Moderator: Ben Maiden, editor-at-large, Governance Intelligence
Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance issues affecting broker-dealers and asset management firms in the US and Europe. Before that, he was editor of Euromoney Institutional Investor’s International Financial Law Review and IFLR’s Americas editor, working in London and New York.
Sarah Fortt, partner, Latham & Watkins
Sarah Fortt, partner and global co-chair of Latham’s ESG practice, is the mind behind one of the first ESG legal practices in the US. In her role, she acts as a trusted adviser of her clients, navigating with them risks and opportunities relating to climate change, human rights and corporate culture.
Sarah advises public and private companies and their boards on corporate governance and strategic transparency matters. She also counsels clients in high-stakes governance situations, including public and political ESG-related campaigns, stakeholder engagement and corporate crises.
Sarah draws on her background in corporate governance, compliance, securities, executive compensation and sophisticated understanding of cross-organizational structures to help clients create consistent, effective and meaningful ESG strategies and communications.
Sarah has been recognized as a trailblazer and key thought leader in ESG, corporate governance and corporate culture. She serves on the advisory and editorial boards for PracticalESG.com, ESG Professionals Network, and Insights: The Corporate & Securities Law Advisor and regularly authors articles on ESG-related topics for leading publications. She is based in Washington, DC and Austin, Texas.
Seth Gastwirth, deputy general counsel and assistant corporate secretary, JLL
Seth serves as Deputy General Counsel, Assistant Corporate Secretary, and General Counsel Work Dynamics at Jones Lang LaSalle, a Fortune 200 commercial real estate services firm with annual revenue of $20.9 billion, operations in over 80 countries, and a global workforce of approximately 103,000 employees.
Seth is a trusted legal advisor to the Board of Directors and Global Executive Board on legal, corporate governance, and compliance topics. He has a broad range of legal experience in the areas of commercial contracting, corporate governance, M&A, litigation and dispute resolution, compliance and risk management, and employment law.
Seth has substantial international experience which includes a 3-year assignment (2016-2018) at AkzoNobel’s global headquarters in Amsterdam where he served as Global Director of Investigations and Chief Compliance Officer of its Specialty Chemicals business. He previously served as a Partner at Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago (2006-2014) and as an Associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York (2003-2006).
Seth is a regularly invited guest lecturer on a variety of legal topics including lectures given at the University of St. Gallen Executive School of Management, Technology and the Law (Switzerland), the University of Chicago Law School and the University of Michigan Law School. Seth is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.
Aaron Rudd, vice president, ESG practice lead, Broadridge Financial Solutions
Aaron Rudd is the ESG Practice Lead for Corporate Issuers at Broadridge Financial Solutions. In this role, he is delivering software, data, and advisory solutions for corporate sustainability stakeholders. The end goal is to help companies transform their unrealized sustainability strategies into market reality.
For over two decades, Aaron has functioned in global leadership roles in delivering software, data, and service solutions to large corporations. He has a multi-disciplinary background with specific experience in supply-chain management, risk management, compliance, environment, health and safety, and sustainability. In 2016, he was recognized by Supply & Demand Chain Executive as a Provider Pro to Know and in 2017 helped lead a study with the National Safety Council on the Safety Benefits of Contractor Management programs.
Chad Spitler, founder and CEO, Third Economy
Chad Spitler is the Founder and CEO of Third Economy, a sustainable investment research and advisory firm. With over 25+ years of experience building sustainable investment capabilities and corporate sustainability strategies, Chad was recognized by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) as one of the 2020 Directorship 100 Governance Professionals. Formerly a Partner at PJT CamberView, Chad and his team helped public companies develop engagement strategies with their investors particularly around complex or contested shareholder matters. He is most widely known for his role helping to build what are now BlackRock’s Investment Stewardship, Sustainable Investing and Corporate Sustainability teams. As a Managing Director at the world’s largest asset manager, Chad led the team responsible for analyzing how environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors may impact financial performance, and integrated that analysis into product development, proxy voting and corporate engagement. His work helped facilitate billions of dollars of capital into sustainable investments and catalyzed public companies to integrate long-term thinking into their business strategies.
Chad speaks both publicly and privately with regulators, policy makers, non-profits, academics and the largest global companies and investors, to further the field of sustainable investing and transition the capital markets to a lower carbon economy. He is a member of the Finance Working Group of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, and the Dean’s External Advisory Board of the University of Michigan’s School for the Environment and Sustainability. He is an Adjunct Professor at San Francisco State University and Presidio Graduate School, and holds an M.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a B.S. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
