ESG Mindset – A Conversation with Matthew Sekol

In this episode of Board Perspectives, our guest is Matthew Sekol, a sustainability global black belt on Microsoft's cross-industry team. Matthew leads Microsoft's Sustainability Partners to help companies understand their challenges through data.In 2024, Matthew released a book called ESG Mindset, a guide for companies to think critically about ESG and take a holistic approach to the business. Matthew also serves on the LP Advisory Committee of Morgan Stanley's Next Level fund, which invests in diverse-led and founded startups.In this podcast, Protiviti Associate Director Alyse Mauro Mason talks to Matthew about the ESG mindset, technology and where we are headed.Alyse is an Associate Director with Protiviti and helps lead the firm’s ESG and Sustainability practice.  For further information on this and other sustainability topics, visit www.protiviti.com/esg. We also invite you to read our paper, Sustainability FAQ Guide: An Introduction: www.protiviti.com/us-en/research-guide/esg-sustainability-reporting.

Our Blind Spots in the Boardroom series is focused on critical business issues that can significantly impact an organization's strategy and operations, particularly those that the board and/or C-suite are not focused on at all or enough.In this episode, Protiviti Managing Director Frank Kurre and Lance Mangum, Staff Vice President of Government Affairs at FedEx Corporation, discuss blind spots related to government affairs and geopolitical risk. They share great insights into where and how to recruit board members that have expertise in policy and geopolitical risks.Lance is a Corporate Officer, Vice President for Government Affairs and Chief Lobbyist at FedEx Corporation. Lance oversees the department and strategy that advances the government, political, public policy, and diplomatic interests of FedEx. He also coordinates public policy issues and engagements between FedEx’s International, State and Local, Regulatory, Legal, and Public Affairs Departments.With more than 40 years of experience in consulting, Frank guides Protiviti’s global board, CEO and alumni programs. He is also a senior advisor to Protiviti's Global Private Equity and Public Sector (Not for Profit) practices and leads several of the firm's strategic accounts. During his career, Frank has advised more than 200 boards – including many Fortune 1000 companies, and Russell 1000 and Russell 2000 public companies – on board governance, finance, financial reporting, internal audit, leadership development, risk management, and strategic planning.   Thoughts shared by Lance and Frank during this episode are their own personal viewpoints to share experience, expertise and insights with us. Their discussion is intended for general information only and is not intended as legal analysis or advice. Companies should seek legal counsel on specific questions as they relate to their unique circumstances.  For further information on this and other relevant topics for the boardroom, visit our Board and C-Suite Leadership insights collection on Protiviti’s website.  For information about Frank and to contact him, visit www.protiviti.com/us-en/frank-kurre.  For more information about Lance and to contact him, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/lancemangum/.

Our Blind Spots in the Boardroom series is focused on critical business issues that can significantly impact an organization's strategy and operations, particularly those that the board and/or C-suite are not focused on at all or enough.In this episode, Protiviti Managing Directors Frank Kurre and Chad Volkert discuss legal blind spots and how to proactively prepare for potential investigations and litigation, including discussions around when and how the board should be engaged.Volkert serves as Protiviti’s Global Legal Consulting Leader and has been with both Protiviti and Robert Half (Protiviti’s parent company) for nearly 25 years providing legal-based solutions for corporate clients and law firms.  With more than 40 years of experience in consulting, Kurre guides Protiviti’s global board, CEO and alumni programs. He is also a senior advisor to Protiviti's Global Private Equity and Public Sector (Not for Profit) practices and leads several of the firm's strategic accounts. During his career, Kurre has advised more than 200 boards – including many Fortune 1000 companies, and Russell 1000 and Russell 2000 public companies – on board governance, finance, financial reporting, internal audit, leadership development, risk management, and strategic planning.   For further information on this and other relevant topics for the boardroom, visit our Board and C-Suite Leadership insights collection on Protiviti’s website.For information about Frank and to contact him, visit www.protiviti.com/us-en/frank-kurre. For more information about Chad and to contact him, visit www.protiviti.com/us-en/charles-volkert-iii-esq.

An increasingly important issue for board members to address today is sustainability – specifically, sustainable sourcing and operations. These challenges not only have global compliance implications, but also brand and reputation issues, which are especially important to the board.In this episode, we speak with Protiviti’s Radhi Subramanian and Debjani Mallick about strategic and sustainable sourcing, including the why’s and how’s of the role of the board of directors.Radhi has over 20 years of experience in operationalizing technology and digital transformations across industry, academia, start-ups, technology and consulting organizations. Her specialty is value realization at the intersection of business, technology and emerging trends. Radhi serves as the Sustainable Operations lead for Protiviti’s ESG group, focusing on building supply chain innovation capabilities to accelerate the journey to value realization.Debjani is a Senior Manager within the ESG and Supply Chain practice areas of Protiviti's Business Performance Improvement practice. Her primary focus is to develop the firm’s Sustainable Operations business solution.For further information on this and other sustainability topics, visit www.protiviti.com/esg.We also invite you to read our paper, Sustainability FAQ Guide: An Introduction: www.protiviti.com/us-en/research-guide/esg-sustainability-reporting.

In this episode of Board Perspectives, Sam Stark of Green Project and Michael Vigario of ACT Commodities join Protiviti’s Alyse Mauro Mason to discuss emissions reporting and demystify some of the common fears and misinterpretations in the market. They also talk about areas of opportunity for organizations.Michael joined ACT in its North American infancy. Prior to ACT, he worked at several startups in New York, helping to scale and build the financial functions. Mike started his career at Deloitte and Barclays and is a New York state licensed CPA.Sam founded Green Project three years ago after working in sustainability at Goldman Sachs. During that time, Sam saw financial institutions struggling to achieve accurate scope three emission calculations from their portfolio companies and suppliers, who tended to be less sophisticated in the greenhouse gas inventory space. Sam founded Green Project to be a more accessible software to help with scope three engagement.Alyse is an Associate Director with Protiviti and helps lead the firm’s ESG and Sustainability practice.For more information about Michael, visit his LinkedIn page: www.linkedin.com/in/michael-vigario/.  For more information about Sam, visit his LinkedIn page: www.linkedin.com/in/sam-stark-818616104/.For more information on this and other ESG topics, visit Protiviti.com/ESG. We also invite you to read our paper, Sustainability: Frequently Asked Questions: www.protiviti.com/us-en/research-guide/esg-sustainability-reporting.

In September 2023, California legislators passed the first mandatory climate disclosure bills in the United States. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the two climate-impact reporting measures into law on October 7, 2023. The measures are expected to have far-reaching effects not only for the U.S.-based businesses that are required to comply but also for their trading partners around the world.  In this episode of Board Perspectives, Protiviti Associate Director Alyse Mauro Mason talks with Michael Littenberg and Marc Rotter from Ropes and Gray, along with Ricardo Buitron from Protiviti, about how these laws in California will affect organizations in and out of the state, as well as other regulatory considerations.  Michael is a senior partner at Ropes and Gray. He is the global head of the firm's ESG, CSR and business and human rights practice and a member of the securities and public companies practice. He has more than 30 years of experience advising in these areas.  Marc is a counsel at Ropes and Gray and also is a member of the securities and public companies practice. He has extensive experience advising leading companies and sponsors on their mandatory and voluntary ESG disclosures.  Ricardo is an associate director with Protiviti and the financial services leader in our sustainability practice to support clients in their sustainability journey. His experience ranges from first-, second- and third-line program stand up and enhancement to sustainability report delivery.  For more information on this and other ESG topics, visit Protiviti.com/ESG. We also invite you to read our paper, Sustainability: Frequently Asked Questions: www.protiviti.com/us-en/research-guide/esg-sustainability-reporting.

Artificial intelligence, including but not limited to generative AI, has taken the world by storm over the past year, with organizations worldwide scrambling to identify where and how it can be used to strengthen their businesses and grow competitive advantage. Without question, as companies move quickly to employ these technologies, ESG issues come into play at a number of levels, from sustainability reporting to social and governance risks that must be managed.  In this episode of Board Perspectives, Protiviti Associate Director Alyse Mauro Mason talks with Protiviti Managing Directors Christine Livingston and Mark Carson about AI and how it can be used in sustainability, some examples of use cases, and where you can leverage AI to identify opportunities and risk.  Christine is responsible for artificial intelligence/machine learning and innovation solutions at Protiviti. With over a decade of experience in AI/ML deployment, she has delivered hundreds of successful AI solutions, including many first-in-class AI-enabled applications. She has helped several Fortune 500 companies develop practical strategies for enterprise adoption of new and emerging technology, including the creation of AI-enabled technology roadmaps. She focuses on identifying emerging technology opportunities, developing innovation strategies and incorporating AI/ML capabilities into enterprise solutions.  Mark leads Protiviti’s Data and Analytics Strategy practice and is the Americas lead for ESG data and tooling, leveraging a culmination of experiences from over 20 years of delivering business value through the design, build, deployment, change management and operations of innovative data and analytics solutions.  Learn more about Christine at www.protiviti.com/us-en/christine-livingston.  Learn more about Mark at www.protiviti.com/us-en/mark-carson.For more information on this and other ESG topics, visit Protiviti.com/ESG. We also invite you to read our paper, Sustainability: Frequently Asked Questions: www.protiviti.com/us-en/research-guide/esg-sustainability-reporting.

In this episode, hosted by Protiviti Associate Director Alyse Mauro Mason, we focus on financial inclusion, defining financial inclusion and its impact, what it means for your business, and how to manage the risk of more inclusive credit and lending practices.Alyse’s guests are Tracie Anderson of TransUnion and Shelley Metz-Galloway of Protiviti.Tracie is Principal, Economic Inclusion Strategy, U.S. Markets at TransUnion. She leads the development and execution of strategies to fulfill TransUnion’s ongoing commitment to advance financial inclusion. In her role as principal in U.S. markets, Tracie collaborates with stakeholders internally and externally to cultivate commercial and community relationships focused on driving sustainable financial returns and social good by expanding opportunities with underserved consumers. These opportunities create inclusive and equitable pathways where more consumers can successfully use financial services and products to enhance their quality of life.Shelley is a managing director and U.S. regulatory compliance lead with Protiviti. She has more than 30 years in the financial services industry and offers expertise in consumer regulatory compliance, enforcement, action response and remediation compliance, and fair lending and UDAAP risk assessments, as well as compliance management systems, program development, business performance and risk analytics, strategic planning, and process reengineering. As a leader of Protiviti’s Multicultural, ESG and Racial Equity Advisory Council, Shelley also conducts audits for clients interested in assessing their diversity, equity and inclusion program effectiveness and remediating DEI gaps.Tracie and Shelley join this podcast in their personal capacity to share their experience, expertise and insights with us.Contact Alyse at [email protected]. Contact Tracie at www.linkedin.com/in/tracie-anderson-b77b204/. Contact Shelley at [email protected] For more information on this and other ESG topics, visit Protiviti.com/ESG.

A core component of the ESG program in any organization is diversity, equity and inclusion. Different organizations take different approaches to DEI, or DEIB. There is no one way to be a leader. But what does matter is consistency and commitment, particularly the concepts around diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and how they continue to evolve. Such a commitment is especially vital given the ongoing war for talent and the need to attract and retain people to your organization.In this episode, we talk with Andaye Hill-Espinoza and Alfredo Mendez, two leaders in our enterprise who offer some highly informative insights on DEIB and how board members and executives need to understand its long-term value.Andaye is an associate director with Protiviti and a leader in the firm's ESG Center of Excellence and DEI programs. Alf is vice president, DEI and community for Robert Half, parent company of Protiviti.For more information on Protiviti’s ESG and Sustainability programs, visit Protiviti.com/ESG.Contact Andaye at [email protected] Alf at [email protected] more board-focused thought leadership from Protiviti, visit www.protiviti.com/gl-en/board-leadership-collection.

Data management is a critical component of an organization’s reporting and required disclosures, whether they are for regulatory authorities or stakeholders. The needs are no different when it comes to environmental, social and governance (ESG) – an area of growing global importance for organizations worldwide. In this podcast, Protiviti Associate Director Alyse Mauro Mason interviews Protiviti Managing Directors Mark Carson and Zachary Unger on a topic that is growing rapidly in importance in the ESG space, namely effective data governance and management. Mark is a leader in Protiviti’s enterprise data and analytics practice and is the America’s lead for ESG data and tooling. Zach leads Protiviti’s global team focused on ESG reporting. Alyse is a leader with the firm’s ESG practice. Contact Alyse at [email protected]. Contact Mark at [email protected]. Contact Zach at [email protected]. For more information on this and other ESG topics, visit Protiviti.com/ESG.