Visa and Splunk pick up governance team of the year awards
Click here to see the full photo gallery from the night
Corporate Secretary has announced the winners of the ninth Corporate Governance Awards, where those who strive for excellence in corporate governance are recognized and celebrated by their peers and the governance, risk and compliance industry as a whole.
The winning companies and individuals were revealed on November 3 at a gala dinner and awards event held at the Cipriani Wall Street.
Visa won the prize for governance team of the year (large cap), while Splunk received governance team of the year (small to mid-cap).
In the individual categories, Aaron Briggs, executive counsel, corporate, securities and finance at GE, was named governance professional of the year (large cap). Adam Kokas, executive vice president, general counsel, chief human resources officer & secretary at Atlas Air, took home governance professional of the year (small to mid-cap).
This year’s selection of nominees would not be possible without the help of the GRC community at large, and our thanks go out to all those who submitted nominations. As they poured in, it became clear just how much the role of the corporate secretary (and all the many versions of that title) has been raised to new heights of appreciation in the past decade.
Selecting the winners from such an impressive lineup isn’t an easy task, and for that Corporate Secretary thanks the esteemed panel of judges. To them we extend our sincere appreciation for poring over pages upon pages of supporting documents, and spending countless hours debating and discussing the merits of each nominee.
The judging panel for the Corporate Governance Awards 2016 was:
• Donna Anderson, vice president and global corporate governance analyst for T Rowe Price
• Stephen Brown, senior adviser, KPMG Board Leadership Center
• Charles Elson, chair of the John Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, University of Delaware
• Cindy Fornelli, executive director, Center for Audit Quality
• Steven Shapiro, partner, Krasnow Saunders Kaplan & Beninati
• Carol Strickland, chief administrative officer and corporate secretary, EverPower Wind Holdings
The full list of awards appears below.
| Category | Winner |
| Best use of technology by a corporate secretary or general counsel | Microsoft Corp |
| Best CSR disclosure | Xcel Energy |
| Best shareholder engagement | GE |
| Best proxy statement (small to mid-cap) | Korn Ferry |
| Best proxy statement (large cap) | Goldman Sachs |
| Best compliance and ethics program (small to mid-cap) | Voya Financial |
| Best compliance and ethics program (large cap) | The Allstate Corporation |
| Best overall governance for a private company | Graybar Electric Corp |
| Best overall corporate governance – international | Royal Bank of Canada |
| Rising star | Katie Colendich, HP |
| LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT | Robert Lamm |
| Governance professional of the year (small to mid-cap) | Adam Kokas, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings |
| Governance professional of the year (large cap) | Aaron Briggs, GE |
| Governance team of the year (small to mid-cap) | Splunk |
| Governance team of the year (large cap) | Visa |
