Boardroom

Governance Intelligence recently presented its18th annual Corporate Governance Awardsat a gala ceremony this past November in New York City. Live from the red carpet, we spoke with several esteemed guests from across the world of GRC, includingKevin Bohl,senior vice president, deputy generalcounseland assistant corporate secretary at Ventas. In our discussion, Bohl describes the company’s nomination as a ‘great honor’ while sharing some of the big themes that Venta’s shareholders have been engaging with in 2025. The awards celebrate outstanding achievements by the governance profession in areas such as hosting AGMs, compliance and ethics programs, ESG reporting, entity management, use of…

New disclosure data shows how quickly corporate language can shift as boards respond to legal, regulatory and investor pressure Only 36 percent of the top 100 US companies mentioned the word ‘diversity’ in human capital management disclosures – compared to 96 percent who did so in 2024 – according to a new report which demonstrates the speed of change in priorities for US firms. The 63 percentage-point decline from year to year was matched across US stock indices, with diversity references falling 60 percent among S&P 500 companies and 51 percent among the Russell 3000, according to law firm A&O…

Lori Zyskowski shares her thoughts on the biggest issues facing governance professionals in 2026 Governance Intelligence recently presented its18th annual Corporate Governance Awardsat a gala ceremony this past November in New York City. Live from the red carpet, we spoke with several esteemed guests from across the world of GRC, including Lori Zyskowski, partner at Gibson Dunn Zyskowski reflects on the biggest opportunities and challenges of 2025, what she would be looking for if she were to be a judge for the awards and what’s top of mind heading into 2026. The awards celebrate outstanding achievements by the governance profession…

BlackRock’s updates its stewardship expectations for 2026 following criticism of its decarbonization plans in New York BlackRock will renew its focus on long-term financial performance and take a more pragmatic approach to environmental policies at investee companies in 2026, according to its updated US Stewardship guidelines for 2026, as proxy advisers and companies continue to react to political pressure. The revisions arrive after the asset manager received public criticism from New York City comptroller Brad Lander, who in 2025 urged city pension boards to consider dropping BlackRock, Fidelity and PanAgora over what he described as inadequate decarbonization plans. Against that…

Legal departments have automated contracts and e-discovery but unsecured intake forms leave sensitive work exposed and governance at risk. Corporate legal departments have embraced technology transformation. Contract lifecycle management systems handle thousands of agreements. E-discovery platforms process millions of documents. Legal operations dashboards track spend and matter progression in real time. Yet, the mechanism by which most legal work enters the department − internal intake forms and request systems − remains startlingly unsecured. For general counsel and chief legal officers (CLO) at US-based corporations, this represents more than a technical oversight. It’s a governance blind spot with consequences that mirror…

Newly public companies are holding onto IPO-era governance protections far longer than investors anticipate Some 88 percent of companies adopt classified boards immediately following their IPO, while 80 percent of those who remain publicly listed hold onto the governance structure, new research shows. The statistic from Cooley’s Post-IPO Governance Trends 2025 report – which surveyed 225 US-based, post-IPO companies – underscores one of the clearest themes in the study: newly public companies continue to hold tight to protective governance structures long after going public. Classified boards are not the only IPO-era protection that proves durable. Supermajority voting requirements remain widespread,…

The New York event brought together top governance professionals in an era when change can be quick and new stakeholders are entering the arena The governance and shareholder services community is mourning the passing of Joseph (Joe) Contorno, a long-time industry executive who passed away peacefully in his sleep on October 27, 2025. He was 79. Over a career spanning nearly three decades, Contorno was widely regarded as a trusted advisor, mentor and colleague across the proxy advisory and investor relations fields. He most recently served as vice president of sales at The Nuvo Group, a position he had held…

OnBoard has launched its new AI Suite marking a major step toward fully integrating AI throughout the entire board meeting lifecycle Last week marked a major milestone for OnBoard and for every board and leadership team we serve. We’ve officially launched the AI Suite, our packaged offering of OnBoard AI features that includes Agenda AI, Book AI and Minutes AI.  This is more than a product launch. It’s the realization of a vision we’ve been building toward for years: threading AI through the entire board meeting life cycle, from agenda creation to post-meeting minutes, in a way that enhances human judgment while protecting organizational intelligence.  Threading AI through the board…

As AI continues to reshape the corporate landscape, governance professionals are presented with a critical opportunity to reposition themselves as strategic enablers within the boardroom. For board directors, company secretaries and governance teams, the integration of AI offers a pathway to move beyond traditional administrative functions and contribute more directly to strategic decision-making. Click hereto download the report >> By adopting AI-driven tools and processes, governance professionals can redirect their focus toward higher-value activities, enhancing board effectiveness in navigating complexity, uncertainty and rapid change. In this Governance Intelligence blueprint – developed in partnership with Diligent – readers will gain exclusive…