SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board™ (SASB)™, a 501c3 non-profit organization that provides sustainability accounting standards for use by publicly listed corporations in the U.S., today announces five new members of its board of directors. The new board members, who will serve a minimum two year term effective starting January 2014, are:

Jack Ehnes, CEO of CalSTRs
Jack Ehnes is the Chief Executive Officer of the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS), the largest teacher-only pension fund in the world. Mr. Ehnes is Chairman of the FTSE Environmental Markets Committee; serves on the boards of the National Council on Teacher Retirement, Ceres, and the Public Employees Board of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans; and is a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Council on Long-Term Investing.

Peter Knight, JD, Founding Partner of Generation Investment Management
Mr. Knight is a Founding Partner of Generation Investment Management. Mr. Knight served as Chief of Staff to former VP Al Gore when Mr. Gore was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later the U.S. Senate. He has held senior positions on four presidential campaigns and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Park Foundation.

Clara Miller, President of the F.B. Heron Foundation
Clara Miller is President of The F. B. Heron Foundation. Prior to assuming the Foundation's presidency, Miller was President and CEO of Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) which she founded and ran from 1984 through 2010. Miller is on the boards of Family Independence Initiative, StoneCastle Financial Corp., and The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, and is a member of the Social Investment Committee of the Kresge Foundation. In 2010 Miller became a member of the first Nonprofit Advisory Committee of the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Elisse Walter, JD, former Chairman of the SEC
Elisse B. Walter was appointed Commissioner of the SEC by President George W. Bush in 2008. She was later designated the 30th Chairman of the SEC by President Barack Obama, and she served as the agency's leader from December 2012 to April 2013. Prior to her appointment as an SEC Commissioner, Ms. Walter served as Senior Executive Vice President, Regulatory Policy & Programs, for FINRA. Ms. Walter has received, among other honors, the Presidential Rank Award (Distinguished), the ASECA William O. Douglas Award, the SEC Chairman's Award for Excellence, and the SEC's Distinguished Service Award.

Ted White, JD, Managing Partner, Fahr LLC
Ted White is managing partner of Fahr LLC, is the umbrella entity for investor, philanthropist, and advanced energy advocate Tom Steyer's business, policy, and philanthropic efforts.  Ted is also the "name" partner of the Denver-based law firm Moye White LLP. He is the author of the popular book "Drafting Business Contracts" and the founder of Estabrook Funds. His civic leadership includes acting as Chairman of the Boettcher Foundation, Trustee of Rocky Mountain Institute, and Founding Chair of Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado. 

"We have ambitious plans for the next few years—in addition to finalizing standards for more than 80 industries in ten sectors, through our education programs we will work with corporations on improving their disclosures and investors on how to use the information," said Dr. Jean Rogers, Founder and Executive Director of SASB. "The guidance of our new board members—who support the SEC's disclosure reform agenda and bring mainstream investor representation—will be invaluable to accomplishing these goals."

"All investors deserve information that provides a true view of corporate performance in today's changing world," said Walter. "SASB is using a rigorous, evidence-based, dispassionate process to bring this information to market for the benefit of investors."

"Sustainability through good corporate governance practices is key to creating long term value for investors like CalSTRS," said Ehnes, "Service on the SASB board is an excellent opportunity to influence the real ways we measure this emerging trend which has wide-ranging consequences for the future of the investment community, as well as our planet."

Returning board members include board chairman Bob Eccles, PhD, Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School; Steve Gunders, Partner—Deloitte & Touche LLP (retired); Dan Hanson, Head of U.S. Equities—Jarislowsky Fraser USA; Erika Karp, CEO, Cornerstone Capital Inc,; Suz Mac Cormac, Partner—Morrison & Foerster LLP; Catherine Odelbo, Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Partnerships, Morningstar; Aulana L. Peters, Partner, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (retired); and Jean Rogers, PhD, Founder and Executive Director, SASB.

For more information about SASB, please visit www.sasb.org.

About SASB
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board™ (SASB)™ is an independent 501(c)3 organization that establishes and maintains industry-specific standards for use in disclosing material sustainability issues in annual filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission. More than 1,000 individuals from individuals representing $12.5T assets under management and $5.5T market capital have participated in multi-stakeholder industry working groups informing standards development for five sectors to date.  For more information about SASB, visit www.sasb.org, or follow us on YouTube, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contact

Amanda Medress
Manager, Stakeholder Engagement
Amanda.Medress@sasb.org
(415) 830-9220 ext. 106

SOURCE Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)