Directors Forum 2019 Agenda
SUNDAY, JANUARY 13, 2019
5:00pm – 6:00pm
Opening Cocktail Reception
Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego
6:00pm
Dinner and Keynote Speaker
Robert Jackson Jr., Commissioner, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2019
8:00am
Breakfast & Registration
8:30 – 9:40am
Plenary Session – The Shareholder Perspective
Moderator
Jon Lukomnik, Managing Partner, Sinclair Capital, LLC; Executive Director, Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute
Panelists
Aeisha Mastagni, Portfolio Manager, Corporate Governance, California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS)
Lyndon Park, Managing Director, Head of Governance Advisory Services, ICR, Inc.
Darren Robbins, Partner, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP
9:40 – 9:50am
Break
9:50 – 10:50am
Plenary Session – Global Risk Factors: Preparing for the Unpredictable
Moderator
Megan Gates, Co-Chair, Securities & Capital Markets Practice, Mintz
Panelists
Dr. John Howe, Director, Millendo Therapeutics, MAXIMUS Federal, Boston University, Texas Biomedical Research Institute
James A. Lawrence, Chair, Great North Star LLC; fmr Director, International Airline Group; Director, Avnet; Director, Smurfit Kappa; fmr Chair, Rothschild North America
Veena Ramani, Program Director, Capital Market Systems, Ceres, Inc.
10:50 – 11:00am
Break
11:00am – 12:00pm
Plenary Session – What Directors Need to Know about Blockchain
Moderator
Grainne McNamara, Principal, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Leader, PwC
Panelists
Jeff Mahony, CEO & Co-Founder, UBIQUICOIN
Patrick Schwerdtfeger, Business Futurist, Trend Mastery Inc.; Author, Anarchy, Inc.: Profiting in a Decentralized World with Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain
Amy Webb, Founder, Future Today Institute; Quantitative Futurist; Professor, NYU Stern School of Business; Author, The Big Nine: How The Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity
12:00 – 1:30pm
Lunch and Keynote Speaker
Ray Cameron, Head of Investment Stewardship – The Americas, BlackRock
1:30 – 1:40pm
Break
1:40 – 2:40pm
Plenary Session – The Evolution of Activism and What’s Ahead for Businesses of All Sizes
Moderator
Richard Bennett, President & CEO, ValueEdge Advisors: fmr CEO and Chairman, GMI Ratings
Panelists
Chris Cernich, Founding Partner & Managing Director, Strategic Governance Advisors; fmr Managing Director, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)
Andrew Shapiro, President, Lawndale Capital Management, LLC
Glenn W. Welling, Principal & Chief Investment Officer, Engaged Capital; Director, TiVo Corporation; Director, The Hain Celestial Group
2:40 – 2:50pm
Break
2:50 – 3:50pm
Case Study: The Board’s Role in Strategy – How Did GE Get it So Wrong?
Moderator
Michael Berthelot, Director, Fresh Del Monte Produce Company; CEO, Cito Capital Corp; Managing Principal, Corporate Governance Advisors, Inc.
Panelists
Natasha Lasensky; Project Manager, Software and Web Development, PINT, Inc.; MBA Candidate, UCSD Rady School of Management
Linda Riefler, Director, MSCI, Inc. & CSX Corporation; fmr Chairman of Global Research, Morgan Stanley
Paul Somers; Head of Programs, GKN Aerospace; MBA Candidate, UCSD Rady School of Management
David Swinford, President and CEO, Pearl Meyer & Partners
3:50 – 4:00pm
Break
4:00 – 5:00pm
Debate – Does it Make Sense to Mandate “Good”?
Moderator
Phillip Rudolph, EVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Jack in the Box Inc.
Debaters
Kimberly Gladman, Research Director, 50/50 Climate Project
5:00 – 5:30pm
Cocktail Reception
5:30pm
Dinner and Keynote Speaker
Lenny Comma, Chairman, President & CEO, Jack in the Box Inc.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2019
8:00am
Breakfast & Registration
9:00 – 10:00am
Keynote Speaker
Sally Q. Yates, Partner, Special Matters & Government Investigations, King & Spalding LLP; Former Deputy Attorney General, US Department of Justice in a Fireside Chat with Donald J. Rosenberg, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Qualcomm, Inc.
10:00 – 10:15am
Break
10:15 – 11:15am
Plenary Session – The International Director: Bringing the Global Perspective to Every Board
Moderator
Robert McCormick, Managing Director, PJT CamberView; fmr Chief Policy Officer, Glass Lewis & Company
Panelists
George Anderson, Partner, Lead for Board Effectiveness Services, Spencer Stuart
Ahmad Abu-Ghazeleh, Chair, United Cables Industries Company; Chair, Augustus Management International; CEO, ARABWINGS-International Wings Group; Vice Chair & CEO, Abdali Celemenceau Hospital Project
Karin Eastham, Director, Illumina, Inc.; Veracyte, Inc.; Geron Corporation
11:15 – 11:30am
Break
11:30 – 12:30pm
Keynote Speaker
John Carreyrou, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist & Author, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
12:30pm
Closing Remarks & Boxed Lunches
Corporate Directors Forum is a San Diego-based, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization founded in 1991. Its purpose is to help directors, and those who support them, build more effective boards through continuous learning and peer-networking. We believe that boards of directors are strategic assets of corporations, education makes better directors, better directors make boards more effective, and more effective boards make better corporations.