Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2021

In 2020, many directors and members of senior management faced their most challenging year ever. Maybe the lessons of such a turbulent year will prove sufficient for 2021, but that seems unlikely.

To prepare this memo, we asked our colleagues in a wide range of disciplines to boil down what we learned from last year, and to look around the corner for what to expect in 2021. The result is a compendium of the trends and topics that will dominate board meetings this year. The following pages touch on many topics – including themes of sustainability and diversity that are now at the top of every corporate agenda; continuing changes in investor engagement strategies, across the spectrum from stewardship to activism; the impact of a new federal administration; emerging threats arising from new litigation strategies; and much more.

We invite you to review these topics by clicking on the headings listed below.