Top Women Board Directors and Global Business Leaders to Convene at WomenCorporateDirectors Global Institute

NEW YORK, April 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Boardroom hot-button issues from cybercrime to supply chain threats will lead the agenda for the WomenCorporateDirectors (WCD) Global InstituteMay 5-7 in New York City, where more than 275 top women board chairs, directors, and CEOs will convene for WCD's annual summit. These business leaders and other policy and security experts will discuss how boards around the world are stepping up to governance challenges as directors broaden their oversight of corporate risk and strive to be nimble amid rapid market and geopolitical changes. The evening of May 6 will be WCD's Visionary Awards Dinner; the awards honor public and private companies and CEOs who have advanced best practice in corporate governance.

New to the invitation-only Institute this year is the Family Business Governance Institute on May 5 – a day of programming around the particular challenges of governing family-run businesses and ensuring survival beyond the founder. Family-controlled firms make up 19% of the Fortune Global 500 – up from 15% in 2005 – and are more likely to have women in the CEO seat and in board seats than non-family companies.

On the agenda: How boards are using agility and innovation
"Companies are competing with everyone, everywhere for consumers, investors, talent, and more, while having to stay hyper-vigilant about new threats," says Susan Stautberg, CEO, co-founder, and global co-chair of WCD. To address how boards globally are strategically aligning to this reality, WCD has set the theme of the Institute to be "Agility and Innovation: How Directors Can Guide Companies in this Diverse, Globally Connected, and Technology-Enabled World."

Family Business Governance Institute – May 5
As part of the Institute's pre-program, WCD and KPMG, the Global Institute Lead Sponsor and WCD Global Lead Partner, are hosting the inaugural Family Business Governance Institute for women CEOs, directors, and shareholders of family businesses with revenues >$100 million. WCD has joined with KPMG to develop research and programming around family business issues, including family dynamics, succession planning, and ensuring survival beyond the first generations. A special WCD Thought Leadership Commission report – "Enduring across Generations: How Boards Drive Value in Family-owned Businesses" – will be issued right before the Global Institute.

Visionary Award winners
WCD has named as its 2015 Visionary Award winners:

Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company: top-performing utility company Sempra Energy
Award for Innovation in Shared Value: global biotech firm Biogen
Award for Strategic Leadership: Marilyn Carlson Nelson, former chairman and CEO of the global travel and hospitality company Carlson
Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company: L'Oreal, the largest cosmetics company in the world.

The awards will be presented to the CEOs the evening of May 6 at the invitation-only Visionary Awards dinner in New York.

Featured speakers
The Global Institute will feature speakers and panelists from six continents, including, among others:

Maggie Wilderotter (United States), Chairman, Frontier Communications; Member of the Board of Directors of Xerox Corporation, Procter & Gamble Company, and Juno Therapeutics, Inc.
Margaret Orakwusi (Nigeria), Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Morbod Group; Principal Partner of Margaret Onyema & Co. and Uptown Solicitors; Chairman of NIMAREX
Andrea Menezes (Brazil), Chief Executive Officer, Standard Bank Brazil
Undraa Agvaanluvsan (Mongolia), Executive Director, Strategy Academy; Director, Mongolian Oil Shale Company and SANA Technologies LLC
Maria Livanos Cattaui (Switzerland), Member, International Crisis Group, Institute of International Education; Former Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce
Clara Gaymard(France), Chief Executive Officer and President of GE France
Bea Perez(United States), Chief Sustainability Officer at The Coca-Cola Company; Director, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation, the USO, Save the Children, The Boy Scouts of America, Primerica, International Council on Women's Business Leadership and The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation
Christie Hefner(United States), Chairman of Hatch Beauty; Director, Center for American Progress, Luminary Digital; Former Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of Playboy Enterprises and Executive Chairman of Canyon Ranch Enterprises
Fatima Al Jaber(United Arab Emirates), Chief Operating Officer for the Al Jaber Group; Director, Al Jaber Group; Chairperson, UAE Businesswomen's Council
Cristina Finocchi Mahne(Italy), Professor of Economics of Banking and Industrial Groups, University of Rome La Sapienza; Outside Director, Natuzzi SpA; Non-Executive and Independent Director, Trevi Group; Director, Banco di Desio e della Brianza S.p.A.
Byoungok Sohn (Korea), President and Chief Executive Officer, Prudential Life Insurance Company of Korea, Chairman of Women In Innovation
Carmen Rosa Graham(Peru) (Moderator), Member of the Board of Backus (SABMiller Peru), Ferreycorp (CATerpilar dealer), Interbank, Entel Peru, Camposol (Agroindustry); Advisor in Corporate Governance

To apply for media credentials to cover the WCD Global Institute, please contact Suzanne Oaks Brownstein or Trang Mar of Temin and Company at 212-588-8788 or [email protected].

About the WCD Global Institute
The WomenCorporateDirectors (WCD) 2015 Global Institute is an unprecedented opportunity for global board directors to share corporate governance and business strategies and to build partnerships with a purpose, in a private, invitation-only setting.

The Institute is a two-day, high-powered idea forum exploring compelling issues on the minds of today's board directors and their companies. The program includes keynotes, panels, and discussion groups – as well as the WCD Visionary Awards Dinner – that facilitate informal peer exchanges.

About WomenCorporateDirectors (WCD)
WomenCorporateDirectors (WCD) is the only global membership organization and community of women corporate directors, comprised of more than 3,500 members serving on over 6,500 boards in 68 chapters around the world, with many more slated in the next two quarters. The aggregate market capitalization of public companies on whose boards WCD members serve is $8 trillion – if WCD were a country, its economy would be the world's third largest, behind only the U.S. and China. In addition, WCD members serve on numerous boards of large private companies globally.

WCD membership provides a unique platform for learning from the intellectual capital of accomplished women from around the world, and WCD's mission is to increase courage, candor, inclusion, and cohesion in the boardroom. KPMG is a Global Lead Sponsor of WCD. Spencer Stuart is a Premier Global Partner, and WCD Strategic Partners include Marriott International, Marsh & McLennan Companies, McGraw Hill Financial, and Pearl Meyer & Partners; WCD Alliance Partners include International Finance Corporation (IFC), JPMorgan Chase, and Northern Trust.

WCD has 68 global chapters, located in Arizona, Atlanta, Beijing, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Chile, Cleveland, Colombia, Columbus, Dallas/Fort Worth, Delhi, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greater Colorado, Greater New Mexico, Guatemala, Gulf Cooperation Council, Hanoi, Hawaii, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Houston, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kansas City, Kenya, London, Los Angeles/Orange County, Malaysia, Melbourne, Mexico, Milan, Minnesota, Morocco, Mumbai, Netherlands, New York, New Zealand, Nigeria, Northern California, North Florida/South Georgia, Panama, Peru, Philadelphia, Philippines, Quebec, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, San Diego, Sao Paulo, Seattle, Shanghai, Singapore, South Africa, South Florida, Spain, Switzerland, Sydney, Tennessee, Toronto, Turkey, Washington, D.C, and Western Canada. Upcoming chapters include Argentina, Australia, Brussels, Egypt, Greece, Mongolia, Poland, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Tampa, Thailand, and Uruguay. For more information, visit www.womencorporatedirectors.com.