What Directors Need to Know About Board Evaluations, Part Two

Dennis Cagan

Dennis Cagan is a director of Copper Mobile, Acorn Technologies, Truston, HeartStories, Inc., Tavros Technology, and is a recognized authority in the high-technology industry. He is a respected CEO, entrepreneur, professional board member, venture investor, mentor, consultant, and Shadow CEO™.  His career spans 46 years of founding and leading a wide variety of information technology, systems, software, services, distribution, and Internet firms.

Dennis has been on 49 corporate boards. He is currently authoring a series of articles on the dynamics of private and early-stage company boards of directors, three of which have been featured in Directors & Boards. He has done business in dozens of countries and has an impressive track record of both start-up and turnaround situations. He has founded over a dozen enterprises, and has participated in taking several public.

Since 1981 Dennis has delivered his services through his consulting firm Caganco Inc. He is currently active as chairman of Copper Mobile Inc., a respected developer of enterprise-grade mobile apps on all popular platforms, and two other technology start-ups. As a serial interim CEO, in 2011 Dennis served as president, CEO and managing member of NL Systems (dba Encryptics); in 2009-2010 as president and CEO of SureBooks; in 2005-2008 as chairman, CEO and president of TWL Corp. (OTC), and from 2000 to present as founder, chairman and CEO of the Santa Barbara Technology Group LLC, a private incubator and venture investment firm.

Between 1983-1995 Dennis provided consulting services to numerous technology companies, including AT&T, IBM, General Electric, and Xerox, and other smaller firms. In 1979 he had the honor of being the keynote speaker at the first COMDEX Show in Las Vegas. In 2011 he was inducted into the IT Hall of Fame - Channel Wing, administered by CompTIA.

Dennis currently serves on five corporate boards: chairman of Copper Mobile and SBTG, and director of Acorn Technologies, SmartReceipt, and Truston. He served in the USMC and is active in his church. He lives with his wife Angelia in Plano, Tex., with their youngest of four daughters.

Catherine Bromilow

Catherine Bromilow is a partner in PwC's Center for Board Governance and helps boards and audit committees apply leading practices and understand the impact of emerging regulations on their activities.  She has worked extensively with boards and directors from a number of countries, including the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Israel, Mexico, South Africa, the United States, and Venezuela.  

Catherine co-wrote the Audit Committee Effectiveness—What Works Best and Board Effectiveness—What Works Best books, both published in 2011, as well as three earlier editions of those books.  She also coauthored Governance for Companies Going Public—What Works Best™ and wrote its companion publication, Going Public? Five Governance Factors to Focus On, both issued in 2013.  Also in 2013, she coauthored Director Dialogue with Shareholders — What You Need to Consider.  In 2014, she is leading the development of PwC’s new Family Business Corporate Governance Series. She is also contributing to PwC’s new Audit Committee Excellence Series, which focuses on leading practices on specific topics.  NACD Directorship magazine in 2014 named her for the eighth consecutive year as one of the 100 most influential people in corporate governance in the United States.  She also speaks frequently at director conferences.

Catherine is a Certified Public Accountant (licensed in New Jersey) and a Chartered Professional Accountant, CPA, CA (from Canada).  She holds a Master of Accounting degree from the University of Waterloo in Canada.

Jeffry Powell

Jeffry Powell serves as Diligent Board Member Services’ Executive Vice President of Sales, where he is responsible for the development and execution of client acquisition strategies throughout the Americas. Throughout his five years with Diligent, Jeffry has advised thousands of companies across industries including banking, energy, higher education and health care on how secure, electronic access to board materials can improve organizational effectiveness and governance.

In addition to more than 15 years of sales experience, Jeffry also worked for 12 years as a founder, board member and officer of a commercial translation agency. This deep familiarity with both the sales and executive management of growing organizations has enabled him to become expert in critical governance issues. Jeff frequently contributes thought leadership and appears at both governance-related and vertical market events to discuss board portal adoption and implementation best practices. He is also a member of both the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals and the Canadian Society of Corporate Secretaries.

Jim Kristie

Jim Kristie is editor and associate publisher of Directors & Boards, the only major independently-owned journal of corporate governance thought leadership in North America.  He is the longest-tenured editor (at 30 years) serving this field.  In addition to his editorial duties, Jim teaches journalism at Temple University.