83. Matching Board Members with Public Company Boards with Suzanne Brown

In this episode of On Boards, hosts Joe Ayoub and Raza Shaik welcome Suzanne Brown, Director of New York Stock Exchange Board Services. She shares her unique career journey from law and the nonprofit world to board placement leadership at the New York Stock Exchange. 

Suzanne unpacks how NYSE Board Services was created to bridge the gap between talented board-ready individuals and the NYSE companies that need them. Suzanne also explains their unique "CEO-vetted" approach, the powerful influence of the NYSE brand, and the structural components that make their board placement program effective and trusted.

Suzanne leads an extensive network of over 1,000 CEO-vetted candidates.  The service averages 2 board searches a week for NYSE listed companies and since 2019 has helped place 50+ professionals on corporate boards. 

 

Key takeaways

1. NYSE Board Services background

• NYSE Board Services was created in response to an obvious but under-addressed problem: many qualified candidates were being overlooked for board roles due to lack of network access, not lack of ability. The service is free for NYSE listed companies.

• Every candidate that enters the NYSE Board Services network has been vetted by the CEO of a listed company, who personally nominated them. The Board Exchange connects C-suite professionals with board opportunities, focusing on readiness, visibility, and long-term support.

• The program is made of 3 C's: Council, Candidates and Companies. The council is made up of a group of 24 prominent NYSE CEOs, the program has over 1,100 candidates and there are 2,400 companies with which the NYSE has built longstanding relationships.

2. Education is core to board readiness

• Suzanne explains that many of the candidates are first time board members. The NYSE Board Services team personally onboards each candidate and helps them prepare their profile and present their background, skill set and industry focus. 

• Candidates are also offered education through webinars and panels on topics such as global trends, governance, board culture, etc. All services are free of charge. 

3. Board tenure is rising, CEO tenure is shrinking

• The average tenure for a board member has increased from 8 to 10 years and continues to increase while the turnover rate for CEOs has gone down to 4.8 years as of last year, the lowest ever.

• The board holds the continuity, but Suzanne encourages startup and pre-IPO companies to proactively set board term limits and retirement ages. This removes the need for awkward conversations years later and helps institutionalize clear expectations for rotation and rejuvenation.

4. Future of NYSE Board Services

• Suzanne's vision for the program is that every nom/gov of an NYSE-listed company will reach out to NYSE Board Services to refresh their board because the service is high-quality, high touch and successful. 

Quotes

"Our defining feature, our secret sauce, is that any candidate in our network has to be CEO vetted, and that means that a CEO of a listed company just has to personally vouch and stand for that person."

"We're a trusted resource. It's a natural extension for listed companies to look to us."

 "Part of what we do is make sure that our candidates… are aware of trends and understand what it's like to be in the boardroom, which is a unique culture."

Links

nyse.com/board-services

Guest Bio

Suzanne Brown is the Director of NYSE Board Services, an exclusive resource dedicated to connecting highly qualified board candidates with NYSE-listed companies. She partners closely wit