Board Perspectives – Details, episodes & analysis

Our Blind Spots in the Boardroom series is focused on critical business issues that can significantly impact an organization's strategy and operations, particularly those that the board and/or C-suite are not focused on at all or enough.
In this episode, Protiviti Managing Directors Frank Kurre and Chad Volkert discuss legal blind spots and how to proactively prepare for potential investigations and litigation, including discussions around when and how the board should be engaged.
Volkert serves as Protiviti’s Global Legal Consulting Leader and has been with both Protiviti and Robert Half (Protiviti’s parent company) for nearly 25 years providing legal-based solutions for corporate clients and law firms.  
With more than 40 years of experience in consulting, Kurre guides Protiviti’s global board, CEO and alumni programs. He is also a senior advisor to Protiviti's Global Private Equity and Public Sector (Not for Profit) practices and leads several of the firm's strategic accounts. During his career, Kurre has advised more than 200 boards – including many Fortune 1000 companies, and Russell 1000 and Russell 2000 public companies – on board governance, finance, financial reporting, internal audit, leadership development, risk management, and strategic planning.   
For further information on this and other relevant topics for the boardroom, visit our Board and C-Suite Leadership insights collection on Protiviti’s website.
For information about Frank and to contact him, visit www.protiviti.com/us-en/frank-kurre. 
For more information about Chad and to contact him, visit www.protiviti.com/us-en/charles-volkert-iii-esq.

An increasingly important issue for board members to address today is sustainability – specifically, sustainable sourcing and operations. These challenges not only have global compliance implications, but also brand and reputation issues, which are especially important to the board.
In this episode, we speak with Protiviti’s Radhi Subramanian and Debjani Mallick about strategic and sustainable sourcing, including the why’s and how’s of the role of the board of directors.
Radhi has over 20 years of experience in operationalizing technology and digital transformations across industry, academia, start-ups, technology and consulting organizations. Her specialty is value realization at the intersection of business, technology and emerging trends. Radhi serves as the Sustainable Operations lead for Protiviti’s ESG group, focusing on building supply chain innovation capabilities to accelerate the journey to value realization.
Debjani is a Senior Manager within the ESG and Supply Chain practice areas of Protiviti's Business Performance Improvement practice. Her primary focus is to develop the firm’s Sustainable Operations business solution.
For further information on this and other sustainability topics, visit www.protiviti.com/esg.
We also invite you to read our paper, Sustainability FAQ Guide: An Introduction: www.protiviti.com/us-en/research-guide/esg-sustainability-reporting.

With the dominance of ESG as a key agenda item in the boardroom and C-suite, it’s no surprise that one especially noteworthy topic is sustainable finance – ensuring that investments in products and services are aligned with ESG and sustainability standards. This certainly is a key area of focus in financial services.

In this podcast, Protiviti’s Paul Middleton interviews Ana Carolina Oliveira, Head of Sustainable Finance in the Americas for ING. In their conversation, Ana Carolina and Paul discuss the world of sustainable finance, from current market interest to pervasive challenges and key learnings and takeaways for board members.

Ana Carolina started her career with ING in 2008 as client and policy advisor on Environmental and Social Risk and Sustainability. After working in credit risk and with ING’s healthcare clients, she was appointed to lead the America’s Sustainable Finance group in April 2020, where she is responsible for pitching and structuring sustainable finance products to support clients as they transition to more sustainable businesses. She is also responsible for steering the Americas portfolio in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, through helping clients set climate targets and supporting their transition to low-carbon operations.

Paul is a Managing Director with Protiviti. He leads the firm’s capital markets business in London.

To learn more, visit Protiviti.com/ESG.

To contact Ana Carolina Oliveira, visit https://gfcmediagroup.com/contributors/ana-carolina-oliveira.

Contact Paul at paul.middleton@protiviti.com.uk.

We also invite you to listen and subscribe to other podcast series from Protiviti:

Powerful Insights – Features leaders and subject-matter experts from around the world offering insights on key issues facing organizations in our dynamic, challenging and competitive global business climate.

The Post-Quantum World – Quantum computing capabilities are exploding, causing disruption and opportunities, but many technology and business leaders still don’t understand the impact quantum will have on their business. Protiviti is helping organizations get post-quantum ready. In our bi-weekly podcast series, The Post-Quantum World, Protiviti Associate Director and host Konstantinos Karagiannis is joined by quantum computing experts to discuss hot topics in quantum computing, including the business impact, benefits and threats of this exciting new capability.

VISION by Protiviti – We put megatrends under the microscope and look into the future to examine the strategic implications of those transformational shifts that will impact the C-suite and executive board rooms worldwide. In this ongoing series, we invite some of today’s most innovative and insightful thinkers—from both inside and outside Protiviti—to share their vision of the future and explore how today’s big ideas will impact business over the next decade and beyond.

ESG is a driving theme and priority for most organizations around the world today. And like any other key initiative within these organizations, whether it be global expansion or launching new product lines, there must be a plan and strategy for ESG programs and activities. They cannot be approached as a side project.

In this episode of Board Perspectives, we speak with Protiviti’s Ellen Holder and Britta Sadoun about the importance of building an ESG plan and strategy and the board’s role in this process. Ellen is a Director and Britta is an Associate Director with the Risk & Consulting practice at Protiviti. Both also are members of Protiviti’s ESG practice and leadership team.

Contact Ellen at ellen.holder@protiviti.com.

Contact Britta at britta.sadoun@protiviti.com.

To learn more, visit Protiviti.com/ESG.

Find more of Protiviti’s thought leadership for board members at www.protiviti.com/board.

For a full transcript of this podcast, contact Kevin Donahue: kevin.donahue@protiviti.com.

We also invite you to listen and subscribe to other podcast series from Protiviti:

Powerful Insights – Features leaders and subject-matter experts from around the world offering insights on key issues facing organizations in our dynamic, challenging and competitive global business climate.

The Post-Quantum World – Quantum computing capabilities are exploding, causing disruption and opportunities, but many technology and business leaders still don’t understand the impact quantum will have on their business. Protiviti is helping organizations get post-quantum ready. In our bi-weekly podcast series, The Post-Quantum World, Protiviti Associate Director and host Konstantinos Karagiannis is joined by quantum computing experts to discuss hot topics in quantum computing, including the business impact, benefits and threats of this exciting new capability.

VISION by Protiviti – We put megatrends under the microscope and look into the future to examine the strategic implications of those transformational shifts that will impact the C-suite and executive board rooms worldwide. In this ongoing series, we invite some of today’s most innovative and insightful thinkers—from both inside and outside Protiviti—to share their vision of the future and explore how today’s big ideas will impact business over the next decade and beyond.

Corporate culture, once a rather squishy, hard-to-define concept for organizations, increasingly is a top-of-mind concern for leaders looking to create a desirable workplace for innovation and one where employees who have many choices want to remain long-term. The challenges are especially acute amid the current war for talent and the need to attract and retain the best people. And part of building a strong culture is focusing on sustainability – an issue of particular interest to multigenerations of workers who have varied interests and concerns, including those related to ESG, human rights and climate change.

In this episode of Board Perspectives, we talk with Protiviti’s Fran Maxwell and Kim Lanier about the board’s role in building a culture of sustainability. Fran is a Managing Director with Protiviti and global leader of the firm’s Workforce and Organizational Transformation Segment within the Business Performance Improvement solution. Kim, a Protiviti Director, is a leader in this group.

They offer a number of interesting insights for board members: Among them, building a culture of sustainability is more about the journey than the destination. It’s about creating and executing a strategy and roadmap. And it’s certainly about the board setting the right tone and having the right discussions with their management teams.

Contact Fran at fran.maxwell@protiviti.com.

Contact Kim at kim.lanier@protiviti.com.

Find more of Protiviti’s thought leadership for board members at www.protiviti.com/board.

To learn more, visit Protiviti.com/ESG, as well as the Organizational Transformation and Employee Experience sections on Protiviti.com.

For a full transcript of this podcast, contact Kevin Donahue: kevin.donahue@protiviti.com.

We also invite you to listen and subscribe to other podcast series from Protiviti:

Powerful Insights – Features leaders and subject-matter experts from around the world offering insights on key issues facing organizations in our dynamic, challenging and competitive global business climate.

The Post-Quantum World – Quantum computing capabilities are exploding, causing disruption and opportunities, but many technology and business leaders still don’t understand the impact quantum will have on their business. Protiviti is helping organizations get post-quantum ready. In our bi-weekly podcast series, The Post-Quantum World, Protiviti Associate Director and host Konstantinos Karagiannis is joined by quantum computing experts to discuss hot topics in quantum computing, including the business impact, benefits and threats of this exciting new capability.

VISION by Protiviti – We put megatrends under the microscope and look into the future to examine the strategic implications of those transformational shifts that will impact the C-suite and executive board rooms worldwide. In this ongoing series, we invite some of today’s most innovative and insightful thinkers—from both inside and outside Protiviti—to share their vision of the future and explore how today’s big ideas will impact business over the next decade and beyond.

It should come as no surprise that, according to research from Protiviti, ESG metrics and measurement are among the top priorities for CFOs and finance teams to address, and a majority are substantially increasing the focus on and frequency of their ESG reporting. A key part of these efforts must be building sustainable operations and supply chains.

But this only scratches the surface. Board members today are looking for deeper insights into the organization’s ESG footprint. In this podcast, our conversation with Beverly Norman-Cooper, Chief Strategist with Reimagining Economic Regeneration Strategies, and Protiviti’s Tony Abel will inform you of key ESG considerations in business operations and supply chains, and also help you formulate the right questions to pose to management to understand clearly the organization’s strategy and policies in these areas.

One particular takeaway from this discussion stands out. Building sustainable operations and supply chains should be approached as a business strategy. It’s not just about a commitment to being green or being socially responsible – rather, this should be considered and managed like a business strategy, similar to any other critical enterprisewide initiative in the organization. These areas warrant close and frequent consideration by the board.

Beverly, in her current role with Reimagining Economic Regeneration Strategies, helps companies harness supply chain purchasing to create good jobs, increase community wealth, and accelerate the economic, social, and physical regeneration of under-resourced communities. She previously led supplier diversity and environmentally preferable sourcing for a major healthcare organization. Over three years, she took the organization from $1.3 billion in annual diverse spend to more than $2.3 billion in annual spend.

Tony is a Managing Director with the Business Performance Improvement solution at Protiviti. He is a leader with the firm’s Supply Chain and Procurement Practice and leads Protiviti’s Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Circular Economy ESG Working group. Tony has more than two decades of experience as a procurement and supply chain leader within companies, management consulting and outsourcing environments across a variety of industries.

Find more of Protiviti’s thought leadership for board members at www.protiviti.com/board.

To learn more about Protiviti’s ESG services, visit www.protiviti.com/ESG.

Additional resources:
- “SEC Issues Proposed Rules for Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures – www.protiviti.com/US-en/insights/flash-report-032122-sec-issues-proposed-rules-climate-related-disclosures

- “Understanding the ESG ratings, rankings and metrics landscape - with Bob Hirth and Melanie Larkins of Protiviti” – www.protiviti.com/US-en/podcast-board-perspectives

We also invite you to listen and subscribe to other podcast series from Protiviti:

Powerful Insights – Features leaders and subject-matter experts from around the world offering insights on key issues facing organizations in our dynamic, challenging and competitive global business climate.

The Post-Quantum World - Quantum computing capabilities are exploding, causing disruption and opportunities, but many technology and business leaders still don’t understand the impact quantum will have on their business. Protiviti is helping organizations get post-quantum ready. In our bi-weekly podcast series, The Post-Quantum World, Protiviti Associate Director and host Konstantinos Karagiannis is joined by quantum computing experts to discuss hot topics in quantum computing, including the business impact, benefits and threats of this exciting new capability.

VISION by Protiviti - We put megatrends under the microscope and look into the future to examine the strategic implications of those transformational shifts that will impact the C-suite and executive board rooms worldwide. In this ongoing series, we invite some of today’s most innovative and insightful thinkers—from both inside and outside Protiviti—to share their vision of the future and explore how today’s big ideas will impact business over the next decade and beyond.

ESG reporting is garnering a growing amount of attention today, particularly among board members seeking to understand and possibly comply with specific requirements in their country or their industry. But when it comes to ESG reporting, there are a lot of questions. Who specifically is required to issue these ESG reports? Who is issuing them voluntarily? And more importantly, what do organizations need in order to issue them in terms of data and operational processes?

In this latest episode in our Board Perspectives podcast series, we talk with Protiviti managing directors Jonathan Wyatt and Chris Wright regarding these issues. They offer some great insights that should be especially interesting to board members in a broad range of organizations.

Jonathan is the European regional leader for Protiviti, and Chris is the global leader for Protiviti’s Business Performance Improvement solution, as well as the firm's ESG services.

Find more of Protiviti’s thought leadership for board members at www.protiviti.com/board.

To learn more about Protiviti’s ESG services, visit www.protiviti.com/ESG.

We also invite you to listen and subscribe to other podcast series from Protiviti:

Powerful Insights – Features leaders and subject-matter experts from around the world offering insights on key issues facing organizations in our dynamic, challenging and competitive global business climate.

Identity at the Center – A weekly podcast all about identity security in the context of identity and access management (IAM). With a combined 30+ years of IAM experience, hosts Jim McDonald and Jeff Steadman bring you conversations with news, topics and guests from the identity management industry.

The Post-Quantum World – Quantum computing capabilities are exploding, causing disruption and opportunities, but many technology and business leaders still don’t understand the impact quantum will have on their business. Protiviti is helping organizations get post-quantum ready. In our bi-weekly podcast series, The Post-Quantum World, Protiviti Associate Director and host Konstantinos Karagiannis is joined by quantum computing experts to discuss hot topics in quantum computing, including the business impact, benefits and threats of this exciting new capability.

VISION by Protiviti – We put megatrends under the microscope and look into the future to examine the strategic implications of those transformational shifts that will impact the C-suite and executive boardrooms worldwide. In this ongoing series, we invite some of today’s most innovative and insightful thinkers—from both inside and outside Protiviti—to share their vision of the future and explore how today’s big ideas will impact business over the next decade and beyond.

Transcripts of Board Perspectives are available upon request – contact Kevin Donahue at kevin.donahue@protiviti.com.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Protiviti’s Board Perspectives podcast series, in which we delve into numerous challenges and areas of interest for boards of directors.

In this episode, our focus is on environmental, social and governance (ESG) – specifically, how organizations are judged! One of the most challenging aspects of ESG for board members is understanding what’s become a complicated landscape of third-party organizations that rate and/or rank a company’s various ESG practices, as well as trying to learn, at least at a high level, about the many metrics and measurements that gauge ESG maturity.

Helping to provide some clarity to this complicated landscape are Protiviti’s Bob Hirth and Melanie Larkins. Bob is a Senior Managing Director with Protiviti and also serves as Co-Vice Chair of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, or SASB. Melanie is an Associate Director with the Business Performance Improvement solution at Protiviti and is part of the firm’s ESG group leading ESG services across Protiviti’s solutions. Her focus includes building the firm’s ESG center of excellence and serving as its PMO.

Find more of Protiviti’s thought leadership for board members at www.protiviti.com/board.

To learn more about Protiviti’s ESG services, visit www.protiviti.com/ESG.

We also invite you to listen and subscribe to other podcast series from Protiviti:

Powerful Insights – Features leaders and subject-matter experts from around the world offering insights on key issues facing organizations in our dynamic, challenging and competitive global business climate.

Identity at the Center – A weekly podcast all about identity security in the context of identity and access management (IAM). With a combined 30+ years of IAM experience, hosts Jim McDonald and Jeff Steadman bring you conversations with news, topics, and guests from the identity management industry.

The Post-Quantum World - Quantum computing capabilities are exploding, causing disruption and opportunities, but many technology and business leaders still don’t understand the impact quantum will have on their business. Protiviti is helping organizations get post-quantum ready. In our bi-weekly podcast series, The Post-Quantum World, Protiviti Associate Director and host Konstantinos Karagiannis is joined by quantum computing experts to discuss hot topics in quantum computing, including the business impact, benefits and threats of this exciting new capability.

VISION by Protiviti - We put megatrends under the microscope and look into the future to examine the strategic implications of those transformational shifts that will impact the C-suite and executive board rooms worldwide. In this ongoing series, we invite some of today’s most innovative and insightful thinkers—from both inside and outside Protiviti—to share their vision of the future and explore how today’s big ideas will impact business over the next decade and beyond.

In this episode of Board Perspectives, Sam Stark of Green Project and Michael Vigario of ACT Commodities join Protiviti’s Alyse Mauro Mason to discuss emissions reporting and demystify some of the common fears and misinterpretations in the market. They also talk about areas of opportunity for organizations.
Michael joined ACT in its North American infancy. Prior to ACT, he worked at several startups in New York, helping to scale and build the financial functions. Mike started his career at Deloitte and Barclays and is a New York state licensed CPA.
Sam founded Green Project three years ago after working in sustainability at Goldman Sachs. During that time, Sam saw financial institutions struggling to achieve accurate scope three emission calculations from their portfolio companies and suppliers, who tended to be less sophisticated in the greenhouse gas inventory space. Sam founded Green Project to be a more accessible software to help with scope three engagement.
Alyse is an Associate Director with Protiviti and helps lead the firm’s ESG and Sustainability practice.
For more information about Michael, visit his LinkedIn page: www.linkedin.com/in/michael-vigario/.  
For more information about Sam, visit his LinkedIn page: www.linkedin.com/in/sam-stark-818616104/.
For more information on this and other ESG topics, visit Protiviti.com/ESG. We also invite you to read our paper, Sustainability: Frequently Asked Questions: www.protiviti.com/us-en/research-guide/esg-sustainability-reporting.

In September 2023, California legislators passed the first mandatory climate disclosure bills in the United States. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the two climate-impact reporting measures into law on October 7, 2023. The measures are expected to have far-reaching effects not only for the U.S.-based businesses that are required to comply but also for their trading partners around the world.  
In this episode of Board Perspectives, Protiviti Associate Director Alyse Mauro Mason talks with Michael Littenberg and Marc Rotter from Ropes and Gray, along with Ricardo Buitron from Protiviti, about how these laws in California will affect organizations in and out of the state, as well as other regulatory considerations.  
Michael is a senior partner at Ropes and Gray. He is the global head of the firm's ESG, CSR and business and human rights practice and a member of the securities and public companies practice. He has more than 30 years of experience advising in these areas.  
Marc is a counsel at Ropes and Gray and also is a member of the securities and public companies practice. He has extensive experience advising leading companies and sponsors on their mandatory and voluntary ESG disclosures.  
Ricardo is an associate director with Protiviti and the financial services leader in our sustainability practice to support clients in their sustainability journey. His experience ranges from first-, second- and third-line program stand up and enhancement to sustainability report delivery.  
For more information on this and other ESG topics, visit Protiviti.com/ESG. We also invite you to read our paper, Sustainability: Frequently Asked Questions: www.protiviti.com/us-en/research-guide/esg-sustainability-reporting.