ESG News and Views The Conference Board

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:
Disaster Philanthropy Practices 2021 Corporate Citizenship Watch: A New Era of Disaster Philanthropy - How Companies Can Lead the Way Corporate Citizenship Watch Disaster Philanthropy: Fifteen Years after Hurricane Katrina - Lessons Learned and Planning for the Future Resources from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy:
Educational Resources - Center for Disaster Philanthropy Here's how we can make a difference before disaster strikes - Center for Disaster Philanthropy 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season - Center for Disaster Philanthropy

Only 29 percent of C-suite executives rate their board’s effectiveness as good or excellent.  And 74 percent of executives say two or more of their directors should be replaced. That’s despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of C-suite executives say their boards understand the company’s strategy, risks and opportunities, and competitive landscape -- and that nearly 90 percent say their directors have independent judgment and are willing to challenge management.  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