Initiatives
Skytop Strategies

The Board of Advisors for Skytop Strategies

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

BOARD OF ADVISORS Hank Boerner Hank Boerner is Chairman of Governance & Accountability Institute, based in NYC. He’s been a business journalist, corporate communicator, issue manager and crisis response coach for corporate leaders for three decades. He honed his trend analysis of issues over the course of managing 300-plus critical incidents affecting the private and public sectors. Hank believes Skytop Strategies offers a great service to executives, managers and professionals in creating a broad dialogue on critical issues of concern in the boardroom and C-suite. “Skytop is well beyond classroom presentation and the usual conference presentations in its unique ability to bring stakeholders together to explore topics and issues that affect the future of the corporate, public and investment sectors. The varied thematic meetings, conducted in various settings, build in stature and outcomes; as the dialogue ensues, one can easily see the excitement building. This formula is unique and very stimulating for participants.” Sylvia Burks Sylvia Burks is a corporate legal and business advisor, specializing in complex cross-border mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, venture capital and private equity financings involving companies in the technology, life sciences and other sectors from her office in Silicon Valley. She received her JD from University of Texas School of Law, studied law at the University of Bonn, Germany, and worked in the Competition Directorate of the Commission of the European Union. She has worked at international law firms both in Europe and the United states, serving as a partner for fifteen years at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pitman LLP and Coudert Brothers LLP. She holds an M.B.A. from the University of California Anderson Graduate School of Management. Burks advises public and private participants in the global marketplace through Cross-Border Counsel. In her practice, Burks interfaces with C-Suite executives and Boards whose decision-making require the up to the minute knowledge of global markets and best practices. She is excited to work with Skytop, whose conference provide fora for executives to gather such knowledge and to hear diverse perspectives, drawn from fact-based research and the analysis of trusted thought leaders and industry experts. Jeffrey M. Chertoff Jeffrey M. Chertoff is currently a board director and an advisor to boards on financial and operational matters and M&A opportunities, in addition to mentoring startup businesses. Mr. Chertoff has served as a board director for several organizations and has been the CFO for a number of private and public companies. Louis Coppola Louis Coppola is EVP and a co-founder of Governance & Accountability Institute and serves on the board of directors for The Global Sourcing Council. Louis provides advice to corporate and investor clients on sustainability strategy, disclosure (reporting), investment and performance. Lou directs the Institute’s relationship with GRI including the activities around the Data Partner relationship, “Organizational Stakeholder” (OS) relationship, and several joint research publications. He also coordinates the Institute’s various public research projects such as “Sustainability – What Matters?” and studies of sustainability reporting external assurance practices in collaboration with GRI, Bloomberg, and the big four accounting firms. Louis serves as an adjunct professor at the Bard M.B.A in Sustainability NYC campus teaching courses on business pragmatics of sustainability, and is Co-Chair of the Social Investment Forum’s (SIF) – Sustainable Investment Research Analyst Network (SIRAN) Sustainable Education and Company Engagement (SECE) committee. Additionally, Louis is an active New York Society of Securities Analyst (NYSSA), Sustainable Investing Committee steering member. Ariel Evans Ariel Evans is an American Israeli cybersecurity expert, entrepreneur and business developer. She recently took the helm of the Israeli cyber risk management company InnoSec which provides enterprises, cyber insurers and M&A teams quantification of their cyber risk. Additionally, she consults for over 30 Israeli companies and is the go-to person in Israel that connects cyber startup companies to funding and business development opportunities. An entrepreneur while in the US, she raised over $200 million from private equity and venture capital firms and has two successful exits under her belt. Evans was also the Chief Information Security Officer for a major telco in the United States. She is recognized as a leader on Wall Street in Risk and Compliance having held positions at The McGraw-Hill Company, XL Capital, JPMorgan Chase, and Merrill Lynch as well as Lockheed Martin. Her insight into regulation, governance and business inter-connectivity technology allowed her to provide expert guidance to the Department of Homeland Security, The Payment Card Industry and other governing bodies that are accountable for reducing risk and understanding its implications with complex technologies. Paula Luff From 2007 through 2015, Luff was vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility for Hess Corporation where she established and led the global social responsibility function for the company. Prior to joining Hess, she was senior director of strategic health partnerships for Pfizer Inc where she set strategy and led the teams that developed flagship programs and policies in global health for the company and its foundation. She also represented Pfizer on social investment and global health issues with the media, public officials, bi-lateral and multi-lateral organizations and other external stakeholders. Luff was previously with CARE, the humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and master’s degrees from New York University and the New School University. Luff is a Senior Associate with the Project on Prosperity and Development at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and is a member of the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Leaders’ Forum. She serves on the Boards of Philanthropy New York, the Access to Nutrition Foundation and the James R. Jordan Foundation. Michael Madon Michael currently serves as the CEO of Ataata, the world’s go-to solution for security awareness training. Before founding Ataata, Michael was an early member of RedOwl, a behavioral analytics software company. He also served on the Board of Directors of TeleCommunication Systems, a world leader in secure and highly reliable wireless communication technology. Previously, Michael served as US Treasury’s first Deputy Assistant Secretary, Intelligence Community Integration, where he developed strategies to help the department identify and mitigate cyber risks and vulnerabilities. In recognition of his service, Michael was awarded the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal—the Intelligence Community’s highest award. Michael served as an active duty officer in the U.S. Army and remains an active member of the Army Reserves as an Intelligence Officer. He is a recipient of the Bronze Star. Michael holds a M.B.A. from the Wharton School, a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University, and a B.A. from Cornell University. Tom Manning Tom Manning is a corporate advisor, board director, and educator. Currently, he serves on the boards of Dun & Bradstreet (Lead Director), CommScope, and Clear Media Limited. He was based in Hong Kong for 17 years, where he served as the CEO of Cerberus Asia, Capgemini Asia, and EY Global Consulting Asia, and as a partner with Bain & Company. Formerly, he was an independent director of several of China’s largest listed companies, including the Bank of Communications, Gome Electrical Appliances, AsiaInfo-Linkage Holdings, and iSoftStone; earlier in his career, he was with McKinsey & Company. He speaks Mandarin and teaches corporate governance, private equity, U.S.-China relations, and innovation at the University of Chicago Law School. Manning is particularly enthusiastic about his collaboration with Skytop Strategies, which he describes as a “firm on a mission to connect thoughtful leaders with critical issues where leadership is keenly needed.” Manning notes that “Skytop has demonstrated an uncanny ability to identify insightful topics that demand attention, which is why Skytop conferences are attracting such diverse and influential participants.” Kevin O’Brien Mark Tulay Mark Tulay provides business and organizational development services and strategic counsel to NGOs, institutional investors, companies and pension funds working to advance sustainable markets, metrics and sustainable investing.