About
Karen Kane provides CEOs and corporate boards with specialized strategic communication counsel. We ensure that as directors adopt new governance practices, they convey changes to key constituencies in a way that generates value and protects corporate reputation assets.
A seasoned C-Level corporate communications executive, Ms. Kane has more than 20 years experience counseling CEOs, C-Suite officers and board directors on a wide range of strategic issues and communication needs. The former board secretary and highest-ranking woman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Ms. Kane has built a board-shareholder engagement program based on best practices gleaned from top directors, major institutional shareholders, and legal and financial practitioners.
The Dodd-Frank Act accelerates a fundamental shift in governance authority, a “new normal” in the balance of power. This shift to shareholders, a broader group of stakeholders and the importance of sustainability in an integrated global economy requires visible action by boards. A shareholder engagement program is a risk mitigation tool in a post-crisis environment highly distrustful of corporate boards and executives.
In the 2011 proxy season, boards will find that compliance alone is not enough. In order to regain their governance authority, CEOs and boards will need to develop shareholder engagement programs that effectively incorporate shareholder feedback.
Ms. Kane has produced an exclusive analysis of best practices in the field, written extensively on numerous aspects of governance, appeared on panels and is quoted in the media describing how the new dynamics have changed corporate board work. In the new area of greater shareholder engagement, Ms. Kane brings boards the critical skills to move along the path of change at a pace and style appropriate for each board.
Following 9/11, Ms. Kane was made responsible for developing the crisis plans for the Federal Reserve System. With broad experience in corporate and financial communications and media relations, Ms. Kane advocates using communication as a strategic risk-management tool. She helps her clients identify opportunities to speak plainly and effectively with their key constituents, within a rigorous program that defines messages, responsibilities and accountabilities that the board can monitor.
Ms. Kane has served as a senior corporate officer in diverse business segments including environmental, high-tech, insurance, banking and asset management. Trained as a journalist, she maintains an independence that enables her to evaluate situations and provide valuable counsel to leadership.
