CLO Governance Forum

10:00 AM - 10:25 AM ET

Welcome and Registration

10:25 AM - 10:40 AM ET

Opening Remarks

Brian Campbell, US Governance & Sustainability Center Leader, General Counsel, The Conference Board

10:40 AM - 11:30 AM ET

Governance Under Pressure: Board Engagement, Legal Accountability, and Real-Time Decision-Making

When a crisis hits, whether a cyber incident, a regulatory action, or a sudden shift in the geopolitical environment, governance structures are tested in real time. Decisions come before the facts are clear, before counsel is fully briefed, and before the board is in the room. Geopolitical and geostrategic risk – everything from tariffs to international conflict – has moved to the top of the corporate agenda. This session will examine how CLOs and governance leaders make high-stakes decisions under pressure, from who in the room, to how the board gets engaged, and what practitioners would have done differently in hindsight.

LaTanya Langley, Chief People Officer, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary, Edgewell

Susan Street Whaley, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, The Procter & Gamble Company

Ashley A. Miller, General Counsel, Financial Services and Head of Legal Operations, Americas, Capgemini

11:30 AM - 12:40 PM ET

Networking Lunch

12:40 PM - 01:30 PM ET

What the CEO and Board Expect from the Chief Legal Officer

As boards and CEOs expand their demands on legal leadership, the CLO is increasingly expected to function as a strategic advisor and governance partner, not just a legal resource. How are the best CLOs meeting new expectations, managing enterprise risk, and navigating board relations? What do CLOs wish their CEOs and boards understood about how the function actually operates?

Virginia Gambale, Chair of the Board, Nutanix

Ann Kappler, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Head of Corporate Affairs, Prudential Financial

George Kurian, CEO, NetApp, Inc.

Paul Washington, President and CEO, Society for Corporate Governance

01:30 PM - 02:25 PM ET

The Science of Boardroom Decision-Making

Effective board decisions require more than sound governance—they depend on how directors think, collaborate, and navigate uncertainty. Drawing on emerging neuroscience research, this session explores the hidden cognitive and social dynamics that influence boardroom judgment, from information overload and bias to attention and group decisionmaking. Through practical examples and actionable strategies, participants will learn how neuroscience-informed practices can help boards improve oversight, encourage diverse perspectives, and make more thoughtful, resilient decisions.

Paul DeNicola, Principal, Governance Insights Center, PwC

Ariel Smilowitz, Director, Governance Insights Center, PwC

02:25 PM - 03:05 PM ET

Breakout Session: Scenario Testing

Small tables of 6-8 attendees working through one real governance challenge, including disclosure in a fragmented landscape, legal use cases for AI, managing poly-crises, and the new era of legal exposure. 30-minutes at tables, 5-min report out to room.

03:05 PM - 03:15 PM ET

Break

03:15 PM - 04:05 PM ET

AI, Cyber, and Emerging Technology Risk: Governance When the Rules Haven't Been Written

AI adoption is accelerating, and cyber threats intensifying, at the same time as accountability structures are struggling to keep pace. This session will examine both risks through a governance lens. It will look at how boards are being prepared for oversight responsibilities they may not yet fully understand, where accountability sits when AI systems produce unintended outcomes, and what credible governance frameworks look like in practice. It will also address where companies remain underprepared on cyber, from incident response governance and board engagement to the legal and reputational exposure that follows when a breach is mishandled. The focus will not be on mapping the threat landscape, but on what effective governance requires from CLOs, corporate secretaries, and boards right now.

Diane Brayton, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, The New York Times Company

John LaBarre, Chief Legal Officer, Harvey

Vandana Venkatesh, Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Officer, Verizon

Andrea Bonime-Blanc, JD, PhD, Founder & CEO, GEC Risk Advisory

04:05 PM - 04:15 PM ET

Break

04:15 PM - 05:05 PM ET

Board Composition, Capability, and Evolving Oversight Demands

As boards are asked to provide credible oversight of an expanding risk landscape, from AI to geopolitical volatility and regulatory uncertainty, questions about director skills, tenure, and committee design have become urgent governance challenges. Recent Delaware decisions have also extended Caremark oversight duties to officers as well as directors, raising the personal stakes for CLOs and corporate secretaries who advise on these structures. How are governance leaders having the hard conversations about board capability and refresh while oversight demands continue to intensify?

Stacey Sprenkel, Partner, Head of Sustainability & Responsible Business; Head of Compliance, Ethics, Risk & Governance, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Lawrence Cunningham, Director, John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware

05:05 PM - 05:35 PM ET

Fireside Chat: The Future of the Legal Function: AI, Strategy, and What's Coming Next

To close the day, this fireside chat will take a step back and consider the broader future of the CLO role. The conversation will explore how AI, rising board expectations, enterprise risk, and organizational transformation are changing the legal function, and what these shifts require from CLOs as business leaders. Looking beyond immediate pressures, the session will examine how legal departments may operate differently, where the CLO's influence is expanding, and what the next era of legal and governance leadership looks like.

Katharine Larsen, General Counsel, Reuters News

Brian Campbell, US Governance & Sustainability Center Leader, General Counsel, The Conference Board

05:10 PM - 06:00 PM ET

Networking Reception