The NYSE board diversity initiative
The New York Stock Exchange launched its Board Advisory Council (BAC) in 2019 to address the critical need for diverse, inclusive leadership on public and private company boards.
Comprised of CEOs from some of the world’s largest and most well-known companies, BAC members use their personal and professional networks to identify and nominate board-ready candidates. BAC networking events have resulted in over 500 meetings between 64 company leaders and 144 candidates and to date, the BAC has helped place 40+ candidates on corporate boards.
For network members
The NYSE Board Candidate Network
The NYSE Board Advisory Council Network is composed of hundreds of diverse, board-ready candidates across industries, nominated by an NYSE-listed company CEO or BAC member. The network’s 300+ candidates are top executives in their field and hail from a range of in demand industries.
Featured candidates
Louis Caldera is public company director with a background in governmental, legal, and regulatory affairs. He has extensive board experience, having served on over 15 corporate and non-profit boards throughout his career. He is the former Secretary of the Army under the Clinton Administration and served as an Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Military Office under the Obama Administration.
Earlier in his career, he was a member of the California State Assembly, and chaired the Banking and Revenue and Taxation Committees. Louis has also previously worked in higher education at the University of New Mexico where he served as President.
Louis has a demonstrated track record of leading public-facing organizations and driving global missions forward.
Hema Nealon offers diverse and deep finance and operations experience in regulated industries across the globe.
Through a well-calculated capital-allocation strategy, she has worked with established and emerging companies to drive transformative thinking and deliver measurable results.
Hema has proven expertise in liaising with diverse stakeholders to build infrastructure, drive growth, and motivate teams. Taking nascent opportunities to fruition has distinguished her as an industry thought leader and sought-after advisor. Driving high growth with ethics, integrity, and inclusivity, with an eye towards sustainability, have been hallmarks of her leadership.
Raj Mehan is an experienced global finance executive with significant expertise in the capital markets. Among his many accomplishments, Raj led the evolution of Steelcase from a private family-focused organization to a mature, publicly traded company.
He actively participates in many of the company’s investment committees and has global oversight of business centers in Mexico, Malaysia and Romania.
Jené Elzie is a business executive with over 25 years of global achievement at the intersection of sports, media, and technology. She has designed, built, and operationalized new businesses, business units, and teams at companies ranging from start-ups to multi-billion-dollar global organizations.
She created and led the first international marketing operation for the NBA, established in nine offices worldwide, and more than tripled customer engagement. While at Comcast/ NBCUniversal, Jené achieved double-digital revenue growth in her senior roles as a commercial operator and B2B marketing specialist. She also led Golf Channel’s expansion across Europe and Asia during her tenure.
She is an expert in scaling and monetizing consumer audiences and digital transformation and has done business in over 35 countries. Her time spent building new business verticals within Fortune 500 and large companies and corporate board experience have established her as a leader suited for business challenges across the global economy.
NYSE-hosted BAC events
Board Advisory Council meeting
With Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO, Uber
Led by Council member and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and Clear CEO Caryn Seidman Becker, the BAC engaged in a rich conversation around diversity issues during its first in-person council meeting since 2019.
Following the meeting, Dara took some time to share his thoughts on the importance of diverse teams and boards during an interview recorded on the NYSE Trading Floor.
NYSE Board Advisory networking forum
The NYSE hosted the 2022 BAC Networking Forum in September, connecting seventeen companies to forty-seven qualified candidates during two hours of interviewing for open board positions.
Candidates also benefitted from listening to keynote speaker Tissa Richards give an insightful presentation on how candidates can sharpen their board bios and interviewing skills.
25/25: Phoebe Woods , Board of Directors, Pioneer Natural Resources and PPL Corp.
1/25: Tim Cawley, CEO Con Edison; Nick Fink, CEO FBHS, Lynn Martin, President NYSE
2/25: Dara Khoshrowshi, CEO Uber; Lucinda Baier, President and Chief Executive Officer, Brookdale
3/25: Dara Khoshrowshi, CEO Uber; Karyn Seidman Becker, CEO Clear, Lucinda Baier, President and Chief Executive Officer, Brookdale
4/25: Tara Dziedzic, Head of U.S. Listings, NYSE ; Angela Johnson, Chief of Staff, Uber
5/25: Nick Fink, CEO FBHS; Tim Cawley, CEO Con Edison
6/25: Council members
7/25: Kristen Davis, Dawn Stump (in red)
8/25: D.V. Rao, Derrick Roman, Raj Mehan
9/25: Hema Nealon
10/25: Tissa Richards, Sofia Adrogue
11/25: Frances Resheske; Deneen Donneley; Louis Caldera
12/25: Tissa Richards
13/25: Tissa Richards
14/25: Sandra Andrews
15/25: Raj Mehan, Tara Dziedzic
16/25: Phoebe Woods; Donna Bradin
17/25: Networking candidates
18/25: Frances Resheske; Deneen Donneley
19/25: Networking candidates
20/25: Jacqueline Shoback, Elizabeth King, Chief Regulatory Officer and President ESG, ICE
21/25: Hon. William Lacy Clay, Jr.
22/25: Sandra Andrews, Maxwell David, Managing Director Apollo Global Management
23/25: Linda Walker Bynoe, Board of Directors, Equity Residential
24/25: Linda Walker Bynoe, Board of Directors, Equity Residential
25/25: Phoebe Woods , Board of Directors, Pioneer Natural Resources and PPL Corp.
1/25: Tim Cawley, CEO Con Edison; Nick Fink, CEO FBHS, Lynn Martin, President NYSE
Board Governance Library
Council Members
Lucinda M. Baier
President & CEO, Brookdale Senior Living
Ed Bastian
Chief Executive Officer, Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Stewart Butterfield
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Slack Technologies Inc.
Tim Cawley
President & Chief Executive Officer, Consolidated Edison, Inc.
Henry Fernandez
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, MSCI Inc.
Nicholas Fink
Chief Executive Officer, Fortune Brands Home & Security
James Fitterling
Chairman Chief Executive Officer, Dow Inc.
Kenneth Frazier
Executive Chairman, Merck & Co., Inc.
Alex Gorsky
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Johnson & Johnson
Susan Hardwick
President & Chief Executive Officer, American Water Works Inc.
Greg Heckman
Chief Executive Officer, Bunge
Jenny Johnson
President & Chief Executive Officer, Franklin Templeton | Franklin Resources
Dara Khosrowshahi
Chief Executive Officer, Uber
Jeff Lawson
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman, Twilio Inc.
Meredith Kopit Levien
President & Chief Executive Officer, The New York Times Company
Enrique Lores
President & Chief Executive Officer, HP Inc.
Doug Peterson
President & Chief Executive Officer, S&P Global
David Solomon
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Goldman Sachs
Cyrus Taraporevala
President & Chief Executive Officer, State Street Global Advisors
Jennifer Tejada
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Pager Duty
Christophe Weber
President & Chief Executive Officer, Takeda Pharmaceuticals
Hon. Sharon Bowen
Board Member, ICE
Co-Chair, NYSE Board Advisory Council
Duriya Farooqui
Board Member, ICE
Co-Chair, NYSE Board Advisory Council
Elizabeth King
President ESG & Chief Regulatory Officer, ICE
Co-Chair, NYSE Board Advisory Council
Lynn Martin
President, New York Stock Exchange
Co-Chair, NYSE Board Advisory Council
How to get involved
CEOs of NYSE listed companies seeking new, diverse board candidates can request a curated list with specific skills/attributes from the NYSE exclusive candidate network pool. Additionally, CEOs of all NYSE listed companies can help build the candidate network by nominating board-ready candidates.