A new ACC Foundation DEI Maturity Assessment was released in collaboration with ACC and Ethisphere to help mark the event.
Washington – The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is proud to announce that the ACC global Board of Directors was named the winner of the 2022 NACD Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award in the nonprofit category. Winners were announced during the NACD DE&I Awards Gala at Gotham Hall in New York City last night (photos available upon request). The awards recognize boards that have improved their governance and created long-term value for stakeholders by implementing forward-thinking diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) practices.
“Being named the winner of the 2022 NACD DE&I award is a testament to years of dedication by our current board members and those that came before us,” said Mike Madden, 2022 ACC global board chair and general counsel at FutureFeed based in Australia. “We are proud to have made significant strides to integrate a DE&I focus into our governance and recruitment policies to help ensure these practices become long-term, sustainable and institutionalized as part of how current and future boards operate.“
“Winning the 2022 NACD DE&I award is an incredible honor in recognition of all the work of the ACC board and staff to engrain a DE&I focus into everything we do,” said Adrian Goss, 2023 ACC global board chair and general counsel at Bauer Media, audio and UK publishing. “Reexamining how we conduct the board’s business through a DE&I lens has resulted in a more diverse, effective board that’s better equipped to serve a global organization such as ACC. Congratulations to Mike Madden and previous board chairs for their leadership, and to our CEO, Veta Richardson, who was instrumental to developing and executing ACC’s DE&I strategies across the association, including our chapters, practice networks, and ACC Foundation. I look forward to building on this success in the years ahead.”
“Serving as both a member of the board and the chief executive of ACC, I’ve seen first-hand how impactful the board’s tone from the top leadership and commitment to holding themselves accountable for DE&I has been,” said Veta T. Richardson, president & CEO of ACC. “Their commitment to ‘walk the talk’ served as a powerful example for the rest of our organization, globally. It is an honor to be recognized for DE&I achievements by such an esteemed organization as NACD and it has inspired a desire to do more. We plan to help other organizations that may be struggling or looking to take their current DE&I efforts to the next level by offering a brand-new tool, the ACC Foundation DEI Maturity Assessment, that ACC staff developed in partnership with Ethisphere, Inc. to allow organizations across the legal and business communities to inform, benchmark, and share best in class DE&I practices.”
“We are proud to recognize the winners of the 2022 NACD Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Awards who are driving change in the boardroom, their organizations, and the communities that they operate in,” said Peter Gleason, NACD president and CEO. “These five companies have taken incredible strides to lead with DE&I, and their work stood out among the more than 150 nominations we received this year.”
Following the awards gala, ACC announced the launch of the ACC Foundation DEI Maturity Assessment. Developed through a first-of-its-kind collaboration between ACC and Ethisphere, this innovative resource takes the methodology to evaluate progress from the acclaimed ACC Foundation DEI Maturity Model and creates an online assessment module, which allows organizations to quickly and easily benchmark their DE&I efforts to those of their peers. The best part is that this tool is offered as a free service by ACC and Ethisphere for use by the entire legal and business communities. Learn more here.
Find additional information about ACC and ACC Foundation's DEI tools and upcoming programs.
For more information on NACD’s commitment to the advancement of DE&I at the board level, and for further insights, trends, and perspectives on this issue, please visit the NACD Center for Inclusive Governance™ and the NACD Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Resource Center.
About ACC: The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is a global legal association that promotes the common professional and business interests of in-house counsel who work for corporations, associations and other organizations through information, education, networking, and advocacy. With more than 45,000 members in 85 countries employed by over 10,000 organizations, ACC connects its members to the people and resources necessary for both personal and professional growth. By in-house counsel, for in-house counsel.® For more information, visit www.acc.com and follow ACC on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
About NACD: The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) is the premier membership organization for board directors who want to expand their knowledge, grow their network, and maximize their potential.
As the unmatched authority in corporate governance, NACD sets the standards of excellence through its research and community-driven director education, programming, and publications. Directors trust NACD to arm them with the relevant insights to make high-quality decisions on the most pressing and strategic issues facing their businesses today.
NACD also prepares leaders to meet tomorrow’s biggest challenges. The NACD Directorship Certification® is the leading director credential in the United States. It sets a new standard for director education, positions directors to meet boardroom challenges, and includes an ongoing education requirement that prepares directors for what is next.
With an ever-expanding community of more than 23,000 members and a nationwide chapter network, our impact is both local and global. NACD members are driven by a common purpose: to be trusted catalysts of economic opportunity and positive change—in business and in the communities we serve. To learn more about NACD, visit www.nacdonline.org.