Donna Dabney

Donna Dabney joined The Conference Board as Executive Director, Governance Center, in August, 2012. In her current position, Donna leads The Conference Board’s efforts in the areas of corporate governance and sustainable value creation. Prior to joining The Conference Board, Donna was Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Corporate Governance Counsel of Alcoa Inc. and she participated for over 15 years in board and committee meetings of Alcoa and Reynolds Metals Company. As part of her work with the Alcoa Board of Directors, she gained experience with sustainable development in the Amazon region of Brazil. Donna is a member of the board of directors of American Forests, the oldest national conservation organization in the U.S., the New York Advisory Board of the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals and previously served on the board of a public/private consortium promoting development in Richmond, Virgina.

Website: http://www.conference-board.org/governance/

Posts by Donna Dabney

  • Leadership Advice from Tom Mars (05.28.15 )

    Now that the rush of proxy season is over for most of you and summer is soon approaching, I thought it might be interesting to reflect on some bigger picture issues. Our friend of the governance center, and former general counsel of Wal-Mart, Tom Mars, has some good advice I thought worth sharing: Thomas Mars […]

  • Do Activist Investors Create Long Term Shareholder Value? (12.12.14 )

    By Donna Dabney, Executive Director, Governance Center, The Conference Board There is almost daily coverage of activists investors in the media. And while several narratives have taken hold, little has been done in the way of stepping back to look at the aggregate impact that activism is having on our economy. As Larry Fink of […]

  • Maintaining Integrity: Golden Leashes Back on the Board Table (12.08.14 )

    By Donna Dabney, Executive Director, Governance Center, The Conference Board On November 20, 2014, Dow Chemical Company entered into a settlement agreement with Third Point, a New York based hedge fund, to increase the size of its board and add two directors retained by Third Point as advisors. Dow had previously rejected Third Point’s nominees […]

  • Wealth Transfer Versus Wealth Creation (08.07.14 )

    By Donna Dabney, Executive Director, Governance Center, The Conference Board A recently published article by Dr. Yvan Allaire and François Dauphine of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations (igopp) is well worth reading. It expresses common sense thinking about empirical studies, activist hedge funds, and long term sustainable value.

  • Did ISS get it right in recommending a vote against Target’s directors? (06.04.14 )

    By Donna Dabney, Executive Director, Governance Center, The Conference Board Several news sources recently reported that ISS is recommending a vote against seven of Target’s ten directors because they served on the Audit Committee or the Corporate Responsibility Committee at the time of the well-publicized data breach at Target last year. How directors satisfy investors […]