Courage and leadership
Navigating through unprecedented times
2021 Board Leadership Conference
Virtual Event
January 12–13, 2021
Registration is closed
Navigating through unprecedented times
Registration is closed. Questions, contact us
Corporate board directors:
Join us for the 2021 KPMG Board Leadership Conference for a discussion of the business and governance challenges shaping board and committee agendas during these unprecedented times.
The program will include preeminent leaders and thinkers who will share their views on critical lessons learned from a tumultuous 2020 and offer insights for navigating the uncertainties and opportunities ahead, including:
- Leadership in times of crisis
- U.S. economic outlook
- Post-election geopolitical landscape
- Corporate purpose
- Making a difference and a profit
Rethinking the boardroom dialogue
In addition to the live programing, several 20-minute short takes will be available on-demand on topics including ESG, diversity, succession planning, and cybersecurity, as well as tax and corporate responsibility.
Program at a glance
Monday, January 11
- Virtual conference opens for all day check-in
- Rethinking the boardroom dialogue, on-demand short takes are available for viewing
Tuesday, January 12–Wednesday, January 13
- Live general sessions. Keynote speakers, panel discussions
- Virtual peer exchanges—Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, and Nominating & Governance Committee—select your peer exchange at registration, spaces is limited and intended for sitting committee directors)
Thursday, January 14–Friday, January 15
- Playback recordings of all conference live general sessions
- Rethinking the boardroom dialogue, on-demand short takes are available for viewing
View full agenda
Agenda
Please note that all event times are in Eastern Standard Time.
| Date / Time | Event discussion topic | Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| Monday, January 11 | ||
| All day | Virtual Conference opens |
|
| Tuesday, January 12 - Live sessions | ||
1:00pm–2:00pm ET |
While the roll out of COVID-19 vaccines will mark a decisive step forward, an uneven economic recovery lies ahead, with particularly deep and disruptive impacts on certain parts of the economy. KPMG Chief Economist Constance Hunter will assess the economic landscape and challenges and opportunities ahead, including the outlook for consumer demand and jobs growth, post-election economic stimulus scenarios, and the critical drivers of growth and innovation in 2021. |
|
| 2:00pm–3:00pm ET | BREAK | |
3:00pm–4:00pm ET |
The resilience of Londoners during Germany’s bombing blitz in 1940—as chronicled in Erik Larson’s best-seller, The Splendid and the Vile—is legendary. How did they do it? What role did British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s leadership play in driving the national narrative and bolstering the nation’s resolve? What can be learned from Churchill about leadership and courage in times of crisis? In this fireside chat, David Axelrod and Erik Larson will consider lessons from Britain’s darkest year for today’s leaders. |
|
| 4:00pm–5:00pm ET | BREAK | |
5:00pm–6:00pm ET |
Making the world a better place – the power of food “A hot meal in a time of crisis is so much more than a plate of food.” José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen have been at the forefront of delivering food relief in the wake of natural and humanitarian disasters. Join us for an intimate conversation with Andrés—restauranteur and culinary innovator, author, educator, and humanitarian—on the power of food, innovation, and public-private collaboration to tackle food insecurity, empower communities, and strengthen economies. |
|
| Wednesday, January 13 - Live sessions | ||
1:00pm–2:00pm ET |
Emerging geopolitical and risk landscape From the global response to COVID-19 and the urgency of climate risk to the emerging “tech cold war” with China and a Biden Administration poised to reengage with multilateral institutions, companies face an array of geopolitical uncertainties and complexity not seen in 30 years. In this session, the Katty Kay, Ian Bremmer, and Richard Haass will delve into the geopolitical forces reshaping the global business landscape and driving corporate strategy and risk. |
|
| 2:00pm–2:10pm ET | BREAK |
|
| 2:10pm–3:00pm ET | Peer exchanges – Session 1 | |
| 3:00pm–3:10pm ET | BREAK | |
| 3:10pm–4:00pm ET | Peer exchanges – Session 2 | |
| 4:00pm–4:30pm ET | BREAK | |
4:30pm–5:30pm ET |
Making a difference, and a profit Companies are not in the business of playing the role of government—yet this perspective, former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi has noted, is “incomplete and doesn’t reflect the ambiguities of our 21st century world. The line between business and society is increasingly blurred.” Consumers, employees, and investors increasingly expect business leaders to run companies in a way that’s responsive to the needs of the world around us. In this fireside chat, Nooyi will share her thoughts and first-hand experience navigating this fundamental challenge facing corporations today: making a profit in a way that makes a difference. |
|
| Thursday, January 14 - Friday, January 15 | ||
| All day | Virtual conference site remains open |
|
Draft - Subject to change
Rethinking the boardroom dialogue: On-demand short takes series
| Short take / discussion topic | Speakers |
|---|---|
| A clean-sheet approach to board effectiveness – The KPMG 2020 U.S. CEO Outlook survey found that many CEOs see the COVID-19 era as an opportunity—if not an imperative—to go beyond incremental change. If the board created itself anew, how would it be designed to best provide guidance and oversight for the new reality? In this conversation, we challenge long-standing norms and practices of board operations and effectiveness—from meeting cadence and agendas, sources and relevance of information, and allocation of committee responsibilities to the board’s accountability, evaluation, and turnover. |
|
| CEO succession in a storm – Boards often identify CEO succession planning as ripe for improvement. Compounding the challenge, the disruptions from COVID-19, social unrest, and recession have required strategic pivots and resets—raising questions about whether the company has the right talent in the pipeline to execute on the company’s evolving strategy. In this session, we discuss how boards can create and maintain effective succession plans in the face of uncertainty, including the specter of emergency succession. |
|
| Chief diversity officers take center stage – The intensified focus on racial justice, diversity and inclusion, and corporate reputation have turned up the spotlight on the role of chief diversity officer (CDO) in building more diverse and inclusive workforces. This conversation focuses on the critical challenges facing CDOs and how the board can help champion their success by ensuring sufficient resources, stature, clear reporting lines, and accountability. |
|
| On the 2021 board and committee agendas – Highlights from KPMG’s recently released series, On the 2021 board and committee agendas. |
|
| Tackling climate change: a primer – With extreme weather around the world impacting business operations, risk management, governance, and strategy, the global dialogue on climate risk is rapidly becoming part of the boardroom dialogue. In this discussion, we consider how boards can help guide their organizations, from considering the risks and opportunities of climate change issues and climate risk disclosure to board oversight and shareholder engagement on climate as a rising investor concern and proxy issue. |
|
| Tax risk and transparency – Tax will continue to move higher on audit committee and board agendas, as the Biden Administration’s tax legislative agenda takes shape and coordinated global policy initiatives sharpen the focus on profit shifting, minimum levels of taxation, and transparency. In this discussion, we look at the emerging U.S. and international tax landscape and consider the implications for tax risk and responsibility—including the connection of tax to sustainability/ESG agendas and corporate reputation. |
|
| Telling your company’s ESG story – Institutional investors, public pension funds, employees, and other stakeholders are increasing their demands for companies to disclose meaningful data on how they are addressing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. But ESG ratings and reporting frameworks are numerous and can vary widely. In this dialogue, we consider how boards can help their companies can navigate the proliferation of metrics and take the initiative in telling their ESG story to their stakeholders with meaningful disclosures. |
|
| The comp committee’s aperture widens – The past 12 months have underscored that employee well-being and talent development are critical to corporate strategy and long-term success. As boards sharpen their focus on the oversight of human capital management, they are increasingly tasking the compensation committee to help provide holistic view of pay, people, and performance. This session will discuss how the compensation committee’s agenda is evolving to meet that need and stakeholders’ heightened expectations. |
|
| The future of work: focusing on the "what" instead of the "where" – With corporate America’s quick-response and accelerated shift to remote operations and flexible work arrangements largely in place, the focus on the “where” of work is giving way to the “what.” This discussion explores how boards are overseeing the challenges of creating a long-term strategy around this potentially profound transformation of the workplace—and work. |
|
Live session speakers
Featured speakers and
Rethinking the boardroom dialogue: short take series speakers
Manal Corwin
Principal in Charge, Washington National Tax, KPMG US
+1 202-533-3127Required fields
Email Me
Tanuja Dehne
President and CEO, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; Director, Advanced Disposal Services, Granite Point Mortgage
D’Anne Hurd
Director, Peckham Industries, Eileen Fisher, Martin Engineering; Trustee, Pax World Funds
John P. Gimigliano
Principal in Charge, Federal Legislative & Regulatory Services, KPMG US
+1 202-533-4022
F. Daniel Siciliano
Chairman, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Codex Fellow, Stanford Law School
Registration information
You will receive an automated Registration Confirmation e-mail upon submission of your online registration form. This will summarize your registration and it will contain a unique confirmation code and link, which must be used if you need to modify or cancel your registration
Conference fee
The conference fee includes full access to the virtual conference website, live keynote sessions, on-demand breakout sessions, all conference materials, virtual peer exchanges, attendee to attendee chat and more.
Fees: $350
Refund Policy: Full refunds will be available for all cancellations up until two weeks prior to the program start date.
Continuing professional education
CPE Credits
For the purposes of continuing professional education (CPE) credits, this course is CPE-eligible and worth approximately 5 credits. The anticipated eligibility of this learning event and the estimated number of CPE credits will be provided once the agenda has been finalized. No prerequisites or advanced preparation are required to attend this program. For questions regarding CPE credits for this event, please contact BLC at us-kpmgmktblc@KPMG.com.
NACD Credits
Additionally, this conference is eligible for NACD skill-specific credits good towards either Fellowship program. For questions regarding these credits or the NACD Fellowship, please contact NACD at Fellowships@NACDonline.org.
Recorded sessions are not eligilbe for continuing professional education credits.
Program specifications
Estimated CPE credits: This program is worth approximately 5–6 CPE credits.
Target audience: Board directors
Program level: This conference is classified as an update.
Advanced preparation & prerequisites: There are no prerequisite or advanced preparation requirements for this conference.
Instructional delivery method: This will be a Group-Live (moderator-led) conference.
Conference host
KPMG Board Leadership Center
The KPMG Board Leadership Center (BLC) champions outstanding governance to help drive long-term corporate value and enhance investor confidence. Through an array of programs and perspectives—including the KPMG Audit Committee Institute, the WomenCorporateDirectors Foundation, and more—the BLC engages with directors and business leaders to help articulate their challenges and promote continuous improvement of public- and private-company governance. Drawing on insights from KPMG professionals and governance experts worldwide, the BLC delivers practical thought leadership—on risk and strategy, talent and technology, globalization and compliance, financial reporting and audit quality, and more—all through a board lens.
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