As the pace of change accelerates, board directors are being challenged to navigate an increasingly complex landscape of risk, regulation, and stakeholder expectation. From emerging technologies and geopolitical shifts to evolving ESG scrutiny and new disclosure mandates, today’s governance environment demands sharper foresight and bolder judgment.
Join this SVDX webinar for a candid conversation about the issues shaping board agendas in 2026—and the difficult questions boards must be prepared to ask. The panel will explore evolving expectations of board oversight, strategies for balancing innovation with accountability, and the implications of new pressures from investors, regulators, and society at large. Tune in to hear about what’s next in corporate governance—and how forward-thinking boards can stay on the edge without falling over it.
This webinar will be the inaugural Christine Russell Memorial Program to honor and celebrate one of the founding members of SVDX who believed in advancing excellence in corporate governance.
SPEAKERS
Ryan Hourihan
Ryan Hourihan is a managing director with Pearl Meyer. He has over ten years of experience advising boards and senior management on incentive compensation design, corporate governance, and performance measurement with the objective of supporting business strategy, value creation, and shareholder interests. Ryan is particularly experienced in compensation challenges unique to privately held firms seeking to compete with publicly traded firms. His clients have included Fortune 500 organizations, privately held companies, and pre-IPO ventures across an array of industries.
David F. Larcker
David F. Larcker is the James Irvin Miller Professor of Accounting, Emeritus, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is also the director of the Corporate Governance Research Initiative at Stanford Graduate School of Business and senior faculty of the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University. Larcker’s research focuses on executive compensation, corporate governance, and managerial accounting. His most recent book, written with Brian Tayan, was released in June 2023: The Art and Practice of Corporate Governance.
Laurie Yoler
Laurie Yoler is an experienced board director and strategist skilled in advising companies and founders in imagining, building, and scaling disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics and cloud computing. She is known for taking a holistic, enterprise-wide view to quickly assess and shape technology into new, differentiated products and services. She is savvy in fundraising, M&A strategy and negotiations, cybersecurity oversight, intellectual property strategy, and in devising complex, unconventional strategic alliances. Yoler has served on the boards of public, private and non-profit organizations. She currently serves on the board of directors of Bose Corporation, Church & Dwight Co., Inc., and Saltbox, and on the advisory boards of Aptiv, Accenture, and TTI/Vanguard. She is also a General Partner with early-stage deep-tech venture capital firm Playground Global, as well as an active investor with Broadway Angels.
F. Daniel Siciliano, moderator
Dan Siciliano is a successful technology CEO-founder and entrepreneur, as well as Chair of the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and a recognized expert in corporate strategy and governance, capital financial markets, executive compensation, and technological disruption (including fintech, AI and cybersecurity). He is currently Chairman of SVDX, board member of the Latino Corporate Directors Education Foundation, chair-elect of the Council of Federal Home Loan Banks, and a fellow at Stanford University.