Winds of Change – Office Depot names Lenovo executive Gerry Smith new CEO

by | Feb 9, 2017 | Governance, Leadership, Media

GGA’s Insights

On February 27, 2017 Lenovo executive, Gerry Smith, will become the new CEO of Office Depot. This appointment comes in the wake of current CEO, Ronald Smith’s announcement of his intention to retire from the role, but continue as Chairman.

Luis Navas, Senior Partner, Global Governance Advisors, in a conversation with Sun Sentinel expressed that he sees this as being a good change, a good practice. Luis also believes that investors played a critical role in pushing for a non-executive Chairman.

In lieu of a 2016 bonus that Gerry will be giving up at Lenovo, he is scheduled to receive $1.2 million in cash five days following his start in this new role. While Luis agrees that it is usual practice to pay out bonuses owed from a previous role, he also pointed out that the SEC filing does not clarify how much Gerry is leaving on the table in Lenovo equity.

Full story here.

Women CEOs in Top BC Firms: GGA’s Arden Dalik Featured in Business In Vancouver Magazine

by | Jul 24, 2015 | Board Dynamics, Diversity, Governance, Leadership, Media

GGA’s Senior Partner Arden Dalik is featured in the latest Business In Vancouver magazine, where she provides her commentary on the latest findings on the number of women CEOs in BC’s top firms. .

As Arden states, “‘the CEO is still a position where we are really lagging behind, obviously, versus the demographics of the population …'”

That said, she points to the growing number of women in senior executive roles as an indication that things have been changing over the last 10 years.

“One of the top positions in Eldorado Gold is occupied by a very strong, very capable woman,” she said. “They also have a woman on their board now in a very technical, male-dominated industry.”

You can read the full piece, authored by Nelson Bennett, here.

GGA Thought Leadership on Board Diversity Featured In First Annual Survey With The Calgary Herald

by | Dec 12, 2014 | Board Dynamics, Diversity, Governance, Leadership, Survey

GGA’s Arden Dalik was once again the featured expert, along with Governance Studio’s Sylvia Groves on a range of pieces published which focused on the results of GGA’s unique collaboration with the Calgary Herald, surveying board diversity within Calgary’s top 100 publicly traded companies. The survey is the first of any project of its kind published in collaboration with a Canadian newspaper.

Deborah Yedlin’s piece, which featured a video interview with Arden and Sylvia, can be found here.

Sylvia Groves’ op ed on board diversity trends and issues can be found here.

Amanda Stephenson’s story on the energy sector preparing for new guidelines for diversity can be found here.

Arden’s op ed can be found here.

Amanda Stephenson’s piece on who’s leading the way on board diversity can be found here.