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No one could have predicted the health, economic, and societal upheaval that lay ahead as we entered this year. But we now see that the 2019 initiatives of The Conference Board were powerful building blocks that laid the groundwork for helping our Members and the broader business community navigate 2020’s crises and better serve society.
In 2019, we expanded our global footprint and thought leadership role while continuing to provide the strong connections and space for candid and constructive conversations.
On the international front, our newly launched Gulf Center in Kuwait began producing economic and business research that supports companies in growing their business and developing their people; and in the U.S. we created the ESG Center as a successor to our Governance Center, bringing together in one place our decades of expertise in governance, sustainability, and corporate citizenship. We also launched our Global Consumer Confidence Survey, which captures the pulse of consumers in more than 60 markets around the world. Moreover, we captured the sentiment of the world’s business leaders in our latest C-Suite Challenge™ report: executives said that a recession, trade issues, developing next-generation leaders, and retaining talent were among the biggest challenges they anticipated in the year ahead.
Our insights on the job market revealed widespread labor shortages in blue-collar occupations, a trend that challenged conventional thinking and made national headlines. And recognizing regulation’s impact on job creation and the overall prosperity of society, we published a book calling on policymakers to not necessarily adopt more or less regulation, but rather to have their approach be guided by the principles of smart regulation. Other timely research produced insights about the latest trends on boardroom composition, sustainable procurement, artificial intelligence for HR, and employee well-being and engagement.
We continued our commitment to hosting conferences that convened the best and brightest, who discussed the challenges and opportunities around some of the leading issues of our times. Flagship events included our Employee Health Care conferences, Diversity & Inclusion conference, and Public Policy conferences and briefings in Washington, DC, that brought together policymakers on both sides of the aisle. Our groundbreaking cross-functional conference on the Future-Ready Organization generated insights for what lies ahead in every aspect of business leadership, providing a 360-degree view. And we continued convening business executives in peer-to-peer gatherings, which included launching new Councils on executive compensation, sales compensation, and intelligent automation.
I want to mention our leaders who have served with distinction as trustees of The Conference Board: retiring board members Pat O’Doherty, Chief Executive, Electricity Supply Board; Josef Ackermann, former Chairman of the Management Board and Group Executive, Deutsche Bank; and Alan Dachs, President and CEO, Fremont Group. While we miss their contributions, we welcomed two newly elected trustees: Vicky Bailey, Principal, Anderson, Stratton Enterprises LLC, and Gabrielle Sulzberger, General Partner, Rustic Canyon/Fontis Partners L.P.
Finally, I'm pleased to report that our investments in societal initiatives supported a wide range of activities, from our renowned economic indicators to our portfolio of reports, webcasts, councils, conferences, and more. None of this work would be possible without the support of our Members. The insights our Members bring, share, and disseminate help business and society navigate an increasingly complex and difficult era.
Steve Odland
President and CEO
As the nation and the world experience unprecedented disruption, The Conference Board is intensifying focus on our dual societal and business missions. Our aim: to help our Members and the global business community navigate our current health, economic, and social crises.
We do this by continuing the extraordinary societal and business progress we made in 2019, and which we detail in this annual report. That work, which included the launch of our Gulf Center, exciting new partnerships, and the creation and delivery of hundreds of insight-rich briefings, reports, and webcasts, put us in an excellent financial and leadership position not only to weather the crises of 2020, but to use our expertise and experience to help our Members do the same.
We did not expect the pivot that 2020 required us to make. We are profoundly grateful for the connections with and among our Members—connections that have helped us to inspire each other in ways we could not have imagined a year ago. This report highlights our recent work at the intersection of business and society—the current focal point of the world’s attention—and illustrates our ongoing mission: to provide, as always, Insights for What's Ahead™, wherever the road may lead.
As a nonpartisan, nonprofit entity operating in the public interest since 1916, The Conference Board offers a rich portfolio focused on the greater good. Our investments include our economic indicators, reports, meetings, webcasts, and Councils, and our overall work as a member-driven think tank that delivers trusted insights for what’s ahead. We deliver these insights to our member organizations and the broader business community in such areas as sustainability, corporate philanthropy, social responsibility, education, diversity and inclusion, and sustainable capitalism.
The Conference Board completed its ninth consecutive year of revenue growth and sixth consecutive year of operating surplus in 2019. Total operating revenue increased $3.7 million, or 5.3 percent, during 2019 as the company continued to focus on improving and expanding its ongoing businesses. Operating expenses increased $1.4 million, or 2.0 percent, during the year to support growth in the recurring revenue base in 2019 and beyond. Operating surplus improved to $2.3 million from breakeven in 2018 behind the combination of growth initiatives and expense controls.
The company’s recurring revenue grew $1.1 million, or 2.2 percent, to $49.0 million in 2019. In addition, the conference business grew $2.0 million, or 13.7 percent, in 2019 as a result of improved event planning, presentation, and marketing. Grants, contracts, and fee-based services increased $1.4 million in 2019, or 59.8 percent, behind the opening of the Gulf Center in Kuwait. All remaining revenue items were fundamentally unchanged in 2019.
The company continued to reduce risk in its defined benefit pension plan (the “Plan”) behind continued contributions and opportunistic buyout of pension obligations. During 2019, the company contributed $3.9 million to the Plan to increase Plan assets as it had done in 2018. In 2019, the Plan also purchased certain pension obligations from its Plan administrator, MetLife, totaling $15.7 million in exchange for $15.2 million of Plan assets to reduce total benefit obligations under the Plan. In December, the company also amended the Plan to provide for a lump sum buyout for inactive participants during the first half of 2020. The purchase of the obligations in 2019 resulted in a settlement charge of $6.1 million, which was offset by a corresponding increase in pension-related changes other than net periodic costs.
The company’s accumulated deficit improved in 2019 by $1.6 million, thanks to the net effect of the operating surplus and non-operating pension activities and investment returns. Overall liquidity remained strong as of December 31, 2019, as liquid assets totaling $30.7 million represented a 2.7 multiple of current cash obligations totaling $11.5 million.
Jim Slamp
Executive Vice President & CFO
We draw on the support and advice of an extraordinary network of global business leaders. These individuals volunteer their time, their knowledge, and their insights to reinforce the charitable mission of The Conference Board, which is a member-driven think tank that delivers trusted Insights for What's Ahead. Founded in 1916, The Conference Board is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit entity holding 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in the United States.
Our Board of Trustees is composed of a select group of these business leaders who dedicate themselves to overseeing the business and affairs of The Conference Board. Their function compares to the board of directors of a for-profit company.
Ronald A. Williams |
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George S. Barrett |
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Ilene S. Gordon |
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Harry M. Jansen Kraemer, Jr. |
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Robert E. Moritz |
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Edward B. Rust Jr. |
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Susan C. Schwab |
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Ellen R. Alemany |
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Vicky A. Bailey |
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Susan Black |
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Beth A. Brooke-Marciniak |
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Carl Camden |
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Scott DeRue |
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Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. |
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Holly Gagnon |
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Pablo González Guajardo |
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Jack A. Hockema |
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Stephanie Birrell Luedke |
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Beth E. Mooney |
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Ronald P. O'Hanley |
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Steve Odland |
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Camille A. Olson |
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Maria Sastre |
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Liz Hilton Segel |
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Gabrielle Sulzberger |
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Voting Members are comparable to shareholders in a for-profit organization, except they do not have an ownership interest in The Conference Board, which is a not-for-profit corporation. Most Voting Members are either the current or retired Chief Executive Officer of a member company. The Conference Board Voting Members support our corporate governance by participating in an annual proxy for our Board of Trustees. In accordance with Section 517(a) of the New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law (NPCL), the Voting Members of The Conference Board shall not be personally liable for the debts, liabilities or obligations of the corporation.
Sanjiv Ahuja
Chairman and CEO
Tillman Global Holdings LLC
Sayid Khalid Bin Hamad Al-Busaidi
Chairman
Sabco Group LLC
Ellen R. Alemany
Chairwoman and CEO
CIT Group
Wayne W. Allen
Retired Chairman and CEO
Phillips Petroleum Company
Mukesh D. Ambani
Chairman and Managing Director
Reliance Industries Ltd.
Daniel P. Amos
Chairman and CEO
AFLAC Incorporated
Johan H. Andresen, Jr.
Owner and Chairman
Ferd Holding AS
C. Michael Armstrong
Retired Chairman and Director Emeritus
Comcast Corporation
Vicky Bailey
Principal
Anderson Stratton Enterprises LLC
Douglas M. Baker, Jr.
Chairman and CEO
Ecolab Inc.
Peter Bakker
President
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Ajay Banga
President and CEO
MasterCard Worldwide
George S. Barrett
Former Executive Chairman
Cardinal Health, Inc.
Barbara Barrett
President and CEO
Triple Creek Ranch
Alain J. P. Belda
Special Limited Partner
Warburg Pincus LLC
Vance Bell
Chief Executive Officer
Shaw Industries Group, Inc.
Stephanie Birrell Luedke
Head of Private Wealth Management
Neuberg Berman Investment Advisers LLC
Andrew C. W. Brandler
Former Chief Executive Officer
CLP Holdings Ltd.
Beth A. Brooke-Marciniak
Former Global Vice Chair, Public Policy
EY
Lord Browne of Madingley
Executive Chairman
L1 Energy
Peter C. Browning
Chairman
Nucor Corporation
Kenneth Burdick
Former Chief Executive Officer
WellCare Health Plans, Inc.
Robert L. Burrus, Jr.
Chairman Emeritus
McGuire Woods LLP
Carl Camden
Retired President and CEO
Kelly Services, Inc.
Richard Cavanagh
Director and Senior Advisor
Fremont Group
Emmanuel Chirico
Chairman and CEO
PVH
David Chun
CEO and Founder
Equilar, Inc.
R. Kerry Clark
Director
Textron
Douglas R. Conant
Chairman
Conant Leadership
Ian M. Cook
Former Chairman, President and CEO
Colgate-Palmolive Company
François M.G. Cornélis
Chairman
Bpost
Yannis S. Costopoulos
Honorary Chairman
Alpha Bank
Roger Crandall
Chairman, President and CEO
MassMutual
Bruce Culpepper
Retired U.S. Country Chair and President
Shell Oil Company
Etienne François Davignon
Minister of State, Belgium, Former Vice President
European Commission
Ian E. L. Davis
Chairman
Rolls-Royce Holdings plc
Former Chairman and Worldwide Managing Director
McKinsey & Company
Bert De Graeve
Former Chairman
Bekaert
Roberto F. de Ocampo
Director and Founding Partner
Centennial Group Centennial Asia Advisors
Scott DeRue
Dean, Stephen M. Ross School of Business
University of Michigan
Suppiah Dhanabalan
Former Chairman
Temasek Holdings (Pvt) Ltd.
Samuel Di Piazza, Jr.
Retired Chairman
Mayo Clinic
Bülent Eczacibasi
Chairman
Eczacibasi Holding A.S.
Harald Einsmann
Senior Advisor
Trilantic Capital Partners
Michael P. Esposito, Jr.
Former Chairman
Syncora Holdings Ltd.
Isidro Fainé Casas
Chairman
LaCaixa
Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
President and CEO
TIAA
Fred Festa
Former Chairman and CEO
W.R. Grace & Co.
Niall FitzGerald
Chairman
Hakluyt & Company
Vincent A. Forlenza
Executive Chairman
BD
John D. Forsyth
Chairman and CEO
Wellmark, Inc.
Kenneth Frazier
Chairman and CEO
Merck & Co., Inc.
Jacob Frenkel
Former Chairman
JP Morgan Chase International
Daniel Fulton
Retired Chief Executive Officer
Weyerhaeuser
Victor K. Fung
Honorary Chairman
Li & Fung Limited
E. Gordon Gee
President
West Virginia University
Sefi Ghasemi
Chairman, President and CEO
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
Gary J. Goldberg
Former President and CEO
Newmont Mining Corporation
Pablo González Guajardo
Chief Executive Officer
Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V.
Tomás González Sada
Chairman of the Board
Cydsa, S.A. de C.V.
James H. Goodnight
Chief Executive Officer
SAS Institute
Ilene S. Gordon
Retired Chairman, President and CEO
Ingredion Incorporated
Alex Gorsky
Chief Executive Officer
Johnson & Johnson
Alan Greenspan
Former Chairman of
the Board of Governors
The Federal Reserve System
John Haley
CEO
Willis Towers Watson
Kathy Hopinkah Hannan
Retired National Managing Partner, Global Lead Partner and Former Vice Chair
KPMG
Richard J. Harshman
Former Chairman, President and CEO
Allegheny Technologies Inc.
Robert Henkel
Former President and CEO
Ascension Health
Zsolt Hernádi
Chairman and CEO
MOL Group
Frances Hesselbein
Chairman and Founding President
Frances Hesselbein Institute
Liz Hilton Segel
Managing Partner
McKinsey & Company
Jack Hockema
Chairman and CEO
Kaiser Aluminium
Ray R. Irani
Chairman and CEO
Ray Investments, LLC
Pablo Isla Alvarez de Tejera
Chairman and CEO
Inditex SA
Larry Jensen
President and CEO
Cushman & Wakefield, Commercial Advisors, LLC
Ole Johansson
Vice-Chairman
Konescrane plc
D. Bryan Jordan
Chairman, President and CEO
First Horizon National Corporation
Harry P. Kamen
Retired Chairman
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
Gerard J. Kleisterlee
Chairman
Vodafone PLC
William I. Koch
President and CEO
Oxbow Carbon LLC
Richard M. Kovacevich
Retired Chairman and CEO
Wells Fargo & Company
Harry M. J. Kraemer, Jr.
Executive Partner
Madison Dearborn
Richard J. Kramer
Chairman, President and CEO
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
Robert J. Kueppers
Partner
Sage Partners
Mikalel Lilius
Former Chairman
Wärtsilä Corporation and Huhtamäki Oyj
Oscar M. Lopez
Chairman Emeritus
Lopez Holdings
John A. Luke, Jr.
Chairman and CEO
MeadWestvaco Corporation
Antonio Madero
Executive Chairman and CEO
SANLUISRassini, S.A.B. de C.V.
Vikram Malhotra
Chairman of the Americas
McKinsey & Company
Robert E. Mercer
Retired Chairman and CEO
Goodyear Tire Rubber Company
Bhupendra Kumar Modi
Chairman
Smart Global
Beth E. Mooney
Former Chairman and CEO
KeyCorp
Robert Moritz
Chairman
PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd.
Stanley A. Motta
Chairman
COPA HOLDINGS, S.A.
Deanna M. Mulligan
President and CEO
Guardian Life Insurance Co.
N.R. Narayana Murthy
Chairman Emeritus
Infosys Limited
Joel Myers
Founder, President and Chairman
Accuweather
Thomas C. Nelson
Chairman, President and CEO
National Gypsum Company
Sir Bryan Nicholson
Retired Chairman
Financial Reporting Council
Lars G. Nordström
Chairman of the Board
Vattenfall AB
Steve Odland
President and CEO
The Conference Board, Inc.
Ronald P. O’Hanley
President & CEO
State Street Global Advisors
Hutham S. Olayan
Retired President and CEO
Olayan America Corporation
Gavin Patterson
Former Chief Executive Officer
BT Group plc
John B. Prescott, A.C.
Former Chairman
Aurizon Holdings Limited
Jason Providakes
President and CEO
MITRE Corporation
John B. Reid AO
Executive in Residence
QUT Business School
Patricia Russo
Chairwoman
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Edward B. Rust, Jr.
Chairman Emeritus
State Farm Insurance Companies
Güler Sabanci
Chair and Managing Director
Haci Omer Sabanci Holding AS
Maria Sastre
Retired President and COO
Signature Flight Support Corporation
Henry B. Schacht
Special Limited Partner
Warburg Pincus
Susan C. Schwab
Ambassador
Former United States Trade Representative
Sideh Sedgh Bina
Founding Partner
Insigniam
Scott Serota
President and CEO
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
Frederick W. Smith
Chairman and CEO
FedEx Corporation
Venu Srinivasan
Chairman
TVS Group
Jane Stevenson
Vice Chair, Board and CEO Services
Korn Ferry
Gabrielle Sulzberger
Co-Founder and General Partner
Rustic Canyon/Fontis Partners L.P.
Teong Hean Tan
Chairman
Southern Capital Group Pte Ltd.
Inge Thulin
Chairman, President and CEO
3M Company
Anton van Rossum
Former Director
Crédit Suisse Group
Karel Vinck
Honorary Chairman
Umicore
Marcus Wallenberg
Chairman
SEB
Miles D. White
Executive Chairman
Abbott Laboratories
Maggie Wilderotter
Retired Executive Chairman
Frontier Communications Corporation
Keith E. Williams
Former President and CEO
UL
Ronald A. Williams
Chairman and CEO
RW2 Enterprises, LLC
Alexander R. Wynaendts
Chief Executive Officer
AEGON,N.V.
Marjorie Yang
Chairman
Esquel Group
Jaime Augusto Zobel del Ayala, II
Chairman and CEO
Ayla Corporation
The Conference Board draws on the support and advice of an extraordinary network of global business leaders. These individuals volunteer their time, their knowledge, and their insights to reinforce the charitable mission of The Conference Board, which is a member-driven think tank that delivers trusted insights for what's ahead.
Select region to jump down page
Asia | Europe | Latin America | Middle East | North America | South America
Australia |
Linda Bardo Nicholls AO John B. Prescott, A.C. John B. Reid, A.O. |
Hong Kong SAR |
Andrew C.W. Brandler Victor K. Fung Sir C K Chow Marjorie Yang |
India |
Mukesh D. Ambani |
Malaysia |
TH Tan |
Philippines |
Roberto F. de Ocampo Oscar M. Lopez Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II |
Thailand |
Sukum Navapan |
Belgium |
François M.G. Cornélis Etienne François Davignon Bert De Graeve Anton Van Rossum Karel Vinck |
Denmark |
Robert Mærsk Uggla |
Finland |
Ole Johansson Mikael Lilius |
France |
Phillippe Camus |
Germany |
Roland Berger |
Greece |
Yannis S. Costopoulos |
Hungary |
Zsolt Hernadi |
Ireland |
Padraig McManus |
Netherlands |
Hans Wijers |
Norway |
Johan H. Andresen, Jr. |
Portugal |
Luis Fernando de Mira Amaral |
Spain |
Pablo Isla Álvarez de Tejera Anna Patricia Botin |
Sweden |
Tom Johnstone Lars G. Nordström Jonas Samuelson Marcus Wallenberg |
Switzerland |
Peter Bakker Juergen Tinggren |
Turkey |
Bülent Eczacibasi Güler Sabanci |
United Kingdom |
Sir Winn Bischoff Lord Browne of Madingley Sir Howard Davies Harald Einsmann Niall FitzGerald Gerard Kleisterlee Sir Bryan Nicholson |
Panama |
Stanley A. Motta |
Kuwait |
Hisham Abdulrazzak Al-Razzuqi |
Oman |
Khalid Bin Hamad Al Busaidi |
Mexico |
Tomás González Sada Antonio Madero |
United States |
Sanjiv Ahuja Sideh Sedgh Bina Kenneth Burdick Emanuel Chirico Douglas R. Conant Robert E. Denham Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr. Jacob A. Frenkel Daniel Fulton Jeffrey E. Garten Christina A. Gold Rajiv L. Gupta Kathy Hannan Larry Jensen Robert J. Kueppers Mark Leiter Vikram Malhotra Ellen R. Marram Hutham S. Olayan James W. Owens Henry B. Schacht Anne M. Tatlock Paul A. Volcker Maggie Wilderotter |
Brazil |
Alain J.P. Belda |
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