Former Ambassador Susan Rice, Retired General Colin Powell to Headline Virtual NACD Summit

Reimagined Virtual NACD Summit 2020 Engages Broader Audience With Unique Virtual Format to Connect, Learn, and Be Inspired


WASHINGTON, July 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), the authority on boardroom practices representing more than 21,000 board members, today announced that former ambassador Susan Rice and General Colin Powell, US Army (Ret.), will join the Virtual NACD Summit 2020 (Summit) as featured speakers. This year’s event will run from October 12 through November 12, 2020, and engage a broader audience of members and nonmembers with its first ever virtual format.

This year’s Virtual Summit is complimentary to members, and—for the first time—it will be open to nonmembers for a fee. Mainstage programming will take place October 12–13, followed by five weeks of programming that will offer expert insights and discussions on topics ranging from global disruption and civil unrest to ESG and shareholder activism. The Summit will also include member-exclusive programming.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, so does the impact that it is having across organizations,” said Peter R. Gleason, CEO of NACD. “Boards are responding to many ongoing and emerging challenges―from business continuity to technology vulnerabilities. Now, more than ever, NACD’s Summit will play an invaluable role in fostering meaningful discussion. Importantly, it will arm directors with tools and solutions for managing the unique challenges and opportunities that boards find themselves facing today.” 

General Colin Powell, US Army (Ret.), served in the US Army for 35 years, rising to the rank of four-star general. He was President Ronald Reagan’s national security adviser, he chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff for both President George H. W. Bush and President Bill Clinton, and he served as the 65th secretary of state. He has received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, a French Legion of Honor award, and an honorary knighthood bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II. Powell is currently a strategic adviser at Kleiner Perkins, a director of Bloom Energy and Salesforce.com, on the museum council of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and on the Council on Foreign Relations.

Former ambassador Susan E. Rice is a distinguished visiting research fellow at American University’s School of International Service; a nonresident, senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government; and a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. Rice served as US national security adviser and US permanent representative to the United Nations under President Barack Obama, and from 2002 to 2008, she was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Rice currently serves on the board of directors for Netflix.

Additional speakers confirmed for NACD’s 2020 Summit include these:

  • Amy Wilkinson: Wilkinson is CEO of Ingenuity, a lecturer in management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and author of the global bestseller The Creator’s Code: The Six Essential Skills of Extraordinary Entrepreneurs (2016). She has worked with major corporations such as Google, IBM, Oracle, Porsche, and Hearst on their innovation initiatives. Her career spans leadership roles in strategy consulting at McKinsey & Company, mergers and acquisitions at J.P. Morgan, and as founder of Alegre, a cross-border export company. Wilkinson also has served as a White House Fellow and senior adviser to the US Trade Representative. Wilkinson chairs the board of consumer technology company Grover. In addition, she serves as an innovation expert for the World Economic Forum and The Wall Street Journal. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, an Eisenhower Fellow, and an Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation grantee.
  • Jennifer Golbeck: Golbeck is a computer scientist, director of the Social Intelligence Lab, and professor in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research focuses on analyzing and computing with social media and creating usable privacy and security systems. She writes for Slate and The Atlantic and frequently appears on National Public Radio, including as a regular guest host for The Kojo Nnamdi Show. Her TED talk was named one of the most powerful talks of 2014.

To learn more and to register, click here.

About NACD Summit
For more than 30 years, Summit has been regarded as the largest and most influential director forum in the world, attracting more than 1,800 attendees from across the globe to learn, be inspired, and connect with their peers. This year’s event will be the first time it has ever been held virtually. The Virtual NACD Summit 2020 will cover a range of era-defining issues, ideas, and insights that will continue to shape boardrooms around the globe in 2021 and beyond.

About NACD
The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) empowers more than 21,000 directors to lead with confidence in the boardroom. As the recognized authority on leading boardroom practices, NACD helps boards strengthen investor trust and public confidence by ensuring that today’s directors are well prepared for tomorrow’s challenges. World-class boards join NACD to elevate performance, gain foresight, and instill confidence. Fostering collaboration among directors, investors, and corporate governance stakeholders, NACD has been setting the standard for responsible board leadership for more than 40 years. To learn more about NACD, visit www.nacdonline.org.

Contact:
Susan Oliver
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