discuss. However, in addition to implementing Dodd-Frank and tackling a host of other problems, Aguilar also spearheaded the first-ever SEC Cybersecurity Roundtable. Now a director on three public boards, he spoke about this important topic and its critical role in governance.
As always, please enjoy this issue and feel free to reach out to me directly with any feedback.
David Chun
CEO and Founder, Equilar
dchun@equilar.com