CFO Alliance: Corporate Governance Symposium Series – NY

The CFO Alliance, The National Center for the Middle Market, GE Capital, and Drinker Biddle is bringing you the 2014 Corporate Governance Symposium. We will be openly discussing the board’s role in Corporate Strategy, Succession Planning, IT Governance, and Risk Management.

This Symposium will assist executives, owners, and investors from privately held companies in establishing effective and practical systems for managing corporate governance issues. While many public company corporate governance requirements can be considered the benchmark best practices for private companies, The CFO Alliance, in conjunction with The National Center for the Middle Market, GE Capital, and Drinker Biddle understand that there is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach to the issues facing privately held enterprises. It is our goal, beginning with this Symposium, to provide private companies and their owners, investors and executives with guidance on best practices for formation of a board, function and performance of a board, succession planning and what role they play in setting and executing growth strategies.

Agenda
1:45 – 2:15        Arrival & Registration
2:15 – 2:30        Welcome & Announcements
2:30 – 3:30        Panel Discussion
3:30 – 4:15        Roundtable Discussion
4:15 – 5:00        Board Room Style Group Discussion
5:00        Cocktail Reception

Facilitators:

Nick Araco – CEO of the CFO Alliance

Nick Araco, Jr., is an established thought-leader and a highly regarded connecter across the United States. Having already empowered the decision-making of thousands of C-suite executives across the country, Nick and his team continue to architect new knowledge-sharing models for top executives, incorporating the collective wisdom of peers, subject matter experts, and academic authorities to power confident decision making and to fuel innovation and growth.
Nick uses the ever-expanding network of more than 5,000 members of The CFO Alliance to stay connected and in-tune with the issues that keep business leaders ‘up at night.’ Nick wears many hats in his day-to-day roles as the Co-Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of The CFO Alliance, as well as serving as the Director of Growth Strategies at Drinker, Biddle & Reath, an AmLaw 100 firm.

Nickearned his JD and was a practicing attorney for a number of years. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, with a concentration in Finance, from Loyola University in Maryland. He and his wife and three children have always called Philadelphia home, but it’s clear that Nick has a unique way of feeling at home no matter where he is.

Thomas A. Stewart – Executive Director, The National Center for the Middle Market

Thomas A. Stewart is the Executive Director of the National Center for the Middle Market, the leading source for knowledge, leadership and research on mid-sized companies, based at the Fisher College of Business and in collaboration with The Ohio State University and GE Capital. Stewart is an influential thought leader on global management issues and ideas: an internationally recognized editor and publisher, authority on intellectual capital and knowledge management, and a best-selling author.

Before joining the National Center for the Middle Market, Stewart served as Chief Marketing and Knowledge Officer for international consulting firm Booz & Company (now called Strategy&), overseeing the firm’s intellectual agenda, major research projects, and strategy + business magazine. Prior to that, he was for six years the Editor and Managing Director of Harvard Business Review, leading it to multiple finalist nominations for a National Magazine Award. He earlier served as the Editorial Director of Business 2.0 magazine and as a member of Fortune’s Board of Editors.

He is the author of two books, Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations and The Wealth of Knowledge: Intellectual Capital and the Twenty-first Century Organization, published by Doubleday Currency in 1998 and 2003, respectively. He has contributed chapters to four other books and published articles in Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Business 2.0, the Financial Times, BNET, and elsewhere. A twelve-time participant in the World Economic Forum, he has delivered lectures and seminars across the U.S. and in more than two dozen countries worldwide.

Stewart is a summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College and holds an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Cass Business School, City University London.

Panelists:

Doug Raymond – Partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath

Doug Raymond has been a corporate lawyer for more than 25 years and has been consistently singled out as among the top lawyers in his field by Chambers USA, “Best Lawyers in America” and the Legal 500. He has been described as “an excellent advisor who stands out for his practical and solution-oriented advice” and praised for his “excellent business sense and problem-solving abilities.” He has also been endorsed by Practical Law Company. Doug was formerly a Managing Partner of the firm and served as the chairman of its Corporate and Securities Practice Group for over 10 years, stepping down recently to return to the full-time practice of law.

Much of Doug’s work is transactionally focused — on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings and joint ventures — and is driven by his relationships with his clients. Doug focuses on understanding his clients’ businesses and industries, their objectives and how they want to achieve them. He is dedicated to helping his clients accomplish their goals, effectively and efficiently. Doug works extensively on matters of corporate governance for both public and private companies, and advises boards of directors and special board committees across a range of challenges. Doug has advised boards facing many significant challenges, including hostile takeover advances and proxy fights, and the adoption of protective measures including shareholder rights plans and defensive bylaw provisions. He has also represented boards and special committees in special investigations, “going private” and other conflict‐of‐interest transactions, as well as in special investigations and responding to whistleblowers. Doug writes a regular column on governance matters for Directors & Boards magazine, which highlights his pragmatic approach to boardroom issues.

Doug also works with the firm’s clients on their M&A activities, as well as joint ventures and other strategic relationships where he brings to bear his industry knowledge, deep understanding of our clients and their objectives, and his focus on getting the job done. He is experienced in public acquisitions and sales, cross-border transactions and strategic joint ventures.Doug has particular experience in auction processes, both as a buyer and a seller, and he has represented corporations in fending off hostile and other unwanted advances.
Doug began working on public offerings in 1986, after joining Drinker Biddle from a Third Circuit clerkship, and since then has represented issuers raising billions of dollars in securities transactions. In addition to securities offerings, Doug regularly advises clients about disclosure and compliance questions under the securities laws and rules of the NYSE and NASDAQ. Difficult disclosure issues can arise suddenly and without advance warning, and often require immediate solutions. Doug’s long experience with such issues has given him the judgment and perspective to address such issues as they arise. In addition to counseling his clients in connection with securities issuances, he has a considerable history in the securitization of financial assets.

In General. Following college, Doug worked as a commercial lender. After receiving his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School magna cum laude, Doug clerked for Judge Walter K. Stapleton on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Doug graduated from Harvard College with a degree in classics and is a member of the boards of directors of the Philadelphia History Museum and National Community Capital Advisors.

Rob Sher – Founding Principal of CEO to CEO

Robert Sher is founding principal of CEO to CEO, a consulting firm of former chief executives that accelerates the performance of midsized companies by improving their leadership infrastructure. Based in San Ramon, Calif., CEO to CEO has worked with the executive teams at more than 80 companies across the U.S., including skincare products seller Rodan + Fields, mobile phone accessories retailer Cellairis, law firm Hanson Bridgett, and cloud services provider GoGrid.

A frequent speaker on the successful leadership traits and skills of CEOs of midsized companies, Robert has been published in the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, CFO, and other leading publications. He is a regular columnist on Forbes.com and published a multipart series on HBR.org. He published his first book in 2007, The Feel of the Deal: How I Built a Company through Acquisitions (1toPonder). MIGHTY MIDSIZED COMPANIES: How Leaders Overcome 7 Silent Growth Killers is his second book.

Prior to launching CEO to CEO in 2007, Robert was chief executive and co-founder of Bentley Publishing Group from 1984 to 2006. He steered the firm to become a leading player in its industry (decorative art publishing). He led the acquisitions of four competitors between 1999 and 2004 and left Bentley two years later. The firm merged with Global Arts in 2011 to form Bentley Global Art Group.

Robert is involved in two Northern California associations for midsized businesses. He has been a director of the Alliance of Chief Executives since 2007 and president and board member of the Association for Corporate Growth San Francisco.

Robert received a B.S. degree in business administration from Hayward State University in 1986 (during which he ran a small business), and an MBA degree from St. Mary’s College in 1988, where he was the recipient of the Jack Saloma Award for student citizenship. From 1995 to 2000, he taught MBA and executive MBA courses at St. Mary’s on growing entrepreneurial businesses.