2025 Blue Ribbon Commission Report
Meet the 2025 Blue Ribbon Commission
The 2025 Blue Ribbon Commission report on Building a High-Trust Board-CEO Relationship was developed with the collective experience and insights of a 25-member Commission who serve on more than 60 boards in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Selected board seats held by the commissioners are included in italics.
Cochairs
The NACD 2025 Blue Ribbon Commission is cochaired by Wayne Peacock and Dona Young, whose combined leadership and expertise guided the development of the Commission’s report.
Wayne Peacock
Cochair
Former CEO and President, USAA
Elizabeth Dole Foundation (Vice Chair)
Dona Young, NACD.DC®
Cochair
Former Chair, President, and CEO, The Phoenix Companies
Foot Locker (Former Nonexecutive Chair), Spahn & Rose, USAA, NACD
Commissioners
The NACD 2025 Blue Ribbon Commission comprises a roster of distinguished corporate leaders and subject-matter experts.
Claudia Allen
Senior Advisor, KPMG Board Leadership Center, KPMG LLP
Orlando Ashford
Perrigo Inc. (Chair), Array Technologies, State Farm Fire and Casualty Company/ State Farm Life Insurance Company, Make-A-Wish Foundation
Colleen Birdnow Brown
Big 5 Sporting Goods, True Blue, Bakkt Holdings, Port Blakely Companies
Les Brun
Chair/CEO/Cofounder at Ariel Alternatives LLC
Corning Inc., My Code
Adam Bryant
Senior Managing Director and Partner, The ExCo Group
Herman Bulls
Fluence Energy (Chair), USAA (Former Vice Chair), West Point Association of Graduates (Vice Chair), Host Hotels, Comfort Systems, Collegis Education, The American Red Cross National Board of Governors (Vice Chair), Real Estate Advisory Committee for New York State Teachers’ Retirement System
Richard Fields
Global Head of Board Effectiveness, Russell Reynolds Associates
Society for Corporate Governance
Peter Gleason
President and CEO, NACD
NACD, Global Network of Director Institutes (Past Chair), Integrated Reporting and Connectivity Council
Alex Gorsky
Apple, International Business Machines Corp. (Lead Independent Director), JPMorgan Chase & Co., Cleveland Clinic Hospital
Ginger Graham
Walgreens Boots Alliance (Lead Independent Director), VillageMD Practice Management
Holly Gregory
Cochair, Global Corporate Governance Practice, Sidley Austin LLP
American College of Governance Counsel (Chair, Board of Trustees)
Amy Hillman
Professor of Corporate Strategy and Former Dean of the W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University
B:Side Capital (Board Vice President), B:Side Fund
Jonathan Johnson
Former Chair and CEO, Overstock.com
The J.M. Smucker Co. (Lead Independent Director), Nursa, Bloom
Jannice Koors
Senior Managing Director, Pearl Meyer
Sandra A. J. Lawrence
NACD, Brixmor Property Group Inc., Sera Prognostics Inc., Evergy Inc., Macquarie Mutual Funds Trust
Thomas Leppert
Austin Industries Inc. (Chair), Fluor Corp., Method Bank, Dallas Theological Seminary (Trustee)
Aeisha Mastagni
Senior Portfolio Manager, Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies, CALSTRS Investments
Golden 1 Credit Union (Chair),
Council of Institutional Investors (Chair)
Sara Mathew
State Street Bank and Trust Company (Lead Independent Director)
Mark McClain
CEO and Founder, SailPoint Technologies
ActivTrak
Pat Russo
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (Chair), General Motors, JUST Capital, Merck, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR)
Jane Sadowsky, NACD.DC®
Senior Advisor, Moelis & Co
Allied Gold Corp., Nexa Resources SA, Scientific Games LLC
Maggie Wilderotter
Chair and CEO, Wilderotter Vineyard
DocuSign (Chair), Costco Wholesale Corp., Sonoma Biotherapeutics, Tanium
Mary Winston
NACD (Chair), Northrop Grumman, TD Bank Group, TD US Bank, Chipotle Mexican Grill
Acknowledgments
NACD interviewed the following sitting CEOs, and the Commission gratefully acknowledges their valuable insights in shaping this report: Tarang Amin (e.l.f. Beauty), Curtis Anderson (Nursa), Jeremy Andrus (Traeger), Mary Dillon (Foot Locker), Harris Simmons (Zions Bancorporation NA), and Mark Smucker (The J.M. Smucker Company).
In addition, NACD gathered valuable insights from other NACD members and governance experts, including Rhys Best (chair, Texas Pacific Land Corp., and nonexecutive chair, Arcosa); Marc Feigen (Feigen Advisors); Maggie FitzPatrick, NACD.DC® (lead independent director, AN2 Therapeutics, and chair, VistaGen Therapeutics); Celia Huber (McKinsey & Company); Cindie Jamison (chair, Darden Restaurants, and director, Big Lots and The ODP Corp.); and Dawn Zier (chair, The Hain Celestial Group, and director, Prestige Consumer Healthcare and Acorns).
Finally, the Commission recognizes the contributions of NACD’s partners in the development of the report and toolkit: KPMG LLP, Pearl Meyer, Russell Reynolds Associates, and Sidley Austin LLP.