In this episode of the official Directors & Boards podcast, Executive Session, Bill Hayes, editor in chief of Directors & Boards, talks to Lara Lee, director and member of the audit and compensation committees of WD-40 Company, about the need for board members to engage in innovative thinking. He also gets the opinion of Lawrence Cunningham, director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, on who’s better for the board, generalists or specialists. Our final guest, Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, director of Marathon Petroleum Corporation and U.S. Bank, explains why “business transformation” is a better term than “digital transformation” to summarize what good boards do for their companies in the area of technology adoption.
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Guests
Lara Lee
Lara Lee is an independent director of WD-40 Company, Liberty Safe and Rather Outdoors. She serves on the audit and compensation committees of WD-40 Company and the compensation committee of Rather Outdoors. Previously, she served on the boards of The Sill, Marrone Bio Innovations and Organically Grown. She is the founder and CEO of Creative Renewal and the former president of Orchard Supply Hardware. Lee has held leadership positions at Otis Elevator Company, Harley-Davidson and Lowe’s Companies.
Lawrence Cunningham
Lawrence Cunningham is director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. He is also director and vice chairman of Constellation Software Inc. and a director of Markel Group and Kelly+Partners Group Holdings Limited. The former special counsel for Mayer Brown is a member of the board of trustees and editorial board member for the Museum of American Finance. He is an emeritus professor of corporate governance at George Washington University and formerly served as professor and vice dean of Boston College Law School. He is the author of many books, including The Essays of Warren Buffett.
Kimberly Ellison-Taylor
Kimberly Ellison-Taylor is a director of Marathon Petroleum Corporation, U.S. Bank and Mutual of Omaha. She is the CEO of KET Solutions LLC. Previously, she was a director of EverCommerce. The CIO Certificate adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy was previously executive director, finance thought leadership, for Oracle, having enjoyed a nearly 17-year career at the company. She is a past chairman of the board of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.
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