When Stakeholder Pressure Becomes Board Risk: Governing Reputation, Values, and Enterprise Resilience

This program will examine how directors can oversee reputational and stakeholder risk through a disciplined governance framework grounded in strategy, risk appetite, fiduciary accountability, and long-term value creation. The discussion will address the board’s role in setting clear escalation expectations, evaluating management reporting, assessing stakeholder and enterprise impact, maintaining appropriate board-management boundaries, and ensuring alignment among company values, strategy, communications, and public positioning.

Attendees will leave with practical boardroom questions and oversight approaches to address politically charged, socially sensitive, and reputationally consequential issues without becoming reactive, performative, or entangled in day-to-day management.

By the end of this program, attendees will be able to:

• Define the board’s oversight role in identifying and governing political, social, regulatory, stakeholder, and reputational risks that may affect enterprise value.

• Establish governance criteria for determining when to escalate a public policy, cultural, workforce, customer, investor, or reputational issue to the board.

• Evaluate the management reporting, risk indicators, stakeholder analysis, and decision frameworks directors need to exercise informed oversight.

• Apply appropriate board-management boundaries when overseeing high-profile or politically sensitive issues without assuming an operational role.

• Assess whether the organization’s strategy, risk appetite, values, communications, and public positioning are aligned and supported by sound governance.

• Strengthen fiduciary oversight by using practical boardroom questions to challenge assumptions, evaluate potential consequences, and protect long-term value.

Keynote Speaker

Cigdem Oktem

US Central Region Center for Board Matters Leader

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Cigdem is the EY US Central Region Center for Board Matters (CBM) Leader. She is thoughtful and thought-provoking in identifying and bringing critical issues to boards and CEOs who are grappling with today’s uncertain business environment as they transform for the future...

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Panelists

Rose McKinney-James

Managing Principal, Owner - McKinney-James & Associates

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Rose McKinney-James is an experienced independent Director. An established and long-term advocate for clean energy and climate policy, she is the former CEO for the Corporation for Solar Technology and Renewable Resources, (CSTRR), a former Commissioner with the Nevada Public Service Commission, and Nevada’s first Director of the Department of Business and Industry. …
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Jenny Kobin

Partner at Investor Relations Advisory Solutions

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Jenny Kobin is a seasoned corporate executive with 30 years of guiding management teams and boards on investor engagement, strategic messaging, capital markets strategy, and crisis communications - both in‑house and as a trusted external advisor...

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Deana Labriola

Partner, Fox Rothschild

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Deana is an experienced corporate transactional attorney who centers her practice on mergers, acquisitions, and debt and equity financing deals...

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