The State of Director Education

The spring meeting season has arrived, and with it countless calendar reminders pinging busy directors like you. Whether you serve a public, private, or nonprofit organization, you likely will be attending a series of critical meetings over the next few weeks—not only board and committee meetings, but also annual shareholders meetings and perhaps even a face-to-face meeting with key investors, accompanied by counsel.

Are you ready? If you are an active and attentive member of NACD and a reader of this publication, chances are the answer is yes. This issue of Directorship highlights the breadth of issues directors face every season, and indeed every day. No matter what your second-quarter schedule looks like, you are likely to find something here to help you, from an article on the US Justice Department’s crackdown on corporate fraud, to an In Practice piece about risk oversight, to a Board Tech column on the importance of ChatGPT at the board level.

Clearly, ongoing director education is needed. Does it happen? Yes. Does NACD focus on it as a topic? Not enough. Ironically, although we are a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit, with director education as our primary mission, we don’t often write about it; we are too busy doing it. But I am pleased to take this opportunity to share my thoughts. Today, director education is 24/7 and 360 degrees—a dynamic approach that has been evolving over the nearly 50 years of our existence.

In our pioneering days, NACD director education was delivered one boardroom at a time by two men: founding president John Nash traveled the country with attorney Ronald I. Zall, running their educational programs for 20 years and helping hundreds of boards cope with their growing responsibilities. Over time, the annual conference and director professionalism courses emerged, as did chapter educational programs. Some of the earliest programs took place in Zall’s hometown of Denver, whose NACD chapter today administers the Ronald I. Zall Scholarship in his memory.

Zall was a champion of certification and would be pleased to know about the more than 1,300 directors the association has certified, including Carolyn Flowers, who is featured in this issue. Who knew when NACD began that we would be teaching so many, so much? I have to believe that Zall did. He, along with John Nash and countless pioneers, established the foundation. We continue to build. Onward! ■

This article is from the Spring 2023 issue of Directorship.