James Tompkins PhD
- 14 years, internationally-recognized leader advising in board governance: board structures, policies and practices, corporate governance education seminars, expert witness/litigation support, board and committee evaluations.
- Served as the corporate governance expert witness in a major lawsuit against Enron (2008).
- Founding member and director, Board Advisory Services of Kennesaw State University’s Corporate Governance Center, the oldest governance center in the U.S.
- Clients include: Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, Georgia Board of Regents, Diebold, Inc., Chubb Insurance, and Labaton Sucharow LLP.
- All 7 Best Practices
- Pre-Meeting Discovery Process
- One-on-One Call with Expert
- Meeting Summary Report
- Post-Meeting Engagement
Nominating and Governance Committee Processes
Overview
Corporate boards are under pressure like never before – the result of public and regulatory pressure in response to the Enron meltdown (Sarbanes-Oxley) and the Great Recession (Dodd-Frank).
Is your board strong enough to withstand such scrutiny?
To answer that, begin by considering this: A corporate board is only as good as the people who serve on it and their ability to work together effectively. Weak or ineffective board members, or directors who are unable to collaborate for the good of the company, can make corporate governance dysfunctional and ineffective.
The purpose of the Nominating and Governance Committee is to nominate directors to the board and ensure the board is practicing effective governance. Acting as the board’s gatekeeper, this committee is one of the most important on any board.
In addition, this committee serves a watchdog role over the board's governance practices. Other responsibilities often include:
- Ensuring sound peer evaluations for the board, committees and directors.
- Analysis of board committee structure.
- Setting policy for committee composition and rotation.
- Updating committee charters and governance principles.
- Ensuring board education programs.
- Succession planning for committee and board leadership.
A strong Nominating and Governance Committee ensures the board is in a state of on-going self-improvement.
The strength of the Nominating and Governance Committee correlates to board success. It is the difference between a board that is merely "going through the motions" and one that functions as a finely-tuned machine.