Councils (US)

Since joining the Conference Board Talent Acquisition Council, I have built a network of Talent Acquisition connections that I can rely on. I have changed employers twice since initially joining the Conference Board and each of those times I have requested and gained approval from my leadership to invest in my development with a Conference Board membership.
Mike Chernesky, Sr. Director Talent Acquisition, Dover Corporation (Talent Acquisition Business Council, 03/26/2025)

I found The Conference Board to be extremely valuable to me in times of significant change. I find great value in being able to openly discuss complex issues with colleagues who are walking in the same shoes as I am. The research that The Conference Board conducts allows me to quickly and concisely benchmark what others are doing. It has been a huge time saver for me and my team.
Steve Pilotti, (retired) Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Electrical Sector, Eaton. Program Director, Chief Human Resources Officers Council III, The Conference Board (Former Member of CHRO III, 03/26/2025)

I joined The Conference Board to access insights and research, and have conversations with colleagues about opportunities, challenges, and best practices. Both goals exceeded my expectations. The Conference Board has a wealth of information that you can access and study to apply to situations in your organization. It allows you to connect with thought leaders and experts in different interest areas and to tap into the experiences of others around the world. My time spent with the CHRO III Council has been invaluable. The Council meetings provided an opportunity to learn from each other and hear from guest speakers covering a variety of topics relevant to the Council participants. But in the end, it is the friendships that I value the most as a result of all the hours we spent together.
Jelle Boot, (Retired) Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), (Former Member of the CHRO III Council 1/15/25)

I think the top benefits of joining the Council are the communities of practice; the ability to really partner with somebody or ask questions of someone who is in a similar situation facing similar needs and outcomes.

The Council Program Directors are not just facilitators. They really participate, are up-to-speed on the issues that we’re thinking about. It makes our interactions, our Council meetings, and Conferences much more robust. I think they bring a unique perspective that we don’t always have, many of them are doing things a little differently than the day-to-day roles that we sit in.

I think what’s unique and what might be surprising to new Members is the engagement of the participants is really strong. Both virtually and in person we see good participation in events, great participants in conferences. You get a response to a question on the community board within minutes.
Jason Grosz, VP Talent Acquisition, ECOLAB (Talent Acquisition Business Council 9/10/24)

What is particularly valuable about my experience is that I get to bring back all of the knowledge that I learn at different Conferences. I bring back to my team and they get to learn from me; it really just makes us stronger and better.

The Councils is a great network, a lasting network. There are many people that I tap into for different questions or problems that I’m trying to solve. I feel like the relationship piece of it is just a true lasting benefit of the membership.
Rachel Hawksworth, VP Talent Acquisition, HCA Healthcare (Talent Acquisition Enterprise Council 9/10/24)

My time on the CHRO Council was amazing. Without a doubt, The Conference Board is a worthwhile investment for any senior HR executive. Their thought leadership, carefully curated content, and meaningful networking opportunities are among the best. I've also met several friends and connections along the way!
Raymond Crowley-Barrera, Former VP Human Resources, Related Management Company (Former Member, CHRO III Council 8/5/24)

Joining the CEO Council with The Conference Board was a decision I initially approached with some hesitation, mainly questioning whether the annual dues would yield a worthwhile return on investment. However, my experience has surpassed my expectations.

The Council has proven invaluable. Members bring a diverse skill set, fostering in-depth discussions on challenges relevant to all types of organizations. As a leader in the non-profit sector, I was concerned about the relevance of the topics. Yet, I found every discussion highly pertinent. The challenges we face are universal across industries, and the insights gained have been profoundly applicable to my organization.

The company's extensive network of Councils and their team of highly experienced professionals have been immensely beneficial. The information and resources provided have been instrumental in my preparations for presentations and in shaping our strategic planning.

Moreover, being a CEO can often be a lonely experience. The connections I’ve made through the CEO Council have been incredibly supportive. These colleagues have become friends, always willing to offer assistance with any challenge I might encounter. A call or an email is all it takes to set up a time to discuss and find solutions. For anyone uncertain about the investment, I highly encourage taking the step. The value and support provided by the Council are unparalleled. You will not be disappointed.
Sherry Tucker, CEO, WellLife Network (CEO Council 6/12/24)

I joined The Conference Board CEO Council in 2023. I started out as a sceptic and have been proven wrong. Previously, I avoided these types of organizations because I found the materials covered irrelevant and the participants to be less collaborative than advertised. In my experience, onboarding was well conducted, and access to information and expertise was immediately delivered and available. The peer group was very interesting; all Members have similar issues and needs, but from very different organizational backgrounds (non-profits, to manufacturing, distribution, architecture, and technology and finance).

Council Members drive the topics, we decide what we want to talk about, learn about, and The Conference Board delivers the expertise to help us all think through applicable business outcomes and needs. We’ve spoken with and received feedback from world renowned experts in economy, cyber security, marketing, and collaborated as a group around our shared experiences and best practices. I’ve met with experts and peers through The Conference Board and have been engaged in everything from AI to organizational imperatives for innovation as part of the TCB Innovation Forum.

I look forward to our meetings and getting the chance to spend time and collaborate with Council Members and gain additional knowledge from the relevant experts that The Conference Board brings to bear for us. The Council Members are open and share their perspectives on the topics and do not feel threatened that a competitor is listening in. Chatham House Rule keeps the conversations in the room and the benefits of collaboration a benefit to our Members. I find this particular Council to be engaging, informative, and highly useful, giving me new tools to use in executing and building our strategy. And yes, I’ve renewed for another year.
Jeffrey Murray, Chief Executive Officer, Meridian Group International, Inc. (CEO Council 6/6/24)

As the pace of change increases I turn to The Conference Board for timely insights. In particular the Talent Management Council is an unmatched resource for me through regularly meetings with quality peers to discuss similar challenges and opportunities. 
Marguerite Samms, Chief Learning Officer, Intermountain Healthcare (Talent Management Executive Council 11/9/23)

Being a Member of the Onboarding and New Employee Experience Council has been a valuable experience. The Council provides a place where we can openly share ideas and get feedback from colleagues that face similar challenges.
Luci, Director, Talent & Culture (Onboarding & New Employee Experience Council 10/5/23)

When I joined The Council, I was a new member of the Talent Management team at my organization, responsible for the Enterprise Leadership Development strategy and suite of offerings. I was tasked early on with developing a profile for our “Leader of the Future” - setting new expectations for our leaders, identifying key skills, holding leaders accountable, providing them with opportunities for growth and development and measuring success - while taking into account the rapidly changing environment.

Utilizing the broad and deep network within The Conference Board allowed me to share my initial ideas with a group of colleagues who are faced with similar requests to gain their feedback and input across a variety of industries, in addition to connecting with experts from organizations like Udemy, that have provided valuable research and resources to support the continued evolution of our leadership development strategy.

I also appreciate the ability to provide support and resources back to the community to help with their endeavors. I truly value the access that The Conference Board has provided to such an engaged and knowledgeable network of colleagues who have the same passion for improving the employee experience within their organizations.
Natasha, Leadership Development Director (Leadership Development Council 10/5/23)

In-depth discussions of specific talent management practices, the business context, the systemic solutions, the lessons learned, and emerging business outcomes - these are the invaluable conversations that drive real learning and real expertise sharing among peers. Truly time well-spent!
Roz Tsai, VP, Talent, Learning & Org Effectiveness (Talent Management Executive Council 10/3/23)

I have had the pleasure of being part of more than one Council over the last decade and found the education, connections made and strategic thought leadership are unmatched.
Heather, Principal Director (Talent Executives Council II 10/3/23)

Our membership with The Conference Board has added immense value to our team and to our ability to navigate the challenges that accompany growth. It has been a particularly rich source for networking and learning from other Members.
William Lorenzen, Executive Director, Leadership Development, Chick-Fil-A, Inc. (Leadership Development Council 10/3/23)

Fantastic organization providing value to today's leaders with industry insights, peer collaboration and relevant research. 
Rachel, VP, Talent Acquisition, HCA Healthcare (Talent Acquisition Council 10/3/23)

The Council has given me the opportunity to tap into the knowledge and experience of other talent acquisition professionals and share best practices and new ideas. While we all may use different technology vendors to run things behind the scenes, the desired end result is undeniably the same! The relationships and ability to reach out to the other members for support or to share their experience has been incredible. So nice to be able to benchmark against my peers in the industry and measure success. 
Nancy Whatley, Director, Talent Acquisition, Veritiv (Talent Acquisition Corporate Council 8/7/23)

In a rapidly changing environment, being part of the Council has been essential to my ability to stay current on the latest trends and connected to the most relevant marketing resources. Because leaders are moving fast to make the best decisions for their people and their businesses, often in the face of uncertainty, being part of a community with an abundance of practical and relevant insight is tremendously valuable. The experiences of Council members, shared through conferences, individual conversations and other pertinent content, have informed my perspective and enhanced my contributions to decisions on bold initiatives within our company. Members have an eagerness to bring clarity to the complex situations we face and to help each other navigate obstacles, all while advancing a mindset that we must always be learning. 
Eric Boester, EVP and CMO, NFP  (Council for CMOs)

This Council is a great way to network and gives me the ability to reach out at any time to colleagues that are facing similar challenges and running the same solutions.
Judie Koukol, Director HR, Payroll & Time Reporting IT, AbbVie (HR Technology Council)

My Council meetings have been transformative in helping me create an organizational strategy for an employee hardship effort. My council colleagues made time to chat with me and my team, bringing along their legal counterparts to answer questions from my legal team. At meetings, we heard presentations from experts in the field, and a council member even hosted my team for an on-site visit with their hardship team so they could see the work real-time and better understand the process and the staffing required. The Council creates an environment that allows for a free flow of ideas so that we can all serve our employees and communities in the best possible way. My team and I never could have moved as fast as we did and been so prepared in the process if it wasn’t for the connections and willingness to collaborate of my Council peers.
Nicole Anderson, President, AT&T Foundation  (Corporate Citizenship Leadership Council)

The Conference Board plays a really critical role in terms of what’s going on in the world. We’re here today with our functional hats on. But we can’t serve our companies without knowing what’s going on in the wider world. The Conference Board does a great job of bringing in other issues, topics, and relevant information. The size of the group is good, and the confidential discussions amongst one’s peers are priceless.
Maril MacDonald, Founder and CEO, Gagen MacDonald (Internal Communications Council)

The informal, very candid exchange is why you don’t want to miss the meetings. We’ve formalized our “round robins” so that candid information sharing is an institutional tradition. Also, I’m tapping into The Conference Board research capabilities. Recently I needed to understand more about the changing relationship between business and society in the wake of new technology— The Conference Board had great information for me.
Barie Carmichael, Senior Counselor, APCO Worldwide (Corporate Communications Strategy Council)

My company has always been very supportive of training— seminars, plus we have a robust internal training mechanism. But there’s a point in your career where the returns on that diminish. I tend not to do any other training or education now beyond my Council membership.

I think that the ability to help craft the agenda is the reason it’s valuable, and the relationships you form. Originally I was skeptical of the “no rules, but everything stays in the room” way the Council operates. But it really is a safe place for me to talk about my challenges. Many of us Council members are in organizations that don’t have communication as a core competency. So I might have an issue at my company and think it’s isolated. Then I’ll bring it to a Council meeting and find that it’s happening across the board.

I report to the General Counsel at our company. He’s a man who doesn’t like to sit in meetings. But he’s a member at The Conference Board. He said his experiences with The Conference Board are the only impactful and actionable professional experiences he’s ever found. When we’re not meeting, my group has robust conversations in benchmarking. I also find value in the reports that The Conference Board publishes, and not necessarily in my business area. For instance, I just downloaded the Fortune 500 philanthropy overview. It’s helpful to me to see what other companies are doing in this area.
Michelle Goret, VP Communication, Cintas (Corporate Communications Council)

I find my participation in The Conference Board Councils to be the most professionally enriching activity that I undertake. I feel fortunate to be able to benchmark and share specifics with very knowledgeable representatives from such prestigious organizations. I would prioritize my membership on this council over any other professional development opportunities available.
Deidrea Otts, VP Compensation (Compensation Council)

When you are able to drive the agenda, that ensures you get the value from it, because it’s not some talking head telling you it’s what you should be doing. It is the Members talking about the issues that are important to them. And out of that, comes solutions to problems that we all confront.

I’ve looked at other opportunities to be with my peers, but I’m yet to find anything that makes as much sense both from a cost standpoint, a frequency standpoint, and also just how intimately you can get into the issues with a small group and solve problems ad make progress. Tell me what other opportunity you can do to be in a room of people that are your peers talking about the issues that you face that are common to the ones you face. If you are not doing that, if you are not finding that outlet through something like The Conference Board. My question would be, where are you doing that?
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO Council)

We're all familiar with the adage, "It's not what you know, it's who you know." What I love about The Conference Board is how Membership gives you access to the best of both worlds: what to know AND who to know. The opportunity to simultaneously build knowledge AND build a network doubles the ROI of the experience. 
Customer & Market Insights (Customer Experience Council)

I've attended two Council events where some of the brightest, most passionate people I've ever been around were engaged, sharing, and interested in helping each other. The Conference Board events are professionally led, content-focused, and applicable to the issues I face in my business every day. The events have motivated and challenged me in how I lead my team and drive our innovation culture forward, as well as giving me tools and ideas I would not have known about otherwise. I am thankful for my organization's membership in The Conference Board and look forward to attending and benefiting from other events.
Innovation & Operations Support (Innovation Leadership Council)

Our company, my CX team, and I (personally) have derived significant value from our membership and participation in our Council. The connections I’ve forged with fellow Customer Experience executives have been rich and meaningful – often providing fresh learnings and perspectives, validation of our strategies, benchmarking, and comfort and knowing that driving customer experience improvements in large, complex B2B and B2C organizations is very difficult but rewarding work. I truly appreciate the flexible and diverse ways that The Conference Board facilitates connections and access to information – face-to-face, virtual, online resources, and community forums. 
Director Customer Experience (Customer Experience Council)

Participating in The Conference Board Councils, Conferences, and using their research has been very helpful in my role. The opportunity to share and learn in a supportive and open environment helped accelerate my learning in a new area, allowed for the testing of ideas and concepts, and accelerated our progress as a company. 
Knowledge & Collaboration Council

My Council experience has been extremely helpful in my current role. The benefits for me is the interaction with member companies/peer companies as well as sharing experiences from your day-to-day positions. The nature of these interactions is unique because you’re in a shared environment, but the information is held confidentially. It's a more inclusive environment to share than other groups I have been part of or am part of.

Most of the companies I have worked for view the Council membership, view the interaction that you have as being key to being able to perform your position at the company. I think the value of the Councils is sold not only at my level, but higher level, where that support continues.
Corporate Well-Being & Strategic Health Leadership Council

My Council experience has been extremely helpful in my current role, as there are many ambiguous challenges we deal with this in this space. Often, it’s hard to have confidence that you know what’s happening in the world around you and what things you should be thinking about for the future. When I come to the meetings and am able to share with others as well as listen to what others are dealing with, it really helps me think more clearly about the decisions I make on a day-to-day basis.
Corporate Well-Being & Strategic Health Leadership Council

I am always excited when I have the opportunity to come to the Council. I am always learning more about what others are doing, also recognizing some of our common challenges and issues, and being able to find solutions to our challenges with colleagues. I think there is always a new way of looking at our global commitment to Good Samaritan citizenship as a company; to be a good neighbor, in every place where we live and where we give.
Corporate Citizenship Global Council

There are multiple benefits of being a Council member. One is networking opportunities with peers that lead corporate affairs or government relation functions outside of the pharmaceutical sector. Second is the discussion and presentations of timely topics and issues. The third is benchmarking, what peers are doing in other industries and other sectors to see if you are current in role and in your job function.

One real advantage of the council is that its size is smaller in scope so you really get to know the people that you are spending time with and really get to learn from them in a close knit environment.
Government Relations Executives Council

I joined a council out of business necessity. I had been in several HR roles in my company, but I hadn’t been a Head of Learning. You need benchmark with other companies, you need to speak to people in similar roles, you need to understand how they have set strategy; and that was all the kinds of things that I learned from other Council members, which accelerated my ability to be proficient in my role so much more quickly than If I was just trying to read books or contact a few consultants or vendors.

The most valuable thing to me about being a member of this Council is it really gives you thinking space. It gives you an opportunity to step away from the day-to-day, to talk to peers who have similar interests, but different challenges. You have members from investment banking, from technology, from pharma, from consumer goods, but there is a great opportunity to step out of the day-to-day challenge and think about strategic issues, executional challenges that you are confronting, and bat around ideas- which frankly we don’t get a chance to do in our day-to-day work.
Learning, Development & Organizational Performance Council

The opportunity to engage with my peers is invaluable. You have the right people at the table representing various industries, and creating a safe space to share real challenges along with viable solutions.
Diversity & Inclusion Executives Council

Councils offer me a highly professional thought leadership exchange, and a wealth of access to resources, networks, and thought leadership. I appreciate the balance between engaging in strategic dialogue and experiencing relevant subject matter to advance my thinking. The topics we discuss are timely and include helpful real-life applications. 
Change & Transformation Council and Coaching & Leadership Development Council

Excellent interaction with other council members and outside speakers who are highly relevant to issues that I face in my position...really the perfect combination of practical information, problem solving, professional development and inspiration. 
Council for CMOs and Corporate Communications Strategy Council

I belong to a lot of organizations, and none come remotely close to the quality of the networking at The Conference Board, the seniority of the networking, and the quality of the peer relationships. This is my premier professional development. It’s the one I esteem the most and hold onto the hardest. 

People are quick to compare this to CEB. There’s no comparison. They do benchmarking and data analytics, but there’s less interactivity. They don’t bring people together. Council members over time become your friends, become your allies, and become a gateway to open opportunities for career progression. Once in a while Council members find themselves out of work, usually due to reorganization. The first thing they do is come back to the Council. There’s a tether there. 
Corporate Communications Strategy Council

What I love about The Conference Board is I feel like there’s a balance—there are quite a few very senior people who’ve been doing their job for 20 years, there’re newer people who’ve been doing their jobs for a couple years, and there’s a lot of people who are in the middle. I’m surrounded by other practitioners. It’s nice to talk to people who are sharing similar experiences, who can share best practices. A lot of them have been in their roles for a lot longer, so it’s a good opportunity for me to ask questions and learn from their triumphs. What I’ve found [in other] events I’ve been to, is that a lot of the people who are talking are either more junior than me or don’t have nearly as much experience as I do. 
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategists Council 

I belong to various professional groups and rarely attend their conferences or meetings. The topics we cover at each meeting are very timely and the level of expertise in the room helps us to deepen our understanding of the practice. 
Learning, Development & Organizational Performance Council and Mergers & Acquisitions Executives Council

It’s very rare that an organization is able to bring top expertise together to share issues, concerns, strategies, and challenges in an atmosphere of trust. Councils offer this very unique opportunity and allow participants to talk candidly about our challenges, knowing our conversations will not be shared elsewhere. Even though we’re working for different organizations, we feel like we’re a team. 
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Foundations Council

The Council has been a great benefit to me largely because of the caliber of the people and the quality of the companies that are represented. The companies are world-class in operations and world-class in HR practices. It is an opportunity to learn from what the best of the best are doing, take practices back to my organization, and an opportunity to reach out to other members to test concepts we may be interested in implementing. 
Global Human Resources Council

A terrific opportunity to speak openly with peer-level executives about issues we all face. Despite the diversity of industries represented, there is tremendous commonality in the challenges before us. 
Corporate Communications Strategy Council

Access to the Global Rewards and Mobility Council's updated salary budget survey and additional data outside the US gave me the support I needed to make significant changes to our merit increases in 2022. We are a commodity Chemical company so it was a big deal! Without The Conference Board membership, I would have found out about the survey from the news, not had the backup material and been put in a position that I couldn’t defend increases to our merit. We would have lost people.
Council Member

The Conference Board Councils has, for years, been a safe and healthy environment to crystallize thinking and learn fast in order to redress the ignorance chasm. 
Council Member

If this Council had not delivered the value it did in the years since I joined, I would have invested my money elsewhere. Having a group of peers I can trust and with whom I can share best practices, benchmark, and get real-time information that I can leverage immediately is invaluable to me. The strategies and projects I’ve implemented using knowledge shared among the group continue to have a positive impact on our business. 
Council Member

Better than a high priced consultant or executive coach. Outstanding value! 
Council Member

From my experience, councils are hugely valuable. The level of best practice sharing and practical application is worth the price of joining. The meetings are often hosted by member companies and occur two or three times per year. In the spirit of continuous improvement and value for the spend, I have found councils to be top notch. 
Council Member

I find the meetings to be quite informative and it is wonderful to be able to really get to know the other members. In fact, I have already been in contact with a fellow council member seeking advice about Japanese business. 
Council Member