New England / FEI - Boston Joint Event: Journey To The Board

Overview

Join FEI Boston & the Private Directors Association - New England on November 7 at Stazione di Federal for an insightful panel discussion where we will bring together accomplished board members to share their expertise and guide you through the path to a board seat.

Discover the diverse world of board opportunities and gain valuable insights into what it takes to secure a position at the boardroom table. Whether you're an aspiring board member or seeking to enhance your governance knowledge, this is your chance to learn from the best.

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$35 Member Registration Fee
$40 Non-Member Registration Fee

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Thank you to our National Sponsors!

Thank you to our Chapter Sponsors!

Speakers 

Cynthia Clark Bentley University

Paul Chisholm Senior Client Partner, Board & CEO Services Korn Ferry

Paul Chisholm had a 30-year career as an executive in the telecom and IT industry. He spent 9 years at Colt Telecom Group, including 6 years as its CEO where he was ranked among the Top 30 performing CEO’s in the World according to Harvard Business Review. He then spent 10 years as the CEO of mindSHIFT, where they were awarded the Top MSP in the United States four years in a row before it was acquired by Ricoh in 2014. Mr. Chisholm also held various general management positions at Teleport Communications Group, Shawmut Bank, AT&T and New England Telephone.

Paul has been on the board of various for-profit technology companies and still currently sits on numerous boards as well. His board experience includes Blue Mantis, Lionguard, Continuum and United Office among others. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Babson College and on the Advisory Board of the Catholic Schools Foundation.
Paul received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College and an MBA from Babson College. 

He lives in Medford, MA with his wife Margaret and enjoys spending time over the summers in Kennebunkport, ME with his three sons and numerous grandchildren.

Julie Norris Senior Client Partner, Board & CEO Services Korn Ferry

Julie specializes in the recruitment of board directors and C-suite executives. She has completed more than 150 board director searches working with small cap, middle market and Fortune 500 clients, including publicly-traded and privately-held companies. Julie's board practice focuses on identifying next generation directors who will bring insights into new technologies, customers and markets. She also has extensive experience working with boards to increase diversity and advising on succession planning.

Prior to joining Korn Ferry, Julie was a Partner with another global search firm in their Board and Technology Practice. Since 2005, she has worked closely with boards to recruit the next generation of board directors across a wide range of industries and geographies.
Earlier in her career Julie was a Senior Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company, serving life sciences, technology and financial services clients. She gained executive experience as Vice President of Product Development with CareScout, a privately held healthcare services and data company that was ultimately acquired by Genworth. Julie began her career as a Mergers and Acquisitions Financial Analyst with Wasserstein Perella. Throughout her career, Julie has worked closely with boards, CEOs, and senior executives to develop high performance teams, build new businesses, and turnaround underperforming operations.
Julie regularly serves as a panelist for corporate governance programs with Harvard Law School, Business School, and NACD, among other organizations. She also helped develop an annual Executive Education program on Corporate Governance with Wharton.
Julie holds an A.B. in economics, magna cum laude, from Harvard College, a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and an M.B.A., with distinction, from Harvard Business School.

LISA SPADAFORA THOMPSON Sturbridge Growth Partners Korn Ferry

JLisa is a globally recognized expert in pricing and profitable go-to-market strategy. As a consultant she has served multiple industries including technology (hardware, software/SaaS), industrial and process manufacturing, and B2B services. She has experience on five corporate boards. She has experience on multiple committees including: NomGov, Compensation & Human Capital, Audit & Finance, Succession, and Risk Management. She’s held P&L roles in three companies and has driven $billions in profitable growth for her clients. She’s an angel investor and an advisor to several CEOs. She is also a member of PDA – New England. 

After finishing her MBA at Babson College (#1 in Entrepreneurial Leadership for 25 consecutive years), she joined Strategic Pricing Group (SPG), a consulting firm focused on pricing and competitive strategy. Lisa was SPG’s first experienced sales hire brought on board to create strategies enabling sales organizations in mid-sized and large companies to meet or exceed sales objectives. Lisa founded and led the firm’s Chicago office, growing revenues over 40% during her tenure. After 10 years at SPG having risen to the role of Vice President and Managing Director, the firm was sold to Monitor Group where she served as a senior partner for eight years. At Monitor Group, she was elected to the board of directors by her peers. Lisa became a partner at Deloitte Consulting when they acquired Monitor Group in 2013. In addition to managing multi-million-dollar client relationships with large and diverse teams, she led the strategy practice for the Industrial Products sector managing nearly $100MM in revenue. During her time with Deloitte, she served as a leader of their award-winning Women’s Initiative and on their New England Executive Team. 

In 2017, Lisa retired early from Deloitte to start Sturbridge Growth Partners, a management consulting firm bringing top-tier growth expertise to companies in a variety of industries. Sturbridge is a virtual network of experienced consultants, globally renowned thought leaders and small boutique firms which have created strategies that have driven billions of dollars in profitable revenue for their clients. 

Lisa has significant governance experience having served on four privately held corporate boards: Your Next Bold Move ($1MM), Monitor Group ($300MM), Doegode Leiba (startup software), Consigli Construction ($2BN), and Twin Valley ($100MM.) Lisa has served as an audit committee chair and on nominating, succession planning, and risk management committees. She has mergers and acquisition experience, having served on the boards of two companies which made acquisitions during her board tenure. In addition to corporate experience, Lisa has significant nonprofit board experience and has served as chair for multiple boards. Lisa is known by CEOs and peers with whom she’s worked as having courage in the board room, taking challenging issues head-on, building strong relationships with key stakeholders and fostering a positive board dynamic. 

Lisa is a member of Extraordinary Women on Boards, Women Corporate Directors, and the Private Directors Association. She lives in the Boston area with her husband. She has two adult children (ages 18 and 21) and a Boston Terrier named Roland Schitt.

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