NextEra Energy, Dot Foods, CN, Susan Stautberg, and Maggie Hanson-Muse Named as WomenCorporateDirectors Visionary Award Winners for 2018

NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With pressure on companies to meaningfully improve their corporate governance and strengthen diversity, WomenCorporateDirectors Foundation (WCD) has named as its 2018 WCD Visionary Award winners five companies and executives that have taken exceptional leadership roles in this area. The world's largest utility company NextEra Energy; the largest U.S. food industry redistributor Dot Foods; and CN, one of the largest railways in North America, were selected as corporate honorees. Individual winners include the founder and former CEO of WCD, Susan Stautberg, and Maggie Hanson-Muse, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs – ASEAN, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

"It is a critical time for companies to advance diversity and best practice in their governance, and these are leaders who are setting the pace for their industries and the entire business community," says Jill Kanin-Lovers, co-chair of the Visionary Awards committee, director at Homeownership Preservation Foundation, and a former director at Heidrick & Struggles. Awards co-chair Joan E. Steel, Founder and Managing Principal, Alpha Wealth Advisors, LLC, and a director at Rush University Medical Center and Loyola University Chicago, "We chose awardees who are powerful role models because they 'walk the walk' through leadership that underscores the interconnectedness of diversity in the boardroom and on the senior management team with good corporate governance and strong financial results."

WCD will present the awards at the Visionary Awards Dinner on May 9, 2018, as part of its annual invitation-only Global Institute (May 8-10) in New York City. The Institute – whose theme this year is "How to Succeed in an Era of Radical Insecurity" – and Dinner bring together hundreds of directors, including many CEOs and board chairs, to address the most pressing topics on boardroom agendas today. Past WCD Visionary Award winners include Alaska Air, Publix, L'Oréal, Procter & Gamble, Publicis, The Santander Group, and The Coca-Cola Company, as well as Maggie Wilderotter, Beth Mooney, and Marjorie Scardino, among others.

2018 Visionary Award Winners

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company: CN railway. Award sponsor: Spencer Stuart. Headquartered in Montreal, CN was created in 1919 and is the only transcontinental rail network in North America, stretching across Canada from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, and through the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. In 2017, CN was named as one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers by Mediacorp Canada.

"An inclusive and diverse board is an important part of how we govern at CN and we are honored to be recognized by WCD," said Robert Pace, Chairman of the Board at CN. "Increasing the diversity of the board, including gender diversity, drives innovation and contributes to enhanced business performance and success. This commitment allows us to attract the highest quality directors which means our board benefits from a broader range of perspectives, backgrounds, skills, viewpoints and experience."

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership: Susan Stautberg. The founder and former chairman and CEO of WomenCorporateDirectors, and current chair emeritus, Stautberg built the organization from a small group of women directors and executives around her dining room table to a global membership organization with 80 chapters across six continents. She is the co-author of Women on Board: Insider Secrets to Getting on a Board and Succeeding as a Director.

"WCD members are changing boardrooms around the world," says Stautberg. "Women directors do our homework. We step back a bit. We confirm our impressions. We build trust, tactfully ask important questions, inspire out of box thinking, have the courage to confront the elephants in the room, raise our hands for all that extra work and help mentor each other. Together we need to build innovative ways to bring more talented women up through the pipeline and get them onto boards."

WCD Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value: NextEra Energy. Award sponsor: KPMG. A Fortune 200 company, NextEra Energy is the world's largest utility company providing clean energy across North America, and is headquartered in Juno Beach, FL. Recognized as one of the World's Most Admired Companies by Fortune, NextEra Energy was ranked first among electric and gas utilities for innovation, social responsibility, and quality of products/services.

"We're pleased to be recognized with WCD's Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value," said NextEra Energy Chairman and CEO Jim Robo. "Diverse teams make better business decisions, and diverse boards make better strategic decisions. Fostering a culture of inclusion – where a breadth of experience and perspective is welcomed and valued – is not just the right thing to do; it's a key competitive advantage."

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company: Dot Foods. A family-owned company since 1960, Dot pioneered the idea of food redistribution – enabling manufacturers to get their products to distributors along the food supply chain who order less-than-truckload quantities. Dot is the largest food industry redistributor in the U.S., serving all 50 states and more than 25 countries. Founded by Robert and Dorothy Tracy, Dot has just named its third generation to the board with the appointment of Lauren Tracy.

"We're so grateful to receive this recognition from the WomenCorporateDirectors Foundation," said Dot Foods Executive Chairman John Tracy. "At the heart of our brand promise and of the work we do every day is a commitment to innovative solutions. Diversity is one of the real keys to innovation. We've made it a priority to ensure there is diversity of all types in every level of our business, to generate the best ideas possible. That starts in our boardroom, where we've been fortunate to learn from and be guided by the contributions of our female and male directors over Dot's nearly 60-year history."  

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership in Advancing Women Public and Private Company Directors: Maggie Hanson-Muse. Based in Singapore, Hanson-Muse serves as Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs – ASEAN of the U.S. Commercial Service, overseeing trade policy, promotion, enforcement, and compliance programs as well as the administrative operations for seven U.S. Department of Commerce offices in the region.

"Maggie's extensive global experience and her passion for women's leadership have been huge assets for WCD and women everywhere," says Kanin-Lovers. "She has been instrumental in launching WCD chapters across South America, including our first chapter there in Peru, and then in Colombia. She has also helped bolster our growing presence in Asia, including chapters in India and Singapore and the launch of our Myanmar chapter last fall. As an advocate for inclusion, diversity, and governance best practices, she has played a significant role in enabling women directors to connect with their peers locally and around the world."

2018 WCD Visionary Awards Selection Committee

Committee Co-Chairs

• Jill Kanin-Lovers (U.S.) – Former director, Heidrick & Struggles, and director, Homeownership Preservation Foundation; WCD New York member
• Joan Steel (U.S.) – Founder and Managing Principal, Alpha Wealth Advisors, LLC.; Director, Rush University Medical Center and Loyola University Chicago; WCD Chicago member

Committee Members:

• Sherry Barrat (U.S.) – Lead director of NextEra Energy, Inc.; Director, Prudential Insurance Funds and Arthur J. Gallagher & Company; former WCD advisory board member; WCD South Florida member
• Barbara Bowles (U.S.) – Retired Vice Chair, Profit Investment Management;
  retired Chairman, The Kenwood Group Inc.; WCD Chicago member
• Christie Hefner (U.S.) – Chairman of Hatch Beauty; former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Playboy Enterprises and Executive Chairman of Canyon Ranch Enterprises; Advisory Board Member, The Offutt Companies; WCD Chicago member
• Carmen "Toti" Graham (Peru) – Presidente del Directorio, Fundacion Backus; Director, Ferreyros S.A.A. and Interbank; WCD Peru member
• Izumi Kobayashi (Japan) – Director at Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.; External Director of Mitsui & Co., Ltd.; Member of International Advisory Board at Allianz SE; Member of the Board of Governors at Japan Broadcasting Corporation; WCD Japan member
• Kathryn McCarthy (U.S.) – Independent Director of SEI Investments Co.; Advisory Director of Silver Lane Advisors LLC; Director of Rockefeller Trust Company and is on the Editorial Advisory Board of Trusts & Estates; Member of the Board of Directors of the Sulzberger Foundation; WCD New York member
• Pat McKay (U.S.) – Partner and Managing Director, Templeton & Company; Chair, Florida Atlantic University Foundation; Director, Holy Cross Hospital, WCD South Florida chapter chair and advisory board member
• Estelle Métayer (Canada) – Director, BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products) Inc., Zag Bank, Blockstream; Advisory board member, Ricardo Media, 30%Club Canada; WCD Canada chapter co-chair
• Susan Remmer Ryzewic (U.S.) – President, CEO, and Director, EHR Investments, Inc., The Remmer Family Foundation, Cabot Wellington, LLC, and University of North Florida Foundation; WCD chapter chair, Family Business Council co-chair, advisory board member
• Theo Schwabacher (U.S.) – Senior Vice President, Senior Institutional Consultant, Certified Wealth Strategist at Morgan Stanley; Director, Morgan Stanley Women's Business Exchange; Advisory Board Member, WomenCorporateDirectors Foundation (WCD); WCD Silicon Valley member
• Susan Stautberg (U.S.) – Chair emeritus, and former Chairman and CEO WomenCorporateDirectors Foundation (WCD); co-author of Women on Board; WCD South Florida member

For media inquiries, please contact Suzanne Oaks Brownstein or Trang Mar of Temin and Company at 212-588-8788 or [email protected].

About WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc.
The WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc. (WCD) is the only global membership organization and community of women corporate directors. A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, the WCD Foundation has 80 chapters around the world. The aggregate market capitalization of public companies on whose boards WCD Foundation members serve is over $8 trillion. In addition, WCD Foundation members serve on numerous boards of large private and family-run companies globally. For more information visit www.womencorporatedirectors.org or follow us on Twitter @WomenCorpDirs, #WCDboards.

SOURCE WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc.

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