ESG Resiliency, Preparedness, & the Pandemic
Description
ESG was poised to take center stage in corporate America at the end of 2019. It had enjoyed a long rise to the spotlight, that culminated in the Business Roundtable’s statement on the Purpose of a Corporation. Then the Covid-19 pandemic threw corporate America’s best laid plans out of the window. The global health crisis caused the U.S. economy to spiral downward, resulting in a recession that has affected a broad range of industries and companies, including retailers, airlines, restaurants, and oil producers.
In this webinar, we will discuss how the Covid-19 health crisis and resulting recession have impacted companies’ approaches to ESG, and whether companies with established ESG strategies and infrastructures may be better situated to bounce back. We will take a detailed look at the results of the 2020 Bloomberg Law ESG Survey to understand the structures of various ESG programs – while analyzing whether those programs helped build resiliency in the face of the challenges of 2020.
Educational Objectives:
- Examine how the pandemic and resulting downturn are affecting corporate ESG practices and programs
- Hear from legal practitioners about how best to structure an ESG program and build resiliency in a volatile market
- Explore Bloomberg Law’s data-driven market insights about ESG
Who would benefit most from attending this program?
This webinar is intended for in-house legal practitioners at all levels, as well as law firm practitioners who advise corporate clients.
Byron Austin
- Director, ESG and Global Health
- Teva Pharmaceuticals
Byron Austin is responsible for overseeing Teva’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) efforts in North America and scaling the company’s global health programs that reach patients all around the world. In addition, Austin leads ESG communications for the company globally.
Before joining Teva, he led the healthcare practice at BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) and worked with over 20 pharmaceutical and medical device companies on a wide range of sustainability issues. Prior to BSR, Austin managed and developed global health partnerships at Johnson & Johnson, where he engaged a variety of stakeholders in the fields of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, and digital health. Austin began his career at Bloomberg Finance, yet transitioned to roles in healthcare at an HIV/AIDS NGO based in South Africa called mothers2mothers and as a management consultant at Rabin Martin in New York City. Byron holds a BA from Princeton University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Allan Marks
Allan Marks is a partner at Milbank LLP. Corporations, private equity funds, institutional investors, lenders and sponsors globally rely on Allan to stucture, negotiate and execute the development and financing of complex energy and infrastructure projects and related acquisitions, restructurings, and capital markets transactions. He has special expertise in the power and renewable energy, water, transportation, telecommunications, airports, rail and ports sectors.
Allan hosts the Law, Policy & Markets: Milbank Conversations podcast and speaks and publishes frequently on sustainability, infrastructure, renewable energy, cross-border transactions, risk management, public-private partnerships, and economic and regulatory policy. Allan is an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, both at the Law School and the Haas School of Business, and is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy. He earned his BA in International Studies from The Johns Hopkins University and his JD from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.
Peter Rasmussen
- Senior Legal Analyst
- Bloomberg Law
N. Peter Rasmussen is a Senior Legal Analyst with Bloomberg Law, concentrating on corporate transactions and federal securities law. He is a graduate of DePauw University, the Graduate College of Liberal Arts of the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Illinois College of Law.
Beth Sasfai
- Senior Vice President, Governance & Chief ESG Officer
- Verizon
Ms. Sasfai is Verizon’s Senior Vice President, Governance & Chief ESG Officer. She is responsible for the company’s ESG strategy, disclosure, and related stakeholder advocacy. She leads a cross-functional team of lawyers and sustainability professionals responsible for corporate governance policy and Board affairs; ESG commitments, reporting and engagement; business and human rights; digital trust and safety; compliance with corporate and securities laws; legal support to investor relations and external reporting; and advising on other general corporate matters.
Ms. Sasfai brings more than 20 years of experience to her role. She previously served as a state regulatory attorney for Verizon New Jersey. Before joining Verizon, Ms. Sasfai practiced in the corporate and litigation groups of the New York City offices of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton. Ms. Sasfai holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania where she graduated magna cum laude and a Bachelor of Sociology from Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts.
Moderator: Susie Bokermann
- Legal Analyst
- Bloomberg Law
Susan (Susie) Bokermann leads the Corporate analysis team. Her team focuses on a broad range of issues including environmental, social, and governance matters; shareholder matters; corporate compliance; and other corporate law topics. Her team is responsible for developing Practical Guidance and data-driven analysis for in-house attorneys, as well as the corporate attorneys advising public companies and their boards. Susie received her BA from Georgetown University and her JD from American University, Washington College of Law.
