There’s a rising interest in corporate ESG initiatives as more and more corporations, and their investors, come to understand that aligning business practices with employee, customer and community values is ultimately in the best interest of the company. Leading legal teams are hard at work with their corporate management as they focus on new ESG initiatives centered around employee and community well-being, economic and environmental accountability, and racial justice reforms.

While some companies define their ESG agenda by identifying the standards below which they cannot fall, this program brings togethers leaders in the ESG realm who are asking not how low can we go, but how high can we fly?

GC Roundtable: ESG – What Do You Stand For?

This program brings together the GCs of Microsoft, Starbucks and Golden State Foods to discuss how they made ESG and related accountability initiatives a foundational component of their values-based leadership style and a distinguishing means for attracting and then engaging the best talent, who then work harder to assure the right results.

Speakers

• Dev Stahlkopf, CVP and General Counsel, Microsoft
• Rachel Gonzalez, EVP, General Counsel and Secretary, Starbucks
• John Page, SVP, Chief Legal Officer, Golden State Foods
• Carolyn Frantz, Senior Counsel, Orrick

Developing & Implementing an ESG Program

Creating an ESG program, or advancing an existing ESG program, can seem overwhelming.  This panel focuses on establishing a framework in which to develop your ESG program, regardless of stage, with an emphasis on governance and disclosure.

Speakers

• Jacob McQuown, VP, Associate General Counsel at Upwork
• Todd Cort, Faculty at Yale School of Management
• Yves Denizé, Senior Managing Director & Division General Counsel, Nuveen
• Ashley Walter, Partner at Orrick

ESG Governance and Board Oversight

With ESG issues growing in importance, and proxy advisors and investors expecting increased disclosure about Board governance of ESG, many public companies are re-considering their Board oversight. This panel will discuss considerations around delegating ESG issues to certain committees or keeping them at the full Board level, and how to ensure that directors have what they need to provide the most impactful oversight.

Speakers

• Carine Jean-Claude, Chief Compliance Officer & Interim CLO at Arrow Electronics
• Brian Yamasaki, VP, Corporate Legal and Secretary at PayPal
• Carolyn Frantz, Senior Counsel at Orrick

Building Stakeholder Value Through ESG

Investors are urging companies to build environmental, social, and governance (ESG) key performance indicators (KPIs) into their short and long-term corporate strategies as they have come to realize that ESG can have a material impact on an organization’s short- and long-term value. This panel will offer a practical guide for developing a framework for identifying ESG KPIs and understanding how such KPIs can work in conjunction with a company’s other performance goals and the company’s business plan as a whole.

Speakers

• David Kanarek, VP, Group Counsel in General Counsel’s Organization at American Express
• Derek Windham, VP, Associate General Counsel at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
• J.T. Ho, Partner at Orrick

ESG in the Global Context – An Interview with Craig Katerberg

Craig Katerberg, Chief Legal and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Budweiser APAC, joins Susan Hackett from his new posting in China and Hong Kong, to dive into a discussion of his role and perspectives as an American-born GC who’s spent a significant portion of his career working in other countries, cultures, and legal systems. Craig explores how ESG as many of us know it, plays out in different places and with different stakeholders around the world – since his personal and corporate commitment and priorities don’t change with the landscape.

Speakers

• Craig Katerberg, Chief Legal and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Budweiser APAC
• Susan Hackett, CEO, Legal Executive Leadership