Webinar: Sustainability, ESG, and Corporate Social Responsibility and The Board: What Governance Professionals Should Know

The global trend to sustainability is underway. More companies and their boards understand the ways in which good sustainability performance can both protect and create shareholder value. That is why corporate secretaries and governance professionals are supporting their boards to enhance their sustainability stewardship and oversight roles.

Recognizing this board governance shift, Governance Professionals of Canada granted its first Excellence in Governance Award in board sustainability governance to The Co-operators in 2016.

It is becoming increasingly important for boards to enable and oversee sustainability across all organizations. Hear directly from the Corporate Secretary and the Board Sustainability Committee Chair of The Co-operators on their award-winning approach to Sustainability Governance.

The session will address the changing corporate governance landscape which is making sustainability governance a legal imperative and a way of managing business continuity and brand and reputation risks. The webinar will present high-level findings from research into the Governance Professional and the Corporate Secretary’s role in this important business trend.

Why you should Attend

1. Understand the drivers of the governance professional’s mandate in sustainability governance
2. Learn about the legal corporate governance context which is contributing to this business imperative
3. Hear about how one board is responding to this trend and the role that the governance professional is playing to enhance board effectiveness in this area
4. Be informed of options and practices a governance professional can pursue to enhance board sustainability oversight and create value for the organization. 
   

Presenters:

Coro Strandberg is President of Strandberg Consulting. She has over 25 years of experience coaching companies, governments and industry associations on strategies to embed sustainability into business. She specializes in integrating sustainability into board governance, business models, corporate strategy, human resources, community investment, procurement and finance. Her 20 years of experience as a corporate director, includes as Director and Chair of the Board of Vancity Credit Union, where she helped establish a sustainability governance system. Coro conducted ground-breaking research for the Conference Board of Canada on the role of the Board in sustainability governance, developed the first standard for sustainable boards, advises boards and corporate secretaries on sustainability governance and is a faculty member of the Director’s College, training directors on CSR and the role of the board. For the UN Global Compact she is developing global guidance for corporate secretaries and governance committees on sustainability governance. She was recognized by Canada’s Clean50 as the top sustainability consultant in Canada in 2015 for her sustainability impacts.

Dr. Carol Liao is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria, where she specializes in business law and corporate social responsibility. Her research has been widely published in over 14 peer-reviewed books and academic journals, and has been cited in the Director Journal, Business in Vancouver, and the Financial Post, among others. She is a past recipient of the Robert Bertram Award issued by the Canadian Foundation for Governance Research and Institute of Corporate Directors. Prior to academia, she was a senior associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group of Shearman & Sterling LLP (New York), one of the world's leading global law firms.

Carmel Bellamy is Corporate Secretary and Senior Director, Member & Co-operative Relations, The Co-operators. Carmel provides strategic and operational governance leadership to The Co-operators Board of Directors and the Committees of the Board. In this role, she is accountable for the planning and execution of duties of the Office of the Corporate Secretary and leads the development and delivery of corporate policies, programs and processes to enhance Board/Director performance and effectiveness. She also oversees effective communication, engagement and relations with The Co-operators member organizations and co-operative affiliates. Carmel is a Board member of Governance Professionals of Canada.

Phil Baudin is a Board Director of The Co-operators Insurance Group and the Chair of the Board’s Sustainability & Citizenship Committee. Phil has led a variety of sustainability-driven organizations, including as Executive Director of Modo the Car Co-op, past Chair of the International Car Sharing Association, and past Chair of the Environment Advisory Committee for the Municipality of West Vancouver. Over the course of his business career, Phil held senior management positions at IBM, executive leadership positions in professional service firms, and has extensive experience as a business consultant to large national service organizations. Phil has a Commerce Degree from the University of Manitoba and is active in the areas of sustainability, co-operatives and community service.

Webinar details:

Webinar details will follow closer to event date and will be emailed to the email that was registered with.