LEADERS Magazine October, November, December 2019 Volume 42, Number 4

October, November, December 2019

Volume 42 Number 4

SHUT UP AND LISTEN! 14 GENERAL ATLANTIC’S FORD 37

NADAL

WITKOFF

FOSTER

SAP’S MCDERMOTT 50 OPEN ARCHITECTURE 52 BANK OF CHINA 57

ROSENBAUM

FOUTTY

STEIR

HOWARD MILSTEIN 62 JOHN CATSIMATIDIS 80 A FORTRESS OF DEMOCRACY 192

SCHNITZER

HAUG

WATSON

HOUSTON 196

National Trust - The China Garden, Morning Light View to the Temple, Biddulph Grange, 2019 | oil on canvas | 60 x 60 in

ON VIEW NEW YORK

EST. 1870

ART F I N D L AY

CHARLES NEAL Benefiting The Royal Oak Foundation

Americans in Alliance with the National Trust of England, Wales and Northern Ireland

724

F I N D L AY G A L L E R I E S

F I F T H AV E N U E ,

165

W O RT H

7 T H F L O O R , N E W Y O R K , N E W Y O R K 10019 · (212) 421 5390 AV E N U E , PA L M B E A C H , F L O R I D A 33480 ∙ (561) 655 2090 W W W . F I N D L AY G A L L E R I E S . C O M

Copyright © 2019, Wally Findlay Galleries International Inc.. All rights reserved.

Sonrisa | oil on canvas | 39 3/8 x 31 in

O N V I E W PA L M B E A C H

(1934-2009)

724

EST. 1870

ART F I N D L AY

F I N D L AY G A L L E R I E S

F I F T H AV E N U E ,

165

W O RT H

7 T H F L O O R , N E W Y O R K , N E W Y O R K 10019 · (212) 421 5390 AV E N U E , PA L M B E A C H , F L O R I D A 33480 ∙ (561) 655 2090 W W W . F I N D L AY G A L L E R I E S . C O M

Copyright © 2019, Wally Findlay Galleries International Inc.. All rights reserved.

“The sidelines are not where you want to live your life.

The world needs you in the arena.”

- Tim Cook, Chief Executive Officer, Apple LEADERS Magazine is published quarterly and circulated to distinguished leaders of the world. Circulation is strictly limited. To receive LEADERS Magazine, one must be a leader of a nation, an international company, a world religion, an international institute of learning, or an international labor organization; or a chief financial officer, a major investor on behalf of labor or corporate pension funds, a chief information officer or a Nobel laureate. LEADERS Magazine was founded by Henry O. Dormann (1932-2018).

LEADERS Magazine Publisher and Executive Editor: David W. Schner Editor: Darrell J. Brown Advertising Executive: Laurie McClure Ferber

On the Cover

Printing: Calev Print Media – Solisco Printing – Printed in Canada

Miles S. Nadal, Peerage Capital Group - 8 Steven C. Witkoff, Witkoff Group - 34 Cynthia Foster, Colliers International - 40 Richard A. Rosenbaum, Greenberg Traurig, LLP - 47 Janet Foutty, Deloitte US - 85

Photo Credits: Cover, 90 - ©Jill Lotenberg; 24 author - ©Will Graham, Charleston - ©Peter Frank Edwards/Getty Images; 37 - ©Kent Meister 2017; 43 - ©Jowdy Photography; 52 - ©alban@pichon.com; 62 event - ©2019 Ben Hider; 66 building - ©2017 4 Eyes Photography; 72 author - ©2015 Alejandro C Lopez, building - ©J. Brough Schamp; 74 - ©DavidBeyda; 80 group shot - ©Jillian Nelson; 82 author ©Claudia Paul; 92 - ©Jeff Yardis 2018; 103 author - ©John Abbott, Montefiore Hutchison - ©Robert Benson Photography; 124 - ©Patrick Nugent/Camera 1; 138 - ©Hofstra; 143 author, Spur Plinth - ©Liz Ligon; Highline - ©Timothy Schenck; 97 - ©2016 Rob Tannenbaum Photography, Inc.; 136 Schneirov - ©2007 David Lubarsky; 153 author - © JÃœRGEN FRANK; 156 - Tim Larsen, ©New Jersey Governor; 163 - ©Ettore De Maio; 165 - ©Claudia Paul; 169 - ©2019 Ed Wheeler; 194 - Boat House - ©Steven Randazzo; 195 - Dining Room - ©2012 Francesco Tonelli, Suite - ©Scott Frances, Sanders-©Ashton Do; 198 - ©Felix Sanchez; 200 - ©2017 Robert Seale; 202 tech center - ©Patrick Gosling; 205 product - ©2018 Reveal Photo; 206 2 sunset, regatta - ©Gary Mamay; 208 - king Suite, hotel exterior©dragonflyimagepartners, Jewel Suite-©Bruce Buck, The Gold Room-©Dylan Cross;

Mitchell S. Steir, Savills North America - 90 Alan D. Schnitzer, The Travelers Companies, Inc. - 92 Ed Haug, Haug Partners - 128 Mark E. Watson III, Argo Group - 182

2 LEADERS

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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A NEW ERA IN LUXURY PROPERTIES AND FORWARD THINKING DEVELOPMENT www.witkoff.com

Contents INTERVIEWS The Power of Human Capital Miles S. Nadal, Founder and Executive Chairman, Peerage Capital Group

8

Shut Up and Listen!

Tilman J. Fertitta, Chief Executive Officer and Owner of Landry’s, Inc., Golden Nugget Hotel and Casinos, and the NBA’s Houston Rockets

14

Living Digital Sandeep Kishore, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Zensar Technologies

18

Continuous Reinvention Farooq Kathwari, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ethan Allen Interiors Inc.

21

A True Network for Boaters Baxter Underwood, Chief Executive Officer, Safe Harbor Marinas

24

Manifest the Power of Ethical AI Asheesh Mehra, Co-Founder and Group CEO, AntWorks

26

Quantum Leadership Chavalit Frederick Tsao, Chairman, IMC Pan Asia Alliance Group; Founder, OCTAVE Institute; and President, FBN Pacific Asia Chapter

28

Creating Value George Pyne, Chief Executive Officer, Bruin Sports Capital

162

Transforming the Fan Experience Giampiero Rinaudo, Chief Executive Officer, Deltatre

163

Designing a Smoke-Free Future Charles Bendotti, Senior Vice President, People and Culture, Philip Morris International (PMI)

164

4 LEADERS

Precision Medicine Adam A. Margolin, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences; Director, Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology; and Senior Associate Dean for Precision Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

A Centenary Story of C.V. Starr & Co. New York City September 5, 2019

154

165

Building a CBD Brand Martin A. Sumichrast, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, cbdMD, Inc.

166

The State of Innovation The Honorable Phil Murphy, Governor of New Jersey

156

Transforming NASDAQ Robert Greifeld, Chairman, Virtu Financial

168

Delivering Superior Care Alan B. Miller, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, Universal Health Services, Inc.

169

Turning Dreams into Reality Daniel McGahn, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC)

170

Disrupting Conventional Construction Kevin O’Meara, Chief Executive Officer, DIRTT Environmental Solutions Ltd.

171

Specialty Insurance Naveen Anand, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hallmark Financial Services, Inc.

172

Helping companies understand and protect against the expanding, global threat of cyber risk Lori Bailey, Global Head of Cyber Risk, Zurich Insurance Group

159

Insuring the risks Michelle Chen, Head of Cyber and Professional Liability, Zurich North America

160

The underwriting view Yosha DeLong, Technical Director – Cyber and Professional Lines, Zurich North America

160

Making Leaders More Visible Paul Blanchard, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Right Angles

173

Delivering an Immersive Experience Sam Cole, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, FitXR

174

Imagine Boston 2030 The Honorable Martin J. Walsh, Mayor of Boston

176

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

NEWYORK 32

Innovation in Cancer Treatment Richard Barakat, M.D., Physician-in-Chief and Director of Cancer, Northwell Health Cancer Institute and Senior Vice President, Cancer Services, Northwell Health

178

Radiation Medicine Louis Potters, M.D., Deputy Physician-in-Chief, Radiation Medicine, Northwell Health Cancer Institute

179

Medical Oncology Wasif M. Saif, M.D., Deputy Physician-in-Chief, Northwell Health Cancer Institute

180

Surgical Oncology Matthew John Weiss, M.D., Deputy Physician-in-Chief and Director of Surgical Oncology, Northwell Health

181

A Solution Driven Company Alan S. Elkin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Active International

186

A Focus on China Alan Brown, President, Active International Holdings

188

Serving Clients Bill Georges, Global Chief Operating Officer, Active International

189

A Dynamic Industry Dennis Quinn, Executive Vice President, Chief Media and Digital Enterprise Officer, Active International

Complete Communities The Honorable Sylvester Turner, Mayor of Houston

196

Outsourcing the HR Function Paul Sarvadi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Insperity

198

The Amegy Story Steve Stephens, Chief Executive Officer, Amegy Bank

199

Solving Tomorrow’s Aviation Challenges Daniel Baker, Chief Executive Officer, FlightAware

200

190

People and Culture Jay Santamaria, Chief of Staff, Active International

191

Insurance in Flux Mark E. Watson III, Chief Executive Officer, Argo Group

182

Ahead of the Pack Ian Macartney, Head of Innovation and Digital, Argo Group

Built to Win Mike Flewitt, Chief Executive Officer, McLaren Automotive A Fortress of Democracy The Honorable Ron Huldai, Mayor, Tel Aviv-Yafo

192

183

The Future Is Bright Wilbur Jenkins, Senior Vice President, Business Transformation, Argo Group

184

Business is Product Farah Gasmi, Director of Product, Argo Group

185

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

202

Art as an Agent of Positive Change Romero Britto, Britto Central

204

Bar-Quality Cocktails on Demand Ryan Close, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bartesian, Corp.

205

Preserving a 90-Year-Old Restaurant Dean Poll, Owner, Gallaghers Steakhouse

194

A Service Culture Prince A. Sanders, General Manager, Trump International Hotel & Tower New York

195

Fulfilling a Passion Eli Wilner, Chief Executive Officer, Eli Wilner & Company

206

EDITORS’ CHOICES Lotte New York Palace

208

LEADERS 5

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

The Power of Human Capital An Interview with Miles S. Nadal, Founder and Executive Chairman, Peerage Capital Group FIRM BRIEF Peerage Capital (peeragecapital.com) is a leading North American business services and private investment firm. It is focused on partnering with exceptional management teams to form long-term investments across several strategic business services platforms including real estate services, real estate ownership, land assembly, asset management and wealth advisory services. Its growing network of partner companies currently employs 2,000 people across Canada and the United States approaching $6 billion in total assets under management.

Miles S. Nadal

EDITORS’ NOTE Miles Nadal (milesnadal.com) is an international entrepreneur and philanthropist. He passionately believes in championing people to pursue their dreams without limit, having founded the Dare to Dream initiative to support both ambitious entrepreneurs and those in need. The principal motivating factor behind Nadal’s business success is his desire to make a difference in the world by giving back. After starting a photography business while in junior high school, he later founded Action Photographics which included a team of professional photographers, as well as a commercial photography business. That was ultimately transformed into Multi-Disciplinary Communications and then MDC Partners Inc., which became one of the largest marketing and communications companies in the world. Nadal has been nominated for Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, was the recipient of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year Award®, and was awarded the Outstanding Volunteer Award by the Greater Toronto Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Among his awards are the Harold Lederman Award for Philanthropic Leadership, Jewish National Fund Negev Honoree, Toronto Chapter of the American Marketing Association Marketing Hall of Legends, Executive of the Year by MEDIA Magazine, and Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation honoree. Nadal was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy degree from Tel Aviv University, and was recognized for contributions to Harlem RBI, an initiative for youth playing, growing, and learning.

He is a member of the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University where he endowed a home for technological innovation and entrepreneurship.

8 LEADERS

What was your vision in creating Peerage Capital?

The idea was to use the methodology, philosophy and cultural elements that made us successful over the last 40 years. Simply put, we believe in the power of human capital. Peerage partners with management teams that have entrepreneurial DNA, great focus, exceptional discipline, and a vision to build businesses.

Then, we provide capital and other strategic and financial resources to foster growth,

yielding mutually beneficial success. Our fundamental belief is that management has to have both emotional and financial ownership in an enterprise to succeed.

We are focused on two primary areas, real estate and financial services. In financial services, we’re going on $6 billion of assets under management, about 15 percent of which is in the United States, and 85 percent is in Canada. Our target clients are highnet worth individuals, institutional and family office asset management.

The real estate services business has two core components. The first is physical real estate, where we’re a developer and a creator of self-storage infrastructure and facilities. We have 2 million square feet under management, ownership, development and administration.

Our goal is to build this to 5 to 10 million square feet over the next 10 to 15 years. The reason for focusing on self-storage is because in the United States, self-storage is about 9 square feet per capita, whereas in Toronto and in and around

Miles Nadal with his 1955 Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), it’s only about 2.5 square feet per capita, so it is much less mature and represents a significant opportunity for further growth.

We also are involved in the land assembly business, and that’s been a wonderful business, in and around Toronto and the GTA. Toronto has been an extraordinary market. It’s the fourth largest market for real estate, and fourth largest city in North America, and has more cranes per capita than any other place in North America. We have been very blessed there. Just ahead of the global financial meltdown in 2007, we got involved in the residential real estate brokerage business. It may not have been the best possible timing, but as Frederic Nietzsche said, “that which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” Since then, we have achieved great results. Now, under the Sotheby’s International Realty brand in Canada, independent firms like Chestnut Park, Baker Real Estate, Fifth Avenue, and a firm called Street City in Canada, as well as Madison Partners in Denver, Colorado, it is our ambition to expand and acquire both well-known brands like Sotheby’s, as well as independent firms across North America.

We will sell $20 billion of residential real estate in 2020, but our goal is to expand that to $75 to $100 billion a year in the next 10 or 15 years. We would do that by replicating the same approach that has historically enabled us to succeed in the service businesses.

One of the reasons we like this space is because it remains a somewhat contrarian investment. People are concerned about housing, they’re concerned about the economy, they’re concerned about interest rates, they’re concerned about the traditional business model with the real estate agents. We actually feel that great brands like Sotheby’s, which is one of the most prestigious and well-known residential real estate brokerage networks in the world, fortified with long-term capital investment from Peerage, will enable us to prosper and succeed over the long term. That will be true even if there is another setback in the economy or anything else that might happen as a short-term aberration.

When you are making investments, how critical is human capital and the talent of the management team in place?

We want to invest with proven winners who have a long-term track record of success.

We want firms that have scaled and become successful, but that are looking for some succession plan or capital investment with a longer-term horizon than they might have as an individual owner/manager. We’re looking for firms that want to add on other core services. In the real estate sector, that could mean mortgage, title, escrow and insurance. It could also include those that want to expand their geographic footprint or are considering “tuck under” acquisitions. These are all ways by which, over a five or ten-year period, they could double or triple the size of their business and, more importantly, the economic return to them as owners and to us as their partners.

Is being an entrepreneur something that you can learn or is it something that a person is born with the ability to do?

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Nadal in the South of France for the 2019 Ferrari 288 GTO tour

Being an entrepreneur is a mindset that frames your approach to every aspect of your life – not just business. Personally, I’ve had that mindset for as long as I can remember.

Although I have a relatively modest formal education, I consider myself a well-educated person as a result of my life and business experiences and networking with hundreds of extraordinary people over the last 40 years.

By design, I have always employed myself and have never worked for others, but I have certainly learned from watching closely and listening carefully. Since the age of 12, all I

have known is work and the drive to be selfsufficient. I do believe that every one of the partners within Peerage Capital have developed strong entrepreneurial strengths in their own ways, and I believe that they will continue to grow, develop and manage the prosperity of these organizations long after I’m gone.

That said, they may not have the same skills or the threshold for risk that I do. I started from scratch, borrowed from the bank, and committed everything to my vision. But as my partners, they don’t have to do that. It’s what I did to establish our platform.

LEADERS 9

Dare to Dream car collection in Toronto

What we need from them is their energy, sectoral expertise, fiscal management, organizational skills, and the ability to identify and drive growth opportunities through prudent and disciplined capital allocation decisions. I know the combination of what I bring to the table as a pure entrepreneur and their experience as great executives, managers and leaders, is tremendously powerful. I don’t think we would be as successful as we are if Peerage just relied on my entrepreneurial approach, and we wouldn’t be as successful if we just relied on their professional management and leadership abilities.

You are heavily committed to philanthropy. Do the skills that made you successful as an entrepreneur and businessman translate to philanthropy, and do you look at your philanthropic work from a business perspective?

I truly think it’s an honor and a privilege to give back. There’s a great quote from Forest Witcraft that I use frequently: “A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different, because I was important in the life of a child.”

I learned about philanthropy when I was very young. My family had modest means, and I got subsidized to go to summer camp at what is the Jewish community center in Toronto, which is the equivalent of the 92nd Street Y. I vowed that if I could ever give back to it, I would do so. Today, the center is named after my family.

Throughout my life, I’ve focused on ways to leverage philanthropic opportunities by deploying my knowledge of and faith in the power of entrepreneurship. As in business, I believe in setting goals, empowering others, providing a hand up, and clearing the path forward. I also embrace causes that have emotional resonance for me. These are things that I can relate to, and areas where I think we can make a really meaningful difference. My focus is on healthcare, building stronger communities, giving children hope and opportunity, and everything to do with education. Supporting Israel is also a big part of my philanthropy.

10 LEADERS

Is it important to have metrics around your philanthropic work to track impact or is some of it more emotionally driven?

At the outset, I was probably more driven by gut instinct and emotion.

However, as that philanthropic engagement grows, it just makes sense to start putting more metrics of per for mance in place. But still, at the end of the day, you give to those organizations that you like, admire, respect, trust and believe in. For example, my family, through my life partner, Kelly, has started a wonderful organization called HART. It’s about eliminating human trafficking of young girls in Toronto. It’s something that she researched, it’s something that she got involved with, and it’s something that we as a family and Peerage, as an organization, are very deeply invested in. You need to have things that you relate to, and are emotionally attached to, but over time you need to invest – especially if it’s substantial dollars – in results that you can measure.

Nadal with fellow car collector and entertainer, Jay Leno

Nadal with entrepreneur and racing legend, Roger Penske VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Nadal with a few classic automobiles from the Iconic Automobile Book

You also have clear passions in life, one being for special cars. Where did that passion develop?

Growing up, we never had a new car. In fact, my dad never owned a car during my lifetime. As a result, I always aspired to have nice cars, and over time I started to collect them. The first car I ever collected was an Aston Martin DB7 Vantage convertible, and I bought that in 2001. Shortly after that, I bought a 1972 Mercedes 280SE convertible. When I turned 50, I decided I would start to buy more cars, and then I went and visited Ralph Lauren and Jay Leno.

Their world-class collections inspired me to pursue my passion for functional design even further.

Over time, the collection grew and we identified a unique space that we could make into an integrated facility of a museum and a corporate headquarters for the family office. It has continued to be a real labor of love.

More recently, I acquired a collection of rare sneakers. It’s the same rationale as the cars: a profound admiration for the convergence of art, design, popular culture and practical purpose.

I had read about Sotheby’s, the auction house, and Stadium Goods promoting the auction of the “The Ultimate Sneaker Collection” and it captured my imagination. I asked them to pick out six pairs of sneakers for me from the auction. They did that, but they also offered me the opportunity to privately purchase the entire collection. I thought it sounded like a good idea to keep such a unique collection together and I decided to do that. Although I did it for my own reasons, it became a global phenomenon because it was the most valuable collection of sneakers ever assembled.

When I bought the most valuable sneakers ever auctioned, it became part of the Guinness Book of World Records, and some 300 media outlets around the world reported on it, and hundreds of millions of people around the world saw this. It wasn’t something that I had any idea would have this level of interest. I just thought that it complemented the car collection in an interesting way.

That is how I operate. I follow my instincts, and if I think it’s going to be rewarding, enjoyable, and gratifying, I do it.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

How important has it been for you to never lose sight of your beginnings?

Kelly and I have 4 daughters between us. Sarah, is 29 Samantha is 27, Olivia is 26 and Julia is 22. I constantly remind them to never stop being grateful, to never stop counting their blessings, and to always appreciate everyone and everything around them.

Personally, I never lose sight of where I came from and what it took to get where I am today. My business took almost 40 years of persistence, determination, and effort to build. I may have come from very humble beginnings financially, but the legacy my parents left me is my real riches. They were loving and supportive and gave me the values by which I’ve lived by my whole life.

Do you take moments to appreciate what you have accomplished and celebrate the wins?

In 2015, I suddenly hit a bit of a rough patch and went through some corporate hardship and some family health issues as well. That experience gave me a totally different perspective of the world.

I realized that if I died the next day, if I was twice as wealthy and had twice the income, it wouldn’t change my happiness. As a result, I do everything I can to balance my physical, mental and emotional health with my financial and business goals. I focus a lot on that.

I think the only thing you leave on the face of this earth that has any meaning are your children.

Kelly and I feel very blessed by our kids, and I never forget that. Ultimately, it’s those relationships that feed your soul.

I try to enjoy the fruits of my labor, to share it with others, to never lose sight of where I came from, and to make sure, to the best of my ability, that I smell the roses. But it’s a challenge.

Personality is fate and I’ve always been very driven, very high-energy. My greatest wish is that at the end of my life, my children will say: “My dad was always there for me. My dad was always there to answer the phone, to spend time with us, and he gave us unconditional love, valuable advice, and we always knew we were his most important priority.” That’s the most important thing. That’s what my parents gave me.

The second thing is that although I think we are successfully building a substantial business enterprise, in the large scheme of things, no one is going to remember this 25 years from now. I hope, though, that the good we are doing along the way for the community and for individuals, endures. If those people we helped are then able to give back, and we have created a virtuous circle that sustains goodwill, then I will have accomplished what I wanted to.

I believe this will be an important part of my long-term legacy, and one we have structured for my family to continue for many decades in the future.

•

Nadal with philanthropist Bill Gates LEADERS 11

12 LEADERS

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

Shut Up and Listen!

An Interview with Tilman J. Fertitta, Chief Executive Officer and Owner of Landry’s, Inc., Golden Nugget Hotel and Casinos, and the NBA’s Houston Rockets

Tilman J. Fertitta

EDITORS’ NOTE Tilman Fertitta, a Houston native, is an accomplished businessman and recognized as a world leader in the dining, hospitality, and entertainment and gaming industries.

He is the sole owner of Fertitta Entertainment, which owns the restaurant giant Landry’s, five Golden Nugget Hotels and Casinos and the NBA’s Houston Rockets which he purchased for a record $2.2 billion. He is also the star of his own reality TV show on CNBC, Billion Dollar Buyer. Through his restaurant and hospitality company, Landry’s, Fertitta owns more than 600 properties in 36 states in over 15 countries. He is a large employer in the

nation, with more than 60,000 employees. His restaurants include a signature collection of eateries, as well as more than 60 different restaurant brands and award-winning concepts, such as Mastro’s Steakhouse, Morton’s The Steakhouse, The Oceanaire, Vic & Anthony’s, and Catch, while his multiunit restaurant brands include the wellknown favorites Chart House, Landry’s Seafood House, Rainforest Café, Saltgrass Steak House, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Mitchell’s Fish Market, Dos Caminos, Bill’s Bar & Burger, Joe’s Crab Shack and McCormick & Schmick’s.

Fertitta is one of the principal shareholders in the fast-growing restaurant platform for online ordering and secondary on-demand food delivery, Waitr Holdings. He also owns and operates numerous hospitality and entertainment venues, including the award-winning San Luis Resort and several other leading hotels. In March 2018, he opened the much-anticipated Post Oak Hotel, the newest ultramodern, luxury destination located in Uptown Houston and the city’s only AAA fivediamond award recipient. His entertainment destinations include the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier, The Kemah Boardwalk, Downtown Aquarium Denver and Houston’s Tower of The Americas in San Antonio.

Golden Nugget Lake Charles 14 LEADERS

You recently completed your first book, Shut Up and Listen! What inter ested you in writing the book and what is its message?

I’ve been approached for years to write a book. When the leadership of HarperCollins contacted me to write about how I do business, I thought it was the right fit. In this book, I talk about my personal experiences and strategies that can help the next generation of entrepreneurs achieve success. I know firsthand the challenges and common mistakes that cause businesses to fail.

What have been the keys to your success?

It all comes down to two key factors: know your numbers in all aspects of your business, and treat every customer like it’s your last.

There are no spare customers.

You make it sound simple, but many companies have found this to be challenging. Does it come down to culture?

It is all about culture. My business has grown exponentially since I started, but I’ve always told my employees that our culture is taking care of the customer. It can be hard to manage that culture VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

when you’re dealing with 60,000 people, but all you can do is keep pounding it in their head.

Who did you want to reach with the book?

I truly want this book to guide today’s young entrepreneurs. Maybe this could help a college student wondering what they’re going to do and what’s important or a mid-level manager who just wants to make themselves stand out in the crowd and get promoted. I also see this helping other CEOs as a reminder that if you don’t evaluate these things, you could have problems eventually.

You are involved in many areas, from restaurants to casinos to hotels to the professional sports team. Is it all interrelated?

It all goes together naturally. Owning a restaurant, a hotel, a casino or even a professional basketball team, it’s still about taking care of the customer. They expect me to put a good product out there on the court, just like I have to put a good product on a plate or provide that quality hotel room.

Did you know early on that you had the entrepreneurial spirit and desire to build your own business?

Absolutely. When I was a teenager I knew I was going to be an entrepreneur. To be clear, you never think that you’re going to be worth more than $5 billion, but you dream and you hope. I remember when the Forbes list came out in the 1970s and thought how great that would be.

Are you able to teach entrepreneurship?

I believe that you can teach anybody anything if they are willing to learn and work hard for it.

As the business has grown in size and scale, has it changed your focus and is it hard to be as deeply engaged in all aspects of the business?

There are only so many hours in the day.

Sometimes you are not able to touch it all, and sometimes you can be involved just enough to let everybody know that you’re still out there looking at everything.

Chart House Annapolis

What are the keys to providing great service and hospitality?

I’ve been in Europe the last couple of weeks, and while I hate to say this, the reality is that in socialist countries, even though they do a lot of things right, you’re very much aware that everything is controlled by the government. Everybody makes the same amount of money. The hospitality isn’t the same, unless you’re at a super high-end place, because people make the same amount regardless of the service they provide. The one thing is to keep the free capitalism in America. That’s what puts service, hospitality and new products at the top.

You always come back to the customer.

How critical is it to put the customer first?

Morton’s Atlantic City VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

It’s huge. If somebody wants scrambled eggs at 8 PM on a Saturday night, you get it for them.

Always remember they chose you, and you need to make sure that they walk away happy.

The hospitality industry is known for high turnover. How have you been able to retain talent and build such employee loyalty?

I have 25 VPs that have been with me for more than 25 years. I’m not able to touch everybody out in a restaurant or a region, but I understand the importance of continuity and how important it is for people who’ve been with me a long time to understand the company culture.

What do you look for when hiring talent?

I always look for talented people that just haven’t had the right opportunity yet. It’s amazing what happens when someone is given a chance at the right place.

Coming back to your book, did writing the book provide you a chance to reflect on your success and celebrate what you have built?

Absolutely. It was extremely special to put all my thoughts down on paper and say gosh, that is how I became successful.

Many entrepreneurs are idea people and creators, but not necessarily operators.

Has a key to your success been that you create and operate?

That’s a great point. You’re usually one or the other. That is one of the special things about our company – not only are we operators, we’re developers and financiers. That’s why I’ve been able to do the big deals and can operate as well as develop, which most people can’t do.

As you look to the future, are you focused on growing your existing brands or creating new brands?

Every day I’m looking outside the box and am going to continue to be opportunistic.

We’ve been on a great ten-year run and I always look for the next opportunity.

•

LEADERS 15

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INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

Living Digital An Interview with Sandeep Kishore, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Zensar Technologies

Sandeep Kishore

EDITORS’ NOTE Sandeep Kishor e joined Zensar as CEO and MD in early 2016 and also serves as a Management Board member of RPG Enterprises, Zensar’s par ent company. The Board hired Kishore to reinvent a 55+ year old public company to make Zensar modern and relevant to its stakeholders in the new age. Kishore took a very different approach to change and first focused on making Zensar a 100 percent digital company before venturing out to its clients to help them in their enterprise-wide digital transformation programs. His approach of Living Digital – being 100 percent digital themselves first, not only provided Zensar’s 10K+ associates globally (they call themselves Zensarians) with the right environment, it also super charged them to help their clients in a much more meaningful manner that connects and creates significant business impact. Under Kishore’s leadership, Zensar’s digital-led transformation is now a case study at Harvard Business School. Zensar is among the very few publicly listed companies to have transformed to a 100 percent living digital business. Under Kishor e’s leadership, the company’s first R&D lab, ZenLabs, filed 25 patents within the first year. Kishore is an alumnus of globally-renowned IIT Bombay. Prior to joining Zensar, he worked at HCL Technologies for more than 25 years, where he built multiple billion-dollar businesses. Earlier, he was the Corporate Vice President and Global Head of Life Sciences, Healthcare and Public Services.

Kishore is a prolific poet, having authored and published two books of Hindi-English poems, Your Shadow Wants to Walk Alone and Old Seeds of a New Tree. He is also the co-founder of Har Asha Foundation, a non-profit organization.

COMPANY BRIEF Zensar (zensar.com) is a leading digital solutions and technology services company that specializes in partnering with global organizations across industries on their Digital Transformation journey. A technology partner of choice, backed by a strong track-record of innovation, a credible investment in digital solutions, and an assertion of commitment to 18 LEADERS

a client’s success, Zensar’s comprehensive range of digital and technology services and solutions enable its customers to achieve new thresholds of business performance. Zensar, with its experience in delivering excellence and superior client satisfaction through innovative technology solutions, is uniquely positioned to help clients surpass challenges around running their existing business most efficiently, helping in their legacy transformation, and planning for business expansion and growth through innovative and digital ways. Zensar’s global revenue and net income in their most recent fiscal year 2019 were $567 million and $45 million, respectively.

Zensar has 10,260 associates globally across 27 locations.

Will you discuss the history and heritage of Zensar?

Zensar is an amazing organization. We have been a part of RPG Enterprises for a very long time, and we have been publicly listed since 1963. We have a very rich heritage, are very people-focused and are exceptionally aligned to the communities that we work in.

The board was looking to bring in new leadership, essentially with the point that, even though the company had done well, we had clearly missed several market opportunities for the new world. The market had just moved past us, and it was a serious time for the board to actually take a decision on where we needed to go to be relevant for the future.

I was a rank outsider. I was then working at HCL Technologies, running their Life Sciences, Healthcare and Public Services businesses – a billion-dollar-plus business – and when the Chairman of the Board of Zensar and RPG Enterprises, Harsh Goenka, reached out to me, I wasn’t originally sure whether I wanted to accept the role.

But what really intrigued me was when he made the statement, “We are a 50-plus-year-old, publicly-listed company.” I thought to myself that if you added the word “technology” to publicly-listed, there were very few companies in the world that had been publicly-listed technology companies for 50-plus consecutive years on one of the largest stock exchanges in the world, the Bombay Stock Exchange. It would be a fascinating opportunity to make an organization of that heritage relevant, and that’s what excited me to join Zensar and RPG Enterprises.

How important was it to communicate your vision and strategy internally?

It was very, very important. It took a bit of time for everybody to align. Organizations are built with connective tissues, so it requires going through a few cycles for that trust to build. I have been blessed with our people, our Zensarians, who are very committed and very sharp. They understood the purpose of being digital, and today our company runs 100 percent digitally.

If you actually search the app stores on your mobile phone for Zensar, it will amaze you how much of our universe runs native digital, native mobile, and native cloud.

What is the big idea? Since we are a digital services and consulting organization, we have to effectively ensure that we connect with our clients and their rapidly changing business and, hence, technology world. The route we have taken to impact this change is by developing the connect around our own change journey and that we know what it takes to affect enterprise-wide digital programs and make them achieve business results, and if we as a 55+-year-old public company can go through this process of change and make it work, we also believe we can make it work for our clients.

Is it challenging to differentiate in the industry?

The market is very competitive. There are many companies that claim to be able to do this work. At Zensar, we position ourselves and we go to market as a disruptor, as a challenger and as an innovator, which is our unique positioning.

Large organizations are not necessarily hung up on the concept that you need to have 200,000 people to get the job done. We are the right-sized organization. We are neither too big nor too small. We have 10,000 awesome Zensarians worldwide who have all been an effective part of living digital, and with platforms and tools they create the connect to change for our clients.

Another element is that we ask our customers whether they think they could actually do this on their own and whether they really know what it takes to change in this area. We remind them that most companies just hire consultants and move from one to the next to the next playing with technologies. We come from a position of expertise and relevance because our Zensarians live digital every day. Everything we VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

do is digital. My CMO runs the entire marketing organization from his mobile platform so when he goes and talks to others about how effectively we can dynamically allocate campaigns, resources, and measure effectiveness and show it in real time, it connects.

Will future growth come from acquisitions or from developing new products?

I think it will be from both. We have done four acquisitions in the last two and a half years, and we have done one divestiture. For the scale and size of our company, we have done some pretty amazing deals.

Change needs to be visible. Change needs to be persistent. And change is something that must align with the market. So we acquired competencies, not scale. As you start to build the business, you have to think about what you need to build and what you are able to buy.

Everything in the world is built around the human experience. No matter what your favorite platform is – Amazon, Disney, Uber, Airbnb, or any other platform – every platform needs to appeal to at a human level.

User experience and user interface were the last wave of digital. However, this has quickly moved to providing the ability to engage at a personal level. Every platform has to engage you and connect with you.

This defines the human experience aspect.

The reason these platforms connect with you is not just because they are built nicely, but because they are enabled by artificial intelligence. You stay on the platform because the platform helps you decide, intuitively, before you are actually seeking that information.

The platform, based on your own behavior of searching, engaging, and transacting, constantly engages with you.

So it’s about the human experience, enabled by artificial intelligence, and delivered through secure, smart, interconnected platforms. This is the only way that you can make digital platforms enterprise-wide scalable. Otherwise, it just remains in pockets. From sales to HR, to manufacturing, to supply chain, to marketing, everything has to communicate, and artificial intelligence works best if it’s interconnected. Even within our own organization, all of our platforms are native digital, native AI, and unbelievably beautiful for you to engage with.

As Zensar’s workforce has grown to 10,000, how important has it been to ensure that the workforce is diverse and inclusive, especially with such a diverse client base?

Diversity and inclusiveness, and the training in this for all Zensarians to make sure that we are relevant each day today and tomorrow, is my number one priority. We have 42 nationalities who work within our organization, so we are exceptionally committed to this. We just received an award from People Matters in India for being among the top 300 leading companies on skill and competency development. In South Africa, where we have trained 500 interns, Tomorrows Trust recognized us for being involved and giving back to the community in the country. We also do that in the United States, where we concentrate on bringing a diverse population onboard and training them in the digital skill development competency set.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Zensar’s offices in Pune, India

The only true way for us to be global is to be diverse. We can’t just do this with one or two nationalities. It just wouldn’t work.

How do you describe what it means to be a Zensarian?

It’s very deep within us on a philosophical level. The reason for that, as I mentioned earlier, is the only way for sustainable change is if you take all Zensarians along on this mega-change journey. Everyone has to feel it and own it.

There are many ways in which you drive it. One is through not just talking digital. It’s breathing, living, dreaming, making it happen, and that is why our platform is so important.

When we started this change journey, we were zero percent digital. Today, 52 of our business processes are 100 percent digital. There are over 34 different digital platforms. Within our organization of 10,000 Zensarians, our platforms have been downloaded internally more than 2.2 million times.

There are over 950+ releases of these platforms.

That means every platform has gone through over 30 releases. There have been more than 30 million sessions and it is growing disproportionately.

We are not perfect, but we continue to change. We fail more than we succeed internally, but that is how you succeed externally. You must build an open, communicative, transparent culture. To foster this, we have an amazing and one of a kind platform called ZenVerse. Harvard Business School did a whole case study on Zensar about cultural transformation, more than digital and technology transformation, because when you’re changing a 55+-year-old public company, it’s about working with the fabric and making everybody a part of the change.

How important it is for you to spend time with clients?

It’s always been at the core and should be that way. It is more important now than it has

ever been because of the change that is happening all around us. I live in Silicon Valley. I have my finger on the pulse of what’s impacting our clients.

About two years ago, we invested in a very special undertaking we call ZenLabs, our innovation and research hub. The concept is that when we work in a consulting organization, we are continuously engaged with our clients, but then the fundamental question is, what are you actually doing with the clients? We should be effectively solving their business and technology problems for today and for tomorrow. If there is a business process or technology change, you have to solve it because there is a production deadline and a product launch deadline and you have to release it.

Hence, over a long period of time, most consulting organizations get aligned with thinking in the short to medium term. If we want to be relevant to our society, our community, our clients, and ourselves, we need to be investing outside of that curve. Product companies do this very well. So we invested in a research and innovation organization within Zensar which we call ZenLabs. It is a 100 percent organic initiative which we funded internally. In two years, we have now filed 56 unique patents.

Globally, we have now filed close to 100 patents. Innovation is the core to keeping relevant today and tomorrow.

Are you able to take moments to enjoy the process and celebrate the wins, or is it always about what’s next?

We celebrate a lot. We have a lot of fun times across the organization. With everything, you have to make sure the element of fun is permeated across the organization. It is a critical part of finding the balance and as Zensarians we do that well.

•

LEADERS 19

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

Continuous Reinvention An Interview with Farooq Kathwari, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ethan Allen Interiors Inc.

Farooq Kathwari

EDITORS’ NOTE Farooq Kathwari has been Chairman and CEO since 1988. He serves in numerous capacities at several nonprofit organizations including as a member of the Board of Overseers of the International Rescue Committee; a member of the advisory board of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; Chairman Emeritus of Refugees International; an advisory member of the New York Stock Exchange; former Chairman of the National Retail Federation; former Chairman and President of the American Home Furnishings Alliance; a director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University; Co-Chairman of the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council; and a member of the International Advisory Council of the United States Institute of Peace. He served as a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders from 2010 to 2014.

Kathwari was recently tapped to join the congressionally mandated United States Institute of Peace bipartisan Task Force on Extremism in Fragile States, Co-Chaired by Governor Tom Kean and Congressman Lee Hamilton, who formerly led the 9/11 Commission.

Among his recognitions, Kathwari is a recipient of the 2018 Ellis Island Medal of Honor and has been inducted into the American Furniture Hall of Fame. He has been recognized as an Outstanding American by Choice by the U.S. government. He has received the Yale School of Management’s Chief Executive Leadership Institute Lifetime of Leadership Award; the National Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee; the National Retail Federation Gold Medal; and Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year Award. He has also been recognized by Worth magazine as one of the 50 Best CEOs in the United States.

Kathwari holds a B.A. in English Literature and Political Science from Kashmir University, Srinagar, and an M.B.A. in international marketing from New York University. He is also the recipient of three honorary doctorate degrees.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

COMPANY BRIEF Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (ethanallen.com) is a leading interior design company and manufacturer and retailer of quality home furnishings. The company offers free interior design service to its clients through the efforts of approximately 1,500 in-house interior designers and sells a full range of furniture products and decorative accessories through its website and a network of approximately 300 Design Centers in the United States and abroad.

Ethan Allen owns and operates five manufacturing facilities, including three plants and one sawmill in the United States, plus a plant in Mexico and one in Honduras. Approximately 75 percent of its products are made in its North American plants.

How critical are Ethan Allen’s values to the success of the company?

Values are important – they are what define us. One of our important values is being relevant, and Ethan Allen would not be around if we had not found ways to remain relevant.

It’s a reason why, after 86 years, I can be very proud of the fact that we have been profitable every year.

We have made it through recessions and even a Great Depression because we remained relevant, which only takes place if you also have a team that believes in continuous reinvention.

Most public companies grow by buying other companies. I have resisted this, knowing that our values could be lost if I was not managing one team. The focus of my life has been to be a captain of a team, and Ethan Allen has been that team for me for the past 40 years.

As a public company, how do you balance the short-term, quarter-to-quarter pressures with your commitment to continuous reinvention, which is a long-term strategy?

It’s not easy because, over the longer term, despite the short-term ups and downs, you still have to perform and have strong financials. You cannot be strong if you don’t have money in the bank.

Last fiscal year we increased our dividend by more than 50 percent and ended the year debt free. Over the past number of years, we purchased 42 percent of our company back.

We have given over $600 million in dividends since we took the company private in a management buyout. We’ve also invested $800 million in capital expenditures, again, with no

debt. All of this is based on being focused on running a business in the best possible way and recognizing that we are a complicated business.

We do everything from the concept of an idea, to design, to manufacturing in North America 75 percent of the products that we sell.

With all the changes taking place internationally, we’ve had to reposition our manufacturing in the past 20 years. We have had to continuously invest in manufacturing technology. We’ve also had to shift our retail locations in response to changing demographics. We now have a network of about 200 retail design centers or stores in North America and we have relocated 60 percent of them in the past 15 years. If we had not done all of those things, we would not have been able to maintain the strong financial position that we have.

How do you define the Ethan Allen of today?

Ethan Allen today is a lifestyle company.

We help people create beautiful homes. To do that, we have to be involved in many different enterprises. We go from concept of idea to design to engineer making 75 percent of our products in our North American workshops. We have over 1,500 talented interior designers, and we have one of the best logistic networks to provide “white glove” home delivery.

To be a lifestyle company that meets our clients’ aspirations, we need to be a company where people are proud to work and proud of the work they do whether they are in Vermont, North Carolina, Oklahoma or in Mexico, where we were recently designated as one of the best places to work. The same is true in Honduras, where our facility has been recognized for the past few years as having the best companybased health clinic.

These things happen because we take care of our people so they will take pride in what they do and enjoy working at Ethan Allen.

Treating people with dignity in this age is one of the most important and sometimes difficult things to do. But it’s also essential, so we make it a very high priority.

What do you look for when hiring talent?

We look for people who are able to work well with other people, to treat them with dignity and to operate as a team member. People who join us have to believe in rolling up their sleeves and working hard.

LEADERS 21

If you visit Ethan Allen, you’ll find it hard to guess who is a Vice President and who works on the line; they are all workers, as I am a worker.

I constantly visit our locations around North America to meet people and to get involved with all kinds of things.

To reinforce our values, we established our ten leadership principles many years back. We take them seriously in our day-to-day operations. I have just been reading about 30 reports from our leaders who were asked to do an annual self-appraisal on how the ten leadership principles have guided them. It is interesting to read about the impact these principles have had.

In most of the world, leaders think that the main job is for them to get the most and give the least; they don’t care about their people.

But at Ethan Allen, we believe that the main job of a leader is to help their people become better. That means you have to be willing to lose a little. I have made many decisions over the course of my career that have moved me backwards.

For instance, I have refused to take money which I could have taken, because taking less in the short term creates more value for all of us over the long term.

Was your passion around leadership instilled in you early on or is it something that developed from your life experience?

It was a combination of both.

I was born in Kashmir, which has beautiful mountains and very strong people. I was recently there attending a wedding and all the people at the wedding ate together, whether they were executives or workers or even maids. This is the culture that I was raised in, where everybody was considered to have dignity.

That’s an important leadership trait.

I also grew up in a family that had very strong feelings about how to treat people. You have to always be honest and fair.

I participated in sports and rose to be a captain where I had to focus on creating the best team and to work hard at it. I learned a lot about leadership from this as well.

So some of my interest in leadership was born in the environment in which I grew up, but some of it came from my personal experience.

You have a new book being published titled Trailblazer. What message do you hope to deliver with the book?

By nature, I’m a storyteller, and many of the stories in the book are stories that I have told to my children and now to my grandchildren. My friends and family were after me to put these down in a book.

This gave me an opportunity to reflect on things that happened in my life. Some of these events were joyous, some tragic, some challenging, but all have been learning experiences.

Trailblazer has given me the opportunity to relive my life from the beginning, from growing 22 LEADERS

up in Kashmir, getting involved in sports and leading protests as a student leader, to my journey to America and my business career.

You have never lost your ties to Kashmir. How have you focused your effort?

I have tried to contribute in a practical way to solving the political difficulties of my homeland. Unfortunately, with recent events, people of Kashmir are faced with many challenges. About 20 years back, I was asked to get involved with the parties in Kashmir. I spent ten full years doing what I took as marketing, trying to promote a realistic solution to the problems of Kashmir. In order to sell a concept, you

have to first make sure that you become known and that you are desired. Getting involved with the Kashmir conflict entailed exactly the same principle; one had to be known in a positive way, and then desired. So I helped create the Kashmir Study Group, which was made up of very knowledgeable, extremely motivated and dedicated scholars, diplomats and historians who joined me in this endeavor. I spent ten years shuttling back and forth to all the areas of conflict and met all the leaders.

After ten years or so, I came to the conclusion that our work should help the parties to move forward and that it was now up to the

leaders in the region to advance the solution.

They were surprised when I told them that I was now going to stay on the sidelines. They felt that people who do these things make it into a lifetime passion. I had accomplished my goal of putting together a structure and framework for the leaders in the region, but it was up to them to implement it. I felt it was time for me to get involved with other areas, whether it was refugees, social issues, or creating better interfaith relations.

When you look at the world today, are you concerned about the direction it’s heading?

Ther e ar e certainly major challenges and one is globalization. The world has become small and it’s becoming smaller. When I was recently in the mountains of Kashmir at 8,000 to 13,000 feet, we had some guides and some young folks with horses. They had nothing much to wear; their shoes were broken, but they all had a mobile phone which shows how the world has become smaller and global knowledge and information is available everywhere.

Because the world is now smaller, we better start thinking about how to bring people up. The benefits of modernization must be spread throughout the world. We Americans can’t think that somehow we’re going to stay up and everybody else is going to stay down. I think that we have to, much more now than ever, think about how we’re going to help people become better, whether it’s in Latin America, Africa or in the Middle East, or in other parts of Asia. If not, the migration problems we are seeing today will only get worse.

Part of this is also due to climate change. Many are leaving some parts of Africa and even parts of Honduras and Guatemala, not only because of poor governance, but also because of climate change.

I feel we are in a very difficult and precarious position and the world today has to work together. If not, everybody is going to be in trouble.

At the same time, we have to understand that many of these problems take place because of poor governance, and we cannot throw money to these countries with poor governance because it’s going to end up being misused. If we keep on supporting poor governance, which we do unfortunately, how are we going to make progress? I think governance across the world is tremendously important.

The United States is still viewed as an important world leader. If we can help set the world on a course toward sharing the benefits of a growing economy, addressing climate change, and upholding the principles of democracy and good governance, we can help ensure that the decades to come will be a time of peace and prosperity.

•

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

BY A PPO I NTM E NT D AV I D A U G U S T I N C . C O M

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

A True Network for Boaters An Interview with Baxter Underwood, Chief Executive Officer, Safe Harbor Marinas

Baxter Underwood

EDITORS’ NOTE Baxter Underwood is CEO of Safe Harbor Marinas. He was formerly Chief Investment Officer of CNL Lifestyle Properties. He has a history of investment and asset management across multiple industries. Underwood holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.

COMPANY BRIEF Safe Harbor Marinas (shmarinas.com) is the largest owner and operator of marinas in the United States. Safe Harbor prides itself on maintaining the highest standards of quality and customer service across its portfolio of inland and coastal properties. The company has decades of industry experience and a proven history in acquisitions, management, and partnership strategies.

Will you highlight the heritage of Safe Harbor Marinas?

Heritage is the right word. We are the beneficiary of three companies that go back to the middle part of the 20th century, and now with Brewer Yacht Yards, all the way back to the latter part of the 19th century. It’s really an incredible confluence of events that brought those various companies together at the same time. There are a number of people who are involved on the financial side, operationally with the marinas and ownership of those marinas, who came together over the course of two to three years beginning in late 2015 to form Safe Harbor Marinas.

I think what is most notable about the way that they came together is that in spite of the fact that they were all very successful – Jack Brewer, Marshall Funk, Stan Johnson, Gregg Kenney, and the folks from American Infrastructure – they were able to enter into partnership with humility and a willingness to learn from each other. I feel that we have taken the best of all those entities through the course of putting them together into one organization and have leveraged the collective skill set as we build a new type of entity to lead the industry forward in a new way.

24 LEADERS

When you are bringing together companies with deep cultures, how important is it to ensure that the cultures mesh?

I have been part of previous attempts to consolidate operating real estate asset classes via financial engineering. I believe this company would not have been successful if it did not get the traction it has been able to achieve with marina owners and operators, while also delivering with excellence for its employees and members at the same time. If culture wasn’t at the center for the decision-makers in the boardroom, the roll up of these assets would have failed.

One of the things I love about this industry is that in some ways the waterfronts where we’re serving boaters are some of the longest continually operated industrial grounds in the country. We serve boaters in places like Plymouth and Salem, Massachusetts, where the business stretches all the way back to before we were a nation. The use of those properties in that era was for transportation of people, food and goods, but nevertheless, those properties were also used for storage and maintenance of vessels.

That is exactly what they are used for today. It’s more of a leisure use today than a commercial

one, but the fact is that they’re still being used in that way. Over the course of the past couple hundred years, even as technology and the use of vessels has changed, there is still a very local culture to each of those places. Each one of those places is very different. The members that are on the docks have their own local community and local interests. The employees in each of those towns are very important to maintaining and delivering the experience that’s expected.

There are certain things that you have to do in each location with excellence in order to be able to deliver the experience that people are looking for. But you can’t package them all up under one brand and assume that operating them in the exact same way is going to deliver what members in those towns want, because there’s such a deep history to the culture of each place.

How do you define the Safe Harbor difference?

We are the first, and really the only, true network for boaters in the U.S. They can stay with us wherever they go. This is what makes consistency so important, as well as high-quality facilities. If a customer expects a certain level of accommodation with a clubhouse or other

Safe Harbor Charleston City in Charleston, South Carolina VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

amenities such as a pool, fitness facilities or updated bathrooms, we need to deliver that same level of quality wherever they go so that they can have their expectations met as they move throughout the network. As important as the physical condition of the marina is, service is really what sets us apart. We spend a lot of time working to translate our best practices throughout the country so that the greeting our members will receive, everything from how the lines are caught and tied to what we say and do as soon as they step foot on the docks, will be first class. We try to standardize this as much as possible, but you need to give consideration to each one of these individual places, and each one of these cultures. They are all a little bit different – Charleston, South Carolina, for example, is very different from Essex, Connecticut, which is very different from West Palm Beach, Florida.

We must make sure that in our effort to standardize offerings and deliver a level of service and a facility that is consistent with the expectations of our boaters as they move throughout the network, that we don’t lose the local feel. We want to have access to local restaurants that are differentiated by virtue of the type of the food that they’re offering, or access to local events. We bring local music to the marinas.

How critical is size and scale in the industry?

Economically, scale is immensely helpful.

There are a number of benefits to running operations centrally. When we did the transaction with Brewer Yacht Yards, one of the most interesting things from my perspective was that Jack (Brewer) was very decentralized. He really allowed his general managers to run the properties in a largely autonomous manner. Branding was consistent, and they benefited from some uniform best practices, but those general managers were really in control of the properties and how they operated.

This made it challenging to leverage the benefits of our scale early on, such as purchasing things centrally or having a central inventory, or using the pricing power of a larger organization.

There’s a significant benefit in that, and yet, the genius of what Jack did was that he made sure to empower his general managers to set the vision and the execution of operations in their particular location, he did not overpower or override their perspective, their deference toward local expectations, and whatever sort of local agreements, whether they were tacit or contractual, that existed with those members. I think one of the things that you have to do when you set out to take a business that’s this complicated in a unified direction is to step back from it and ask how you are going to use the benefits of scale without destroying the power of what’s already been created and the local nuances that make people want to be at a particular location in the first place. In this industry, the impact of scale can cut both ways.

Where do you see the greatest opportunities for growth?

I think about growth in two directions.

One is external, and the other one is internal.

Incidentally, if one of those two ever gets out of balance, the business will wobble off to one side or the other. We’re focused on acquiring new marinas, new destinations, or bolt-on additions to the portfolio that make sense. If we go into a VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Safe Harbor Old Port Cove in North Palm Beach, Florida

new area, we want to do so at scale. We want to do it with a sizable property where we can have some level of impact in a market, so this might be with one big marina, or we may go into a new market with three or four, or even five marinas all at once in the same new market.

Bolt-ons are a little bit different. They’re an extension of our existing footprint. We may buy a very small marina because we think we can significantly enhance the experience members are having on those docks or because we already have a presence there and an understanding of a local market.

We are growing very rapidly. We will be closing on one new marina every two weeks for the rest of this year, so in terms of numbers of new marinas, there is a lot out in front of us. At the same time, in order to really deliver operationally with excellence at that kind of acquisition pace, we’re constantly growing internally.

We’re constantly adding to our people, processes and systems. There are a lot of internal promotions at Safe Harbor because we want people to think about the company as a place where they can have a career and not just a job, both because we need good people, and also because once we’ve spent time investing in someone, it’s painful to lose them.

Will you address Safe Harbor Marina’s commitment to sustainability and the environment?

We have four stakeholders, and one of them is very quiet. The first one is our owners, the shareholders of the company, and that can be a mega family office, or it could be a bank that has lent us money. The second one is our employees, hundreds of which now are also shareholders in the business so they cross both categories.

The third is our members. Nobody has to own a boat. These people have lots of other things they could be doing with their time and money. We want them to feel that the properties and staff are excellent, and that the experiences and memories they make with us are worth the time and

money they spent. The fourth, which has no voice except for the company itself, is the environment. To the extent that our waterways, our docks, the riparian rights beneath our docks, are not stewarded well, ultimately, the business will go away. The only reason that people are out on the water is because it’s beautiful. Our objective for our fourth stakeholder is clear: it is to steadily improve our natural environment over time.

How do you focus your efforts leading Safe Harbor and is it important for you to still find time to be at the marinas and with members?

Being on the ground is a little bit more difficult now than it used to be, but it is critical. We have many leaders in the company who came out of the marina industry and enjoy being on the properties and making sure that things are going in a direction consistent with the lofty aspirations we have set in order to build something special.

Jack Brewer is a great example of this. He is still very involved, not just in New England, but all over the country. He goes to Florida and California to check on our people and our properties. Rives (Potts), who was President of Brewer Yacht Yards and is now President of Safe Harbor, spends a great deal of time visiting properties. Marshall Funk and Gregg Kenney, people that ran their own marina businesses, are now on the ground and touching and feeling the assets, and also interacting with the members and the employees.

I love to do that. I find the most important thing I can do to help the business succeed is to clearly articulate our vision to our people and make sure they see the North Star we’re sailing towards. Our management team and board think a lot about making sure we guard the remarkable culture we inherited from people like Jack Brewer. Jack had an incredibly high standard of character inside his organization. I view it as my responsibility to our stakeholders, to all four types I mentioned earlier, to ensure that the culture of Safe Harbor remains characterized by integrity, honesty, accountability and excellence.

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LEADERS 25

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

Manifest the Power of Ethical AI An Interview with Asheesh Mehra, Co-Founder and Group CEO, AntWorks

Asheesh Mehra

EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to boarding the entrepreneurial ship, Asheesh Mehra headed Infosys BPO – Asia Pacific, Japan and the Middle East. His experience over 20 years has also spanned across leadership roles in large ITeS organizations, such as Mphasis, TCS and WNS, having worked extensively across the UK and the United States. His achievements were recognized by the highly acclaimed Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON), which presented him with the IDC Digital Disruptor of the Year award 2017, “People’s Choice for Personal Contribution to Industry – APAC” award in 2011 and the “Thought Leader of the Year – Asia” award in 2010.

COMPANY BRIEF AntWorks™ (ant.works) is a global artificial intelligence and intelligent automation company, creating new possibilities with data through digitization, automation and enterprise intelligence.

As the world’s first and only Integrated Automation Platform (IAP) powered by fractal science principles and pattern recognition that understands every data type, ANTstein™ SQUARE digitizes every piece of information for a diverse range of industries. Harnessing Data Curation and Digital Workforce Management in a unique low-code/no-code environment, ANTstein SQUARE innovates far beyond traditional RPA to automate complex processes and provide Straight-through Processing. AntWorks’ solutions power up enterprises with accurate insights through an integrated, intelligent, technology stack that automates and learns independently.

What was the vision for creating AntWorks?

When we started out four years ago, my co-founder and I came from a business process background. We decided that we were not going to look at solving automation challenges from a technology perspective, but rather from a business process perspective. We knew very clearly that we wanted to be a product company and not a services company. Additionally, when we looked at what was happening in the marketplace, we realized that data, and more specifically clean data, was going to be the most critical component in an automation journey for any business process.

26 LEADERS

When I say business process, it could be processing a claim, invoice, mortgage or title search, whatever the business process is, from soup to nuts. We looked at it from end-to-end. Using our relationships globally, we sat in front of about 140 C-Suite executives and asked them what they were looking to solve and whether the technology tools they were using today solved those issues.

We collated all that feedback and went to the drawing board and drew up our product architecture. We consolidated the voice of the customer/ user and designed our product architecture.

We created ANTstein, the platform, which has a data ingestion engine, a data transport engine, and has the intelligence of machine learning running through the entire platform. It’s learning from the very second you start interacting with the platform. It’s self-learning and it’s also learning from an adaptive perspective.

When we looked at the business process, we saw that different business processes require different capabilities, so we pulled together a bouquet of technologies, all proprietary, built by AntWorks. We don’t use any open source products in the entire platform because we wanted to own the IP of the product. We made a very small acquisition in 2016 to help us accelerate that journey, and then went out and executed against the product architecture that we laid out for ourselves.

How broad is the target market for AntWorks?

Today, if you look at our client landscape, it is banking, financial services, insurance, mortgage, telecom, retail, legal, education, as well as some government. Given we’re a relatively young company, it’s more common for government organizations to be mandated towards much older, more established brands, however despite this we already do some government work and we anticipate this sector will grow for us as the brand matures. Logistics is also pretty big for us, so we’re really cutting across the full spectrum of vertical sectors because our technology toolset is agnostic to industry.

Our footprint of clients is completely global. If I slice up the world into three broad buckets, North and South America, Europe and the Middle East, and Asia Pacific, then North and South America is about 45 percent of our business. Next would come Asia Pacific followed by EMEA which is being ramped up right now.

How critical is cultural fit when hiring new talent?

Cultural fit is beyond critical to our business.

For me personally, culture trumps skillset. Skills

you can learn, but if you are not cut from the same cloth, it is difficult to change an individual and we don’t want to change people. We want to make sure that people fit naturally into our culture.

How will the platform evolve in order to stay relevant in a fast-changing world?

In our opinion, we’re about 18 months ahead of the marketplace from a technology perspective and we want to always make sure that we stay there. So R&D and product development and enhancement continues to be a priority within the AntWorks organization. All of the versions of our platform ANTstein™ are names after shapes, in recognition of pattern-based fractal science, which the product is powered by. First, we began with TRIANGLE, and more recently we launched SQUARE. Next year the product will be upgraded to PENTAGON and then HEXAGON and so on.

Our mantra is always to stay several steps ahead of the competition and the rest of the automation landscape. We had a great head start by spotting early that integrated automation was always going to be an essential piece of the puzzle. Skipping the stage of building only traditional standalone RPA gave us a distinct advantage over the competition.

Now, it’s our job to stay there by constantly upgrading the platform and its capabilities.

Is it difficult to forecast for the business with the rapid pace of change?

I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in 150 days from now because it is changing very rapidly.

We’re taking two quarters at a time. We’re trying to work towards half-year plans. Working to a quarterly plan is important, but it’s too short a period of time because even if you had to go and change technology or add capability, it takes time to do that, especially putting it through testing.

Are you able to enjoy the process and reflect on what you have built?

We celebrate wins. I’m a big believer in celebrating, in giving people kudos like we did when we recently closed a big deal. When the sales executive went home there was a bottle of champagne at his doorstep. It was not given to him in the office, but at his doorstep, because we believe hugely in the importance of family at AntWorks. Every one of us have families who become invested in our professional lives in some way or form. It’s important that they be included to celebrate in the highs.

For me, as the Co-founder and the CEO of the company, I have to make sure that I keep to my promise that I’ve made to my people that they will have fun along the way, and that I will create wealth for them. That’s what I’m trying to do.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

A L E G A C Y O F L U X U RY O N M A D I S O N AV E N U E

UNPARALLELED SERVICE

& ACCOMMODATIONS

4 5 5 M A D I S O N AV E , N E W Y O R K , N Y 1 0 0 2 2 1.800.804.7035 W W W. L O T T E N Y PA L A C E . C O M

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INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

Quantum Leadership An Interview with Chavalit Frederick Tsao, Chairman, IMC Pan Asia Alliance Group; Founder, OCTAVE Institute; and President, FBN Pacific Asia Chapter

Chavalit Frederick Tsao

EDITORS’ NOTE Chavalit Tsao, known as Fred, is the fourth-generation steward of a family business that started in The Shanghai Bund before 1906. He joined the family business at the age of 20 after graduating from the University of Michigan with an M.S. in engineering. His early business successes include the startup of a highly-profitable palm oil business in Thailand and the turnaround and listing of a bankrupt Thai national shipping line.

In 1995, at the age of 37, Tsao took over as Chairman of IMC Group. Under his stewardship, the traditional shipping company transformed into a multi-national conglomerate with diverse business inter ests. Throughout the years, Tsao has founded and led numerous maritime and non-profit organizations. He served for seven years as Chairman of Intercargo, an international dry cargo shipping organization, and created a number of platforms to promote collaboration within the maritime industry. He is passionate about cutting-edge business economics and sustainability. As the Founder and President of Family Business Network (FBN) in Asia, he served on the FBN International Board to promote sustainable family businesses and continues to be active as Chairman of FBN Foundation. Tsao advocates that evolution is the key and consciousness is the mother of all capital. For this r eason, he for med a research center in 1995, the East West Cultural Development Centre, which conducts research in the areas of globalization, sustainability, societal and management issues. The research work has evolved through the years in tandem with Fred’s own evolution. He believes that we are living in a new era with new challenges and we must create a new paradigm to face these challenges – an era of Quantum Leadership, where we can access the unprecedented creativity that is embedded within us. He is the coauthor with Chris Laszlo of a book recently published by Stanford University Press, Quantum Leadership, New Consciousness in Business.

Drawing on extensive r esearch, the book argues that current approaches to leadership 28 LEADERS

fail to produce positive outcomes for businesses and the communities they serve. It explores how changing a person’s consciousness is the most powerful lever for unlocking his or her leadership potential to create wealth and serve humankind. OCTAVE Institute is a new business model that is the manifestation of Tsao’s world view, a result of numerous years of research and contemplation.

COMPANY BRIEFS IMC Pan Asia Alliance Group (imcgroup.info) has interests in four strategic business areas. One is IMC Industrial, an integrated industrial supply chain group that covers resources, ports, logistics, shipping, offshore engineering, shipyards and other services. OCTAVE Institute is a sustainable living lifestyle and real estate group and platform of curated well-being to help people find clarity, harmony and a new level of consciousness and freedom. AITIA Institute is a learning institute dedicated to shifting consciousness of leadership and organizations in pursuit of sustainability, focused on mindfulness as a sustainable process to build a harmonious society. Heritas Capital Management is an investment and fund management group.

OCTAVE Institute (octaveinstitute.com) is a platform to help people find clarity, harmony and a new level of consciousness and freedom.

It is comprised of SANGHA Retreat (sangha r etr eat.com), the VILLAGE, and AITIA in Suzhou; and THE LIVING ROOM, an urban support center in Shanghai. SANGHA Retreat is located west of Shanghai on the outskirts of Suzhou, China. An innovative and impactful holistic health and well-being destination, the retreat combines Eastern philosophies with Western science to help people awaken to a life of greater purpose and personal well-being. The 47-acre retreat designed by Tsao & McKown includes AT ONE guest suites; AT ONE Clinic, offering comprehensive wellness assessments and well-being programs; AT ONE Healing Spa with an extensive spa treatment menu and hydrotherapy circuit; THOUGHT FOR FOOD restaurant; Meditation Domes; and a daily schedule of AT ONE living habits with classes on six living habits specifically designed in rhythm with the daily clock and yearly season.

SANGHA Retreat is about expansive mind and expansive living, a new path to optimal living through oneness and evolving consciousness which allows everyone to flourish.

You are involved in a number of different companies. Will you discuss your key areas of focus and interest?

My family has always been in industrial businesses. There are many changes in industrial businesses as industrialization is coming to an end, which will make things quite different. We are in the industrial supply chain so our family business is involved in areas such as mining, construction, building materials, marine & offshore engineering, shipping, ports and others, primarily in Asia. Of course, with a shipping company, we trade globally, but Asia is our home base.

How important has it been to evolve your businesses in or der to r emain relevant?

There has been a major change since my great-grandfather started our business. In those days, industrial activities were at the top of the demand chain. Now, it’s moving to the bottom of the supply chain, so we are gradually repositioning the businesses. Since machines are finally capable of taking over human jobs and creating material goods, industrialization is coming to an end. In this major era of change, we have to reposition ourselves in a major way.

Meditation dome at SANGHA Retreat VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

How do wellness and well-being align in this new paradigm?

The wellness industry cannot agree what wellness is today and well-being is one step ahead of wellness, so there is a gap. The Chinese tradition, which is validated by the quantum paradigm, says wellness is nurturing life and wellbeing is freedom. This appears to run counter-clockwise to traditional thinking. There’s a process of awakening to these things. We are moving clockwise in the material reality.

We move counter-clockwise Living room of a seven-bedroom AT ONE villa when the era shifts.

For example, we all know Are you now a technology business that we are dancing with outside influence and rather than a people business? we always want to control the outside. But when No, that is not the case. All the IT is part you try to control the outside, you have no conof the industrialization process. Technology trol. Soon, you feel totally disempowered because enhances that process but it is, after all, created you cannot control anything. You feel very small by people for people, so people are always part and insignificant because you cannot control of the formula. those external factors. You cannot even control It is not about technology replacing people; yourself on the external side. You need to turn it is about defining the next era after the industrial around and realize that the projector is actually era. That is the issue. Even AI is still part of the on the inside. Your projecindustrial era. It may represent the third or fourth tion of the outside really wave of the industrial revolution, but it’s still comes from the inside. If industrial. However, it’s coming to an end because you start moving counterthe industrial era is about economic efficiency and clockwise, you can start material construction. It’s about machines doing controlling inside. Then, humans’ work. That is coming to an end. everything becomes holisWe are now going to have to create a new tic and relationships are era. However, this new era cannot be created co-created. You hear peofrom our previous mindset. As Einstein said, ple say, “Change yourself “You cannot solve problems with the same level and the world will change thinking that created them.” You cannot create around you.” Until you are a new era with an old era mindset, so a new doing this, you can’t see it. paradigm is needed. Everybody wants to look Once you start experiencat trends, but the real question is what is next ing it, you actually become after the industrial era. For our family business, very empowered. thinking very long term, we need to position ourIs that something selves for a new era. that can be taught?

What is the most immediate challenge Absolutely. It’s shiftto be faced in this new era? ing consciousness. We can I can say this era’s challenge is well-being. help people shift conWe’re not well. The family is not well. Businesses sciousness, through an are certainly not doing so well. Our environment alignment process, through science. We have to is not well. Society is not well. We see a world that help people rewire their neuro-connectors and is chaotic. Nothing is well. But it always makes sense open up new neural pathways so their intuibecause I can only be well if everything else is well tive mind and their conscious logical mind can because I live in an environment. I cannot be well work together. We can train people to upgrade if my family is not well. If my family is not well, their thinking. We all start out thinking on the then my friends and loved ones, my community level of algebra, geometry, and logic, but in and my business, are also not well. So what are the holistic integrative world, you have to, at we going to do? We need a change of paradigm minimum, think at the level of calculus. So you but wellness is certainly the challenge currently. have to upgrade that thinking and start workAre you optimistic that we can meet ing with complex theory. You will then start to those challenges? understand and see the world differently.

I’m promoting a quantum paradigm. This is Then you will see reality differently because it the latest scientific discovery. Scientists have suc- is being interpreted from a different mindset. ceeded in creating one theory that explains every- This requires rewiring, reframing, re-skilling, thing. In fact, this theory explains all the other and renewing. It’s a process of alignment. paradigms we have. They have also discovered, What was your vision for SANGHA but not explicitly said, that because one theory Retreat and how is it different from other explains everything, there’s one solution for approaches to wellness in the market? everything. That solution is raising consciousness, First of all, the wellness industry has many shifting consciousness. voices with many theories about wellness. They VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

are all addressing familiar topics like food, but they are now starting to think more about integration. Holistic wellness is what they call it, but do you see a holistic clinic? They all say they are holistic, but what is holistic? Actually, holistic wellness addresses the whole human system. As I said, you can only be well in an environment that is well. The good news is everything that is happening externally actually happens internally.

So our goal was to design a system based on Chinese traditional structure but updated for the twenty-first century. We call it the Chinese medicinal soup with global medicine being added in.

What is the optimal amount of time for people to spend at SANGHA Retreat?

It doesn’t matter. It’s actually most important just to start your experience and that often happens with people from Shanghai or traveling to Shanghai. They can go and do a tasting program and spend as little or as much time as they want.

Everyone has their own tastes, fancies and needs.

Some people want a more thorough assessment of their health. Others want to learn particular living habits to shift or how to improve their relationships with their children. We have different facilities to do different work systemically. We have space for people to work on themselves.

We have family villas to do family work. We have corporate villas to work on organizational issues.

The VILLAGE gallery and town hall

We have a learning hotel to host organization work. We have apartments for family work. We even do rehab and have a full rehab license. At most rehab places, they address your body. We address you, your family, your mind, and your spirit as well as your body.

Was this a vision and concept that you had been developing for a long time?

I’ve been doing research for a long time. I founded East West Cultural Development Centre to do cultural research on sustainability 25 years ago. I have published 34 books on the Chinese tradition because I was searching for answers.

I’m also trained as an engineer and studied in the West. I’ve done research and have now written an English book to begin a series on quantum leadership, which is a new paradigm to create a new era. Leadership is creativity and you need it to match that paradigm to create the new era. Then, in the new era, we create our lives and, because our life is holistic, everything falls in line.

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LEADERS 29

NEWYORK

Contents A Purposeful Life Steven C. Witkoff, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Witkoff Group

34

Pioneering the Growth Equity Model William Ford, Chief Executive Officer, General Atlantic

37

An Entrepreneurial Culture Cynthia Foster, President, National Office Services USA, Colliers International

40

A True Strategic Partner Joseph B. Ucuzoglu, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte U.S.

43

A Global Shared Services Platform Richard A. Rosenbaum, Executive Chairman, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

47

Building a “Best-Run SAP” Bill McDermott, Chief Executive Officer, SAP

50

Open Architecture Michael I. Roth, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Interpublic Group

52

Built to Last Maurice R. Greenberg, Starr Insurance Companies

54

A History of More than 100 Years Xu Chen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of China USA

57

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The EY Family Kelly Grier, U.S. Chairman and Managing Partner and Americas Managing Partner, EY

60

Civic Involvement and the Renewal of New York Howard P. Milstein, Chairman and CEO, New York Private Bank & Trust and Emigrant Bank; Chairman, Milstein Properties

62

A True Partnership Brad S. Karp, Chairman, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

The Power of Innovation Kevin Samuelson, Chief Executive Officer, Infor

78

A Creator John A. Catsimatidis, Founder, Red Apple Group

80

A Vanguard of Innovation Kenneth L. Davis, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Mount Sinai Health System

82

64

The Future of Healthcare Steven J. Corwin, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, NewYork-Presbyterian

66

The Partnership’s Purpose Kathryn S. Wylde, President and Chief Executive Officer, Partnership for New York City

69

A Builder Peter S. Kalikow, President, HJ Kalikow & Co. LLC

72

A Collaborative Culture Paul S. Pearlman, Managing Partner, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

74

A Dedication to Excellence Joseph Moinian, Chief Executive Officer, The Moinian Group

76

Inclusive Leadership Janet Foutty, Chair of the Board, Deloitte US

85

Professionalism and Quality Bess Freedman, Chief Executive Officer, Brown Harris Stevens (BHS)

88

Tenant Experts Mitchell S. Steir, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Savills North America

90

Transformational Leadership and Tenant Focus Mitchell E. Rudin, President, Savills North America

91

Perform and Transform Alan D. Schnitzer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Travelers Companies, Inc.

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The Impact of Architecture A. Eugene Kohn, Chairman, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

94

PwC’s Purpose Tim Ryan, Senior Partner and Chair, PwC US

97

Scaramucci’s Story Anthony Scaramucci, Founder and Co-Managing Partner, SkyBridge Capital

100

Montefiore’s Mission Steven M. Safyer, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Montefiore Medicine

103

Renewable Energy Robert B. Catell, Chairman, Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, Stony Brook University

106

Excellence, Integrity, Collaboration and Responsiveness Daniel Nardello, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Nardello & Co.

107

Client-Focused James W. Crystal, Vice Chairman, Alliant Insurance Services

108

Placemaking James E. Linsley, President, GID Development Group

110

Fisher’s Focus Steven Fisher, Founder and President, Fisher Capital Investments and Partner, Fisher Brothers

113

Children’s Health Catherine Manno, M.D., Pat and John Rosenwald Professor of Pediatrics and Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone

116

“Now Your Community Bank” Joseph R. Ficalora, President and Chief Executive Officer, New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYCB)

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Clients First Lynn McMahon, New York Metro Office Managing Director, Media and Entertainment Lead in North America, Accenture

121

Democratizing Private Aviation Kenny Dichter, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Wheels Up

122

A Trusted Advisor Robert I. Bodian, Esq., Managing Member, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

124

Fostering Community and Connectivity Jill Zucker, Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company’s New York Office

126

Musculoskeletal Health Louis A. Shapiro, President and Chief Executive Officer, HSS

127

The Evolution of IP Ed Haug, Chairman, Haug Partners

128

The State of Real Estate Kent M. Swig, President, Swig Equities, LLC

130

Risk, Strategy and People Laurie Ledford, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.

131

Addressing Income and Wage Equality Leo Hindery, Jr., Managing Partner, InterMedia Partners and Chairman and CEO, Trine Acquisition Corp.

132

“Live Who You Are” Pamela Liebman, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Corcoran Group

Skadden’s Values Scott D. Musoff, Partner, Securities Litigation; Complex Litigation and Trials and Allison R. Schneirov, Partner, Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

136

Providing a Quality Education Stuart Rabinowitz, President, Hofstra University

138

Client Relationships Peter G. Riguardi, Chairman and President-New York Region, JLL

140

Relationships, Collaboration and Skill Diane M. Ramirez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Halstead Real Estate

142

A Park of the City Robert Hammond, Co-Founder and Executive Director, High Line

143

Building Community Eric S. Goldstein, Chief Executive Officer, UJA-Federation of New York

146

Rethinking the Modern Law Firm Faith Gay, Founding Partner, and Jennifer Selendy, Managing Partner, Selendy & Gay

147

Supporting Agents Steven James, President and Chief Executive Officer, New York City, Douglas Elliman Real Estate

148

The Power of Access Valerie Ann Wilson, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer; Jennifer Wilson-Buttigieg and Kimberly Wilson Wetty, Co-Owners & Co-Presidents, Valerie Wilson Travel

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A New York Store for 85 Years Chris Adams, Co-Owner and Chief Executive Officer, Sherry-Lehmann

Midwood’s Evolution John Usdan, Chief Executive Officer, Midwood Investment & Development

Jewel of Fifth Avenue Ruediger Albers, President, American Wempe Corp.

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NEWYORK

A Purposeful Life An Interview with Steven C. Witkoff, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Witkoff Group EDITORS’ NOTE Steven Witkoff is a New York real estate investor, landlord, and the founder of Witkoff Group. Prior to forming the group in 1997, Witkoff co-founded Steller Management Company. He earned a J.D. from Hofstra University, after which he practiced law at Dreyer & Traub and Rosenman & Colin, where he represented a number of large developers and investors.

I came from a very modest backI completely agree with you that lowground and have taken a lot of risk. income, affordable housing is critical to New New York has been my home. I love York City’s existence. New York City, and in New York and I have been supportive fact, no city works if it’s just a city for the rich. of this city in every way that I know I think that affordable housing is a laudhow. I don’t require any recognition able thing. We need more of it. What’s the and I have never sought that, but the math on affordable housing? You’d better give current environment has created dis- more density, because if you want the develincentives for many to do business opment community to build affordable housin New York and that is a dangerous ing, it means you have to give more density trend. in order to create the proper profit incentive Do you see real estate opportu- for developers to include an affordable comSteven C. Witkoff COMPANY BRIEF Witkoff Group nities in other parts of the country? ponent in their projects. Almost every juris(witkoff.com) is a vertically inteThis is potentially a Goldilocks diction, including California, now accepts this grated real estate development and operat- period in the real estate business. You have premise. ing company with in-house teams focused on very cheap interest rates and the U.S. economy You have developed strong partneracquisitions, development, design, construc- has been strong. There may be a question as to ships in creating many of your develoption, financing, sales and marketing, and asset whether we will have 1.5 percent growth or 3 ments. What do you look for in a partner and property management. As of 2019, Witkoff percent growth, but it’s certainly better than any and how critical is the partner model for Group owns a portfolio of almost 50 properties other place out there. We are currently doing a Witkoff Group? across the United States and internationally. very large project in Nevada, and we’re going I have two long-standing partners. One to do more out there. is Howard Lorber who is a terrific partner Where do you see the New York real estate New York City was built on diversity and great friend. You can tell a lot about a market today? and providing opportunities for all. Do you person based on how they handle losing as Since I have said it before, I will not retreat worry that high pricing is going to take much as winning, and while Howard usually from my view that I do not see many opportu- away that diversity and how critical is it to wins, he is full of class and decency no matnities in New York today. This has less to do offer affordable housing? ter what the outcome. with pricing than it has to do with the political atmosphere. My view about New York is that there has always been a compact between government and the business community to come up with the things that have made New York great, whether in good times or distressed times. That just doesn’t seem to exist anymore, and it’s concerning.

What will it take to change the current environment?

I think it will come back to leadership or, worse yet, crisis. New York is a fabulous place, but fabulous places need to be sustained and nurtured. There is so much political noise in New York that is anti-development.

It is amazing to look years back and see what the development community did for the city of New York, leaders like Lou Rudin who stepped up and put his family’s money on the line in the early 1990s to build a property in downtown Manhattan when Mayor G i u l i a n i w a s a d v o c a t i n g f o r the downtown revitalization plan, and people thought that New York was going to recede into the river. He stepped up and it was an incredible 111 Murray in Tribeca civic action.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

The other is Winston Fisher who has a long history and pedigree of high ethics, a code of conduct, and a morality about how he and the family approach the business. They want to do the right thing, and the motivation is not solely about making the most money. It is about building the best product and giving back.

What has been the key to your success?

I think it’s a ton of luck. I think there are so many examples of people who had really good ideas, but the timing was off. They didn’t have the right relationships. There is so much luck involved in success. I say it all the time success belongs to those who believe in it the most, but just because you believe in it doesn’t mean you will get there – it still takes a good degree of luck.

It also takes a certain degree of paranoia.

I have this recurring dream that I’ve lost everything. I don’t think I have that bad dream because I’m in a situation where I could lose everything. I’m very financially conservative in my personal life in terms of mortgages and financing and so forth. I think that I have that dream because during a 30-year career, there are ups and downs and constant challenges to address.

Larry Gluck, a person I admire and respect and consider one of the most courageous human beings I know, was my partner at Stellar Management when I first started in this business. It was a grind. We had no clue that we would ever have the sort of success that we have had, but we just kept on plugging along because we loved it. We loved the business.

When we first started, Larry and I would go up to the Bronx and Washington Heights, and we got along with all of our tenants. Those were my best days from a professional standpoint we knew all our tenants, we would spend time at our buildings, and we would work alongside the maintenance crews if we were doing work at the properties.

After, we would go over to Arthur Avenue and have a bowl of pasta and chicken scarpariello at Dominick’s, and we would pinch ourselves and ask, “How good is this life?” We have our own business in this amazing country called America. It was never about the money for us.

Of course, we wanted to make money, but we never thought we were going to become rich.

We were just happy because we had our liberty, and we were doing good things, and it felt purposeful. It was like a dream for us. To me, that is the key to success: A, you have to have some luck; and B, you better really love what you’re doing, because if you really love what you’re doing, you can make some of your own luck.

How important is it for you to never forget where you came from and to appreciate your success?

I think that humility is the most important quality someone can have. Some people are taught humility from their family and some people develop it later in life because of their circumstances and experiences. I truly feel that I can never forget where I came from. I always feel that I have to say continuously to myself, even when the chips are down, that I can’t get too self-contained and self-absorbed.

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150 Charles Street in the West Village

I remember when my son, Andrew, died.

For the first year, I was in a daze. I never thought that I could ever use the word blessing again, because I felt that I had let my boy down.

Somewhere there had been a lapse. Today, I think to myself, his death has to count for something. I have to do things in his memory. I have to remember that there are families out there who have lost children just like I have.

In fact, I have a woman working for me who, in my opinion, I met through my son, Andrew. I think my son put his hand on my shoulder and introduced me to this woman who buried three of her brothers and sisters. That

humility allows me to look at my life relative to others and to say, wow, I am a blessed person.

But for this one overwhelming tragedy of having lost Andrew. I am a blessed person. I’ve had more blessings than I could have ever fathomed I would have.

I have great family, great brothers and sisters, great relationships, and a great woman in my life. My mother is alive. I have an exceptional relationship with my mom. I had an exceptional relationship with my dad. I have really, really good friends. My God – that’s a lot.

I have to have that humility, because without it I get lost.

•

LEADERS 35

Pictured left to right: Barbara Humpton, Siemens USA; Lynn Doughtie, KPMG; Sam Gandhi, Sidley Austin LLP; Board of Board partipants; Doug Conant, ConantLeadership; Andi Owen, Herman Miller, Inc.

CECP WELCOMES COMPANIES NEW TO THE COALITION IN THE PAST YEAR: ACCENTURE AMEREN CORPORATION DUN & BRADSTREET, INC. ERNST & YOUNG INTERNATIONAL GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP LINCOLN FINANCIAL GROUP MORTENSON PIRELLI ROYAL DSM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON TD BANK GROUP WINNEBAGO INDUSTRIES, INC. CECP RECOGNIZED THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS AND COMPANIES IN 2019: 2019 FORCE FOR GOOD HONOREES

❯ Michele G. Buck

PRESIDENT AND CEO, THE HERSHEY COMPANY

❯ Rajesh Gopinathan

CEO AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES

Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP) is a CEO-led coalition that believes that a company’s social strategy—how it engages with key stakeholders including employees, communities, investors, and customers— determines company success.

Founded in 1999 by actor and philanthropist Paul Newman and other business leaders to create a better world through business, CECP has grown to a movement of more than 200 of the world’s largest companies that represent $6.6 trillion in revenues, $21.2 billion in social investment, 14 million employees, 23 million hours of employee engagement, and $15 trillion in assets under management.

❯ Fran Horowitz

CEO, ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO.

❯ Edward W. Stack

CHAIRMAN AND CEO, DICK’S SPORTING GOODS

2019 CHARLES H. MOORE AWARD

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PRINCIPAL, CHIEF PURPOSE & INCLUSION OFFICER, PWC US; PRESIDENT, PWC CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, INC.

cecp.co Engage with CECP: Attend CECP’s Board of Boards and CEO Investor Forum 2/24/20, share your company’s Long-Term Plan.

“I helped to start CECP with the belief that corporations could be a force for good in society.”

PAUL NEWMAN (1925–2008), FOUNDING CO-CHAIR, CECP; FOUNDER, NEWMAN’S OWN

CECP is grateful to its 20th anniversary sponsors:

NEWYORK

Pioneering the Growth Equity Model An Interview with William Ford, Chief Executive Officer, General Atlantic EDITORS’ NOTE Bill Ford joined nurturing the topline growth of emergGeneral Atlantic in 1991 and ing industry leaders. GA’s founder, became CEO in 2007. He has deepChuck Feeney, was an entrepreneur ened the firm’s global presence, who built a global business, Duty incr eased its capital base, and Free Shoppers. He established GA to expanded its capabilities to identify invest in high-growth businesses and high-potential growth companies support industry-disrupting entrepreacross multiple sectors and geograneurs like himself, and to fund phies. In addition to serving on the the global charitable pursuits of the boards of IHS Markit, BlackRock, Atlantic Philanthropies, to which he and the McKinsey Advisory Council, donated all of his wealth. He has now he is an active leader involved in a given away roughly $9 billion over the William Ford number of global nonprofit, educourse of his lifetime. cational, and cultural organizaAlong the spectrum of private tions including New York City’s Memorial Sloan investments, growth equity is an asset class of Kettering Cancer Center, Rockefeller University, its own, sitting between venture capital and CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion, and the buyouts. We generally invest in post-revenue Partnership for New York City. stage, rapidly-growing companies, typically with 20-30 percent revenue growth or more.

C O M PA N Y B R I E F G e n e r a l A t l a n t i c The truly unique aspect of GA’s growth equity ( generalatlantic.com) is a leading global model is the partnership aspect: GA seeks to growth equity firm providing capital and stra- work directly alongside entrepreneurs with the tegic support for growth companies. Established energy and vision to scale. We partner to dein 1980, General Atlantic combines a collabor- risk their growth and help accelerate their ative global approach, sector-specific exper- businesses with capital, talent, global networks tise, long-term investment horizon, and a deep and insights. understanding of growth drivers to partner with The ethos and mission of GA has great management and build exceptional busi- remained consistent since it was founded in nesses worldwide. General Atlantic has more 1980, and today we are a truly international than 150 investment professionals based in 14 enterprise that scours the world for pockets offices around the world. of innovation, growth and entrepreneurialism.

We’re proud to have invested in more than Will you discuss the history and heritage 350 entrepreneurs and companies that were of General Atlantic and how the firm has seeking high growth in their local markets evolved? and globally.

We are excited that 2020 will mark General How do you define the General Atlantic Atlantic’s 40th anniversary. GA pioneered the culture and how critical is maintaining culgrowth equity model, which is centered on ture to the continued success of the firm?

General Atlantic’s culture is marked by a legacy of high levels of meaningful collaboration to best serve our capital partners and portfolio companies. That significant level of cooperation is core to both our company culture and the success of our globally-connected team. We invest from one pool of capital and have one single P&L, meaning our international offices are driven by one core incentive – to invest in and build some of the best brands and business models in the world, and provide longterm value to our capital partners. Our alignment on this goal is underscored by the fact that the collective General Atlantic team represents roughly 8 percent of our capital base – the single largest commitment.

Will you highlight General Atlantic’s commitment to partnering with entrepreneurs and investing in innovation?

Our founders were entrepreneurs who built a global business, and today we seek to help our portfolio companies achieve the same. We partner with entrepreneurs and high-growth brands with proven business models in four sectors that are shaped by and driving technological innovation – consumer, financial services, healthcare, and technology.

The concept of geographic hubs of innovation is fast becoming antiquated. We believe in the globalization of entrepreneurship and seek to invest in “indigenous entrepreneurs” around the world to help usher in the next wave of innovation.

What are the key factors that General Atlantic evaluates during the due diligence process?

Our biggest focus when evaluating prospective investments is scalability and alignment

The global transition to a digital economy will continue to enable the formation of new companies that should create new markets and disrupt existing ones.

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LEADERS 37

The truly unique aspect of GA’s growth equity model is the partnership aspect: GA seeks to work directly alongside entrepreneurs with the energy and vision to scale. of vision. We invest in companies with established business models and with visionary leaders who are either innovating by creating new markets and conceiving new services or disrupting markets through an entirely new approach. With that in mind, we view our role at General Atlantic as channeling what’s already strong about these companies and taking it further, rather than dictating paths for growth. Our ability to create a shared vision with management teams during due diligence is the biggest test in evaluating the potential for a successful partnership.

How is technology impacting General Atlantic’s business and will you discuss General Atlantic’s investment in technology?

General Atlantic has a long history of investing in transformative technologies and will continue to invest in the next generation of technology leaders. Similar to the transition from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy over the past 100 years, we are in the midst of the profound and accelerating shift from an industrial economy to a digital economy. The global transition to a digital economy will continue to enable the formation of new companies that should create new markets and disrupt existing ones. For example, we continue to focus on the digital payments space, as the disintermediation of banks may have wide-ranging consequences. While mobile and cloud-based technology have led growth in digitization up until now, we are moving into a new era that will be defined and shaped by an explosion of data, the Internet of Things, and the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

General Atlantic is committed to philanthropy and supporting the communities it serves. Do you see this as a responsibility for leading companies today?

As a growth investor, we are a business with many important stakeholders around the world, including within our firm, our portfolio of more than 100 companies, and our capital partners. We strive to partner with companies that share our values and our strong belief that businesses and technologies can make a positive impact in lives and communities. As a company, and as individuals, we support the ongoing work of the General Atlantic Foundation and keep philanthropy and community engagement firmly rooted in our culture, as they have been since General Atlantic was founded. Our values also include a commitment to diversity and inclusion, and we believe we can make progress in closing diversity gaps through sourcing diverse talent for C-Suite and Board-level executives within our portfolio companies, so we’ve built our talent sourcing mechanism with that goal in mind.

You serve as Co-Chair of the Partnership f o r N e w Yo r k C i t y . W h a t m a k e s t h e Partnership so effective and how critical is it for the business community and business leaders to work together to address the needs of New York City?

The Partnership for New York City, under the leadership of Kathy Wylde, has been incredibly effective because of the way it fosters collaboration and constructive dialogue between the public and private sectors. To name a few key areas of focus, we are committed to strengthening New York City as a hub for innovation and talent. Investment in

industries that continue to emerge in prominence, like life sciences, media and fintech, fuels the economy, creates jobs and serves our communities. The members of the Partnership are also focused on marshalling resources around our environmental, social and governance efforts for the benefit of New York City and its diverse population.

I can share a specific example to illustrate the work of the Partnership: a recent meeting with the mayor raised the issue of the city’s relatively slow pace in authorizing the development of the infrastructure required for a 5G network. Now, as a result of that conversation, the industry is working collaboratively with city agencies to accelerate deployment and ensure that New York City remains at the forefront of innovation.

What advice do you offer young people interested in building a career in the industry?

As I’ve mentioned, GA’s heritage began as a family office for a philanthropic entrepreneur, and that ethos has become critically important to me during my 28 years at the firm. Given that, I would encourage young people starting out in this business to think about where and how they are contributing their time, talent and insights, at every stage of their career. Whether that means investing in a university endowment while in school, volunteering expertise or time to a non-profit organization you care about, or developing a long-term partnership with an entrepreneur who is looking to solve real needs – always look for areas where you can take ownership or bring new ideas to the table, and where the impact reaches far beyond yourself.

•

We strive to partner with companies that share our values and our strong belief that businesses and technologies can make a positive impact in lives and communities.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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NEWYORK

An Entrepreneurial Culture n Interview with Cynthia Foster, President, National Office Services USA, Colliers International EDITORS’ NOTE As President of How challenging is it to differColliers’ U.S. national office serentiate in the industry and how do vices platform, Cynthia Foster is in you define the Colliers advantage? the business of advising office tenIn addition to our talented peoants on their real estate occupancy ple, our culture is a huge advantage. strategies and investors on their Colliers’ culture is unique among our leasing agencies and dispositions. competitive set of the four largest firms.

Prior to joining Colliers, she served We have a highly entrepreneurial culon the Global Leadership Team ture, which is a big-time benefit for and the Office of the President at our clients. Our world class research, Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) after data analytics, workplace strategy, working as an investment banker and other services, support our enterCynthia Foster in Lazard’s real estate banking prising professionals. Defining a sucgroup. Foster is on the President’s cessful culture starts at the top. Our Council of the Real Estate Roundtable and is majority shareholder, chairman and current currently Vice Chairperson and a member of the CEO, Jay Hennick, is a serial entrepreneur and Board of Trustees for ULI. She is on the Board of his “can do” attitude is pervasive throughout InPoint Commercial Real Estate Income, a pri- Colliers today. The traits of a successful entrevate REIT. She also sits on the Board of Trustees preneur – opportunistic, results-oriented, detailand the Finance and Executive Committees for oriented – are all success factors in great real the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and the estate brokerage. By far, culture and people are Board of Trustees for the Museum of the City of our major distinctions.

New York. In 2008 and 2015, she was named one of Real Estate Forum’s “Most Influential Women in Real Estate.”

COMPANY BRIEF Colliers Inter national (colliers.com) is a leading global commercial real estate services and investment management company, publicly traded on Nasdaq (CIGI). With operations in 68 countries, its 14,000 people work collaboratively representing top corporations on their occupancy strategies and maximizing values for real estate owners and investors. In 2018, corporate revenues were $3.3 billion with more than $26 billion of assets under management.

Will you highlight the history and heritage of Colliers and how the business has evolved?

The history of Colliers reflects its enterprising culture. Although the name and operations date all the way back to 1898 in Australia, the full-service real estate advisory and investment management footprint we know today really started in the 1970s.

It is amazing, really, to think of how far we have come so quickly. We have merged, integrated and acquired local operations across all five continents to become a global behemoth in effectively four decades. These were not mega mergers, but best-in-class local real estate operator acquisitions.

40 LEADERS

With all the changes taking place in the industry, leadership has a key role to be in touch with the client to identify trends and new opportunities to provide value.

Where do you see growth opportunities for Colliers today?

In addition to growth through acquisitions, Colliers continues to gain through increased market share from New York City to Mumbai, Toronto to Brazil, and in every service line. But for the first time in decades, there is a new force in all the developed economies across all major industries – the tech boom. Colliers, somewhat serendipitously, is in a unique position to capitalize on this new economy. In the U.S., Colliers leads from the west coast, which has a majority market share in Seattle and increasingly in Northern California.

Our teams dominate these regions with a track record in working with the new economy companies. The exponential growth of these companies is exhilarating. The unique opportunity for us is leveraging our expertise and relationships in this tech world to the major central and east coast Cities and dozens of secondary cities.

Colliers also has the leading industrial footprint in the U.S. Not only is industrial one of the hottest investment verticals with traditional office investors, but industrial expertise is extremely important in the new tech economy. We provide a greater breadth of services to the e-commerce economy than all our competitors. From warehouse/distribution centers to skyscrapers, we have the bench strength for our clients.

Are you surprised to see the growth and development of certain parts of New York City such as the Far West Side and Lower Manhattan?

Yes and no. I wasn’t surprised by the appeal of Hudson Yard’s vision for “a city within a city” nor the demand for new construction and stateof-the-art amenities. Related Company and their partners are uber talented. But I would not have projected the migration of tenants from Midtown Manhattan to Hudson Yards relative to Lower Manhattan, which is close to ten times the size.

In addition, both Lower Manhattan and Midtown have superior access to transportation.

Is that access to transportation what will still keep Midtown Manhattan relevant?

Multinationals look very closely at their employees’ profiles when evaluating real estate decisions. Recently we have heard a lot about office space driving “recruiting and retention,” but the truth is large corporations have always made this a high priority. It is hard to believe that Midtown won’t retain an important role in the future with its access to major transportation and new construction.

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Colliers’ regional and market leaders are committed to doing what’s right. Our people give a tremendous amount of time and energy to volunteering either locally or through various organizations that are trying to bring about a positive change in the world. Colliers supports these initiatives across the board.

Will you discuss Colliers’ commitment to building a diverse and inclusive workforce?

It is essential and needs to start at the top. Colliers makes diversity a priority and we’re really the poster child for having gender diversity within our leadership team. In addition to myself, the president of our Real Estate Management Services is a woman (Karen Whitt) and our National Director of U.S. Retail Services is a woman (Anjee Solanki), just to name a few.

Every office works hard on recruiting diverse candidates and promoting sensitivity training. I sit on the advisory board of our Diversity Initiative, which has developed a highly successful mentoring program.

I have a deep personal commitment to promoting women in commerce. I recently spoke at Yale to an undergraduate group and have been excited to see my alma mater, Harvard Business School, embrace new venues for progress. I cofounded a senior women’s networking group and host industry roundtables for women. I am invigorated by all the progress, but we still need positive change. This and my ideas for improving the pace of diversity in the workplace and the existence of unconscious bias are topics for another time.

Colliers places a major emphasis on corporate citizenship and community engagement. What makes this so important to Colliers?

Colliers’ regional and market leaders are committed to doing what’s right. Our people give a tremendous amount of time and energy to volunteering either locally or through various organizations that are trying to bring about a positive change in the world. Colliers supports these initiatives across the board.

Many Colliers professionals are trusted advisors to their non-profit clients. We boast some of the most exciting and largest 501c3s on our top client lists.

Personally, I’m on the board of the Hospital for Special Surgery, which is the number one orthopedic hospital in the country. I’ve spent significant time advising them – not as a broker but, as an advisor – on their hub and spoke strategy about leveraging their brand in various regions. I look at that as a sample of what we do every day for our clients, people and the community.

What advice do you offer young people interested in a career in real estate?

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Our industry has evolved so much in my career. The opportunities are different for young people today than they were when I started in commercial real estate. The wave of disruption to the status quo is everywhere. I advise so many young people to “use technology, don’t be used by technology” regardless of the industry, but definitely in commercial real estate. The applications for technology are everywhere, but the basic measures for success still exist too. I’ve got a poster in my office that says, “Salespeople get their business two percent of the time on the first call.” To be successful in this business, you really need perseverance – keep calling and providing value and it will all work out.

How important is it for you to find time to be with clients and to be involved in deals with all of your management responsibilities?

It’s a big challenge to find the balance. We have five area leaders who are separated geographically, and they do the bulk of the management for the U.S. business. They are extremely talented.

With all the changes taking place in the industry, leadership has a key role to be in touch with the client to identify trends and new opportunities to provide value.

Are you able to take moments to celebrate the wins and appreciate what you have accomplished?

I would say that my favorite and most joyous moments are teaching young people about how to provide solutions for clients and working with them to win new business, but I learn so much from them too. We are in the midst of a significant generational change and I love the differences. I have two teenagers and a recent college graduate so some days I feel inundated by the new world at both home and work.

I have had such great mentors. Curiously, they were all male, but I’ve had so many who have influenced my career. I have been so lucky, and it is my keen interest to help the next generation of leaders make their differences and have a little fun too.

•

Colliers makes diversity a priority and we’re really the poster child for having gender diversity within our leadership team.

LEADERS 41

In May 2018, Crystal & Company was acquired by Alliant Insurance Services.

The acquisition has since brought many new and exciting opportunities for clients via access to additional resources and providing proprietary solutions for an ever-changing risk and healthcare climate.

What hasn’t changed is the dedication, determination, creativity, and service our clients have always experienced.

A New Standard for Excellence Alliant Insurance Services is one of the nation’s leading distributors of diversified insurance products and services ranging from risk management to employee benefits. We operate through a network of specialized national platforms and regional offices to ensure our clients get the most comprehensive products and the most innovative thinking in the industry.

alliant.com

Insurance. Risk Management. Consulting.

CA License No. 0C36861

© 2019 Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

NEWYORK

A True Strategic Partner An Interview with Joseph B. Ucuzoglu, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte US EDITORS’ NOTE Joe Ucuzoglu just for our clients, but for our people speaks frequently on a broad range as well as for our communities, which of current issues facing the business is becoming increasingly important community, such as the evolving in the world that we live in. As we regulatory landscape and the role look at the market going out 5, 10, that businesses must play in lead15 years, the level of complexity in ing society through the rapid pace of the business world and the pace of technology-driven change. Prior to technology-driven change will only being elected CEO, Ucuzoglu served continue to accelerate, creating exploas the leader of Deloitte’s Audit & sive growth in the demand for profesAssurance practice in the United sional services.

States as well as the national manThere is no firm that is better Joseph B. Ucuzoglu aging partner for government, regequipped to help clients, governulatory, and professional matters. ments, and society at large through this Before rejoining Deloitte, Ucuzoglu served as transformation. We are the largest professional Senior Advisor to the Chief Accountant at the services firm, we have the greatest breadth in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He terms of service capabilities, and we serve currently serves on the board of directors of the almost every one of the Fortune 500 and every U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the large governmental entity. A big part of my job Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, an is to make it easier for our people to create independent research organization dedicated integrated solutions that leverage all our capato enhancing the competitiveness of U.S. cap- bilities, because when we bring the full power ital markets and ensuring stability of the U.S. of the firm, there really is no problem or chalfinancial system, and serves on the Governing lenge our clients have that we’re not equipped Board of the Center for Audit Quality. He is to help them solve. also a member of the Fortune CEO Initiative, the Partnership for New York City, and the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion.

FIRM BRIEF Deloitte US (deloitte.com/us) provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and financial risk advisory services to many of the world’s most admired brands, including nearly 90 percent of the Fortune 500. Deloitte works across more than 20 industry sectors to deliver innovative, measurable, and long-term results to help clients solve their most pressing challenges, reinforce public trust in capital markets, and lead the way towards a stronger economy and a healthy society.

Will you discuss your priorities for Deloitte as you assume the chief executive role?

I’m incredibly privileged to be taking this on. We are celebrating our 175th year anniversary. Deloitte existed far before any of us and will outlive all of us. I feel a deep sense of obligation and responsibility to be entrusted with leading this iconic institution. We have over 100,000 people as a part of our firm today.

We are enjoying more success than at any other time in our history, and we have so much opportunity in front of us to continue to make it better, to continue driving greater impact, not VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

How critical is innovation to the culture and values of Deloitte?

One of the most important parts of my job is to live our values and to be visible in speaking up for what we believe in. We have a deep commitment to a firm that is diverse, that is inclusive, that is grounded in making an impact in a positive way in our communities, and that is highly innovative. At the end of the day, people in the central office can come up with interesting ideas, but the real power of innovation is to tap into those 100,000 people and their great ideas, and for everyone to feel empowered to speak up, to look at the world through a different lens, to come up with ideas and to share them so that they can be scaled and taken to market. It comes down to the work that our professionals are doing in the field for their clients.

This is where we’re seeing the greatest benefits of a culture that promotes innovative thinking.

How is innovation impacting Deloitte’s business?

Looking across the entire firm, innovation and the proliferation of advanced technology is fundamentally transforming every aspect of

We have a deep commitment to a firm that is diverse, that is inclusive, that is grounded in making an impact in a positive way in our communities, and that is highly innovative.

LEADERS 43

It is my job as a leader to make certain that we have a set of values that are aligned with our people’s core values and that, in turn, we’re giving them the avenue to participate in projects where they can see tangible evidence that their contributions are making a positive impact. what we do. In our consultative businesses, we are helping clients navigate digital transformation, migrating to the cloud, leveraging blockchain, embedding artificial intelligence and cognitive into the way in which they operate.

Technology has a pervasive impact.

It also has a pervasive impact across our accounting businesses. When we look at tax and audit, the access to large volumes of data, the ability to directly interface with our clients and directly import their data into our systems, leveraging the cloud to run advanced analytics, gives our people and our clients better information with which to make professional judgments. This is dramatically improving the quality and value of the work we do.

In the audit space, as the type of information that’s moving financial markets expands far outside of the historical financial statements, companies, boards, and investors are looking for us to have a point of view on a much broader set of financial information. The large investments we have made in leading technology platforms will allow us to meet those demands, increasing our relevance and the value that we’re able to deliver.

Is technology and big data going to change the look of the workforce of the future?

This really does get to the heart of the future of work, and there are so many facets to this. As we look out on the horizon, there’s never been a more exciting time for a professional to join a firm like Deloitte. Given the way in which Deloitte is transforming, the ability to leverage technology to ultimately focus our professionals’ time on more meaningful, more productive, more valuable work, is extremely exciting for our people.

Our professionals at the earliest stages of their career are able to find new uses for technology and to perform their work in a much more impactful way. It is also changing the type of skills and attributes we look for when recruiting into the firm. We need professionals from a diversity of backgrounds who are capable and comfortable operating in a world where the pace of technology changes will be accelerating.

How have the expectations of clients evolved?

We’re collaborating with those companies we consult for and we’re really evolving past the point of being a service provider 44 LEADERS

or a vendor to a true strategic partner. More and more, we are defining big issues and coinvesting with our clients to help tackle them.

We are putting skin in the game where ultimately our fees are linked to results and to the value that we’re able to create for the client in the marketplace. A core part of our strategy is to move up the curve in terms of building privileged, strategic partnerships and evolving from a pure professional services organization to a business services partner with our clients we consult for.

Is the transformation taking place in the profession well understood?

It’s our job to demonstrate why a career at Deloitte and why a career in professional services is the best platform upon which talent is able to drive change on issues of significant societal importance. I just spent time this morning with two of our professionals who recently joined the firm. One joined us out of Harvard Business School and one joined us out of Yale Business School. We spent a fair amount of time talking about how we make certain that our message is resonating with the best talent in the recruiting pool. It’s critical that the exciting story we have and the unique things we are doing to help solve big challenges is making its way to the right ears and that the strength of our brand matches with the best talent that is looking at where they want to build a career.

How important is it for Deloitte’s workforce to mirror the diversity of its clients?

We have a deep commitment to making certain that our workforce matches the clients we serve and the communities where we live, and there is far more that all of us as business leaders have to do in this regard. We are looking at a much larger, diverse set of talent pools in order to make certain that we’re getting the right people to fuel our growth for the future.

We are looking beyond traditional institutions where we’ve recruited and are working with community colleges and organizations at the high school and college level with a focus on developing talent in the underrepresented minority community.

We have a number of really promising collaborations that are starting to yield results in terms of significant numbers of individuals coming in from diverse backgrounds. I spend a fair amount of my time with these organizations

speaking to the students who are coming up through the educational system. I believe the future is very, very bright.

Will you highlight the emphasis Deloitte places on corporate responsibility and community engagement?

Our people want to be part of an organization that aligns with their values. Our people want to be making a difference not just for their clients, but for the communities in which they live. It is my job as a leader to make certain that we have a set of values that are aligned with our people’s core values and that, in turn, we’re giving them the avenue to participate in projects where they can see tangible evidence that their contributions are making a positive impact.

That’s a trend that also expands beyond just our firm. Society is placing a larger emphasis on the expectations of the corporate community, which is pushing companies to shift focus.

We are very proud of our WorldClass initiative, where we’re collaborating with businesses, governments, and educators around the world to create opportunities for those in underserved communities.

What is Deloitte advising its clients regarding the future of work?

All large organizations have to wrestle with change, but change brings about opportunity, and one of the things we do for companies is help drive change management.

People always want to know, “how is it going to affect me?” We are trying to help our own people and our clients understand that technology is ultimately going to help drive more fulfilling career paths and give rise to more opportunities for our people and our clients going forward.

As you assume your new role, are you able to take moments to appreciate and celebrate the successes?

It’s important that all of us have some perspective around just how fortunate we are to be entrusted with these positions and to recognize that even though in many cases when you are sitting in this chair, the issues that come up tend to relate to the problems that have to get dealt with, 99 percent of what’s happening in our organizations is still going very well with phenomenal results.

I would say that the U.S. business community as a whole is performing exceptionally well, and we’re all privileged to be a part of it.

•

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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A Global Shared Services Platform An Interview with Richard A. Rosenbaum, Executive Chairman, Greenberg Traurig, LLP EDITORS’NOTE Richard A. Rosenbaum Rosenbaum has been considis the Executive Chair man of ered a thought and change leader Greenberg Traurig, a unified interin the b r o a d e r legal pr ofession, national law firm of more than 2,100 whether it r elates to his devotion attorneys spanning 41 offices around to delivering excellence and value the globe. Rosenbaum joined the firm to the fir m’s clients or ensuring in 1985 as its 90th lawyer and has an open and fair playing field to since helped lead the firm’s growth diverse talent from all backgrounds, across the Americas, Asia, Europe regardless of race, religion, gender, and the Middle East, navigating the or sexual orientation. Before becomchanging times, while remaining ing Executive Chair man, in his fiercely devoted to serving the firm’s roles as the firm’s Chief Executive Richard A. Rosenbaum clients, lawyers, and staff. Most Officer and President, Rosenbaum recently, Rosenbaum has taken a made clear his primary focus on lead in the firm’s unique approach to coupling high quality, excellent service and the colsubstantive excellence with the innovative and laborative, respectful and empowering culefficient delivery of legal services. Rosenbaum is ture of the firm. He is, therefore, particularly widely known for his experience in a diverse range proud of his work in founding and developof industries, including real estate, entertainment, ing the fir m’s r enowned and wide-rangmedia, technology, investment and finance, ing “Commitment to Excellence” program, representing companies of all sizes and many which ensur es that these values would be wealthy individuals and successful entrepreneurs and remain core aspects of the firm’s global over the years. brand for years to come.

Whether it is leading and managing the firm and its lawyers or serving the firm’s cli- FIRM BRIEF Greenberg Traurig, LLP (gtlaw. ents, Rosenbaum’s focus remains the same: com) has approximately 2100 attorneys in 41 delivering business r esults which exceed locations in the United States, Latin America, expectations with an extraordinary sense of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm urgency, efficiency and excellence, while at has been recognized for its philanthropic givthe same time living the “old school” values of ing, diversity, and innovation, and is consisethics, loyalty, family and personal account- tently among the largest firms in the U.S. on ability, which create long-term relationships the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the and lasting trust across the decades.

Am Law Global 100.

Greenberg Traurig recently announced its founding of “Recurve.” What was the thinking in creating Recurve and what is its purpose?

Recurve will be a first-of-its-kind global shared services platform. The intention is to ease open collaboration among clients, trusted legal advisors and tech, staffing, space, and other experts in services which support innovation, efficiencies, and value in the delivery of legal services.

While Greenberg Traurig is its founder, Recurve itself will not engage in the practice of law and will ultimately include a number of strategic members engaged in various of its core focus areas, including our firm as its founding member. Recurve’s core focus areas are intended to include innovations in technology solutions, artificial intelligence, project management, alternative staffing, novel space innovations and other developing aides for lawyers and clients which do not involve the actual practice of law.

Recurve will work outside the traditional legal model to provide previously unavailable tools and efficiencies in the legal ecosystem, bringing together diverse talents and resources across the globe in a collaborative platform aimed at industry-wide innovation to help attorneys and clients adapt to the rapidly changing legal landscape.

We are pleased to establish this unique and nimble business, initially as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Greenberg Traurig. Utilizing investments

Recurve “architects” will also be working on developing value-based budgeting and pricing; optimized staffing; process innovation; creative and nimble office space solutions; and suggestions as to in-house legal functions and staffing.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

LEADERS 47

Recurve has been designed as the first law-firm founded, third-party financed global collaboration platform solely focused on creative innovation in the support of the delivery of legal services.

by strategic partners involved in its core disciplines and other equity investors experienced in the space to fund its capital requirements and operational needs, Recurve has been designed as the first law-firm founded, third-party financed global collaboration platform solely focused on creative innovation in the support of the delivery of legal services.

This is an idea whose time has come, but which has not been tried before in the legal space. It is a platform where law firms and their clients can come together with providers of legal tech services, nimble staffing and real estate experts, artificial intelligence purveyors, and more. Consultants with Recurve advise clients as well as law firms on what services they might need and connect them to vendors who can supply solutions.

We do not know of any other such platform that exists, just like when Uber was created, we did not know of any other place that did what they do.

How will Recurve be staffed?

Recurve will be staffed by an experienced team of innovation “architects,” well versed in client needs, the advantages of the traditional law firm model and the wide array of growing resources in the legal innovation marketplace. This team will serve as the point of contact for Recurve’s clients to identify their needs and design appropriate solutions, but it will not itself execute them or otherwise engage in legal practice.

When it is determined that support or innovation solutions might be most possible outside the traditional law firm environment, Recurve experts will seek out best-in-class solutions from its strategic members and others based solely on what is deemed best for its clients, and then coordinate and facilitate the delivery of those solutions.

What is the initial focus for Recurve?

The initial focus will be on creating and leveraging advanced technology solutions and products. Recurve “architects” will also be working on developing value-based budgeting and pricing; optimized staffing; process innovation; creative and nimble office space solutions; and suggestions as to in-house legal functions and staffing.

How will this new entity help lawyers?

Recurve will look to add unique value to lawyers and their firms, clients, and service providers alike. It will help lawyers meet client demands for innovation, without themselves making significant investments in people, process, and technology. Also, traditional law firms will find value in that Recurve will help them address the capital and operational challenges they face as a result of client demand for better, faster, and more value-based services in an ever-changing marketplace.

How does Recurve provide value to clients?

Recurve will help clients achieve greater value for their legal spend, taking advantage of cutting-edge technologies and other legal support service solutions, without sacrificing

the personal involvement and other benefits provided by their trusted legal counselors and advisors.

If everything goes according to plan, clients will also gain the benefit of Recurve’s objective judgment as to the best available solutions, rather than being forced to use the solutions or products their law firms or other service providers happen to use or own, whether or not current or the best for that client.

How does this type of service affect others in similar spaces?

Tech, staffing, space, and so-called alternative legal service providers will benefit by focusing on their specific areas of expertise while benefitting from Recurve’s broad industry and geographic knowledge and reach, customer base and collaborative strategic members.

How will Recurve be managed?

I have worked with others in the multiyear planning and execution of this effort. They include Shareholder Thomas B. Romer of the firm’s Denver office, a leader in the firm’s innovation efforts, Jarosław Grzesiak, the managing shareholder of the law firm’s Warsaw, Poland office, and a support committee of shareholders and business staff managers appointed by the firm’s Executive Committee earlier this year.

Where will Recurve be headquartered?

Recurve will set up headquarters in Warsaw, Tel Aviv and Denver, with operations in strategically selected locations, including Austin, Texas; Berlin, Germany; and South Florida.

•

Recurve will look to add unique value to lawyers and their firms, clients, and service providers alike. It will help lawyers meet client demands for innovation, without themselves making significant investments in people, process, and technology.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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Building a “Best-Run SAP” An Interview with Bill McDermott, Chief Executive Officer, SAP EDITORS’ NOTE Bill McDermott is Experience Management (XM) Chief Executive Officer and a member of is a new frontier. XM is also the new the Executive Board of SAP. McDermott front-end to every segment in the is credited with leading the reinvenenterprise application software industion of SAP in the era of mobility, cloud try, including HCM, CRM, ERP and computing, advanced analytics, nextbeyond. The concept of category cregeneration business applications and ation is actually worth discussing here. in-memory technology. He joined SAP Since 2000, there were 4,500 comin 2002 to lead the business in North panies in the IT industry that were America and has steadily risen to his founded and took a Series A investment. current role. Before joining SAP, he Only 75 of them made it to an IPO, and served in senior executive roles with only 36 became the dominant category Bill McDermott Siebel Systems and Gartner, Inc. He winners. Those winners now own 76 launched his business career at Xerox percent of the entire addressable market Corporation, where he rose to become the compa- win their respective categories. So when it comes ny’s youngest corporate officer and division president. to experience management, you’re going to hear McDermott got his start as a young entrepreneur run- plenty of noise out there from others who’d like to ning a small delicatessen business on Long Island, catch this wave.

New York, at age 17. He received his bachelor’s degree The question is who created the category? The from Dowling College and his M.B.A. from the Kellogg answer, of course, is Qualtrics, which is why we School of Management at Northwestern University. couldn’t be happier to have the SAP global distribution channel behind their XM platform. Since COMPANY BRIEF As the market leader in enter- acquisition, Qualtrics is proving to be the growth prise application software, SAP (sap.com) helps catalyst we expected and more. The team is already companies of all sizes and industries run better. making a huge positive impact and we’re only getFrom back office to boardroom, warehouse to store- ting started. front, and desktop to mobile device, SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 497,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. SAP is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and NYSE. Will you discuss the state of SAP’s business and where you see the greatest opportunities for growth?

You can’t over emphasize the importance of driving innovation and change, because change, and some of the challenges that go along with change, were necessary to get us where we are today. They’ll also be necessary to get us where we’ve got to go tomorrow. All the things that got us from there to here won’t necessarily be the things that get us from here to there.

This is a continuous process of innovation, a personal transformation and, ultimately, change for us and for our customers. As long as we stay on the edge of that, we’re going to have the winning strategy – the winning company – and provide an environment where we’re growing. Growth environments and prosperous environments are happy environments and we want a happy company.

50 LEADERS

SAP is a uniquely nimble and adaptable business.

SAP is consistently recognized as the industry leader. What have been the keys to SAP’s strength and how do you define the SAP advantage?

My CEO agenda is to build a “Best-Run SAP” that drives enormous value for our shareholders, customers and employees. We are moving into the most exciting chapter in SAP’s history and are poised to eclipse half a million customers and “meet or beat” our 2023 aspirations.

SAP is a uniquely nimble and adaptable business. In economic booms, companies invest in growth with SAP. In economic downturns, companies invest in cost-savings with SAP. We feel very

comfortable that we can manage any economic condition thanks to the breadth of our solution portfolio.

No matter the climate, SAP adds value.

SAP is known for a culture of innovation.

How critical is it to maintain the innovative edge and is this more challenging to do at SAP’s size and scale?

The most important thing a leader can do with a successful company is beat back the complacency disease on a daily basis.

But SAP is a company that has tremendous character. It’s just a great company. Our people, we care. Our team is incredibly committed to the customer. Nothing is more important than that and nothing drives innovation more than solving your customers’ challenges.

SAP places a major emphasis on diversity and inclusion. How critical is it to build a diverse and inclusive workforce?

Diversity is a fact. Inclusion is a choice. The most inclusive companies are the most innovative companies.

Inclusion means getting people involved and integrating an entire panoply in the systems and processes. The result shapes a work environment that gives everyone the same chance to deliver their best work.

Success is not accidental. We need to look at the world’s greatest challenges as its greatest opportunities. It’s impossible to do this without a workforce that looks like the people whose lives we want to improve.

SAP made a major investment in New York with its new offices located at Hudson Yards. What excited you about being a part of the new Hudson Yards development?

In establishing a single flagship New York location, our only goal was to find the city’s most innovative development.

This is an incredibly exciting project and watching it bloom is incredible. The team loves the location and the design and the offerings.

New York never stops moving. To fully embrace this town and its ethos means spotting greatness when it is still forming. Hudson Yards changed the face of the city.

What advice do you offer young people beginning their careers?

Be you. The greatest gift that we all get in our lives is the ability to be ourselves. When you’re yourself, and you’re comfortable in your own skin – just being you and being the best you that you can be, you’re a winner.

•

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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Open Architecture An Interview with Michael I. Roth, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Interpublic Group EDITORS’ NOTE Under Michael Roth’s leadership, IPG has delivered industry-leading shareholder r etur ns and organic gr owth, posted long-term operating margin improvement, significantly upgraded the company’s portfolio of agency offerings and presence in high-growth markets, and established a record of industry-leading corporate governance, environmental and social good.

You talk about open architecture at IPG. What does this mean?

Open architecture seamlessly connects the best resources of IPG for our clients. Most of our major clients have some form of open architecture working on their engagement. This approach capitalizes on our broad-based cross-company skills and expertise and it brings cohesiveness to the team. Utilizing several companies in the IPG portfolio creates a relationship with the client that is much broader than Michael I. Roth just project-based business. It gives us COMPANY BRIEF Headquartered an opportunity to take a more holistic in New York, IPG (interpublic.com) is one of the approach to their business and create long-term world’s largest advertising and marketing com- solutions that move their businesses forward. panies. From global communications networks Open architecture is the holy grail of our like McCann and FCB to domestic advertising business. If we can get our media, our creative agencies like Hill Holliday, The Martin Agency and our PR businesses as well as experiential and Deutsch, to global specialists like the data all working together on a single goal, that’s and technology company Acxiom, the events what clients want. They want to make sure that marketer Jack Morton, sports marketer Octagon, all their needs are being understood and met. and public relations experts Weber Shandwick, Open architecture delivers that.

IPG agencies span the globe, employing 54,000 people in more than 100 countries, working with clients like L’Oréal, Unilever, General Motors and Geico.

When you reflect on the transformation that you led at IPG, what were the keys to success?

It’s interesting. Sometimes it’s good to come into an organization that’s having issues because when you’re an outsider coming in, there are no sacred cows. Your whole mission is to figure out what the company should look like and how to go about making it happen.

Typically, when you have an existing management team in place, they’re wedded to the ways they did it before and change is difficult.

We had a clean sheet of paper when we came in. My goal was to make IPG a cohesive company as opposed to a roll up of a bunch of different organizations that had their own objectives and their own siloes.

We repositioned all of our assets. We figured out which of our assets were well positioned for the future and which ones no longer made sense strategically. We also had to ensure that the right leadership was in place. We really focused on the strategic direction of the company. We focused on strategic assets, and on having the right people in the right jobs. Then it was all about execution.

52 LEADERS

Open architecture is the holy grail of our business.

How critical is purpose to IPG’s culture?

Purpose is at the forefront of our culture.

When I meet with shareholders and they ask me why IPG is outperforming its competitors, my answer is that we are a different kind of holding company and that the DNA of our company is collaborative and about doing what’s right for clients, shareholders, our people and our communities.

Talent wants to work with us and clients want to do business with us.

There’s no question that companies that embrace diversity, for example, outperform companies that don’t. We started our D&I programs 14 years ago. We made it a part of the DNA of our company. Every one of our business reviews has a diversity and inclusion piece to it.

How will technology, big data and AI change the IPG workforce of the future?

The biggest fear that people have in the workplace is automation because everyone is afraid that automation is going to put them out of work. That is not the case. You will need different skills and we have a responsibility to train our people for the jobs of the future. We bought Acxiom, which is a data analytics company.

They manage first-party data. Seventy percent of their business is managing 50 of the top 100 companies’ first-party data. We recognize that data and analytics are a critical component of what we do.

The people in Conway, Arkansas, which is where Acxiom is headquartered, are data and analytics specialists and best-in-class at what they do. So, because of this acquisition, we have a top employee base of data analytics specialists. Part of our open architecture is including Acxiom in our talent pool and the tools that we have to meet the needs of our clients.

IPG is headquartered in New York City and you are personally engaged in many organizations in the City. How critical is public/ private partnership in addressing the future needs of New York City?

The private sector drives a lot of things in the city, in particular, through the Partnership for New York City. The partnership between government and business is, frankly, what the United States is all about. I think the Partnership for New York City is a fantastic example of businesses working together with government to make it a better place. This has to do with transportation. This has to do with education. It has to do with recruiting and keeping the employee base in an environment that fosters innovation.

We can’t just rest on our laurels and say that New York City, historically, has been the financial capital of the world. The world has changed. It should not just be the financial capital of the world. It has to be the resource capital of the world in terms of technology.

We’re in a global world right now. We have to be able to provide a home for the talented people that is affordable and a quality of life that competes with other parts of the world.

•

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Is the next wave of transformation on your agenda or setting it?

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Built to Last An Interview with Maurice R. Greenberg, Starr Insurance Companies EDITORS’ NOTE Maurice R .

Several other characteristics Greenberg is Chairman of separated him from all the rest. First, in Starr Insurance Companies, a China, he only hired Chinese talent. The global insurance and investment whole company was Chinese. He sold organization. Starr was founded insurance to the local population. The b y Cor nelius Vander Starr in other foreign companies, from England 1919 i n S h a n g h a i , C h i n a . and France particularly, would only G r e e n b e r g for med American insure people from their own country and Inter national Group, Inc. (AIG) only hire people from their own country. as a Starr subsidiary, and served The difference was very evident. as that company’s Chairman and He started with nothing. He had to CEO until March 2005. Under his borrow money, but he was persistent Maurice R. Greenberg nearly 40 years of leadership, AIG and built a very good business. grew from an initial market value of Persistence drove his success, and the $300 million to $180 billion, becoming the largest whole company has pretty much been that way insurance company in the world. Greenberg is ever since. I’m pretty persistent myself. also the Chairman of The Starr Foundation, a Will you discuss the company’s evolution? philanthropic organization initially funded by At AIG, we built the largest insurance Cornelius Vander Starr’s estate. The Foundation company in history. We went from a market capital has made more than $3.5 billion in grants to of $300 million when I took it public in 1969 to many academic, medical, cultural and public $180 billion, doing business in 137 countries. policy or gani z ations ar ound the world.

Greenberg received his pre-law certificate from the University of Miami and an LL.B. from New York Law School.

COMPANY BRIEF Starr Insurance Companies (starrcompanies.com) is a global, privatelyheld insurance and investments organization.

Through its operating insurance companies, Starr Insurance Companies provides commercial property and casualty, as well as accident and health insurance products worldwide, with significant access to the U.S. excess and surplus marketplace for certain lines of business. Starr Insurance Companies underwrites a wide variety of specialty and international lines including aviation, marine, energy, environmental, crisis management, excess casualty insurance, accident and health, and political risk insurance. Starr Insurance Companies also provides a broad spectrum of insurance-related services, including claims handling and settlement, reinsurance, risk assessment, loss control and worldwide travel assistance service.

When I left AIG in 2005, Starr had three employees. We have more than 3,000 now.

We’re operating in almost as many countries as we did at AIG. Where does Starr’s growth come from?

Internal – it’s all internal. We haven’t acquired anything. We’ve looked at things, but we weren’t big enough to buy something that we had an interest in. I don’t see much out there that I’m interested in, so we’re growing organically. We’re almost all throughout A s i a . I ’m going back to Asia soon and we will move into a couple of countries that we’re not in currently. We’re growing nicely in Latin America. We have had a good-sized business in the U.K. for years and we are beginning to do more in continental Europe. We’re also doing business in Africa.

So we have experience and capabilities around the world. We are not fully there yet, but we’re getting there.

If you have a culture that is successful, you don’t want to debate it every week. We want people who share the same vision that we have for the company, people who believe in what we’re doing.

Starr is celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year. What has allowed Starr to stand the test of time?

Many things. Our founder, C.V. Starr, was dedicated and persistent and created a great business in China. He had to leave during the war but returned and stayed until the revolution started. Then he had to leave again.

54 LEADERS

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What are the keys to being successful in the insurance industry?

Most companies want an insurer that understands their business and provides the coverage they need. You have to have people who can adapt to that kind of an environment.

We do that quite well. Are we perfect? No, but remember, we built the most successful insurance company in history. We know the kind of people we need to manage our clients’ risks and run a best-in-class company.

You have to love it. You have to be committed to it. It’s not a nine-to-five job.

When you build your team, are you looking at experience and expertise or are you looking at personality and cultural fit?

You want people who fit the culture, number one. If you have a culture that is successful, you don’t want to debate it every week. We want people who share the same vision that we have for the company, people who believe in what we’re doing. It’s hard work. We’re opening markets around the world, and we enjoy doing it. It’s more than a job; it’s a way of life. That’s what we’re building at Starr.

What is the Starr advantage when working with companies doing business in China?

They have to understand what you can do for them that other insurance companies cannot do for them. China is a different market. You have to have people who understand that.

I’ve been going to China for 40 years. For the first 10 to 15 years, we had nothing there. We helped China’s embryonic insurance industry.

We helped train people. It took 20 years for us to get a life insurance license. Ours was the only foreign life insurance company in China and is still the only one.

Are you also working with Chinese companies as they enter the U.S. market.

Absolutely.

Is technology changing the way insurance is being delivered?

We’re in the midst of the changes that are going on. There’s a meeting taking place in Las Vegas and 8.000 insurance company representatives will be attending – 8000. Change is going to happen throughout the industry.

We’re in the midst of that revolution now. It will affect underwriting. It will affect expenses. It will affect distribution. Every part of our business will be affected.

Are new technologies going to displace parts of the workforce?

No, but it will change the type of jobs being performed. It will actually be adding jobs in many areas. If you go back in history and look at the change that has taken place across time, the people who adapt to change are the winners. You can’t just sit around and wait for something to come to you. You have to think about it and be part of it.

Has evaluating and managing risk changed and is it more complex in a global economy?

Absolutely. You have to understand risk.

You have to understand how to manage risk, how to underwrite risk, and how to adjust claims for risk. There are so many things that have changed, compared to what it was.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

If you go back in history and look at the change that has taken place across time, the people who adapt to change are the winners.

The Starr Foundation has been a leader in supporting many causes. Will you discuss the impact that The Starr Foundation has been able to make?

It has done a great deal. When C.V. Starr passed away, The Starr Foundation had about $15 million. I became its chair, and several of our senior people were board members for the Foundation. We built it up to $6 billion and it has been a very major source of funding for education, scholarships, healthcare and many other things.

Last year the Foundation made a big donation to the St. John’s University School of Risk Management to help expand their program and ensure that they attract the best and brightest students from around the world. These students are the future leaders of our industry.

We have also been very helpful to military who come back after having served their country. Many have been wounded and need help. We’ve done a lot in this area. I feel that we have done a lot of good with the Foundation which has distributed more than $3.5 billion.

With the strain on U.S.-China relations today, are you optimistic that a strong and mutually beneficial relationship will be maintained?

I worry about the relationship on both sides. We want the Chinese government to treat American and other foreign companies the same as they treat Chinese companies in China, just as the U.S. treats Chinese companies the same as we treat U.S. companies in the United States.

What’s hard to understand – many Americans don’t understand it, including members of our own government – is that all of the large companies in China are owned by the government, which gives them an advantage. They get treated a little better than foreign companies.

China’s experience in dealing with foreign companies is relatively new. More equality will happen as they get more experience working with foreign businesses. Chinese companies want to grow their businesses overseas. As they expand internationally, they’ll recognize that they can’t do what they’re doing in China in other countries. They’re going to have to change, but bringing about change in China is not going to happen overnight.

How concerned are you about the geopolitical climate today?

A constructive relationship between the U.S. and China in the world we live in today makes for a very safe world. That’s the goal.

What about the future of the United States?

I’m worried about the future of our country.

We have always been a two-party country.

Are we moving into a three-party system? Is capitalism under threat in our country? Is socialism on the rise? There has never been a successful socialist country, ever. To believe that the government should be responsible for everything in people’s lives and that everything should be paid for by the government is not realistic. However, there are parts of our new generation who believe that this is the way to go. I worry about their future.

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LEADERS 55

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NEWYORK

A History of More than 100 Years An Interview with Xu Chen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of China USA EDITORS’ NOTE Xu Chen started provides a broad range of programs, his banking car eer at Bank of services, and resources to its members China Head Office in 1990. Since and key stakeholders in an effort to fosthen, he worked successively in varter the mutual understanding, trust, and ious departments including the engagement between China and the U.S. Executive Office, the Corporate How broad is the membership Banking Department, and the for CGCC and what is the memberLondon branch befor e he was ship profile? promoted to the position of the CGCC’s membership consists of General Manager of the Olympic more than 1,500 Chinese and U.S. Affairs Department in 2004. In companies, 54 of which ranked on the August 2008, Xu was reassigned as 2019 Fortune Global 500 list.

Xu Chen General Manager of the Financial As of 2018, CGCC’s Chinese Institutions Department, a position member companies have cumulatively he held until January 2015. At that time, he was invested over $120 billion, employ more than transferred to the United States and assumed his 200,000 people, and support over one million current role. He now supervises the New York, jobs throughout the United States.

Queens, Los Angeles, and Chicago branches.

CGCC convenes a number of meetings Xu holds a bachelor’s degree in management and events throughout the year. Will you information systems from Tsinghua University, discuss the role that CGCC plays in drivChina, and a master’s degree from the University ing dialogue between business leaders on of International Business and Economics, issues impacting China and the U.S.?

China, with a major in business management.

CGCC has taken great strides in fostering people-to-people and culture-to-culture COMPANY BRIEF As China’s most globalized exchanges for the business communities that we and integrated bank, Bank of China (boc.cn/en) serve. Given the current tensions within Chinahas a well-established global service network U.S relations, these exchanges are now more with institutions set up across the Chinese main- critical than ever. land as well as in 57 countries and regions. It To fulfill CGCC’s mission in the new era has established an integrated service plat- of China-U.S. relations, we are initiating an form based on the pillars of its corporate bank- Advisory Council which consists of individuals ing, personal banking, financial markets and invited to volunteer as advisory roles, sharing other commercial banking business, which cov- their expertise and management experience ers investment banking, direct investment, secu- with our Chinese executives, and promoting rities, insurance, funds, aircraft leasing and communication and cooperation between busiother areas, thus providing its customers with a ness communities of the two countries. comprehensive range of financial services. Bank CGCC, the bridge for U.S.-China business of China USA (bankofchina.com/us/en) has communities, is organizing an annual gathering branches in New York City, Queens, Chicago for one unifying purpose, to celebrate the sucand Los Angeles. cesses in cooperation and friendship between the two most important business communities You serve as chairman of the China General in the world, and to lend support to CGCC’s Chamber of Commerce – USA (CGCC). Will continued expansion and vibrant future. The you provide an overview of CGCC and how CGCC annual gala welcomes the uppermost leadyou define its mission? ers in the U.S.-China business communities. Our Founded in 2005, the China General honored guests in the past include Tung CheeChamber of Commerce – USA (CGCC) is rec- Hwa, Stephen A. Schwarzman, Henry A. ognized as the largest and most influential Kissinger, Michael R. Bloomberg, Cui Tiankai, non-profit organization representing Chinese and many others. enterprises in the U.S. Bank of China USA opened a new U.S. CGCC’s mission is to create value, generate headquarters building in New York City. economic growth, and enhance cooperation Will you provide an overview of the buildbetween the U.S. and Chinese business communi- ing and Bank of China USA’s commitment ties. CGCC conducts extensive research and to New York City?

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The current Bank of China New York Branch Office is located at 1045 Avenue of the Americas in New York City, which is also known as 7 Bryant Park. Bank of China acquired this 30-story, 470,000-square-foot, trophy-class building in December 2014, and the New York Branch gradually relocated its functions from the original main office at 410 Madison Avenue to this building in the 4th quarter of 2016. Since then, Bank of China New York Branch has been the primary tenant in the building, occupying approximately 60 percent of the building space.

Bank of China’s acquiring and occupying 7 Bryant Park building shows the Bank’s commitment to anchor its business deeply in the United States, and its determination to localize itself as part of the Big Apple.

Bank of China is a global bank that also supports the local U.S. economy. With a footprint that spans 57 countries, BOC helps U.S. companies export tens of billions of dollars of goods every year to China, Asia, and the rest of the world. Our global network and services empower clients to build robust partnerships and enter new markets. Our expertise and global leadership in RMB settlement, clearing and trading make BOC USA the go-to bank for insights on and access to the world’s secondlargest economy.

BOC partners with Fortune 500 and other leading companies based in the U.S. to support their business objectives both domestically, in Asia and around the world. Our relationship managers tailor our services and solutions to meet the needs of each client.

This effort, combined with our leading-edge technology, ensures that we serve our clients efficiently and effectively.

We are also committed to helping U.S. communities. Over the past several years, we have contributed almost $2 billion to neighborhoods of New York City by participating in community reinvestment efforts to reverse urban blight and supporting local charities. It is how we make this large company personal and how we help our customers, clients, and communities thrive.

There is much concern about the state of U.S./China relations today. How critical is a strong partnership between the United States and China for the global economy?

POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2019 LEADERS MAGAZINE, LLC

LEADERS 57

BOC partners with Fortune 500 and other leading companies based in the U.S. to support their business objectives both domestically, in Asia and around the world.

As the world’s two largest economies, the cooperative relationship between China and the United States, which serves as an anchor for great power relations in the world, is not only of great significance to the development of both countries, but also to global development.

The experience of the past 40 years indicates that pragmatic cooperation between China and the United States has not only brought enormous benefits to the peoples of the two nations, but also effectively promoted world peace, stability, and prosperity.

The bilateral trade volume between China and the U.S. exceeds $630 billion. The stock of two-way direct investment is close to $150 billion. There are more than 5 million people exchanges between the two countries every year, and over 14,000 passengers flying across the Pacific Ocean every day. China and the U.S. have become the largest trading partners and important target countries for investment for each other. The total economic outputs of China and the U.S. account for about 40 percent of that of the entire world, involving nearly one-third of the world’s goods and value chains, contributing more than 35 percent of the global economic growth. The two countries have jointly promoted an open and free global trade system, accelerated the expansion and popularity of technology globally, and provided more opportunities and vitality for the sustainable development of the world economy.

A solid Sino-U.S. relationship will also be conducive to the stability of the U.S. financial markets and reduce worries about economic downturns. In the past few months, the ups and downs of the trade conflict between China and the United States have brought significant uncertainty and volatility to the financial markets in both countries and even the global financial markets. Under the current global economic context, the turmoil in the financial markets will increase the risk of a worldwide economic recession. A stable financial environment is crucial for all countries in the world. A return to the track of cooperation and effective management of differences to close gaps between China and the U.S. will help stabilize economic growth and resolve de-globalization issues.

However, since the beginning of trade frictions between the two countries, both consumers and companies in both countries have 58 LEADERS

been negatively impacted, according to the latest IMF data. Although the direct impacts of Sino-U.S. trade conflicts on global economic growth have been moderate to date, the recent escalation of trade tensions may seriously dampen commercial and financial market sentiment, disrupt global supply chains, and jeopardize the expected recovery of global growth in 2019 and forward. It is estimated that under the combined effect of tariffs already implemented and the expected potential tariffs between China and the United States, global GDP growth in 2020 may slow down by 0.5 percent, which fully demonstrates the significance of the Sino-U.S. relations to the global economy.

It is my belief that a trade war resolution can be achieved by taking a pragmatic approach and fairly assessing the bilateral trade-policy disagreements, and challenges for U.S. companies entering China and vice versa. We need to resolve these differences through continued dialogue, mutual understanding and compromise.

That same framework can then also be applied to resolving greater mutual interests, such as global security, healthcare issues and climate challenges.

What advice do you provide to U.S. companies about doing business in China?

For American companies, today’s China is a huge market with great potential and opportunities. After years of rapid growth, China is now more of a “consumption-driven” rather than an “investment-driven” economy. On its current course, China is expected to catch up with or surpass the United States in terms of total retail sales and has already become the world’s largest consumer market. Chinese consumers have demonstrated strong purchasing power in both domestic and overseas markets as its consumer power upgrades and expands, presenting unprecedented opportunities to U.S. companies to expand their presence in China. As living standards continue to improve, consumer needs in China have undergone profound changes to be more extensive and diversified, with an increasing appetite for U.S. and international products.

With a successful first China International Import Expo, institutionalized arrangements have allowed the U.S. and other countries to share China’s market demands.

China has an unparalleled, comprehensive industrial supply chain which currently

could not be replaced by any other single country in the world. From footwear to aerospace parts, from raw minerals to industrial machinery, any American company that seeks to carry out business in China can find upstream and downstream partners, which can be seamlessly embedded into the existing supply chain system.

In addition, China’s labor supply is abundant and highly educated compared to many other manufacturing countries. According to data released by the Chinese Ministry of Education, more than 87 percent of the Chinese population aged 25 to 64 has completed middle school or higher education, and the proportion of high school education and above is over 66 percent. Given its 1 billion working-age population, together with better-educated workers, China’s labor force is a more desirable choice for American companies than other Southeast Asian countries.

China is further opening up its economy to foreign companies. In terms of the service industry, especially with respect to the finance industry, China pledged to ease foreign investment curbs on sectors such as the banking, securities, and insurance sectors. More specifically, China will accelerate the opening of its insurance industry, as well as ease requirements for international financial institutions to set up operations and expand their business scope in China, encouraging greater cooperation between Chinese and for eign financial markets.

China’s opening of its financial markets certainly provides excellent opportunities for U.S. financial companies to further participate in the Chinese market, particularly as the U.S. enjoys many competitive advantages in the area of financial services.

Bank of China has a history of more than 100 years. We are willing to make full use of the advantages of internationalization, diversification, and comprehensive integration of the Bank to provide relevant financial and advisory services to U.S. companies interested in entering the Chinese market. At Bank of China USA, the largest and most time-honored Chinese bank in the U.S., we are committed to leveraging our advantages in offering crossborder services to better assist corporate customers of both countries and to facilitate the economic and trade developments between China and the U.S.

POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2019 LEADERS MAGAZINE, LLC

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

NEWYORK

The EY Family An Interview with Kelly Grier, U.S. Chairman and Managing Partner and Americas Managing Partner, EY EDITORS’ NOTE In December of Building a better working world is 2017, Kelly Grier was named U.S. a genuine articulation of our purpose Chairman and Managing Partner and it really has taken hold. The work and Americas Managing Partner, offithat we do absolutely improves lives, cially assuming the role in July 2018. communities, stakeholders and the capiDuring her 28-year tenure at EY, Greir tal markets that we serve around the has had extensive experience workworld and helps companies unlock their ing around the globe as a client sergreatest potential. vice partner and senior advisor on As we continue to evolve the way Fortune 500 Audit and Advisory cliwe think and talk about our purpose ents. Previously, she was Vice Chair, of building a better working world, we Central Regional Managing Partner, are increasingly personalizing it; we Kelly Grier where she led 10,000 professionare helping our people realize their als across 15 states and 17 offices. greatest ambitions by connecting their Recognized for her work, she was named to the 2019 personal purpose to EY’s core values.

Crain’s 50 Most Powerful Women in New York list, Our people want to make a difference and the 2019 Most Powerful Women in the Accounting instilling this strong sense of purpose motivates Profession list by the American Institute of CPAs them to truly make an impact, not only on the (AICPA) and CPA Practice Advisor magazine, as firm and from a professional perspective, but well as the 2018 Fortune Most Powerful Women list. also from a personal perspective.

Additionally, she has been recognized as an AntiDefamation League’s “Woman of Achievement,” as well as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. On October 1st, Greir will become the Board of Governors Chair for the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ). She also serves on the boards for Carnegie Hall, Catalyst, Partnership for New York City, Peterson Institute for International Economics and Ravinia Festival. She is also a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and the Chicago Network. Greir received a B.A. in accounting from Saint Mary’s College.

FIRM BRIEF The global EY organization (ey.com) is a leader in assurance, tax, transaction, and advisory services. In the Americas – EY’s largest area – member firms employ more than 75,000 people across 32 countries and generate $14.5 billion in revenues. Globally, EY member firms employ more than 270,000 people and generate $38.4 billion in revenues.

Companies today are focused on being purpose-driven. EY had this focus early on with its mission of “Building a better working world.” Will you discuss how deeply ingrained this is in EY’s culture and what building a better working world means for the firm?

We were without a doubt one of the first movers to say that the work we do has to have true meaning beyond just achieving our goals every year. It must have a deeper meaning for our stakeholders and certainly for our people.

60 LEADERS

Building a better working world is a genuine articulation of our purpose and it really has taken hold.

Building a better working world is also about asking, what is your personal purpose? What drives you? What motivates you? What gives you fulfillment, and ultimately how do you express that to contribute towards our firm’s purpose of building a better working world?

We’re taking our people on a bit of a journey to discover their personal purpose – this is actually something I’ve done myself.

I’ve spent some time reflecting on my journey and the experiences along the way that were formative in shaping my value system. Taking that one step further, how does that manifest in what I do every day, and ultimately how do I connect that to how I participate as a leader

of the Americas in building a better working world on the collective behalf of our 75,000 people?

That principle, which we’ve been instilling in EY’s leadership, is something that we are now embedding within our talent agenda when we onboard new EY joiners.

In fact, I often hear from students on campus that they want to know that the work they do matters and that there’s a higher calling and a bigger purpose behind what they’re doing.

These students have an innate drive to truly be purpose-driven, and we really draw that out to help them understand and articulate their purpose. What gives them meaning? What gives them the greatest joy? What makes them want to continue to grow and try to contribute, and how does that then intersect with EY’s purpose of building a better working world?

Ultimately, when each member of our EY family feels empowered to make an impact that aligns with their personal purpose, we can harness the collective power of our firm to not only achieve our goals, but also create positive change in our world. That’s the vision beyond our mission of achieving a better working world.

EY has also been recognized as a first mover on diversity and inclusion. Will you highlight EY’s commitment in that area and how diversity and inclusion has evolved at the firm?

The conversation has evolved dramatically.

Diversity and inclusion are core principles at EY. They’re the non-negotiables and we continue to be extremely focused on ensuring that we have a diverse workforce. However, the dynamic workplace environment of today requires even more; it requires a culture where everyone feels a strong sense of belonging.

While we certainly think about gender, we embrace all elements of diversity – demographic diversity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, diverse abilities, work style and more. Even the academic backgrounds of our workforce reflect our commitment to diversity as we seek to hire more technologists, data practitioners and specialists than ever before.

Diversity and inclusion has evolved from a focus on representation to a mindset that ensures everyone feels a sense of belonging, regardless of their background. It’s about valuing the uniqueness of the individual and recognizing the collective strength of our differences when we come together for a common goal.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

I talk about the 75,000 people in the Americas that are in my care and my responsibility to them. My responsibility to their families. My responsibility to their overall success and satisfaction in their lives, not just their careers.

We want everyone to feel like they truly belong at EY – that they matter, are respected and valued. We’re doing amazing things and we ultimately manifest all that cultural success into commercial success in terms of how we deliver services to our clients and how we innovate.

People are thinking differently. They’re liberated to think big and bold and embrace change.

They’re trying things that might seem courageous or almost outrageous and ultimately, some of those great, outrageous ideas become fantastic innovation opportunities for us to pursue.

When our people feel an innate sense of belonging, they bring their whole selves to work, which enables us to better serve our clients and bring our best ideas to the table to solve their toughest challenges. I don’t want this for just some of our people; I want this for all of our people.

As we continue to evolve our culture and the diversity of our workforce, inclusion and that sense of belonging are essential ingredients in our ability to unlock creativity so that a highly engaged workforce of people feel that this is their home.

Do those coming out of school understand the innovation that is taking place in the profession and what do you tell them about how dynamic the industry is today?

The honest answer is that there is a very mixed understanding. There are some universities and colleges that are absolutely aware of this and are promoting how the profession has evolved. This profession is much more innovative, dynamic and technology-enabled than it ever was in the past.

The work that is being done is so different from crunching numbers. We are using data and predictive modeling extensively, which is strengthening the quality of the work that we’re doing.

It is so much more sophisticated, and it requires a deeply analytic mind and a very deep understanding of the business of that particular company or client, in order to be able to put into context what the data is telling you and what the models are suggesting.

The Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) has asked me to step in as the Chairman of their governing board, and I assume that post on October 1. CAQ is really the organization that represents the profession. So if you ask me if the profession has done a good job of telling its story, I know I VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

speak for my fellow governing board members at the CAQ and the leadership there when I say that there is an extraordinary and compelling story to tell about the profession and how dynamic it is, and how it has evolved in ways that are probably not understood or appreciated enough more broadly. We think that this is a story that needs to be told and that is one of our priorities as we head into the next year.

EY’s culture is built around client relationships and the human touch. How important is it that the next generation coming into the industry understands this importance in order to ensure that technology doesn’t take away from the people part of the business?

I highlighted this concept when I was in Orlando with 3,500 of our interns. It is so important that I devoted part of my presentation to specifically talk about our emphasis on client relationships and on client leadership. At the end of the day, all aspects of the work that we do are fundamentally predicated on having the right client relationships.

No technology will ever usurp or replace that principle. In fact, if anything, we have to be more focused on it and more diligent as I think you’re intimating with your question, because the propensity is just to focus on the digital world and not as much on the human world.

At the end of the day, relationships are paramount to every aspect of a career, certainly at EY, and in our broader profession too. I encouraged our interns to really cultivate the relationships they have with one another and with the people they work with across different service lines so that they understand the full breadth of our capabilities and how a multifaceted and multidisciplinary firm ultimately comes together to produce extraordinary capabilities and solutions for our clients and our communities.

The relationship aspect of our business has never been more important. I think it’s something that we must emphasize because the gravitational pull is definitely towards digital and technology as a means of getting things done, but the human element is still the most important feature in all of the work that we do. There’s no question about that.

You refer to the EY family. For a firm of 280,000 people around the world, how are you able to maintain a family feel and culture at the size and scale of EY?

I think our culture of belonging is a great enabler. I think that we do many things to promote that sense of team and being a part of the EY team. Everything that we do, we do as a team; there is no such thing as an individual contributor. That constant teaming environment fosters a sense of family – you’re never alone, you’re always surrounded by people with common purpose working together to realize that purpose.

We’ve also shifted our focus to developing transformative leaders who help cultivate that sense of being part of a team and bring out the best in themselves and others. It’s our mission to empower leaders who inspire people with a compelling vision of the future and who connect their personal and professional purpose to achieve fulfillment and create an inclusive and caring culture where everyone feels a sense of belonging. A culture that values the physical, mental and emotional well-being of each member of our EY family.

I think that it’s important that our leaders think about their responsibility as serving those in their care. That’s the term that I use. I talk about the 75,000 people in the Americas that are in my care and my responsibility to them. My responsibility to their families. My responsibility to their overall success and satisfaction in their lives, not just their careers.

I have had the opportunity to work on lots of teams in client service. I’ve been around the world and I know the power of EY and how our values connect us across borders. I’ve been an office managing partner responsible for creating that strong cohesion in teaming and community and the impact of feeling that sense of family.

I had the chance to be the talent leader which is a position of great impact and influence as it relates to our culture. In each of these roles, every step along the way has made it more clear to me how important it is that we treat our people truly as our family. That there’s a sense of caring in addition to leadership and support for professional responsibilities. That caring is what you’d expect from your family.

You don’t necessarily have a right to expect it from everyone in your life, but you certainly have a right to expect it from your family. That means at EY we see ourselves as your family, and therefore you have a right to expect that sense of caring from us and that’s really what we endeavor to achieve.

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LEADERS 61

NEWYORK

Civic Involvement and the Renewal of New York An Interview with Howard P. Milstein, Chairman and CEO, New York Private Bank & Trust and Emigrant Bank; Chairman, Milstein Properties

Abby and Howard Milstein being honored for “Distinction in Civic Innovation and Renewal” by the National September 11th Memorial & Museum. The award was presented by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

EDITORS’ NOTE Howard P. Milstein preserves the memories of that time and is the third generation to lead the Milstein the many who came together to help in family business and philanthropic the rescue, recovery and rebuilding. activities. An entrepreneurial builder There can be no doubt that the terrorof innovative, large-scale companies, ists on 9/11 sought to undermine our Milstein’s ability to marshal business, spirit, our values and our economy. The government, philanthropic, and famwork of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum ily resources drives a breadth of initiareminds us of what we as a nation can tives. Milstein is Chairman and CEO of do when we come together to serve our New York Private Bank & Trust, chairs broader community. Their work inspires and operates the Milstein family’s real countless museum visitors to find ways estate companies, and is also owner to “pay it forward” for future generations Howard P. Milstein and publisher of GOLF Magazine, of Americans. among other sports-related ventures.

In your remarks when receivIn the philanthropic arena, Milstein is a Trustee ing the award, you spoke about the personal at Cornell University, an Overseer of Weill Cornell impact of 9/11 on you, your family and your Medical College and serves on the Dean’s Advisory companies. Will you describe this?

Board of Harvard Law School. He is Chairman of So many New Yorkers suffered losses far the American Skin Association, the Howard and greater, of course, but Abby and I lost our dear Georgeanna Jones Foundation for Reproductive friend, Neil Levin, who was then Executive Director Medicine, and the Milstein Medical Asian American of the Port Authority, as well as the husband of Partnership Foundation. Milstein also serves on the another dear friend, Christy Ferer. In our companies, boards of the National September 11th Memorial, several colleagues lost daughters that day. Beyond the Nicklaus Children’s Healthcare Foundation, the immediate tragedy, however, it is important to and PGA REACH. Milstein was named the 2008 remember that 9/11 was an event that called on all Entrepreneur of the Year by Cornell University, and of us New Yorkers to step up and do whatever we also served from 2011-2014 as Chairman of the could to help our city cope and recover and heal. It New York State Thruway Authority, where he suc- called for new kinds of contributions to our city and cessfully led the design and procurement process our entire community rose to the occasion. for a new Tappan Zee Bridge which was the largest How were you and your companies infrastructure project in the nation. involved in the relief efforts?

When the worst happened, it was natural for ORGANIZATION BRIEF The Howard and Abby us to pitch in with all of our resources. Immediately Milstein Foundation (howardandabbymilstein- after 9/11, we made space available at the Milford foundation.org) participates actively in the organi- Plaza hotel, and eventually in our buildings in zations it supports, with hands-on leadership and Battery Park City, to provide rest areas, food and long-term financial support. a place for needed supplies that were pouring in from across the nation. In addition, an undeveloped You and your wife, Abby, were recently hon- piece of land we owned in Battery Park City was ored for your service to the National September used as a staging area to restore damaged phone 11th Memorial & Museum for “Distinction in lines and cell phone repeaters. In the weeks that Civic Innovation and Renewal.” Will you dis- followed, we donated funds to ensure that each cuss the significance of this honor and the of the 3,000 victims’ families received a piece of impact of the National September 11th World Trade Center steel that was part of a memoMemorial & Museum? rial sculpture by Brian Hunt. That sculpture is part Abby and I were incredibly honored to receive of the permanent collection of the museum and this award. The events of September 11th affected memorial. I joined the board of the 9/11 Memorial us deeply, and we spent many weeks in the after- & Museum early on and am proud to serve as a math of the attacks coordinating the resources of our Trustee under the outstanding leadership of Mike companies to support the efforts of first responders Bloomberg. and all those impacted by that day. Our support for In presenting you with the 9/11 Memorial the 9/11 Memorial & Museum grew from this initial award, former New York City Mayor Michael involvement. Our efforts, of course, are just a small Bloomberg said “Many people write generpart of the amazing work of the museum, which ous checks, but the Milsteins participate 62 LEADERS

financially, intellectually and emotionally” in advancing civic causes. Will you discuss your approach?

We were so appreciative of Mike Bloomberg’s kind words, of course, and it is true that we are always emotionally and intellectually invested in finding new ways to tackle the problems that face our communities. An example would be in the work we do with the Regional Plan Association (RPA), an independent, not-for-profit civic organization that develops and promotes ideas to improve the infrastructure, economic health and quality of life in the New York area. Working with RPA, we organized the Milstein Forums on Infrastructure, which explored the challenges facing our regional transportation network and provided an action plan for revitalizing New York’s infrastructure by engaging both the public and private sectors. We also created the John E. Zuccotti Award, named for one of my family’s closest friends. John had an unparalleled career as an attorney, business executive and a public official during some of New York City’s most difficult times. Each year at the RPA Annual Assembly, I present the Zuccotti Award to a leader who has displayed exceptional accomplishments and service in the public’s interest.

The Milstein Family continues its work with the Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity at Cornell University. Will you highlight this new approach to developing 21st century leaders and the progress of the program thus far?

The Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity, which we created with Cornell and endowed in 2017, is another example of finding innovative ways to foster leaders for the 21st Century. Technology is necessary for progress, but the humanities are necessary for democracies to function. Working with my son, Michael, and Cornell University, we have created a model program to develop a new kind of graduate for this modern age. The program is a rigorous, truly distinctive experience for Cornell undergraduates in technology that provides context and an ethical framework through the humanities and social sciences. In April, the first group of students, who matriculated in Fall 2018, made their inaugural trip to Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island, where they will spend two summers at Cornell’s New York City campus, taking courses and participating in experiential, industry-focused events. It is another exciting opportunity to encourage civic involvement and community engagement for a new generation of Americans.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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A True Partnership An Interview with Brad S. Karp, Chairman, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison EDITORS’ NOTE Brad Karp has served as Chairman of the firm since 2008 and is one of the country’s leading lawyers and corporate advisers. He has extensive experience successfully defending financial institutions and other companies in “bet the company” litigations and regulatory matters.

can continue to attract and retain the best legal talent in the world, which is essential to our success.

Paul, Weiss places a major emphasis on collaboration. How have you been able to maintain a collaborative environment with so many “star” lawyers?

We recognize that true collaboration among professionals with difFIRM BRIEF Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, ferent perspectives, backgrounds and Wharton & Garrison (paulweiss.com) expertise makes us better advisors Brad S. Karp is a firm of more than 1,000 lawand leads to better outcomes for our yers with diverse backgrounds, clients. Our relentless focus on colpersonalities, ideas and interests who collab- laboration, coupled with our modified lockstep oratively provide innovative solutions to their compensation system, protects against the corclients’ most critical and complex legal and rosive aspects of a “star” system, in spite of the business challenges. Paul, Weiss represents the fact that we do, in fact, have an exceptionally world’s largest publicly and privately-held cor- large number of legal superstars. Our collabporations and investors as well as clients in orative culture explains why so many lawyers need of pro bono assistance. who began their careers here and then served in senior government roles have returned. When How do you define the Paul, Weiss dif- you ask them why, they invariably cite Paul, ference and what has made the fir m Weiss’ unique culture of collaboration, collegialsuccessful? ity and mutual respect.

It is all about our clients. We solve our clients’ We are also extremely careful in our latmost challenging, franchise-threatening problems eral recruiting to ensure that “stars” who join and secure extraordinary results, while deliver- our firm share our values and embrace our ing a compelling value proposition and providing culture. Before we invite a lawyer to join our unmatched service. To meet our clients’ needs, we partnership, he or she meets with each of our have invested wisely in the right practices – litiga- 150 partners to ensure that there is a cultural tion, white-collar and regulatory defense, public fit. company M&A, private equity and restructuring – How is technology impacting the and have unmatched talent, so that we will continue legal profession and do you worry that to be the firm of choice for the world’s most sig- technology is taking away from the relanificant companies on their most important matters. tionship side of the business?

This year alone, we added the following stars to Technology is having a profound impact our partnership: Kannon Shanmugam, a renowned on what we do as lawyers, but we don’t see this Supreme Court advocate; former U.S. Attorney as a threat to our client relationships – quite the General Loretta Lynch; Andrew Finch, the second- opposite. Technology unquestionably leads to highest-ranking official in the U.S. Department of higher-quality results and drives new collaboraJustice’s Antitrust Division; and Jeannie Rhee, a tions with clients, which deepens our relationleading member of Robert Mueller’s team. ships. Technology adds value and reduces our How critical is culture to the success clients’ costs, helping us to manage our human of Paul, Weiss? resources and legal expertise more effectively Nothing is more important. We share a and efficiently. culture of professionalism, collaboration and Technology is likewise having a profound mutual respect, and a commitment to lead in impact on the experience of our junior attorpro bono work and in diversity and inclusion. neys, who no longer are burdened with timeThis cultural “glue” gives us a competitive edge consuming document review work or repetitive because clients recognize that we are not just deal checklists. Increasingly, they can focus a firm in name only, but a true partnership on managing these processes and learning the comprised of professionals who enjoy work- higher-level, more intellectually stimulating ing together. Our culture also ensures that we aspects of lawyering.

64 LEADERS

Law is not an area that is always thought of for its innovation, but you place a priority on innovation at Paul, Weiss. Where is innovation taking place at the firm?

Paul, Weiss is committed to innovation.

We continually invest in new initiatives, identifying and applying cutting-edge analytical tools and new technology platforms. Our innovations are improving outcomes, enhancing client collaboration, streamlining legal workflow, and ensuring information security.

As just one example, we are collaborating with clients to develop tools to sort and assess massive and complex market data that are central to many major commercial and financial disputes. Innovations like these are helping us evaluate our clients’ exposure and identify effective defenses at the outset of a matter, and for a small fraction of the cost of traditional litigation approaches.

We are also among a small group of firms collaborating with and backing the development of Reynen Court, a new legal services automation startup that we believe will accelerate the pace of innovation in legal technology.

Will you discuss the importance of having a diverse and inclusive workforce at the firm?

Our success is directly attributable to the unique skills, talents and viewpoints contributed by our lawyers with diverse backgrounds and beliefs. Diversity and inclusion are valued here, because we recognize that different perspectives strengthen and enrich our partnership and help us solve our clients’ problems more effectively. As the first major New York law firm founded by a Catholic lawyer and a Jewish lawyer, Paul, Weiss has valued diversity and inclusion as a core value from the start.

Will you highlight Paul, Weiss’ commitment to pro bono work?

Our commitment to pro bono work has been a core value since the firm’s founding.

Over the past several years, we have stepped up that commitment on a host of critical national issues, from immigration, to gun control, to reproductive freedoms, to voting rights, to preserving legal aid, to protecting LGBTQ rights. We have been true to our historic values, traditions, and deep and profound commitment to social justice – and have courageously led the way for our profession.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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NEWYORK

The Future of Healthcare An Interview with Steven J. Corwin, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, NewYork-Presbyterian EDITORS’ NOTE Dr. Steven J. trustees had about making NewYorkCorwin has served as CEO since 2011 Presbyterian a leader in healthcare, and President & CEO since 2015. not just for the city, but also for the Dr. Corwin joined the management country. team of NewYork-Presbyterian/ You mentioned the coming Columbia University Irving Medical together of different institutions.

Center in 1991 and served in variHow important has it been to build ous management capacities. From one culture for the organization?

2005 to 2011, he was Executive What’s the old line, culture Vice President and Chief Operating trumps strategy? I think the culture of Officer. A cardiologist and internist, excellence was always here. We have he received his undergraduate and evolved to make sure that we have a Dr. Steven J. Corwin medical degrees from Northwestern culture of respect. That includes the University, graduating summa cum issues of diversity, inclusion, and most laude and with Alpha Omega Alpha honors. He importantly, belonging. I think that this is a completed training in internal medicine and value system that really resonates with people cardiology at what is now NewYork-Presbyterian/ who go into medicine to begin with. It is critiColumbia and in 1986 was named to the faculty cally important, especially now, to make sure at what is now Columbia University Vagelos that we reaffirm that value system, why we College of Physicians and Surgeons. push towards excellence, why a ranking makes a difference, and why we go to great lengths to INSTITUTION BRIEF Located in New York make sure that everybody who comes through City, NewYork-Presbyterian (nyp.org) is affili- our doors is treated the same way. ated with two of the nation’s leading medical You referred to belonging. Is this the colleges, Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia next progression of diversity and inclusion?

University Vagelos College of Physicians and I interviewed a candidate for our chairSurgeons. NewYork-Presbyterian provides state- manship of obstetrics a few years ago. We were of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory, and pre- talking about diversity and inclusion, and she ventive care in all areas of medicine, and is told me that you had to include belonging. committed to excellence in patient care, edu- I asked her what she meant, and she replied cation, research, and community service at ten that diversity means being invited to the dance, hospital campuses: NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill inclusion means dancing, and belonging means Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian/ doing your own dance. That has always stuck Columbia University Irving Medical Center, with me.

N e w Yo r k - P r e s b y t e r i a n M o r g a n S t a n l e y I think people need to feel comfortable Children’s Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian and that the institution belongs to them and A l l e n H o s p i t a l , N e w Yo r k - P r e s b y t e r i a n vice versa. We spend a lot of time on building a Westchester Division, NewYork-Presbyterian culture of respect. We spend a lot of time having L o w e r M a n h a t t a n H o s p i t a l , N e w Yo r k - dialogues on diversity and making sure that our Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital, NewYork- leadership group reflects these values. In our Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, HR process, we will sacrifice talent if we think NewYork-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital that the talent doesn’t possess these attributes. and NewYork-Presbyterian Queens.

Are you optimistic that the industry will be able to meet the many challenges What have been the keys to NewYork- facing healthcare today?

Presbyterian’s strength and leadership in You have to be optimistic. I look at the the industry? progress we’ve made in taking care of disFirst and foremost, we have an exceptional eases. When I was in a residency program, board of trustees. You have to remember that we didn’t know what HIV/AIDS was, then we we started off as two merged hospitals and we didn’t know what we could do to cure it, and had two medical schools that we were tightly now it’s become a much more chronic disaffiliated with. Many people doubted whether ease. We have made tremendous strides treatwe could make this whole thing work, and it’s a ing heart disease and cancer. I’m optimistic real tribute to the trustees and the vision that the about the future.

66 LEADERS

I’m also optimistic that we can help the country reduce the cost of care, because while the progress of treatment has been great, there is still a cost machine that’s completely out of control. I believe that a key to addressing this is going to be digital transformation. I feel very strongly that the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotic process automation will help take administrative expenses out of medicine.

As a country, we have to grapple with primary prevention. We have to focus on people not getting sick and promoting health, which gets to issues of what’s the responsibility of a health system and the social mission that a hospital has. As a not-for-profit institution, as my board likes to say, we exist for the public good.

What is the public good? I think that as a country we need to grapple with these self-inflicted wounds in terms of public health.

How is technology going to impact the workforce of the future?

I think it will significantly impact work.

For example, you can do robotic process automation on denial of insurance claims and you can whip out a response to a denial or create a denial every two minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It would take a person much longer to do that if you were doing it manually, either on the insurance side or the hospital side.

Those types of jobs will go away. The question is what types of jobs will replace them, and is it a net gain in jobs or a net loss in jobs.

The techno-optimists say that technology creates more jobs rather than less jobs. The technopessimists say that at some point the jobs are going to go away.

I do know that we’ve got to try to plan for the workforce of the future and reskill our people.

What will the hospital of the future look like with the growth of ambulatory networks?

I think in general there will be less beds.

We have an absolute responsibility to reduce the utilization of care, and thereby reduce the overall cost of healthcare to the system. I like to believe that for the remaining utilization, once we can successfully reduce utilization, people will come to places like ours. We have to have a strategy that looks at both what are our needs for brick and mortar and what are our digital needs.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

How critical is it to put the patient experience and a service culture at the forefront for NewYork-Presbyterian?

You have to put it at the forefront. The word patient derives from somebody suffering in agony. I don’t want our patients to be patient. I want our patients to feel that they’re getting the service they need when they need it.

In the past, brand has sufficed for people to pick whomever they wanted to use.

That’s not going to be the future. The future is going to be about ease of access, making sure that the quality is there, and making sure that the experience somebody has is one that’s exemplary.

Are you happy with the physical product for NewYork-Presbyterian and are there changes on the horizon?

I think you are always looking to enhance the physical product as medicine continues to change. We’re extremely happy with our new ambulatory building, the NewYorkPresbyterian David H. Koch Center. We built that building with 17-foot floor to floor spaces because for modern operating rooms, you have to have about three to four feet of space above the ceiling in order to have all the modern equipment.

What we do for the patient changes and it necessitates a change in the way that you look at how a building operates. We constantly have to rejuvenate and modernize our facilities. New York has been behind the rest of the country in doing this because the cost of construction is higher in New York. I believe that all of the systems in New York are keenly aware of the need to modernize.

Will you discuss NewYork-Presbyterian’s commitment to social responsibility and community engagement?

We have a social responsibility and our mission is to exist for the public benefit.

One of the great unequalizers in the country is healthcare. If you can create access to healthcare and provide quality healthcare, it becomes an equalizer. Just think about the child with asthma that misses 100 days of school and the parent that is missing work because that child is at home. If you can turn that around, it becomes tremendously important. It becomes self-fulfilling.

We need to come up with creative solutions around keeping people out of the hospital. If somebody has heart failure and when they leave the hospital, they live in a fourth-floor walkup without air conditioning, they’re going to end up back in the hospital. We have to think of solutions that involve public health and this is an important obligation at this point in time in healthcare.

This speaks to a larger point, which is that the health systems in New York compete with each other at a certain level, but there also has to be macro-cooperation. When you look at what is good for this city, what is good for its 10 million inhabitants, and what makes this city desirable, having a great healthcare infrastructure is a key factor. This is why we need to work together.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

NewYork-Presbyterian David H. Koch Center

With all of the challenges facing the industry and the daily pressures in healthcare, are you able to take moments to appreciate the impact of NewYork-Presbyterian and the amazing things that take place at the institution?

I think you have to take those moments, not individually, but collectively. I look at what we’ve been able to accomplish and am amazed.

I think people go into healthcare because they

want to help, but they also appreciate being recognized. We spend a lot of time trying to recognize individuals who contribute, as well as collectively, what we’re trying to accomplish and why.

Any business is ultimately about the people. What is that person doing at 2:00 AM when no one is watching to make somebody better? I think that is really what it is all about.

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LEADERS 67

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NEWYORK

The Partnership’s Purpose An Interview with Kathryn S. Wylde, President and Chief Executive Officer, Partnership for New York City EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to assuming her current post in 2000, Kathryn Wylde served as the founding Pr esident and Chief Executive Officer of two Partnership affiliates, the Housing Partnership and the Partnership Fund for New York City.

She is a board member of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the Manhattan Institute, NYC & Company, the Governor’s NYC Regional Economic Development Council and the Fund for Public Education.

innovation. Together with the MTA, we established the Transit Innovation Partnership to work on some of the key technical and management challenges that the system was facing.

We are responsive to the major issues facing the city.

How critical is public/private partnership in driving change in the city?

It is vital. An example would be when the Partnership worked for Kathryn S. Wylde more than a decade to analyze the reasons why New York City did not have a robust life science industry. We worked O R G A N I Z A T I O N B R I E F F o c u s e d o n with the major medical research institutions maintaining the city’s position as the center and the academic medical centers in the of global commer ce and innovation, the city to understand what their challenges were Partnership for New York City (pfnyc.org) is composed of top CEOs from the city’s corporate, investment and entrepreneurial sectors. It works in partnership with government to advance the interests of the city. The organization’s priorities include maintaining the city’s competitive position in the attraction and growth of its business sector, improving public education and fostering public/private partnerships to address the challenges facing the city. The Partnership Fund is its economic development arm that invests in projects that contribute to strategic industry growth, support for distressed communities and job creation.

New York City is

now beginning to

What are the current priorities that the Partnership for New York City is focused on for the business community in New York City?

The Partnership focuses on areas where the business community has special expertise and resources, primarily in the areas of economic growth and job creation, public infrastructure and education of a skilled workforce. This is where we can make the biggest contribution to creating public policy, programs and projects that advance the city’s interests. Under those very broad categories, our agenda year to year is determined by what’s happening in the city and state and where the needs for business engagement are greatest.

For example, the subway crisis of 2017 precipitated a major, focused commitment to helping the region’s transportation agency – the MTA – in order to tap private sector knowledge to help the agency improve services and embrace VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

have a much more robust infrastructure of incubators and accelerators in the life science industry.

and why we were not seeing more local commercialization of the research going on in our institutions.

Science from New York City institutions was turning into business startups in Boston and California, rather than in New York. We identified a number of obstacles to building an industry cluster: the absence of appropriate real estate, particularly wet lab space; the lack of public incentives for business development here; a culture within the academic institutions that did not really support their scientists becoming entrepreneurs; and the lack of early stage venture capital. This was work that the private sector was able to undertake to better define what the challenges were.

We brought in the person who had led the ten-year transformation in Massachusetts to create a robust life science cluster there. That consultant prepared a report that we used to persuade the state and the city to launch a $1.2 billion commitment from public funds in 2017 and to make public policy changes to encourage the development of a life science industry.

We continue to partner with the city and state on getting actual projects done and identifying very promising startup ventures that merit investment and support from the public sector. The private sector can also attract new venture capital firms. New York City is now beginning to have a much more robust infrastructure of incubators and accelerators in the life science industry. We worked on the development of JLABS, Johnson & Johnson’s incubator facility, which is thriving here with support from the state and currently housing 40 start-up life sciences companies.

Generating new economic activity requires a public/private collaboration. After you get an industry cluster started, it will take off and have the ability to survive on its own, but upfront, when you’re starting in a new area, you really need both the public and private sectors to make significant, strategic investments in this area.

In addition to life sciences, there has also been a major focus on creating fintech innovation in New York. Has the Partnership played a role in this area?

Nine years ago, our Partnership Fund worked with Accenture to establish the fintech innovation lab, which invited startup companies from around the world to come to New York to establish a presence here. It gives these LEADERS 69

The new generation of the financial services industry is a technology play and developing this cluster was critical in terms of maintaining New York as the global capital of finance.

startups the opportunity to work directly with the technology leadership of major financial institutions so that they could refine their products. The purpose of this was to establish New York as the center of global fintech.

Today, New York’s fintech cluster is thriving.

Two years ago, we also added insuretech to attract insurance startups to the cluster of activity. The new generation of the financial services industry is a technology play and developing this cluster was critical in terms of maintaining New York as the global capital of finance. The innovation lab, with the support of 40 major financial services institutions, has been the primary generator of new economic activity in this sector.

Many institutions now have their own incubators and are focused on working with technology companies. This is a major shift in the industry. A decade ago bank IT departments were largely developing their own technology solutions inside the institution. The access and presence of so many strong startups has reversed that. Now, they are partnering with smaller firms that are bringing new ideas and new talent to the city’s financial industry.

What needs to be done to transform K-12 education in New York City?

In New York City, the public education system has in fact improved significantly over the past decade: more young people are graduating and moving on to college, and attendance rates and test scores are much better.

We are headed in the right direction, but we have to continue to strive to close the skills gap between the city’s student population and what is happening in a rapidly changing economy.

Everybody has a cell phone, but not everybody is plugged into the opportunities for careers in technology, and that has to start early.

The Partnership supports programs like Fred Wilson’s Computer Science for All, a partnership between the city and the private sector that is training teachers so that every school in every grade will have computer science classes that give students an early introduction to the world of technology.

We also worked with the Department of Education and two Partnership members, MasterCard and K2, to establish a high school in the South Bronx that is preparing students for careers in cyber security. Going forward, we plan to work with the City University of New 70 LEADERS

York to create other programs that give their graduates both professional skills and direct access to the city’s major employers.

It is these direct connections between business, particularly business in the innovation and technology sectors, that provide students with a window into what is going on in today’s economy and the job opportunities that will be open to them in the future. Most of the graduates of New York City public schools who go on to college become students at the City University of New York. So making direct connections with employers, whether it’s Wall Street, the media industry, or the tech sector, is a practical way to combat income inequality and ensure that students from low income families can realize upward mobility and maximize their contributions to the city.

At the Partnership, we have been at the forefront of connecting global corporations and investors with early stage companies, which has put New York in a great position as a world class technology hub.

The Partnership places a major emphasis on research and thought leadership. Will you discuss the investment the Partnership makes on data and information?

New York City is a large and complicated place. It’s also fast-changing. To make smart business decisions, as well as smart public policy decisions, you need real time data about what’s happening in the city. The Partnership provides accurate information so that trends can be anticipated in order to help business and government make informed investment and policy decisions. We look at what is happening in the global economy that will impact local industry and local employers. We evaluate what kind of public policies are needed in terms of state and city legislation in order for New York to take maximum advantage of the opportunities for the growth and improvement of city services.

With the blue-chip list of companies the Partnership has as members, how important has it been for the Partnership to engage emerging companies and the leaders of tomorrow?

The most important dynamic in the city economy over the last 20 years has been a dramatic change from being a topdown, corporate and Wall Street economy to becoming more conducive to entrepreneurial ventures. In New York, innovators have direct access to market leaders and are able to partner with established players, rather than simply disrupt them. At the Partnership, we have been at the forefront of connecting global corporations and investors with early stage companies, which has put New York in a great position as a world class technology hub.

We try to make sure that the established, corporate and investment community is in touch with those folks who are percolating the newest ideas, who are looking at the world in a different way, who are developing new ways to reach the consumer, and who represent a big portion of the marketplace that is attractive to the millennial population.

In New York City, established companies are uniquely able to be in touch with the younger generation that is driving change, both in terms of their employees and their customers.

The result has been that the country’s oldest and largest urban center is growing at an unprecedented pace.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

It’s taken us 20 years, but a smoke-free future looks like it’s becoming a smoke-free reality.

If your perception of Philip Morris International is strictly as a cigarette company, this might surprise you: We’re staking our future on a range of smoke-free products that are a better choice than cigarettes for the 1.1 billion men and women who currently smoke.

We believe that a world free of cigarette smoke is possible. That’s why we are squarely focused on building a smoke-free future.

In 1997, some of our company’s fiercest critics challenged us to produce less harmful products.

We listened. And accepted the challenge.

It’s taken hundreds of scientists, thousands of tests, and billions of dollars to invent acceptable products without cigarette smoke.

Why? Because it’s the smoke caused by burning a cigarette that’s the main problem.

These new smoke-free products don’t burn tobacco, and for the nine out of 10 adult smokers who continue smoking each year,

these products offer a satisfying alternative to cigarettes so adult smokers can choose to switch to them completely and not return to smoking.

Smoke-free products contain nicotine and are not risk free.

The science supports their potential to be a better choice than continuing to smoke cigarettes. We share our science and data openly with the scientific and medical communities, as well as with governments across the globe.

For smokers, the best option is to quit tobacco and nicotine altogether. But those who don’t quit deserve a better choice. And access to scientific, accurate information to be able to make that choice.

By encouraging the millions of men and women today who would otherwise continue smoking to switch fully to smoke-free alternatives, we have an opportunity to leave cigarettes behind in our generation. That’s the smoke-free future.

That’s why #ItsTime to #Unsmoke.

Help support the world’s 1.1 billion adult smokers to quit.

And if they don’t quit, to choose better alternatives.

Visit PMI.com/ItsTime

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NEWYORK

A Builder An Interview with Peter S. Kalikow, President, HJ Kalikow & Co. LLC EDITORS’ NOTE Peter Kalikow is the Will you discuss your start in real former Chairman of the Metropolitan estate?

Transportation Authority (MTA), I had the advantage of watching former Commissioner of the Port and learning from my grandfather, Joe Authority of New York & New Jersey, Kalikow, who together with my dad past owner and publisher of the New and his two brothers, built thousands York Post, and current Chairman of apartment units in Brooklyn and of the Grand Central Partnership.

Queens. It was in no way a formal Kalikow began his career in real tutorial, but I was able to learn the estate in 1967 and became President fundamentals of real estate developof HJ Kalikow & Co. in 1973. Following ment by watching their buildings go his father’s death in 1982, he assumed from the ground up. The most imporPeter S. Kalikow responsibility for the Kalikow holdings tant thing I learned was showing up and is the third generation to preside at job sites each and every day. It over the family’s 92-year-old real estate company. sounds simple, but showing up accomplished Kalikow is an active participant in every major real two things. First, it showed the men working in estate association and serves as a Governor of the the various trades that you were committed to Real Estate Board of New York. In recognition of finishing the job on time and on budget. Next, his leadership, he has received the Harry Helmsley it gave me a better sense of what a difference Award, the Award for Excellence by the Building a good relationship between a developer and Owners and Managers Association of Greater New trades means to a successful job.

York for the development of 101 Park Avenue, and the Golden Circle Award. Kalikow is involved in many philanthropic causes. He is a Vice Chair of New York-Presbyterian Hospital and a member of its executive committee. Kalikow is a member of the board of trustees of Hofstra University and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law degree in 1986. He received Hofstra’s Alumni of the Year Award in 1988. An active student of the American Presidency, Kalikow endowed the Peter S. Kalikow Chair in Presidential Studies and created the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency. In 2015, he endowed the Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy & International Affairs at Hofstra University. Kalikow is a founding board member of the Museum of Jewish Heritage and was presented with the Peace Medal, Israel’s highest civilian award for his many years in aiding the nation’s development, including his efforts related to Israel Bonds. He is a founding board member of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. In November 2008, Kalikow was honored with the Commendatore in the Order of I took these lessons and applied them to Merit of the Italian Republic, one of the highest hon- my first apartment building in Great Neck. It ors bestowed by the Government of Italy. was a great success. Then, I turned my focus on Manhattan, and incorporated my knowledge COMPANY BRIEF For more than 90 years, HJ of consumer preferences into development Kalikow & Co. (hjkalikow.com) has been one of success. During that time, the 1970s, I had a New York City’s leading real estate firms. Under good sense of what people my age wanted.

Peter Kalikow’s leadership, the company has devel- Their priority wasn’t so much the size of the oped millions of square feet of commercial office apartment, but rather safety and security, so I space as well as constructed many prominent resi- provided reasonably-sized apartment units and dential apartment houses in Manhattan.

24-hour doorman security. The first apartment

Between 1970 and 1980, I built 10

apartment houses, and they were all

tremendous successes.

72 LEADERS

was a 24-story apartment building that rented in five weeks. Between 1970 and 1980, I built 10 apartment houses and they were all tremendous successes.

What has made 101 Park Avenue remain relevant and such a sought-after building?

First, its architecture really is timeless and has won a number of awards. The way the building sits on the lot allows for a great amount of light, air and views for the tenants within. Next, my company has always invested a great deal of money to constantly upgrade all of the building systems to ensure the utmost in efficiency for our tenants. In addition, the staff at 101 Park Avenue is first class all the way. Tenants rave about the professionalism and courtesy of the starters at the elevator banks. The engineers work tirelessly to maintain the building systems in top-notch working order. Also, Club 101 and the parking garage are two tremendous building amenities.

The fact is that over 60 percent of the tenants at 101 Park Avenue are original to the building. That statement alone says it all.

Did you know when you built 101 Park Avenue that this part of New York City would become what it is today?

My grandmother came to the United States when she was very young. Whenever my grandfather would start to build a building, he would take her to the site and the first question she asked was, “Where’s the subway?” As wealthy as she was, she always took the subway.

And that has always been a guiding principle of my approach to building. I knew the importance of Grand Central Terminal as a major regional transit hub, and how the Grand Central business district would attract prospective tenants.

You serve as a Vice Chair of New YorkPresbyterian and have been a part of that institution for many years. What makes New York-Presbyterian so special for you?

My father had two strokes and that is where he was treated. My mother had some issues and they took care of her. My children were born there. They treated my family so well. I knew that once I had the means, there was nothing better than getting involved with a hospital. So that is what I did, helping them with the Starr Building, then becoming a board member, then chairman of real estate, then executive committee member, and now a vice chair. New YorkPresbyterian is consistently ranked as one of VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

The fact is that over 60 percent of the tenants at 101 Park Avenue are original to the building. That statement alone says it all.

the highest in the nation over a wide number of specialties. But it is the focus on the patient first and foremost that makes it the tremendous success that it is. Our Chair, Jerry Speyer, the Board of Trustees, its President and CEO, Steve Corwin, and the entire staff are totally committed to providing the best healthcare in a patientcentric manner.

I tell people that whatever I have given New York-Presbyterian in terms of time and money, I have gotten back ten times in terms of satisfaction. It is a terrific institution with wonderful and caring people.

Will you discuss your involvement and support of Hofstra University?

I was lucky to be accepted to Hofstra and lucky to graduate. They gave me an education and I learned a lot, even though I was a terrible student back then. I was a student there in 1964 when the presidential debates started coming to colleges and, I imagined back then what it would be like to have a presidential debate at Hofstra.

Decades later, I am so proud to have contributed to the growth and success of the school. I was able to endow a School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs for students who want to pursue careers in government or other areas that focus on public policy.

Hofstra’s reputation in this area has enabled it to host three presidential debates. Most schools would be thrilled to host one.

For over seven years, you were the Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, one of the most important state agencies that is responsible for transporting millions of people daily in this region. What do you think about what is happening today with the MTA? Those were a very exciting seven years, and I think we did a lot of good things during those years.

It’s a very hard job, but very fulfilling as well. Looking back, I think one of the most significant things VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

we did during my tenure was to begin to deal with those unsustainable labor costs that are being discussed today. Labor costs consume 60 percent of the operational expenses at the MTA and a good deal of that are costs related to healthcare and pensions. We began to tackle these costs, but clearly more needs to be done.

At the end of the day, New York State taxpayers and the system’s fare payers deserve no less.

101 Park Avenue

How did your interest in Ferraris develop?

I went to a car show when I was young and I saw this Ferrari. It was like nothing I had seene before. I was mesmerized by it. I went home by subway because we lived in Queens back then and, at dinner, I told my father that he had to come to the car show and see this car. He told me he was too busy but my mother – God bless her, I miss her still – says, “Harold, spend three hours with your son.” We went and I got to sit in this amazing car.

My father says to the guy, “How much is this car?” He said, “$13,000.”

He lied. It was actually $15,000. My father responds, “$13,000? It should be $3,000 because I have a Cadillac which is $6,000 and it has four seats.

This car only has two seats.”

It took me a long time to get my first Ferrari but, thanks to my parents, I managed to work it out. But I have to say, whenever I approach a Ferrari, I still get the rush I got when I saw the first one at the car show.

I’m going to Italy soon to spec out my next Ferrari and I have to tell you, the passion never gets old.

Many of your people have been with you for decades. How important has it been to retain talent?

Very important. A person came back to see me about three or four years ago and said, “I’ve been walking down the hallway for 20 years and I notice all the same faces are here.” My people have known me a long time. I’m 76 years old. I was the youngest person here when I started this company and now I am the oldest. People are what makes a business. Great people make great buildings.

Do you think about your legacy and will it be more about your business success or your philanthropic work?

I tell you, I really hope it will be about both. I continue to thoroughly enjoy business – it keeps me focused and engaged. And it is the business that has given me the good fortune to give back to the philanthropic endeavors.

•

LEADERS 73

NEWYORK

A Collaborative Culture An Interview with Paul S. Pearlman, Managing Partner, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP EDITORS’ NOTE Paul Pearlman Our greatest challenge is letting has served in his current post since the world know who we are. We conAugust 2000. His private equity tinue to be different than most of our experience over the past 35 years competitors in many ways, includhas included representing leveraged ing size. We have only three offices. buyout sponsors, management, and Most of the big firms now have many providers of debt financing in comoffices. Additionally, we are much less plex and often high-profile LBO leveraged than virtually every other transactions. He also has extensive firm. We are barely at a two-to-one experience in mergers and acquisiratio of partners to non-partners, and tions involving public and privately we have very little attrition, relatively held entities and in the financspeaking.

Paul S. Pearlman ing of acquisition transactions.

Moreover, most firms have a Pearlman received his B.B.A. from pyramid structure. They bring in large George Washington University and his J.D., cum associate classes and whittle down the number laude, from St. John’s University School of Law. of attorneys in that class as they become more senior. We actually have the opposite. We bring FIRM BRIEF Kramer Levin (kramerlevin.com) is in small associate classes. We build out latera full-service law firm with more than 375 law- ally in the middle years, and people tend to yers in 60-plus practice areas. The firm is head- stay. This allows us to staff matters more leanly quartered in New York, with offices in Silicon since we can assign more experienced attorneys Valley and Paris, and fosters a strong culture to them. Clients know that they are going to of involvement in public and community ser- receive consistently high-value and high-quality vice. In addition to its well-known litigation and work on a more cost-effective basis. bankruptcy capabilities, the firm has top-tier practices in many other areas, including corporate, M&A, intellectual property, real estate and land use, tax, employment law and business immigration.

It makes it easier to

What are the keys to Kramer Levin’s strength and leadership in the industry?

One of the reasons partners join and stay at Kramer Levin is that they feel that it is their firm.

As many other firms have increased in size and look more like large institutions or corporations, partners do not, in my view, necessarily feel like owners. At Kramer Levin, people are invested and have a drive to succeed which works to the benefit of the firm.

Another development over the past 19 years has been the embodiment of a real sense of collaboration. It is particularly visible in the younger partners. We’re fortunate that most of our lawyers are in one office. It makes it easier to collaborate when you see people face-toface. This has become a hallmark of the firm.

How has Kramer Levin been able to compete so effectively with much larger firms?

We certainly punch above our weight. We have always been known in the industry as one of the premier firms in terms of the talent that we possess and the quality work that is produced throughout the firm.

74 LEADERS

collaborate when you see people face-toface. This has become a hallmark of the firm.

You announced your retirement after many years of leading Kramer Levin. How has the firm handled succession planning to ensure a smooth transition?

Having been managing partner for nearly 20 years, I felt it was important to let the firm know far in advance that I planned to step down so that there would be an orderly transition. That was almost two years ago.

Shortly after my announcement, we started the process of identifying one or more candidates to succeed me. Last fall, we selected two partners who we thought would be the best choice to do so. We discussed the selection first with our executive committee and then with the partnership. Howard Spilko and Paul Schoeman were elected co-managing partners in January 2019 and will take office at the start of 2020.

They are going to share responsibilities and intend to maintain their practices. I have a full year to work with them on the transition and download whatever knowledge I can impart, as well as help them understand my views of the firm. Howard and Paul are well into the process of getting up to speed and taking over some of my responsibilities.

Do you think about your legacy at the firm?

It is not something to which I have ever given much thought, but people have now begun to mention it to me. In any event, thinking about my legacy never influenced how I managed the firm. My father ingrained in me long ago that when you have a job and responsibilities, you do them to the best of your abilities, no matter what.

There are a couple of things, looking back, that I am particularly pleased about: first, that the firm has remained independent and, second, that we have been quite successful during my tenure. I believe that I am leaving the firm in a better place than when I took over. As the CEO of a law firm, you are similar to a manager of a sports team. You are only as good as your players, and fortunately we have a great team. My job is to provide my team with the best platform that I can to enhance their ability to do their work. I have tried to take care of everything on the business side and handle conflicts and any personal or other issues that I am asked to deal with, so the attorneys can focus exclusively on their practices and their clients.

The law firm CEO position, in my view, is more about judgement, common sense and fairness than anything else. I tried to ensure that the partners always felt that whatever decisions I made were done in the best interests of the firm rather than for my personal benefit, and that I was fair in my decisions. If that is how they remember me, then I think I have done pretty well, and I will be proud of my legacy.

•

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE INNOVATION

DEPTH Excellence

What sets us apart is not what we do, but how we do it.

We look beyond what’s on the surface and create effective solutions for real estate occupiers, owners and investors across all sectors worldwide. colliers.com/NewYork

Accelerating success.

NEWYORK

A Dedication to Excellence An Interview with Joseph Moinian, Chief Executive Officer, The Moinian Group EDITORS’ NOTE Joseph Moinian, the New York City-based developer, investor and long-term owner of prime real estate nationwide, is recognized for pioneering the development of emerging neighborhoods in major metropolitan cities across the United States. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Real Estate Board of New York and sits on the board of the Skyline Museum.

The rooftop pool at PLG at 123 Linden Boulevard in Brooklyn

Where do you see the New York real estate market today?

New York continues to be a world-class city that attracts the best minds from around the world, which is reflected in the real estate market.

There has been a slowdown in the investment sales market, but we continue to see a huge appetite among the best brands and corporate tenants who need and want to have a significant presence here, particularly along Joseph Moinian COMPANY BRIEF Founded by Manhattan’s Far West Side. Brooklyn is Joseph Moinian in 1982, The Moinian providing some wonderful residential Group (moinian.com) today includes a portfo- opportunities, the retail market continues to reinlio of more than 20 million square feet of prop- vent itself in new and exciting ways, and thanks erty and is among one of the only national real to the explosion in e-commerce, I have never estate entities to develop, own and operate proper- seen an industrial market like this, bursting at the ties across nearly every asset category, including seams. As long as the economy remains strong, office, hotel, retail, condos and rental apart- the real estate market will, too. Long-term, New ments. The Moinian Group has been a pioneer for York will always be a tremendous investment. the development of state-of-the-art, visually distinWill you highlight The Moinian Group’s guished properties. current projects and developments in New York?

What have been the keys to The Moinian The Moinian Group is in the midst of an Group’s growth and leadership in the New exciting period of activity. We’re actively marYork real estate market? keting 3 Hudson Boulevard, our 1.9 millionThe keys to our growth and leadership in square-foot, Class A office tower developed in New York’s real estate market relate heavily to partnership with Boston Properties. 3 Hudson our ability to leverage a comprehensive array of Boulevard is in the heart of the Hudson Yards capabilities. Our team’s history is embedded in District and spans the entire square block investing, developing and leasing a wide range between 11th Avenue and Hudson Boulevard of properties, not just in New York, but across Park from West 34th Street to West 35th Street. the country’s most competitive markets. With this Our commercial project at 220 11th Avenue broad experience, we’ve been able to stay ahead is also being actively marketed, with JLL leadof the curve and maintain a reputation for devel- ing the leasing efforts. Designed by Studios oping state-of-the-art, aesthetically distinguished Architecture with inspiration from West Chelsea’s properties. We continue to strive for excellence, rich history and industrial-style exteriors, the sustaining our leadership in the industry with a ground-up development will include more than focus on creating new environments in which to 200,000 rentable square feet of boutique office grow, work and live. space with open, column-free floor plates as well How do you define The Moinian Group as ground-floor and cellar retail totaling nearly culture?

13,000 square feet. 220 11th Avenue is scheduled I founded our culture at The Moinian Group to break ground this year, with occupancy in the on a dedication to excellence, from the spaces second half of 2021. we create, the projects we build and invest in, Leasing has also officially launched at PLG, to the people we recruit. Success is never an a Moinian Capital Partners-funded development accident, but the result of hard work, persistency, and our first venture into the Brooklyn marand a desire to accomplish great things. We look ket. The 26-story, Hill West designed residential for people who already think this way and culti- tower features 467 luxury rental residences and vate that attitude every day. I am also quite for- more than 50,000 square feet of indoor and outtunate to be able to work with my family every door resort-style amenity space located at the day, which helps foster a level of collaboration nexus of Brooklyn’s Prospect Lefferts Gardens that filters through our entire organization. and Flatbush neighborhoods.

76 LEADERS

Are you surprised to see the growth and development that has taken place in certain neighborhoods in the City and the increased development taking place in the boroughs?

I’m more enthusiastic than I am surprised.

The Moinian Group recognized long ago that the largest and greatest potential for prosperity lies in the transformation and revitalization of New York City’s underserved neighborhoods, and it’s exciting to see others sharing in that perspective. Since the firm’s inception, our investment, development and management strategies have incorporated a desire and commitment to forging new neighborhoods, catalyzing the rebirth of existing neighborhoods and spearheading the transformation and enhancement of property values and environments.

How is technology impacting the real estate industry?

Technology is impacting virtually every aspect of the real estate industry. We’ve established ourselves as one of the most prominent supporters and entrepreneurial investors of the technology sector. Through our venture capital arm, Currency M, we are leveraging our distribution as developers and managers to develop technologies we can pilot and implement to give our tenants better living and working experiences.

By creating strategic partnerships with companies that value access to Moinian’s resources and expertise, we’re playing an active role in fortifying the place for technology in the real estate industry, particularly through our portfolio of innovators seeking to redefine the built environment. For example, Nestio, a residential real estate marketing and leasing automation platform, powers Currency M’s site; TFLiving’s mobile technology that provides amenity-related services to residential and corporate property owners and managers underwent testing at The Marc and is featured in Moinian buildings for event and amenity programming; and Moved, a free moving concierge service application pairing customers with a personal assistant to coordinate the logistics of the entire move-in and move-out process, is generating brand visibility

by Moinian’s promotion of the app to residents in the form of a generous discount code.

What are your key priorities for The Moinian Group as you look to the future?

We are focused on leveraging lending and venture capital more in our historically conventional practices to build a more diverse and dynamic organization at The Moinian Group.

•

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Global Reach, Local Expertise As one of the largest banks in the world, our clients know that BOC U.S. is a reliable, long-term partner and a safe harbor with the financial strength to meet future challenges.

Our global leadership and expertise in corporate banking, trade finance, and RMB clearing make us the obvious choice for doing business with China, Asia, and the rest of the world.

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NEWYORK

The Power of Innovation An Interview with Kevin Samuelson, Chief Executive Officer, Infor EDITORS’ NOTE Kevin Samuelson We have grown quickly to take a was appointed as the Chief leading position in delivering business Executive Officer of Infor in 2019 software to a global customer base after having served as the firm’s and we are just getting started.

Chief Financial Officer. He has Will you discuss Infor’s culmore than 20 years of experience ture of innovation and your focus in technology, finance, operations on product development? and M&A. Samuelson joined Infor At Infor we strongly believe in at its inception in 2002 and helped the power of innovation. As solution grow the company from $30 million providers we must continually push to nearly $3 billion in annual revthe established boundaries and venenues over 10 years. He left Infor in ture further into new concepts, forging Kevin Samuelson 2013 and spent three years worknew opportunities for customers. ing at two prominent SaaS software We don’t chase ideas lacking companies before rejoining Infor in 2016. Prior substance. We hold ourselves to strict standards to joining Infor in 2002, Samuelson worked in about usability, practical deployment, and marEquity Research for Robertson Stephens and ket readiness. We don’t want to build software Bank of America. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree that the user community doesn’t need – today or from the University of California at Berkeley. tomorrow. We don’t want to focus time on ideas that have limited business value, whether that COMPANY BRIEF Infor (infor.com) is a global means improved market insights through analeader in business cloud software products for lytics, improved productivity, or better service. companies in industry specific markets. Infor Our customers must be able to turn our builds complete industry suites in the cloud and innovation into their innovation. They must efficiently deploys technology that puts the user be able to embrace it and make it their own, experience first, leverages data science, and inte- empowering their stakeholders, from frontline grates easily into existing systems. Over 68,000 users to the strategic C-Suite. This is why we organizations in 170 countries worldwide rely look at innovation through a customer’s eyes. on Infor’s more than 17,000 employees to help Our industry focus helps to fuel practical overcome market disruptions and achieve busi- innovation. As we work closely with industry ness-wide digital transformation. leaders on features and functionality, we are entrenched in the day-to-day issues customers Will you highlight the history and heritage face. This allows us to apply creative thinking of Infor and how the company has evolved?

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software products for companies in industry specific markets. Our mission is to improve business outcomes for our customers and change the way work gets done. Infor was formed in 2002 with business aggregation as its first phase. We acquired key applications and businesses to establish vertical expertise in a number of key industries.

The second phase began in 2010 with our visionary CEO Charles Phillips leading Infor’s industry cloud transformation to innovate, unify and modernize our technology, and build a robust cloud strategy centered on our unique approach of industry-specific CloudSuites.

The phase we’re entering now is about execution and acceleration. We are doubling down on being an innovative, trusted partner to our customers, propelling their success with new data-driven insights, operating efficiencies, and a beautiful user experience.

and problem solving to real situations, using our industry councils as sounding boards. These councils, made up of customers with an eye for trends, keep us on-track and focused on revenue-driving priorities.

We also take advantage of adjacent innovation. This means one industry can learn from and borrow ideas from other industries that may have already mastered a certain issue. For example, the healthcare industry can borrow ideas about customer service from the retail industry. The hospitality industry can borrow insights from the supply chain industry about inventory and capacity. Because of our deep industry expertise, we can harness the best ideas from across a diverse cross section of industries and markets. We pull those concepts together and explore how they can be used in new applications and situations. It’s innovation with a proven foundation.

You have referred to Infor as the “World’s Largest Start-Up.” How do you maintain an entrepreneurial culture with the size and scale of Infor’s business today?

We have called ourselves the World’s Largest Start-Up. We value – and work hard to preserve – our innate ability to be agile, creative, and passion-driven, like start-ups often are.

We are quick-thinking and highly-responsive in many ways. From our customer success teams to our account managers and services teams, Infor team members are empowered to make decisions and take action without being encumbered by layers of approvals and policies.

Our mission is to improve

business outcomes for our customers and change the way work gets done.

78 LEADERS

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

At Infor we strongly believe in the power of innovation. As solution providers we must continually push the established boundaries and venture further into new concepts, forging new opportunities for customers.

Team leaders are decisive and decisions are supported by data and analytics – just as we advocate to our customers. We live by the best practices we preach. Using our own business intelligence solutions, team leaders stay on top of trends and issues, allowing them to be highly responsive. This leads to agility – one of the greatest advantages of a start-up. So, although we continue to grow, we still stress responsiveness as one of our core values.

Additionally, like start-ups, we know we must work diligently to displace the other enterprises we compete against. We have to be scrappier, faster, smarter, and more imaginative with our efforts. Our personnel, in every office and region, know that their input has a direct impact on our success. Each one counts. That is a “start-up” mentality we never want to lose and we work hard to reinforce it.

On the other hand, we have some ways in which we are quite different from a start-up. We have proven solutions that have withstood the test of time. We also have a solid financial foundation and great resilience. We have deep roots that have taken hold and will not be easily yanked. We have the maturity and wisdom of an enterprise that has weathered some storms, learned from experience, and knows what it means to persevere through volatile times, whether its economic uncertainty, aggressive competition, or shifts in customer demand.

Infor has placed a major focus on building a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Why is this so critical and have you been happy with your efforts in this regard?

I truly believe that inclusion and diversity (I&D) drive better business results. Numerous studies show that diverse groups of people who leverage their differences make better decisions than homogenous groups do. I have personally experienced this at Infor. When we bring together diverse teams of colleagues – from across markets, functions, levels, demographics and backgrounds – and they each feel valued for their unique perspectives, we think about challenges in different ways. This enables us to better focus on our customers’ needs and build better products.

Infor has always had a strong commitment to I&D, and this past year, we have taken additional steps to increase our focus. We hired our first inclusion and diversity officer (Diana Cruz Solash) with a mandate to enable Infor to become a leading company for I&D, not just in the tech sector, but broadly in the market. Diana has launched a holistic strategy to create an inclusive culture that attracts, values, and leverages all differences. Key efforts have included rolling out an inclusive leadership learning curriculum for all 17,000+ employees globally, establishing an Infor Inclusion Board comprised of 30 influential Infor executives, and making sure we use standard criteria consistently in our hiring and succession decisions. We have also continued our investment in our Women’s Infor Network (WIN) – launched in 2014 and with now over 60 chapters around the world – and our Veteran’s Infor Network (VIN).

We live by the best practices we preach. Using our own business intelligence solutions, team leaders stay on top of trends and issues, allowing them to be highly responsive.

Like many organizations, Infor has been on a journey towards greater inclusion and diversity, and we have made some strides. For example, globally, our workforce is nearly one-third women, and our development and our [SaaS] groups are 30 percent women. That said, there is much more to be done to improve inclusion across all differences in the tech industry, and we are fully committed at Infor to making further progress.

Corporate responsibility and community engagement are core values for Infor.

Will you highlight this focus and do you see it as a responsibility of leading companies today to be purpose-driven?

A strong sense of community is one of Infor’s core values. Infor maintains multiple corporate citizenship initiatives across the globe because it is our responsibility to support the local communities where our employees live and work, and where our customers do business.

Specifically, we support an ongoing Volunteer Build Program with Habitat for Humanity International that provides giving-back opportunities for many of our employees worldwide in their own communities.

We also support local initiatives that spring from the passion of employees in our local offices, such as the annual Light the Night Walk with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in Atlanta, adopting a poor community in Sao Paulo, and beach clean-up in Sri Lanka.

Infor also refurbishes and donates our retired computers to various charitable organization around the world, including the Doe Fund in New York, and most recently in India and Haiti.

We advocate that all leading companies should play the role of a strong corporate citizen, giving back to the communities and people who have supported them.

Yo u a r e a c t i v e l y e n g a g e d i n t h e Partnership for New York City. How critical is it for business leaders to work together to address the needs and challenges of New York City?

No enterprise operates in a vacuum. Our success relies on many external factors, from a reliable infrastructure to a talent pool that is deep and diverse. New York City has supported our growth and ongoing need for highly-skilled talent. As a responsible corporate citizen, we feel compelled to give back and support the community that has supported us.

•

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

LEADERS 79

NEWYORK

A Creator An Interview with John A. Catsimatidis, Founder, Red Apple Group

The Catsimatidis family, John, Margo, Andrea and John Jr. stand before the soon-to-be-completed Ocean Drive luxury complex on the oceanfront in Coney Island.

EDITORS’ NOTE John Catsimatidis its terminals in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, was born on the Greek Island of and Calverton, Long Island. United Nisyros in 1948 and 6 months later Energy Plus Terminals is headquarhis parents emigrated to New York tered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City in search of a better life. They and is a wholesale and commercial settled on 135th Street in Harlem distillate gasoline supplier currently and his father found work as a busoperating in 25 terminals throughout boy and his mother was a stay-atPennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland home mom. He is a true son of New and Virginia. Red Apple Real Estate York; he was educated in both the owns, manages, and develops properparochial and public-school systems ties throughout the United States with earning his high school diploma a focus in New York City. It is commitJohn A. Catsimatidis from Brooklyn Tech. Catsimatidis ted to creating a residential experience enrolled in New York University to that features luxury living options and study electrical engineering, going to school dur- amenities, with convenient neighborhood retail, ing the day and working in a small grocery store to meet the demands of today’s residents. Red on nights and weekends to help his parents pay Apple Real Estate projects such as The Andrea, the bills. During his senior year, with just 8 cred- The Giovanni, The Margo, and 86 Fleet Place its remaining, he dropped out of NYU to work in are bringing new homes and new jobs to New the grocery business full-time. By his 24th birth- Yorkers. Red Apple Gr oup owns Gristedes day, he was already a success with 10 Red Apple Supermarkets, the largest grocery chain in Supermarkets scattered along Broadway on New York City. Gristedes has been feeding Manhattan’s Upper West Sde. Now, four decades New Yorkers for over 100 years and offers the later, Red Apple Group has evolved into a diversi- freshest meat, produce, dairy products, baked fied corporation that has holdings in the energy, goods, frozen foods, gourmet foods, and nonaviation, retail and real estate sectors with over food items.

8,000 employees, approximately 2,000 of which are located in New York City. Catsimatidis is a firm believer in giving back to the community and has been a strong supporter of the Police Athletic League for nearly 30 years. He serves on the Board of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, the Hellenic Times Scholarship Fund, and over the years has served in a variety of volunteer positions in the Greek Orthodox Church.

COMPANY BRIEF Red Apple Group (ragny.com) is a conglomerate that owns and operates assets in the energy, real estate, finance, insurance, and supermarket industries. The family of energy companies within Red Apple Group forms one of the leading refining, midstream, and downstream integrated companies in the Northeast. Through its subsidiary, United Refining Company, it operates a 70,000 barrel per day oil refinery and over 400 gas stations and convenience stores under the brand names Kwik Fill, Country Fair, Keystone, and Red Apple. United Metro Energy is the largest supplier of home and business heating oil in New York City. It supplies and delivers bioheat, biodiesel, heating oil, ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, natural gas, and gasoline throughout the New York Metropolitan Area and Long Island from 80 LEADERS

John Catsimatidis’ 86 Fleet Eagle development

Will you highlight Red Apple Group’s businesses?

Red Apple Group is in different sectors. It is well-known for its supermarket business but this only represents a small percentage of our sales.

Roughly 50 percent of our business is in the oil and energy business and the other 50 percent is in real estate. We are also entering the media space as well as investments and my son and my daughter manage our investment portfolio.

What interested you to become involved in politics and to run for public office in New York City?

I thought there was an opportunity to make an impact and help the city. People have been urging me to run again but I haven’t decided. It feels good to be urged, but remember, I am 7 years older than last time.

Will you discuss your philanthropic work and the areas you support?

I enjoy people, and I decided many years ago to be active in different charities. I am active in 15 to 20 charities, and my main focus is with the Police Athletic League.

I am also very involved in supporting school and education in challenged communities in New York. When I speak to kids, I say, “Look at me. I made it. If you work hard, you can make it too.”

With all the success that you have achieved, how important has it been that you never forgot where you came from?

It is very important, because otherwise you become an arrogant SOB. I learned from Bill Clinton who, when he was doing a fundraiser or hosting a party, always went into the kitchen and said hello to the waiters and the busboys and the cooks. He valued people no matter what their role or responsibility.

I thought that was great and I never forgot that my father started as a lighthouse keeper in Greece, and worked as a busboy in America.

My father also worked as a waiter in an Italian restaurant in Astoria on weekends, because he spoke Italian.

Are you able to enjoy the process and celebrate the wins or are you always looking at what’s next?

That is a part of my problem. I am a creator. I’m always looking to create something new. I try to teach that to my kids. This is why we are looking to create a new media empire.

There is still so much to do that it is hard to step back and reflect, but it has been a great ride.

•

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

The greatest leaders make lasting marks.

Congratulations to the people featured in this year’s annual Leaders of New York.

Copyright Š 2019 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.

NEWYORK

A Vanguard of Innovation An Interview with Kenneth L. Davis, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Mount Sinai Health System EDITORS’ NOTE Dr. Kenneth number 14 in the nation by U.S. News Davis attended the Icahn School of & World Report and ranked in the top Medicine at Mount Sinai and com20 nationally in eight medical specialpleted a residency and fellowship ties in the 2019-20 “Best Hospitals” in psychiatry and pharmacology, guidebook. The New York Eye and respectively, at Stanford University Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is also Medical Center. Upon r etur nranked nationally in ophthalmology. ing to Mount Sinai, he became Chief of Psychiatry at the Mount What are the factors that have Sinai-affiliated Bronx Veterans contributed to Mount Sinai Health Administration Medical Center and System’s consistent leadership in launched Mount Sinai’s research the industry?

Dr. Kenneth L. Davis program in the biology of schizoThere are a number of factors phrenia and Alzheimer’s disease that all converge to give us consistherapeutics. Davis was appointed CEO of Mount tency and that have differentiated us for some Sinai Medical Center in 2003 after spending 15 time. One is that we are a hospital that gave years as Chair of Mount Sinai’s Department of birth to a medical school, which means our Psychiatry. He was the first director for many of medical school and the hospital both report to the institution’s research entities and received the same board. We are an integrated system one of the first and largest program project that recognizes that the hospital and the medical grants for Alzheimer’s disease research from the school don’t compete – they work together. In National Institutes of Health. Davis also served as fiscally challenging times, this becomes all the Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount more important so we don’t view each other as Sinai from 2003 to 2007 and as President of the competing for the same dollars in a zero-sum American College of Neuropsychopharmacology game, but instead work synergistically to overin 2006. In 2002, he was elected to the Institute come these challenges. of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, Another advantage has been stability in our and in 2009 his undergraduate alma mater, leadership ranks. The management team here Yale University, presented him with the George has known each other for decades and has been H. W. Bush ’48 Lifetime of Leadership Award. leading this institution together for nearly 20 years. That breeds a certain confidence in each INSTITUTION BRIEF Mount Sinai Health other and the ability to recognize how we will System (mountsinai.org) encompasses the each react to certain proposals. There is a comIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and fort level around decision making that comes eight hospitals, as well as a large and expand- from so much shared experience and history. ing ambulatory care network. The eight hospiWe have been able to stay together this long tals – Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai because we have shared common values, many Brooklyn, The Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount of which stem back to the founding of the instituSinai Queens, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, Mount tion. This hospital, before we became the largest Sinai South Nassau, Mount Sinai West, and New system, lived in the juxtaposition of some of the York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai – wealthiest and poorest communities in the counhave a vast geographic footprint throughout the try and there is still no greater socioeconomic difNew York metropolitan region. In 2018, Mount ferential across boundaries of zip codes as there Sinai Health System hospitals received roughly 4 is where Mount Sinai is located. million patient visits, including inpatients, outOur values still lead us to treat everyone patients and the emergency department. as equally as we possibly can, despite those The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount disparities. This is a core value that you have to Sinai opened in 1968 and has more than 6,500 buy into when you come to Mount Sinai and faculty members in 34 academic departments join this management team. Accepting that as a and 39 clinical and research institutes. A prerequisite brings together people who really renowned medical school, it is ranked number view the world in a similar way with a simifour in the nation among medical schools for lar set of values and priorities which makes a overall research funding per principal inves- conflict less common, compromise easier, and tigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked coherence around programs possible.

82 LEADERS

With Mount Sinai’s continued growth, including your latest addition, Mount Sinai South Nassau, how critical is it to maintain Mount Sinai’s culture as you integrate new hospitals into the health system?

It’s critical and it takes time. People first have to understand our priorities and then we have to demonstrate that these are not just words, but are backed by action. An example of this is when we came into a very demoralized situation at St. Luke’s. They believed that they were on the brink of bankruptcy and that we would close the hospital. Instead, we told them that we were going to fully integrate them into our system. Now, I think even the greatest skeptics there believe that this is, in fact, our plan and the optimism there is palpable.

They now understand what we stand for, what our core values are and how important science, innovation, and quality care are to us.

They see that we treat everyone as equally as we possibly can and that we upgrade facilities.

While they understand that this is really the truth, it still takes time to earn that trust. You can’t just say those things – you have to demonstrate them, and demonstration takes years.

South Nassau is a wonderful community with great doctors who are going to become part of an academic health system. We are going to expand the academic and scientific programs as well as the innovation at South Nassau as we transition them into a tertiary care hospital.

Is Mount Sinai focused on continuing to expand its size and scale?

With healthcare changing, ambulatory expansion is essential. More and more services are going to be delivered in the community.

Ambulatory surgery centers, which were the exception rather than the rule over the past 25 years, are now becoming the rule. Soon, we are going to see even more activities like cardiac catheterization that were previously restricted to a hospital move out into the community.

We have to be prepared for future growth on an ambulatory platform. This will result in hospitals increasingly becoming places only for the very sickest patients and many standard in-patient units will have to be converted into intensive care units. This means that our expansion won’t be so much to take over other hospitals; it will be to modify the hospitals that we have to accommodate the increased complexity that will be addressed in hospitals. At the same time, we must expand our ambulatory footprint VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

so that it reflects the increasing amount of care that is being delivered outside the hospital, creating what we call hospitals without beds.

How important has it been for leadership to communicate this change internally and has this message been well-received?

People who have entered medicine over the last two decades understand that they are entering a field on the cutting edge of science and technology that is undergoing enormous change. Whether this is new therapeutics, laparoscopic robotic surgeries, electronic medical records, or artificial intelligence, they have become comfortable with the notion that taking care of people with the most serious diseases necessitates a comfort with the most cuttingedge technologies.

Those cutting-edge technologies usher in change. Our workforce hears about the breakthroughs that are happening in medicine every day and expects that this will transform how they do their work. So I don’t get a lot of pushback when we talk about how we’re going to have to expand the ICUs or move many procedures into an ambulatory environment.

I see people taking this change as a natural state of affairs.

How is Mount Sinai expanding its ambulatory network?

We inherited a 350,000 square foot facility at Union Square, which is an ambulatory platform. We have already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrading that facility, both physically and technologically. Today, it is truly a state-of-the-art facility. We also have 80,000 square feet in the Google building in Chelsea. We have made the same investment there and we are doing more and more complex procedures in those facilities. These truly are hospitals without beds.

Additionally, we just built out a big practice space in Huntington that consolidates the number of practices we had in the Northern part of Long Island into this one location on Cuba Hill Road. It’s a state of the art, huge ambulatory platform.

Finally, we have upgraded a number of the other 300 sites that we have. We look forward to their consolidation and modernization, and to the creation of additional sites. We would rather grow a new multi-specialty practice with primary care at its front end than we would taking on another hospital.

How important is it for Mount Sinai to continue to lead the discussion around prevention and wellness?

It’s critical. We have changed the kind of contracting we are doing with insurance companies and managed care companies such as managed Medicaid and Medicare Advantage companies. The contracts put us at risk because instead of being paid a fee for service, we were increasingly being paid for a capitated rate for a population of patients. That means that the incentive was no longer there to do as much as we could do.

The incentive is to keep people well. By changing our contracting, we align the patients, the providers, and the payers all to the same goal, which is to keep people well. This, in turn, VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

means that we have to have an entirely new group of case managers and community workers who are engaged with patients who have the highest risk and use the most resources so that we can keep them in the lowest level of care possible by helping them remain well. We need to prevent disease.

We need to make sure people take their medications, that they are in healthy environments, that they eat healthy foods, and that they exercise. All these things are critical to wellness, which is now critical to our business model. So it’s the highest priority and is an imperative.

People who have entered medicine over the last two decades understand that they are entering a field on the cutting edge of science and technology that is undergoing enormous change.

You mentioned the medical school.

What can be done in regard to the high cost of medical school in order to make sure that the industry continues to attract the best talent?

An initiative by a number of our farsighted board members was to do something to support those students who were encumbered by huge debt. We have now put a ceiling on how much debt any student will leave Mount Sinai with.

No student will leave with a debt greater than $75,000. We will pick up the rest of their entire costs. For many students in need, this makes a huge difference because the cost of medical school, including room and board and tuition in New York, is between $70,000 and $75,000 a year.

By capping their indebtedness for the entire four years at $75,000, I think we are going to increase the pool of those who can consider a career in medicine. Obviously, everybody would like to do more. But there is a financial reality to living in New York, to what it costs

to sustain a medical school and to how much money we can raise around this. But we’re going to continue to try to work on this.

That said, I still believe most students enter medicine for all the right reasons and a good number of them will still take on some substantial student debt. It ends up being as if they have another mortgage that they are going to be paying off as they become adults. However, it is still worth it for them because they are doing what they want to do and they are helping people to stay well by using the cutting edge of innovation and the next generation of therapeutics and diagnostics for patients.

With the increasing focus on technology, is the doctor/patient relationship still at the forefront and how important is that relationship to fostering wellness?

It is very important. I think this really has to do with the problems that have been imposed by the electronic medical record. It is not atypical for those physicians in largely cognitive disciplines of medicine to have to come home at night, have their dinner, see their children, interact with their family, and then to have two to three hours more of working with the electronic medical record to close out the charts on the patients that they have seen earlier in the day. We have to address this and have to find out how to make the EMR more efficient or we are going to have to add scribes to the practices of medicine, adding yet another cost in order to keep up with the demands that the EMR requires.

With the increasing focus on building its ambulatory network in communities, how does Mount Sinai view its commitment to those communities?

We are often the primary employer within the community as well as the primary provider of healthcare. For us to not accept that we must be a leader in keeping people well would be to abdicate our responsibilities as both the prime employer and the primary healthcare provider, so we have to do this as best we can. This is something that is on our minds all the time.

To give you an example of how committed we are, we are soon going to be launching a program involving the utilization of computer technology and enhanced CT imaging for the early detection of lung cancer in people with a history of smoking. We will be doing that using mobile scanners in less advantaged communities because we think that we can prevent the horrible outcome that comes from lung cancer being identified too late.

After many years leading Mount Sinai, are you still amazed at the type of innovation and breakthroughs that take place at the institution?

It never gets old. I take tremendous pride in what we do. I am at the age where I have to start thinking about how will I look back on my life. One of the things that will make me most proud is to say that I was a part of a vanguard of innovation that became so routine that our expectation was that, in any given year, our medical center would file close to 100 patents and be at the leading edge of the future of medicine.

•

LEADERS 83

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Inclusive Leadership An Interview with Janet Foutty, Chair of the Board, Deloitte US EDITORS’ NOTE Janet Foutty most marketplace – delivering measurable r ecently served as Chair and and lasting results that help reinforce Chief Executive Officer for Deloitte public trust in capital markets, inspire Consulting LLP. She previously led clients to see challenges as opportuniDeloitte’s Federal practice as well ties to transform and thrive, and help as Deloitte Consulting’s technology lead the way toward a stronger econpractice. She has also held leaderomy and a healthy society. ship roles on Deloitte client programs that span retail, technology, What have been the keys to Deloitte’s government, energy, and financonsistent strength and leadership cial services industries. Foutty is a in the industry? frequent author and popular pubIt starts with our values, which is Janet Foutty lic speaker. She is a passionate the commitment to serving our clients advocate for inclusion in the workwith distinction and quality. We are place; women in technology; and the need for in four major businesses which have lots of science, technology, engineering, and mathe- interconnectivity, an audit business, a tax business, matics (STEM) education and founded Women a risk consulting business, and a broad consulting in Technology groups in India and the United business. Quality has really helped define our States. Foutty serves as a member of Deloitte’s brand for the 175 years that our organization Global Board of Directors. She currently serves has been in existence. 2020 will mark our global on the boards for Bright Pink, a nonprofit ded- firm’s 175th anniversary. icated to women’s health, Catalyst, a global This commitment to client service is in nonprofit working to build more inclusive work- every fiber of who we are and what we do and places, and NYU Stern’s Tech MBA program. has transcended the generations.

She is also on the executive committee for the How has Deloitte been able to maintain Council on Competitiveness, and an inductee of its culture as it has grown in size and scale? the Kelley School of Business Academy of Alumni If I go back to a point in time, when I was Fellows, Indiana University. Foutty holds a B.S. a newly promoted manager in Chicago and our from Indiana University, and an M.B.A. in Chicago office had gone from 100 staff and 10 finance from the Kelley School of Business at partners to 150 staff and 15 partners, I attended Indiana University. my first management meeting. The whole focus of the conversation and the meeting was about FIRM BRIEF Deloitte (deloitte.com) provides having an absolute laser-like focus on maintainindustry-leading audit, consulting, tax and ing our culture as we continue to experience advisory services to many of the world’s most monumental growth. admired brands, including nearly 90 percent of Today, we have more than 100,000 talthe Fortune 500, and more than 5,000 private ented people in the U.S., with 6,000 working and middle market companies. It works across from New York, our largest office, and our the industry sectors that drive and shape today’s U.S. headquarters.

We have embedded into our core values our commitment to our clients and to our people. The other core value has been a commitment to our partnership. I believe that a partnership culture, with our partners as owners of the business, has allowed us to be really focused on maintaining such a strong dimension of culture, both in how we treat each other and how we treat our clients.

Another key factor is Deloitte’s very deliberate programming through Deloitte University. This is our physical training and development center and is a place where we focus on leadership, learning and development for our people, and a place that really embodies how we maintain our culture.

How critical is innovation to Deloitte’s continued success and where is innovation taking place in the firm?

Innovation is happening in every part of our business each and every day. Technology disruption is affecting our business on an unprecedented scale, as it is for all of our clients. We’ve been focused for many years on expecting and planning for changes across our solutions, our operating model and our talent models. It’s interesting because it is affecting different parts of our business at different paces.

Our audit business is using artificial intelligence in combination with our human auditors. Our gain in speed and efficiency has been a critical part of our effectiveness in the audit market.

In the consulting business, which I had the privilege to lead for many years, it’s all about how we take our really deep industry knowledge and process expertise to get things done across complex organizations. It is about how we work with our technology alliance partners from SAP to Salesforce, to Apple to Google, to bring differentiated solutions to our clients. This has transformed the way our consulting business works.

2020 will mark our global firm’s 175th anniversary. This commitment to client service is in every fiber of who we are and what we do and has transcended the generations.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

LEADERS 85

We researched and have defined how we think as a firm about inclusion. It is centered around six signature traits, the six C’s of inclusive leadership: commitment, courage, cognizance of bias, cultural intelligence, and then my two favorites, curiosity and collaboration.

Each one of our businesses has been deeply affected in a very positive way by technology, and this has allowed us to innovate both within the four walls of our organization, and with our alliance partners, to drive a really impactful change for our clients’ organizations.

You have a clear passion about and commitment to inclusive leadership. Will you discuss this focus?

I have been on this journey for Deloitte since we were the first professional services firm to start talking about diversity and inclusion back in 1993, so this has been a focus in some form or fashion since the early nineties when I started my career.

It has evolved from talking about the development and advancement of women to how do we create a diverse and inclusive workforce. While the conversation has been a constant, the manner with which we talk about it has greatly evolved.

We researched and have defined how we think as a firm about inclusion. It is centered around six signature traits, the six C’s of inclusive leadership: commitment, courage, cognizance of bias, cultural intelligence, and then my two favorites, curiosity and collaboration. When you think about how far the conversation has come, when we discuss having a diverse and inclusive workforce, those six attributes are absolutely critical to weave into the conversation.

I recently transitioned into the role as chair of the board. As I was sitting down with our nominating committee who is working on our next slate of board members, we spent time talking about my expectations for our board members and the expectation that they bring these six traits to bear to the boardroom as we think about the role a board plays in an inclusive environment and culture and workplace. It is very much in our DNA as an organization.

You mentioned Deloitte University.

What was the vision in creating Deloitte University and how has it impacted the firm?

I was recently with the CEO that led the creation of Deloitte University with the support of our board chair at the time. If I flash back to 2008, we were having a discussion around learning, development and culture. We had an organization-wide debate about whether we should have bricks and mortar as a place to be the foundation of our learning and culture, or should we have clicks online to be that foundation. Our CEO at the time, with the support of our board, made a really brave decision given everything that was happening in 2008, to make a deep commitment to the belief that a physical space, which has now been replicated in other organizations all around the world, would be an important differentiator for how we develop our people and how we develop our culture.

We’re now a decade into Deloitte University, and what I can tell you is that it is a very special place for our people. The manner in which the space is laid out, the development of the curriculum, the organic nature of our people spending time with people that they wouldn’t run into in their everyday lives, has created a differentiated cultural experience with a focus on continuous learning.

How do you define the role as Chair of the Board and how do you focus your efforts?

Deloitte is the largest private partnership in the world and largest professional services firm in the world. In the U.S., I serve as Chair and Joe (Ucuzoglu) serves as CEO, which are two positions that are elected by the partners of the firm. We are focused on working

to drive a shared agenda, an agenda that is shared between management, the board, our internal partners, our alliance partners and our clients.

There are a couple of things that we are most focused on in the shared agenda. One is absolutely the strategy around technology disruption and how we keep appropriate pace with all the market dynamics and the needs of our people, while ensuring that we’re really shaping the market going forward. This is a critical focus of mine from a governance perspective. Given that I come from a technology background, it is a very natural place for me to focus and lead in the boardroom.

I am also focused on the future of work, and answering the questions – what does our future workforce look like? How are services delivered with human intelligence and AI technology? Through the board and in working with management, we are making sure that we’re making the right investments and the right decisions that will allow us to maintain our culture while developing the workforce of the future to serve our clients with the same distinction and quality that we’ve had the privilege to do historically.

I also get the privilege to serve as the chair of the Deloitte Foundation, which is a 90-yearold not-for-profit organization. It supports education, focusing on helping not only our workforce, but our future potential – middle and high school students, undergrads, and grad students – developing their talent and promoting excellence through STEM and through a continued commitment around inclusion. This is something that I get the privilege to do in addition to chairing our board and working with our CEO to drive our agenda forward.

•

…we’re making the right investments and the right decisions that will allow us to maintain our culture while developing the workforce of the future to serve our clients with the same distinction and quality that we’ve had the privilege to do historically.

86 LEADERS

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

wempe.com

NEWYORK

Professionalism and Quality An Interview with Bess Freedman, Chief Executive Officer, Brown Harris Stevens (BHS) EDITORS’ NOTE Bess Freedman is the I think the environment is steady. first CEO of luxury real estate firm I think all indications show that 2019 Brown Harris Stevens. Freedman, prewill be better than 2018. What we really viously the company’s Co-President, need to do is to get sellers to reduce stepped on board at Brown Harris prices. It’s still all about the price. I Stevens when its President, Hall sound like a broken record. We did a Willkie, appointed her in 2013 to townhouse deal for $77 million and a foster business development for the couple of other big deals, which makes agents and the firm. Prior to jointhe sellers think, “Wow, there are all ing BHS, Fr eedman served as these huge deals going on. I can price Senior M a n a g i n g Dir ector at mine really high.” Those are the excepCorcoran where, as an agent, she tion, not the rule. Those are the outliers.

Bess Freedman attained gr eat success at their Most transactions are not done that way.

Carnegie Hill office. She earned her Is it difficult to differentiate and undergraduate degree from Ithaca College and how do you define what makes BHS unique? her law degree from The University of the District Definitely, but the beauty for BHS is that we of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law, in are a legacy firm. We’ve been around a long time.

Washington, D.C. Before entering real estate, she I give credit to Hall (Willkie, President). He built practiced law as an Assistant State’s Attorney in this company based on professionalism and qualMontgomery County, Maryland, and also worked ity. The agents that walk the halls here are the at Legal Aid as an attorney. Freedman is a mem- best in the business. They have a knowledge from ber of the Florida, Washington, D.C. and Maryland doing decades of business, and they understand Bar, and worked in New York pro hac vice. real estate like nobody else. We have a culture that enables professionalism and doing the best FIRM BRIEF Brown Harris Stevens (bhsusa.com) to serve your clients’ needs. is one of the most prominent privately-held real estate firms in the world. Established in 1873, the company is headquartered in New York City, operates offices in the Hamptons, Palm Beach, and Miami, and oversees the sale of marquee properties around the world. Its operating divisions offer a full suite of residential sales services, residential property management, new development marketing and sales, relocation, appraisal and consulting, commercial sales, healthcare real estate and insurance services.

It’s about

delivering experiences

What are your views on the state of the New York City real estate market?

I think the real estate market has faced a certain level of headwinds because we have less foreign buyers. We have new taxes, such as the mansion tax, as well as the state and local taxes.

The environment is still in oversupply and overpriced. If you look at all of that, it is not surprising that the market has slowed in the past couple of years. We began 2019 with a government shutdown. That also impacts real estate.

The good news is that rates are still low and there are still incredible opportunities to be had.

We wrapped up the second quarter up 23 percent in closings, which we haven’t seen in almost nine years. We know that there was clearly a rush to close before the mansion tax kicked in.

88 LEADERS

to the clients.

Today, we’re not competing with technology. We’re competing with firms that have incredible capital. These are very different things. We have developed cutting edge proprietary technology that helps our agents be more efficient. It empowers them. However, it is hard to compete with firms who don’t care about turning a profit.

We are still a company that wants to turn a profit.

We care about that. That’s why we’re here, and we want to do it in the best way possible.

BHS has made a major investment in technology. How do you ensure that technology does not detract from the relationship side of the business?

You just hit on such an important point because we always say we’re not in the real estate business; we’re in the relationship business. It’s about delivering experiences to the clients. They know if they shake hands with you and you understand their needs and that their kids go to a certain school or they need a dog walker, you really connect with them. Maybe they speak a foreign language, and you also speak that language.

Making that connection is vital. Texting somebody and being transactional works better in rentals because it’s more like hunting as opposed to farming, which is what sales is all about. With rentals, I think you can be more transactional because it’s relatively quick. You still want to deliver a high level of service, but you go out and, in one day, you find it and, boom, you’re done.

With sales, you’re digging through a client’s financials. Sometimes you’re listing their apartment. You’re going through their closets. Maybe they’re going through a terrible divorce. Maybe they just lost a loved one. Maybe their children went to college, and they’re empty nesters. You’re dealing with high emotions, and so you have to be sensitive to that. You can’t just text something.

Emotion doesn’t translate in a text. Your voice matters.

If I engage with you and I look across the table, am I sincere or am I full of it? All of that matters. It’s about chemistry with people. I think a good agent understands that. Young people have to understand that. I’m even preaching to my kids that they have to understand the importance of human engagement.

Has your focus changed as you transition to CEO? My focus has just gotten to be a little bit bigger in the sense that I have a responsibility over the other regions – Palm Beach, Miami, and the Hamptons. I have a bigger, more macro-focus role in marketing, which was something I was focused on improving. I consider marketing and technology to be two heads on one body.

I want to make sure both of those are strong. I want to make sure that our agents have everything that they need and want to collaborate with them, help them, troubleshoot with them, recruit with them, and keep building an incredible company for the future.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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Tenant Experts An Interview with Mitchell S. Steir, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Savills North America EDITORS’ NOTE Mitch Steir joined There is a leadership group that has Savills in 1988 and has served as been in place since we purchased the Chairman and CEO of the comcompany from the founder of the firm, pany since 2002. His areas of experJulian Studley, in 2002. We are a welcomtise in commercial real estate advisory ing, collaborative, energetic group and, include early lease restructurings and in many ways, we’re like a big family. renewals, relocations, the acquisition Many of us who are the leaders of the and disposition of facilities and stracompany have been together for more tegic portfolio planning. In 1984, Steir than 30 years. was honored by the Real Estate Board The next generations that we hire of New York with the industry’s covare all part of that puzzle. I’ve always eted “Most Ingenious Deal of the Year” had a saying that A-quality people attract Mitchell S. Steir award for his creation of Manhattan’s other A-quality people. We are careful “Footwear Center” at 1414 Avenue about who we hire and, because of who of the Americas. He serves on the boards of the fol- we are, we attract a certain kind of professional. In lowing organizations: Museum of the City of New recruiting additional real estate advisors, we focus York, Mount Sinai Surgery Advisory Board, Realty more on the skills and talents that candidates posFoundation of New York, Avenue of Americas sess and how those skills and talents will mesh with Association, and Citizens Budget Commission. Steir our existing team, rather than simply on how much is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at business they’ve done in the past.

Chapel Hill.

COMPANY BRIEF Established in 1855, Savills (savills.us) is one of the leading real estate advisors in the world. Savills helps organizations find the right solutions that ensure employee success. Sharply skilled and fiercely dedicated, the firm’s integrated teams of consultants and brokers are experts in better real estate. With services in tenant representation, workforce and incentives strategy, workplace strategy and occupant experience, project management, and capital markets, Savills has elevated the potential of workplaces around the corner, and around the world, for 160 years and counting.

What have been the keys to Savills’ strength and leadership in the industry?

A distinguishing feature of Savills is the unique culture that we have, which is strong and the glue that binds all of us to this great company.

Many of our professionals have grown up with me in the business and are the leaders in many of our offices. We have an unusual tenure within the firm because it’s a special place. I think part of this is because we are highly specialized in tenant advisory and we’re the only major, and now global, firm in North America that does not represent the landlord side of the equation. As a result of this tenant focus, our platform attracts entrepreneurial, creative self-starters who are exceptionally gifted at helping other business people solve their real estate challenges.

Is collaboration a key part of the Savills’ culture?

90 LEADERS

Occupier solutions is our expertise at Savills.

How important is it for you to be clientfocused and spend time in the field?

That is my passion: spending time in the field with clients and developing smart solutions for them. I’ve spent the last few years focusing on the infrastructure and leadership of the organization.

Now that we have Mitch Rudin and a strong executive management team in place, I can return to my first love.

Occupier solutions is our expertise at Savills.

Our whole business model is dedicated to amplifying the productivity and profitability of the people who use commercial real estate. Therefore, it is vital that our brokers and consultants go beyond the transaction to ensure that our clients’ workplace

and real estate strategies align with their evolving operational and financial objectives.

How challenging is it to show what makes a firm unique in the industry?

It can be very difficult. However, Savills has built great equity, in North America and abroad, for being fiercely dedicated and sharply skilled in tenant advisory. We are now part of a $2 billion global enterprise – the fifth largest in the industry, with 36,000 employees across more than 70 countries. We’ve invested in award-winning client technology solutions, launched offices in new locations, hired more talent, and added complementary services in key markets throughout the region to better deliver local expertise and tenacious client advocacy. Businesses and organizations that choose Savills understand these points of differentiation, see the value and are aligned with our unique approach.

With the impact of technology on the industry, how critical is it to still put client relationships and the human touch at the forefront of the business?

Nothing transcends a good relationship, and relationships are critical in this industry. While the dynamic of the commercial real estate industry is rapidly evolving, our belief in the human touch remains at the forefront of our approach – even in our technology solutions. For example, we launched Workthere in the United States in March.

This is our online listing and advisory platform for flexible space. It combines the efficiencies of technology with our white-glove brokerage service.

Businesses of all sizes and industries, and across geographies, use this tool to simplify the search process. Our dedicated Workthere experts work with the tenants to understand the key drivers, negotiate the terms and secure the workspaces on their behalf.

Overall, our clients are increasingly seeking strategic guidance on how to optimize their spaces for enhanced productivity and performance. As their long-term partners, we pride ourselves on staying in front of the changing occupancy standards and conditions of the market. This requires a local presence and regular touchpoints.

What advice do you offer young people interested in a career in real estate?

The industry today is much more dynamic than it was when I began my career. It is important to align yourself with the right people because you can’t achieve anything without having a great team.

The days of Orville Wright and flying solo have long passed us.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

NEWYORK

Transformational Leadership and Tenant Focus An Interview with Mitchell E. Rudin, President, Savills North America EDITORS’ NOTE Mitch Rudin traded 160-year old British company joined Savills as President of its North with 650 offices around the world.

America region in 2019, bringing Globally, we’re the fifth largest commore than 30 years of leadership in pany in our industry. It has extraorthe commercial real estate indusdinary brand recognition. Whenever try. Over his distinguished career, I travel and meet people, they know he has served in a CEO capacity at Savills. They may have known it from three major real estate firms – Mackthe residential component as opposed Cali Realty Corporation, Brookfield to the commercial side, but they know Office Properties, and CBRE. Rudin the company. sits on the boards of the NYU Schack On the U.S. side, the venerable Institute, NYC Police Foundation, Studley name was one of the great Mitchell E. Rudin Police Athletic League, and St. Francis names in the industry. There was some Friends of the Poor and is a memtrepidation about the name change so ber of the U.S. Trust Advisory Committee and for five years it was Savills Studley. In March, we Governor of the Urban Land Institute. He has transitioned to Savills. Mitch (Steir, Chairman & also been awarded Person of the Year honors CEO) deserves the lion’s share of the credit for from multiple organizations. this decision because our PR people presented us with a “bet the ranch” alternative to roll out What excited you about the opportunity to the name change which was to advertise during join Savills? the NCAA basketball tournament. Mitch agreed There were several things that excited and it exceeded every expectation. me about this opportunity. There was terrific existing leadership at the top, a high degree of professionalism and one of the best cultures in the industry. The organization was poised for change and when you look back on my career, these are all things that have been important to me.

How do you define the Savills culture?

There is a commitment to this organization and a commitment to the highest degree of professionalism that really distinguishes it in the industry. Many of our people have been here for more than 30 years, have built great friendships and are deeply committed to the organization. One of the most significant things that has always distinguished this company is its annual trip in January.

It is different than other company trips.

My first trip was to Buenos Aires, and we’re going to Israel in January and New Zealand the following year. There are cultural, leadership and philanthropic components. Last January in Buenos Aires, we spent a morning with a group of underprivileged children playing soccer, and then presented them with a check.

Savills is not as large as some of its competitors but is able to punch above its weight. What has made this possible?

We’re not afraid to compete at any level.

A term that has entered the vernacular is that we are “scrappy.” Further, as Savills, we are at a pretty good “weight” level. Savills is a publicly

We have been

aggressively building

consultative expertise

in project management, workforce and

incentives strategy, and

workplace strategy and occupier experience.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

What differentiates Savills from its competitors?

Our culture, our professionalism and our primary devotion in North America to the representation of tenants and occupiers. We do not represent landlords.

So we have the expertise of having only represented tenants for the 65-year history of the company. We have been aggressively building consultative expertise in project management, workforce and incentives strategy, and workplace strategy and occupier experience. The discussion is very simple. If you’re going to see a doctor, or going to see a lawyer, you’re not going to a generalist. You’re going to somebody who’s a specialist. That’s what we do and that’s what our niche has become. In addition, we are aggressively growing our capital markets, industrial services and retail services capabilities.

How important has it been for Savills to build a diverse and inclusive workforce?

It’s critical. Most of the new hires that we’ve made in the last eight months at the headquarters level have been diverse. We are starting a new junior onboarding program, which will have its first class in 2020. The commitment is that this class will not be less than 50 percent diverse. If it turns out to be 100 percent diverse, then that would make me very happy. That’s been a clear message to our colleagues who are working on it.

I have a personal bias to a particular profile. We want people who have been captains of their varsity team in college because that person has been a leader their whole life going back to the playground and they know how to successfully balance competing priorities.

What has made the relationship between you and Mitch work so well?

It starts with respect. We have always respected each other, even as competitors, and we were professional friends. That evolved to a different level when I was at Brookfield, because Mitch and his colleagues here were instrumental in doing two of the most transformational deals for Brookfield Place and for Downtown Manhattan. Through that process, our relationship evolved from a professional friendship to a true social friendship.

Mitch is one of the greatest brokers in the city. I would choose no one other than him to represent me, or anyone I know, in matters of commercial real estate. He has a devotion to the client side that is without parallel.

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NEWYORK

Perform and Transform An Interview with Alan D. Schnitzer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Travelers Companies, Inc. EDITORS’ NOTE Alan Schnitzer time. Having said that, we understand that became CEO and a member of the comwe won’t be able to continue to perform pany’s Board of Directors in 2015, and if we don’t transform. We believe the winwas elected Chairman of the Board ners in our industry will be those who can in 2017. He joined Travelers in April innovate successfully on top of a strong 2007 as Vice Chairman and Chief foundation like ours.

Legal Officer. He then went on to lead How important is innovation to the company’s Financial, Professional Travelers? and International Insurance segInnovation is in our DNA. We know ment and subsequently the company’s that we can’t afford to be complacent, Business and International Insurance and the capabilities that have fueled our segment. He also oversaw Travelers’ achievements over the past decade will not Alan D. Schnitzer Field Management, Corporate necessarily be the same ones we’ll need Communications and Public Policy for the next decade. As a consequence, we organizations. Before joining Travelers, Schnitzer have an ambitious innovation agenda. The vision for served as the company’s lead outside counsel as a our innovation agenda is to be the undeniable choice partner in the law firm of Simpson Thacher & for the customer and an indispensable partner to our Bartlett LLP, where he advised corporate clients on agents and brokers. To achieve that vision, we’ve a variety of transactions and general corporate law established three priorities: extend our lead in risk matters. Schnitzer is a member of the Board expertise; provide great experiences for our customof Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and ers, distribution partners and employees; and improve serves on the Board of Directors of New York City our productivity and efficiency.

Ballet and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

This work is apparent across the company. In Schnitzer earned his undergraduate degree in the past few years, we have brought our expertise finance and accounting from The Wharton School to some of the leading technology platforms on of the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from the market. We partnered with Amazon to launch Columbia Law School. the insurance industry’s first digital storefront; we began managing auto claims for Lyft in the United COMPANY BRIEF Travelers (travelers.com) has States; and we’re digitizing virtually every aspect been around for more than 160 years and has of our business. For example, we’re now able to earned a reputation as one of the best property adjust many claims using a customer’s smartphone casualty insurers in the industry. It is a leader in and make claim payments via PayPal. personal, business and specialty insurance and A few years ago, we created the Early Severity the only property casualty company in the Dow Predictor®, a model that uses data and analytics to Jones Industrial Average. Its approximately 30,000 predict which injured workers are most at risk for employees and 13,500 independent agents and chronic pain and, therefore, opioid addiction. Since brokers in the United States, Canada, the United its inception in 2015, we have applied the model Kingdom and Ireland help provide its custom- to nearly 65,000 injured workers, and we estimate ers with both peace of mind and the confidence to that this has resulted in loss cost savings of more reach higher and do more. than $150 million due to a substantial reduction in opioids prescribed and surgeries performed, and a What have been the keys to Travelers’ consis- more rapid return-to-work by employees. tent leadership in the industry and how do What impact is technology having on you define Travelers’ advantage?

Travelers’ business?

Our formidable competitive advantages are Advancements in technology are helping us the foundation of our success: talent and tenure; reimagine just about every aspect of our company, data and analytics; product breadth and specializa- and the line between our technology organization tion; risk mitigation and improvement; distribution and our businesses is blurring. We’re creating more relationships; and claim services. agile teams with a broader mix of abilities and But we aren’t resting on our laurels. We’re leveraging advanced technology to develop cusfocused on an imperative we call perform and trans- tomer-oriented solutions. form. Perform means continuing to execute successWe’re also partnering with the very organizafully on our long-term financial strategy, which has tions that are said to be disrupting our industry. helped us create significant shareholder value over We work with a number of insurtechs and startup 92 LEADERS

accelerator programs across the country to be sure we’re not only plugged into the flow of ideas, but also helping to create the change that’s occurring.

Travelers places a major focus on diversity and inclusion. Will you highlight your efforts to build a diverse and inclusive workforce at Travelers?

Our most valuable asset is our people. It’s our job to attract and retain the very best talent in the business, and that means recruiting from the broadest possible pool of candidates. It means offering development opportunities to advance diverse leaders.

It means creating an inclusive culture that encourages our people to bring their full selves to work every day.

Among other initiatives, we’ve created eight Diversity Networks within Travelers. These networks are voluntary, employee-led organizations dedicated to making Travelers an even more welcoming place to work, and they count more than 11,000 employees as members – more than a third of our total population. It’s also why last year we launched an initiative called SHE Travels as part of our commitment to be the leading advocate for women in the insurance industry.

We bring these same priorities to our work with our community and business partners. One example is our Small Business Risk Education program, which helps women, minority and veteran entrepreneurs develop a broad understanding of risk management. Our robust supplier diversity program, aimed at helping to grow businesses owned by people of diverse backgrounds, is another.

We are proud to be recognized among the best employers for veterans, the LGBTQ community, people with disabilities, and diversity overall.

Having said that, we don’t do it for the recognition. We understand that for Travelers, diversity and inclusion is more than a nice-to-have – it is a business imperative.

What are your key priorities for Travelers as you look to the future?

Our North Star will always be industry-leading returns over time. For us, it comes back to driving sustained value for all our stakeholders. We make a promise to take care of our customers, communities, employees and business partners because we recognize the inextricable link between industry-leading results, on the one hand, and gratified customers and business partners, engaged employees and healthy communities, on the other.

We believe that by keeping our focus on all our stakeholders, we will continue to deliver top-tier results next quarter and succeed for the next quarter century.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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The Impact of Architecture An Interview with A. Eugene Kohn, Chairman, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates EDITORS’ NOTE On July 4, 1976, residential and mixed-use projects, A. Eugene Kohn founded Kohn both in the United States and abroad.

Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) in More than 100 of the firm’s comNew York City, alongside William pleted projects are LEED designated, Pedersen and Sheldon Fox, with a or pursuing, green certification. commitment to outstanding design, quality of execution, and excepWhat is the state of KPF’s business tional client service. and where do you see the greatest The Founding Partners wanted opportunities for growth? to create a firm that would succeed There are always opportuniwell past their own tenures. With ties for growth, so even though the this in mind, they sought talented markets may be changing, even that A. Eugene Kohn people who could be as good, and change creates opportunity. KPF’s ideally better, than themselves. market is across the country and most These employees, mentored by the founders, of the world, including Asia, Europe, South would be the next leaders at KPF – and hold the America and China. Almost half of our work responsibility of doing the same for following is now in China. Being a global firm with expergenerations. tise in diverse types of buildings has allowed Today, Kohn serves as Principal and us to handle all kinds of business conditions.

Chairman of Kohn Pedersen Fox. Holding So when the U.S. economy went into recession Bachelor of Ar chitectur e and Master of in the early 1990s, for example, we stayed busy Architecture degrees from the University of in London, Europe and parts of Asia. When we Pennsylvania, he served in the U.S. Navy on started the firm, we worked mostly for corpoactive duty between his academic degrees and, rate clients like ABC, Procter & Gamble, and after graduation, remained in the Reserve for AT&T. Today, we also work with developers, another five years, retiring as a Lieutenant academic institutions, governmental agencies, Commander. He is an Executive Fellow of airport authorities, museums and lots of other the Graduate School of Design at Harvard kinds of clients.

University where he teaches, in addition to We are very busy in the United States. New teaching at Harvard Business School. He York, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and helped establish the Harvard Real Estate Center San Jose have all been strong markets, as well Academic Initiative, is a founding member of as Boston, Washington and Philadelphia. How the Wharton School Real Estate Center Advisory long this will last, I can’t tell you. I wouldn’t Board, and has served for over 30 years on the hazard a guess at this point, but there will come Board of Overseers at PennDesign. Kohn was a a time when things slow down. trustee for the University of Pennsylvania and Hudson Yards in New York City has done was honored with the 2010 Alumni Award of fantastically well and is almost fully leased in Merit by the university, the highest award pre- every building. I am not sure anyone would sented to alumni. Kohn has also been recog- have guessed that Hudson Yards would have nized with the Wharton Real Estate Center’s done that well, except maybe Steve (Ross, Lifetime Achievement Award, the University of Chairman and Founder, Related Companies) Pennsylvania – PennDesign Dean’s Medal of or Jeff (Blau, CEO, Related Companies) or Achievement, the highest honor awarded by the Bruce (Beal, President, Related Companies). It institution, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. has done amazingly well and has had a huge positive impact on New York, healing an open FIRM BRIEF Operating as one firm with nine wound in the city’s urban fabric and creating a offices in eight countries, KPF (kpf.com) is one of new mixed-use neighborhood. the world’s premier architecture firms with over With KPF’s global footprint, how have 650 staff members from numerous countries, you structured the firm in order to service together speaking a collective 40+ languages. global markets?

The firm’s diverse portfolio comprises corpoToday, we’re working in 40 countries. rate headquarters, office buildings, hospitality, We have offices in London, Berlin, Singapore, academic, medical, research, civic, museum, Shanghai, Seoul, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi and transportation, airports, bus and train stations, San Francisco, as well as New York. We are 94 LEADERS

global in our reach, but we have great talent working across the country, and we do a lot of work out of New York that goes to China, or from London to China, although our offices in Hong Kong or Shanghai will carry out the work.

We probably have over 200 buildings completed in China since we started – major buildings in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing and many other cities. China has been a great opportunity for us.

The firm was built with a clear culture and a built-to-last mentality. When you experience the growth that KPF has achieved, is it challenging to maintain culture?

We have a lot of partners and a lot of teams. We have 31 partners based all around the world. We have put together phenomenal talent. If you compare it to a sports team, it’s like being three or four deep in each position, and if you substitute you would not know the difference, they are all so good. We have people who have been here 35 years – who have built rewarding careers here, which is great. So we have created a team feeling. People feel that they are part of a group. We didn’t do it in one day.

Will you discuss the impact of architecture and how it touches so many areas of human emotion?

Buildings affect you every day: your office, your home, a hospital or a school. The way it works, the lighting, the colors, the natural light,

Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s West Side VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Shanghai World Financial Center in China

the feeling of the space, it can make you feel happy or sad, less tense or more tense. The work of architects affects so many people – these buildings that sometimes last 100 or more years, and the number of people who experience them, both from outside and inside, are affected by these buildings. If it’s a really great building, it makes you feel good. It makes you feel good about yourself.

Stanley Marcus (Neiman Marcus) was a client and a good friend. He said the key to the success of space is that it makes you feel good about yourself. So his idea always was to make his stores make you feel happy and feel positive and then you’ll buy.

This is true with hospitals as well. It used to be that when you went to a hospital it was dark gray, like battleships, and you didn’t feel optimistic and if you didn’t feel sick, you began to feel sick. But today, the new hospitals focus on how you, the patient, can recover by feeling positive and hopeful.

How critical is the developer-architect relationship to the success of a building?

There has to be mutual respect. There has to be a certain degree of decency and honor.

Developers are creative and the New York developers are very experienced. Hudson Yards with Related and One Vanderbilt with SL Green are great examples of that.

What advice do you offer young people interested in a career in architecture?

They should recognize that they have a lot to learn. We probably do more teaching at KPF than most schools. Almost every other night, we hold some type of class about technology or design or you can learn from sculptors or artists who come in to talk to us. So there are always events and things to do here, and we make it possible to grow and improve.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

You really need to have an open mind to learn and ask questions. When I was young, I worked for terrific firms, and during every lunch hour I would go and look at other jobs by other people in the firm. I looked at how they did their drawings. During construction, I would go out to the project site and see how it was being built and talk to the contractors. In other words, I was interested in all aspects.

So the individual has to want to learn and grow, and we try to make it easy for them to do that.

You are publishing a book titled – The World By Design, The Story of a Global Architecture Firm. What interested you in writing the book?

Somebody said, “You should write a book.” I think it was that simple. Our partners also thought that it would be good to have the history of the firm, how we got started, our philosophy, what we’ve done – in a book. So I thought it was a good idea, and I had been thinking about it anyhow. The book traces the full arc of my career – from my studies with Lou Kahn at Penn and my days working for other architects to the founding of KPF and its transformation into a global practice.

It’s a book of stories – stories about how we got started, about the talented people who work at KPF, and some of the remarkable clients we’ve collaborated with – such as Steve Ross at Hudson Yards, Marc Holliday who is building One Vanderbilt and Minoru Mori who created Roppongi Hills in Tokyo.

It’s about events – good stories with good endings and some stories with not so good endings, but they were all part of the making of the firm and the experience of the firm. The book really deals with how this firm grew and operates. Most important, it’s about the new generation of leaders at KPF, fantastic people like Jamie von Klemperer, who is our President now. Jamie started at KPF more than 30 years ago, worked his way up by proving himself on complex projects around the world, and now runs the whole show. He’s exactly the kind of leader that Bill, Shelley and I hoped we could develop at KPF. And right behind Jamie is a group of exceptional architects at the principal and director levels who represent the next stage of our future.

Did writing the book provide you the opportunity to reflect on your career and celebrate what you have built?

It has been like reliving my life, which I hadn’t anticipated. But all of a sudden, the memories came back – even the feelings came back, and experiences with a lot of really wonderful people. My greatest joy has been meeting so many great people, whether they were clients, architects or consultants. I’ve been really lucky – getting to know people like Prince Charles, Lou Gerstner of IBM, and Michael Bloomberg, to name just a few. I even crossed paths with some celebrities, such as Grace Kelly, Kevin Kline and Willie Mays. It has been a lot of fun and I hope that comes through in the book.

I also point out that architecture is not just the architect and not just the developer or the client. Obviously, the client is key, and developers are very creative, and corporations are really fun to work with. But it is important to remember that the engineers, the consultants for the interiors, for acoustics, for lighting, these are all critical to the success of the project.

I tried to write a book that talks to a broad range of readers – from students planning their own careers in architecture to leaders of all kinds of creative firms. I think that there are lessons all of them can learn from my stories.

How did your service in the Navy shape your leadership style?

The Navy played one of the major roles in my life in preparing me for working and eventually leading. It taught me about the responsibility of leaders, how to lead, how to be firm, but at the same time not being cruel.

I was a lieutenant commander when I retired from the Navy, but I never tried to command using just my stripes. Even as a regular lieutenant, I would explain to people what they needed to do, instead of just ordering them to do it. I never reduced their self-respect.

I also learned that you can inspire people as a leader, which is critical, and that you can bring out the best in them, and great leaders bring people together. You’ve got to bring people together. You can’t win on a basketball team if three people don’t pass to the other two. Can you imagine basketball teams not playing as a team, not passing to each other because they don’t like each other?

I would say the Navy gave me great respect for leadership. Also, the Navy makes you understand the need to delegate. You can’t do it all yourself. I was very fortunate to start my firm with two great partners. I couldn’t have done it without them. From the very beginning, we realized it was all about the team.

•

LEADERS 95

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PwC’s Purpose An Interview with Tim Ryan, Senior Partner and Chair, PwC US EDITORS’ NOTE Tim Ryan previThe next area that brings our purously served as Vice Chair and earpose to life is a program at PwC where lier led PwC’s Assurance practice, we are targeting underserved commuPwC’s U.S. Financial Services pracnities in tech and financial literacy that tice and PwC’s Consumer Finance we call Access Your Potential. It is an Group. Ryan has also served on over $300 million commitment over the U.S. Board of Partners and five years where we are positively Principals and the network’s Global impacting 10 million students and Board. A certified public accountant helping to raise their understanding of in Massachusetts and New York, he is tech and financial literacy. Again, this a member of the American Institute is PwC’s purpose coming to life. of Certified Public Accountants.

The third area is recognizing that Tim Ryan Ryan serves on the Board of Trustees employee upskilling and job relevance for the Securities and Exchange in the future is a big issue in the minds Commission Historical Society. He graduated of many workers in our country. We are underfrom Babson College where he studied account- going one of the largest upskilling efforts that is ing and communications. taking place in corporate America. We told all 55,000 of our people in the U.S. that we will not FIRM BRIEF The purpose at PwC (pwc.com) is to leave you behind because we know you’re worbuild trust in society and solve important prob- ried about your job relevance and your skillset lems. It is a network of separate firms in over 140 relevance. We will invest in you continuously to territories with more than 250,000 people who raise your tech IQ. We are going into our third are committed to delivering quality in assur- year with this effort and are well under the way ance, advisory and tax services. to upskilling all of our people.

The reason we tie this to our purpose is that How do you define the PwC difference? our clients want us to have technology skills.

We are a purpose-driven firm with a clear set of values. Everything we do starts with our purpose and our values and this is much more than just words. Three specific examples over the last three years of how we bring this to life are as follows: we have led on diversity and inclusion, both inside and outside the firm. We co-founded the group called CEO Action for Diversity Inclusion, which is a group of 725 CEOs and growing, coming together to say the business community can and will do better around inclusion in the workplace.

When we look at one of our biggest societal opportunities out there, which is a more inclusive country and more inclusive workplaces, PwC is leading with action. We’ve invested significant time – mine and many other people in the firm – as well as financial resources, to have that group come together. The website is ceoaction.com and there is no PwC branding because while we are leading this effort, we are doing it for the collective business community.

This is an example of our purpose really coming to life, not just a tagline. Inside PwC, we are also making great strides around cultivating a more inclusive workplace and we have taken a number of actions over the last several years to lead in this area.

We could have solved this business problem by doing acquisitions and bringing in talent a different way, but it wouldn’t have been consistent with our purpose, which is to solve important problems and take care of our people.

How critical is cultural fit when bringing new talent into the firm?

It’s hugely important. We hire across a broad range of skillsets, but the common thread that holds us together is our purpose and our values. PwC has a culture of believing in our values and we bring people in that will fit that culture. We spend a lot of time on our onboarding and a person’s first couple of years with us, whether they join us right from a college campus or they join us having been in the professional world for 10 years, it is all about getting assimilated to the culture of how we care for one another, which is our values at work.

Our values also include teaming and how we drive for quality and integrity, and we show them how we bring those to life here too.

Yo u m e n t i o n e d P w C ’ s f o c u s o n upskilling the workforce. How will technology, big data and AI impact the workforce of the future?

We hire across a broad range of skillsets, but the common thread that holds us together is our purpose and our values. PwC has a culture of believing in our values and we bring people in that will fit that culture.

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We are a purpose-driven firm with a clear set of values. Everything we do starts with our purpose and our values and this is much more than just words.

We firmly believe that the future is a combination of people and technology. Whether it be audit, tax, mergers and acquisitions, forensics or consulting, we are giving people new skills and they are reimagining 5, 10, 15 percent of their job. The jobs are becoming more efficient and we’re delivering enhanced quality by doing that. We are very much of the viewpoint that we will continue to see our headcount grow as our business grows. We believe that the future is man and machine, not machines taking over.

Will you discuss PwC’s vision of being a digitally-enabled firm globally?

Our people have historically joined us with great skillsets around a technical area. Our people will still have that deep subject matter expertise, and in addition to that, we are teaching them technology. Visualization, data analytics, how to use tools to build bots, in order to find different solutions to problems. They have deep subject matter expertise and now they have a high technology acumen which will allow them to deliver that subject matter expertise better than they otherwise could have.

My dream for our people is that they are the most sought-after talent in the world because of their deep subject matter expertise, their high technology acumen, and because they understand these big societal opportunities like diversity and inclusion, how to be more empathetic, how to have hard conversations, how to create diverse teams and how to solve problems. My hope and expectation is that if we keep investing in our people across those dimensions, they will be sought after by the private sector, by the public sector, by non-profits and the like.

Has the profession done an effective job of telling the next generation about the innovation taking place in the industry?

Given our roots of accounting and auditing, we tend to be a conservative bunch. We tend to wait for something to be as close to perfect as it can be before taking credit for our story. By the way, that’s okay. I would never want to tell a story ahead of its time.

We can do a lot better job of telling what this profession is and I’ll give you a personal story. My oldest child is a sophomore in college and he told me, “Dad, I’m not sure I want to do accounting and auditing.” Of course, I said, “That’s fine.” But I’m not sure he and his peers are aware of the industry today and we need to do a better job of talking about what it really is and what we’re really doing. When you look at 98 LEADERS

technology, innovation, teaming, ethics, quality – this is really a great place for somebody to come and take the next step in their development. It is a great place to come and have your learning journey continue, even if you have had another career. We can do a better job telling that story.

Where is innovation taking place inside the firm?

This goes back to our strategy and focus on upskilling. We believe innovation in any large organization happens in two ways. The most traditional way is that you have innovation that happens in the center and it’s a large-scale innovation, such as an AI strategy or a CRM tool or a human capital system. Most companies do that and we do that at PwC.

We firmly believe that the future is a combination of people and technology.

What we do differently is what we call citizen-led innovation and that’s teaching 55,000 people new skills. When we teach people how to build a bot, for example, what they can do with that skillset is reimagine work. The amount of innovation that’s happening at PwC because we’ve taught our people new skills is staggering. We have a marketplace where people can share their innovative ideas. We have over 4,000 automations that have been built and are being shared through the firm which is reimagining how day-to-day work is being done. Innovation is happening at every single corner of PwC because of our investment and commitment to teach our people new skills.

Will you discuss PwC’s commitment to corporate responsibility and the communities it serves?

We have a responsibility to communities in which we do business. We have deliberately chosen diversity and inclusion and tech and financial literacy as our focus areas because of how important they are to bettering society. The best people will not join the firm if they don’t feel that the firm and its people will be making an impact. Over 80 percent of our people are involved in our purpose-led activities and corporate responsibility initiatives. Even though it’s not mandatory, over 80 percent of our people participate in our diversity and inclusion efforts.

It’s part of the value proposition when you join the firm. If we didn’t do that, we wouldn’t be relevant with our clients, who equally feel a responsibility to their people and communities.

How important is it for you in your current role to still spend time with clients and to be out in the market?

It’s huge. People choose to do roles differently and there’s no one right way to be successful. For me, I choose to spend almost 100 percent of my time on the road. That’s my choice because I believe that if I’m not getting input from our clients, our people and our other stakeholders, whether they be at college campuses or political leaders, it’s hard for me to make the best decisions for our organization and serve our clients best. I am in the market almost every day meeting with our clients. This is a two-way dialogue – I share with them what we are seeing and I listen to what they are seeing, and I learn so much from their insights. Not a client meeting goes by where I don’t say, “I learned something that better informs me about how to make the right decision for PwC and all of our stakeholders.” It’s a huge piece and I think it’s tremendously important.

How important is it as a firm to take moments to celebrate the wins?

I often get asked why I have stayed at PwC for 31 years. It’s because of the people, not just inside of PwC, but also outside of PwC. I think that when you’re with people, as you go on a journey, you’ve got to celebrate together, you’ve got to learn together, you’ve got to laugh together, you’ve got to cry together, you’ve got to have those experiences. Part of that is celebrating your accomplishments along the way. This profession tends to attract very high energy, strong personalities. One of the mistakes we can often make is not taking time to celebrate.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

REDUCE THE RISK OF HEART DISEASE AROUND THE WORLD. HOW’S THAT FOR A MISSION STATEMENT? Mount Sinai has launched an unprecedented global effort to promote cardiovascular health. We’ve established programs that highlight the risk factors for heart disease and help kids develop healthy habits. It’s a lofty goal to be sure. But that’s all the more reason to pursue it. Which hospital you choose can make all the difference in the world. mountsinai.org

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Scaramucci’s Story An Interview with Anthony Scaramucci, Founder and Co-Managing Partner, SkyBridge Capital EDITORS’ NOTE Anthony Scaramucci You have been involved in a numis also the author of four books: ber of different areas over the last The Little Book of Hedge Funds, few years, including serving as Goodbye Gordon Gekko, Hopping Communications Director at The Over the Rabbit Hole and Trump: The White House. What brought you Blue-Collar President. Prior to foundback to SkyBridge? ing SkyBridge in 2005, Scaramucci I put my heart and soul and my co-founded investment partnerentire life into SkyBridge. It was a ship Oscar Capital Management, unique circumstance when a friend of which w a s s o l d t o N e u b e r g e r mine ran for president, happened to Berman in 2001. Earlier, he was win the presidency and then offered a vice president in Private Wealth me a job in his administration. I love Anthony Scaramucci Management at Goldman Sachs this country and have had a great life & Co. In 2016, Scaramucci was experience after having come from a ranked #85 in Worth magazine’s Power 100: The blue-collar neighborhood. This is the definition 100 Most Powerful People in Global Finance. In of the American dream.

2011, he received Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur Unfortunately, in our country, you have Of The Year® – New York” Award in the Financial to sell your business to go serve the president Services category. He is a member of the Council on so that’s how the whole sale came about, but Foreign Relations (CFR), vice chair of the Kennedy I never really wanted to sell SkyBridge and I Center Corporate Fund Board, a board member of The Brain Tumor Foundation and Business Executives for National Security (BENS), and a Trustee of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Foundation. He was a member of the New York City Financial Services Advisory Committee from 2007 to 2012. In November 2016, he was named to President-Elect Trump’s 16-person Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee. In June 2017, he was named the Chief Strategy Officer of the EXIM Bank. He served as the White House Communications Director for a period in July 2017. Scaramucci holds a B.A. degree in economics from Tufts University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

SkyBridge has had

good performance. It is a unique platform

FIRM BRIEF SkyBridge Capital (skybridge.com) is a global investment firm with approximately $9.5 billion in assets under management or advisement as of July 30, 2019. The firm offers hedge fund investing solutions that address a wide range of market participants from individual investors to large institutions. SkyBridge takes a high-conviction approach to alpha generation, expressed through a thematic and opportunistic investment style. The firm manages multi-strategy funds of hedge funds and customized separate account portfolios, and provides hedge fund advisory services. SkyBridge also produces a large annual conference in the U.S. and Asia known as the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference (SALT). Headquartered in New York, the firm also has a presence in Seoul, London and Palm Beach.

100 LEADERS

because we’ve democratized large aspects of the hedge fund industry.

always thought that if I serve one, two, three years in the government – it turned out I only served 11 days – I would have returned back to this business or a form of the business.

I am a business person and I am an entrepreneur. I’m not a politician. If you look at my life, I have spent 30 years in business since I left law school. I have never run for office.

I’ve never done anything political other than the fact that I’ve financially supported political candidates, which a lot of people on Wall Street do.

SkyBridge has had good performance. It is a unique platform because we’ve democratized large aspects of the hedge fund industry.

For me, it has been a phenomenally rewarding experience. We’re launching new products and I would say that five years from now, if things go our way, our business will be at least twice its current size.

How deeply are you engaged in SkyBridge’s business today?

I’m as involved in SkyBridge today as I was the day I started it, but I know my lane. I think everybody has a different leadership skill.

I think books that impacted me were things like Lincoln on Leadership by Douglas Phillips or The Servant Leader.

I’m the type of guy who doesn’t believe in autocracy. I believe in a hub and spoke system, so I have a great investment management team.

I never tell them what to do. They have full autonomy, but they do report to me and we do interact and I do offer them my services.

I’ve got a great SALT team. They’ve built an amazing brand in the conference space. They will come to me for editorial ideas. They will come to me for suggestions or to ask me to pitch somebody to speak or sponsor the event but, at the end of the day, it’s their business.

So, I’ve given them a great deal of latitude and autonomy.

When you founded SALT, did you know that it had the potential to grow to where it is today?

There are a lot of entrepreneurs who read your magazine and they will know what I’m about to say is 100 percent true if they’re being brutally honest.

A lot of your success in life is providential.

There’s a great line about entrepreneurs – you run off a cliff, and as you’re descending, you’re trying to build an airplane to escape the fall.

That’s what entrepreneurs do.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

There’s a great line about entrepreneurs – you run off a cliff, and as you’re descending, you’re trying to build an airplane to escape the fall. That’s what entrepreneurs do.

SALT was exactly that. We were dying in the 2008/2009 financial crisis and we knew we needed something, so we decided that we were going to hold a conference. The financial crisis was literally rocking our world. I’m a gallows humor kind of guy so I was calling SkyBridge the “bridge to nowhere.”

Once all the big banks left the conference space and were not doing conferences in Las Vegas because of government pressure, we filled in the vacuum that was created. We exploited that.

We didn’t realize we had something in the beginning, but once we realized what we had, we decided to blow this thing out and do it as big as we could.

Here’s the other thing. I’m a collaborator, not a competitor. Michael Milken was our first keynote speaker. He spoke at our 10-year anniversary event and we’ll never put our conference before his conference because I have enormous respect for him and what he has done. He has arguably the largest, most successful conference in the United States. We’re in a different lane.

There are elements of entertainment at our conference. There are elements of politics at our conference and, obviously, there is a focus on alternative investment management.

My point is, and I think it’s a point that people really need to understand, there’s room for everybody at the table. This is a very abundant world and we can all be successful if we are trying to figure out ways to collaborate.

What opportunities do you see for growing SALT? We have done 10 SALTs in the United States and we have done three SALTs outside of the United States – two in Singapore and one in Tokyo. Those conferences were amazing for business because the people in Singapore didn’t know who we were. Now they know who we are and we raised money from there. We raised money in Northern Asia, Korea and Japan as a result of those events.

Now that I’m back, we’ve decided to do a conference in Abu Dhabi. The Middle East and North Africa are fast-growing regions economically and have tremendous geopolitical relevance as well. We wanted to continue building relationships there and expose our partners to exciting opportunities in these regions. We think Abu Dhabi will continue to grow as an international financial center and are looking forward to hosting SALT at the iconic Emirates Palace.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

What have been the keys to attracting and retaining top talent at SkyBridge?

You have to take care of your people.

Never take the last dollar for yourself. This is an open-door system. I believe in a slap-up, kiss-down culture. What does this mean? There are some firms that I’ve seen where everyone’s kissing up to the boss and then they’re slapping down subordinates. That doesn’t fly with a guy like me.

Does the attention you get in the press bother you, especially when some if it is not correct?

Here’s the thing – you learn about yourself. When you’re involved with the press and you’re toppled or demolished, you learn a lot about yourself. I guess I’m sort of lucky because we all have different genes and makeups, but I think God left out the self-conscious gene for a guy like me.

My attitude is that I’m just going to be me.

My grandmother used to say, “What other people think of you is none of your business, so just go live what you think is your truth and your dream.”

My attitude is that I’m just going to be me.

My grandmother used to say, “What other people think of you is none of your business, so just go live what you think is your truth and your dream.”

Never was that more true than after I got bounced out of the White House because it was pretty humiliating.

I’ve heard it all. Anybody that tells you that it doesn’t bother them, they’re also telling a fib.

Of course, I read some stuff that was painful. I read some stuff and said, “Okay, wow, he may be right.”

So, yes, it is painful sometimes. I’m not going to say otherwise. But it’s usually only painful when I know what the person is saying is true.

Are you able to take moments to reflect and appreciate what you have built?

I don’t want to be complacent and I don’t want to pat myself on the back, but I also want to tell you that the happiest people I meet are the ones that come at life from a point of view of gratitude and appreciation. I wake up in the morning and say, “My God, I’m a very lucky person.” My parents loved me, were hard-working, a little tight on money – not a big deal – you learn that you don’t really need a lot of money.

That’s the other irony in life. When you become wealthy, you can catch a fever. You have to be very careful because the fever can become like a measuring contest with other people – my house is bigger than your house or my life has to be perceived as better than yours.

That’s actually a bunch of nonsense. You can’t live your life like that. So, for me, I wake up in the morning and say “Wow, I’m very lucky, I’m very grateful.” But I also don’t wake up complacent. I’m not resting on my laurels.

With all of the challenges and issues facing the country, are you optimistic about the future?

You can’t be pessimistic about the future because, even though Washington has gotten so much wrong, America has gotten so much right.

The great irony is that we created such a free market foundation to our system. We have all this great microeconomic activity that continues to innovate and build the system.

People are worried about healthcare going to 35 percent of the GDP, but it’s not going to happen because there is so much innovation that is reducing costs, improving efficiency and making healthcare better.

You have to bet on human innovation.

•

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Montefiore’s Mission An Interview with Steven M. Safyer, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Montefiore Medicine EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to being Medicine, and then I completed my appointed to his current post in training here and worked in a wide 2008, Dr. Steven Safyer held a varivariety of areas. I did that work during ety of senior leadership roles at a time when Montefiore represented Montefiore from 1990 to 2008, the kind of mission that I’m drawn to; a including Senior Vice President mission focused on providing the best and Chief Medical Officer. In the possible care to people who need it the 1990’s, he was an early chammost in our communities in the Bronx. pion of clinical information sysBut I always wanted to do more. tems and launched physician order I was always focused on building out a entry (electronic entry of patients’ more comprehensive system that could lifetime medical records) which provide the kind of complicated speSteven M. Safyer supported his focus on creating cialty care that other great institutions in nationally recognized quality and New York and across the country offer. safety programs. In addition, he galvanized a Of course, this happened during chalbroad effort to stem the epidemics of HIV and lenging economic times. We lived through a TB that were rampant through the 1980’s and recession and have always had to depend on early 90’s, and that took their greatest toll on a disproportionate amount of government paylow-income and inmate populations in New ments such as Medicare and Medicaid, which do York City. Dr. Safyer led the way for Montefiore not cover the bulk of work that we do. Those to set a new standard for accessible, affordable reimbursement rates have remained flat while healthcare. He earned his medical degree from hospital costs and expenses continue to go up.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine and com- But I was convinced we could grow our model pleted his internship and residency in Social Medicine at Montefiore. He is board certified in internal medicine and is a Professor of Medicine and a Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health at Einstein. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University.

of care and live up to the mission of taking comprehensive care to our communities.

I focused on building out all the complex care that is familiar at other academic health systems in New York. We invested in specialty programs and Centers of Excellence in cardiac care, cancer care, all transplant services, and pediatric care at our Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. We have seen tremendous growth and success. For example, 15 years ago, we only performed kidney transplants. If you needed a liver transplant or a heart transplant or a lung transplant – especially lung, which was only done at Columbia Presbyterian – you had to go elsewhere to get that care. Now we excel at all of those extremely challenging procedures, right here in the Bronx.

Many members of our community needed liver transplants for a variety of reasons, and in their most difficult moments they had to travel to places that were challenging to get to. We have managed to bring high-end specialty care to a community that really needed it the most.

INSTITUTION BRIEF Montefiore Medicine (montefiore.org) is the umbrella organization overseeing both Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Today, Montefiore Health System includes 10 hospitals including White Plains Hospital and Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, employs 45,000 people, and cares for 3.5 million people throughout four New York counties: The Bronx, Westchester, Rockland and Orange. In addition, Montefiore recently ranked among the top 1 percent of hospitals nationally and regionally by U.S. News & World Report. For more than 100 years, Montefiore has been nationally recognized for innovating new treatments, procedures and approaches to patient care, producing stellar outcomes and raising the bar for health systems around the country and around the world.

What have been the keys to the consistent strength and leadership of Montefiore Medicine?

I have been here my entire career. I attended medical school at Albert Einstein College of VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Montefiore Hutchinson Metro Center LEADERS 103

Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York

In fact, the most recent U.S. News and World Report “Best Hospitals” report puts us in the top 1 percent in 9 specialties, including cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, urology, nephrology, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and GI surgery, gynecology and geriatrics. I am so proud of this.

How critical has it been to keep innovation at the heart of Montefiore’s culture?

It is critical. One of my favorite examples is from about 12 years ago when we had a plan to build a free-standing hospital at a site near the medical school. We called it a hospital without beds. It’s now known as Montefiore Hutchinson Metro Center. It began as a 300,000 square-foot building that was built to our specifications. We envisioned it as a place where we would perform same-day surgery and diagnostic procedures. There would be no beds and patients would be able to go home after their procedures. At the time it was kind of revolutionary, and it has truly exceeded all of our expectations. We have recently expanded into an adjacent building and just this year added three additional operating rooms to accommodate the volume. We are performing surgeries there that I never dreamed we would be doing same-day.

I believe the way we evolve and transform contemporary hospital care is critical and that no patient should ever be in a hospital bed, even for just one night, if they can avoid an admission. That was really our goal in opening Montefiore Hutchinson Campus and today Montefiore doctors and surgeons are performing these same-day surgeries which are on the cutting edge of innovation.

Will you highlight Montefiore’s efforts around building a diverse and inclusive workforce to match the diversity of your patient profile?

104 LEADERS

This is something I think about a lot. If you count Montefiore’s owned and operated and affiliated locations, we have approximately 45,000 employees, with 15,000 of them living in the Bronx. The Bronx has been the entry point for people coming from other countries for more than 150 years. All four of my grandparents came to the Bronx from Poland.

The challenges and landscapes may change, but wanting to heal, and wanting to show up with my best self has always been there for me.

The Bronx is now home to more than 1.5 million people with huge Puerto Rican, Dominican and West African populations. All of these people are coming here to pursue the American dream.

Our ability to employ them and to keep their families healthy is an incredible honor and

responsibility. It is important to remember that our 15,000 employees who live in the Bronx have families and children who need healthcare and they also need to make a good living.

I couldn’t be more proud of what we do in the Bronx as well as in other communities served by our system that are challenged, from lower Westchester to parts of Rockland and Orange counties. We take care of all of our people and we don’t discriminate against anyone.

What has made the healthcare industry so special for you?

I became a physician because I thought that the profession was without conflicts. I may have been a little naive about that, but no matter who you are and what your politics are, when you become a physician, you want to heal people.

The challenges and landscapes may change, but wanting to heal, and wanting to show up with my best self has always been there for me.

I was in medical school and an intern and resident when HIV was new and it was prevalent in the Bronx and there were no treatments.

At the same time there was a tuberculosis epidemic happening. More recently, hepatitis C has been common in our communities. The public health issues may evolve and change, but we have always worked to treat people with the very best care possible. As I have always said, healthcare is a right and not a privilege.

Montefiore lives by that motto.

You recently announced your plans to retire. Have you been able to reflect on your career and take moments to appreciate what you have accomplished?

I am so proud. It is not as if everything that one does is perfect, but it’s what you learn from your mistakes and if you stay on the right path and focus on the best outcomes, you will get there.

One major accomplishment I am especially proud of is the recent formalization of our relationship with Albert Einstein College of Medicine, which is one of the most prominent medical schools in the world in terms of research, teaching, and education. We always worked closely with Einstein, but I always thought the relationship with Montefiore should be tighter. I knew this medical school/health system partnership would be key to recruiting the best physicians and researchers, and to providing the type of excellence in research based medicine we wanted at Montefiore. All that has come to fruition.

We now own the medical school and we are recruiting some of the finest talent from around the world. It is part of us and it will always be part of us. This is critical for many reasons. Here’s just one example: one of the most astonishing surgeries ever performed was the separation of conjoined twins with shared skull, blood vessels and brain. We have now performed 10 of these surgeries out of only 12 successful ones that have been done in the history of medicine, and all of them have been done by the same team. That team wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore working hand-in-hand.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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Renewable Energy An Interview with Robert B. Catell, Chairman, Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, Stony Brook University

Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center at Stony Brook University

EDITORS’ NOTE Robert Catell Is AERTC primarily focused was formerly the Chairman and on research and how critical is the Chief Executive Officer of KeySpan emphasis on commercialization?

Corporation and KeySpan Energy It certainly starts with doing Delivery, the former Brooklyn Union the research. I like to characterize Gas. His career with Brooklyn Union Brookhaven National Lab as doing the Gas started in 1958. Following basic research and then Stony Brook National Grid’s acquisition of as doing the applied research leading KeySpan Corporation, Catell became to commercialization. The two blend Chairman of National Grid U.S. well together. We also have the ability and Deputy Chairman of National to access the faculty at Stony Brook Grid plc. He currently serves as as well as the students. It all fits very Robert B. Catell Chairman of the Advanced Energy well together.

Research and Technology Center, Is there strong awareness for Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School, Futures in Stony Brook University as a leader in innoEducation Endowment Fund, and the newly vation in the energy space? announced National Offshore Wind Research and That awareness is probably not as wideDevelopment Consortium. Catell received both his spread as it should be. There is a tremendous bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical wealth of expertise at Stony Brook University. At engineering from the City College of New York and AERTC, the focus is on the energy space, but is a registered Professional Engineer. there is also tremendous expertise in the medical space as well as in business and in supportINSTITUTION BRIEF Advanced Energy Research ing incubators which lead to commercialization. and Technology Center (aertc.org) is located in Another element which I don’t think is well the Research & Development Park at Stony Brook publicized is the connection with Brookhaven University and is a true partnership of academic National Labs which is one of the premier institutions, research institutions, energy pro- Department of Energy Laboratories in the country. viders and industrial corporations. The Center’s You recently assumed the role as chairmission is innovative energy research, educa- man of the Offshore Wind Consortium. Will tion and technology deployment with a focus on you discuss the mission of the consortium? efficiency, conservation, renewable energy and Renewable energy is becoming a greater nanotechnology applications for new and novel part of the energy mix. It’s important to incorposources of energy. rate renewables because they reduce the carbon footprint by reducing emissions and, in the long What was the vision for creating the term, they can be more economical than tradiAdvanced Energy Research and Technology tional fossil fuels.

Center (AERTC) at Stony Brook and how The Department of Energy put a proposal has AERTC evolved? out to fund an Offshore Wind Research Center.

AERTC is moving into its tenth year of exis- The New York State Energy Research and tence. When we initially conceived it, its vision Development Authority, NYSERDA, was very was to do research in the energy space and to committed to having that award come to New develop new technologies which could be York State, so they reached out to Stony Brook commercialized. and to the Advanced Energy Center to see if we It took us a while to get it off the ground, would partner with them. but now we’re seeing that vision becoming realThe Department of Energy was putting $20 ity. We’re seeing companies that were based million of research funds on the table. NYSERDA on technologies that may have been started in was willing to match that with $20 million of Brookhaven National Labs or at Stony Brook or New York funds which provided a substantial in other colleges and universities in New York research fund. I was asked to consider chairing actually becoming commercialized. the Offshore Wind Center and we accepted the A number of companies have left the Energy challenge and we won the DOE award as well.

Center and moved on. Some companies are in the The main purpose of the National Offshore process of moving on. So we have seen the Energy Wind Research and Development Consortium is Center evolve from an idea to actual practicality. to use the funds from the Department of Energy 106 LEADERS

and NYSERDA to research new technologies that can bring down the long-term cost of offshore wind. Initially, the cost of offshore wind may be higher than traditional sources, but there is great potential for it to be cheaper than traditional sources long term.

Europe’s energy mix has been deeply impacted by wind. Do you see an opportunity for that same impact in the U.S.?

I think there is a tremendous opportunity for wind energy in the United States. New York has taken a leadership role. The governor has established a goal for New York State to be 100 percent carbon free by 2050. The only way that can happen is if a significant portion of our energy comes from wind. Plans are for 9,000 megawatts of wind-generated electricity initially.

That is about 25 percent of the total power that we produce in New York, so it would be a significant portion.

We shouldn’t forget about solar energy either. We talk mostly about wind because that has the largest potential, but there’s also a tremendous potential for solar to be part of the solution. Wind and solar are the two main components of the renewable sector.

Since the wind doesn’t blow at the same velocity all the time and the sun doesn’t shine all the time, we have to develop utility scale storage and that is an area that the Energy Center is very focused on with our premier researchers in the energy storage space.

How critical are metrics in order to demonstrate impact to secure the continued investment needed for the Offshore Wind Center?

The funds for the Offshore Wind Center were committed for an initial four-year period.

We have to be able to demonstrate some successes in the near term to give people enough faith to continue to invest in this over the long term.

So short-term results are important. We have a nice start with $40 million in funding from Federal and State sources, but research is a longterm investment and a lot of what we are doing in these initial phases of research need to demonstrate that we can truly bring the cost down so they need to be very results oriented. We need to meet the overriding metric of reducing the longterm cost of offshore wind. This will justify a continued investment to fund an Offshore Wind Center in the future to support an offshore wind industry in the United States.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

NEWYORK

Excellence, Integrity, Collaboration and Responsiveness An Interview with Daniel Nardello, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Nardello & Co. EDITORS’ NOTE In 2003, Dan I became a partner in that firm and Nardello opened Nardello & Co., in 2001 we sold the firm to a publicly first in London and shortly thereaftraded company. I stayed on for another ter in New York, to fill a service gap two years. I was living in London and he saw at other investigative firms. opened Nardello & Co. there in 2003.

Nardello is an experienced litigaI started the business with the idea of tor, prosecutor, and investigator. providing bespoke investigative services After working in private practice at to premiere clients. I didn’t want to do Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, commoditized work.

Nardello served as a federal proseI wanted to do real boots on the cutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in ground investigating and analysis. Our the Southern District of New York. first clients were primarily lawyers, Daniel Nardello Following his stint as a prosecutor, many of them partners in law firms Nardello headed up the European who had been my colleagues in the U.S. office of an international investigative firm, Attorney’s Office, and it just grew from there. Our opening that firm’s first European office. He also next office was in New York, because I am a New created and teaches a CLE course for lawyers Yorker. We opened in New York just about a year entitled Retaining Private Investigators: Ethical after we opened in London.

Considerations and Concerns. While in the U.S. I moved back to the U.S. in 2006, and shortly Attorney’s Office, Nardello was an adjunct pro- after that, we opened in Washington, D.C. and fessor of Trial Advocacy at Columbia University the business has since grown to include offices in School of Law. He serves on the Board of Directors New York, which is our headquarters, Washington, of the Coalition for the Homeless. Nardello is a D.C. and Atlanta, and internationally in London, graduate of Columbia College and received his which is our original office, as well as Dubai, J.D. from New York University School of Law. Milan, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Our growth has been fueled by an absoC O M PA N Y B R I E F N a r d e l l o & C o . lute attention to our clients’ needs. We place an (nardelloandco.com), is a leader in the global enormous amount of emphasis on doing things investigative sector. With offices in New York, the right way, meaning ethically and within the London, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Hong bounds of the law. We find key people in jurisKong, Tokyo, Milan and Dubai, Nardello & Co. dictions where our clients need us who underis a global investigations firm with experienced stand the local culture, the local research and professionals handling a broad range of issues. investigative methodology, and can attract new Noted as the pre-eminent firm in the U.S. mar- clients as well. ket by Chambers & Partners, its multi-disciplinHow critical has it been to maintain the ary team is comprised of former U.S. federal firm’s culture as it has grown? prosecutors, U.S. and international lawyers, It is fundamental that we retain our culture. former general counsels of multinational cor- As you grow, it can be challenging, but it is a porations, former law enforcement personnel priority for us. We demand the highest level of and intelligence operatives, licensed investiga- professionalism and work product which starts tors, research analysts, former journalists, with hiring the right people and training them financial crime specialists, forensic accoun- in our way. tants and computer forensic specialists.

We believe in working as a team and financial incentives are built around collaboration.

What is the history and heritage of Nardello We pride ourselves on being responsive. When and Co. and how has the company evolved? clients call with problems, it’s our mission to get back I started the business 16 years ago in to them and address their problems immediately, London. I am a lawyer by training and I was because this is a business that is often dealing with a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s tight deadlines and urgent matters for the client.

Office in the Southern District of New York.

What has been the impact of technolWhen I got into the investigations business, ogy on the business?

I joined another firm that is now defunct, as The biggest impact technology has had on they were looking for somebody to open up the business overall is in the area of cybersecutheir first European office. rity and digital investigations. We have invested VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

a lot of time and resources in finding the best cyber-professionals. In cybersecurity, technology is a key component, but it doesn’t function without smart people employing whatever the technology is. It’s the same thing on the research side. More than ever before, we have access to research technology, databases, information and searching tools, but it really comes back to who is employing those tools.

Will you discuss your focus on building a diverse and inclusive workforce?

This is partly taken care of structurally, because we’re in so many jurisdictions so you need people with different backgrounds coming from different cultures. That brings with it a diversity of experience as well as cultural diversity and linguistic diversity.

Our leadership structure is a little bit different than other firms in the industry. Nardello & Co. is run, with some exceptions, including me, by women. Sabina Menschel, our President, runs the business on a day-to-day basis; our Chief Professional Officer, Tara McMillan, is responsible for the workflow and quality control. We have women in leadership positions throughout the firm and on our advisory board.

Do you feel it is a responsibility of leading companies to give back and support the communities they serve?

We have been focused from the beginning on giving back in the communities that we work in. We have been very strong supporters of the Coalition for the Homeless in New York. We contribute to charities and not-for-profits in every city where we have offices, and we are looking to increase what we do in the various communities where we work.

The firm also does a significant amount of pro bono work. This includes anything from doing an investigation to support a lawsuit for an indigent person who’s facing eviction to working with a law firm that is representing somebody on death row. We are very proud of the work we did in a capital case, where our investigation was critical in having the conviction overturned.

Did you know that you had the entrepreneurial spirit to build your own company?

I knew when I left my old firm that I wanted to do something the way I wanted to do it, prioritizing excellence, integrity, collaboration and responsiveness. I never really thought about it in terms of building a business, it just sort of happened.

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Client-Focused An Interview with James W. Crystal, Vice Chairman, Alliant Insurance Services EDITORS’ NOTE After joining his father, Frank Crystal, at Crystal & Company in 1961, James Crystal was named President in 1963. Crystal serves as Vice Chairman and Member of the Board of Alliant Insurance Services, Vice Chairman, Trustee, and Member of the Executive and Finance Committees and Co-Chairman of the Audit Committee of Mount Sinai Medical Center, along with serving on the board of K2 Intelligence.

Crystal & Company built a family culture. Is it difficult to maintain that culture as you have integrated into Alliant?

Not at all. We have maintained the culture for our clients and have demonstrated our historic culture to new clients while introducing them to Alliant.

Will there be continued consolidation in the industry?

Yes, you’ll continue to see the big companies grow. You can look at the James W. Crystal number of acquisitions being done on a COMPANY BRIEF Crystal & Company quarterly basis of all sizes, and it’s a con(crystalco.com) was known as a leading strate- stant number somewhere, plus or minus, around gic risk and insurance adviser, addressing cli- 100 a quarter. Firms are trying to grow by being ents’ risk management, insurance brokerage and aggregators. employee benefits consulting needs. Founded in How critical is size and scale to compete 1933, Crystal & Company was comprised of more in today’s marketplace? than 400 colleagues in 11 regional offices across I think it’s totally critical. Scale enables you the United States and placed more than $1 bil- to make investments over a larger base of clients lion in premiums in the global marketplace annu- which makes it easier to justify those investments ally. Prior to its acquisition by Alliant Insurance in process, resources, technology and people.

Services (alliant.com), Crystal & Company was a family enterprise spanning three generations of Crystal family ownership and management.

How critical is brand awareness for Alliant Insurance Services and is the strength and leadership of Alliant well understood?

I think the brand is well known among people within the areas of specialties it has. Alliant’s leadership team drives company growth and ensures stability, but their real job is to empower every team member to lead the way in our industry.

How challenging is it to differentiate in the industry and how do you define the Alliant advantage?

It can certainly be difficult at times to differentiate yourself from your competition, but it is something we have successfully accomplished over the years and also one of the reasons we chose to partner with Alliant. Both of our firms are known in the industry for our commitment to expertise which becomes very clear to clients once they spend time with our team. We are also a leader in developing proprietary products for specific industries so the clients are not only the recipient of our expertise in their industry but, at times, also receive a product unique to their needs. And at the end of the day, it also boils down to individual relationships. People want to deal with somebody they know and trust.

108 LEADERS

People want to deal with somebody they know and trust.

How will technology impact the workforce?

Technology will impact the workforce in a positive way, allowing people to work more efficiently and better serve clients. It’s about taking time away from redundant tasks. There will be an increased demand for IT support to build and maintain these systems.

How has your role changed as Vice Chairman?

It really hasn’t changed much. I am still out there with clients, helping other Alliant employees

establish relationships when they want. I am focused on expanding Alliant.

What is the target market for Alliant and where will growth come from?

That answer really depends on the type of business. Alliant has operations in different product areas, like P&C and employee benefits, different geographic territories as well as different industry verticals, like construction, energy, public agencies and more. So the target market varies based on the area being discussed and the needs of that client base.

What are the keys to being a successful broker?

You have to be self-motivated. You can’t just sit at your desk and wait for the telephone to ring because you’ll go bankrupt, either mentally or financially. That’s number one. Additionally, you need to be someone that you can call “Curious George,” who when they go after a piece of business, has studied the client and studied the marketplace that client participates in, so they are fully prepared. You also have to have the personality that when there is the inevitable turndown, or there is a dry spell, you are able to get up off the floor and fight back and win.

You commit time, energy and resources to philanthropic causes. What has made this so important to you?

I believe that if you have been a little lucky, you have an obligation, at least ethically and morally, to put back into the community. I think there is a lot you can personally gain out of it, and I’m not talking financially. I’m talking intellectually by making new friends and learning new subjects.

How do you focus your philanthropic efforts?

I mainly focus on healthcare. I sponsor the Adolescent Health Center at Mount Sinai, which is now treating almost 5,000 young people a month and I also underwrite the Department of Genomics, as today big data and the retention of data and developing it is critical for the improvement of healthcare.

What are the keys to successfully leading a family business?

I’m not a jealous person, particularly not of my own family. It is not always the norm that families get along and work together and maintain a good relationship, but we are a very close family, not only at my sons’ and their wives’ levels, but also at the grandchildren’s level. We take vacations together as a whole family and enjoy spending time together.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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Placemaking An Interview with James E. Linsley, President, GID Development Group EDITORS’ NOTE With 28 years were able to attract very good personof real estate experience, James nel because we were creating someLinsley also serves on the Executive thing new and growing at a time when Committee and the Investment others were contracting. It also proCommittee of GID. Prior to GID, vided the opportunity to put projects he worked with several of the together and to get land assemblages, nation’s most high-pr ofile r eal entitlements and approvals in place estate organizations. He was preduring a downturn. This allowed us viously a Senior Vice President to create some advantageous developwith Related for 10 years. ment scenarios, either because the land Earlier, he worked for Trump/New basis was less expensive or because World Project Management (The we were able to work with municiJames E. Linsley Trump Or ganization and New palities during the downturn to create World Development). He has been more favorable zoning approvals or a member of the Inter national Council of tax incentives.

Shopping Centers, the Urban Land Institute, We then began to build the Urban Development Mixed-Use Council of fairly early in the cycle. In the Urban Land Institute, and the Congress for fact, it was so early in cerNew Urbanism. Linsley holds a B.A. in architec- tain cases that we built some ture and a B.S. in civil engineering from Lehigh of our initial projects with all University as well as an M.S. in Real Estate of GID’s own equity – withDevelopment and an M.S. in Urban Planning out construction lenders – from Columbia University. because we saw the light at the end of the tunnel for cerCOMPANY BRIEF Founded in 1960, GID tain asset classes, particularly (gid.com) is a privately-held and fully-inte- multifamily, more quickly grated r eal estate company that develops, than others. We were able to owns, and operates a premier portfolio of exist- get out of the gates early and ing properties and development projects val- build a very favorable pricing, ued at over $18 billion. During its corporate even if we couldn’t convince history, GID has developed or acquired over construction lenders. We had 80,000 residential units and 17 million square really nice timing on some of feet of commercial space in 24 states and three those early projects. By the continents across all asset classes including time we finished those projmultifamily rental properties, for-sale condo- ects, rent growth was on the miniums, industrial, retail, office, hotel and upswing. We then began purparking uses. With offices in Boston, New York, suing increasingly larger and Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Houston, Denver, more complex developments San Francisco, and Los Angeles, GID employs and our team of people began nearly 900 real estate professionals throughout to grow larger as well. the United States and has divisions specializing As our projects and in development, acquisitions, real estate funds, our team got bigger and property management, and portfolio and asset our development programs management. became more complex, we were attracting larger and What is the history and heritage of GID more diverse capital sources.

Development Group and how has the busi- Now, looking back ten years ness evolved? later, you can see that we’ve We formed GID Development Group in been able to attract the best 2007, and very quickly thereafter we started capital partners in the world, to enter the great recession. This would not including the world’s largseem to be the greatest time to be starting a est construction lenders and new development business, but in hindsight it the world’s largest sovereign offered some interesting opportunities. We wealth funds.

110 LEADERS

Will you highlight GID’s current development projects?

We specialize in high-rise luxury multifamily buildings and iconic mixed-use projects that create a real sense of community. It’s about placemaking. We have two very large-scale multiphase mixed-use projects in play at the moment.

One is in Houston, called Regent Square, and a second is in Atlanta, called High Street. These are both very extensive undertakings. Regent Square is a $2 billion, 24-acre mixed-use project that will ultimately include approximately 2,000 residential units, 400,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space and

Waterline Square VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Two Waterline Square Amenity Terrace

250,000 square feet of new office space, as well as new streets, parks and public spaces. High Street in Atlanta is almost twice as big. That’s probably a $2.5- to $3-billion project across 42 acres. We secured entitlements that allow us to build up to 3,000 residential units, 400,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space, approximately a million square feet of office and up to 400 hotel rooms. The project will also include new streets, sidewalks, landscaping and public spaces, all of which will be actively programmed to help create a very lively environment of live, work, shop, dine and play.

In New York in 2013, we began to pursue three sites on the West Side.

We are currently nearing the opening of our Waterline Square project, which is three buildings designed by world famous architects, Richard Meier, Rafael Viñoly and Kohn Pedersen Fox. This is a $2.5-billion project comprising 1,131 residential units that are both for-sale condominiums and rentals, a 2.6-acre park and over 100,000 square feet of amenities in a private club we call the Waterline Club, which is available to all the residents within Waterline Square. It is a very ambitious undertaking and probably the largest singlephase residential project underway in New York and, therefore, maybe in the country. We built all three buildings at one time – we did not phase them. We also financed it all at once and constructed it all at once because the vision was, once again, one of placemaking. It is about forming a community, and if we’re going to create this community, we cannot create simply the promise of it in the future. We want to deliver it now, so rather than make residents suffer through years of construction, we’re opening it all at the same time. We’re right on the cusp of that opening as we speak and it is very exciting.

We also have several other very notable high rises around the country, including two award-winning, 41-story rental apartment buildings in Seattle. One is called Cirrus and the other is called Stratus. These are very large buildings; one is 356 units and the other is 396 units. They are on sites across the street from one another, so they’re almost like brother/sister buildings, with a new city park located in between them.

Our development was the catalyst to get that VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

park underway. After we tied up these sites and started the development process, Amazon, which already had their world headquarters in Seattle and in close proximity to us, bought several sites all around and directly across the street from our two buildings. That is now the new home of Amazon’s World Headquarters.

We have a similar, very innovative, very ambitious high-rise building in Houston called The Sovereign, which was quite different than anything else on the market when we built it.

I think when you look at these various projects, you see we’ve developed a reputation and a history of doing things a little differently, arguably a little better, than what is happening in a given marketplace. We build projects that are of a higher quality. We have a very longterm hold mentality. We’re not merchant builders. We don’t flip properties. We hold them for,

Cipriani at Waterline Square

creating something new that doesn’t have a history yet, in the case of a new development, we need to promote that product and brand to future residents or consumers who will shop or dine there. I think our brand awareness is becoming increasingly important, particularly where the field is a little bit crowded at times in certain marketplaces and we need to differentiate ourselves.

How do you focus your efforts leading GID Development Group and is it critical for you to still spend time with clients and visit the projects?

I think it’s very important for me to be involved both at the macro and the micro levels.

This business is so much about not only understanding the big picture, but also understanding the details. It is that grasp of the details and the thoughtfulness of taking something all the way from concept to completion that I think can set projects and developers apart from one another.

For example, when we started to pursue our Waterline Square project, I was living on the East Side of Manhattan, but I moved to the West Side, one block away from the site, because I wanted to watch the site very closely. I wanted to be able to look out my window – literally – and see the site every day.

I also wanted to understand the neighborhood better than anyone. I wanted to know what men, women and children did in that neighborhood.

I wanted to know what they did on a weekday, a weekend, in the daytime and in the evening. I wanted to know what was attractive about that neighborhood and what that neighborhood was lacking so I could use all that knowledge as we conceived what Waterline Square could become. That was a very intentional decision on my part because of the scale and importance of this project. In my opinion, if every developer lived adjacent to their development sites, projects would be developed differently. Waterline Square is the last piece of the puzzle of the larger masterplan known as Riverside South that runs from 59th to 72nd Street. I actually started my career on that project when I came out of graduate school in the ’90s, so I have a real personal obsession with the completion of that masterplan, and the Waterline Square project in particular.

in some cases, decades, so the quality of the build and the way that they operate is very important to us. We not only develop them, but we own them and operate them long-term.

We’re very cognizant of our residents’ needs and we really think about how those needs evolve over time.

Are you focused on brand awareness for the GID brand or is it more about the individual property brands?

Both are important.

Historically GID was more focused on purchasing and investing in existing assets.

We did this in a very significant way throughout the country and even internationally across a range of asset classes, whether it be residential, retail, office, industrial or hotel. As we have veered more into the development realm, particularly with the formation of GID Development Group in 2007, brand awareness has become Indoor Tennis Court at The Waterline Club more important. When we’re

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LEADERS 111

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Fisher’s Focus An Interview with Steven Fisher, Founder and President, Fisher Capital Investments and Partner, Fisher Brothers EDITORS’ NOTE As a fourth-genrange of industry sectors with a focus eration member of the Fisher famon high-growth companies. Sectors ily – one of New York’s legendary in which the firm has invested and owner/builders – Steven Fisher has expertise include media and has devoted his 40 years as a partentertainment, food and beverage, ner at Fisher Br others to conhealth and wellness, and technology. struction and development. He Investments are typically made in served as Chairman and CEO of early stage and mid-market compaFisher Brothers subsidiary Plaza nies that can demonstrate the potenConstruction Corporation until tial to deliver superior retur ns to its April 2014 sale. Under his shareholders. Since its recent incepdecades-long leadership, Fisher tion, FCI has invested in, strategically Steven Fisher transformed Plaza Construction repositioned, and provided operainto one of the city’s and South tional support to a number of comFlorida’s largest and most respected con- panies and brands that are now well-placed to struction firms, growing it from an in-house become industry leaders. division with r evenues of $40 million to Fisher Brothers (fisherbrothers.com) was a company with annual revenues of approx- founded in 1915 by Martin Fisher, who was imately $1.5 billion. Among his other pur- joined by brothers Larry and Zachary Fisher. suits, he is a Trustee of the Intrepid Museum Over the next several decades, Fisher Brothers Foundation, a Trustee member of the New York built residential properties in Brooklyn, Queens, State Trooper Foundation, a Board Member of Long Island, Riverdale, Mount Vernon, and the Police Athletic League, a member of the then in Manhattan. Fisher Brothers began putFounder’s Circle of the New York City Police ting up commercial buildings in the mid-’50s.

Museum, and a member of the Board of Managers Since then, Fisher Brothers has emerged as a for UrbanAmerica’s Urban II partnership with highly diversified financial investment force.

Fisher Brothers.

Assets currently under management exceed $6 billion, with a substantial portion strateFIRM BRIEF Fisher Capital Investments gically invested in a br oad spectrum of (fishercapitalinvestments.com) is a private financial markets and ventures, including investment firm based in New York City and opportunistic overnight investments in treafounded in 2014 by Steven and Kyle Fisher. suries and repos, as well as building refinancing FCI invests in and advises companies across a and construction loans.

You built one of the leading construction companies in Plaza Construction at the age of 26. What were the keys to why Plaza Construction was so successful?

Plaza Construction was started in 1986, when the family was diversifying outside of the real estate industry. With the diversification, I decided to build a construction company that did not take the approach of the typical general contractor, but instead provided clients with an owner’s philosophy, which is an open book policy, buying the job right, saving money for the client and explaining to the client that if contractors can do it better than we could, we would outsource it to them. As years went on, we realized that there were going to be hurdles to overcome. One of the big hurdles was getting developers to not look at us as competition, but to see us as an alternative to the way the general contractor industry was run. In the ’90s, Mayor Giuliani decided to clean up the industry of widespread corruption and payoffs. As the industry was being cleaned up, people started looking at us as a white knight and the work started pouring in. It was exciting to build the business and I couldn’t have done it without my partner, Rich Wood.

In the past, we partnered with someone who had access to small opportunities in the real estate world. These deals were too small to bring to my partners, so I decided to fund through Plaza. Things didn’t work out and I sold that person the company for three

It comes down to honesty, integrity and reputation.

You need to know what you are doing and you need to do things the right way.

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LEADERS 113

We recognize the potential in bold companies that are making a positive impact on our world and use our experience to help them achieve their goals.

times more than what I put into it. I decided to look for new opportunities and one was a city bid project. The timing wasn’t right to take on the project on our own, so I decided to talk to the person that was directly behind us in the bid. It was such a great project that I just couldn’t walk away without partnering up with them. It was a good deal for both of us. Plaza walked away with over $25 million on that project.

I was talking to an old family friend of my Uncle Zach about doing the contracting on a project on 92nd Street and Second Avenue in New York City. I spoke to the late Richard Fisher about this project and set up a meeting for him and a financial group that had the rights to it. Richard was able to get a deal done that made sense for us all and Plaza received a really nice contractor’s fee. That’s just some of the opportunities that I was able to develop over time being a contractor.

We have had the opportunity to work with people that I have been close with for over 30 years. For example, we have done four projects with Steve Witkoff including 111 Murray, Greenwich Street and Area 15 which Winston Fisher had a great concept for and has turned into a reality, as well as The Drew Las Vegas, which is very dear to us. We have the pleasure of working with Marty Burger and Silverstein Properties and own over 700 units and, at one time, owned the Beekman Tower. These are the type of people that we are proud to partner with.

The partners of Fisher Brothers, Kenny, Winston and myself, are all working on a large project in Long Island City. We are also working with Lionheart which is a mezz fund with some great investors involved. Kenny is the head of leasing and management and is Chairman of Fisher Houses and Co-Chairman of the Intrepid Museum.

My daughter, Jamie Rose, who runs marketing at Fisher Brothers, is doing a great job.

We are on the fifth generation as my brother’s daughter, Crystal, is very involved in conceptual designs of our properties.

We invest in startups and growth stage ventures that disrupt and transform markets.

What are the keys to building a great construction company?

It comes down to honesty, integrity and reputation. You need to know what you are doing and you need to do things the right way. We did this at Plaza and now that my

non-compete has ended, I’ve been asked to consult, join or even start a new contracting opportunity, which I am always exploring.

You founded Fisher Capital Investments.

What is the mission of FCI and how broad is its focus?

After we sold Plaza Construction, my son, Kyle, and I decided to pursue investment opportunities.

With my reputation and track record, opportunities started coming our way. It wasn’t us soliciting them, but they were soliciting us.

Fisher Capital Investments is the family office/ venture capital arm of 103-year-old real estate firm Fisher Brothers. We invest in start-ups and growth stage ventures that disrupt and transform markets.

With over a century of experience and leadership to draw on, FCI knows what it takes to succeed. We recognize the potential in bold companies that are making a positive impact on our world and use our experience to help them achieve their goals.

You mentioned your son, Kyle, who works with you at FCI. How special is it for you to be able to work with Kyle and to see his growth and success at FCI? Kyle has put together four or five great opportunities that we have invested in or where we are the major shareholders. Kyle is fifth generation and he realizes how important it is to be a part of the Fisher family. With Kyle at FCI and Jamie at Fisher Brothers, it is special to see two of your six children wanting to continue the legacy of what their great-great-grandfather and his sons have built.

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With Kyle at FCI and Jamie at Fisher Brothers, it is special to see two of your six children wanting to continue the legacy of what their great-great-grandfather and his sons have built.

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To fnd out more about the culture and creativity of our 54,000 employees, visit www.interpublic.com

NEWYORK

Children’s Health An Interview with Catherine Manno, M.D., Pat and John Rosenwald Professor of Pediatrics and Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone EDITORS’ NOTE Dr. Catherine Manno is an experienced academic pediatrician who specializes in pediatric hematology and oncology. Dr. Manno was recruited to NYU Langone Health ten years ago, at an exciting time of growth and progress.

During that time, Sylvia Hassenfeld and her family, including Alan and Ellen and her grandchildren, made a commitment to work with us to build a children’s hospital. This took several years, but the alignment of Dr. Grossman’s goals with the family’s goals resulted not only in the creation of a beautiful and spectacular facility for children and their families, but INSTITUTION BRIEF The more than also the development of innovative pro400 doctors at Hassenfeld Children’s grams and the ability to take care of every Hospital (nyulangone.org) – along single child who comes to our emergency Dr. Catherine Manno with nurses, child life specialists, department or to one of our clinics. social workers, and other medical How deeply is Hassenfeld professionals – are committed to providing per- Children’s Hospital integrated within NYU sonalized, compassionate care that addresses Langone Health? the needs of the entire family. Their specialists It is well-integrated in the medical centreat children with conditions ranging from ter, both metaphorically and literally, because minor illnesses to complex, more serious issues Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital is technically a at locations throughout the New York metropol- hospital within a hospital. itan area. In 2018, the hospital opened a new The facility is spectacular, and its layout 160,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art pediatric is quite clever in the sense that the entrance to hospital designed with a theme of New York City the children’s hospital is on 34th Street; it’s a from a child’s perspective. separate entrance, so children and their families have a different experience from the adult What drives NYU Langone Health’s strength patients from the moment they enter the hosand leadership in the industry? pital. Once inside, you can feel the presence The NYU Langone Health difference is cen- of committed pediatric nurses and doctors, as tered around open-mindedness and dedication well as social workers, and all parts of the team to never resting on your laurels, which comes necessary to take care of children. from the top. Our Dean and CEO, Dr. Robert I. On the clinical upside, we have the abilGrossman, is someone who leads by example. ity to benefit from this large and modern He is on top of the latest trends in healthcare, facility. For instance, while all of the back and he expects his staff to carefully consider what’s new in every aspect of medicine, and how to provide new technologies, therapies, and psychosocial approaches to each and every patient interaction, particularly for those interactions with children.

What was the origin of NYU Langone Health’s children’s hospital?

When Dr. Grossman became the Dean and CEO, he convinced me to come to NYU Langone because he believed that to be be a world-class academic medical center excellent children’s health services were needed. He said, “I am not a pediatrician, but you are.”

I found his honesty, his leadership style and his willingness to listen to be very appealing.

When I joined, a lot needed to be done to improve what we did for children, and Dr. Grossman and his leadership team allowed me to determine who I wanted to recruit to broaden the services we could provide.

of house elevators serve the children’s hospital as well as the adult side of the Kimmel Pavilion, there is minimal interaction between children and adults on the clinical care side.

We have our own ORs and our own waiting areas, yet the back of house, which is expansive and intricate, is seamless between the children’s hospital and the rest of the Kimmel Pavilion.

Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital is committed to building a partnership with patients and families and engaging the entire family. How is this accomplished?

Six years ago we received a magnificent gift from Trudy and Bob Gottesman to establish the Sala Institute for Child & Family Centered Care. The Sala Institute infuses the concept of family – child and family-centered care, into every clinical interaction. The Sala Institute allows for the training of young nurses and young doctors in the concepts of family-centered care, helping them to learn how to speak sympathetically and empathically, as well as accurately, to children and to parents. We learn this in medical school and nursing school, but it really becomes enhanced through the work of the Sala Institute.

The structure of the facility lends itself to privacy, confidentiality, quiet, peace, but also, for the children, for distraction and play while the children are in the hospital sometimes facing very difficult circumstances. We have a fantastic group of therapists who are at the bedside

We have a fantastic group of therapists who are at the bedside as necessary, not just providing physical therapy but music therapy, art therapy, and who help children to recover quickly and to not have as much difficulty with being separated from their normal surroundings.

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Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone Health

as necessary, not just providing physical therapy but music therapy, art therapy, and who help children to recover quickly and to not have as much difficulty with being separated from their normal surroundings.

What are the different locations and facilities for Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital?

Children with chronic illnesses obviously require care on the outpatient side, and our goal is to always keep children living a life that’s as normal as possible, even with chronic disease. Our The Fink Children’s Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders and our Stephen D. Hassenfeld Children’s Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders, both located on 32nd Street, are outpatient areas where our pediatric specialists see patients. The principals of Sala childand-family-centered care are also infused into the atmosphere of our outpatient locations. We have playrooms, therapists, clerks and medical assistants, all trained in the extra special touches that are important for the care of children and their families.

We have just embarked on a new relationship by acquiring Winthrop Hospital in Mineola in Nassau County, and we are working to imbue that same philosophy, that both Hassenfeld and Sala represent, into the care that they provide very capably in Mineola.

How critical has it been to attract and retain top talent at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital?

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

We have attracted a great group of pediatric specialists, and developed a network of general pediatric practitioners throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Nassau County and Suffolk County. Our network continues to grow. In Manhattan, our specialists are a talented group consisting of gastroenterologists and cardiologists, and we have all of the specialists for pediatrics. I have been very pleased at our ability to attract fantastic clinicians as well as terrific researchers and educators to round out our academic mission.

Your expertise is in pediatric hematology. Will you discuss the advances and innovation taking place in this area?

My area of expertise is pediatric hematology with a major interest is hemophilia.

Over the past 20 years, the world anticipated that hemophilia would be one of the first monogenic diseases that would be approached successfully with gene therapy.

I think we are coming very close to having a couple of gene therapy products that will be on the market in the next few years. In the meantime, other new therapeutic products have improved the outlook and lifestyles for hemophilia patients.

Are you worried that the high cost of medical school will impact the next generation of leaders interested in entering medicine?

NYU School of Medicine announced a year ago that it would be a tuition-free medical school, really challenging the status quo in medical education in the United States. I think that will modify the profile of the students we attract to NYU School of Medicine, and I think it will challenge other medical school deans and boards of trustees to consider whether they need to figure out more generous scholarship opportunities for their students or even figure out how to put together an endowment to go tuition-free. I still think medicine is an incredibly challenging and fulfilling career path. I encourage young people, even family members, that medicine is worth the long period of training because the opportunity to, in my case, positively help families, and particularly children, to live their lives as normally as possible has been a real privilege over the past many years.

Are you able to enjoy the process and celebrate the wins, or are you always looking at what’s next and moving ahead?

I love to share the credit for what we’ve accomplished in these last 10 years, not only under the leadership of our Dean and with the support of the Hassenfeld family, but with all of our faculty and all of the great people who were here before I joined and who stuck with it to do the right thing for children at NYU Langone.

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"We are the most respected framing company for good reasons" - Eli Wilner

Eli Wilner & Co. created the 12 ft x 21ft replica frame (above) for Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's 1851 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware, which dominates the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing.

For over 40 years I have been creating frames for the world’s finest art collections.

I understand that one of the most important commodities you have is your time and the last thing you want to do is waste it.

That is why the level of service and skill that would be extraordinary for most is standard at Eli Wilner. I understand that you want your art framed beautifully, created with extraordinary skill, delivered on time and installed professionally. The first time!

The number of times that I have been called in to repair others’ work is shocking. Who has the time to do things twice?

When asked what separates us from other firms I offer the following: • I personally oversee each frame choice as it relates to scale, period correctness and aesthetics.

• We are obsessed with providing perfection for each framing project.

• We employ the finest carvers, gilders and finishers in the world.

• We include a Lifetime Quality Guarantee.

• We have been the framers for the Metropolitan Museum, the Smithsonian, the White House, Sotheby's and Christie's since 1983.

• We are the recommended frame restorers by Chubb and AXA art insurance companies.

• We offer incredible white glove service that is flawless and unmatched by any profession.

• We respect your desire for confidentiality and go to great lengths to insure your privacy. Historically we have used pseudonyms for our clients.

• There are no extra charges: Included are preliminary drawings, mockups, travel time, fitting, a photographic record of the work process, crating and shipping.

• We provide a guaranteed delivery date (often impossible for anyone else to meet) or the entire project is free.

I look forward to speaking with you about your next project.

I promise not to waste your time!

1525 York Avenue, New York, NY 10028 212-744-6521 | www.eliwilner.com | info@eliwilner.com Antique Frames, Antique Frame Restoration, Antique Frame Replication

NEWYORK

“Now Your Community Bank” An Interview with Joseph R. Ficalora, President and Chief Executive Officer, New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYCB) EDITORS’ NOTE Joseph Ficalora We have been a very conservative is also a dir ector of New York bank going back to 1859 and we have Community Bancorp, Inc. He joined remained true to this as a public comNew York Community Bank in pany. Our lending model didn’t change 1965 and has held positions of at all after we went public. increasing responsibility across all We’ve created value by buying lines of operations. Named President banks under circumstances that were and Chief Operating Officer in 1989, highly beneficial to our proforma comhe spearheaded the establishment of pany and to our shareholders. Every deal New York Community Bancorp that we have ever done has brought the four years later and has served as stock price up dramatically. its President and Chief Executive As NYCB has gr own, how Joseph R. Ficalora Officer since its inception. From critical has it been to maintain its January 2007 through December culture?

2010, Ficalora also served as Chairman of the We are a bank with nearly $53 billion in assets, company, a position he had held previously. A but our culture is not one that you would find in a graduate of Pace University with a degree in busi- big bank. Our culture remains more like the small ness and finance, Ficalora serves as a Member bank that we were, rather than the big bank that Director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of we are. Our culture is such that we operate like a New York, having previously served as its Vice stable, very consistent community bank that is Chairman. He is a former member of the Board customer orientated. of Directors of the American Bankers Association (ABA) and is currently a member of the ABA’s Government Relations Council Administrative Committee, as well as a director of the New York Bankers Association (NYBA), serving as Chairman of its Metropolitan Area Division. He is a member of the Boards of Directors of Pentegra Retirement Trust and Pentegra Services, Inc.

The word “community” is in our name and

COMPANY BRIEF New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (mynycb.com) is the 20th largest bank holding company in the nation with assets of $52.8 billion, and is the parent company of New York Community Bank. NYCB has evolved from a mutual savings bank with seven branches in Queens and Nassau Counties to a publicly-traded multi-bank holding company with over 230 branch offices serving consumers and businesses throughout Metro New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio and Arizona.

Will you highlight the history and heritage of New York Community Bancorp?

The company became a public company in 1993. Over the course of time, we have split our stock around nine times and our total return to our shareholders dramatically exceeds the total returns of others within the banking sector. The general return was around 600 percent for that 25-year period; for us it’s more than 3,700 percent. Depositors, who we have encouraged to buy our stock and hold on to it, have seen a great return.

120 LEADERS

we try to keep our local identity in each community.

We try to maintain the local identity of the bank in each market that we operate in. So, while the name of the holding company is New York Community Bancorp, in our individual markets we are the local bank. In Queens, we’re known as the Queens County Savings Bank. In Ohio, we’re the Ohio Savings Bank. On Long Island, we’re the Roslyn Savings Bank. The word “community” is in our name and we try to keep our local identity in each community. NYCB could actually be known as “Now Your Community Bank,” because we are in so many markets outside of New York and always work to maintain that local community feel.

How do you balance the need for technology from younger customers while still providing older customers with the human touch?

There is a big distinction between how the young and the old do their banking. Old depositors are people that have hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions of dollars, in deposit with the bank and are very loyal. Young customers at the bank today are very fluid; they don’t have the money to make large deposits and will leave quickly if their life circumstance changes.

But we still need to recognize that young people represent a different kind of business model and we must have all the necessary bells and whistles for them. At the same time, we have to take care of the grandmother who has had a savings account with us for 40 years with no bells and whistles – just money.

We appreciate the priorities and the goals and the resources of all of our customers and can accommodate those different needs to meet their expectations.

NYCB has a diverse customer base. How important is it that your workforce mirrors that diversity?

We have human resource practices that enforce that all operating branches should reflect the community they are in. We go out of our way to make our branches reflective of the communities in which we operate.

Is corporate responsibility and community engagement a responsibility of leading companies today and how important is this to NYCB? I personally have the Ficalora Family Foundation. When we became a public company, I decided to allocate stock to my capacity to give to the community, so the Ficalora Family Foundation makes donations to the communities that we serve.

We encourage all of our employees to be community participants. We like for our employees to participate in those repetitive, year-after-year events that occur in the community where their branch is located. Last year our employees put in more than 3,000 hours into community events.

We have the ability as a company to give money to the communities we serve, and when you’re giving money you give it in many different ways. The bank also has several foundations such as the New York Community Bank Foundation, previously the Roslyn Savings Bank Foundation, and the Richmond County Savings Foundation, which give away millions of dollars to local worthwhile causes in communities every year.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

NEWYORK

Clients First An Interview with Lynn McMahon, New York Metro Office Managing Director, Media and Entertainment Lead in North America, Accenture EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to her current role, Lynn McMahon served Accenture as Communications Industry Client Account Lead; COO - Communications and High Tech - North America; Communications, Media and Entertainment and High Tech Sales Lead; and Accenture Innovation Center Lead. She serves on the Board of Dir ectors of the New Jersey Ballet Company. McMahon received her bachelor’s degree in finance and M.B.A. from Florida State University.

are. We look at everything through the lens of a client. We think client outcomes first.

We have six core values. The one I think that really allows us to continue to create a new generation of leaders and a new generation of thought capital is our focus on integrity. We’re always trying to do the right thing for our clients and for our people.

The other one that I would Lynn McMahon mention around core values is stewardship. We have a very strong commitment to creating the next generation of leaders. We need to constantly reinvest in our COMPANY BRIEF Accenture (accenture.com) people. We put a tremendous amount of our is a leading global professional services com- company’s earnings back into the business pany providing a broad range of services and in terms of developing new thought capital solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, tech- or developing new skills and training our nology and operations. Combining experi- people. ence and specialized skills across more than You have spent your career at Accenture 40 industries and all business functions – and have had many different roles. Does underpinned by the world’s largest delivery it feel as though you’ve been able to have network – Accenture works at the intersec- a number of different careers within the tion of business and technology to help cli- same company? ents improve their performance and create When I got out of school and I graduated sustainable value for their stakeholders. With with my M.B.A., I was trying to decide what to 482,000 people serving clients in more than do. My concentration was in finance and I had 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to opportunities in banking and capital markets. improve the way the world works and lives.

The beauty of consulting is that I didn’t have to make that very linear choice about What are the keys to Accenture’s indus- what I was going to do in my career. I like try leadership and how do you define the the versatility of being able to move around in Accenture difference? different roles and certainly this firm provides I f e e l l i k e w e a r e a l w a y s l o o k i n g that opportunity. around the corner and reinventing ourselves We have five major industry groups and for the next thing that our clients are going I have actually worked across all five of those to need. We do not think as much around groups in my career. what’s here now or how we continue to Will you highlight the media and enterevolve things as they are, we really look at tainment industry group at Accenture? what the next thing will be. Whether it is Our media and entertainment practice new technology or new business models or in North America supports the work that changes in industries and disruptive factors, we do with broadcasters, programmers and we try to determine how it’s going to impact publishers. This industry is going through our clients and also how it could potentially a tremendous amount of disruption and we disrupt us. are helping our clients think through these I think that visionary aspect – the fact forces and adapt their businesses to be that we are consultants and we turn that con- successful. sulting lens on ourselves a lot – is one of the Will you discuss the mission of the things that leads to our sustainability and Women’s Leadership Forum? leadership as a company.

We have had the Women’s Leadership It also has to do with our core values, Forum for almost 20 years. Early in my career, because creating client value defines who we I was one of the few women at the table. I VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

was starting to see a few women clients at the table. However, everything we did from a marketing perspective or a client relationship building perspective tended to involve golf or a basketball game or a baseball game.

I realized that we had an underserved population here and went out and polled some of these women and asked what would be of value to them and heard back that they really didn’t value the type of pure social interaction we were doing. They had a different set of things that they wanted to get out of any type of event or interaction. They really wanted something that had more content related to it and that was fairly crisp so that it wasn’t a two-day, off-site seminar.

We created something that was very bespoke. We bring our clients together around highlighting great women role models and strong women business leaders and then we give them a chance to get together and build a network of women that they know.

How critical is purpose for Accenture and to having a commitment to the communities it serves?

We really believe that, besides serving our clients and building our people, the third leg of the stool is about being a good corporate citizen in all of the local communities where we work and where our clients reside.

I think the New York metro area is a great example. I’m really proud of what we do here. We have more than 5,000 people in the New York metro area and we realize how we can multiply our impact in a huge way by having that many people.

Also, this is really important to our people. People want to work hard, but they also want to see how they are making an impact in the community. We have several dimensions to this so that people can be involved in things that they care about.

For example, we had our day of service where our people volunteered across the New York metro area. Some were delivering meals to people that are homebound, some were revitalizing parks, some were mentoring in schools, and some were building houses.

Our people are also generous with their money and we have established a My Giving campaign to facilitate this. As importantly, we do pro bono work to help with special projects for many of the organizations we are involved with that support the local community.

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LEADERS 121

NEWYORK

Democratizing Private Aviation An Interview with Kenny Dichter, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Wheels Up EDITORS’ NOTE Kenny Dichter Is there a strong understandfounded Marquis Jet in 2001 and ing of the King Air product in the created the first-ever fractional market? jet card program. Led by Dichter, I’m not surprised that the King Air Marquis Jet generated over $4 bilhas been adopted so quickly. 85 perlion in revenue, culminating in its cent of flights are within that two-hour sale to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire range and people are seeing that it’s Hathaway’s NetJets in 2010. At significantly more economical to fly that time, Dichter was named Vice the King Air for these flights. No one Chairman of NetJets. He has played ever imagined that this airplane could an active role and invested in Juice be used in fleet format and sold the Press, a chain of 75+ stores that sell way we’re selling it.

Kenny Dichter organic, cold-pressed juice smoothWho is the Wheels Up customer ies, salads, soups and vegan snacks. and how broad is the target market?

In 2010, he co-founded Tequila Avion. ParisIt’s everyone from the seasoned private based Pernod Ricard, the world’s second larg- flier to the person coming up from commerest pr emium wine and spirits company, cial. It’s a person who has a vacation home purchased a minority stake in Tequila Avion in that he or she wants to get to. It’s a business2011, and acquired the company in July 2014 man who wants to have meetings in two or for more than $100 million. Dichter is also the three different states in a single day and get Founder and Chairman of Tour GCX Partners, home for dinner. It’s the aircraft owner or Inc. In 1996, he co-founded Alphabet City, flight department that needs us for supplewhich was acquired by Robert F.X. Sillerman’s mental lift. We’ve got three membership SFX Entertainment in 1998. Dichter chairs tiers – Connect, Core, and Business – and the Council of Advocates at New York’s Mount they start at just $2,995 to join, so we’ve Sinai Hospital for Dr. Ken Davis and is on the greatly expanded the addressable market.

Board of the Jack Martin Fund. He is a major With Wheels Up, the addressable market is six supporter of his alma mater, the University of times larger than the fractional market. Our Wisconsin-Madison. market opportunity is 1 million to 1.5 million people and businesses that could afford to COMPANY BRIEF Wheels Up (wheelsup.com) participate. Wheels Up is broadening the base is a revolutionary membership-based private of the private aviation pyramid and increasing aviation company that significantly reduces participation by several times. the upfront costs to fly privately, while providAre you focused on building a commuing unparalleled safety, service, flexibility, and nity for Wheels Up’s members and providquality. Wheels Up offers a total private aviation ing additional services for them? solution for its 6,000+ members through three From day one, we have sought to creunique membership options—Connect, Core, ate the world’s most engaged community of and Business—and a vast selection of program private fliers. We offer members the ability to features. All Wheels Up Members have access to share flights with one another and split the cost. signature events and a suite of curated bene- There’s no company that’s a bigger believer in fits from the world’s preeminent lifestyle brands. social aviation than we are.

We want the Wheels Up experience to W h a t w a s y o u r v i s i o n f o r c r e a t i n g not only save time for our members, but also Wheels Up? enrich their lives, which is why we offer excluWhen we started Wheels Up over 6 years sive events and experiences through our Wheels ago, we were looking to disrupt and democra- Down program. We want to make sure that we’re tize the industry by expanding the addressable building a special relationship with our custommarket. We wanted to redefine the global mar- ers, both in the air and on the ground. ketplace for private aviation with a membership Will you discuss the expertise and model that would give millions of people the experience of the Wheels Up team? opportunity to access the safest, most consisIn order to be the best, you have to hire tent, and highest-quality option in a more flex- and retain the best, but there are intangibles ible and cost-effective way than ever before. that go beyond that and that are remarkably 122 LEADERS

A fleet of Wheels Up King Air planes

simple. It starts with three simple values that Bill Belichick, one of our Wheels Up Members and Ambassadors, taught me years ago and we live by them today when evaluating both new and existing talent. Are you tough, smart and dependable?

Wheels Up is committed to giving back and corporate responsibility. What makes this so important and do you see this as a responsibility for leading companies today?

This is something that is very important to me and our entire organization. Wheels Up Cares is a philanthropic effort that we started over 4 years ago as a way of connecting Wheels Up with charitable initiatives that matter to our company, members, families, and friends. For us, the initiative goes hand in hand with delivering the safest, most consistent, and highest-quality service in the air. To date, we have entered four different Wheels Up King Air 350i aircraft in different paint schemes to raise awareness for a specific charitable cause, as well as tapped into our unbelievable network of members to support it. This includes the Pink Plane (Dubin Breast Center of the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai for Breast Cancer Awareness), Red Plane (American Heart Association and SIMON’s Heart for Heart Health Awareness), Teal Plane (Janet Burros Memorial Foundation for Ovarian Cancer Awareness) and our newest aircraft, the Camo Plane (The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) that cares for those grieving the loss of a loved one who died while serving in our Armed Forces).

You are known as a serial entrepreneur. How important is it to keep an entrepreneurial spirit at the heart of Wheels Up’s culture?

It’s such an important part of the culture of our company, because we’re still in a stage of rapid growth and tremendous innovation and have been since day one. We’re expanding our aircraft offerings and partnerships, and we’re utilizing the most advanced technology to ensure the best possible aircraft safety, flight management, member services, and member website and app experience.

We’re committed to staying at the forefront of the industry’s evolution, which means continually enhancing our digital solutions and maintaining the same creative passion with which we started this company.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Real Estate Services

Look beyond the immediate horizon to see what’s coming next. Wherever you are, we can make sure that you’re in touch with the future of real estate.

www.jll.com

Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc., a Maryland Corporation Jones Lang LaSalle Brokerage, Inc., a Texas Corporation © 2019 Jones Lang LaSalle IP, Inc. All rights reserved.

330 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10017

NEWYORK

A Trusted Advisor An Interview with Robert I. Bodian, Esq., Managing Member, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. EDITORS’ NOTE Robert Bodian What are the primary practice has received awards and national areas for Mintz? r ecognition for his innovative We have very strong and deep approach to management. He is practices in litigation, transactional also a seasoned trial lawyer with and intellectual property. Our focus an active litigation practice has become much more industryand decades of experience coverbased, and we are probably best ing a number of areas including known in the life sciences and healthemployment, commercial disputes, care industries. private equity, financial services, Does Mintz’s industry experinsurance, securities, real estate, tise pr ovide opportunities to sports law and banking. Bodian work with other law firms?

Robert I. Bodian has extensive experience defendWe have around 530 attorneys, ing companies and their direcmany of whom have worked at the tors and officers in securities litigation and bigger firms. For example, I started my career related matters, including claims arising at Simpson Thacher. I left as a fifth-year and out of acquisitions, going-private transac- started my own firm, which afforded me the tions, restatements, and allegations of finan- opportunity to try a couple of cases per year, cial irregularities. Bodian earned his B.S. in while running a small firm. accounting, summa cum laude, from the State The large Am Law 20 firms bring our firm University of New York – Binghamton and his in on life science and healthcare deals from J.D. from Stanford University. time-to-time because we have deep expertise in these. They get to know us and we FIRM BRIEF Mintz (mintz.com) is an Am Law 100 team up with them, and that leads to strong firm with around 530 attorneys and offices in relationships.

New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San We’re also a good referral resource for Francisco, Washington, D.C., and London. It Am Law 20 firms because we have the quality has practices in intellectual property, litiga- that their clients are accustomed to getting, tion and investigations, transactional, health- but at a different price point. So, in litigacare, and regulatory and advisory. Mintz is tion for example, if a company counsel needs recognized as a top-tier law firm in U.S. News another firm to represent the board or the & World Reports’ Best Law Firms list.

CEO or COO, we’re a good option for that.

What are the keys to building client Will you highlight the history and heri- loyalty? tage of Mintz?

I think of institutional clients as people, Mintz was started in 1933 in Boston by even though they are corporations. The corthree Jewish lawyers, Mintz, Levin and Cohn. porations are run by people who are no difThey were Harvard Law School graduates ferent than other people. Everyone prefers to who were associates at a prominent firm. In work with professionals who they feel comthose days, Jewish lawyers realistically could fortable with. If you are very comfortable with not become a partner at many prominent firms, your doctor and have a 20-year history with in Boston and elsewhere. For 70 years, it him, you’re not going to switch just to save a was primarily known as a Boston firm and few dollars.

Boston still is our largest office. The firm The trick is to be the trusted advisor and always has been entrepreneurial and scrappy constantly work to understand the client’s because that is in our DNA. In the ’70s, the business so they trust you and, hopefully, like firm opened a Washington D.C. office headed you. You have to be positive and solutionby Charlie Ferris, who had served as head of driven. If you do all that, clients are not likely the FCC. Ever since then, we’ve had a strong to go to someone else just based on a lower communications practice. billing rate, or some other extraneous factor.

In 2000, the firm expanded to New York Will you discuss Mintz’s service and then to San Diego and Los Angeles and cultur e? most recently to San Francisco. We also have I am pretty sure they still don’t teach this a small office in London. in law school, so we established Client Service 124 LEADERS

University (CSU), which more than 100 of our partners have now gone through. It is a multiday program that includes outside speakers.

It teaches things that should be obvious, like calling clients right back, even if you know that they will be asking about something you don’t yet have an answer to. Make it clear that you care. CSU is a pretty innovative approach, since we feel that a service mentality can be taught.

How important is diversity and inclusion at Mintz?

Diversity is a core value of Mintz. We need to bring different people into the room so that not everyone is saying the same thing.

We really spend a lot of time and effort trying to make our workforce more diverse.

Our policy committee has an automatic seat for the head of our diversity committee. We actually give billing hours credit to associates for doing work to increase diversity. If our senior attor neys spend time sponsoring a diverse attorney, they get billable time for it. As a result, our metrics on this are above average across the board. Our recruiting has a special focus on diversity, and we provide scholarships for diverse law students.

Diversity gets the right mix at the firm, and inclusion is making sure they all are actually part of something. I personally mentor some of our diverse partners to help them be the best they can be, so when diverse associates come in, they have successful diverse attorneys as role models.

What type of commitment has the firm made to pro bono work?

Community service has always been a big part of the firm. We are a big part of our communities. We have been one of the leaders in asylum for a long time. We were front and center challenging the Administration’s immigration policies and teamed up with the ACLU to successfully block the initial immigration restrictions in Massachusetts in federal court.

We are very active in fighting domestic violence. We got the shockingly lenient law on domestic violence changed in Massachusetts.

We recently led the way with LGBT rights in Massachusetts as well.

We also make our pro bono program available to clients and invite their in-house counsel to team up with us.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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NEWYORK

Fostering Community and Connectivity An Interview with Jill Zucker, Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company’s New York Office EDITORS’ NOTE Jill Zucker leads We’ve really shifted our focus and McKinsey’s New York office. Prior the way we partner with clients from to this role, she directed McKinsey’s being insight partners to impact partwork on wealth management in ners where we partner with our cliNorth America for seven years. She ents to deliver impact of those insights recently helped establish the Dual through their organizations.

Career Network, an initiative to supConsulting is a name that’s been port the personal and professional used for several decades, but the realadvancement of McKinsey colity of what we do is much more partleagues and their partners as they nership than consulting. balance two careers. As a memWhat are some highlights of ber of McKinsey’s Partner Election McKinsey’s New York office?

Jill Zucker Committee, she helps to identify I’m very proud of our New York and nurture future leaders of the office. We have nearly 2,000 colfirm. Zucker earned a B.A. in economics from leagues in New York and a network of more Barnard College and an M.B.A. from Columbia than 3,000 alumni from McKinsey in the New University.

York area, many of whom are business founders and CEOs. FIRM BRIEF McKinsey & Company (mckinsey.com) The strength of our New York community is a global management consulting firm com- is an integral part of our firm. It allows us to mitted to helping institutions in the private, play a role in the city and help foster growth in public and social sectors achieve lasting suc- New York, which is something that we continue cess. With consultants in more than 133 cities to seek out opportunities to do. in 66 countries across industries and funcWe are really at the forefront of innovation tions, it brings vast expertise to clients anywhere for our firm in the New York office. We develop in the world. McKinsey works closely with teams new service lines and, most recently, we created at all levels of an organization to shape winning a growth tech service line where we help prestrategies, mobilize for change, build capabili- IPO technology companies. ties and drive successful execution.

Will you discuss McKinsey’s commitment to developing a diverse and inclusive What have been the keys to McKinsey’s workforce? leadership in the industry?

In our New York office, we have a numA few things stand out for me during ber of affinity groups that foster community my time at the firm. One is our commitment across people of diverse backgrounds. They to our values. Our values constantly inform include members of LGBTQ communities, how we think about long-term strategy for colleagues from different minority ethnic our firm, our people, and how we serve our groups, parents of special needs children, clients. veterans, colleagues with disabilities and In addition, we have made a major com- more. The reason I mention all of these affinmitment on investing in knowledge, innova- ity groups is that we think about how our tion and learning. For example, we spend colleagues need different types of support nearly $600 million in firm resources on and a sense of community to be at their best. building knowledge for ourselves and our It is something that we continue to prioritize clients – and this continues to put us at the and invest in. forefront of helping corporations, public We have one initiative that I’m personsector clients and governments around the ally proud of: our Dual Career Network, world. which I helped found to support colleagues Does the word consulting still effec- and their partners in balancing two careers. tively define McKinsey’s business today?

I t ’ s an extension of the Women in the We have put a significant amount of Workplace work that we’ve done over time, thought into our mission. Historically, we had a and we’ve already seen significant interest in reputation as insight partners. We thought about the program. our client’s business and helped derive insights Will you share more about the Dual on what the future direction may be.

Career Network?

126 LEADERS

I was inspired by my own experience and conversations with colleagues to expand the options available and the conversation around dual career couples to help these firm members find new ways to tackle the challenges of juggling work and home life with an equally busy partner.

The initiative originally launched in our Northeast offices and has been so well received that it’s expanding throughout offices in North America and globally. It includes a handful of offerings designed to facilitate connections and make life easier for colleagues in dual career households. Each location can customize the offerings based on needs, but they may include concierge services for small, local tasks; EA support to help coordinate couple’s schedules and travel; and community-building opportunities for couples, including professional development courses for significant others and networking groups to share advice.

McKinsey places a major focus on innovation. Where is innovation taking place at the firm?

We have hired thousands of engineers, data scientists and other colleagues who support our client work across all aspects of new technologies and expertise.

For example, we have become one of the largest design firms globally through a mix of acquisitions and the recruitment of leading design talent with a diverse range of skills. That is a huge leap from being the insight strategy partners of the past to helping our clients innovate on the front lines with new technologies and new ways of reaching customers through digital and design capabilities.

We are taking those steps to stay at the cutting edge of what’s happening in corporate America and here in New York City.

How critical is pro bono work and corporate responsibility to the culture of McKinsey?

The firm is committed to helping drive impact on social issues that are important to the neighborhoods where we live and work. We continue to support the community and non-profit organizations through our pro bono consulting efforts, opportunities for our colleagues to serve on non-profit boards, and knowledge sharing to help address society’s most urgent challenges.

For example, we recently hosted a roundtable for leaders of non-profits in the New York area to share our research surrounding the future of work and discuss how disruption from technology will impact the populations they serve.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

NEWYORK

Musculoskeletal Health An Interview with Louis A. Shapiro, President and Chief Executive Officer, HSS EDITORS’ NOTE Lou Shapir o The first is talent because talent assumed his current position in drives performance. If you recruit the October 2006. Previously, he served absolute best talent, it will give you as Executive Vice President and the ability to achieve things that other Chief Operating Officer of Geisinger organizations aren’t able to achieve.

Health System’s Clinical Enterprise.

The second is culture, which He began his career at Allegheny enables this talent to do their jobs in General Hospital in Pittsburgh and the best way possible. This includes then joined McKinsey & Company things like the right environment to as a leader within their healthwork in, with engaged team members car e practice. Shapiro is a feland all the other resources needed to low of the American College of do their jobs. I frame my philosophy Louis A. Shapiro Healthcare Executives, former Chair for this as “Leadership By All” meaning of the Greater New York Hospital that everyone is a leader, regardless of Association Board of Governors (2014-2015), their role. We have nearly 5,000 people at HSS and on the board of Crutches 4 Kids and Latitude and they all have different roles, but each one is Food Allergy Care. a leader in what they do. This is something that really sets HSS apart and allows us to remain at INSTITUTION BRIEF HSS (hss.edu) is the world’s the top of our field. leading academic medical center focused on Finally, if an organization has a single musculoskeletal health. At its core is Hospital focus rather than focusing on many things, they for Special Surgery, nationally ranked No. 1 in should achieve better results. For us, that focus orthopedics (for the tenth consecutive year) and is musculoskeletal health, and that is why we No. 3 in rheumatology by U.S. News & World are the experts in the field. For example, we Report (2019-2020), and named a leader in see thousands of people who have back pain pediatric orthopedics by U.S. News & World so we know how to best prevent back pain and Report “Best Children’s Hospitals” (2019-2020). we know what to do when you have back pain.

HSS has a main campus in New York City and If you are in the minority that ends up needa growing network of related facilities. In 2018, ing back surgery, we know how to do it best HSS provided care to 139,000 patients and per- because we have done it hundreds of thousands formed more than 32,000 surgical procedures, of times before. and people from all 50 U.S. states and 80 counHSS is known for its expertise in surtries travelled to receive care at HSS. In addition gery. Is HSS’ focus on prevention and wellto patient care, HSS leads the field in research, ness around musculoskeletal health well innovation and education. Through HSS Global understood?

Ventures and the HSS Education Institute, the Yes, in an increasing amount. This is part institution is collaborating with medical centers of an evolution for us. Hospital for Special and other organizations to advance the quality Surgery is at our core and always will be – and value of musculoskeletal care and to make but over time people started referring to us as world-class HSS care more widely accessible Special Surgery and then as HSS. HSS is transnationally and internationally. HSS is the offi- forming the field of musculoskeletal health cial hospital for a number of professional sports and playing an even greater role in people’s organizations and teams including the New lives. We aim to help prevent the very condiYork Giants, New York Mets, New York Knicks, tions we are treating.

Brooklyn Nets, UFC, US Rowing, US Biathlon, US When you look at the continuum of care, Lacrosse, and USA Basketball. HSS is one of only it has a health component to it and a care comthree hospitals in the United States designated as ponent to it. The health component has two a Medical Center of Excellence by FIFA. big sets of activities: prevention and wellness, and fitness and performance. There are all kinds What have been the key factors to HSS’ of things that fit into this bucket. One is the strength and leadership in the industry? major strides we are making in injury prevenThere are several key factors that help HSS tion. With prevention and wellness, our goal is to achieve a continued position of leadership to work with you so that you don’t ever need us within the industry. on the care side. With fitness and performance, VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

our goal is to help you function at your highest level, whether you are a professional athlete, a weekend warrior, or just a person who is navigating through life.

The care part starts when you have a problem. When looking at what you need, we believe in, and are continuing to build capabilities in, conservative care. You may not need surgery. You may not need an injection. Maybe you will eventually, but you need conservative care first.

The complete continuum of care includes prevention and wellness, fitness and performance, conservative care, surgical care, and rehab and recovery. Over time, more people will understand how HSS does that not only for individuals, but also for very large populations nationwide.

Will you highlight HSS’ focus on education and research?

Several centers drive research and education at HSS. With 20 laboratories and hundreds of staff members, the HSS Research Institute studies what our physicians see in the exam room and in the operating room and searches for ways to prevent those things from happening in the first place, as well as making treatment options even better for when they are needed.

HSS Education Institute offers a full spectrum of education from teaching kids how not to get injured to teaching future professionals, and everything in between. More than 25,000 medical professionals in 130 countries choose to receive online Continuing Medical education from HSS. HSS Center for the Advancement of Value in Musculoskeletal Care is comprised of a group of people who really understand value-based healthcare, not just as a buzzword, but as an actionable concept. We are leaders in this area.

Finally, the HSS Innovation Institute facilitates advancements in the area of medications, devices and care delivery, including digital.

All of these centers focus on musculoskeletal health, and on each one of those five buckets in the continuum of care.

How do you define your role leading HSS and how do you focus your efforts?

Three things. One: Be better every day.

Two: Cultivate knowledge continuously.

Three: Fulfill our responsibility and opportunity to help larger populations to move better and live better.

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The Evolution of IP An Interview with Ed Haug, Chairman, Haug Partners EDITORS’ NOTE Ed Haug was I’m convinced this is a chala founding member of Haug lenge that is going to get greater and P a r t n e r s i n 1 9 9 7 a n d i s now greater in the years ahead. Take, for the fir m’s Chair man. With example, the rapid evolution of 5G offices in New York City, Boston technology – the fifth generation of and Washington, D.C., intellecwireless networks. The countries tual property, antitrust, FDA and that control access to 5G are going to commercial litigation are among have enormous power and influence.

Haug Partners’ many practice We already see that Beijing is deterareas. Haug has extensive expemined to make its companies a domrience in bench and jury trials, inant force. One Chinese company having appeared before numeralone, Huawei, may have already Ed Haug ous district and appellate courts filed more patents in this field than across the U.S., the U.S. Court of the rest of the world combined. We Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. know that the poaching of American patents Supreme Court. His experience extends beyond by all kinds of foreign actors will be a conthe U.S., having participated in cases before stant battle. That’s going to generate thouthe United Kingdom High Court, Ger man sands of lawsuits worldwide, and many will Federal Supreme Court and Tokyo High Court. be a game-changer for the people involved.

He served as President of the Federal Circuit What are the key areas that Haug Bar Association and is a frequent lecturer on Partners is focused on for the future? varied legal issues. Haug was a Ford Merit We’ve made life sciences one of our speScholar at Notre Dame, graduating in 1974 cialties because of the enormous breakthroughs with a B.S. in chemical engineering. He grad- that are revolutionizing pharmaceuticals and uated from St. John’s Law School in 1978, and medical treatments, medical devices, prosthetstudied law in Exeter, England. ics and all of the many ways that human afflictions are treated. In gene therapy alone the FIRM BRIEF Haug Partners (haugpartners.com) discoveries are incredibly sophisticated and provides integrated, multi-disciplinary legal will get more so over time. Protecting those services for life science and technology busi- breakthroughs and discoveries is a very comnesses. Its goal is to deploy the firm’s diverse plex legal and ethical challenge. For example, resources, technical expertise, legal acumen in the U.S., the courts and Congress are strugand business judgment to deliver optimal out- gling with what is considered to be patentable comes for clients. subject matter for patenting genes in the field of medical diagnostics. Advances in the life sciWill you discuss how the practice of ences have forced us to rethink these issues.

Intellectual Property law has evolved?

Will these issues continue to intensify?

For more than the past three decades, It will get even more intense as literally i t h a s b e e n t h e “ G o l d e n A g e ” f o r I P. thousands of newly patented processes and Thirty years ago, IP law was mostly prac- products start competing with one another. ticed by lawyers with engineering or sci- That frequently gets very contentious and ence backgrounds who helped inventors expensive, so sometimes the marketplace or obtain patents – kind of a green-eyeshade a government agency that’s authorized to set business. The vast changes in technology standards will try to settle the matter. One clasover those years, and the speed at which sic case going back a few years was the VHS these changes has taken place, have com- videotaping system versus Sony’s Betamax. pletely altered how IP is viewed. Now, Sony thought that Betamax’s superior video f o r e x a m p l e , c y b e r s e c u r i t y i s a m a j o r quality would win the war, but Panasonic bet priority for virtually every business big- correctly that consumers would prefer VHS’ ger than a hotdog stand. Protecting and lower price, so Sony lost out. That kind of preserving intellectual property from just drama is going to play out again in the years China alone is an enormous undertaking, ahead as, for example, hardware and software and there are other countries threatening technologies evolve and create whole new IP besides the Chinese. arenas of competition.

128 LEADERS

How do you define the Haug Partners advantage?

Most of our firm is focused on IP issues, to protecting and maximizing the hard-won value of our clients’ intellectual property. We specialize in patent, trademark and copyright law, anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy measures, online and social media infringement, domain-name disputes, unfair competition and every other kind of IP problem.

One advantage is the breadth of our lawyers’ backgrounds, and how we integrate those talents to meet the needs of our clients. Many have scientific and technological training, but our diversity and inclusiveness give us strengths in such a variety of areas that there are few if any challenges we aren’t ready to meet. That is exactly what you need in a world where IP problems can crop up seemingly overnight, not just in technology or life sciences, but any field where intellectual property is involved. That is almost everyone.

Another part of our unique advantage is the experience we bring to the IP field. I personally have been engaged in some of the biggest intellectual property cases that have played out over the last two decades – cases here in the U.S., in Asia and in Europe. The same holds true for many of my colleagues.

That’s really paid off, because when we launched 22 years ago there were several patent law firms in New York. Now we may be the largest IP firm in the city.

What advice do you give to young lawyers joining the firm?

One lesson we teach is that not every dispute has to go to court. We try to help clients by resolving their issues not only through litigation, but also through negotiation or mediation. When it’s appropriate, however, we’re always ready to litigate complex, high-stakes cases that are strategically important to our clients.

The other thing we tell young lawyers is to get out of the office as much as you can, go meet people, see and experience the global arena and become as well- rounded as you can be. You should go to courthouses, bar association meetings, and conferences. You should learn from the people you meet and develop contacts and networks. I’ve done that throughout my career, and it has been a very meaningful and rewarding growth experience.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Bess Freedman Chief Executive Officer Bess Freedman Chief Executive Officer Hall Willkie President Hall Willkie President Brown Harris Stevens Brown Harris Stevens

“ We’re in the business of relationships.

Bess Freedman

NEWYORK

The State of Real Estate An Interview with Kent M. Swig, President, Swig Equities, LLC EDITORS’ NOTE Kent Swig is confusion and a lack of clarity from Owner and Co-Chairman of Terra the Administration. Businesses need Holdings, LLC, which is the para consistent and predictable future. ent company of Br own Harris When you look at what’s happening Stevens, Halstead Property, and in Washington D.C., there is chaos.

Vanderbilt Insurance. He is also The business world looks at this and Owner and President of Helmsley freezes because it doesn’t know what Spear, LLC; Owner of Falcon Pacific to do. In essence, a “mental” recession Construction, LLC; Chair man has been created. of Dignity Hold in gs, LLC; and How are your businesses hanPrincipal in The Swig Company. dling this environment?

Swig holds a bachelor of arts degree Our residential firms, Brown Kent M. Swig in Chinese History from Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead, are very University. He attended Hastings large companies with a good slice of College of Law in San Francisco, where he was the market. We are cautiously optimistic since, selected for the Law Review. in my opinion, this is a good time to buy residential real estate. The prices are reasonable What is the state of the residential real estate right now and I think it’s a great time to pull the market in New York City today? trigger to make a purchase.

It is an interesting environment at presOn the commercial segment, Helmsley ent: We have the lowest unemployment rate in Spear is doing very well. We’ve grown to over 50 years and the highest employment rate in 31 agents right now. We just closed a 56,000 the Nation’s history. You have among the low- square foot deal with WeWork at 83 Maiden est interest rates that we have ever had, and Lane and closed another retail space there as the stock market has reached all-time highs well. We’re also the managing agent of that recently. building. I am very optimistic about that end of However, across the country we’re see- the business. ing a slowdown in new residential transaction Our construction company, Falcon Pacific, activity, especially in New York City. In 2018, is growing as well. We now have over $250 milManhattan experienced the lowest transaction lion of new development construction projects volume in 15 years. So you have this strong econ- in progress consisting of four hotels, a few resiomy and low interest rates, but the least amount dential buildings, and even some large storage of transaction volume in 15 years. Why is that? facilities.

I think there are two reasons. One is that there is an oversupply of apartments priced over $20 million. There are only 2,500 billionaires in the world and how many of them are going to buy an apartment in New York City who don’t already have one?

In the past four years, we’ve averaged 50 to 70 apartments in all of New York City that trade at over $20 million. And yet, developers have built over 700 units along the 57th Street corridor, river to river, a couple blocks north to 59th Street and a couple blocks south to 53rd Street, that are priced over $10 million and many of which are priced over $20 million.

These are being built for a miniscule population in the world. As a result of that, these apartments are not selling quickly, thus creating a false impression that the market is weak, which is actually not true.

Secondly, when one examines our national economy, it is evident that businesses see

So our operating enterprises are doing quite well. From a Swig Equities standpoint, we are working in Jersey City on developing an 83-unit residential rental building that is wellpriced for the market. I think Jersey City is a very opportunistic place to make investments.

Are all of these businesses interrelated?

Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead have common ownership. I separately own Helmsley Spear, Falcon Pacific, and Swig Equities. They are interrelated in many ways as, for example, our Helmsley Spear brokers refer a lot of business to Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead.

Additionally, our construction company is able to refer business to Helmsley Spear and Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead as well.

When you see the impact of Hudson Yards and the development of the West Side and Lower Manhattan, is Midtown Manhattan still as sought after as in the past?

Yes, because of the rezoning that occurred in Midtown East. There are several new buildings under construction which will accommodate the sophisticated type of real estate product that tenants demand, such as One Vanderbilt and 425 Park Avenue. Extraordinary projects like what is happening at 270 Park Avenue are also bringing in advanced product to the marketplace which, in this case, will accommodate the growth demands of JPMorgan Chase. Midtown is going through a huge resurgence that will keep the area competitive.

•

There are several new buildings under construction which will accommodate the sophisticated type

of real estate product that tenants demand, such as One Vanderbilt and 425 Park Avenue.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

NEWYORK

Risk, Strategy and People An Interview with Laurie Ledford, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. EDITORS’ NOTE Laurie Ledford is responsible for Marsh & McLennan Companies’ overall human capital and talent strategy and the delivery of human resources services to all of its colleagues worldwide. Prior to her current role, she served as Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for Marsh Inc. Ledford joined Marsh in 2000 and was named CHRO in 2006, after having served as Senior Human Resources Director for Marsh’s International Specialty Operations. Her prior experience was with Citibank and NationsBank.

The real epiphany for the HR function was that it had to understand the business, because what works in one organization won’t necessarily work in another. It is also all about a point in time; what we needed ten years ago isn’t what we need today. Nobody talked about digitization ten years ago.

There are still universal issues that are the same like developing strong leaders, which has been a universal thread and I think always will be, but yet the Laurie Ledford skill sets that our colleagues need are tied to what the business strategy is. So when HR executives became attuned to the fact that they needed to understand the business first COMPANY BRIEF Founded in 1871, Marsh & before they could ply their trade and specialties, McLennan Companies (mmc.com) is a global pro- it really elevated the role of the human resources fessional services firm with two operating segments, professional.

Risk and Insurance Services and Consulting, comHow does Marsh & McLennan work to prising four major businesses – Marsh, Guy ensure it recruits and retains diverse talent Carpenter, Mercer, Oliver Wyman – each a global and fosters inclusion? leader in its field. With more than 75,000 people We’re a large, complex, global organization. globally and revenue approaching $17 billion, it We’re in 130-plus countries with 75,000 employis a Fortune 250 company. ees and multiple businesses. Navigating a company like Marsh & McLennan can be challenging.

In a highly competitive industry, what sets We strive to create the type of inclusive environMarsh & McLennan apart? ment where people feel welcomed and accepted It’s the talent. We think about ourselves being when they get here and they feel that they can ask in the domain of risk, strategy, and people. We questions, that they can speak up. don’t make things. We create ideas. We create soluWe focus a lot on both inclusion and divertions. We help our clients address their greatest sity. We know that diverse teams deliver better opportunities and their most difficult challenges. results. But it’s also about inclusion – and not just You can’t pick up a newspaper and read about an who is in the room, but who is at the table. issue that a part of our business doesn’t somehow As a company, we have four commitments address. This is meaningful work. And it enables that define how we deliver on our purpose, one of us to attract people who are not just skilled at what which is “finding the smarter way.” That requires they do, but have a passion for the work they do. a culture that embraces diverse points of view.

It is really about the talent that the organiza- Our CEO, Dan Glaser, puts it this way: “there is no tion is able to attract. The culture of the company innovation without dissent.” We believe this diveris highly collaborative and client-focused, with sity of experiences and thinking drives innovation. colleagues working in teams who genuinely care We put a lot of emphasis now on internaabout each other and are willing to help each other. tional because half of our business is outside of There is a unique, creative, caring and col- the U.S., so we look to have leaders who are mullaborative culture here that delivers results for our ticultural. We are also putting more emphasis on clients. the movement of leaders across our businesses How has the HR role evolved and how and across our geographies. deeply engaged is the role in business strategy?

Moving people across our businesses has I can’t do my job if I’m not focused on what been incredibly positive. These colleagues bring the business is trying to accomplish. I’ve been in a whole new perspective to their new position. the HR world a long time. In the past, the depths of We often say that you can have multiple careers specialty in HR were much shallower. It was more here. We think that’s a real hidden gem for us in administrative. You were more of a broad general- attracting and retaining talent and it helps foster a ist, sometimes with a fairly shallow specialty. level of diversity for the organization.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Fifty-four percent of our colleague base is female. The challenge is making sure that women, and ethnically and racially diverse colleagues as well, are promoted at the same level and are rising through the organization at the same pace as their white, male counterparts.

These are the kinds of things we study extensively and then we look at the policies that need to be created to foster greater equity. So, there is a lot that we are doing to make sure that our organization is diverse and inclusive, but it is a journey. By no means do I think we’re done.

How important is being a purpose-driven company to attracting and retaining talent?

Purpose is more important today than it’s ever been. We define Marsh & McLennan’s purpose as making a difference in moments that matter – for our clients, our communities and the larger society that surrounds us.

That’s reflected in our work for clients around the world, and also in our citizenship work as a company, focused on volunteering. We give all colleagues a paid day off to volunteer and encourage teams to join volunteering efforts together. Last year, colleagues contributed well over 220,000 hours to nearly 4,000 nonprofit organizations. That’s meaningful to people coming into the organization. Candidates interview us to gain an understanding of what we do from a citizenship perspective.

Our board is incredibly engaged as well.

There’s a corporate responsibility committee at the board level that is very active in helping us think through our CSR efforts. We recently established an ESG committee at the company level to bring greater focus to each of these three critical criteria that have become increasingly important to investors and talent, alike.

What has made the HR profession so special for you?

I actually have an undergrad degree in human resources, but after working about 18 months, I realized I didn’t know enough about business so I went back for an MBA. I have always worked for organizations that clearly understood that people make the difference.

When I came here, this felt even more like the perfect fit because of the talent aspect of all of our companies. It’s as exciting today as it was 40 years ago when I started. In the right organization that really values partnership, like Marsh & McLennan, this is a profession that adds a tremendous amount of value.

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Addressing Income and Wage Equality An Interview with Leo Hindery, Jr., Managing Partner, InterMedia Partners and Chairman and CEO, Trine Acquisition Corp.

EDITORS’ NOTE Leo Hindery, Jr, What is it going to take to effecfounded InterMedia Partners in tively address these challenges?

1988 and Trine in March 2019. He You’re certainly not going to was the founding Chairman and address them with this administration CEO of The YES Network. Prior to and with the majority in the Senate that, he was Chairman and Chief being Republican. If in 2020, however, Executive Officer of GlobalCenter we have a Democrat moving into the Inc. Earlier, Hindery was President White House, if the House continues and Chief Executive Officer of to be Democratic and if the Senate AT&T Broadband. He is the author gets closer to or becomes Democratic, of The Biggest Game of All and It then we will immediately start to Takes a CEO: It’s Time to Lead address them. And the first areas to be Leo Hindery, Jr. With Integrity. He earned an M.B.A. changed must be our tax policies and degree from Stanford University’s our tolerance for lobbying.

Graduate School of Business and completed his Right now we have a progressive tax strucundergraduate studies at Seattle University. ture that’s no longer very progressive. There are thousands of women and men in this country COMPANY BRIEFS InterMedia Partners is who pay lower rates of tax as the nation’s highpremised on the philosophy that by bringing est wage earners than do women and men who extensive operating experience to media pri- are the lowest wage earners. This is going to vate equity, a fund could drive superior returns. have to be fixed in part through limiting the Over the course of its seven funds, InterMedia money that influences Congress. invested in cable television systems and channels, broadcast television, content production, print and digital. Trine AC is a recently formed NYSE-listed SPAC. Where do you see the U.S. economy today?

The statistics we rely on serve different masters, and the statistic that informs the financial sector may not be the statistic that best gauges the man or woman on the plant floor.

The only two things that matter in the economy and in society are income equality and wage equality. If half the nation’s wealth isn’t owned by less than 10 percent of the population and if women do earn what men earn in comparable positions, then we wouldn’t have debates about urban decline. And we wouldn’t have such deep concerns about immigration.

In our modern history, America’s economy has always prospered more or recovered more quickly when statesmen presidents have sensitively and fairly set the agenda or acknowledged the challenges. Today, as we sit on the precipice of another recession – its extent and degree yet to be determined – we need another FDR who on his own first day in office asked, “What’s it going to take to raise up the earnings of our workers and put balance back into the economy?” I certainly don’t have this sense of comfort with the current administration, especially as it relates to income and wage equality.

132 LEADERS

The Task Force on Jobs Creation is about counting the uncounted and about addressing the wage challenges of millions of workers who are underpaid.

You serve as co-chair on the Task Force on Jobs Creation. Will you highlight this effort?

After the Second World War, all of our agencies, including the Bureau of Labor

Statistics, started to shift their attention from the War years to the going-forward years. It was at this time that we decided as a country that for political reasons BLS would not count everybody when it monthly counts the unemployed.

Consequently, every month there are literally millions of women and men who are simply not counted. These women and men are either what’s called “marginally attached” or they are “part-time-out-of-necessity.” The Task Force on Jobs Creation is about counting the uncounted and about addressing the wage challenges of millions of workers who are underpaid. There are about 6 million workers who are today officially counted as unemployed, when by our definition there are actually 12 million unemployed workers in real terms, with millions more underemployed.

With all of the challenges facing the country, are you optimistic that with the right leadership these challenges will be effectively addressed?

For the next 18 months I will have my fingers and my toes crossed hoping that in November 2020 we will have a new president and Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate. If this happens, then I become very optimistic very fast. If Mr. Trump is reelected and if the Senate stays Republican, however, then I’m profoundly unoptimistic.

And in the same vein that we’ve been talking about economic issues and fairness issues, the elephant in the room is immigration. Our country will be more than half non-white in three to five years, and yet we’re setting up racial tensions the likes of which we haven’t seen since the 1960s. In the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, which I was a part of, for every bit of pessimism, there was more optimism.

Right now, however, in the African-American, Latino and LGBTQ communities, there’s much less optimism and more pessimism.

The response is going to have to be structural. What we have to do structurally is put a president in the White House who believes in fairness and balance. We also have to have a Senate that believes in fairness and balance.

I’ll give you just one example. About 80 percent of the people in the country believe that some form of background checks and limits on assault weapons are imperatives going forward.

But you have a single individual, the Senate Majority Leader, who says “no.” This is a pitiful commentary on our democracy.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

"Over the last two decades we as an organization have banded together and forged one of the most exciting, dynamic, aspirational cities anywhere in America" - Joseph Moinian, Founder & CEO

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NEWYORK

“Live Who You Are” An Interview with Pamela Liebman, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Corcoran Group EDITORS’ NOTE Pamela Liebman While Corcoran is known for began her career as an agent at its expertise and leadership in sales, Corcoran. She became a partner in how important is Corcoran’s focus 1990 and was appointed President and commitment to rentals? and Chief Executive Officer in 2000.

It’s extraordinarily important for Liebman studied at the University us to provide the highest level of of Massachusetts, Amherst, and at service in every area of the business the European Business School in we cover, whether it’s rentals, sales, London. She is recognized as a leador new developments. Our tagline – ing real estate expert by top domes“Live who you are” – really says it all. tic and international media outlets We don’t believe a renter should have such as The Wall Street Journal, The a lesser experience than a buyer. And, Pamela Liebman New York Times, and Financial of course, today’s renters are tomorTimes and, since 2007, has consisrow’s buyers. We’re so committed to tently been recognized as one of the most pow- the rental business that many years ago we erful women in New York by Crain’s New York acquired Citi Habitats.

Business.

Will you discuss the value that Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group brings to FIRM BRIEF Founded in 1973, Corcoran Corcoran? (corcoran.com) is one of the largest residential Corcoran Sunshine is known around the real estate firms in New York. After expanding world as a leader in the new-development to other luxury markets and acquiring lead- space. I’ve seen this firsthand during our franing firms in the Hamptons and South Florida, chise discussions; potential partners will often Corcoran now operates 27 offices, employs more bring up Corcoran Sunshine and for good reathan 2,200 agents, and has achieved sales of son – the company’s acknowledged dominance over $21 billion annually. in handling the most prestigious projects has really brought amazing results.

What is the state of the New York real estate Are brick-and-mortar offices still impormarket? tant to foster collaboration?

The market’s very challenging because I think it’s so important to have agents there are a lot of outside influences that are causing come to an office, and the new offices that people to pause when it comes to making a we’re building have collaboration spaces, cafés, buying decision. I can’t emphasize enough how meditation and yoga rooms, even places for much the changes in the SALT tax affected the new moms to be with their babies. We want psychology of high-end buyers. If somebody’s our agents to use the office, because if they’re going to buy today, there has to be a real reason not talking to each other, they’re not learning for them to buy – a major life event or a truly from each other or facilitating deals. irresistible value.

We are seeing a skyrocketing interest in high-end rentals right now. The prices are going up and the concessions are going down.

With the strength of the Corcoran brand, are there opportunities to expand into new markets?

We are actively exploring our options in new markets. We announced last year that we’re going global, and we’ve been talking with potential franchises around the world. We are also looking at company-owned opportunities. We are about to open two new offices in Miami’s South Beach and Bal Harbour neighborhoods. We’ve always understood the spiritual connection between New York and Miami, so this is a natural expansion for us.

Looking forward, I think we’ll have a smaller brick-and-mortar footprint, but a much better one. It pains me to see empty offices – in our business and in general. Everything’s about mobile, so agents can work anywhere, but at Corcoran we value collaboration and we know that being in an office, with a team, adds to an agent’s professional growth.

There is a tremendous amount of agent movement from firm to firm. How frustrating is this and what are the keys to building agent loyalty?

It is extraordinarily frustrating, and we are trying to do a better job of retaining talent.

We’ve been lucky to have so many loyal agents, professionals who’ve grown up with Corcoran and appreciate the brand. One of the things that keeps people here – and that continues to bring great agents to Corcoran – is our reputation for being able to grow an agent’s business. There’s a big disruptor in the industry today, a company that’s spending a lot of money and making a lot of promises. But writing checks to get agents on board isn’t the same as helping them grow their business. We take agents who come to Corcoran from a different profession or right out of school and we turn them into top agents. That is the Corcoran difference.

How important is it for you to find the time to be with clients and out in the market?

I feel that I have a big responsibility as a leader to be out there with clients and customers, and consistently touching base with my brokers. As a real estate executive, there’s really nothing more important than showing your love to your agents.

•

We take agents who come to Corcoran

from a different profession or right out of school and we turn them into top

agents. That is the Corcoran difference.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

NEWYORK

Midwood’s Evolution An Interview with John Usdan, Chief Executive Officer, Midwood Investment & Development

Sportsmen’s Lodge, a Midwood redevelopment in Studio City, Los Angeles

EDITORS’ NOTE For the past 38 at that time was pretty rural and in the years, John Usdan has grown the 1920s there was development prescompany his grandfather started in sure, so developers started subdivid1925 and built an integrated investing farms and building single-family ment, development and manageand two-family homes. ment platform. He has expanded He managed as a salesman to sell Midwood’s portfolio to over 140 three houses in his first weekend. He retail, residential and office propermade $600 which was more money ties in nine states and the District than he had made in the previous six of Columbia. Beyond Midwood, months and he decided the real estate Usdan’s philanthropic interests are business seemed like a pretty good primarily focused in education and business.

John Usdan the arts. He is a Trustee Emeritus of During the late 1920s, a lot of how Wesleyan University, past chair of real estate was financed was through Wesleyan’s Capital Campaign, and was previ- private syndications. We would call it securitiously Chair of the Brandeis International zation today, but they were private syndicates Business School. Usdan is currently a Trustee of investors who would put up the money that of The Brooklyn Academy of the Arts, Board would become the debt on real estate assets, so President of the Usdan Center, Past Board when the Depression came around, and unemPresident at Bronx House and on the corporate ployment hit nearly 30 percent, most of the board of Merchants National Properties. building owners and developers couldn’t service their debt.

COMPANY BRIEF For over 90 years, Midwood My grandfather recognized, along with his (midwoodid.com) has cultivated a diversified partners Joseph Lubin and Joseph Eisner, real estate portfolio comprised of retail, office, that there was an opportunity to buy that debt residential, mixed-use and net leased proper- for literally a penny on the dollar. So when the ties. Founded in Midwood, Brooklyn in 1925 by Depression happened, he was able to buy the Samuel Lemberg, the company has grown into a debt securities that encumbered, for example, a sophisticated investment and development plat- 100-unit apartment house for $100. form that owns over 140 properties in nine He would then take over the management states and the District of Columbia comprising of the buildings because he had a large brokerin excess of 3,500,000 square feet with a develop- age and management company. ment pipeline of several million square feet.

His bet turned out to be a good one and Today, the company actively seeks to acquire by 1945, at that point my grandfather was 50 investment and development opportunities in years old, he recognized that he had this very its primary markets of New York City, Boston, significant business and no one to succeed Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. him. He started liquidating their portfolio of apartments and he established the Lemberg Will you discuss the history and heritage Foundation which was a charitable foundaof Midwood and how the company has tion principally to provide support and educaevolved? tion to the children from the displaced people Midwood was founded by my maternal from the Holocaust who were emigrating to grandfather, Samuel Lemberg. He came to this New York in very large numbers. He set about country in 1905 when his family fled Russia and a course of simplifying his business and givspecifically the pogroms that had occurred in ing his money away.

Kishinev in 1903, which were particularly vioAt the same time, he continued to operate lent against the Jewish population. a portfolio of significant assets, whether it was a My grandfather, as he told the story, was major office building in New York or Pittsburgh. very modest, with a very dry sense of humor, In 1963, he suffered a heart attack and he really tried a number of jobs before he started sell- accelerated the divestment of his operating ing real estate in Midwood, Brooklyn in the properties. By the time he passed away in 1981, mid-1920s. we had a portfolio of about three dozen properOther than Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn ties, some of which was land. They were all net Heights and Carroll Gardens, the rest of Brooklyn leases except for one property.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

When I graduated from Wesleyan University in 1980, my grandfather called up a friend of his who had been a partner at a really well-known real estate firm of its day and asked if he would give me a job.

In March of 1981, at the age of 22, my grandfather told me it was time for him to retire and for me to run the business. When my grandfather passed away at the age of 86 in July 1981, I was left with the business. I knew how to collect the rents. I knew how to pay the expenses. I knew how to read a lease. That was about it. I had a lot to learn, and fortunately my grandfather had a few friends who I could call and were very helpful to me.

By 1985, I was buying, renovating and managing a number of apartments and needed to commit to hiring people to operate them.

I didn’t feel that I was ready to manage the number of people that were required to properly manage residential buildings, so I decided to sell most of the buildings.

I started developing industrial buildings on land that we owned. We had another partner that owned a large piece of land in Stratford, Connecticut, so we formed a joint venture and we developed a large industrial park.

I decided that renovating walk-ups wasn’t large enough scale. It was a headache and required a lot of people. I changed my business model to developing, buying and redeveloping shopping centers and building industrial and flex buildings in the mid-to-late 1980s.

By 2008, I started to really put my efforts into building an integrated investment and development company. It has taken awhile, but today Midwood has 50-plus people in our New York office. We have offices in Boston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles and the reason why we have those offices is because we have significant real estate assets that we are developing in those markets.

What do you tell young people interested in a career in real estate?

They need to learn that making mistakes is the best thing they can do. You can’t be fearful. You have to put yourself in a position of responsibility. If you have an opportunity, grab it and accept responsibility for your decisions.

Most young people who come out of really good schools are used to getting the answer right. As a result, if they don’t know the answer to the question, they don’t raise their hand as they don’t want to risk answering the question incorrectly, and that holds them back.

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Skadden’s Values An Interview with Scott D. Musoff, Partner, Securities Litigation; Complex Litigation and Trials and Allison R. Schneirov, Partner, Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP EDITORS’ NOTE Scott Musoff serves as the practice leader for Skadden’s New York litigation practice and is co-deputy head of the firm’s nationwide Securities Litigation Group.

He represents public and private companies, financial institutions and individuals in federal and state trial and appellate courts, as well as in arbitration. Musoff is a member of the Skadden team selected as a finalist for The American Lawyer’s 2018 Litigation Department of the Year and was profiled as one of the 10 Most Admired Securities Attor neys by Law360, which also named him as one of its Securities MVPs in 2012.

He repeatedly has been selected for inclusion in Chambers USA, Legal 500 U.S., The Best Lawyers in America and Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America. He was named Best Lawyers’ 2014 New York City Litigation - Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyer of the Year.

Musoff received his B.A. from Tufts University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law. Allison Schneirov is the head of Skadden’s New York M&A/Corporate Group. She has a diverse corporate practice with extensive experience in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities and general corporate matters. Schneirov has served on the firm’s Policy Committee, its top gover ning body, and currently chairs the firm’s Partnership Selection Committee. She repeatedly has been selected for inclusion in C h a m b e r s G l o b a l : T h e Wo r l d ’ s L e a d i n g Lawyers for B u s i n e s s and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

Schneirov previously was recognized as one of The American Lawyer’s 45 Under 45 outstanding women lawyers. She received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania (magna cum laude) and her J.D. from New York University School of Law (cum laude).

FIRM BRIEF Founded in 1948, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and affiliates (skadden.com) is one of the world’s most highly-r espected law fir ms. Skadden has 22 offices, approximately 1,700 attorneys and mor e than 50 distinct ar eas of practice. The firm’s clients include approximately 50 percent of Fortune 250 industrial and service corporations, as well as financial and gover nmental entities, startup companies and non-profits.

136 LEADERS

Scott D. Musoff

Allison R. Schneirov

What have been the keys to Skadden’s consistent strength and leadership in the industry?

Musoff: In many ways, we are the same firm we’ve always been, and our ongoing adherence to our founders’ values has been a key source of our strength. Although we are internationally renowned, we are still a relatively young firm, and that makes it easier to remember our roots, with many of us having worked with Joe Flom and other partners who helped establish the firm.

Schneirov: As Scott says, our values are essential to our success. The best thing about Skadden is that we are an incredibly motivated, talented and interesting group of people who work closely together to get the best results for our clients. We take pride in what we do, we enjoy it – and our clients notice. It is a tremendously energizing environment in which to practice law, and that energy and dedication to client service are our signature strengths.

What is the focus of Skadden’s New York M&A practice and New York Litigation practice?

Schneirov: While the New York-based M&A team frequently handles our clients’ most high-profile and transformational transactions, we also work on an incredibly broad range of transactions by deal size, type of deal, industry and geography. M&A has grown in complexity with increased regulatory scrutiny, economic and political uncertainty, and other factors driving the market today. We relish the challenges that arise in the most complex situations, and our focus is to remain the premier firm across all geographies and industries. By developing our expertise globally, we are able to deliver superior service and innovative solutions on the myriad

cross-border transactions that are the hallmark of our practice.

Musoff: On the litigation front, we have seen an increase in trials over the last decade and have developed a more robust internal trial support team. We also have observed historically high numbers of securities filings the last several years and many more disputes with an international element. Staying on top of the important changes in the law, including the relevant foreign laws and regulations, and understanding how those changes will drive filings from the plaintiffs’ bar, is more crucial than ever.

It allows us to provide value beyond the role of litigator in meeting clients’ business and legal objectives.

Skadden places a major focus on diversity and inclusion. How critical is it to have diverse thought and experiences around the table when making business decisions?

Musoff: We are only as good as our people, and different backgrounds add essential perspectives and approaches to solving clients’ problems. That alone makes attracting and developing a diverse group of lawyers and staff a top priority.

Schneirov: Diversity and inclusion have always been part of our history, and we work to foster a community based on the idea that both similarities and differences are a source of our strength. One of the areas where we are making strides is increasing the representation of women in leadership roles. I’m one of 18 women practice or office leaders at the firm, 35 percent of our Policy Committee members are women, and nearly 50 percent of our 2019 partner promotions are women. It speaks to the importance of aligning specific D&I initiatives with the firm’s overall goal of delivering the very best client service.

What are the keys to Skadden’s continued success?

Schneirov: We’ve talked a lot about how Skadden’s founding principles have remained unchanged over the years. The best way to continue achieving our goals is by investing in our people and remaining true to our values.

That means attracting the best and brightest from a diverse pool of candidates, emphasizing the training and development of our existing talent, and ensuring a culture that continues to place a premium on delivering the very best client service while adhering to the highest ethical standards.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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NEWYORK

Providing a Quality Education An Interview with Stuart Rabinowitz, President, Hofstra University EDITORS’ NOTE Stuart Rabinowitz Will you highlight the history and was chosen by the Hofstra heritage of Hofstra and how the University Board of Trustees to University has evolved? serve as the eighth president of the We started, like almost all univerUniversity on December 20, 2000 sities, in one room with a few fulland assumed office in June time faculty in 1935. We actually 2001. Prior to his appointment, began as a suburban extension o f he served as Dean o f H o f s t r a N e w Yo r k U n i v e r s i t y . We L o n g University School of Law from Islanders, and even though I wasn’t September 1989 thr ough June alive back then, so I’m using the 2001. He joined the faculty of the “we” as a general term, are a feisty Law School in 1972. Pr esident bunch, and especially the people at Stuart Rabinowitz Rabinowitz currently holds the Hofstra. We seceded from NYU in 1937.

Andr ew M. Boas and Mark L .

When that first class graduated, they Claster Distinguished Pr ofessor of Law. were given the option of getting a degree President Rabinowitz has held positions with from Hofstra College, which was brand new, a number of important government and com- or from New York University, which was munity organizations, including the Judicial obviously better known than the two-year-old Advisory Council of the State of New York Hofstra College. However, unanimously, they Unified Court System, County of Nassau. He voted for the Hofstra College degree. I think currently serves as a member of the board of that gives a sense of the pride that imbues directors for the Long Island Association and the campus, and the little bit of a chip on as co-vice chair of the Long Island Regional our shoulders that we have at Hofstra, and as Economic Development Council. He is a mem- Long Islanders. ber of the board of directors of Accelerate Hofstra became a university and develLong Island and the Long Island Regional oped some great schools. When I became Advisory Council on Higher Education. He president, my vision for Hofstra was that served as a trustee of the Commission on w h i l e i t w a s a g o o d r e g i o n a l s c h o o l , Independent Colleges and Universities and it needed to be an excellent national and on the board of directors of the Long Island international university. I spent time talkTechnology Network. President Rabinowitz ing to a lot of people before I became a is a former chair of the Nassau County Local candidate for president, and after I got the Advisory Board. Additionally, he served as a job, I knew that we had long passed the member of the Nassau County Commission ability to be a small, liberal arts and scion Government Revision. He received a juris ences university of excellence like Amherst doctor, magna cum laude, from Columbia or Williams, because we had too much University School of Law and graduated from land, too many buildings, and a huge aththe City College of New York with honors. letic program to support, so we needed a lot of students. We needed to branch out INSTITUTION BRIEF Hofstra University and become a fully-textured university. (hofstra.edu) is a private institution whose I looked around at other universities and primary mission is to provide a quality edu- two came to mind, which were George cation to its students in an environment that Washington Washington, D.C. and Boston encourages, nurtures, and supports learning University in Boston. through the free and open exchange of ideas, One of the things we had to do was for the better ment of humankind. Hofstra build up our science and technology offerUniversity is fully committed to academic ing. We were fortunate during my presifreedom and to the transmission, advance- dency to create the first new allopathic ment, and preservation of knowledge for its medical school in New York in 40 years, own academic community and for the com- and we entered into a unique partnership munity at large. Hofstra University offers with Northwell Health to do that. We develunder graduate and graduate pr ograms oped a School of Engineering and Computer taught by a research-active and profession- Science; a School of Health Professions and ally engaged faculty.

Human Services.

138 LEADERS

Hofstra had a long history of holding unique conferences on various U.S Presidents.

We would hold conferences on every president, from FDR through President Obama’s conference which is scheduled for next year.

We were fortunate to attract the interest of Peter Kalikow, who funded a professorship in the American Presidency. We thought it would be a great idea if Hofstra became involved in the study of the Presidency before the President was elected.

We saw a Presidential debate that took place at a university and thought we should host one at Hofstra. Many people laughed about Hofstra applying for a Presidential debate, but I said why not? We applied and we talked to the commission and we got one.

Not only did we get one, we got it two more times in a row. Hofstra is the only school in history that has hosted a Presidential debate in three consecutive election cycles. This is one of our niches and we now have a School of Public Policy and Government named after Peter Kalikow as well.

President Rabinowitz speaking at Hofstra University VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

The iconic clock tower at Hofstra University

Is the Hofstra of today well understood and how important is it to build a better awareness for Hofstra?

This is one of our most important jobs.

First you need to build it, and then you have to tell people what you built. We have entered into an international recruitment partnership with a company called INTO. They have over 400 agents around the world and one of their jobs with respect to the Hofstra partnership is to get the facts out about Hofstra across the world. I think hosting the Presidential debates made a big difference in shining a light on Hofstra.

How critical is it to attract international students to Hofstra?

It is critical for us to do this. People still view us as mainly a New York Metro university, but 50 percent of our students are from out of the state. The world is so interconnected and is getting smaller, and no matter what the current politics are, our students will graduate in a world that’s filled with people with different cultural values than theirs – different colors, different races, different beliefs, different religions – and a successful person has to know how to navigate a world where not everybody looks and thinks like them. The best place to start to VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

learn that is in college. I view diversity and inclusion in a broader sense, as an essential to a fully textured undergraduate and graduate education.

What has made Hofstra so special for you and a place where you have wanted to spend your career?

When I first came here as a faculty member back in 1972, I planned to come for a year or two. I never went away to college.

I went to City College of New York, and I lived with my parents in the Bronx, and then I was lucky enough to get a scholarship to Columbia Law School, and I still lived with my parents in the Bronx. I thought I wanted to go into teaching and my professors at Columbia had urged me to do it. I interviewed all over the country and wound up at this brand-new law school on Long Island that hadn’t even been accredited yet.

I fell in love with the people I worked with, and I fell in love with the idea that, even in an institution that was just starting, you could have influence and make a difference. It wasn’t like there were generations of senior faculty.

I married and had children and then I became dean of the Law School. I never thought I would become dean and was happy

teaching, but people pushed me to do it. I was a pretty good Law School Dean. I found that I didn’t mind asking people for donations and gifts, and as you can see, I’m a talker, so I was pretty successful at raising money.

I was then drafted when the opening for the presidency came about. I didn’t think I had a shot in the world to become president, because at that time the idea of a lawyer and a Law School dean becoming president of a whole university of which the law school was only a small part, was shocking. I was selected for the position and this is my 18th year as president.

Are you able to enjoy the process and celebrate the many wins that you have had over these 18 years as president of Hofstra?

I’m saving the celebrations for when I retire.

I’m going to take all my plaques with me and my awards and photos. I feel good when something we plan works out, but there’s always another challenge to face. I’m very obsessive about Hofstra doing as well as it can do. Being the president of a university with 11,000 students is sort of like being a mayor of a small town. We have over 2500 employees. Something could go wrong at any given point in time so you can’t relax. That is why my wife tells me every day that I’m getting too old for this.

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Client Relationships An Interview with Peter G. Riguardi, Chairman and President-New York Region, JLL EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to joining JLL How important is JLL’s research in September 2002, Peter Riguardi was and analytics to the success of the Vice Chairman and Principal of Colliers company?

ABR Inc., a company that he helped form The origins of JLL were from LaSalle in 1994. He started his real estate career Partners and Jones Lang Wootton in at GVA Williams in 1983, where he was Europe and Asia. These were consulting the youngest Senior Vice President in firms that did transactions, so that has the firm’s history. During his 32-year always been the spine of our organizacareer in commercial real estate, he has tion. We’ve become more of a hybrid been actively involved in several of the organization over the years through largest and most noteworthy transacacquisitions, but we still pride ourselves tions within metropolitan New York on being the most consultative transacPeter G. Riguardi City. Riguardi is consistently ranked by tion brokers. Our research and analytics The New York Observer as one of New are the foundation of that.

York’s most influential real estate executives.

Is technology changing the way JLL delivers its services?

COMPANY BRIEF JLL (jll.com)is a leading proThere is no question that technology is a big fessional services firm that specializes in real estate part of everything we do. The firm invests a lot of and investment management. Its vision is to money each year on improving our technology. We reimagine the world of real estate, creating reward- have a number of different proprietary applications ing opportunities and amazing spaces where people that assist us in providing services to our clients. can achieve their ambitions. In doing so, it strives We have a group of people whose sole purpose is to build a better tomorrow for its clients, its people looking for small technology and startup compaand its communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company nies in the real estate space that we can acquire to with annual revenue of $16.3 billion, operations in help make us better. It’s a big part of who we are over 80 countries and a global workforce of nearly and what we do.

92,000 as of June 30, 2019. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated.

How do you describe the JLL difference and what makes the company so special?

We work to run our business more like an investment bank than a sales or brokerage business. By doing this, it really brings together the people in the firm to share information and to be aware of and responsive to the needs of clients while fostering our ability to align the right resources and expertise. When people hire us, they’re hiring JLL, they’re not hiring individuals. This allows us to bring the best to our clients.

Are there growth opportunities in the tristate real estate market today?

We remain very bullish on the New York City and the tri-state area’s real estate markets.

The growth in the number of tech firms coming into New York City has been huge and seems to be continuing. There are a diverse group of industries based around tech, financial services and life sciences that are now growing here and that are fueling the market. This is also fueling growth for business services firms such as accounting, law and real estate. We are very optimistic about the market here.

140 LEADERS

We are very optimistic about the market here.

Will you highlight JLL’s commitment to corporate responsibility and community engagement?

When you say a company is a good corporate citizen, it should really mean that all the employees, from entry level to the CEO, have a personal commitment to making the society we live in better and that they commit their time to help make that a reality. As a firm, we encourage our people to get involved and we support them – through financial and volunteer commitments – to do great things for the causes and organizations that represent passion projects for our people and our company, all of which we are really proud of.

With JLL’s global footprint, is it still primarily a local focus for the business?

Real estate is a very local business, and we’re focused on building very strong, local platforms.

However, these platforms are all interconnected and allow us to be responsive, helpful and connected to everyone around the country and the world.

JLL is known for its work with large, global clients. How much of a focus is it to also build relationships with entrepreneurs and emerging companies?

We want to work with everybody. Our transformation as a player in New York has come principally through our top talent and experienced players coming of age, growing and taking advantage of this investment banking style that we have in New York. As we continue to grow, we’re now very focused on nurturing and developing talent and being a firm that produces and supports tomorrow’s leaders. We are going to do that by having our people connect and develop relationships with business leaders across emerging industries and companies and provide services for them as they get started. While those may be smaller companies today, we know that many of those smaller companies will become big players in New York in the future. That is how you build and sustain a business like ours, so we have a wide focus when it comes to our client relationships.

How critical is it for you to spend time with clients and to be out in the market?

It’s my main focus and is what I am best at doing. I think JLL’s been great in allowing me to spend time where I’m most capable, which gives me the influence I need in running the business.

I have a great partner in Steve Schlegel, our Chief Operating Officer, and we have a great team around him that makes our business run efficiently and profitably. This allows me to spend the majority of my time engaged with clients, strategy and recruiting.

Are you able to take moments to reflect and celebrate the wins or are you always looking for the next opportunity?

I love the statement the famous race car driver Mario Andretti made that if you’re comfortable driving, then you’re not driving fast enough.

I am driven every day by winning business, doing great work for clients, and having them come back to us as repeat clients or to refer us for new business. I probably don’t stop and enjoy the moment enough. I may put that on my list to improve on in the future, but right now I’m still focused on working hard and competing.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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Relationships, Collaboration and Skill An Interview with Diane M. Ramirez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Halstead Real Estate EDITORS’ NOTE In 1973, Diane Ramir ez began her r eal estate career and she has worked for Halstead since founding the firm with Clark Halstead in 1984.

has greatly increased agent efficiency and their access to the best possible data and analytics. We released the second generation of reSOURCE to our agents earlier this year and it just keeps getting better.

FIRM BRIEF Halstead (halstead.com) Halstead also conducted a major is one of the lar gest and most brand transformation in the spring innovative residential real estate of 2018 which has been incredibly brokerage firms in the New York metwell-received by our agents and the ropolitan area. The firm has more broader community. I’m proud to say than 1,400 sales and rental agents that this year, our rebrand as well as Diane M. Ramirez throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, our marketing and technology investQueens, the Bronx, the Hamptons, ments earned us the coveted “Most Hudson Valley, New Jersey, and Fairfield County, Innovative Brokerage” award by Leading Real Connecticut. In 2001, Halstead joined the dis- Estate Companies of the World, the premier nettinguished family of real estate-related companies work of nearly 600 of the world’s market-leading owned by Terra Holdings. independent brokerage firms. It is the third time in five years that Halstead has been honored with Will you discuss your strategic focus for this distinction, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Halstead as you look to the coming year?

Over the last two years, the real estate brokerage industry has faced heightened external pressures – this includes VC money disruption, the evolution of listing aggregators and a shifting political environment, especially in New York. Now more than ever, we are looking inward and focusing on continuously upping our game. We are leaning into the depth and breadth of our real estate expertise to support our agents and their businesses. Their success is our priority.

I’ve been in the business for a long time, and when change is afoot the pendulum always seems to swing far, but that is never where we ultimately end up. If you get caught up in reacting to the swing of it, you lose sight of what our business is really about – building relationships, How do your strategic partnerships fit getting deals done and guiding clients through into the mix? some of their most important life decisions.

At the foundation of our brand has always Has a heightened competitive environ- been a commitment to thinking outside the box. ment changed the way Halstead is doing In this spirit, we have embraced the power of business? partnerships through exclusive relationships with It hasn’t fundamentally changed our busi- brands like the New York Yankees, Brooklyn ness and, if anything, it makes us stronger and Nets, and Audi to name a few. We’ve done some a little sharper. I feel strongly that you shouldn’t incredible cross-marketing promotion which has change your stripes, just make them bolder. extended Halstead’s reach and brand awareness in What are you doing differently? exciting ways. It’s been an excellent agent retenWe have been investing heavily in tech- tion and recruitment tool as well. We can’t wait to nology and marketing over the past few years continue to build on this in the coming year. and will continue to do so. The results have How do you maintain Halstead’s culbeen extremely positive for us. Our parent com- ture as you grow and evolve? pany, Terra Holdings, developed reSOURCE, an It’s about finding a balance. At Halstead, industry-leading, proprietary tech platform that we are committed to continuously investing

in new technology and maintaining our culture as we scale. I’m proud to say that we have built an internal foundation of incredible technology, marketing services and support companies without forgetting our mission as a real estate company based on relationships, collaboration and skill. Our agents know we always have their futures and best interests in mind.

Will you highlight some of the more culture-focused initiatives you’re working on?

One initiative that has resonated with many of our top-producing agents is a regular Agent Forum series that gives groups of agents the opportunity to collaborate, share best practices and learn from one another in an intimate setting. These sessions are illustrative of what Halstead is all about – supporting each other in mutual growth.

I’ve been in the business for a long time, and when change is afoot the pendulum always seems to swing far, but that is never where we ultimately end up. If you get caught up in reacting to the swing of it, you lose sight of what our business is really about – building relationships, getting deals done and guiding clients through some of their most important life decisions.

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We’ve also recently launched an exciting and far-reaching partnership with MNDFL, a popular NYC-based meditation company, to offer a variety of wellness opportunities for our agents aimed to support health, focus, productivity, and community building. It’s an important foundation for the success of their businesses.

What is your advice to someone looking to enter the real estate business?

Have a long-term game plan. Real estate is a commission-based business and some agents, including many of those who are brand new to the industry, believe that a big deal is right around the corner. The truth is that the key to your success is the hard work involved in executing your plan. It can often take years to build your business, so you must be driven by a real fire in your belly.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

NEWYORK

A Park of the City An Interview with Robert Hammond, Co-Founder and Executive Director, High Line

Various views of the 1.45-mile-long High Line on Manhattan’s West Side

EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to the High board meeting. The High Line was Line, Robert Hammond worked as slated for demolition and it had not been a consultant for the Times Square in use for about two decades. There Alliance, Alliance for the Arts and were a group of property owners that National Cooperative Bank (NCB), wanted to tear it down so we both and served as an Ex-Officio Trustee went to this first community meeting. of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We did not know each other, but we The American Academy in Rome met at that meeting. We decided to awarded Hammond with the Rome start a group to save the High Line.

Prize in 2009 and, in 2012, he Our goal was received an Honorary Doctorate to just stop it from from The New School. In 2013, being demolished.

Robert Hammond Hammond and his business partWe partnered with ner, Joshua David, were awarded the Bloomberg the Vincent Scully Prize by the National Building Administration and sued Museum. Hammond graduated from Princeton the city to stop it from being University with a degree in history. demolished and then we partnered with the Bloomberg ORGANIZATION BRIEF Founded by neighbor- Administration as a public/prihood residents in 1999, the High Line (thehigh- vate partnership to help design line.org) is a public space where you can view it and raise the money to build art, walk through gardens, experience a perfor- it, and now we operate it. It cost mance, or just connect with friends and neigh- about $300 million to build. The bors, all while enjoying a unique perspective of city put in about half the money the city. Built on a 1.45-mile-long historic, ele- and we raised the rest privately. vated freight line running from Gansevoort What most people don’t know Street to 34th Street on Manhattan’s West Side, is that we manage it as a nonthe High Line has become a world-renowned profit and we raise annually inspiration for how cities can transform indus- almost all of our funding. trial infrastructure into beautiful, hybrid pubWe have about an $18 million annual operlic spaces. ating budget. We work with the parks department because they actually govern the space, Will you tell the High Line story? but we have a licensing agreement to run and It started 20 years ago. Joshua David, who is operate it. When we opened, we thought that the other co-founder, and I met at a community we would have about 300,000 people visit a year since that’s about how many people the Whitney or the Guggenheim had.

We thought it would be great if we could get that many people. The first year we actually had one million visitors and this year we will have about eight million people. The success has blown us away.

How critical has the design of the High Line been to its success?

Josh and I aren’t designers or architects. We always said that the city and the neighborhood should decide what the High Line VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

should look like. One of the advantages of it taking a decade to build was that there was a lot of time for people to coalesce around a shared vision.

Many parks are meant to help you escape from the city, whereas the High Line is a park of the city. It’s not an escape. You see the traffic.

You smell the smells. You see the buildings. I think that’s one of the reasons it really works.

How critical has it been to have such an engaged board for the High Line?

Our board chair has been on the board for 20 years and we have a lot of board members that have been with us from the beginning. We also have a lot of new board members which is important. I think one of the things that everyone shares is a deep commitment to the High Line.

Are you able to take moments to reflect and celebrate what the High Line has become and the impact it has made on New York City?

One of my favorite things to do is just take people for walks on it. It’s continually changing. Literally, week to week it looks different because of the planting. Year to year it looks different because of the art and the buildings around it. This neighborhood is a microcosm of what’s happening all over the city. Walking the High Line is like a master class in the changing of the city. My favorite time is to go at night, especially in the summer when we are open until 11:00 PM. Seeing so many different people using the High Line is what gets me excited.

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NEWYORK

Building Community An Interview with Eric S. Goldstein, Chief Executive Officer, UJA-Federation of New York EDITORS’ NOTE Eric Goldstein together 24 cradle-to-grave organiis a long-time active member in zations to support the needs of the the Jewish community and served more than 1 million Jews then livin a number of senior volunteer ing in New York. These agencies positions before being appointed included childcare agencies, proUJA-Federation’s CEO in 2014. grams for at-risk youth, hospitals, a Before joining UJA, Goldstein was home for the elderly and much more. a leading partner at Paul, Weiss, While Federation was concerned Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. with local needs, the United Jewish He served as Vice Chair of UJA’s Appeal (UJA), founded in 1939, had a board, was a member of UJA’s purely overseas focus. It was created to Executive Committee, and served help address the suffering of European Eric S. Goldstein as chair of UJA’s Lawyers Division, Jews during World War II, and support Commission on Jewish Identity and the fledgling state of Israel.

Renewal, and Global Strategy Task Force. He In 1986, the two entities merged to crewas a founding board member of Yeshiva ate UJA-Federation of New York, whose manUniversity’s Azri eli Graduate School of date remains to care for the needs of the most Jewish Education; President and Chair of the vulnerable, both overseas and locally, and board of Manhattan Day School; board mem- strengthen the Jewish future. The legacy is ber of the New York Legal Assistance Group astounding. For more than 100 years, UJA(NYLAG), a UJA-Federation partner; President Federation has provided many billions of of the Beth Din of America; board member dollars to help people around the world, as of the Ramaz School; and board member of well as strengthen Jewish life. The UJA annual DOROT, also a UJA-Federation partner. campaign remains the single largest philanIn 2013, Goldstein r eceived the Tor ch of thropic effort by any local community, bringLearning Award from American Friends of ing together thousands and thousands of New the Hebrew University. He was also a par- Yorkers to address the greatest challenges ticipant in the Wexner Heritage Program. around us.

What ar e the priorities for UJAORGANIZATION BRIEF UJA-Federation of Federation of New York and the key New York (ujafedny.org) is one of the world’s areas it supports? largest and most effective philanthropies, raisUJA allocates over $150 million a year ing over $200 million annually. Last year, and a little more than half of our dollars go to through a network of nonprofits, it supported social service needs. These safety-net services free legal services for 100,000 New Yorkers, focus on taking people from crisis to stafunded 440,000 mental health counseling ses- bility and help break the cycle of poverty. sions, served 9.6 million meals to those in need, Shockingly, one-third of the Jewish commuenabled 16,000 kids across New York to attend nity in New York City, Westchester and Long Jewish summer camp, and helped secur e Island live near or below the poverty line. It’s nearly $475 million in government funding a staggering statistic and surprising to many. to support vulnerable communities. UJA also In response to this overwhelming need, one convenes the Jewish community of New York, of our biggest initiatives is the opening of two, bringing together more than 40,000 people one-stop social service centers in Brooklyn each year at hundreds of events. Beyond New and Queens, in the densest areas of Jewish York, UJA also supports programs in Israel and poverty. At these centers, clients will be able nearly 70 countries around the globe. to meet with social workers and receive help for legal, vocational, financial, mental health Will you discuss the history and heritage and other needs. of UJA-Federation of New York and how We’re also in the process of transitioning the organization has evolved? the nearly 20 food pantries in our network UJA-Federation is a merger of two sepa- to a cutting-edge digital pantry system, which rate entities. In 1917, a group of Jewish com- stresses client dignity and is overall more effimunity leaders sought to create a central cient. Rather than coming and standing on a organization – a Federation – that brought long line for a pre-determined bag of goods, 146 LEADERS

you go online and choose the foods that you want. If you don’t know how to go online, a social worker will do it for you. Compared to traditional pantries, which remain a critical resource, the digital system serves more clients, reduces food waste, and distributes more protein and fresh produce. It is both culturally sensitive and also meets any health or dietary concerns. Our goal is to holistically address the person or the family and then figure out how to change the current reality so that the person walks away with the tools needed to take care of themselves and their family.

Is the UJA-Federation of New York specifically focused on the Jewish community or is it a broader focus?

In general, our focus overseas is on the Jewish community, but we do get involved outside the Jewish community in times of crisis. We provided millions of dollars to Puerto Rico when there was a need. We had the ability to act quickly and sent 29 planes to Puerto Rico with supplies in the immediate wake of the crisis.

Our focus locally is much broader and we address the entire community. That said, we place great emphasis on Jewish engagement and believe in the importance of Jewish identity and Jewish communal connection.

This is why summer camps are so important and why Jewish day schools are so important.

This is also why figuring out innovative ways of engaging Jewish people at a time when they are Jewish because they choose to be – not because they have to be – is so important.

Is there a role for UJA-Federation of New York to play in addressing the rise of anti-semitism in the world?

There is absolutely a role for us to play.

For decades, we’ve supported the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC), which receives almost 40 percent of its annual funding from us. JCRC has been the principal place for the Jewish community to build bridges across New York to other faith-based organizations and local community leaders. JCRC is also an important resource to local Jewish institutions around security needs. In the current environment, we are spending more and more time with JCRC, thinking about how to secure the community and stem the growing tide of intolerance, hatred and anti-semitism.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

NEWYORK

Rethinking the Modern Law Firm An Interview with Faith Gay, Founding Partner, and Jennifer Selendy, Managing Partner, Selendy & Gay EDITORS’ NOTE Faith Gay is a founding partner of Selendy & Gay. Previously, she was the Co-Chair of the National Trial Practice at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and a highly-respected federal prosecutor. Named a “Top 250 Female Litigator”

by Benchmark Litigation, a “Leading Lawyer in America” by Lawdragon 500, a New York Metro “Super Lawyer,” and a “Top Female Trial Lawyer”

by Law360, Gay has repeatedly been recognized as one of the leading trial, appellate, and white-collar lawyers in the U.S. She is a former Deputy Chief of the Special Prosecutions Unit and the Civil Rights Division in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division. Gay received a B.A. in public policy studies with Honors from Duke University, a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, and an M.Div. from Yale Divinity School.

Prior to co-founding Selendy & Gay, Jennifer Selendy was a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Kirkland & Ellis where she honed her skills as a trial lawyer on bet-the-company litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants. She was recognized as a New York Metro “Super Lawyer” in 2019 and she is the principle architect of several “next generation” innovations central to the founding of Selendy & Gay. She has an active public interest practice focusing on poverty and women’s rights, climate change, and education, for which she has received a number of awards, including the Pro Bono Service Award from the Homeless Persons Representation Project of Baltimore. Since 2012, Selendy has served as the Board Chairman for the National Center for Law & Economic Justice. She is also the co-founder and founding Board Chairman of the award-winning Speyer Legacy School, an independent school for gifted children that focuses on identifying and educating low-income, high-achieving children in New York City. Selendy received her B.A., magna cum laude, in international relations from Tufts University and a law degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School after completing an MPhil in International Relations at Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar.

FIRM BRIEF Selendy & Gay’s (selendygay.com) practice is dedicated to excellence in litigation and investigations. It has gathered legal talent of the highest caliber and, by re-thinking the law firm structure, management, operations, and culture, has crafted an environment for its lawyers to serve their clients’ needs with an unwavering focus on quality and efficiency. This allows the firm to bring a strongly-led, tightly-coordinated combination of talent and resources to each of its client’s priorities.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Faith Gay

Jennifer Selendy

What was the vision for creating Selendy & Gay and how do you define the Selendy & Gay difference?

Selendy: There comes a point in your career when you feel like there’s really no reason to do this if you’re not going to do it right, and do it the way you want, and in a way that reflects your values. We all believe strongly that if we’re going to practice we’re going to do it at the highest degree of excellence, with the best people we can, and work on the most interesting cases. We came to feel that law firms were compromising in a number of ways around the idea of quality and excellence because they were trying to be global, and they were choosing scale over quality to be all things to all people. This was particularly impacting litigation where we really wanted to handle the best cases and the most interesting cases.

Gay: I would say that something was going on in the world in terms of litigation and in terms of the role of litigation in society. They’re two different ideas. In litigation, big firms had made litigators their service appendages, and so people who were getting into these careers were doing a lot of processing of paper, were in far-flung locations and weren’t getting together and creatively resolving the very biggest issues for their clients. That’s a huge part of what litigators do, and the ability and skill and craft and genius of doing that has been largely lost in big firms.

On the other hand, lawyers who are up on their feet arguing big cutting-edge cases and taking risks tended to be in very small firms that didn’t have the capital and the resources to actually be able to go as deep as they would like to go. So there was a big hole in the market for experienced litigators with the depth and quality, top to bottom, to be able to take on

serious disputes and pay real attention to them, without being just seen as second rate profit centers in big firms. We saw that need, and we think we’re filling that very well.

How broad is Selendy & Gay’s focus?

Gay: Our practice is very broad in one respect. While we only do litigation, trial and appellate work, and investigations, within that we have a very broad, sweeping practice. We do a lot of financial litigation, a fair amount of white-collar litigation, and a fair amount of bankruptcy litigation. We also do intellectual property, antitrust and energy litigation, and are increasingly involved in consumer advocacy litigation and civil rights litigation. We don’t handle run-of-the-mill disputes. We handle betthe-company disputes and cutting-edge constitutional questions.

You mentioned the firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. How critical is building a diverse workforce to the success of the firm?

Selendy: Faith and I have been doing law school recruiting for decades and have been attracting diverse lawyers at the recruiting stage which is one thing that I think people would say law firms are able to do well.

However, where law firms have failed pretty profoundly is being able to retain and promote diverse talent. The majority of our firm’s equity is held by women. We also have about 23 percent of our lawyers that identify as lawyers of color, and over 20 percent as LGBTQ, and the firm is only 18 months old, so the proof will be in the pudding. We believe that the investment we make in individual lawyers is going to help us retain the lawyers that we want.

Will you discuss Selendy & Gay’s commitment to pro bono work?

Gay: It’s central to the firm, and we believe that you can do good and do well at the same time. We are a serious commercial firm on both the plaintiff and defense side and that increases our ability to do public interest work, not only because we have the resources to do it, but because we’re taken seriously as litigators who are deeply commercial. The judges know us, our adversaries know us, all of us together have been in the business for hundreds of years, and I think that helps us to be taken more seriously when we go into court in either a pure pro bono case or a public interest case.

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NEWYORK

Supporting Agents An Interview with Steven James, President and Chief Executive Officer, New York City, Douglas Elliman Real Estate EDITORS’ NOTE Steven James has gotten substantially more in the past, more than three and half decades they were willing to sell and those sales of residential sales experience and actually pushed the median price up. joined Douglas Elliman in 1990.

That’s actually a good sign. We As President and CEO of Douglas need more of that and we need it more Elliman’s New York City Brokerage consistently across the market. Entry and director of sales for its East Side level is doing fine because of the interest office, he advises brokers and overrates, the pool of buyers and the pool of sees all aspects of their deals. He also listings at that level. That equation still works closely with the executive sales works. management team throughout all of As you get up to the upper end Douglas Elliman’s New York City of the market, there is a much bigger Steven James offices. For more than 15 years, James inventory and a much, much smaller has served on the Board of Directors pool of buyers, but those buyers are of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), as making deals. As long as that continues, I think well as serving terms on REBNY’s Ethics Committee there’s growth potential. I think it will probably and Deal of the Year Dinner-Dance Committee. be well out beyond the next year before we will In 1998, he was recognized with the Henry see a real substantial difference, but I think we’re Forrester Memorial Award, the highest honor ticking in that direction. awarded to a residential broker. James attended North Texas University and the University of Hawaii before moving to New York to pursue acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

COMPANY BRIEF Established in 1911, Douglas Elliman Real Estate (elliman.com) is the largest brokerage in the New York Metropolitan area and the third largest residential real estate company nationwide. With more than 7,000 agents, the company operates approximately 118 offices in New York City, Long Island, the Hamptons, Westchester, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida, Califor nia, Colorado and Massachusetts.

Additionally, Douglas Elliman has a strategic global alliance with London-based Knight Frank Residential for business in the worldwide luxury markets spanning 60 countries and six continents. The company also controls a portfolio of real estate services including Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, Douglas Elliman Property Management and Douglas Elliman Commercial.

What is the state of the New York City residential market and is there growth in the market?

There is a potential for growth and we are starting to see a tiny movement in that direction.

This whole market has absolutely been predicated on the seller getting the new message that they cannot expect the prices that they could have in the past. One of the reasons why the median price went up is because some of the sellers at the upper end of the market got that message and did some compelling deals. While they could have 148 LEADERS

…the one thing I would never give up was the relationship with our agents.

All firms promote that they have great brokers, great technology and great marketing. What is the key to differentiating in the industry?

Everybody does say that they have the best agents, technology and marketing. The way we look at it, it just depends on what you’re looking for. It’s about a matchup with a buyer or a seller.

Are we on the same page? Are we going to work in your best interests? Do you trust us? Do you feel that we’re going to do the best job for you? We work really hard at that equation and it’s not an easy one, but we work really hard at it.

How critical is the investment Douglas Elliman makes in research and being a thought leader?

I think our relationship with Jonathan Miller is so powerful. He’s a great guy and he has been with us since the early 1990s. He is like Harvard, Princeton and Yale all rolled into one when it comes to research and sold-and-closed data. He is the reason our market report is so good and the reason we are bombarded at every corner by reporters. They respect our data. He’s not a part of Douglas Elliman. He’s an outside independent entity, but he uses our entire system and our entire system has a lot of data. Together, we put out great reports.

There is almost no part of New York City that is not considered hot and new development continues to push farther and farther into the boroughs. Did you see this coming?

I think I always saw it coming. The one thing that has surprised me is the Upper East Side and how we went through a period when a lot of people didn’t want to be there; they wanted to be in a downtown loft. However, if you have three kids in private schools uptown and you move downtown, it’s not so easy.

Over the past five years, the consumer in Manhattan has been priced out of the market.

They reached a point where they simply couldn’t afford it. They all got pushed out into areas where there was still opportunity such as Brooklyn, Queens, Riverdale and Westchester. It’s changing a little bit because the market is changing in all those areas – even in Manhattan – and some consumers are coming back to revisit Manhattan hoping to get a good deal here if the seller is willing to negotiate.

Is it hard for you to find the balance between your management responsibilities and still spending time with agents?

When Dottie (Herman, CEO) and Howard (Lorber, Executive Chairman) asked me to stay when they bought the company, I told them I would be happy to stay and to do whatever they wanted me to do, but that the one thing I would never give up was the relationship with our agents. I want to be hands on and I want to be a part of the management team at 575 Madison.

That’s a very difficult balance, but I work really hard at it, because it is important. If I lose that touch with the agents then I’ve lost touch with the market. I am not out every day looking at properties. I really miss that, but there is no way I can do it. The only way I stay in touch with that is by being a participant with our agents in their deals with board situations or buyer issues. I love to help put deals together.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

PRIME MIDTOWN MANHATTAN LOCATION

BY CHEF GEOFFREY ZAKARIAN SLEEP PROGRAM CURATED BY DR. REBECCA ROBBINS

NEWYORK

The Power of Access An Interview with Valerie Ann Wilson, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer; Jennifer Wilson-Buttigieg and Kimberly Wilson Wetty, Co-Owners & Co-Presidents, Valerie Wilson Travel EDITORS’ NOTE Valerie Ann Wilson initially moved to New York City to pursue a fashion career. Within two years, she was hired as Vice President to start the ladies’ division of Gant.

Beginning in 1967, she spent the next 13 years serving on numerous committees and boards of directors, and played a part in a multitude of fundraising efforts with not-for-profit organizations in Westchester County, New York City and London. In 1977, the Wilson family moved to London where Valerie became a founding member of the Junior League of London. Her three years in London fostered much of her passion for travel and on September 8, 1981, Valerie Wilson Travel, Inc. (VWT) was born, opening in the Pan Am Building in New York City. In 2001, she became a published author with Valerie Wilson’s World: The Top Hotels & Resorts. Ten years later, she authored the second edition and on February 2, 2012, Valerie Wilson’s World: The Top Hotels & Resorts, Second Edition and the VWT 30th anniversary campaign were both unveiled at the Astor Library at The St. Regis New York with industry leaders and high-profile travel, business and lifestyle media.

Jennifer Wilson-Buttigieg joined Valerie Wilson Travel in February 1991. Her consistent success with both sales and business development has kept Valerie Wilson Travel in the spotlight as she provides oversight and leadership to the company’s corporate travel, meetings, incentives, and fulfillment divisions, its business development, and its strategic initiatives.

She is actively involved with the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) as Co-Chair of the Government & Political Affairs Committee and was former Chair of the ASTA Corporate Advisory Council. Her efforts have earned her a number of honors, including the 2018 Paul Ruden Industry Ambassador Award, Luxury Travel Advisor Award of Excellence, the Top Humanitarian Award, and the ISTA / ASTA Barbara O’Hara Advocacy Award in 2010.

She graduated from Haverford College with a B.A. in history and a minor in political science and received her Executive M.B.A. from the Owner/President Management (OPM) Program at Harvard Business School in 2004. She began her career as a Corporate Sales Manager of the Westbury Hotel in New York.

Kimberly Wilson Wetty joined Valerie Wilson Travel in February 1995 and has been instrumental in developing the company’s cruise division and launching the company’s first website.

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in industries as diverse as fashion, publishing, finance, new media, pharmaceuticals and notfor-profits. All Valerie Wilson Travel locations are proud members of Virtuoso®. VWT’s Power of Access® guarantees clients VIP treatment, exceptional service, as well as exclusive rates and amenities with preferred partners. Every year since 1998, the company has been counted among Travel Weekly’s Top 50 Travel Agencies.

Jennifer, Valerie and Kimberly on safari in Kenya

Today, she is responsible for managing the leisure division, VWT’s membership in Virtuoso®, as well as h u m a n r esour ces. She is also responsible for all the brand and marketing strategy for VWT. Renowned for her extensive travel expertise, she has been awarded many honors in the industry, including Family Travel Specialist on the Travel+Leisure A-List and is a member of Travel+Leisure’s Travel Advisory Board. In 2015, she won the Most Innovative Advisor award from Virtuoso®. She is also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). A graduate of Bucknell University with a B.A. in sociology, she is the President of their Alumni Board of Directors.

She began her career as a Store Manager for Ann Taylor in New York City and left retail to join the travel industry as Marketing Coordinator for the Americas at CIGA Hotels.

COMPANY BRIEF With high regard for attention to detail and customer service, Valerie Wilson Travel (ValerieWilsonTravel.com) is one of today’s largest women-owned and familymanaged travel consulting firms in the United States. Headquartered in New York City, VWT has a diverse client base and offices nationwide, stretching across the Eastern seaboard, the Midwest, and the West Coast. VWT’s team consists of a highly specialized and knowledgeable network of 315+ Travel Advisors and Associates.

Valerie Wilson Travel handles the travel management needs of companies and organizations

Valerie Wilson Travel’s tagline is “The Power of Access®.” How does VWT define access and is this a key differentiator for VWT? Kimberly: This was not initially a tagline when Valerie started the company in 1981. We were all at a two-day team management branding session and recognized that, as we came up on our 25th anniversary, we really needed to figure out what differentiates VWT from our competition.

When we discussed this, the differentiating elements we listed on the white board all came back to one central concept – access. The people we know, the experiences that we can create and the suppliers we have relationships with made us the powerhouse we truly were at the time. As we sat around the room discussing this further, the tagline was born – The Power of Access.

Almost 15 years later, as we come up on our 40th anniversary in 2021, this tagline has led to a shift in our mindset within the culture at the company. It is now how we think. We make decisions based on what is true to our tagline. It guides our thinking on whether we are delivering the right service and the right experiences to our three constituencies – our customers, our employees and Associates, and our suppliers.

The word “access” penetrates everything that we do and is embedded in our philosophy and strategy. It’s part of our mission. It’s a part of everything that we touch and is definitely what differentiates us as a company.

Will you highlight examples of how The Power of Access has guided your business strategy?

Jennifer: One concrete example is our development of Air Access. We created a fulfillment department in 2000 and saw an opportunity for VWT to provide services to other travel companies that didn’t have our same skill set or our clout. We went to some of our competitors that had large $50 million or $100 million corporate accounts. We explained that we didn’t VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Almost 15 years later, as we come up on our 40th anniversary in 2021, this tagline has led to a shift in our mindset within the culture at the company. It is now how we think.

want to encroach on that business since that’s not where our sweet spot is. However, we could certainly elevate their level of service if they outsourced their C-level leisure travelers to VWT. Today, our air programs remain as competitive as anyone’s in the marketplace. While we are a $325 million family-owned powerhouse rather than a billion-dollar company like some of our competitors, we still have programs that match or exceed theirs.

This has allowed us to also help smaller agencies when it comes to both skill sets and revenue streams and has given us the opportunity to partner with other Virtuoso® agencies.

The Power of Access has helped us to recognize and leverage what we do well.

Kimberly: The Power of Access also led to the development of VWT Suite Access™. About seven years ago, we started holding regular owners’ meetings to have strategic discussions about where we wanted to go as a company and how we would build our business.

As we were brainstorming at one of these sessions, we decided that creating a hotel program was something that could be very valuable to us. We wanted to make sure that it wasn’t just a discount or a loyalty points type of program.

It had to really speak to who we are as a company, and who our clients are. We recognized that we play very much in the high-net worth, high-touch realm, and that providing suites has always been an important element of our hotel packages. So, we thought we should create a suite program, which became Suite Access.

We identified the hotel partners that we had done a lot of business with and the markets in which we wanted to develop deeper relationships. We also identified a small selection of up and coming hotels that we wanted to be a part of the program.

After an immense amount of preparation, we invited a select group of hotels to join the program with a two-year commitment. We are very excited to announce that next year marks our fourth anniversary with Suite Access, and we have already reached more than $8 million in new hotel sales because of the program.

We’re now able to offer benefits to the customer that are above and beyond those offered by Virtuoso® and other hotel programs.

In 2019, we realized that this program shouldn’t be limited to land, so we opened up a Cruise Access component of the Suite Access VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

program. We invited four inaugural cruise lines – Seabourn, Silversea Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Celebrity Cruises – into the program.

It has been exciting to see cruises being blended into our hotel program over the past six months.

Did your hotel and cruise partners quickly understand the value of these programs or was there an education process?

Valerie: They quickly understood what we were creating because, from the beginning, I have never been afraid to pick up the phone and call the general manager of any hotel around the world. I have never hesitated to tell them who our clients are, when they are staying at the property and to request that the general manager personally take care of the client.

In many cases, when our clients return to hotels around the world, they have already established a relationship with the management of that hotel. This is becoming the case now on the cruise side as well, even though it’s relatively new. Our clients feel totally confident that they will not be treated like just another guest in someone’s hotel, but as a guest in the GM’s home.

That is a far more welcoming, far more friendly and far more personal way to travel.

We have always tried to have our clients feel – whether they’re traveling for leisure, business or meetings – a special empathy and warmth about where they’re staying and the experiences that they will have.

Are you more focused on bringing in new properties and cruise lines to the program or on enhancing and building on VWT’s current partners?

Jennifer: A little of both. This industry is constantly changing, so some of the partners that we started with five years ago may not be the same partners that are the right fit moving forward into the next five years.

We’re constantly vetting the suppliers that we work with to make sure that they’re still delivering the customer service that stands true to our high standards.

We keep our eye on new hotels coming into the market. We also watch geopolitical trends so we can understand what is happening in different parts of the world. A few years ago, Turkey was hard hit, and now it’s coming back. We wanted to continue to support our partners there, so we offered a discounted rate because we knew they needed help to rebuild their room night volume.

We know that we need to bring value as well. Part of that includes the marketing element tied to the Suite Access program. We produce blogs and video content. We have a program called Suite Talk that is a playoff of “if these walls could talk.” We pretend that the suite itself is telling the story of who has stayed there before and giving some fun tidbits about the hotel.

Do hoteliers today spend more time focusing on financial issues and technology and how important is it that they do not lose the personal relationship and human touch?

Valerie: All three of us sit on various advisory boards and focus groups, and we are not afraid to tell hoteliers that we feel the most important elements are fostering those relationships and making your guests feel important.

Even if the major focus is on the financials and technology, since they all have to think about the numbers more than ever, it’s still a hospitality business. I always remind them that if you don’t have the right guests, you’re not going to get the right numbers. To get the right guests, you need to treat them with all kinds of TLC and respect and make sure that, even if you’re seeing them a day or two after they arrive, you contact the guest and ask, “How’s it going? Are you enjoying your stay and the experience? Is there anything I can do to make your visit better, and do you have any suggestions for us?”

It’s amazing how many clients will offer a very simple suggestion that can be executed to make their stay even better.

How important is it for VWT to maintain its family culture even at the size of the business today?

Valerie: That feel certainly sets us apart because so many family businesses don’t always make it into happy second generation or third generation relationships. Fortunately, Jennifer, Kimberly and I have worked together for more than two and a half decades and Jennifer’s husband, Brian, is our CFO. I wanted VWT to have the feeling of a small company no matter what size we became and to retain the intimacy of the ownership and management. There is a shared pride in being a part of the big VWT family.

We really want to work with people that we enjoy working with and help them have a viable career in the travel industry.

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NEWYORK

A New York Store for 85 Years An Interview with Chris Adams, Co-Owner and Chief Executive Officer, Sherry-Lehmann EDITORS’ NOTE In 1997, Chris Adams began his career at Sherry-Lehmann as a part-time sales associate during the holiday season, which prompted him to seek out full-time employment with the company. He soon became a General Manager, Managing Director, and Executive Vice President, before assuming his current post.

become part of the fabric of the store. We of. We love the competition and the spotlight, so it’s have friends around the world and we been an amazing period for us. have to understand what they’re going With the growth of online sales, is through on a yearly basis because their brick and mortar still important for Sherryagriculture is affected by nature. They Lehmann’s business? also have to understand what we’re going The most important thing about brick and morthrough on a yearly basis because of tar is that it identifies who we are. It’s important to the vagaries of the retail environment in hold inventory and have a place where customers America. Having that dialogue is critical for can examine the bottles. That will never go away us to be able to edify and focus on their because, at day’s end, it shows the integrity of the COMPANY BRIEF Sherry-Lehmann brand and, by extension, for them to be business. When we look at pricing transparency on (sherry-lehmann.com) is currently able to help us furnish Sherry-Lehmann’s the Internet, we certainly want to be competitive.

Chris Adams in its 85th year of business. The brand. The first thing that makes Sherry- However, we’re also aware that we’re holding real Sherry-Lehmann store combines Lehmann great is that we’ve been a New inventory, properly purchased, stored, and displayed old-world charm with modern sophistication, York store for 85 years, and it’s hard to diminish that in our store, and anyone at any time can walk in and and caters to wine pundits and amateurs alike. level of achievement. Also, we’re a store that has look at it and ask us about it. That, in this market, Sherry-Lehmann is consistently rated the number- been on the ground in the vineyards of the world for will continue to be a substantive difference between one wine shop in New York by the Zagat Survey most of our history and we have developed strong us and everybody else. and was referred to as the most “justly celebrated relationships.

What are your key priorities for Sherrywine store in the nation” by Vanity Fair. The store How has the Internet impacted Sherry- Lehmann in order to ensure that you remain is located at 505 Park Avenue in New York City.

Lehmann’s business and has technology been the market leader? a key driver of growth?

We’re all hard-driving and type A, but we like Will you discuss the current state of the Like every other industry, the Internet has to have fun, and we love the product we’re involved wine and spirits industry and your outlook transformed the wine and spirits industry as well. in. It’s not an easy business – it’s highly regulated for growth for Sherry-Lehmann?

Pricing transparency, real-time inventory and recog- and very competitive, so a passion for it is of great Consumption trends continue to grow, and nition of valuable service are all things we’re not importance. If we keep the passion and the drive for we’re anticipating more and more flexibility with only comfortable with, but that we extoll the virtues success in our sights, we’ll be just fine. interstate shipping so I’m bullish on our industry and on our store. We’re celebrating our 85th year of business in 2019 and while retail is always a challenge, we’re excited about our industry and about our position as a luxury retailer.

Sherry-Lehmann is consistently known as the industry leader. What has made SherryLehmann perform so well and how do you define the Sherry-Lehmann difference?

I think the most significant difference maker has been our consistent focus on relationships. The store was born out of a love of the world’s great wines and a desire to bring those wines to the U.S. market. Today we are as committed as ever to continuing to bring those wines to market, and to establish new relationships with the next generation of great wines from all over the world as there are great wines being made in all the world’s corners now.

Sherry-Lehmann has deep supplier relationships. How critical are these relationships to the success of the brand?

In terms of supplier relationships, it’s important for us to have ongoing communication with our distribution partners. However, it’s more important for us to be out in the vineyards of the world focusing on building our relationships with the top château Sherry-Lehmann at 505 Park Avenue in New York City domains and wineries, because those relationships

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NEWYORK

Jewel of Fifth Avenue An Interview with Ruediger Albers, President, American Wempe Corp.

EDITORS’ NOTE Ruediger (Rudy) Wempe has made a major Albers, President of Wempe USA, investment in its Fifth Avenue began his association with Wempe flagship store. Will you proJewelers 32 years ago. Joining in vide an overview of the store?

1987 as a master watchmaker Our Fifth Avenue flagand sales professional at Wempe ship store spans over half a in Hamburg, he quickly ascended, city block on Fifth Avenue. transferring to New York City in This gives us a spectacular 1988 and, in 1991, became General presence on Fifth Avenue Manager of American Wempe where approximately 30 milCorp. Albers has set the tone for expert lion people pass our windows service and specialized, curated every year. It makes Wempe Ruediger Albers guidance offered at Wempe to its the most prominent billboard elite clientele, embodying the comfor all our brands to showcase pany’s mission to be the very best in each of their the latest models as well as rare and markets. extraordinary timepieces.

How ar e the watch brands COMPANY BRIEF Since 1878, Wempe (wempe.com) Wempe works with positioned in has curated exquisite timepieces and jewelry. the boutique?

With 35 stores in seven countries and aboard the The expanded boutique is easy cruise ships MS Europa and MS Europa II, and to navigate. The store is flanked by headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, Wempe a Rolex and Patek Philippe shopis a leader in the luxury retail arena. Wempe’s i n - shop where you can experience flagship store is located on the iconic corner of the full DNA of these two most iconic Fifth Avenue and 55th Street in New York City, brands. The boutique is warm and weloffering featured boutiques for Rolex and Patek coming and brands are grouped by style Philippe, along with an unrivalled selection so you will find watches with a sportier of the most prestigious watch brands and fine flair in one area and classics in another. jewelry, including the brand’s own.

We find it important that our clients can relax and be comfortable so What have been the keys to most of our sales presentations Wempe’s succe s s a nd how take place while being seated and do you define the Wempe while having coffee, refreshments difference? or champagne. We have added Aside from our prime location Girard Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin, on Fifth Avenue and 55th Street, two watch companies with a rich our people make the biggest diftradition and history, and a lot of ference. Many of them have been technical innovations that truly excite. with us for over a decade or even Will you highlight Wempe’s two, and in my case thr ee. jewelry designers?

This consistency, together with For almost 20 years, Wempe young passionate newcomers, has not only been a retailer, but ensures that we stay vital which is also a jewelry manufacturer. With so important to maintain and build a loyal clien- our atelier, Wempe was able to create our own tele for the future. With the wealth of information jewelry brand BY KIM, named after our CEO. available online, it is critical to have employees Together with our French creative director, who share our clients’ passion and truly under- she insures that every jewelry creation has not just stand fine timepieces. Wempe continues to be a a great appearance, but also a very comfortable family-owned business, now led by the fourth feel and fit. Under the leadership of our jewelry generation, Kim-Eva Wempe. Based in Hamburg, director, Michaela Kesselman, we were able to sigGermany, she is able to maintain a family-like nificantly expand our bridal and high jewelry colatmosphere despite the fact that Wempe is operat- lection. In addition, we are representing the iconic ing 35 stores and brand boutiques worldwide with Wellendorff Jewelry and most recently partnered 750 employees. with the hot new brand Messika.

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Wempe’s exquisite jewelry

How are you positioning jewelry to have a larger presence in the redesigned boutique?

The new store concept allowed us to dedicate two entire windows right at the entrance to jewelry and we created a special section exclusively for jewelry where customers can sit comfortably and try on the various offerings while being tended to by certified gemologists and diamond graders.

Will you discuss Wempe’s focus on customer service and how critical this is to the business?

Wempe has invested heavily into our state-of-the-art service department where four full-time master watchmakers perform small miracles on a daily basis. Their kindness and professionalism is well-known and provides peace of mind to our clients confirming that we are able to offer technical support long after the purchase as we have access to spare parts which many others do not. In addition, we have been bestowed with the great honor of being one of the four Official Patek Philippe Service Centers in all of the U.S. What are your key priorities for Wempe as you look to the coming year?

We continuously strive to further enhance the client’s experience in the store as well as through events at other suitable and exciting venues. Our online shop is scheduled to open in 2020 and we are developing a state-of-the art trade-in program for our customers. Wempe is well-positioned to master the challenges of the future and our very close relationships with the major watch brands will allow us to continue to strive to offer our clients the very best.

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A Centenary Story of C.V. Starr & Co.

New York City – September 5, 2019 Starr Insurance Companies and LEADERS Magazine hosted a VIP lunch with leading members of the China General Chamber of Commerce - U.S.A. (CGCC) with Hank Greenberg at Starr’s offices on September 5 to discuss the importance of a strong business relationship with China as well as China/U.S. relations.

Attendees:

Maurice R. Greenberg, Chairman & CEO, Starr Insurance Companies Steve Blakey, President, Starr Insurance Holdings Richard N. Shaak, President, STARR Technical Risks Agency Rick Niu, President, Starr Strategic Partners Joseph Dillon, Senior Vice President, External Affairs. Starr Insurance Companies Charlie Armstrong, Vice President, Marketing, Starr Insurance Companies Robert H. McCooey, Jr., Chairman of Asia Pacific, NASDAQ Xu Chen, President & CEO, Bank of China USA and Chairman, China General Chamber of Commerce – USA Zhang Denghui, Executive Vice President, COSCO Shipping (North America) Li Suosheng, General Manager, China Construction Bank New York Branch Wang Xuetao, Deputy General Manager, Bank of Communications New York Branch Joy Tan, Vice President, Huawei Technologies USA Angie Zhu, Deputy Manager, Hongdou New York Dong Hui, President & CEO, Shanghai Int’l Holding Corp. (America) Shen Jiong, Deputy General Manager, China Eastern Airlines North America Fang Chunyin, Chief Representative, China Re New York Liaison Office Liu Jun, President, China Orient Advisors John Xiao, Vice President, Hikvision USA Wang Chunjun, President, CRSC (USA) Richard Liu, Co-founder & CEO, Hongkun USA Real Estate Development Fang Min, General Manager, Agricultural Bank of China New York Branch Zhang Lu, Deputy General Manager, Agricultural Bank of China New York Branch Pan Kang, General Manager, China Merchants Bank New York Branch Andrew Mao, Deputy General Manager, China Merchants Bank New York Branch Candice Niu, Executive Director, CGCC David Schner, President and Executive Editor, LEADERS Magazine

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NEWJERSEY

The State of Innovation An Interview with The Honorable Phil Murphy, Governor of New Jersey EDITORS’ NOTE Phil Murphy grew What are your key priorities up in a middle-class family with a for New Jersey? father who never graduated from My priorities have not waivered high school and a mother who since day one; a desire for a stronworked as a secretary. He put himger and fairer New Jersey that works self through Harvard University on for everybody. I am focused on not loans and part-time jobs. After just growing the pie, but making sure earning a graduate degree at the everybody gets a slice of the pie.

Wharton School at the University of We’re 19 or 20 months in and we’ve Pennsylvania, he started his career accomplished a lot, but we have a at the bottom, working his way up long road still to travel. The keys to to help lead a major inter nasuccess are raising the minimum wage Th Hon. Phil Murphy tional business. Governor Murphy to $15, funding Planned Parenthood, has served as New Jersey’s sole repsigning gun safety laws, protecting the resentative on the board of the NAACP. He has environment, sensible immigration policies, and also served as Finance Chair of the Democratic being a business-friendly state. Two of the big National Committee. In 2009, Governor Murphy underpinning levers of our economic story are answered President Obama’s call to service and investing in public education and transportation. became the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. After returning home in 2013, Governor Murphy and his wife, Tammy, founded New Start New Jersey as a “think and do” organization to rebuild the state’s economy from the middle-class out. The organization partnered with the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University to create the New Start Career Network to help older, long-term unemployed residents actively compete for good jobs. Governor Murphy’s vision for New Jersey is to grow the middle class, jumpstart the state’s economy by targeting investments in people and infrastructure, reclaim New Jersey’s mantle as a center of the STEM and innovation economies, protect working families by raising the minimum wage and expanding earned sick leave for all, and protect the middle class with real tax fairness.

We want to be the

nation’s premiere

innovation economy, and we also want to

What attracted you to public service?

Public service is a way-back story. I was born in Boston and grew up outside of Boston.

My family was big into politics, Kennedy Democrats, and public service. It was a pretty traditional Irish Catholic upbringing. We didn’t have a whole lot of money, to say the least, but service and community were kitchen table topics from as far back as I can remember. It goes that far back for me.

I started by getting involved in a number of organizations. I became the finance chair of the Democratic National Committee and raised a lot of money to help get Barack Obama elected. I became deeply involved with the NAACP and ultimately served on its national board. I served as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany.

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be the most diverse

innovation economy.

What are the keys to driving change and getting things done in today’s political climate?

We govern as pro-growth progressives, and I say that because it answers your question. That’s the common ground that we have found. We stand for fiscal responsibility and

stewardship and adult leadership on the one hand, and on the other hand, we’re proudly progressive.

There are some who would claim those are at odds with each other, but I think that’s a myth. My hope is that through our story, we can prove that there’s an enormous amount of common ground between a pro-growth agenda and a progressive agenda.

You’ve been very focused on New Jersey regaining its mantle around being the center of the innovation economy.

Will you discuss this effort and the strength that New Jersey has in this regard?

I recently returned from an event at Nokia Bell Labs in Murray Hill. Bell Labs is an iconic institution which has had nine Nobel Laureates as well as four Turing Prize winners. In many respects, New Jersey was Silicon Valley before there was a Silicon Valley. I call it the state of innovation. We lost a little bit of our edge, honestly, over the past couple of decades and we are making an enormous effort to get that edge back.

We are blessed with the highest concentration of scientists and engineers per square mile anywhere in the world, which provides extraordinary access. We have great institutions of higher education. We are, by many measures, the most diverse state in America. We have a location that’s second to none. We have great public education in K-12. These are enormous assets.

We want to be the nation’s premiere innovation economy, and we also want to be the most diverse innovation economy, and we’ve got every right to claim both of those mantles over the coming years.

Is the strength of New Jersey from an innovation and business standpoint well understood?

I recently had an exchange with a leading businessman who is completely convinced that New Jersey is the place for innovation. He made the point that he did not feel everybody around the country or around the world understood that at the level they should.

I’m not shy talking about our brand, but I spend most of my time investing in the brand. I wanted to make sure that we had a really good story to tell and that it wasn’t the promise of a good story, but that there was real evidence that New Jersey is the state of innovation. We need to start singing from the mountaintops about that story.

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ValerieWilsonTravel.com

travel@vwti.com

VIRTUOSO ÂŽ Member

CYBER RISKS

ARE GROWING BUT BUSINESSES CAN DEFEND AGAINST THEM

The risks to businesses large and small posed by today’s sophisticated cybercriminals are increasing by the day.

OVER 10.5 BILLION

MALWARE ATTACKS DOCUMENTED IN 2018.1

INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) ATTACKS

INCREASED 217%

IN 2018 OVER 2017.1

391,689 NEW MALWARE

VARIANTS WERE IDENTIFIED IN 2018.1

MOBILE RANSOMWARE INFECTIONS

INCREASED 33% OVER 2017.2

OFFICE FILES ACCOUNTED FOR

48% OF MALICIOUS EMAIL ATTACHMENTS

IN 2018, UP FROM ONLY 5% IN 2017.2

1. “2019 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report: Unmasking the Threats that Target Global Enterprises, Government & SMBs.” SonicWall. 2019.

71% OF 2018 RANSOMWARE ATTACKS TARGETED SMALL BUSINESSES.3

3. Davis, Jessica. “71% of Ransomware Attacks Targeted Small Businesses in 2018.” 27 March 2019. HealthITSecurity.com.

2. 2019 Internet Security Threat Report. Symantec. Volume 24. February 2019.

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Helping companies understand and protect against the expanding, global threat of cyber risk Unlike the teenage hackers of yesterday, today’s high-tech pirates attack for profit, and business is booming. Globally, ransomware attacks, “cryptojacking” of digital assets and new malware variants aimed at mobile devices are on the rise.

According to one cyber risk watchdog, a theoretical, international ransomware attack might have a global price tag of over $193 billion, with up to $89 billion of that tab landing at the feet of the American economy.1 U.S. and global companies must operate within this environment every day, but they are not without allies. The global insurance industry is developing products and tools aimed at helping companies better understand, assess and mitigate cyber risks. LEADERS recently spoke with three of Zurich’s top cyber risk underwriting executives to hear their perspectives on the growing threat and how their company is helping clients protect against it.

An evolving threat

Lori Bailey Global Head of Cyber Risk Zurich Insurance Group

How would you characterize the current state of global cyber risk?

Cyber risk is evolving constantly, not only because technology is advancing so quickly, but also because the threat actors are keeping pace with technological change. Organizations are utilizing advanced technologies to become more efficient in their business operations. However, that efficiency may come at a price, since unanticipated vulnerabilities of new technologies could be readily compromised by threat actors.

In addition, risks are heightened because cyber regulations are also evolving globally. In the United States, regulations are likely to become even tighter in the wake of the GDPR adopted in Europe last year – something which we are already seeing with the passage of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) scheduled to go into effect in January 2020. Similar laws are going into effect in Brazil next year, with other countries adopting language similar to the GDPR. As technology and cyber threats continue to evolve, new regulatory guidelines will come into play following cyber events. Businesses will be faced with the conundrum of adopting new technologies that can enhance their operations, but may expose new threat vulnerabilities and draw closer scrutiny under tightening regulatory frameworks.

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What were some of the key cyber risk findings in the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Global Risks Report?

One of the biggest changes over the last several years is that cyber risk now consistently ranks in the top five global risks in terms of likelihood. The overall impact is still somewhat undetermined because cyber events can impact different organizations in different ways.

But cyber risks consistently pop up in the top five most concerning risks.

Ransomware has been making a lot of headlines of late. Is the threat growing?

The threat is definitely increasing, but as a whole, ransomware attacks are often underreported.

Companies that don’t have insurance may simply pay them out. The downside is you may not get the decryption key you need to get your data back.

Similarly, you’ve also indicated that you are willing to pay, so you could be a victim again. I see ransomware attacks continuing to increase as threat actors become more sophisticated and the value of cryptocurrencies remains high. And as long as companies are willing to pay these kinds of attacks will continue in the future.

What keeps you awake at night when you think about the future of cyber risk?

Certainly, cyber terrorism and state actors are growing concerns, including attacks on critical infrastructure, financial institutions, water supplies and utility grids.

These are attacks that can not only cause financial disruption, but also physical damage and bodily injury if taken to extremes. That’s what keeps me awake almost every night.

1. Major ransomware attack could hit U.S. with $89B in economic damages. Cision PR Newswire. 29 January 2019.

2. Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity - Version 1.1.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). U.S. Department of Commerce.16 April 2018.

THE FIVE CORE FUNCTIONS OF THE NIST FRAMEWORK 2 The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, recommends building a cybersecurity framework around the following five steps:

IDENTIFY

“Develop an organizational understanding to manage cybersecurity risk to systems, people, assets, data and capabilities.”

PROTECT

“Develop and implement appropriate safeguards to ensure delivery of critical services.”

DETECT

“Develop and implement appropriate activities to identify the occurrence of a cybersecurity event.”

RESPOND

“Develop and implement appropriate activities to take action regarding a detected cybersecurity incident.”

RECOVER

“Develop and implement appropriate activities to maintain plans for resilience and to restore any capabilities or services that were impaired due to a cybersecurity incident.”

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Insuring the risks

Michelle Chia Head of Cyber and Professional Liability Zurich North America

Despite what appears to be growing awareness of cyber risk, do businesses fully understand the scope of the threat?

I would say that many companies are still not as sophisticated as they need to be around this topic.

Hence, they are not as well versed as they could be about cyber threats and how to protect themselves.

Education is the key. That’s why Zurich has partnered with organizations like the World Economic Forum. In 2018 and 2019, the WEF Global Risk Report stated that large-scale cyberattacks are among the leading risks in likelihood and impact. Educational opportunities like that report and other vehicles can help to increase the business community’s understanding of cyber risk.

Are smaller companies at greater risk than large firms?

I want to emphasize that vulnerability to cyber risk is not size-dependent. We’re all at risk, regardless of

size. However, midsized and smaller companies tend to have fewer resources to protect themselves. And because the world is so interconnected, there can be a domino effect when a threat enters the network of one organization and is able to spread through connections with other businesses, such as suppliers or customers. Because all companies operate in the same cyber ecosystem, what impacts one company can ultimately affect others. And the threats are evolving and changing at an accelerating pace all the time.

How are cyber insurance policies responding to those evolving risks?

Cyber insurance policies need to be updated constantly to be able to respond to the most recent types of events. Zurich did a major refresh of our standalone cyber policy at the end of last year. We are able to stay current with developing cyber risks because we have a dedicated underwriting team focused on understanding the exposure and line of business.

technologies. Construction is one of a handful of industries where the use of drones is becoming more widespread. This could mean privacy claims resulting from drone usage. We are also broadening the definition of computer equipment to include wearable safety devices provided to construction workers. While these devices increase worker safety, the technology behind the equipment can create new cyber risks for employers. We are looking to build out other industry-specific endorsements that really speak to the language and the unique needs of companies in other industries.

How is Zurich helping customers address today’s intensifying cyber risks?

Yes, we are working to build out coverages unique to specific industries. For example, we’ve created an endorsement targeting the construction industry.

Historically, construction has not been seen as high-risk because it was not as data-intensive as other industries. But contractors are adopting a lot of new

We have entered into a business relationship with a well-known cybersecurity provider that does monitoring and mitigation services for Zurich customers when they purchase our cyber policy. The company has extensive experience in helping both the government and commercial organizations identify the threats they are facing and ways to mitigate or eliminate the threats. Zurich also has an experienced and very capable, dedicated Cyber Risk Engineering team to help figure out what gaps may exist to help Zurich customers develop effective cyber risk response plans. We are constantly researching the risks facing our customers, helping them deal with the ones we know and preparing them for what may be on the horizon.

Are cyber exposures more challenging to insure than traditional risks?

Does Zurich use any special tools in the cyber risk selection process?

Well, some people within the insurance industry get worried when you talk about underwriting cyber because they don’t believe that our industry knows the technology well enough. But the foundation of underwriting cyber is much the same as any other commercial insurance contract. You look for the facts, weigh the possibilities and map out the potential scenarios, and then make an underwriting decision based on your best information and judgment. Good risk selection is at the core of being a successful underwriter in any aspect of insurance. The main challenge in underwriting cyber risk is the continuously changing nature and scope of the threat.

Yes, we do. We have a service provider called Cyence that performs data aggregation using publicly available information about potential customers and then applies an algorithm to help determine the risk quality.

It’s in line with what property underwriters have been doing for years with the information provided by Risk Engineering visits.

Can cyber coverages be customized to the risks of specific industries?

The underwriting view

Yosha DeLong Technical Director – Cyber and Professional Lines Zurich North America

How do cyber insurance policies differ from traditional property and liability policies?

Traditional liability and property policies were written to cover conventional bodily injury claims and property losses. Cyber wasn’t an issue when these policies were developed. When insurers originally began to write cyber policies, the first were designed to cover data breaches and the associated state-required notification and regulatory aspects. When the industry started writing this exposure 10 or 15 years ago, what we were seeing most often were laptop-related events, not these malicious, large-scale attacks we see now.

The kinds of threats companies are experiencing today were not even contemplated when these policies were created. We’ve seen a real evolution in cyber risk with the advent of ransomware and other kinds of malware that have the potential to cause significant business interruption and reputational damage.

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For example, five years ago a lot of retail organizations got hit hard by cyberattacks. Since then, they have really changed the way they handle credit cards. That has changed the exposure for the better, at least on that aspect of the risk. On the flip side, five years ago we saw manufacturing as an easy risk to write for cyber because they didn’t have large amounts of data.

Now, with the business interruption implications of vendor and supplier connectivity and greater reliance on information technology in all aspects of construction, there is a huge potential for disruption if someone gets into the network and initiates a shutdown or ransomware event.

One of the factors we must consider when underwriting cyber is that it is always a truly global risk.

In property insurance, you can gain a view of your risk accumulation based on where your book of business is concentrated, such as the east coast of Florida for windstorm. Cyber isn’t like that. When an event happens in the U.S., it can quickly become a global event due to the universal network connectivity. We can’t view cyber risk in regional pockets like property and pretend we have a complete view of the potential scope of an event. An event can go global overnight.

I can say that the insurance industry is deeply committed to helping our customers protect against this risk. We will continue to work with customers to develop solutions both for the known cyber risks of today and the unknown ones that lie ahead.

© 2019 Zurich American Insurance Company. All rights reserved.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

THE MORE RISKS YOU SEE, THE SAFER YOUR BUSINESS CAN BE.

Be more proactive about protecting the business you love by expanding your risk horizons. Zurich’s risk profiling is a structured approach that helps identify, prioritize and mitigate risk. We can help you manage your risk rather than just insure against it, so you can focus more on profit and less on risk.

VIEW OUR RISK PROFILING VIDEO AT zurichna.com/rp2

ZURICH INSURANCE. FOR THOSE WHO TRULY LOVE THEIR BUSINESS.

This is intended as a general description of certain types of services available to qualified customers through the member companies of Zurich North America (Zurich), including The Zurich Services Corporation. Zurich does not guarantee any particular outcome and there may be conditions on your premises or within your organization, which may not be apparent to us.You are in the best position to understand your business and your organization and to take steps to minimize risk, and we wish to assist you by providing the information and tools to help you assess your changing risk environment. ©2019 The Zurich Services Corporation.

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

Creating Value An Interview with George Pyne, Chief Executive Officer, Bruin Sports Capital

George Pyne

EDITORS’ NOTE George Pyne founded Bruin Sports Capital in 2015 after 25 years transforming businesses in sports, entertainment, media, commercial real estate and academia.

This included taking IMG from a talent representation firm to a global sports and entertainment conglomerate that ultimately sold at record returns. He orchestrated NASCAR’s meteoric rise from a regional niche into a multibilliondollar sports league. He also organized one of the world’s largest debt restructurings (at the time) for Portman Companies across its 19 lines of businesses. Earlier, his comprehensive analysis of Atlanta’s Education System led to sweeping reforms of the city’s school board. He is a board member of the National Football Foundation and the National Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of New York. Pyne was Captain, AllIvy League, and All-New England honoree as an offensive lineman at Brown University.

FIRM BRIEF In 2015, George Pyne launched Bruin Sports Capital, the privately-held global sports and entertainment company (bruinsportscapital.com) with backing from an impressive global investor group. Today, Bruin’s portfolio includes best-in-class technology, live events, marketing and brand strategy companies. Collectively they operate in 18 countries, with 37 offices and 1,700 employees. Their platforms are relied upon by virtually every major sports league, governing body, rights holder and blue-chip brand. Billions of consumers engage with their favorite sport through Bruin’s companies. Since launch, Bruin has organized 15 acquisitions and its VC arm, Courtside Ventures, has completed 55 investment rounds.

Will you discuss your vision for creating Bruin Sports Capital and how the business has evolved?

When we drew up the idea for Bruin we felt that the sports sector was heading into sweeping changes driven by all of the things that had fundamentally reshaped the music and entertainment industries. We wanted to 162 LEADERS

create a team and an operating structure that could act fast, capitalize on the change, bring a deep Rolodex and really help great ideas and smart leaders realize their full potential.

Sports is fun, has a lot of cache, continually expanding and highly attractive to investors.

But if you wanted in, you had to buy a team or a media company. We thought with our expertise and capability we could be a new type of vehicle that would attract investors and companies alike. We didn’t know what to expect as we were really headed into unchartered waters.

The industry has been very responsive.

We’ve found hidden gems that were fundamentally strong businesses but needed a shot in the arm. I’m proud that we have helped them in a lot of ways, whether organizing strategies, opening doors to new resources and acquisitions, or introducing them to key decision makers. Our platforms have all, to this point, grown based on the important financial metrics and we’re in businesses with every top tier league and federation. One of our concerns was deal flow and that’s been quite strong. It’s one of the things that has really surprised me.

We also have Courtside Ventures where we have made roughly 55 investments in 35 companies that are all sport, media and technology related. I think our vision that technology would disrupt media has played out and we’re investing around that change.

You acquired Deltatre. Will you discuss this acquisition and what excited you about the business?

What I really liked about Deltatre was that the company had been around for 30 years, so it had a line of sight from its early days of linear television all the way through the current day of web and app design, streaming, augmented and virtual reality, you name it. Historically, it operated under the radar but was responsible for some of the most important technological innovation in the history of sports media. They gained a strong position primarily in Europe because they worked on every part of the value chain and were in the middle of the change that was taking place. They had an incredible client list when we invested in them in 2016 and have expanded that list over time while setting up operations in the U.S. and Asia.

Just about every league, federation or rights

holder is using Deltatre technologies today.

We are quite proud of them.

Will you highlight the strength of the management team at Deltatre?

There were two founders that have done an incredible job leading this business and really understood all aspects of the business. I was very impressed with them. The company is filled with very talented people who really understand technology and also understand what sports fans want which are the two critical components to its success.

One of the things that we’ve seen is their ability to adapt to American sports and develop great products in American sports with no experience in the market. They understand what sports fans want and they’re able to adapt their global learning in working with global sports to America.

Will you elaborate on your views on the future of sports entertainment and the move to direct to consumer?

Over the next several years, the sports industry is going to look much different.

There are going to be structural shifts impacting everything from the way a sport is organized to how a fan consumes it, big sweeping changes that we are already seeing. The one constant is that sports will always aggregate massive audiences even while it is harder for other industries to do so. They just won’t be in one place, meaning the living room. It will be on a multitude of screens and channels. This will change the way sports are organized, how they are distributed and how audiences are measured and defined. At the same time, we will adapt and be able to build direct relationships with fans that will drive commerce in ways well beyond selling just a ticket. Leagues and federations will own the most informed data about their fan bases and be able to monetize that in new areas such as real estate, travel, consumer goods and more. I think the people that adapt faster to that are going to do better than those that don’t.

Is Bruin’s focus on making long-term investments?

We are really focused on creating value and trying to maximize the value of the company for our investors. This is what we have done with each one of our businesses and we don’t get focused on a timeline or timetable. We’re trying to build great companies and back great leaders.

The rest takes care of itself.

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INTERVIEW

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Interview

Transforming the Fan Experience An Interview with Giampiero Rinaudo, Chief Executive Officer, Deltatre

Giampiero Rinaudo

EDITORS’ NOTE Giampiero “Gipi” Rinaudo graduated in Turin, Italy with a degree in computer science and was gaining experience working as a freelancer when he started developing timing and data service solutions for the Alpine Ski World Cup and Formula 1 races. In 1986, he co-founded Deltatre. He has fostered its growth from its earliest key milestone in 1994, when it launched the first centralized result system for the brand-new UEFA Champions League.

Rinaudo is responsible for the strategy and business development that has grown Deltatre from a three-man team to more than 1,000 employees located in 19 offices around the world.

COMPANY BRIEF Deltatre (deltatre.com) prides itself on being the most trusted name in sports media. Since 1986, Deltatre has delivered, over and over, for the world’s most watched sports events. Working with rights owners and rights holders, it has helped sports grow by giving fans ever more beautiful and immersive experiences, enhancing the brands of leagues, federations, teams, TV networks and content providers. From broadcast to web, desktop to tablet, mobile to VR, Deltatre brings the best combination of design, technology and operations to the table, live, in the moment, and with no room for mistakes.

What was the vision for creating Deltatre?

Deltatre has been driving innovation around the fan experience for over 33 years, making it the most experienced company in the sports technology sector. When we started, it was not only before the Internet; even PC’s didn’t exist. At that time, we started providing what I would now call simple but important services to some of the major sports properties, like Formula 1 or alpine skiing. We introduced transponders in Formula 1 that are still being used to this day. It was difficult at that time to envision where we are now, with all of the digital development that has taken place, but the starting point was, and still is, improving the way fans consume sports through the use of technology.

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How important is brand awareness to Deltatre?

This has always been an interesting topic for us at Deltatre. We do not sell our technology to end users or fans so for Deltatre, being known by billions of people has never been important to our success. Of course, in our space of sports technology, it helps to be known as a company that is always looking forward and never fails to deliver for some of the world’s most viewed events – which is something we have worked hard to achieve – but it has never been a priority for us to be recognized by the audiences our clients serve.

We recognize that our work is behind-thescenes, to help the sports and entertainment organizations reach as many eyeballs as they can. That’s the reason why we are well-known within our environment, and less known outside the sector. Our relative public anonymity is by design.

… the starting point was, and still is, improving the way fans consume sports through the use of technology.

When you look at the number of events that Deltatre is involved in worldwide, most of those that might be known would be the large, global events. Is that the main focus or are you involved in events of all different sizes?

We mainly work on high-end events like the World Cup or the Super Bowl. This is where our expertise lies; delivering highly complex, largescale live events. We manage most of the big leagues, across all sports, throughout the year in some capacity, whether it’s around data, graphics, production, digital or streaming video. With our recent acquisition of Massive Interactive, a multiaward-winning OTT software company, we now have another best-in-class capability to add to our overall technology suite of services to service the entertainment sector as well.

What strength and advantages has Bruin Sports Capital brought to Deltatre?

We have been very pleased with the growth of Deltatre after the acquisition by Bruin. This has helped us develop a substantial market in the United States, we are growing in Asia, and we have strengthened our leadership position in Europe.

Bruin and George (Pyne) have been instrumental in this. The team works very fast and is very flexible, which is important for us because in sport you cannot change the date of an event; you have to move fast and deliver every time.

Is Deltatre a sports media company or is it a technology company?

I normally call it a sport technology company in the media space, because the term media company often means that you own content. Deltatre does not own content because we don’t want to compete with our clients who are the ones that own and distribute the content. Our clients are either those who originate the rights, such as sports governing bodies or leagues, or those who buy the rights, such as broadcasters and networks.

Are you able to take moments to appreciate what Deltatre has become and to celebrate the wins?

That’s a good question. With the acquisition of Massive, we have more than 1,000 people working across 19 offices around the world.

It has been a long journey and we’ve been lucky to work in two sectors that have never stopped growing, sports rights and technology.

I am proud of what we’ve achieved – it’s been a fantastic journey so far built on the hard work of our staff and the trust of our clients. But we usually have very little time to celebrate – sport doesn’t stop. In today’s environment, you need to focus on the future and be ready to change and adapt all of the time – bring on the next thirty years.

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INTERVIEW

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Interview

Designing a Smoke-Free Future An Interview with Charles Bendotti, Senior Vice President, People and Culture, Philip Morris International (PMI)

Charles Bendotti

EDITORS’ NOTE Charles Bendotti joined Philip Morris International in Lausanne in 1999 as Business Analyst. From 2000 until 2006, he served in various cross-functional roles in Marketing and Sales and Business Development in different markets in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America and Canada Regions. He then became Managing Director, Ecuador & Bolivia, followed by his appointment as Vice President, Human Resources for the Latin America and Canada Region in 2008. In 2012, Bendotti was named Vice President, Human Resources for Asia, a position he held until December 2016, when he became Senior Vice President, Human Resources. He holds a master’s degree in international relations, economy, and law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and an Executive M.B.A. from HEC Paris.

COMPANY BRIEF Philip Morris International (pmi.com) is a leading international tobacco company, with more than 77,000 employees across the globe, and is selling products made in their 46 worldwide production facilities to over 150 million consumers in more than 180 markets around the world. With more than 400 R&D scientists and experts, PMI is transforming its business to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with better alternatives for adult smokers.

How do you describe Philip Morris International today?

Like so many companies over the last 20 to 30 years, it is critical to evolve and transform. We created a new vision for a smokefree future and this is a game changer for us.

Today, the world has more than 1.1 billion smokers. This is data coming from the World Health Organization. We know that by 2025 there will still be one billion smokers so there is a need to do something for this population. That is why we came up with the concept of a smoke-free future. How can 164 LEADERS

we find the solutions for people that want to improve their life? If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you do smoke, quit. But if you do not quit – and we know that nine smokers in 10 continue smoking – then switch to better alternatives. That is the position of PMI and what we aim to achieve.

This requires a lot of investment. Over the last 10 years, we have invested more than $6 billion in science, research and manufacturing capacity for our new products. We are transforming PMI from a tobacco manufacturer to a science and technology-based company.

As this transformation is occurring, has it been important to maintain culture?

I would divide culture into three different buckets. There are elements of the culture that we have to keep because we’re proud of them and they work. There are elements we have to modify. Then there are elements that we have to change. This is a very difficult exercise.

In 2017, we engaged more than 10,000 people across the world to define together the culture that we want to have at PMI. We are very focused on people and that is an element we want to keep. Whether it’s a company, a family or a sports team, you want the team to be one team and to work together. This is something we wanted to keep.

Then there are elements that we wanted to change. For example, we were too distant from the consumer. We were too much brand focused and not enough consumer focused.

That is an element we needed to add into the equation so that our focus is on serving the consumer.

Then there are elements that you need to remove. In a big organization, it easily can become very process-driven and too bureaucratic. We want to remove that element from our culture.

Our process has been to really look at what to keep, what to modify and what to remove.

What is your approach to continuing to attract and retain top talent as you go through this culture shift?

We need to have the right people with the right capabilities. There are capabilities that we didn’t have internally because they were not part of our previous business model – science, for example. The science we

have today follows protocols established by the pharmaceutical industry. We didn’t have those skills internally, so we had to bring them into the organization.

To be customer-centric, we had to enhance our digital communications capabilities. These skills are critical for the transformation, so we had to bring in people from the outside to make us stronger in this area.

Even the functions like mine (People & Culture) require the ability to think differently than we have done in the past. This means helping employees to adjust their mindset and be eager to change. We can only create this transformation if all of our people are behind it.

Over the past two years, we have started equipping our people to proceed with the PMI transformation starting with the CEO and the top 200 and then moving down through the organization. Our aim is to have a customized transformation plan for every single person at PMI over the next couple of years.

So this transformation requires a balance between attracting people from the outside to supplement the skills that we don’t have and developing our people internally.

It’s not one or the other, it requires both at the same time.

PMI’s transfor mation is centered around purpose. How critical is it for leading companies today to be purpose-driven?

Having a purpose is absolutely vital in the world in which we live. I’m a father of three kids. I have two daughters and a son, and my son did an internship at PMI this summer.

When I talk with him and his friends about their careers, purpose is a main reason why they want to work for an organization.

I think purpose has never been as important as it is today. At PMI, we now wake up in the morning and go to work knowing that we can do something positive for the lives of 1.1 billion smokers around the world – it’s a massive wake-up call.

When you work for a big organization like PMI, I think you have obligations vis-àvis society that go well above just revenues or shareholder return. If we don’t act as genuine changers of the world, we won’t be sustainable as a business. You can see it with what’s going on in the world. People are asking more and more questions and they want big organizations to be engaged and committed to big issues.

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INTERVIEW

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Interview

Precision Medicine An Interview with Adam A. Margolin, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences; Director, Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology; and Senior Associate Dean for Precision Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Adam A. Margolin

EDITORS’ NOTE Adam Margolin is a recognized leader in developing machine learning algorithms to analyze large-scale molecular datasets, to predict therapies specific for an individual patient, and to infer the key cellular processes that underlie cancer drug response. He is a passionate advocate of highly collaborative team-based research and has developed software systems to enable collaborative analysis for several of the largest national and international cancer, immunotherapy, and stem cell research projects. Before joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Margolin served as Director of Computational Biology and Professor of Biomedical Engineering with Oregon Health & Science University, where he led the University’s computational research and software development programs. Earlier in his career, Dr. Margolin was the Director of Computational Biology at Sage Bionetworks in Seattle. He also worked at the Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, leading a cancer genomics analysis program. Dr. Margolin earned his B.S. in economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, his M.S. in computer science from the School of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Informatics from Columbia University.

INSTITUTION BRIEF Mount Sinai Health System (mountsinai.org) encompasses the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and eight hospitals that receive roughly 4 million patient visits annually. The Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences is the 5th ranked genetics department nationally by Blue Ridge. The Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology (data science.icahn.mssm.edu) operates one of the largest supercomputing centers in academic research and one of the largest facilities for advanced genomic technology development. In 2014, the Institute was named by Fast Company as the 5th most innovative big data organization in the world.

Will you provide an overview of the Departm en t of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at Mount Sinai?

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I lead the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and the very closely-affiliated Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology. Those two entities together are trying to drive the future of precision medicine by utilizing highly advanced data analytics integrated with advanced genomic technologies.

Our goal is to discover new therapies and bring those therapies to patients faster than has ever been possible.

How much of an impact is the concept of precision medicine going to have on revolutionizing the delivery of customized healthcare?

If Floyd Mayweather went into a boxing match with just a strategy of “I’ll throw a right uppercut and knock the other guy out in the first five seconds”, that would be pretty risky. Rather, he has an arsenal of weapons and the ability to apply them at the right moments to counteract his opponent’s tricks. And he went 50-0.

Similarly, for a disease like cancer, almost nobody believes there will be one or two silver bullet cures. Rather, cancers utilize many molecular tricks to evade all of the body’s mechanisms to hold uncontrolled cell growth in check. Each cancer uses a different set of tricks which even evolve over time to employ new tricks to get around therapy. We need to continue to understand all of these tricks so we can build our arsenal of weapons against them. We need to quickly identify each trick so we can apply the right weapon to weaken the cancer, and apply another weapon as the cancer evolves, until we knock the cancer out or run out the clock and win by decision. We don’t need a single knockout punch. We can go undefeated with this strategy.

Is there close collaboration across the health system in this process?

We need more than just collaboration. We need to work together to pursue big, ambitious goals that can only be accomplished by teams of experts sharing insights and information in real time. Academic institutions are structured such that individual researchers typically wall off information for periods of years until they can claim credit for any insights through a publication. This model does not work in the big data era. When a funder gives millions of dollars to an institution, it is very likely these resources will be funneled towards building up the name of one or a few researchers, and will not catalyze the key synergies needed to make real progress.

We’re going to flip this antiquated model on its head. In collaboration with the company Sema4, we are planning to generate one of the largest existing cancer genomics datasets, including whole exome, whole transcriptome and germline sequencing for thousands of consented patients per year. All of this data will be immediately available to anyone at Sinai, and publicly available as soon as possible.

We will integrate this data with data from tens of thousands of additional patients available from public sources. We will attract the best people in the world at developing technologies for measuring previously undetectable key molecules within disease samples and data generated by them will be immediately available to everybody. We will attract the top data scientists who can identify key patterns from massive amounts of data. These people will come from across industries – people like me, who will make the choice to forgo lucrative opportunities such as in data analysis for a hedge fund, and apply the same data science skills to biomedical research. And all of their analytical insights will be immediately available to everybody.

At the same time, we will develop new technologies that allow a tumor to be taken out of a patient’s body and grown in a dish. Then we can test the tumor’s response to many drugs or genes targeted by CRISPR. Results from these experiments will be available to everybody. By working as a large team that shares all information in real time, we will continuously iterate between generating novel molecular data quantifying disease, applying sophisticated analytic methods to predict novel drugs and drug targets, and testing these predictions on samples that recapitulate a patient’s response to therapy. Each area of research will continuously learn from results generated by the others, creating flywheels of innovation that eventually allow us to triangulate on the most effective therapies that can be brought to benefit individual patients.

I will not put my name in the lead role for any of this work in any academic publication.

Academics think that scientific leadership means getting primary credit for major projects. That’s not leadership. It’s the opposite of leadership. We will pursue new ways of working geared towards the modern era of big data and advanced technology driven research. We will pursue big ambitious goals that can only be tackled by harnessing everyone’s best contributions, while allowing each individual to succeed by building on the work of others. I won’t take credit for any of it. But we’ll change the world.

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Interview

Building a CBD Brand An Interview with Martin A. Sumichrast, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, cbdMD, Inc.

Martin A. Sumichrast

EDITORS’ NOTE Marty Sumichrast manages his family office through Washington Capital LLC. Sumichrast has served since 2012 as an Independent Trustee and Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee and Member of the Audit Committee to the Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund and Barings Funds Trust. Barings is a global asset manager with over $330 billion in assets under management. Sumichrast received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland.

COMPANY BRIEF cbdMD (cbdmd.com) is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based company that operates the nationally recognized consumer cannabidiol (CBD) brand cbdMD whose current products include CBD tinctures, CBD gummies, CBD topicals, CBD bath bombs, CBD oils, and CBD pet products under its brand Paw CBD. The company’s mission is to create the number one trusted brand in the CBD industry through the use of innovative marketing and strict adherence in creating the highest-quality CBD products while using state-ofthe-art production and manufacturing techniques.

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Will you discuss the history and heritage of cbdMD? cbdMD was started by Scott Coffman in 2017 when the CBD business was beginning to really get going in the United States. There was impending legislation that was coming in the 2018 Farm Bill, and what it was going to do was remove CBD from the DEA restricted list. This was a watershed moment for the CBD industry. The first 8 months, Scott focused on R&D then, in the beginning of 2018, the company went to market and started generating sales, largely online.

I had known Scott from both of us living in Charlotte. I was involved in a public company called Level Brands, and we had a contract with a CBD company, but through a marketing agreement. We decided we wanted to take a bigger stake in the CBD industry as a whole and when Scott and I fortuitously ran into each other in August 2018, he told me that he was working on the biggest deal he was going to do, which was cbdMD. I mentioned that I was in the CBD space as well and we decided to work together.

It took about five months to close the deal since we had to wait until the Farm Bill passed.

President Trump signed the Farm Bill at 4:30 PM on December 20, 2018, and we closed the deal the next morning at 9:00 AM. As an NYSE American listed company, we were the first and still are the

only U.S. pure-play CBD company that is publicly traded on a major U.S. stock exchange.

We have grown the business from about 20 employees when we did the transaction last December to over 170 now, which is a huge growth curve in just nine months. Our revenues have gone up significantly and almost every metric has increased in a positive way. We see the future as an exercise in who can build the most recognizable brand. The CBD industry last year did about $1 billion, and it is expected in five years to do in excess of $20 billion. In the next 12 to 18 months, whoever has one of the most recognizable brands is going to have created a tremendous amount of value. When people ask what differentiates cbdMD from our competitors, the answer is brand. In June, we were listed by the Brightfield Group as the “CBD brand to watch.” Pretty good for a oneand-a-half year old company.

We have taken a strategy pursuing the athletic endorsement space and we probably have the biggest roster of premier athletes of any CBD or any cannabis company out there. Bubba Watson, one of our most notable ambassadors, is a huge name and he loves the product. All of the athletes we are associated with use our products and love them. On the MMA side, we’ve partnered with Bellator, which is one of the biggest brands in mixed martial arts.

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As an NYSE American listed company, we were the first and still are the only U.S. pure-play CBD company that is publicly traded on a major U.S. stock exchange.

Will you highlight cbdMD’s product offerings?

We have three sets of products. First are our ingestibles which include our tinctures, which you drop under your tongue, our gel caps and our gummies, which taste great. Our cbdMD PM product is great for sleep since we add melotonin. Then our topicals include our roll-ons, our freezes and our bath bombs. Finally, we have our pet line Paw CBD which is becoming a huge part of our business. Overall we have about 100 SKUs. Is CBD well understood or is it still an education process?

That is a really great question. I would say that a year ago, nine out of ten people thought of CBD in regard to whether it gets you high. Now, that number is probably four out of ten, so it’s getting better. There is still a lot of work to do. There is still a lot of education to be done around the different products and how much you should take since you have to be very careful about what you take. We make no therapeutic claims and have no THC in our products.

How critical is cbdMD’s focus on quality to the continued success of the company?

Quality is one of our core values. Our priority is to make sure that our customers get premium quality at a really good value. We spend a lot of money on third-party testing and we test all of our products. I think that testing and quality is going to separate brands. It is critical to have size and scale

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to invest in testing and there are going to be a lot of smaller brands that are going to go by the wayside because they are not able to make the necessary investments.

How will you continue to build brand awareness for cbdMD? Our demographic is pretty wide. First, we have to have a great name. We have the best name in the space. Second, we sell a product that has a higher concentration than many of the other competitors. Third, we provide great customer service. Finally, our price point makes us more affordable than most of our competitors.

You have to be really innovative when it comes to brand building. For example, we are in the athletic market. You can’t buy TV ads, so we got creative. There is a new basketball league started

by Ice Cube called the BIG3 which has a CBS Sports contract. We think the league is fantastic and made a deal with the BIG3. We have our name on the jerseys, so right next to Adidas is cbdMD. When the camera goes on the player, it is right there.

That is a good example of how we are innovative in building brand awareness.

We were the first CBD company to have a digital sign in Times Square. We started and own National CBD Day, which is great because if you want to market on National CBD Day, you have to give cbdMD credit.

We like to be first. We will be coming out with some great firsts over the next few months.

As a public company, is it hard to make long-term investments with the quarter-toquarter pressures?

I have been in a number of public companies in my career. I think that there are a tremendous number of benefits of being a listed company, and it’s a real honor being a New York Stock Exchange [AMEX] listed company. I sense that there is a movement that’s been going on for the past five to seven years to move away from the quarterly obsession. Warren Buffett first started talking about it, which is to try and get away from this shortterm mentality.

I think you have to look at the totality of the business. Where is it going? How will it get there? Is it making the right moves? Great companies have always had hiccups. The key is to be able to pivot and to stay committed. Our team is committed, and we have an incredible board of directors.

You and Scott serve as co-CEOs of cbdMD. How do you both focus your efforts and what has made the relationship work so well?

Scott has never been in the public eye or in the public markets. I have spent my career in the public markets, so we split our time where I handle the public market side of the business and the investor side of the business. Scott is a tremendous operator. He works extremely hard and sets a great example for the company. He is the first person in the office every day. He is a great leader.

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Transforming NASDAQ An Interview with Robert Greifeld, Chairman, Virtu Financial

Robert Greifeld

EDITORS’ NOTE Robert Greifeld is the author of Market Mover: Lessons from a Decade of Change at NASDAQ. He serves as Chairman of Virtu Financial, a leading financial technology and trading firm; Managing Partner and Co-Founder at Cornerstone Investment Capital, a financial technology investment firm; and a board member at CapitalRock, LLC, Financeware Holdings LLC, and Runway Growth Capital, LLC. He served from 2003 through 2016 as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc., the largest electronic screen-based equity securities market in the United States. Prior to joining NASDAQ in May 2003, Greifeld was an entrepreneur with ASC (Automated Securities Clearance LLC) which was sold to SunGard Data Systems in 1999. Greifeld is also Chairman and Founder of the USATF Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds and the next generation of Olympians. He also serves on the NYU Stern Board of Overseers. Greifeld holds a B.A. in English from Iona College and an M.B.A. from New York University.

What interested you in writing the book, Market Mover: Lessons from a Decade of Change at NASDAQ? I was so very fortunate to be put into an interesting seat at an interesting time. I got to live through it, manage through it, and experience it, and I thought there were good stories associated with my experience that would have general interest.

What excited you to take on the leadership role at NASDAQ and was the experience what you expected?

When the recruiter first approached me, my initial reaction was not to be positively inclined in that I had in my mind’s eye that I was going to go back to my entrepreneurial roots. I had built a start-up, what’s known as a fintech company today, and sold it and I was getting prepared for another entrepreneurial venture.

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NASDAQ at the time was still technically part of the NASD and was the very definition of bureaucracy and it wasn’t at the top of my list that I wanted to go into what was by definition a bureaucratic quasigovernment organization and try to make it lean and mean. However, over time, I saw that it was a fantastic opportunity to take a great institution into the next stage of its development.

Did you know early on that the transformation was going to work?

I wish I could say that, but I learned through the years that success and failure are two different sides of a very thin dime.

You are never preordained to succeed nor are you preordained to fail. So it’s really about how you execute on the ground and with the intensity and the consistency of effort.

There was never one point in terms of thinking that we had this thing licked, because I know it’s never certain, but I knew we had the right approach.

What were the keys to success in transforming NASDAQ? One of the interesting things is that when I was interviewing for the job they asked me if I cared about being the chairman. I said that I didn’t care at all, but that I needed to be both CEO and president because there was a separate person who was president then. This wasn’t a comment on the quality of the president at the time because I really didn’t know him. It’s just that I wanted to be involved with all the details and I was never going to be the corner office guy. I told everybody that I was a player/coach and I expected every one of my direct reports to be player/coaches as you went down the line.

That helped make the company move at a faster pace. The goal was always to try to move at the speed of thought where the management team was integrated together and telepathic with each other in order to make things happen.

When you look at the success that you had leading NASDAQ and transforming the company, did you enjoy the process and take time to celebrate the wins?

Well, I did say let’s enjoy this day on a number of occasions and made it clear that it was just that day and that the next day was a new day. We start again. I certainly had a healthy degree of paranoia that if we were celebrating or thinking back, then somebody was gaining on us. Satchel Paige has a quote that says, “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.”

What made you feel it was the right timing to leave NASDAQ and what is your focus today?

I decided going forward that I wanted to control my schedule. I’ve been married for many years, and our kids are grown and we’re empty nesters. I recognized it was important to be available to the family on their schedule. I knew as CEO of NASDAQ that was impossible.

I knew I was not as fundamental to the team as I was when I started and that was a comfort and a sense of accomplishment. The sign of good leadership is building a quality team and making yourself less valuable.

I wanted to continue getting involved with opportunities where I could make a material difference in helping them succeed. That was my plan and that is what I am doing.

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Delivering Superior Quality Care An Interview with Alan B. Miller, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, Universal Health Services, Inc.

Alan B. Miller

EDITORS’ NOTE Alan B. Miller is the founder of Universal Health Services, Inc. He was named to the Forbes list of “America’s Most Innovative Leaders” in 2019. He began his career with Young & Rubicam.

COMPANY BRIEF Founded in 1979, Universal Health Services, Inc. (uhsinc.com) is one of the nation’s largest and most respected healthcare management companies, operating acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities, and ambulatory care centers through its subsidiaries nationwide, as well as in Puerto Rico and the U.K. UHS subsidiaries have more than 87,000 employees.

UHS maintains one of the strongest balance sheets and is rated amongst the highest in the hospital services industry by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.

Will you discuss the history and heritage of Universal Health Services?

Forty years ago, I founded Universal Health Services with six employees and one telephone. Along the way, through a combination of strategic acquisitions, establishment of new hospitals in key growth markets, and replacement of facilities previously owned by other less successful operators, we established ourselves and our reputation. Today, UHS is strong and continues on a steady and well-vetted growth path. We operate a broad portfolio comprising hospital-based care, ambulatory care, behavioral health, an insurance offering, a physician network and various related services.

How do you define Universal Health Services’ culture and values?

We established the company’s mission in 1979 with a particular focus on delivering superior care to patients. To this day, our mission remains an essential foundation of our company and guides us in delivering compassionate care to patients and families. As an organization, we believe we must keep healthcare personal. We always put patients first and at the heart of all the decisions we make.

Our UHS Principles define who we are and what we do: we provide superior quality patient care; we value each member of our team and all their good VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

work; we are committed to being a highly ethical healthcare provider: we are devoted to serving our local community.

Where do you see the greatest opportunities for growth for Universal Health Services?

Our strategy is to build or acquire hospitals and related healthcare delivery points in growth markets, invest in the people and equipment needed to allow each state-of-the-art facility to thrive, and become the leading healthcare provider in each community we serve. We have successfully done this in a number of key growth markets across the country.

We are strategic and selective about specifically where we invest our next dollar. Our consistent approach is to explore investments that will add value to patients and communities and which, when successful, will provide a high rate of return.

Current areas of significant opportunity include joint-venture partnerships with leading not-for-profits in which we are not only the majority investor, but also provide behavioral health clinical expertise.

Additionally, as more healthcare encounters are possible in an ambulatory setting, we are investing in the continuum of care.

How critical is innovation to Universal Health Services’ success and where is innovation taking place inside the organization?

Innovation is critical in the healthcare industry. Today, UHS operates 27 acute care hospitals in various key markets across the U.S., including Las Vegas, Southern California, Texas, Florida and, of course, Washington D.C. where we operate The George Washington University Hospital, a highprofile institution which has long served dignitaries and heads of state, and continues to win awards.

Our hospitals are augmented by a growing number of affiliated freestanding emergency departments, ambulatory surgery centers, and other point-of-care services. We are continuously investing in our hospitals to both expand the services we provide to the community and to utilize the most advanced medical equipment and care.

On the behavioral health side, we own and operate well over 300 behavioral health facilities – approximately two thirds of which are located in 37 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and the remaining one third in the U.K. Behavioral health comprises inpatient psychiatric care, residential treatment centers, outpatient programs, and specialty programs such as eating disorders and substance use disorders. In addition, many of our behavioral health facilities operate dedicated services and programs to serve the mental health needs of active members of the U.S. armed services, veterans and their families.

How important is it for Universal Health Services’ to build a diverse and inclusive workforce?

One of the challenges we face and work hard to manage is attracting talent in today’s tight labor market. Across the healthcare industry, hospitals and all providers of care are facing a labor shortage with the U.S. experiencing the lowest unemployment rate in the last 15+ years.

Specifically, the labor market in nursing and psychiatry is tight and we do not foresee that changing in the near term. We are working hard at both recruiting and retaining nurses and psychiatrists, among other specialties. We value diversity of culture, diversity of background, and diversity of thought.

Creating inclusive, energizing workplace cultures is important, both for delivering the best care possible as well as creating a positive work environment. We want to hire the best talent and provide incentives to stay with us – meaningful work, mentoring programs, development programs and career progression opportunities. Having an excellent reputation and financial stability is vital to retaining the best talent at our facilities. We want to remain an employer of choice.

Are you able to take moments to reflect and appreciate what UHS has become?

I am certainly appreciative of the success we have achieved. I was an entrepreneur intent on doing meaningful work and making a difference.

It is an honor to lead this very successful company and know that every day, we provide superior quality care, save lives, and help families.

UHS stands among the most respected providers of hospital and healthcare services in the world, leading the industry with its unique combination of quality patient care, financial stewardship and integrity. Growing steadily since its inception into an esteemed Fortune 500 corporation, UHS today has annual revenues approaching $12 billion with operations across the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.K., and served 2.6 million patients in 2018.

In 2019, UHS was again recognized as one of the World’s Most Admired Companies by Fortune.

UHS has made the list every year since 2011. We are listed #293 on the Fortune 500, and in 2017 ranked #275 in Forbes inaugural ranking of America’s Top 500 Public Companies. Payscale/Business Insider named UHS as one of the 30 Most Meaningful Companies to Work for in America, based on the overwhelming number of our employees rating their work as having high job meaning.

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Turning Dreams into Reality An Interview with Daniel McGahn, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC)

Daniel McGahn

EDITORS’ NOTE Daniel McGahn is a strategic business leader with a strong track record commercializing cutting-edge technology.

McGahn was appointed to the position of CEO in June 2011 after joining AMSC in 2006 as Vice President, Strategic Planning and Corporate Development. In 2009, McGahn was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer, with responsibility for AMSC’s day-to-day global operations. From 2003 to 2006, prior to joining AMSC, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Konarka Technologies, a venture-backed developer of polymer photovoltaic technology for renewable power. Prior to that role, McGahn was General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of Hyperion Catalysis, a world leader in carbon nanotube production and application development. He has also held managerial positions at IGEN International, a medical device company, and Princeton Consultants. McGahn holds M.S. and B.S. degrees in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

COMPANY BRIEF AMSC (amsc.com) generates the ideas, technologies and solutions that meet the world’s demand for smarter, cleaner, better energy. Through its Windtec Solutions, AMSC provides wind turbine electronic controls and systems, designs and engineering services that reduce the cost of wind energy. Through its Gridtec Solutions, AMSC provides the engineering planning services and advanced grid systems that optimize network reliability, efficiency and performance. Through its Marinetec solutions, AMSC offers power, protection and propulsion for the marine sector. The company’s solutions are now powering gigawatts of renewable energy globally, enhancing the performance and reliability of power networks in more than a dozen countries, and helping the U.S. fleet increase system efficiencies and security. Founded in 1987, AMSC is headquartered near Boston, Massachusetts with operations in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America.

Will you discuss the history and heritage of AMSC and how the company has evolved?

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The company was founded in 1987 and is now an amalgamation of a series of acquisitions.

The original company had a core technology, which was spun out of MIT by a group of professors who founded the company, led by Dr. Gregory Yurek.

AMSC, over its history, has been a company with a lot of promise because its technology is so compelling. The challenge I inherited was to turn that compelling technology, first developed in the late 1980s, into something commercially viable. We’ve had some success in meeting that objective, with much more work to do to drive further growth. I’ve spent my career at AMSC trying to take dreams and turn them into reality. We are taking a technology that, for decades, was from the pages of science fiction, and developing, and launching, commercial products, creating a marketplace, securing new customers, and growing a business. If you read any science fiction story about space travel, the propulsion systems of that ship is a superconductor, which is what we make.

As AMSC has grown, both organically and through acquisitions, how critical has it been to maintain culture?

Culture is paramount, and is one of the few things that you can influence as a leader. Our culture is based around collaboration. We make sure we are constantly collaborating with our partners.

Many of our best, and commercially viable, product ideas have been a direct result of these collaborations. If we are working on a certain project with a partner, we will ask if they may be able to fix a specific problem on another project that we’re working on together. This collaboration can lead to a whole new class of product. This has happened a number of times throughout the history of the company.

Accountability is an integral part of our culture. We need to be accountable to ourselves, to our culture, to our company, to our customers, and to our family. At the end of the day, the buck stops with anyone in the company who is representing the face of the company, and we have to deliver for our customers, shareholders, and our employees.

Listening, and learning, is another important tenant of our culture. Interaction is critical, whether it is with a colleague, a customer, or a supplier, we spend the time to understand not only what we are accountable for, but also how we can find ways to further strengthen our opportunities to collaborate.

Innovation is absolutely critical for our organization and its culture. We work to be inherently innovative with our research and development, and then find ways to apply that innovation in a way that provides value to current, and prospective, global customers.

Our most critical guiding principal is resiliency. We have been through a lot as a company, having to virtually build-up the company from scratch after a prolonged legal battle with a Chinese company that stole our intellectual property rights.

We must have employees that are extremely resilient to changes – such as ups and downs in the market, challenges with trade, or other issues. We have taken that part of our DNA, our resiliency, and have literally molded it into our product mix.

We address resiliency with every product we make.

Resiliency in the electric grid, and resiliency within the Navy fleet, are just two examples of how we integrate resiliency into everything that we do.

Resiliency is what we are as an organization. Every AMSC employee demonstrates that resiliency.

Are the growth opportunities for AMSC primarily in the U.S. market?

I certainly see our biggest opportunities here at home, in America. We are working closely with the U.S. Navy and enhancing their operational safety with AMSC’s Ship Protection Systems (SPS). There may come a time when we will start to export our SPS technology, and capabilities, to our country’s allies. Additionally, when it comes to the resilient electric grid, we are also focused squarely on the U.S. As the company continues to grow, is it harder to maintain an innovative edge?

I think one of the key strategic challenges simply comes down to expenses versus innovation.

We have transitioned from being a business that had a lot of expenses behind trying to create a wide array of innovations to one that focuses expenses on prospective new technologies and products that we believe are going to perform and generate a return for the company in the relative near-term.

I believe very strongly that we have to focus and get value out of each of our initiatives, before moving on to the next opportunity. However, you do need to be thinking about what those next things may be, and always listen to your customers to make sure they are thinking about the same things. If there is a match, it will point us to the next product.

How difficult is it to focus and invest for the long-term with the quarter-to-quarter pressures for financial results?

If quarter-to-quarter performance is doing well, it’s much easier to also focus on the longterm, and articulate to company stakeholders that vision and plan. We have to continue to demonstrate that we are able to deliver strengthened results on a consistent basis, and then people will increasingly believe in the company.

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Disrupting Conventional Construction An Interview with Kevin O’Meara, Chief Executive Officer, DIRTT Environmental Solutions Ltd.

Kevin O’Meara

EDITORS’ NOTE Kevin O’Meara has had a successful 30-year business career, and has spent the past 20 years in construction-related industries.

Prior to becoming the CEO of DIRTT, he had been working as an advisor to several blue-chip private equity firms. O’Meara also served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Atrium Corporation, North America’s largest vinyl and aluminum window manufacturer. He was also a co-founder of Builders FirstSource, serving as Chief Financial Officer, as well as President and Chief Operating Officer. Earlier, he worked as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company, and as a private equity investor at Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, and The Sterling Group. O’Meara holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, a B.A. in economics and a B.B.A. degree from Southern Methodist University, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

COMPANY BRIEF DIRTT (dirtt.net), which stands for “Doing It Right This Time,” is a building process powered by technology. The company uses its proprietary ICE® software to design, manufacture and install fully customized interior environments. The technology drives DIRTT’s advanced manufacturing and provides certainty on cost, schedule and the final result. DIRTT has manufacturing facilities in Phoenix, Savannah and Calgary, and the company works with nearly 100 sales partners globally.

Will you discuss DIRTT’s mission?

DIRTT was created to disrupt the world of conventional construction with an all-around better and more efficient building method for commercial interiors. By integrating technology into the construction process, spaces are built faster, cleaner and more sustainably. Over time, DIRTT has evolved to also provide interior solutions for healthcare environments, education facilities and various other sectors.

Sustainability throughout the entire process was really important to the founders of the company and remains at the core of everything we do.

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of recycled content and sound-proofed with wall insulation derived largely from recycled cotton denim. By replacing drywall construction with panels that can be reassembled, there is no demolition and no waste added to landfills.

DIRTT has a very large addressable market – over $150 billion annually, with significant, longterm growth prospects. By providing a better way to build, our goal is to increase the penetration of builders using prefabricated modular components as opposed to conventional construction.

Who is the DIRTT customer?

Generally, the DIRTT customer is anybody who builds commercial office space. We do have many other industry verticals where our value proposition really resonates, for instance, in healthcare. Healthcare is one of the fastest growing of DIRTT’s four market segments.

For our healthcare customers, they generally have patient rooms and doctor’s offices with fairly complex elements in the walls. We build these walls in our plants, and then ship them to the construction site. We significantly shorten the construction cycle time, as components arrive to the jobsite ready for a quick, tilt-up install. When you have a very expensive hospital room that you want to deploy, a shorter cycle time means increased revenue for the hospital owner.

Is the value of pre-fab wall understood, or is it necessary to educate the market on its advantages?

We have brand recognition with our nearly 100 construction partners, as well as with our clients who have experienced the benefits of our process. Off-site, modular construction is gaining acceptance, even though the construction industry is often not a segment of the economy that easily embraces change. We are steadily gaining market visibility and acceptance and growing market share.

Over 150 of the Fortune 500 have used DIRTT. There are both big companies and brands using our products and services, and some smaller companies as well. As mentioned earlier, we work with many large healthcare organizations.

With annual revenue of approximately US$270 million, and a total addressable market of $150+ billion, we have a very long growth runway.

Is it a competitive market?

Our single biggest competitor is conventional construction. We are faster, and we can be more economical, and have greater client satisfaction.

This is our value proposition versus conventional construction. We need to continuously reinforce

the DIRTT story and messaging around the value we bring in order to gain a more substantive share of the market.

Why is DIRTT’s model and approach a better way to build?

It is the result of our entire process. We use a proprietary software that starts the new design phase. If you are working on a space, we could use our software to create the design and you could review it in virtual reality. You could walk through it as if it’s already been built and make live design changes, all while the software instantly calculates the cost of your space down to the penny. This same software then feeds into our plants for manufacturing and, within a 21-day time frame, your interior is delivered to the job site.

This process provides builders a much shorter cycle time and, rather than working off of blueprints, the builders will see the design in 3-D. How critical is innovation to DIRTT’s culture?

It is absolutely critical. A key, strategic pillar of our business is innovation in both product and software design. This innovation happens in the spirit of serving the customer and making the customer’s life easier.

Sustainability is a critical component of our business, and we strive for excellence and commitment in giving back to the communities that we serve. The philanthropic aspect of the company is something that we’ve preserved, and is what we’re known and recognized for, particularly in our local markets.

What excited you about the opportunity to lead DIRTT? I immediately understood the business model. I knew there was a shortage of jobsite labor. I saw how the VR application worked, and how you could really use that to drive revenue and earnings growth.

I’ve been involved in businesses that needed to scale before. I have also bought businesses from entrepreneurs before, so I had a pretty good sense as to what the challenges would be. I just thought it was a very unique opportunity, and a challenge I wanted to take on. It’s a great company. A great, emerging brand in our industry space with fantastic people.

For me, and for everybody associated with DIRTT, it’s a once-in-a-career opportunity. I’ve never seen a business like this and look forward to helping lead this company to another level of growth, size and scale.

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Specialty Insurance An Interview with Naveen Anand, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hallmark Financial Services, Inc.

Naveen Anand

EDITORS’ NOTE Naveen Anand was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Hallmark Financial Services in September 2014. He has over 25 years of experience in the property/casualty insurance industry with significant underwriting experience in specialty commercial lines.

COMPANY BRIEF Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Hallmark Financial Services, Inc. (hallmarkgrp.com) is a specialty property and casualty insurance company with a diversified portfolio of insurance products written on a national platform. With six insurance subsidiaries and offices in Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, Chicago, Jersey City and Atlanta, Hallmark Financial underwrites and services more than $700 million annually in commercial and personal insurance premiums in select markets.

What is the history and heritage of Hallmark Financial and how has the company evolved?

The company was formed in 1987, and in 1990, it began in the insurance business around nonstandard automobile insurance, focusing on high-risk drivers. From 2002 to 2006, the company evolved, grew much larger, and underwent a public offering and was listed on Nasdaq in 2006. From 2007 to 2013, the company grew from approximately $250 million in gross premiums to roughly $460 million. However, the company had some underwriting and management challenges and, in 2014, I was brought on by the board to focus the company on improving the trajectory of the company’s results as well as developing a national specialty business, and that’s the course we’ve been on since that time.

What have been the keys to Hallmark Financial’s continued growth?

Hallmark Financial today is a national specialty writer. Since my arrival, the company’s gross premiums have increased from about $460 million to a current run rate of over $740 million, and we are well positioned as a national specialty writer in the excess and surplus lines markets, primarily focused on small and medium specialty risks.

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How critical has it been to attract and retain talent as Hallmark Financial has grown?

As a specialty company, our talent is the most important part of our organization. We need to hire experts in the industry to lead the various product lines. Hallmark Financial has gone through a broad and deep transformation over the course of the last four years, and we’ve retooled every aspect of the organization, including the talent level in the organization.

As a specialty company, our talent is the most important part of our organization.

Will you discuss Hallmark Financial’s investment in technology and how technology is impacting the business?

Technology has been a key part of our success in terms of building capability in the organization. For perspective, in 2014, the organization had separate systems with limited aggregation. All of our processes were manually done, and from an infrastructure standpoint, we had 25 or more legacy platforms, and 100 percent of our business was hosted on premises.

Over the course of the last five years, we’ve invested heavily in three legs of the technology sector – underwriting support and service, process improvement, and infrastructure.

Regarding underwriting support and service, we’ve built up better capabilities, better platforms and more ease of use. As a result, it better informs underwriting decisions and it enhances our service levels with our customers.

On the process improvement side, we’ve implemented processes such as back office with offshore operations, and robotics process automation. Today, almost 70 percent of our renewal business in our standard commercial segment is processed by bots, or robotic process automation. That has allowed our people to focus on higher value activities, and therefore continue to build capability in the organization.

On the infrastructure side, today we have a hybrid architecture. We’re in the cloud, and we’ve launched three new modern underwriting platforms and transitioned most of our businesses to these platforms.

It has really been a comprehensive roadmap, from a technology perspective, to address and improve the capabilities in the organization in order to be scalable and grow the business.

Where is innovation taking place for Hallmark Financial?

Innovation is important for an organization like Hallmark Financial because we are a relatively smaller company competing in a landscape of very large companies. We have used innovation to address the cost equation and also to improve the experience when people interact with Hallmark Financial.

When our customers, agents, brokers, or claimants interact with us, we want to make that process as seamless and easy as possible in order to create a positive experience. We have to continue to drive innovation.

From a product standpoint, being a specialty excess and surplus writer, we are always thoughtful about what new risk exposures there are, and what opportunities there are for us to create products around those new risk exposures. Thus, we are continuing to drive innovation on the product side as well.

When you look back to when you joined Hallmark Financial, has it been what you expected?

No matter how much due diligence and research you do on an organization, it’s not until you are a part of the organization that you see more clearly the challenges and potential gaps that exist. While there were some surprises, they certainly weren’t insurmountable.

Some issues were perhaps bigger than I originally expected, but even with these challenges, we’ve been able to execute our vision and strategy effectively, positioning our organization for sustained success.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

Making Leaders More Visible An Interview with Paul Blanchard, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Right Angles

Paul Blanchard

EDITORS’ NOTE Paul Blanchar d is the founder and CEO of Right Angles, a reputation management consultancy with offices in London, New York, and Los Angeles, specializing in reputation repair across a multitude of sectors including politics, energy, tech, and music. Blanchard’s book, Fast PR, is an Amazon bestseller, and his weekly podcast is one of the most listened to media podcasts globally, featuring one-to-one interviews with the biggest names in the industry.

C O M PA N Y B R I E F R i g h t A n g l e s ( right-angles.global) is a global public relations and reputation management practice.

It provides discreet, high-intensity strategic support for high-net-worth individuals, political and industry leaders, entr epr eneurs, investors, philanthropists, charity heads, and family offices.

What was your vision in creating Right Angles?

It was based on a relatively untapped idea that organizations would benefit from having more visible leaders. The definition of leadership is evolving. Not only do chief executives have to know how to lead their businesses, but they also have to be the chief ambassadors.

It also seemed like a great commercial opportunity since this was something that traditional PR companies had overlooked.

As an entrepreneur, I was excited to explore the commercial potential. While I wasn’t sure how it would work, I knew I would figure it out as I went along. That was about 15 years ago.

We don’t see ourselves as an agency.

Many of our chief executive clients have other agencies that they retain, and I’m very conscious that we’re not perceived as just another agency working with them. We don’t have “accounts.” We have clients. We work with people.

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Is the Right Angles brand well-understood and how will you continue to build brand awareness?

We win on average between 15 to 20 clients a year. We are not a conveyer belt operation making lots of cold calls. If we win two clients in any one month, which would be rare, one of them will be a referral and the other will be somebody that we targeted ourselves.

How broad is the target market for Right Angles?

There are many agencies that specialize in specific industries, such as agricultural or pharmaceutical. Right Angles does the opposite of that. We work directly with the leader and apply our expertise in making the leader more visible. Thus, our clients would consider it to be a conflict of interest if we worked with another chief executive in the same industry.

Our expertise is not in any particular sector; it is in getting coverage for the leader of the business. We work in a number of sexy industries, but we also work for some not so sexy industries as well. We work with one of the largest quarrying companies in Europe and it’s a multibillion-dollar operation.

Are your client engagements longterm relationships or are you also doing project-based work?

We don’t do any project-based work. We work month-to-month with our clients, and we do a month’s work for a month’s pay.

It’s easy with us. We can say, try us out for a month and see whether you like us. I like the fact that we have to justify ourselves at the end of each month and ask our clients if we can carry on for another month.

Are metrics important to track impact and to show the Right Angles’ value proposition?

We refuse all metrics and always have.

I hate the framing of PR delivery in terms of time because if we get a client a major article in The Wall Street Journal because we know the editor, that might take an hour. If our client is excited about that, they’re not buying one hour of my time. They’re buying 20 years of experience for that one hour of my time. If it gets the client the outcome that they wanted, then I wouldn’t want it to be framed in terms of time. The reality is that clients do not buy our time, they buy outcomes.

Did you always know that you had the entrepreneurial spirit and desire to build your own company?

I’ve never had a job. I started my computer business when I was 17 years old, sold it in my mid-20s, and then tried politics for ten years. When Tony Blair eventually stepped down, I knew that this is what I wanted to do.

Luckily for me at the time, I put all my efforts and my heart into trying to become a member of the British Parliament. I was heartbroken when I didn’t get in, but actually, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, because it allowed me to do this.

Once I set my sights on doing this, I’ve been wanting to succeed at all costs. I think of myself as an ambitious missile, but once I’m pointing in the right direction, I am focused and hard-working. But I’ve got to be pointed in the right direction.

It’s also an incredible niche. I think if you’re going to do PR, what better person to do it for than the chief executive of the business.

Does the deep engagement that Right Angles has with its clients limit the number of clients that you can service?

Yes, and that’s an agony of the business.

The niche that we have carved for ourselves has incredible opportunities for us, but has incredible challenges as well. There’s no shortage of demand for what we do. I don’t want what I call “leaky bucket syndrome,” where a PR firm wins seven new clients a month and then loses four of them. They may think that this is okay because overall they gained three clients, but it’s just not how we operate.

Are you able to enjoy the process and appreciate what you have built?

It’s an amazingly profound question, and you’ve hit the nail on the head. It is such a complicated answer. I am very ambitious, and I enjoy working with clients, but as an entrepreneur in a growing business, I am always directing my energies to what’s not working in the business. Even though I enjoy what I do, I would say that about half of my actual day, every day, is fixing problems, either for a client or for my team.

So it can be quite stressful, but I’m determined to realize the opportunity. I’m dealing with people. I’m both externally facing our clients and also internally working to create an empowering culture where people can go about solving problems themselves.

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INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

Interview

Delivering an Immersive Experience An Interview with Sam Cole, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, FitXR

Sam Cole

EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to co-founding FitXR, Sam Cole worked with Innovativo Group of New Zealand. He was also an associate at Hutton Collins, a U.K. private equity firm, and an investment manager at E2Exchange in London.

Cole received a bachelor of law and a bachelor of commerce in finance from the University of Otago and an M.B.A. from Cambridge Judge Business School.

COMPANY BRIEF FitXR (fitxr.com) is redefining fitness through immersive technologies. It creates immersive fitness games that provide realworld benefits. Its professionally designed workouts make fitness fun. They combine the enjoyment of gaming with the intensity of a personal training session, all in the comfort of its customers’ own homes. Its first product, BOXVR, has been described as “Guitar Hero crossed with a studio boxing workout.” Many users are calling it the best fitness game on the market and it has been awarded “VR Fitness Game of the Year.”

What was your vision for creating FitXR? The vision for us was to use the alternative reality headset to enhance the way that people exercise. This could be when exercising at the gym or exercising at home or exercising

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outdoors. We saw that so often fitness can be pretty dull and boring. I think for us, believing that there would be this shift with hardware at some point and time in the future, was really the catalyst to say we want to be the ones that dominate that space, and we should be building that future now.

Is there a need to educate the market about FitXR? I think at the moment, there’s an education piece around the hardware itself. If you haven’t tried virtual reality, it’s really hard to understand how powerful it is in delivering an immersive experience. The ability to get you into a mindset where you can completely forget what you’re actually doing is very powerful from an exercise perspective. We see this a lot in our reviews where people say that they put the headset on and forgot that they were exercising.

Three views of BOXVR, a virtual reality fitness game

When using virtual reality, are the programs still being choreographed by fitness instructors?

Yes. We designed our products with a group of fitness instructors and the intention was that we really wanted to create a product that was a fitness product first and foremost, and then find ways to gamify it and make it as engaging and as fun as possible. We worked very closely with a small group in the beginning to really understand the best practices from that industry in order to apply that to the design and the game mechanics for the product.

BOXVR at the moment offers 50 workouts that range from 7 minutes to 60 minutes in length.

They have all been choreographed by one of our fitness instructors. and the goal of that is to really create a choreography that feels as close to what the instructors would deliver in an instructional group fitness class.

Will this offering replace the traditional gym or do you see this as an additional offering for the industry?

This space is definitely growing and if you look at the overall market share, I think you will see that it is eating into the gym market. I think gyms will reinvent themselves. Gyms and fitness classes are always going to have the latest and greatest equipment. They’re always going to be a meeting place for like-minded people. I think that the industry will definitely change, but I don’t think you’ll ever see at-home fitness completely erode traditional fitness clubs.

Did you always know that you had the entrepreneurial spirit to build your own business?

Both my parents are entrepreneurs. I was hungry from a young age to do something on my own. I settled for a career in private equity for a while, but I went to business school with the intention of finding someone to start a business with and that’s exactly what panned out.

Have you been able to reflect and appreciate how the business has grown?

Sameer (Baroova, FitXR co-founder) and I try and force ourselves to celebrate the milestones, but it’s definitely an area that we’re working on. It is very easy to get caught up in looking to the next challenge, but I think it’s important for us as a team to relish in the milestones as well.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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Imagine Boston 2030 An Interview with The Honorable Martin J. Walsh, Mayor of Boston

Mayor Walsh (center) joins in the ribbon cutting of new innovation lab, Sabre Labs, in the Seaport

EDITORS’ NOTE Marty Walsh is continued the BPS Arts Expansion the City of Boston’s 54th mayor. program. Strengthening Boston’s pubHis vision is of a thriving, healthy, lic schools is necessary for the commuand innovative Boston – a City nity’s, students’, and city’s future. with equality and opportunity for Another priority for your all, where a revolutionary history administration has been to lead inspires creative solutions to the Boston to the forefront of the global challenges of the 21st century. innovation economy. Will you disMayor Walsh made his mark as a cuss this effort and its importance labor leader. After following his to Boston’s future growth and father into Laborers Local 223 in success?

Boston, he rose to head the Building It’s no question that Boston is a and Construction Trades Council The Hon. Martin J. Walsh hub of technology and research, and from 2011 to 2013. Born and raised this continues to expand through our in the neighborhood of Dorchester by immigrant targeted investments and opportunities in this parents, Mayor Walsh survived a serious bout of sector. Together with the input of thousands of Burkitt lymphoma, thanks to the extraordinary residents in the City of Boston, we launched care he received at Boston Children’s Hospital Imagine Boston 2030, a citywide plan that in and Dana Farber Cancer Institute. While work- part aims to inspire innovation jobs and entreing full-time as a legislator, he returned to school preneurial opportunities in all neighborhoods, to earn a degree in Political Science at Boston focus on STEM in our school system, and furCollege. ther develop the city’s digital infrastructure. It’s imperative that the entire city – both private and What attracted you to public service? public sectors – remain up to speed with the Public service has been at the forefront of global innovation economy. my life. My father, an immigrant from Ireland Will you provide an overview of the to Dorchester, was involved in the Laborers “lear n and ear n” job appr enticeship Local 223 in Boston. The ability for anyone to program and its impact on low-income overcome challenges and fulfill their dreams workers? has been my goal for Boston residents for In Boston, we prioritize apprenticeship as long as I can remember. I was elected to programs that invest in our residents’ futures, the state House of Representatives, was the and equip them with the education, skills and head of the Building and Construction Trades tools they need for good, lasting careers. We Council from 2011 to 2013, and eventually recently announced a citywide movement, elected Mayor. called Boston Hires, that aims to place 20,000 You have placed a major focus on residents in good jobs by 2022. Most imporstrengthening Boston’s public schools. Will tantly, we’re inviting employers, small busiyou highlight the impact of these efforts? nesses, and community-based organizations to A quality education is essential to a child’s join us in this effort. growth and success, and the city’s prosperBoston has had a tremendous need for ity. There is no better investment the city can housing. How critical has it been to create make than in a strong foundation of learning new affordable and middle-class homes? for our students. That’s why earlier this year Creating quality affordable housing has I announced a $15 million investment towards been a top priority of my administration since I free and high-quality pre-kindergarten for all first took office, and it’s an issue that we work four-year-olds in Boston; $14 million in extend- very hard at every single day. At a time when ing learning time of added instruction and the federal government is stepping back from enrichment; ensured tuition-free community investments in affordable housing, Boston and college for eligible BPS graduates; piloted the its partners are stepping up. In 2014, we crefuture-oriented Boston Saves program granting ated a housing plan that aimed to build 53,000 incoming kindergartens with savings accounts units of housing by 2030. A few years in, we accompanied by a seed funding amount of $50; recognized that we were on track to surpass piloted a program to supply grades six through that number well before 2030, so we updated twelve with free menstrual products; and the city’s overall housing goal to 69,000 new 176 LEADERS

units by 2030 to meet Boston’s faster than expected population growth. These 69,000 new units include 15,820 new income-restricted units, which would elevate Boston’s incomerestricted inventory total to 70,000, or one in five of all housing units. In addition, our plan sets a goal to preserve 85 percent of Boston’s most at-risk privately-owned affordable units, and to purchase 1,000 units of rental housing stock from the speculative market and incomerestrict them for perpetuity.

Public safety and crime prevention is a major priority for your administration.

What have been the keys to driving results in this regard?

Boston is a model city in our nation for having strong police-community relations, and our goal is to continue building trust and positive relationships between law enforcement officers and community members. We’ve seen a lot of success in our public safety strategy by working directly with residents in our communities to build trust and respect. This starts with an emphasis on daily interactions on the streets and in school classrooms, and includes proactive prevention and diversion for at-risk youth and their families. We further bolstered our efforts last year by creating the Bureau of Community Engagement at the Boston Police Department that focuses on ways to build relationships and trust between law enforcement and residents, create new and innovative partnerships, and promote inclusion and diversity within the department. Our success in community policing has made Boston one of the safest cities in America, with the crime rate falling about 25 percent in the past 5 years.

Will you elaborate on Imagine Boston 2030 and the importance of engaging the people of Boston in helping to build this blueprint for the city’s future?

We want residents to be excited about Boston’s future, which is why we sought their input over the course of two years in creating a plan made by Bostonians for Bostonians.

The plan, Imagine Boston 2030, is Boston’s first citywide plan in 50 years shaped by the input of over 16,000 residents. It puts forth a comprehensive vision to boost quality of life, equity and resilience in every neighborhood across the city. We’re continuing to conduct neighborhood-based planning efforts in several neighborhoods involving community members and all stakeholders.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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LEADERS IN HEALTHCARE

Innovation in Cancer Treatment An Interview with Richard Barakat, M.D., Physician-in-Chief and Director of Cancer, Northwell Health Cancer Institute and Senior Vice President, Cancer Services, Northwell Health EDITORS’ NOTE Dr. Richard Barakat What excited me about this was leads all cancer services and research seeing how this healthcare system has at Northwell Health, including its grown. The fact that I live in Long Cancer Institute. He was previously Island, that I drove by here for 26 years Chief of the Gynecology Service at on my way into the city, and as I started Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) to understand the scale of work this from 2001-2013 and held the Ronald healthcare system does, I knew it was O. Perelman Chair in Gynecologic a special place.

Surgery. He is a professor of obstetrics There was excellent care being and gynecology at the Donald and provided here. There are excellent Barbara Zucker School of Medicine doctors here, but what we needed to at Hofstra/Northwell, and adjunct do was put together incredible proRichard Barakat professor at Cold Spring Harbor grams and make people feel comfortLaboratory. He served as a memable that they can get outstanding care ber and examiner for the American Board of that’s convenient and close to their home.

Obstetrics and Gynecology and for five years was So, as I looked at it, it was the perfect vice chair of the Cancer Prevention Committee of opportunity at the perfect time in my career. the Gynecologic Oncology Group. He was presiWill you highlight the programs that dent of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology from you are building at Northwell?

2013-2014 and past president of the International The very first program we implemented Gynecologic Cancer Society from 2014-2016. was the Center for Cancer, Pregnancy and From 2013-2017, he served as director of the Reproduction. This healthcare system delivers MSK regional network. Dr. Barakat received his one percent of all of the babies in the United B.A. from Queens College, City University of New States, over 42,000 deliveries a year. So one York, and his M.D. from SUNY Downstate. He also percent of births in the U.S. occurs at Northwell. earned an M.B.A. from the Columbia University Approximately one in 1,000 women who are School of Business. pregnant will develop cancer. I can’t imagine anything more frightening to an individual INSTITUTION BRIEF Northwell Health (northwell.edu) who is pregnant than knowing that not only delivers world-class clinical care throughout the are they dealing with pregnancy and everyNew York metropolitan area; pioneering research thing that goes along with that, but they now at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research; and have to deal with cancer as well. a visionary approach to medical education, highWe put together a center that would help lighted by the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/ patients navigate through the healthcare sysNorthwell and Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate tem, get them to the right doctors, make sure Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. Northwell they see all the right consultants and chaperone Health is the largest integrated healthcare system them through that process because I can’t even in New York State with a total workforce of more imagine what’s going through their minds when than 68,000 employees – the state’s largest private they’re facing that challenge. employer. With 23 hospitals, more than 700 outSince we rolled out the center in November, patient facilities, and a full complement of home we’ve had 21 pregnant cancer patients referred to care, rehabilitation and long-term care services, the cancer center. We are now known as the go-to Northwell is one of the nation’s largest health sys- place for women who are pregnant and have cancer. tems with $12 billion in annual revenue.

The reason it’s called the Center for Cancer, Pregnancy and Reproduction is that there’s more What excited you about the opportunity to to it than just cancer during pregnancy. We also join Northwell Health and to lead Northwell take care of patients who have had cancer in the Health’s cancer services? past and want to get pregnant.

I felt that everything that I had done to this Another group of patients is the non-pregpoint in my career was preparing me for what I’m nant patient who develops cancer and wants doing today. All of the years at Sloan Kettering, ris- to preserve fertility through egg harvesting or ing to the level of being the chief of the GYN service sperm banking. So it addresses all aspects of and then ultimately running Memorial’s regional reproduction and cancer and it was the very first network, prepared me for this opportunity. program that we rolled out.

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The second program stemmed from our relationship with Cold Spring Harbor. It is a new Pancreatic Cancer Center that we launched recently and it received extensive media coverage. Cold Spring Harbor is a National Cancer Institute designated research center. The head of the cancer center is David Tuveson. David was one of the pioneers in developing organoids.

Basically, the technique involves performing a biopsy on a patient’s cancer, then growing an organoid which is a miniaturized and simplified version of an organ. This allows you to form different colonies that can be treated with 10 to 12 different drugs to see what works the best.

In conjunction with Cold Spring Harbor, we’re developing an organoid facility which will be able to do the same for ovarian cancer, colon cancer and breast cancer as well as pancreatic cancer.

We then partnered with the Lustgarten Foundation, which is a philanthropic organization that provides funding for pancreatic cancer research.

We used our collaboration with Cold Spring Harbor and the philanthropic arm of the Lustgarten Foundation as a foundation for the launch of our Pancreatic Cancer Center.

Pancreatic cancer has increased to 58,000 cases a year and, next year, it will surpass colon cancer as the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Lung cancer is number one, pancreatic cancer will become number two and colon cancer will move to number three.

How valuable is it for Northwell Health to have the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell?

The people studying there are the leaders of the future and their work is absolutely critical.

We are training the heroes of tomorrow. We need to get the best and the brightest and they are the future of healthcare.

I have some very innovative ideas that I want to implement in cancer by incorporating medical students on the formal cancer rotations to get them exposed to, and invigorated about, oncology and to help them understand the vital oncology research that we do with the Feinstein Institute of Cancer Research.

It was very important to me to know that I was joining a healthcare system that had a medical school that is considered one of the most innovative medical schools in the country with really remarkable programs.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Radiation Medicine An Interview with Louis Potters, M.D., Deputy Physician-in-Chief, Radiation Medicine, Northwell Health Cancer Institute EDITORS’ NOTE Dr. Louis Potters let’s discuss why you don’t need treatis one of the leaders of the Northwell ment today, and how we’re going to Health Cancer Institute and is manage you over the long term. By responsible for radiation medicine doing this, we gain the confidence of services across the health system the patient and that creates a relationto provide patients with the most ship of trust. We avoid complications advanced cancer care available. of unnecessary treatment as well.

He also serves as Chair of Radiation Will you highlight some of the Medicine for Northwell Health, and advances taking place in radiation as Chair and Professor of Radiation oncology?

Medicine at the Donald and When you think of radiation Barbara Zucker School of Medicine oncology, a lot of people think of the Louis Potters at Hofstra/Northwell. Board certiexpensive technology. In fact, the fied in internal medicine and radilinear accelerator is the most sophistiation oncology, Dr. Potters joined Northwell cated piece of technology used in all of medifrom South Nassau Communities Hospital in cine. More important than the technology itself Oceanside, where he was Associate Director of is how it is used and by whom. We are fortunate Radiation Oncology and Medical Director of at Northwell to have many different technolothe New York Prostate Institute. Before joining gies available to help us select what is best for South Nassau, he was an associate professor of each patient. radiation oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Earlier, Dr. Potters was an attending physician in radiation oncology at North Shore University Hospital. Dr. Potters received his M.D. from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and a bachelor’s degree from Emory University.

The overall mission

What makes Northwell Health a leader in the treatment of cancer?

Northwell Health has a high-quality cancer program with a very unique and special offering to the patients that live within the catchment area of the health system, namely a health system that supports cancer care. The multidisciplinary team of cancer specialists are special people who provide the highest quality of cancer care anywhere. It’s a pleasure working together. The overall mission of the health system – patient first, patient-focused care, and care to all patients, capitalizing “all,” allows practicing oncology here to be special and really makes the health system a unique place.

That is a contradistinction to other institutions where that’s not necessarily driven home to the same extent. Northwell really creates the opportunities to do what’s right for every patient every time they need our services.

As an oncologist, this a very liberating way of practicing medicine. I’ll give you one example, specifically, and that is the opportunity of offering active surveillance to men with prostate cancer. It’s easy to say, let’s just treat someone with prostate cancer. It’s harder to say, VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

of the health system – patient first, patientfocused care, and care to all patients, capitalizing “all,” allows practicing oncology here to be special and really makes the health system a unique place.

But there is something different about how we offer radiation oncology services at Northwell.

I think what is interesting and not well appreciated is that there’s only about 35 percent of level one evidence for how patients should be treated for their cancers – what I mean by that is randomized controlled trials, or the type of research that definitively proves this is how a patient should be treated. This means, for the majority of cancer patients, whether it’s surgical, medical, or radiation oncology, there’s a certain amount of ad-hoc decision-making. One of the things that we have done in the Department of Radiation Medicine over the years is that we have created what we call a “Northwell Standard” of care that’s the same everywhere, so it’s not anecdotal care.

It’s not based on physician intuitive care. It represents the consensus of the faculty who have come together to develop this “Northwell Standard.” So a patient treated in any one of the facilities where we offer radiation oncology services will receive the exact same level of sophisticated care as any patient anywhere else within the system.

With the increasing prevalence of cancer, are you optimistic that the industry will be able to meet this challenge?

I’m optimistic in the context of how I’ve seen care evolve over the 30 years or so that I’ve been in practice. First off, the multidisciplinary nature in which cancer is managed as a team effort creates opportunities for sharing the best practices among specialties for each patient.

When you look at overall survival data of cancer patients over the past 15 years, the mortality associated with cancer deaths has come down.

Some of that is related to decreasing risk, like cigarette smoking and better screening, but at the same time what we’re seeing is a pushing of the envelope for some cancers that traditionally had a poor prognosis. Even if the overall survival rate hasn’t necessarily improved, we’re seeing more patients living longer and with a better quality of life.

How critical is having a medical school to the health system?

It is a fundamentally important aspect of what we do every day. I came to the health system and practiced here for several years before the medical school existed, and I can feel the difference culturally in how we practice by having to teach and contribute back to the next generation of doctors, as well as nurses and allied professionals. It has made a real change to the organization.

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Medical Oncology An Interview with Wasif M. Saif, M.D., Deputy Physician-in-Chief, Northwell Health Cancer Institute EDITORS’ NOTE Dr. Wasif Saif is doctor driven because it listens to the an internationally known clinipatients and doctors and allows us to cal and translational researcher in challenge existing standards for the the field of gastrointestinal cancers. betterment of our patients.

He has been widely published on I have access directly to the dean the molecular biology, early detecof the medical school and the dean tion and treatment of gastrointestiof research, as well as to Michael nal malignancies. Dr. Saif has both Dowling, the CEO. They are willing clinical and research interests in the to talk to me anytime. This is unique treatment of GI cancers (liver, panbecause at many other places there is creas, biliary, colon, rectum, carcisuch a high level of bureaucracy with noid, GIST, stomach, esophagus, many layers, making it a challenge to Wasif M. Saif anal). In addition, he specializes in bring about change in the culture of new drug development and phase I an institution. clinical trials for patients with advanced carciWill you provide an overview of medinoid and other GI tumors. He is a Professor at cal oncology and some of the advances takboth the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of ing place in this area?

Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and The Feinstein Medical oncology is a very interesting Institutes for Medical Research. He is responsi- and dynamic field. I am making sure my team ble for overseeing the medical oncology services members have a disease-specific focus. We are and research projects for all Cancer Institute creating disease-specific groups throughout the locations. Before joining Northwell, he was the health system. I ask people to concentrate on Director of the GI Oncology Program and specific tumor types or pathways and incorpoProgram Leader of Experimental Therapeutics rate them into those disease-specific, multi-disat Tufts Medical Center. Previously, he served ciplinary groups. in leadership positions at Yale, Columbia and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He received his medical training at King Edward Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan.

You have been a part of a number of leading healthcare institutions. What excited you about the opportunity to join Northwell Health?

I always want to do more and offer more to the world. I think that’s where Northwell fits in because I realized if I came to an institution that was so large, I could have an influence over a greater population. For me, it is not about the name or fame. It’s about the impact I can cast on my patients and on the new generation of doctors and nurses. I think that’s really what I was looking for. Tufts is a great place with a great name, but I needed to do more. Northwell offers that opportunity.

Is the emphasis Northwell has placed on leading in cancer research and treatment well understood?

I think one thing that needs to be understood is that the hospitals that comprise Northwell have been serving a large patient population for a long time. I believe that among all the institutions I have worked for, this is one of the top-notch places. It is really patient and 180 LEADERS

accelerate the development of such agents and provide treatment options to refractory tumor types.

What are the keys to driving real impact in the treatment of cancer?

Every cancer type has become very subspecialized and needs to have a team looking at the patient from a physiological, physical, mental, and biological component. That means a pathologist, radiologist, nutritionist, social worker, medical oncologist, surgical oncologist and others need to work together to provide the best treatment in what we call tailored therapy.

The second key is providing precision oncology. Precision oncology is based on the notion that we are able to identify a particular gene. That gene will help us give the right drug to the patient.

Patients are living longer and living longer is a huge thing. I always go back to the old story I heard as a kid when Alexander the Great was dying, he announced that anybody who would give him one extra day of life would be given all of his treasures. Nobody was able to give him one extra day of life.

Every cancer type has become very sub-

specialized and needs to have a team looking at the patient from a physiological, physical, mental, and biological component.

At the same time, medical research is an extremely important part of medical oncology and hematology. Unfortunately, all the agents we are using today are not curing a majority of the patients. We need to learn more about the characteristics of individual cancers. This is the era of personalized medicine and precision oncology. We need to learn more about the patient, and we need to explore and develop new anti-cancer drugs. This is where clinical trials become an important part of the path to

I think that’s something we need to understand. We all are going to die. It’s not as if only cancer patients are dying. But preventing them from suffering is very important. And sometimes, living a few extra days or weeks for a patient is very important because their daughter may be getting married or their grandson may be graduating. Every day is important in life.

Nobody can tell you more about that importance then a person who is given a diagnosis of cancer.

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Surgical Oncology An Interview with Matthew John Weiss, M.D., Deputy Physician-in-Chief and Director of Surgical Oncology, Northwell Health EDITORS’ NOTE Dr. Matthew Weiss What needs to be done to is board-certified by the American drive faster results and bring more Board of Surgery. He trained in advances in treating cancer? general surgery at Johns Hopkins Pancreatic cancer is currently the University School of Medicine and third leading cause of cancer death was dual fellowship trained in in the United States. It’s going to be complex surgical oncology and number two in the next couple of hepatopancreatobiliary surgery at years. This is, quite honestly, a mediMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer cal emergency. There are going to be Center. Dr. Weiss was previously the 50,000 people that will die of pancrechief of the hepatopancreatobiliary atic cancer this year. Up until now, the surgical service at Johns Hopkins advances have been incremental at Matthew John Weiss Hospital and was also the director best. of the pancreas and liver multidisPancreatic cancer is an underciplinary clinics and the surgical oncology funded cancer, even from the NIH. The way fellowship program. Dr. Weiss completed his funding works for grants is that people focus on undergraduate studies at the College of the small incremental improvements because that’s Holy Cross, received his medical school training the way you are able to get your next grant. The at Thomas Jefferson University Medical School, result is that the same group of researchers are and completed an immunology research fellow- getting the funding year after year. I personally ship at Massachusetts General Hospital. believe that what we need is more funding and we need for it to go to the correct people that Will you discuss Northwell Health’s com- have new and innovative ideas on how to treat mitment to improving cancer care? cancer.

It is an exciting time at Northwell. We have Many researchers currently focus on early an amazing group of cancer surgeons in our detection. If you think about how we’ve made health system who already provide great cancer the most advances in cancer care in the last care. However, there is a strong commitment 30 years, most of it has been in surveillance to improving cancer care even more, with an and early detection. We have no such study on emphasis on innovation. Even though this is an early detection protocols for pancreatic canenormous healthcare system, it has the agility to cer or for liver cancer. We need to develop early make things happen. detection methods and also focus on therapeuAn example of how agile this health sys- tics. We need new drugs and methods to detertem is goes back to when I started here in mine which drugs work best for an individual February. Within about six to eight weeks, I patient. Currently, we determine if a patient is had already initiated and started a one-day responding to chemotherapy by simply treatpancreatic cancer multi-disciplinary clinic ing them with the drugs and then reviewing where patients are seen, diagnosed, and a radiologic studies which can be imprecise. We treatment plan is determined in a single clinic need methods to determine if a patient will appointment. They are seen by a surgeon, respond to therapy before they are actually medical oncologist, radiation oncologist, treated with it and then base therapeutic decigeneticist and pain specialist. There is a tumor sions on the individual patient.-This is called board that afternoon and pancreatic cancer “precision medicine.” patients have a treatment plan determined Another exciting area is immune therby the time they leave the clinic. This was apy. I think there’s great promise in immune set up in a matter of weeks and the volume therapy. You’re seeing more and more drugs of patients seen in that clinic is impressive. coming out, but we need to do the trials to This is important because we know that when prove that it’s going to work. I was involved patients are evaluated in such a manner, there in numerous immune therapy trials for both is improved quality of care and better out- pancreatic and liver cancer prior to joincomes. It is also important because such ing Northwell and will be initiating similar a clinic ensures that all patients receive the trials here in New York. same high quality care and have access to the Will you highlight the innovation taksame clinical trials. ing place in surgical oncology?

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

There are a number of innovations happening. We used to do all our operations with a big incision. Now, we’re doing it with smaller and smaller incisions. I do a fair amount of my operations robotically with small incisions.

There are innovative things being done to minimize the morbidity of operations and also, in theory, for cancer treatment to improve, many patients need to get additional therapy. That’s because, if you do a big operation and the patient doesn’t get chemotherapy for two or three months, it’s problematic.

But if you can limit the morbidity and do a smaller incision and get them onto chemotherapy in three weeks or four weeks, it is going to improve the outcome. In addition, we are now finding that many patients benefit from systemic and radiation therapies prior to undergoing a surgical procedure. Surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists are working closely together to develop new multimodality treatment regimens that are improving cancer outcomes.

A major focus of my career has been on utilizing genetics of cancers to help dictate surgical approaches. There is emerging data, in particular, for colorectal liver metastasizes, colorectal cancer that spreads to the liver.

Looking at genetic changes in the tumor that can help predict survival and, perhaps more importantly, genetic changes that we can use to actually dictate the type of operation that we’re going to perform.

You are dealing with long-term challenges that require long-term solutions.

How important is it for you and your team to take moments to appreciate the gains being made and the advances taking place?

It is important that, from time to time, you take a step back and you take a deep breath and you appreciate some of the shortterm wins. Why did I choose to go into cancer surgery? The reason I chose to become a hepatobiliary surgeon was that I loved surgery and I hated cancer and I still do. There is so much opportunity in this field. I picked a field where we still have a lot to figure out and it gives me an opportunity to have an impact. I wanted to tackle the difficult problems. That’s why I chose liver and pancreatic cancer as my specialty – because those are the most difficult problems we face in cancer care right now.

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LEADERS IN INSURANCE

Insurance in Flux An Interview with Mark E. Watson III, Chief Executive Officer, Argo Group EDITORS’ NOTE Mark E. Watson III of collaboration is what led us to first invested in Argo’s predecescreate Argo Ventures, so we can sor company, Argonaut Group, invest in and empower start-ups in 1998. He joined the board of and entrepreneurs whose ambidirectors in 1999 and has served tion is the reinvention of insurance as CEO since 2000. Prior to jointhrough digital technologies. ing Argonaut, he was one of two Most important, we collaborate founding partners of Aquila internally. Much of our success in Capital Partners, a Texas-based digital comes from encouraging and venture capital firm focused on rewarding innovation at all levels, technology and life sciences comflattening our org chart so we can panies. Before founding Aquila, work together, and giving projectMark E. Watson III Watson was executive vice presispecific teams the resources they dent and member of the board of need to experiment. In that way, directors of Titan Holding Inc., a NYSE-listed we have built, and will keep building, a property and casualty insurance group, from culture of innovation that by definition will 1992 until its acquisition in 1997 by USF&G see us continue changing.

Corporation. From 1989 to 1991, he was an This collaborative leadership has served associate attorney with Kroll & Tract, a New us well as we transform more swiftly, but at a York law firm focusing on international finan- speed at which we can integrate value-amplicial services clientele. Watson graduated with fying digital technologies while taking the a B.B.A. from Southern Methodist University time to make sure our investments are both and a J.D. from the University of Texas School strategic and practical. of Law. He is a husband and father of three, What role does a chief executive offias well as a rancher, an avid climber and cer play in collaborative leadership? yachtsman.

As CEO, I help celebrate our successes, and I challenge our teams not to become How is Argo Group addressing the insur- c o m p l a c e n t a b o u t a c h i e v e m e n t . W h i l e ance industry’s current age of disruption? our customers, partners and shareholders At Argo, we’ve anticipated digital disrup- expect great outcomes from us, I believe tion of our industry for more than a decade – we can meet those deep expectations if we knowing the failure of any company to adapt avoid the temptation to get comfortable at would prove fatal. Admittedly, our industry any stage. has been slow to adopt digital tools, yet that We have little interest in layering digital very lag gave us two tactical advantages. products or interfaces on top of legacy analog First, before settling on any approach, we processes. Going digital is not a one-time prowere able to study which particular technolo- cess, but rather a company-wide commitment gies most propelled other industries in their to continuous change. Our goal is to be digital growth. Second, our partners were able to from top to bottom in the future – this means learn precisely what functionality their own everything in the cloud. In Argo’s digital evoclients value most. Those two insights made lution, all of us have to research continually, our path clearer. think creatively, collaborate wisely, and iterWe do not think of ourselves as lead- ate to improve. One of my duties as CEO is ing-edge inventors, but rather innovators to make sure everyone in the company is on using technology to make critical, incre- board with that. mental improvements to our offerings. We What milestones are you looking to do that by collaborating with our customers reach in the company’s digital evolution? to identify concrete changes that will create We are looking at every corner of the more value for them, with brokers to build company to make rapid and sustainable systems that make communication m or e transformation. It starts, as I said, with a efficient, with insurtech partners to bring company-wide digital vision that has meanew ideas into practice, and even with surable financial impact across the company. our competitors to make our industry more We need quality data – both internal and attractive to young professionals. This spirit external, enhanced by data analytics at all 182 LEADERS

levels – to strengthen underwriting accuracy and improve underwriting margin. We also want a strong, lean underlying system and workload capability – in other words, fewer technology systems. In addition, we want digitally driven processes – both internally and customer-facing – that increase profitability and support incremental growth. And, finally, we want to reduce outsourcing costs significantly.

What actions are you taking beyond developing and implementing technological advances to ensure Argo’s growth and success?

Recruiting and retaining talented, ambitious, fulfilled employees will always be crucial to Argo’s per for mance – no matter how sophisticated our digital tools become.

Technology and pr ocess impr ovements enable us to raise productivity and increase revenue by processing significantly more business while maintaining the same number of employees.

Given our successes with our digital initiatives, we are attracting and hiring employees from a wider range of backgrounds and professional disciplines than ever before – such as data scientists and engineers in software, artificial intelligence and machine learning. If anything, our technologies will supplement the expertise of Argo employees and free them to apply their knowledge and judgment in ways that even the most advanced methods simply cannot.

What is Argo doing to make sure it has the people it needs to succeed?

We are creating a culture of innovation and it is attracting a broad talent pool beyond our industry. These professionals are joining Argo because they can apply themselves fully without limitation. We have been extremely privileged to have many top-tier performers join our company from various industries and professions. Earlier this year, Ian Macartney joined our innovation and digital team from Torrent Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. O n e o f t h e r e a s o n s I a n w a s e a g e r to head up Argo’s digital team is that we have a dedicated digital team making significant advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning and other disruptive technologies that much of the industry has yet to embrace.

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Ahead of the Pack An Interview with Ian Macartney, Head of Innovation and Digital, Argo Group EDITORS’ NOTE Ian Macartney years – including a claims database joined Argo Group earlier and risk-management applications – t h i s y e a r , and his 32 years of few have transformed how we operexperience in senior leadership ate. Insights is among those few and positions within the insurance is setting us apart from the competition. industry are driving innovation Start-ups are building their brands and digital business at the comfrom scratch, leveraging artificial intelpany. Macartney is well-versed in ligence and machine learning to set commercial and consumer lines, themselves apart, while legacy insurers strategic planning, claims manare trying to catch up. Argo is ahead of a g e m e n t , u n d e r w riti n g , r i s k the pack by having built digital prodassessment and digital innovaucts that can be replicated and scaled to Ian Macartney tion. Prior to taking on his role at enhance all lines of businesses.

Argo, Macartney served as Chief How is the speed of innovation Executive Officer of Torrent Technologies, Chief impacting Argo’s business processes?

Operating Officer (COO) of U.S. placement at Argo has done the right thing by refusing Marsh, and COO of Global Marine Business at to accelerate its speed of innovation merely to AIG. compete with other businesses. We take things step-by-step. We know it’s okay to fail because What are some noteworthy internal and failure is a good way to learn. Our speed of external innovations at Argo? innovation correlates with testing how well Working in the insurance industry for 32 a product truly works. Once we establish the years, I can truly say that I’ve never experi- true effect of innovation, we either refine our enced anything more auspicious than the cul- product or move ahead. Only when we know ture of innovation at Argo. The digital team what works will we ramp up our efforts. We has the core ideas and principles needed to have a plan to speed up the processes across help create a fully digitized insurance company. Argo through digitization.

One of the innovations we’re most excited In what ways have the applications of about is an internal product we call Insights. digital technology set Argo’s grocery and This underwriting tool is the first step toward retail products apart from the competition? the full digitization of the organization. It colApplications such as Argo Risk Tech – a lects external and internal data, and then uses custom-tailored app designed to help supermarartificial intelligence to push that information to kets and retailers reduce the occurrence of slips underwriters who can then make critical deci- and falls – have really given Argo an edge over sions. Since its inception, Insights has generated the competition. The risk-management compogreat outcomes from the standpoint of profit- nent of that app is one of the reasons for its ability and risk management. Not only does the digital tool save underwriters time, but it also eliminates inconsistencies that would otherwise lead to losses.

As for what’s next in terms of innovation, we’re determining the best ways to integrate machine learning into our products. Our aim is to expand the implementation of artificial intelligence to make technology an even bigger part of the underwriting process. With Insights in place, underwriters won’t have to deal with certain risks, focusing instead on the more technical aspects of risks and claims.

Do you consider Insights to be Argo’s most transformative innovation over the last two years?

Without hesitation. While Argo has built many exceptional digital products over the

success. Moreover, the fact that the technology itself is quite versatile adds to its popularity; it can be used on a handheld device for any frontend client.

To ensure our products are truly practical, we involve clients in every step of the development process. This differentiates us from other businesses, and in our opinion it’s something the entire industry needs to do better. Involving users in the process of innovation is critical.

Successful applications are built on true understanding of what customers need. By offering digital products that meet those needs head on, we create relationships that last.

How do you build customer trust in an era of digital transformation and increasing cybercrimes?

While we build cyber products based on our customers’ immediate needs, we appreciate that we have to keep evolving as new digital threats emerge. It’s fine to say, “If you get hacked, we’ll cover you,” but it is much more appealing to declare, “We’re developing technologies to help you prevent it.” Right now, we’re building a technology-driven cyber experience which will help build that trust. Cyber coverage needs technology to back it up; sadly, many organizations fail to understand this.

Similar to our process of developing riskmanagement products for grocery and retail, we are fostering trust by engaging our customers at every touchpoint. Customers trust us more when we simplify risk management, share updates with them face-to-face at every stage, and build technology that makes their experience better.

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Argo is ahead of the pack by having built

digital products that can be replicated and scaled to enhance all lines of businesses.

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The Future Is Bright An Interview with Wilbur Jenkins, Senior Vice President, Business Transformation, Argo Group EDITORS’ NOTE Wilbur Jenkins leads Ar go’s business transformation efforts. In his more than 25-year career in insurance, he has spent the most recent years ensuring the transformation efforts at Argo truly do improve outcomes for customers, broker partners and the organization. Prior to joining the specialty-insurance company, Jenkins oversaw countrywide operations and service delivery as vice president with the Hartford Financial Group.

concepts – such as operational efficiency, productivity, customer satisfaction or ease of doing business – transformation underpins them all. I see the alignment between strategy and transformation in action every day. The work my team does directly impacts the execution of Argo’s overall strategy.

This is an exciting time for our business as a whole, for our broker partners and, most importantly, for Wilbur Jenkins our customers. The industry is in flux, and for Argo the future is bright. Our business transformation, along with our spirit Transformation seems to be a popular word of innovation, will enable us to ride the digital in the insurance industry today. What does wave and optimize the value of our products transformation mean to Argo? and processes.

Transformation means reinventing and How is innovation at Argo benefiting continually improving the way we do busi- the work that you and your team are doing? ness. The process of reinvention has a signifiBusiness transformation can be difficult at cant digital element, but it doesn’t end there. times. At its core, it involves change that can Fundamentally, business transformation means have a profound impact on people and the changing our processes, systems and technolo- organization. It’s important to understand the gies to enable people to deliver better outcomes effect of change and to help people through the at every point along the value chain. Delivering change curve. Argo’s business transformation better outcomes means improving efficiency, has emphasized creating a culture of innovation effectiveness, customer relations and overall and continuous improvement, then relying on value to the organization across a number of that culture to reinvent how we do things. That functions and disciplines. approach has brought about positive change to To get there, we’ve made business trans- our business. It is helping us forge ahead faster, formation an integral part of our overall strat- as well as to adapt and self-correct, if needed. egy. Whether we’re looking at the financial For example, before the onset of innovadrivers of our strategic plan or core strategic tion and technological advancements, one

Our business transformation, along with our spirit of innovation, will enable us to ride the digital wave and optimize the value of our products and processes.

would often have to go through an arduous process to understand whether a new process or product would provide the desired outcome while meeting business objectives. Now, advances in technology make it possible for us to evaluate critical decision-making data on a more real-time basis. With this, we’re able to get quicker insights and answers to questions like, “Is this process meeting the necessary milestones?” Today, we can more effectively assess the chance of success and quickly course correct or make changes to get the right outcomes.

In what ways do you think Argo’s underwriting process will be impacted by ongoing transformation?

The changes are happening already and will continue to do so in various ways. First, the underwriting process will continue to become more effective with our ability to improve risk and portfolio decision-making. This comes with the advent of more robust and granular data, along with advanced systems that enable underwriters and actuaries to consume, analyze and act on information more effectively.

Second, the underwriting process will become more efficient. Technology, including process automation, will help us eliminate or greatly reduce routine and low value-added tasks. Eliminating or automating this work will enable our underwriters to be more productive in their jobs and more responsive to our broker partners.

Third, the company’s ongoing transformation efforts will result in greater levels of internal and external satisfaction. Frankly, our innovations will enable people – employees and brokers – to work more easily with our company, focus on the things that matter most, and have the greatest opportunity for success.

This increases job enrichment for our employees and ease of doing business satisfaction for our broker partners.

What feedback are you getting from brokers who have been working alongside Argo throughout this digital disruption?

Our brokers are on this journey with us and their feedback is positive. They are telling us that our smart technology tools are making it easier for them to get their hands on the data they need to make better and quicker decisions.

It’s important to understand that their insights and feedback helps shape our transformative efforts. We have shared goals for success and we will get there together.

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Business is Product An Interview with Farah Gasmi, Director of Product, Argo Group EDITORS’ NOTE Farah Gasmi and people will operate in the future. This her team of data scientists, softstatement still resonates with me, ware engineers and designers have because product has become the busibeen the driving force behind some ness framework that fits best with the of the most transformative dignew capabilities technology presents. ital and artificial intelliThat future has arrived. One of our g e n c e products at Argo over the main priorities as product developers last two years. Prior to assuming at Argo is to expand this frame of thinkher curr ent r ole as dir ector of ing across all lines of business. This attip r o duct, Gasmi worked for ZS tude will ensure that every team adopts Associates, a management consulta hypothesis-driven methodology that ing company. She earned a Master’s seeks to understand the root problem Farah Gasmi Degree in Operations Research from before developing solutions.

Columbia University and a Master’s What are some of the challenges in System Engineering from Ecole Centrale de that lie ahead for your team?

Nantes. Gasmi speaks English, French, Arabic The pace at which technology advances and Spanish. today is rapid. The volume of new technological products released every year is almost inconceivWhat impact are data scientists and soft- able, making it a challenge to keep up with innoware and data engineers making in the vation. I stay up-to-date with two approaches. insurance industry?

The first is recruiting the right type of talThe current insurtech disruption compels ent. The people we want to attract and retain companies to modify their hiring strategies to are digital natives with diverse backgrounds create new opportunities for professionals from and professional experiences. The factor that a broad range of disciplines. Without doubt, our unites them is their knowledge of current techindustry offers fertile ground for data scientists, nologies and their enthusiasm for how digital especially as the sheer volume of valid, crunch- advancements can bring our company closer to able data allows for complex, sophisticated our customers. investigations and modeling exercises.

The second is giving these talented peoArtificial intelligence draws meaningful ple space to continuously think about, research conclusions from massive amounts of data that and investigate new opportunities. Argo is humans on their own can’t thoroughly analyze deliberately creating a culture that empowers in a timely manner. Yet when any dataset is emerging professionals to apply their knowlflawed – either from gaps, bias, or even delib- edge, creativity and enthusiasm to every aspect erate skew – those conclusions are inaccurate. of the work they do.

For centuries, insurers have rigorously mainWhere do you see artificial intelligence tained the validity of their data, so the field is technology causing the biggest disruption? ideal for data scientists who now have the best There are two main areas where artificial opportunity to prove that their contribution is intelligence causes disruption. First, people consequential. are increasingly equipped with powerful tools As for designers, product managers and that give them the opportunity to focus on full-stack engineers, the excitement manifests higher impact and more complex challenges. itself in a slightly different way. These profes- For instance, image recognition and text minsionals view insurance as an industry that won’t ing algorithms radically change the way we thrive without significant transformation. As a access and process our data. We are now able result, they are eager to profoundly disrupt tra- to automate the extraction of colossal amounts ditional insurance business models, and we’re of valuable data and information from legacy open to that. This mindset pushes product documents. This would be impossible manuteams to identify opportunities to do things dif- ally. The granular data with which we can fuel ferently throughout Argo. artificial intelligence will transform our indusAs you look to the future, what are your try. We’re seeing this disruption right now; any priorities for product development? insurance company that has some form of a Someone told me years ago that the prod- digital team is starting to leverage artificial inteluct-oriented mindset is the way business-minded ligence technology to its advantage.

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Second, new sources of data combined with artificial intelligence are opening up completely new opportunities. For instance, geospatial algorithms can now scan through significant amounts of structured and unstructured data, such as images, to identify and prevent insurance fraud. This provides the first layer of information to help an insurer make a decision about the legitimacy of a claim. For example, in the agricultural space, satellite data is being used to assess whether or not crop-loss or flood-damage claims are indeed legitimate.

Earlier this year, A.M. Best proposed a new rating criteria that focuses on innovation. What is Argo doing to maximize its score on this assessment?

We come at this challenge from bottom up and top down. The bottom-up approach is Argo’s process to ensure every product we develop addresses a pressing customer need and solves a legitimate business problem. The first step of the process is to identify true problems. We cannot be shy about it. Once a problem is validated, we begin with a proof of concept. Then we move to iterative product development, validation and, only then, expansion across multiple business lines.

The top-down approach involves creating a coherent framework that presents all of our product research and development findings from the last three years. We have a compelling innovation story to share with A.M. Best. We are deeply respectful of A.M. Best’s new criteria and have confidence that our approach will appeal to them as sensible and, therefore, valid.

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…the product-oriented mindset is the way business-minded people will operate in the future.

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LEADERS IN CORPORATE TRADE

A Solution-Driven Company An Interview with Alan S. Elkin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Active International E D I TO R S ’ N OT E A l a n E l k i n Corporate Trade Model and portfolio of co-founded Active International in companies with a core competency in 1984. Elkin began his career at media, to create and deliver value for Kaiser Broadcasting which, unleading brands throughout their busider his direction as Senior Vice ness life cycles. With a global team comPresident of Sales, later became prised of business innovators, industry Field Communications and then leaders, media mavens and finance a subsidiary of Katz Media Group. experts, Active is dedicated to deliverHe has received the Entrepreneur ing new levels of financial flexibility Of The Year Award by Er nst & and custom solutions. An employeeYoung and the British American owned company, Active’s client Business Inc. Award in recognition success comes first, as well as the betAlan S. Elkin of Active’s global accomplishments. terment of its people and the commuAdditionally, he received the 2019 nities in which they live.

Lifetime Achievement Award at the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame annual gala. Elkin be- Will you discuss the evolution of Active and lieves that community involvement is as impor- how you define Active’s business today? tant as business leadership and through the The evolution of Active has come to a company’s Active Cares program, contributions solution-driven company. A company that’s inhave been made to over 600 charities since 1997. novative and sees things that are on the horizon and is able to capitalize on what’s going to COMPANY BRIEF Nearly four decades ago, happen in the future. We still have our basic Active International (activeinternational.com) business, which is corporate trade. We still have disrupted the marketplace by developing an in- media, but the media that we have now has adnovative, market leading, client-centric ap- vanced to be many things. It’s linear media. It’s proach to corporate trade. The development of Exact TV. It’s also magazines, out of home, and best-in-class solutions has led Active to evolve digital media. We have the complete landscape into a commercial innovation company. Active’s of every possibility that a client would ask for purpose is to transform data into insights, strat- in regards to media. On top of that, we have egy into action, and vision into value. With the license, data, and C3 metrics, which transcends entrepreneurial spirit of a startup, and the capa- both linear and digital media, and one of the bilities of a global corporation, Active continues major components is the attribution using first to redefine what’s possible and turn possibilities party data, as well as all other insights. We’re no into positive business outcomes. Active drives longer that same company that we created 36 performance through industry expertise, its years ago. We have evolved.

With that evolution, how critical has it been to attract the skills and talent required for the company?

The talent and skill set of Active today is to find people that understand digital media, understand linear media, and have a curious mind of how to best present this to our clients.

Our clients are beginning to understand digital media and we need people that have the skills to educate, communicate, and collaborate with the client. It’s a whole different world. Our selling is not direct selling. It’s consultative selling.

It is asking the client what their needs are and then producing for them through either a restructuring of the balance sheet or the exercise of purchasing media and getting outcomes.

Today it’s more about the outcome.

How broad is the target market for Active’s service offerings?

It is a huge market. Linear media is a large place to perform and as this evolves and becomes more structured, it becomes even larger.

In regard to digital media, nobody knows the boundaries and what’s going to happen with 5G as it relates to digital media. This is why you have to attract talent that has a curious mind and can put it all together, not on a linear basis, but on an evolution basis.

How have you been able to maintain an entrepreneurial culture that is agile and nimble at the size and scale of Active today?

You have to work at it. It is not an easy thing to do, but we’ve been fortunate. We have maintained our entrepreneurial spirit. We have educated our people in terms of trading. We’re

There are so many underperforming assets in the marketplace and there is a need to find alternative ways of disposing of these assets. We have developed, and have sustained for 36 years, the ability to acquire an underperforming asset and issue a trade credit at a wholesale price.

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We have the complete landscape of every possibility that a client would ask for in regards to media. On top of that, we have license, data, and C3 metrics, which transcends both linear and digital media, and one of the major components is the attribution using first party data, as well as all other insights.

very agile inside, and we know as we get larger, there is a risk to lose that edge. It is like in a Rocky movie – the eye of the tiger. You never want to lose that eye of the tiger.

Are Active’s product offerings and solutions well understood in the market?

In any conceptual sale, there’s always an education process, and that education and understanding is important. During the process of educating, you need to create trust in the relationship. There are so many underperforming assets in the marketplace and there is a need to find alternative ways of disposing of these assets. We have developed, and have sustained for 36 years, the ability to acquire an underperforming asset and issue a trade credit at a wholesale price.

If a company could do that and perform, why would you want to liquidate your inventory at twenty cents on the dollar if there’s a company that you know you trust that would acquire it and send you one hundred percent of the wholesale or book value? That’s a powerful statement.

Is this an offering that is more effective during challenging economic times or does it apply to strong economic times as well?

It is valuable for all economic times. Let’s discuss when there is four percent GDP growth and strong employment in the U.S. Active functions well in that environment because the U.S. is part of a global economy. It’s a global consumption economy. Retailers need to always refresh their inventory. Customers are always style conscious. A perfume may be an excellent perfume, but after a while people change their tastes and want something different.

Style, for example, is a big opportunity for a company like Active. There are so many different colors and different styles that go in and out very quickly. There’s so much repackaging, and then there’s the global competitiveness where another company will come in and place their goods that are very similar to your own goods, but at a lower price. This happens all the time.

So in a great economy, there’s a need for Active.

In a slow economy, there’s a backup of inventory and backup of real estate. There’s less needed, and what’s required is a company that’s able to serve the client in an alternative matter. That is what we do.

Active has a global footprint. Are the solutions consistent around the world or are they tailored for each market?

That’s a great question. The answer is that it’s both. The reason why it’s both is that every market has its own characteristics. Every market has its own personality, but the concept of corporate trade is still the same concept, even though it may be applied in different manners in different countries. Active has to be culturally astute to understand what those characteristics are, what the law in the country is, and that each sovereign country has its own point of view.

We always hire managers and executives from the country where we are operating. They know better than any outsider what the country requires. We teach the executive who is going to run that business so that he or she is able to apply Active’s mechanics and techniques to that specific marketplace, but they know the local culture and market better than we do.

You are an entrepreneur who also enjoys running the business day-to-day. Do you enjoy creating and building a business as well as operating and running the business?

I happen to be somewhat unique. I’m the kind of guy that rolls up his sleeves and gets into the nitty gritty. I also, because I roll up my sleeves, see more from a visionary point of view. I see more of the application than another individual might see. I’m the kind of guy that stays with the operational side, because I enjoy the people, I enjoy the creativity, and I enjoy the execution. I don’t think that they’re exclusive. I think they’re interrelated. I get my kicks in both places.

Do you feel that entrepreneurship can be taught or is it an ability that someone is born with?

I don’t think you can teach entrepreneurship. Having said that, you can support it.

You can educate on the need, but you have to have that fire in the belly and be able to accept failure. Everything that we do cannot be perfect. An entrepreneur has to take risk, but the entrepreneur has to take risk in today’s marketplace in a much more educated manner. You can’t shoot from the hip. You have to be able to make the decision and take the risk and understand that you may fail.

By the way, the stigma on failure has been changing. There will always be failures, and people need to learn from those failures and then go back and try again. That is the sign of an entrepreneur.

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Everything that we do cannot be perfect. An entrepreneur has to take risk, but the entrepreneur has to take risk in today’s marketplace in a much more educated manner.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

LEADERS 187

A Focus on China An Interview with Alan Brown, President, Active International Holdings EDITORS’ NOTE A principal of the company and a member of the Board of Directors, Alan Brown has direct responsibility for global strategic development as well as strategic oversight of Active’s domestic and international media and non-media trading products, models, and strategic partnerships. Known for his innovation and creativity, he has developed trading programs and products that have become industry standards. Brown also has oversight over Active China.

acceptance. It is an opportunity that is still emerging, but the industry categories that are wanting and needing our services are pretty vast from manufacturers to agencies to media providers.

To service a country like China, do you need to have offices in the country and has it been important to to hire local talent?

Yes. A decision was made when we opened internationally, that the office has to be represented by the people Alan Brown from the country it is in. Our office in France is a French office that is run by How has Active’s business model evolved and the French. In Germany and the U.K. it is the what have been the keys to Active’s industry same way. Active leads the training, but they are leadership? also training us. We need that local expertise and Our corporate DNA is really predicated on we very much need boots on the ground. You trading as a core competency. This enables Active can’t build an international operation and run it to acquire the services that we provide clients, pri- remotely. This applies to all the countries where marily media, at a lower cost basis. That margin is we operate, including China. basically being shared with clients, not necessarily through pricing discounts, but by allowing them to use underperforming assets as partial payment for their pre-budgeted media expenses.

That key component of being a corporate trading company is embedded within everything we do. The real evolution has been getting ahead of the market and the technology and making sure that irrespective of how a client pays, that the services we provide deliver the exact outcomes that our clients expect and demand.

You oversee Active’s business in China.

Will you discuss the opportunities for growth in China and Active’s commitment to this market?

China, as everyone knows, presents a huge opportunity because of its size and scale.

It also has huge challenges based on its business culture and dominant government control. With that said, on every level, China looks at the corporate trade model as a great opportunity for China.

It has been met with open arms from a government perspective as well as a client point of view.

China has a relationship-driven business How important has it been over the years landscape. Those relationships can’t be willed into to build an understanding within the meexistence. They have to be developed. They can’t dia agencies that you work with that Active be developed over the telephone, and you can’t is a partner as opposed to a threat to those parachute in for a meeting and jump out just as agencies? quickly. Active has been in China for 10 years, and It’s hugely important. At the early developthe time spent to date has been vastly on build- ment of Active, agencies might have seen us as a ing relationships. I can say that we’ve only truly threat because we were going directly to clients been open for business in the last couple of years, offering services to help with underperforming and in that time we have been met with a lot of assets and upon completion of a transaction,

China has a

relationship-driven

business landscape.

188 LEADERS

the agency would have to relinquish some of the advertising spend to Active. So without fully understanding our model or capabilities, it was easier to fear us than to embrace us. However, back in the late ’90s, when Omnicom invested in one of our competitors, it opened up the door to legitimize the corporate trade industry. It was time to put down the swords and work together in service of the client.

Now, not only has it been legitimized, but it is embraced. Others have tried to create their own versions of a barter company, but they are not using the investment models that we developed. This adds an element of risk that they usually don’t associate with media placement. On the whole, agencies tend not to put out their own capital into media in advance of knowing what clients want. Proper risk management is really at the core of how we develop those trading partnerships. We’re helping our media partners and other companies from a financial point of view and taking positions, and this is something that most agencies don’t do.

When you look back 30 years ago when you joined Active, did you imagine that this would be a place where you would spend your career?

I absolutely believed in Active. I was passionate about the model. I was passionate about the vision of our founders, Alan Elkin and Arthur Wagner. I had dealt with them prior to coming to Active when I was on the trading side and they were on the media sales management side.

I knew that this would not be a short stay for me since there was a clear vision and it was an environment that rewarded creativity. Success or failure was not measured just by financial results.

Failure was viewed as not going to the next level or not trying new models. The fact that each model had varying degrees of financial success was understood. Active was really an incubation lab for creative people who understood what the goals were and knew how to manage risk.

I still see a greater potential for Active, even though we’re a $2 billion company now. I think that we have just scratched the surface. We have more tools and more weapons in terms of relevant products and services to bring to the market than we ever had before.

Active has a solid reputation and is viewed positively by the marketplace, not just here in the United States, but internationally as well. I am proud of the past and even more excited about our future.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Serving Clients An Interview with Bill Georges, Global Chief Operating Officer, Active International EDITORS’ NOTE Bill Georges joined as their strategic future and where Active in 2007, bringing more than they’re trying to go, and then we have 20 years of marketing, advertising, to also get down into the operations and sales leadership experience to of the company to understand what the company. He was previously has been keeping them from getting Senior Vice President, Advertising there and how we’re going to help and Affiliate Sales, for Comcast get them there.

Networks and Senior Vice President We are deep within the sales orgaat Liberty Media, spending 10-plus nizations, deep within distribution, really years at both companies. Earlier close with the day-to-day people in marin his career, Georges played comketing and media, while we also have to petitive tennis, competing at the be at the most senior levels so we underBill Georges U.S. Open and playing on the ATP stand the overall direction and strategy.

Tennis Tour. After a sports-related Is the concept of corporate injury, he transitioned to the business world, be- trade well understood or is it still an educacoming Vice President of Sales and Sponsorships tion process? for the ATP tour.

I don’t believe that corporate trade is well understood. I think that the marketplace is startHow do you define Active’s business today? ing to better understand that, when they enActive’s DNA is built around trade, so our gage with Active, they achieve more. They may foundation is as a trading company. We never not know exactly how we do it, but they know want to lose touch with that foundation, be- that when we’re in their lives, they are going cause that is how we create leverage and value to achieve more and do better, and I think that for our clients. our brand is really getting associated with that The most important focus for Active is our awareness. clients, and what we have to do in today’s everAre Active’s service offerings conchanging environment, especially in the media sistent around the world? space, delivery of video, and data as well as evWhat’s consistent across the world is that, erything else that’s being thrown at our clients. when Active is in your life, you achieve more.

We are a client services company more From there, we have to figure out how we than anything because we have to remember that the client is always at the top of the pyramid. I believe that is the advantage that Active has right now, since many of the holding companies have lost sight of the client. Everything we do is based on making sure that we can deliver value, while providing strategies, expertise and solutions to help clients navigate this ever-changing economy.

How broad is Active’s client profile?

The common thread with all of our clients is that they are spending money in media.

Outside of that, we don’t really have any limitations when it comes to any of the market segments or categories or divisions we work with.

There has to be a marketing spend, usually of at least $3 million all the way up to a billion dollars, and we help them receive extra value from the marketplace.

Does Active build relationships at multiple levels within your clients?

We need to be at every level. In order to best serve a client, we have to understand what the most senior people at the C-level see

accomplish that goal which varies in different markets. The model in the UK is very different from the model in Spain, which is different from the model in Canada and so on.

The goal remains the same, which is servicing clients, and always helping them achieve more.

Will you discuss the strength of Active’s workforce?

I think we have a unique and incredible balance of people who have been here at Active for 15-plus years and really know how to leverage and create trade within the marketplace and are able to provide that for our clients. We also have talented people who have joined Active in the last five to seven years that are incredible media and planning and digital experts that became disappointed with where the market had gone and the lack of focus on the client, who have joined us based on our focus and commitment on how to best serve clients.

We have been able to attract those executives because they want to get back to what we believe in, which is that we’re here for clients.

I think we have an incredible balance of expertise that has been here for a really long time along with new talent in areas of planning and digital and programmatic and data. This allows Active to serve clients in a different way and differentiates us in the industry.

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I think that the marketplace is starting to better understand that, when they

engage with Active, they achieve more.

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LEADERS 189

A Dynamic Industry An Interview with Dennis Quinn, Executive Vice President, Chief Media and Digital Enterprise Officer, Active International EDITORS’ NOTE Dennis Quinn has more than two decades of experience running traditional media and digital businesses. Prior to joining Active in 2010, he was President, Sales and Marketing, for Channel M and previously Executive Vice President, Business Development, after serving as EVP/GM of TBS at Turner Broadcasting. Earlier, Quinn served as a Captain in the United States Air Force.

holding companies. These entities provide some media cost savings, but few are providing true trade solutions.

We are helping clients with media efficiencies as well as creating solutions with their procurement, facilities, and real estate departments.

How important is the entrepreneurial spirit at Active?

We do a pretty rigorous job of evaluating the type of people we hire and bring on board. We seek indiDennis Quinn viduals who have been either entreHow do you define Active’s busipreneurs or intrapreneurs with the ness today? dexterity to be able to examine and identify A corporate trade company, which was opportunities and exploit those that best fit into traditionally what Active was defined as, is too Active’s culture. limiting of a definition. Active is a company that We continue to fuel that type of talent and works with clients and partners to help them caliber of people in the company in order to achieve more. It may still be a typical trade sustain that entrepreneurial spirit. transaction that helps a client take older, underWhat has been the key to Active’s abilvalued assets and have them work to lower the ity to retain talent? cost of operating expenses or it could be havWhen you look at the employee tenure ing us run their digital platform and their digital here, it’s unlike most companies. I think that advertising in a way that is much more efficient. the average tenure is close to 20 years. There is How is Active leading in regard to digi- no typecasting here. If you excel and do a good tal and will you discuss these capabilities? job at what you’re currently tasked at, you’re When you talk about digital, there are a not locked into that area. number of different ways to look at it. How I have media people and new salespeople has the digitization of processes helped make working side by side to bring on new custompeople much more efficient and achieve more? ers. When you develop a proclivity in those skill How do our digital advertising strategies help sets, Active is very good at moving you around advertisers achieve more? to leverage those skill sets.

Active’s DNA is in corporate trade. So the question is how do you do this in a digital advertising environment, where most things are now purchased programmatically, whether it’s social, or whether it’s normal programmatic advertising in an bidable market environment? We need to create an opportunity to create leveraged inventory for our clients in this marketplace so they can apply trade to these transactions. We achieve this by trading with publishers and put those inventories into a private marketplace we built. This enables us to transact on a transparent basis, buying it in an open marketplace, and allows our clients to pay differently.

Is corporate trade well understood or is there still an education process?

I think in some regards it’s more important to explain our differentiation versus what people believe corporate trade to be. This is important since there’s been a proliferation of nondisclosed media groups formed within agency

What do you tell young people about the industry and the opportunities that Active offers?

If you’re a new person coming into this business, of the 370 people we have on staff today, probably 230 of them are in media. That is one of the most dynamic industries today. You are constantly seeing changes, you’re learning, and you’re being challenged. As more and more media is being digitized and affected by digital, there is a chance to learn more and grow.

You get a chance to broaden your horizons and make yourself a much more well-rounded media executive.

That gives you the opportunity to move from one platform to the next. We’re challenging folks and giving them plenty of opportunities. Those people who are good get a chance to move up rapidly. Those people who are interested in broadening their base to determine what they want to do for the rest of their career will find ample opportunity for that here.

We have a great young staff that’s really committed and works hard and I’m proud to work alongside them. We have some of the best and the brightest and one of the benefits that we offer a young person here is that they don’t have to worry about the cost of living or commuting in and out of the city. It’s an easy commute here. The cost of living is lower.

Young talent at Active get a chance to gain a significant amount of learning and is treated as a person, not as a number.

•

We are helping clients with media efficiencies as

well as creating solutions with their procurement, facilities, and real estate departments.

190 LEADERS

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

People and Culture An Interview with Jay Santamaria, Chief of Staff, Active International EDITORS’ NOTE Jay Santamaria How critical is it for Active to build serves as adviser to the Chairman a diverse and inclusive workforce? of Active International and is a Diversity and inclusion are critical senior member of the Global to Active’s future success. You have Leadership Team. He brought more Hispanic agencies. You have Africanthan 40 years of business and talAmerican agencies. They are primarily ent management experience focusing on a certain segment of the to Active. Prior to joining Active in market because they’re effective at it.

2016, he served in executive and We have to be equally effective at HR positions at RJR Nabisco and supporting them. Our agency alliance ITT, and for more than 20 years strategy group is targeting all mid-cap as CEO of BeamPines Inc., a agencies around the country, many of Jay Santamaria global talent management consulwhich are diverse. We have to be able tancy, where he still serves as Nonto help them help their clients.

Executive Chairman. Santamaria graduated One of the things we’re getting heavily infrom Lafayette College with degrees in history volved in is media education – how do you get and education, and has continued his training somebody who’s just out of school, with minimal in labor relations, diversity, finance, compen- work experience, and educate them? There are few sation and incentive design. He is a certified focused venues for that and we’ve now created a Master Coach and served as a faculty member comprehensive, high-quality professional developof the U.S. educational division of Middlesex ment vehicle called The Ad Learning Exchange™ University’s graduate program in Professional (“ALEx”).We’re creating great courses, short modDevelopment. Santamaria is also Director and ules and comprehensive certification programs in Founding Partner of G2Collective Inc. media and advertising that can be offered publicly via subscriptions, or custom-developed for content What have been the keys to Active’s strength partners, clients and agency partners, whereby they and leadership in the industry? can help educate their junior and high-potential Vision and innovation and our people’s people, make them better, help them grow, and ability to adapt and learn. It really comes down increase their value. The Ad Learning Exchange™, to the Active culture. as a professional development program, is one we When hiring talent, how critical is cul- would like to offer to certain educational institutions tural fit for Active?

You have to look at where people come from. We encourage new ideas. We encourage solutions that are out of the box. When you look at hiring people from the outside, you have to ask, “What kind of organization have you thrived in?” If you come from a Fortune 500 public company, your life is pretty much dictated by policies and rules and documentation and procedures.

If you come from a small startup or a midcap company, then you’re probably used to the rock them, sock them environment.

We like to take people from both, and the most important key to their success is in our onboarding process. A lot of reasons people derail when they come from another environment is that they don’t know what’s expected. It’s often not made clear to them in the first six months what is expected from them. When they don’t know what’s expected, they just do what they’ve always done, and that can lead to problems.

with diverse student populations, for example, the historically black colleges and universities. In this way, we can attract more qualified, diverse candidates to our industry.

How do you define the role of the chief of staff and how do you focus your efforts?

It’s a unique role. I think every person who holds this title comes at it differently. I’m very fortunate. I’ve had a lot of experience in business and industry over the last 50 years. I learned a long time ago that you have to be a good listener. Everybody here knows that I have a very clear agenda which is to make this company strong and sustainable so that it survives and thrives long after Alan (Elkin) and Arthur (Wagner) have retired. I’m looking at this as sort of a capstone career experience of my own. People know that my mission is to be helpful and to do what is best for the company.

I spent 45 years in management where the keys to effectiveness are to be a good listener, to be objective, and to align people’s individual and career agendas with the business agenda.

I was well-trained for this task. I ran my own management consulting company for 25 years.

That was preceded by 20 years of experience in Fortune 50 corporations. Personally, with Active, it is about being at the right place at the right time and being healthy and mentally acute enough to be wanting to do this. I’m still having fun.

•

We’re creating great courses, short modules and comprehensive certification programs in media and advertising that can be offered publicly via subscriptions, or custom-developed for content partners, clients and agency partners, whereby they can help educate their junior and high-potential people, make them better, help them grow, and increase their value.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

LEADERS 191

TELAVIV-YAFO

A Fortress of Democracy An Interview with The Honorable Ron Huldai, Mayor, Tel Aviv-Yafo EDITORS’ NOTE Ron Huldai is an These two characteristics – a nonIsraeli politician and a former high stop city and the city of startups – comschool headmaster and fighter pilot. plement each other and are a center of In the course of his 26 years of military attraction and interest in our city on a service in the Israeli Air Force, he served global level. as a combat pilot and held several key This is your fifth term as mayor senior command positions, includof Tel Aviv. What has made this role ing Brigadier General. Following his so special for you? retirement from active duty, he A mayor’s job is to do good. We became headmaster of the prestigious touch on so many aspects of residents’ Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium (High lives – in the education of their chilSchool) and remained in office for six dren, in their living environment, in The Hon. Ron Huldai years. A member of the Labor Party, the culture they require. One of the Huldai was first elected Mayor of Tel good things about being a mayor Aviv in 1998, and was reelected in 2003, 2008, is that you get to see the fruits of your labor.

2013 and again in 2018.

Currently, for example, we’re inaugurating the city’s largest football stadium with 29,000 seats; How do you describe the Tel Aviv brand? completing the renovation of one of our reperThe slogan of the city expresses its real- tory theaters with three stages; and opening a ity: “the city that never sleeps.” There is no museum on the White City’s architectural herione in Israel who is not familiar with this slo- tage. In what other profession can you dream gan which, as stated, reflects the city’s true of a project one night, and the next day get up nature; it is vibrant, energetic, creative and and make it come true? dynamic; a city of culture and art, great nightHowever, it is very important to underlife and culinary richness; a safe city that is stand that a mayor’s role in the 21st century is pleasant to live in, good to work in and fun to much broader than it use to be. Several years spend time in. The “city that never sleeps” did ago, I published a joint article with my friend, not create itself, but is the result of very hard Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, about the responand strenuous work – 6 percent of our annual sibilities of mayors nowadays. In the past, there budget is invested in culture and art, includ- were issues that were considered “national” and ing a makeover in infrastructure, upgrading included substantive and fundamental matters, public spaces and encouraging strolling while “municipal” issues were more mundane. about, policies of encouraging young people The expectation was that the national leaderand defining recreation areas – all of these ship would navigate the weighty issues, while have created a city that thrives 24 hours a day, the mayors would deal with infrastructure and 7 days a week. construction, cleanliness and public spaces.

Another aspect of the brand has been Today the situation is different. Governments added in recent years. I always say that if are waning in power, ceasing to provide serthe world was a newspaper, then Tel Aviv vices on many issues that were previously in would once have been covered in the Culture, their domain. It’s not that needs have changed.

Lifestyle, and To urism pages. However, On the contrary, needs have increased. But about a decade ago, we began appearing in in many countries of the world, a vacuum is other parts of the paper – the Economy and created, which the mayors are required to fill.

Technology sections. As many know, the State Mayors are finding themselves operating in new of Israel is known as the “Startup Nation.” fields, and decisions are needed on issues that As is the case in many countries where there were never on their agenda. I always call Tel is an important technology sector, the initial Aviv “the social home front of Israel” as we phase of this sector – the start-ups – usually provide services not only to our residents, but flourishes in cities. That is what has happened also to residents from dozens of municipaliwith us, too. Little Tel Aviv, which is about the ties around us – giving aid to addicts, special size of Manhattan, has about 2,000 start-ups – education students, single-parent families, sex making us the city with the highest number workers, street children – everyone is looking of companies per capita or per square mile in for solutions in the big city. We do this out of the world. love and with a sense of responsibility, because 192 LEADERS

we have the financial capacity to do so, but also, unfortunately, because the state does less on these issues.

Moreover, there is a fascinating political phenomenon occurring all over the Western world: national governments headed by conservative leaders, which maintain tense relationships with cities controlled by a progressive political establishment. Look at what’s happening in the United States – nearly all major cities are headed by Democratic mayors, operating policies that are at times contrary to those of the conservative president. The same is true for many European countries, where conservative forces often challenge the values that have guided the countries on the continent since World War II: tolerance, pluralism, the welcoming of immigration, and the blurring of borders between countries. Today, the very belief in democracy and its values is under threat and, in this situation, mayors have a crucial role to serve as a democratic fortress in their nations. In Israel, too, there are forces working to weaken democratic institutions, and I see the role of Tel Aviv as preserving the values that the state was founded on 70 years ago. It is no coincidence that our town square is the main focal point of major political demonstrations in Israel. We invest great efforts to enable freedom of expression and creativity; we work to make every group and minority feel at home in the city; we have established the world’s first municipal community center for the gay community and budgeted for dozens of community activities and groups; we have implemented an affirmative action policy in the municipality for employees from the Arab minority in Israel; and, in addition, we act to ensure at least half of the managers and members of the municipal boards are women. This, if you ask me, is the most important role of a big city – to be a fortress of democracy in a world of increasing extremism.

Will you highlight your efforts in recent years to position Tel Aviv as a global hub of innovation and creativity?

In recent years, our city has experienced an extraordinary economic miracle.

From a local economic center that served the Israeli market, the city has become the father of technology-led companies that attract entrepreneurs and firms from all over the world.

This phenomenon is happening as Israel itself is undergoing an economic upheaval. In VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

the first decades of its existence, Israel was a poor country with few resources, but in the 1990s a revolution began with the growth of the technology sector, the entry of many educated immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and the removal of the Arab boycott.

The Israeli government, which recognized the opportunity, developed a very successful system of encouragement and support for technology, and the result is that Israel has become a Startup Nation – a global hub of innovation and creativity.

As is the case with countries with a significant technology sector, many companies – especially small startup companies – concentrate in a big, vibrant city. Along with unprecedented investment in urban infrastructure and the return of young people to the city, Tel Aviv has become Israel’s Startup City. We recognized the opportunity, and decided to leverage it. Our program focuses on two main channels of activity – helping companies and advertising them to the world. In the area of aid, we have lowered the municipal taxes that start-ups pay at the outset; we have opened up the municipal databases to developers; we have inaugurated urban work spaces for entrepreneurs; we create dozens of entrepreneurial events a year and partner with hundreds more happening in the city; and about a year ago, we launched a joint space with Tel Aviv University which serves as the beta site for a trial of Smart Cities technologies.

In the area of exposure, we leverage the media’s and influencers’ great interest in Tel Aviv, and set meetings with investors and decision-makers, providing PR and exposure for dozens of entrepreneurs a year.

The most significant expression of technological growth in the city is the rate of startups operating here: close to 2000 start-ups, which is the highest rate in the world per capita or square mile. Along with these companies, there are dozens of accelerators, more than a hundred

The vibrant city of Tel Aviv

international research and development centers, and countless companies offering financial tools, legal aid, foundations, and support services. Today, 1 in 10 employed people in the city works with technology – this is an entire ecosystem with a huge impact on the urban economy.

The municipality under your leadership manages to maintain a balanced budget while investing in infrastructure, public space, and municipal institutions. How have you been able to achieve this?

When I took office in the city, it was in bankruptcy. We could not pay salaries to employees nor to suppliers. After a few difficult years, we made an absolute turnaround and as

of today we have enjoyed 17 years of a balanced budget with a surplus. The Israeli affiliate of Standard & Poor’s rated our municipality as Triple A Stable.

How did we do that? First of all, we live on what we have, not on what we don’t have; my parents taught me that. I grew up on a kibbutz, and in today’s terms we were poor.

The kibbutz is a kind of Israeli collective that advocates pioneering and manual labor, and my parents were pioneers who came from Poland in the 1920s to establish a kibbutz in Israel along the highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. They and all their friends worked hard and were content with little, and the values that guided them have served me throughout my life.

Today, Tel Aviv is financially sound, and this stability has been achieved thanks to proper management. The budget structure in Israeli cities is different from the American method: we do not have sales tax and we do not receive any of the revenue of businesses in the city.

Our revenue is based on property tax based on property size. With our method, residents pay very low taxes, while offices and businesses pay very high taxes and actually fund our ability to provide services to our residents. In the past two decades, there has been tremendous momentum in building commercial spaces and office buildings, greatly increasing the city’s sources of income.

With all the accomplishments you have achieved, do you take moments to reflect on and appreciate what you have been able to do for the city of Tel Aviv?

I am not a nostalgic person. I seldom look back, only forward. My head is still full of projects and my drawer is full of work plans. I get up every morning feeling a great privilege: my job is also my hobby. I love what I do, and I do what I love.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

LEADERS 193

Preserving a 90-Year-Old Restaurant An Interview with Dean Poll, Owner, Gallaghers Steakhouse

EDITORS’ NOTE Dean Poll was We negotiated for about a year and born and raised on Long Island, I was offering her a very good deal.

New York, in a family with a long She was hesitant until I told her, “If line of famous food personaliyou were my mother, I would urge ties and restaurateurs. In the mid you to take what is being offered.” ’70s, while working full-time with At the time of the purchase, the his father and brothers in a midrestaurant was in tremendous disretown Manhattan restaurant, Poll pair since no investment had been recognized the influence purchasmade in it for years. It had a certain ing had on the quality and profcharm, and I had a vision for it. I itability of any fine restaurant. bought it on February 1st of 2013 and After working with their father in I closed the restaurant on July 9th of Dean Poll New York City, Poll and his broth2013. We reopened it on February ers came back to Long Island in 10th of 2014.

1980 and purchased a defunct property, reIt had a good foundation but needed to be naming it Pappas after their father’s restau- cleaned up. I’d rather describe what we did as rant in Brooklyn. In the mid-’80s, Poll and his a restoration rather than a renovation. However, brothers purchased Manero’s in Roslyn, turn- we did replace the floors, the ceiling and added ing it into a prime steakhouse and adjacent complete new kitchens. Today, it looks more butcher shop that is now known as Bryant & like a well-preserved 90-year old restaurant. We Cooper. In 2000, Poll took on his most ambi- matched what people’s perception of Gallaghers tious project. He sought to make his mark was, a speakeasy, vibrant restaurant from the on Manhattan with the contract for the Loeb ’40s and ’50s and “Mad Men” steakhouse of the Boathouse in Central Park. He became the sole ’60s. We accomplished turning that perception proprietor of the Boathouse and painstakingly into a reality. restored it to its glory as one of New York’s most How important is it to continue to inbeloved, successful and visited institutions. novate the Gallaghers’ menu while still During the process of restoring the famous Loeb offering the staples that the restaurant is Boathouse, Poll sought to identify other famous known for?

New York institutions in need of similar restoYou have to have your steaks, potatoes ration. In January 2013, Poll acquired the leg- and creamed spinach. It is also important to endary Gallaghers Steakhouse (gallaghersny offer a selection of items to differentiate yoursteakhouse.com) on 52nd Street and Broadway self from the other steakhouses. We do that from Marlene Brody, the widow of famous res- with tuna, and salmon tartare, as well as a few taurateur, Jerome Brody. The famed steak- Italian influenced dishes, such as burrata with house and speakeasy was founded in 1927 by roasted peppers, clams casino and oreganata, Ziegfield Follies dancer Helen Gallagher. just to name a few.

You must have your foundation of steaks Will you highlight the history and heritage and chops that people expect, mixed with ofof Gallaghers? ferings that are a little more contemporary and Gallaghers has been in business since perhaps unexpected.

1927. I owned the Boathouse and was lookHow critical is it to attract and retain ing to expand. I figured you couldn’t build a talent, especially in an industry that is 90-year-old restaurant, so bringing Gallaghers known for high turnover? back to its glory was a great opportunity. I Right now, in New York, labor is the knew that Jerry Brody, a great restaurateur biggest challenge. When we took over and owner of Gallaghers, had passed away. Gallaghers, we had several people on our In 2007, I tried buying the restaurant from his team that had been there for decades. They widow, but she wasn’t interested in selling it at are now known as the veterans. Then we that time. About five years later, she called me have our newer team members who provide about something unrelated, and I asked, “How a great balance. about Gallaghers?” She told me that there was How challenging is it to make a a French group that were interested in buying restaurant financially viable in a city like it and I decided it was time to go after it again. New York?

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Loeb Boathouse at Central Park (left); Gallaghers Steakhouse (above)

The expenses of running a restaurant have become very excessive. Between the linen, the cost of labor, occupancy costs, the cost of water, the taxes – I could go on and on – it has become very difficult. I have a saying “The biggest expense of business is no business.” Even if a restaurant is full, some are just not big enough to do the amount of business needed to be able to pay for all these expenses.

We’re very fortunate that our 300-seat restaurant is busy every day.

How do you define Gallaghers’ target market?

I think people are people, everyone likes to eat, and everyone likes entertainment. You hear a lot of talk about the millennials having meals delivered to their offices and apartments with Uber Eats and all these different apps. Coming to a restaurant like Gallaghers is entertaining.

There’s the eating aspect of it and there’s the entertainment aspect of it. The surroundings of Gallaghers are warm and comfortable. There are a lot of restaurants out there that are very nice, but they’re not necessarily comfortable.

Gallaghers is a joint. It’s a fun place. There are a lot of steakhouses that are built with polished wood and brass and look like a lawyer’s office. Gallaghers is a place that a lot of younger people find fun and they enjoy the music that we play, atmosphere that they are dining in and the diversity of the people dining here.

Do you see growth opportunities for the Gallaghers brand?

There is a Gallaghers franchise in Atlantic City, and in Las Vegas. We have had inquiries about other locations and are considering some. However, in addition to the Boathouse, I just opened with my partner, Tom Fanning, a PDQ franchise in Farmingdale on Long Island.

So, you ask me what is PDQ? It means People Dedicated to Quality, and is a chicken sandwich and chicken tender restaurant based out of Tampa founded by Bob Basham, one of the founders of Outback Steakhouse. Having opened our first, we have secured another location in Westbury and a third in Commack. I like having the diversity of restaurants, Gallaghers Steakhouse catering to the New York business community as well as tourists, the Central Park Boathouse, which is seasonal and is a concession of the City of New York, and now a quickserve restaurant offering a quality product with a nine-and-a-half-dollar average check.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

A Service Culture An Interview with Prince A. Sanders, General Manager, Trump International Hotel & Tower New York EDITORS’ NOTE Prince Sanders the hotel, a non-political entity, placed was named to his current post in us in unchartered waters. As a leader, April 2017 after serving for three I had to adjust, re-evaluate the needs years as Hotel Manager at the propof my team, define this new landscape erty. He launched his hospitality for them, educate my team and concareer in 2002 with Starwood’s W tinue to motivate them as we re-evalHotels, first in Chicago and then in uated our strategy in the luxury hotel New York. Sanders continued his environment. Together we worked career at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, through these new realities and I saw New York, where he served as Front the best of my team shine through. of the House Manager and Assistant You recently took the hotel Rooms Executive. In 2010, Sanders through a renovation. Will you highPrince A. Sanders assisted with employee trainings for light the changes that were made? the openings of The Waikiki Edition, Undertaking a $20 million renoThe Istanbul Edition and The London Edition. vation was one of the most exciting opportuniSanders is an avid writer who has published a ties in my career. We took this occasion to series of children’s books. incorporate feedback from our customers and our partners at Forbes Travel Guide. In doing PROPERTY BRIEF Soaring above Central Park so, we have created a more youthful, energetic, and Columbus Circle, Trump International and luxurious atmosphere.

Hotel & Tower® New York (trumphotels.com/ For many years our hotel was synonymous central-park) – the only Forbes Five-Star/AAA with the color gold. After 22 years, we found Five-Diamond hotel with a Two-Star Michelin/ our guests were evolving and we needed to Five-Diamond restaurant, Jean-Georges – is an evolve with them. We introduced a new cool icon delivering the highest level of service, style gray color palette, adding a crisp, white and exclusivity. The 52-story structure features crown molding and base. In the bathrooms, we 176 luxurious guest rooms and suites, com- brought in chrome Kohler fixtures, a new marplete with European-style kitchens, marble bath- ble vanity, and added glass panels to our showrooms and spectacular views of Central Park ers and soaking tubes accentuating the size of and the Manhattan skyline. Amenities include a the bathroom.

6,000-square-foot spa and fitness center and inThe hallways had a total transformation. room dining by Three-Michelin-Star chef Jean- As the elevator doors open, our guests are surGeorges. The property has earned many coveted prised and delighted to find that the mirror and awards including Travel + Leisure’s “World’s fabric panels have been replaced by a woven Best Hotels,” Conde Nast Traveler’s “Top Hotels wooden accent wall, LED crystal chandeliers in New York City” and “Best in the World,” and and custom sconces. It is rewarding to welcome U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hotels in the our guests back and see their amazement and USA.” joy in the renovation.

Are you happy with the state of the W h a t h a v e b e e n t h e k e y s t o Tr u m p product today and are additional changes International Hotel & Tower’s leadership planned? in the industry?

I’m delighted with the transition of the hoResilience, communication, and adaptabil- tel product and as an operator it remains excitity. It is interesting to reflect on this question ing because I continue to enhance the hotel post-election. Leadership was a critical role to with new accessory pieces. our continued success in this new environment.

The updates we made in 2018 were specifiIt was very easy for us as a hotel to separate pol- cally focused on the interior of the hotel: guest itics from hospitality. Within our environment, rooms, corridors, lobby furniture, as well as upwe had this confidence in moving forward and dates to the fitness center. In 2019, our focus doing what we do best – delivering a Five-Star turned towards the residential tower within the luxury experience. What we had not considered building, which spans from the 23rd to 52nd was the public and industry’s response and we floors. In this area, we will complete a $6.6-milwere faced with many challenges. The impact lion renovation of the residential corridor and of personal political views and the reaction to exterior landscaping.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Jean-Georges restaurant (left); Park View Two-Bedroom Suite (above)

What has made the property’s partnership with Jean-Georges work so well?

We are incredibly fortunate to offer our guests and residents a culinary experience led by one of the world’s most celebrated chefs, JeanGeorges Vongerichten. Since the hotel’s opening, Jean-Georges has led the culinary program with his two-Michelin starred restaurant Jean-Georges, alongside the more casual Nougatine, the seasonal Terrace at Nougatine, and in-room dining.

Our partnership has spanned 22 years.

Jean-Georges is committed to delivering an exceptional experience and is often seen in the restaurant, elevating the experience with his warm welcome and hands on approach.

Jean-Georges has recently curated a new dining experience in Jean-Georges. The new dining experience will delight epicureans with his four and six course omnivore and vegetarian lunch tasting menus and eight to 10 course omnivore and vegetarian dinner tasting menus.

The timing for creating this new dining experience compliments the recent enhancements that we have made to the property.

Will you discuss Trump International Hotel & Tower’s commitment to its workforce?

Given my training and development background, it has always been a priority for me to invest in training and the growth and development of our employees. Trump International Hotel & Tower New York has maintained a strong relationship with Forbes Travel Guide and twice a year we partner with them to facilitate hands on training with our team members. I’ve found these trainings to be valuable to ensure our team remains focused, up-to-date on new standards, and re-energized. In these trainings we include our partner Jean-Georges who leads the culinary program at the hotel and Trump Spa. In addition to Forbes Travel Guide training, we layer in our brand trainings by Trump Hotels which are facilitated regularly on property.

Will you discuss the property’s service culture?

Operating as a Forbes Five-Star hotel, we focus heavily on service standards. When operating in the luxury hotel environment, one must understand that service and luxury are subjective. Within our service culture, we try to identify what luxury means to each guest individually. We adjust the way we service our guests based on their needs and in a way that makes them feel special.

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LEADERS 195

Complete Communities An Interview with The Honorable Sylvester Turner, Mayor of Houston EDITORS’ NOTE Elected in I always knew that if I was given the December 2015, Sylvester Turner opportunity to work to improve the is serving his first four-year term healthcare delivery system, I would as Houston’s 62nd mayor. Mayor take advantage of it.

Turner’s civic leadership has been That is what motivated me to run nationally r ecognized through initially for the Texas legislature and his service as a member of the U.S. then it just took off from there. Being Conference of Mayors Transportation a public servant, it is gratifying to have and Communications Standing the opportunity to address many of Committee, vice chair of the National the ills and the inequities that I have Climate Action Agenda, member of seen and to have an opportunity to try the C40 and Global Covenant for to make things better for the people Mayors for Climate and Energy The Hon. Sylvester Turner in our communities, and ultimately in and an advisory board member our city and state and beyond. of the African American Mayors Association.

With the gridlock in Washington, D.C. He is also the recipient of the Ohtli Award, the today, is change being driven at the local Mexican government’s highest honor. Turner has level? been featured in publications and news outlets I do agree that things are happening on the such as 60 Minutes, MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, FOX local level more so than on the national level.

News, The Wall Street Journal, Black Enterprise People are interested in results. They want to Magazine, Cuba Today Magazine, Ebony, The see improvements on their streets and in their New York Times, The Washington Post and USA neighborhoods and in their cities.

Today. Prior to his election as mayor, Turner It requires everyone working together in served for 27 years in the Texas House as the rep- order to bring about those results. A good resentative for District 139. He worked on the example is our summer program. When I came House Appropriations Committee for 21 years into office, the city was offering 450 paid sumand served as Speaker Pro Tem for three terms. mer jobs for young people ages 16 to 24. There He was appointed to several Budget Conference were thousands of people that applied for those Committees to help balance the state’s budget and jobs. We immediately ramped up that first sumserved on the Legislative Budget Board. Mayor mer to 1,100 paid summer jobs with 450 of those Turner is a life-long resident of Houston. He is a jobs coming from the city and the rest coming graduate of the University of Houston and earned from the private sector. The second year, we a law degree from Harvard University. He began ramped up to 5,000. The third year, we offered his law practice at Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. and 7,500. This year, we provided 10,900 paid sumlater founded Barnes & Turner law firm. mer jobs for 16- to 24-year-olds. Only 450 are coming from the city. The rest are coming from What attracted you to public service and the private sector. It has taken that collaboration what makes public service so special for and partnership between the public and private you? sector to make this happen.

This is home for me. I’m a native Houstonian. I I didn’t want to be the mayor of two citgrew up in the city. From the time that my par- ies in one – the city of haves and the city of ents had us sit down and watch the Kennedy/ have nots. There have been communities Nixon debate back in 1960 on a black and white that have been underserved and underretelevision, I knew I wanted to be a part of the sourced for decades. We started an initiative public arena and this was what motivated me. called Complete Communities where we are Growing up, we didn’t have any private initially focusing on selecting five neighborhealth insurance, so we took the bus to a county hoods that have been historically underserved hospital system when we were sick. I saw a lot and underresourced. We’re working with the of things growing up while waiting in the emer- private sector, financial institutions, faithgency room. We would get there in the morning based organizations and nonprofits to leverand stay there all day. When one of my broth- age their resources with those of the city to ers needed medical assistance, the hospital said provide affordable housing, better parks and they didn’t have enough beds. They gave him green space, business and job opportunities some medication and said, “Take him home.” and workforce development programs as well 196 LEADERS

as bettering neighborhood schools and transportation in these communities. We stay engaged in these communities for about two years, on average, if not longer and I recently named five more communities we will be including in the program. It requires all of us working together in order to effect those changes.

Another area I focused on was pensions.

When I came into office, the unfunded liability of $8.2 billion was costing the city $1 million a day. Today it’s $4.03 billion without raising anybody’s taxes or the city infusing a great deal of cash. That $1 million cost a day is no more.

The three credit rating agencies have given us a thumbs up. We are now, for the third consecutive year, fully paying the annual pension cost. This has taken collaborations, Democrats and Republicans, and labor and business working together. The beauty is that on the local level we’re getting things done and meeting the needs of the people.

Is the Houston brand and the understanding of Houston’s strengths from a work/live/play perspective well understood today?

Not outside of Houston and certainly not outside of the state of Texas. I think many people across the country and even probably in other places outside the country see Houston as the city it was 25 years ago, primarily reliant on oil and gas and perhaps as a cowboy town, so to speak. Houston has evolved quite a bit over the last 25 years. It’s the energy capital of the world. There has even been diversification within the energy sector so we are not just focused on gas.

There are a lot of different things that are taking place here. The focus for the city now is on technology and innovation. We’re creating an innovation hub along an innovation corridor. Companies are coming from the east coast like MassChallenge. They started in Boston and have now expanded into the city of Houston.

We have companies that have been operating in Silicon Valley that are expanding their operations in what we now call #SiliconBayou.

The medical center has expanded. It’s the largest medical center in the world and it is located in the city of Houston. People from outside the state of Texas don’t realize that Houston is now the most diverse city in the country. One of four Houstonians is foreignborn. More than 145 languages are spoken in VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

We started an initiative called Complete Communities where we are initially focusing on selecting five neighborhoods that have been historically underserved and underresourced.

this city. Many people from outside of Texas don’t know that.

They don’t know that we have a strong emphasis on the arts and a strong emphasis on parks and green space throughout the city of Houston. We’re also known for big events.

When outsiders come and see what the city has to offer, they fall in love with the people, the 11,000 plus restaurants that are in the city, all our sporting teams along with the arts and everything else that we have to offer. I tell people all the time that we’re a little bit country and a little bit chic all at the same time.

What strides have you been able to make in refor ming K-12 education in Houston?

Education is a critical component to the success of any city. Unlike Chicago, Boston, New York and Philadelphia, the city does not control the school systems here in the city of Houston. There are 17 independent school districts that traverse the city of Houston with the Houston school district being the largest one in our city.

However, when I came into office, I established the first ever office of education in the city and named a director of education, Juliet Stipeche, who is a former board member and president of the school board of the Houston Independent School District.

I recognize that we’ve got to work hand in hand with our school systems, both at the elementary and secondary level as well as with higher education. We have a lot of young talent in the city. We have to make sure they have the necessary skillsets in order to take advantage of the opportunities that are here in the city and that are coming to the city. Without this, it is very difficult to create an integrated, robust ecosystem.

You mentioned the have and have nots and, across the country, this divide is becoming deeper. How much does income equality concern you and is some of the success that you have had in addressing this issue in Houston replicable in other parts of the country?

I think so. It’s a real concern because you can’t have resiliency and sustainability without having equality. That’s why I focused on building Complete Communities when I came into office. We must address this divide. Innovation can take place around these communities that have been underserved and underresourced.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

I still live in the same community in which I was born and bred, and that is an underserved, underresourced community. I do that as a statement to the people who are there and people that live in similar communities that I’m right here with you. I see you. I hear you. I live right here among you. It’s also a signal to them that you can live and be reared in these communities and still grow up and become the mayor of the fourth largest city in the United States of America.

We are going to continue to invest in these communities. It’s not about taking people out of these communities and moving them across town. It’s about investing in these communities and providing mixed-income housing. It’s about encouraging this educated generation to return or to continue to live in these communities. You need them to help others navigate through the educational institutions. They are the ones that are in a position to demand accountability.

It requires all hands on deck. It requires everyone leveraging their resources and making the necessary investments. It’s not easy.

Is public/private partnership the key to driving real change and how important has it been for you to engage the business community and private sector in your efforts?

It’s a critical component. The public sector cannot do it by itself. The public sector can be a catalyst. The public sector can signal to the rest of the community and the rest of the city.

Complete Communities is a very, very ambitious initiative. You can’t include every community in this initiative at the same time.

Otherwise, you deplete the resources you have.

It requires a very concentrated approach. The downside with this is that the communities that are not listed want to be a part and, at this point, they’re not.

For these five communities and the other five I named a few weeks ago, I am telling the private sector, the faith-based communities, nonprofits, developers, financial institutions, you name it, whatever resources that you have, we collectively all need to come together and leverage these resources.

The singular purpose is to transform communities and to have the greatest impact in the shortest amount of time. We’re going to stay here until we see that transformation occurs because the goal is not to come in and drop

‘X’ amount of dollars and move on. It’s about establishing stronger, resilient, sustainable communities. That’s the goal.

Part of it is making the investment, but it also requires creating the leadership within these communities that can sustain what we have done as we move on to the next set of communities. We’re not here to tell these communities what is best for them. We go in to work with the leadership in these communities and, if the leadership doesn’t exist, we have to create it while working with people in the neighborhoods because they know what they need.

We don’t want to change the character or the culture or the personality of these communities. We just want to help them make the community better. I tell people that we can’t immediately reverse neglect that has occurred over decades, but we can demonstrate to people in these communities that we see them and that we are investing in their communities. We are working with you. We want to work with you.

This also enhances public safety at the same time. It’s important that these communities that have been ignored for a long time see us coming in early before some flashpoint such as a shooting occurs. If we are already engaged in these communities before such an incident occurs, then it will help that we have already established good faith and credibility.

We can’t rely on police alone for public safety. We have to work to provide the employment and business opportunities and quality growth. We have to improve the neighborhood schools. They need to see that we’re providing parks and green space that are equal to the parks that you would put elsewhere in the city.

When they see these things taking place in their neighborhood, it changes things for the better.

I believe it makes the community safer and the city safer.

Are you able to take moments to reflect and celebrate the wins?

We celebrate them every day. The greatest thrill is being a part of making something happen and it may not always be the big project. If somebody has been living next to a lot that has been overgrown and they call in and we’re able to arrange to cut that weeded lot, for them, that’s a win and, for us, it’s something to celebrate.

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LEADERS 197

Outsourcing the HR Function An Interview with Paul Sarvadi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Insperity EDITORS’ NOTE Paul Sarvadi co-founded Insperity in 1986 and, in doing so, helped create a new industry of outsourcing human resources (HR). He is the author of Take Care of Your People: The Enlightened CEO’s Guide to Business Success.

He was recognized as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® in the service category in 2001 and inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 2007. Sarvadi attended Rice University and the University of Houston.

How do you define the Insperity advantage?

What’s interesting about Insperity is that we have a significant, competitive distinction in three areas. This is our breadth of services, the depth of our services and the level of care. We have always been the provider that is most integrated into the customer’s business really helping them to accomplish what they’re trying to do by enabling them to focus on their core business. The Paul Sarvadi breadth of our services covers the entire HR arena.

Then there is the depth of our services. Not COMPANY BRIEF Insperity (insperity.com) only do we manage employee benefits plans, but is headquartered in Kingwood, Texas, a com- we also have valuable technical, legal and regulamunity located northeast of Houston, and pro- tory expertise helping customers stay in complivides HR and business performance solutions ance day in and day out. for small and medium-sized businesses. It supThe area that is the easiest to differentiate is ports more than 100,000 businesses that range the level of care our people provide to our clients. in size from five to 5,000 employees. The com- We have incredible people at Insperity who we pany has more than 3,300 corporate employ- care for and they in turn take care of our clients. ees in 77 offices across the U.S. This is distinguishable in the marketplace.

Will you discuss the founding of Insperity?

We started in Kingwood, Texas back in 1986. The unique part was that we started both the company and the industry of outsourcing the HR function. The first year we faced numerous developmental, legal and regulatory issues that had to be overcome because we disrupted the entire employment structure. We eventually went public in 1997 and have operated as a public company for over 20 years.

Is Insperity’s client profile primarily small and mid-sized businesses?

It is very interesting. We started by working with very small companies. We were designed for small businesses with less than 100 employees. The company has evolved and now works with distinct segments. While we still focus on the small business segment and continue to grow it dramatically, we also have what we refer to as emerging growth companies that have just over 100 employees.

In addition, we serve middle-market companies that have 200 or 300 employees to 1,000.

Finally, we have built what we call enterprise accounts because we’re selling accounts and serving customers that have as many as 3,000 or 4,000 employees.

198 LEADERS

It’s really important for us to have a values-driven and values-based organization.

Do you work at multiple levels within client companies?

This is very important. We definitely have a relationship with the CEO and others at multiple levels within the organizations we serve, especially if they are mid-market and enterprise customers. We have a customized service plan that literally links a group of people on our side with a group of people at the client company to make sure that our services are being developed and utilized in an effective fashion.

Is it important to build a diverse workforce?

It’s really important for us to have a valuesdriven and values-based organization. When we’re hiring talent, we’re looking for people who have the right heart for the small and mid-sized business community. We’re proud of the fact that we have a very diverse workforce. It’s extremely important to us.

How is technology impacting the HR space?

Technology in the HR space has been fantastic in terms of the way it’s developed to the point that it’s benefitting day-to-day activities. We describe our approach to technology as softwarewith-a-service, not software-as-a-service.

We bring our technology platform to the table with the people who are going to be using it alongside the client day in and day out. There’s literally no integration time. It’s operating, and the customers receive the full effect of it from the day we start. It’s been important in the growth and development of the company and in our ability to do more for the customer in an efficient manner, while also controlling costs.

How critical is it for Insperity to be a good corporate citizen and engaged in the communities it serves?

This is part of being a values-driven organization. One of our primary values is to contribute to the communities where we live and work. We do a tremendous amount of charitable giving. We have a community involvement team that has built a network with our offices across the country.

Being headquartered in the Houston area, what do you see as the strengths of Houston from a business standpoint?

I have always been proud that we’re headquartered in Houston. Houston is such an entrepreneurial city. It has such a diverse community with a very welcoming environment. I think all of these things play well for businesses and business growth. Over the years, Houston has also become more diverse in terms of the types of industries that are succeeding here.

Insperity is a true success story and is a pioneer in the industry. Are you able to take moments to reflect and appreciate what you have achieved?

That’s a good question. We actually have those times when we look back and celebrate the milestones. We have a lot to be proud of here in terms of our people, how accomplished they are, and what they’re able to do in terms of executing day in and day out.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

The Amegy Story An Interview with Steve Stephens, Chief Executive Officer, Amegy Bank EDITORS’ NOTE A founding execubanking state. It was a unit banking tive of Amegy Bank, Steve Stephens state. There were no branches. began his banking career in 1980 at The energy sector had a tremenTexas Commerce Bank (Chase) where dous downturn beginning in 1983, and he joined the lending officer developthe Texas economy essentially colment program. Over a 10-year period lapsed. The state legislation changed of commercial banking experiences, the state law and allowed out-of-state Stephens became executive vice prescapital and out-of-state banks to come ident in commercial lending for Texas to Texas. The national banks – Chase Commerce – Reagan. Stephens joined Bank, Wells Fargo from California and Walter Johnson (Southwest Bank of others – entered Texas for the first time.

Texas) in 1990 as executive vice presiWalter Johnson, a Texas banking Steve Stephens dent. During his tenure at Amegy, he legend and founding chairman of has led the bank’s commercial bankAmegy, saw what was happening and ing, retail and private banking activities. He also said, “We need to start a locally-owned commerserves as Executive Vice President and a member cial bank based in Houston.” He approached of the Executive Management Committee of Amegy me and a few others to start the bank, as we Bank parent Zions Bancorporation. Stephens cur- had a good perspective of the business owners rently serves as Board Chair and member of Boys who needed our help while the new owners of & Girls Country, and on the boards of United Way Texas banks were hesitant to lend during this of Greater Houston, Greater Houston Partnership, transitional period. The most significant reality and Hobby Center Foundation. He supports Houston in the aftermath of Houston’s economic collapse Methodist as chairperson of the President’s Leadership was the demise of the city’s legacy wealth. The Council and as a member of the Society for Leading wealth and economy of Houston was turned Medicine. He is Senior Fellow of the American upside-down from 1983 to 1990. In hindsight, the Leadership Forum. Previously, Stephens served on the opportunity to work hard, start/restart your own 2016 advisory committee for the Export-Import Bank business and create wealth was unprecedented. of the United States (Ex-Im Bank). Stephens attended I’ve always been proud of Houston because Texas Christian University and received his B.B.A. in you can be rewarded for hard work and an accounting from the University of Houston. entrepreneurial mindset. This is an underlying story line, not only to our bank, but to this city.

COMPANY BRIEF Amegy Bank (amegybank.com), The reset of the Houston economy after the ’80s a division of Zions Bancorporation, N.A., is a collapse accelerated a broader and more diverse leading Texas bank with nearly $13 billion in opportunity for a better life for Houstonians. assets and approximately 1,600 employees. With We were the first local bank that came out more than 75 locations across Houston, Dallas- of the ashes in a meaningful way. We benefitted Fort Worth and Central Texas, Amegy is dedicated from the uncertainty of the economy, though we to serving Texas communities, families and didn’t realize it at the time. Everybody thought businesses. Founded in 1990, Amegy has a strong we were crazy, but it was the right time because tradition of relationship banking, local deci- the economy started recovering. The wealth sion-making and financial knowledge. Amegy spe- creation in Houston, and the broad participacializes in banking businesses of all sizes and has tion of that wealth, is unprecedented relative to the resources to provide financing, treasury man- other large, urban cities in the U.S. agement solutions, international banking, as well Will you discuss how Houston has as other specialized services. Amegy offers individu- diversified from being mainly an energy als and families a wide range of depository, lend- city to attracting other industries? ing and mortgage solutions.

Houston evolved from an approximately 80 percent energy dependent town to 50 perWill you highlight the history and heri- cent today. Things have diversified in a numtage of Amegy Bank and how it has evolved? ber of ways. One is the Houston Ship Channel, We were originally Southwest Bank of Texas which handles the most foreign tonnage of any before we changed to Amegy Bank of Texas. Up port city in the U.S., making Houston a critical until 1987, no out-of-state banks were allowed logistics and shipping center. Of course, many to do business in Texas. Texas was an intrastate of those shipped products are energy-related.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

Houston has the world’s largest healthcare center, with much of its history influenced by the wealth of the energy sector, though its growth is influenced today by Houston’s diverse population.

The other big change is the proliferation of the midstream and downstream sectors of energy. The upstream – the production of oil and gas reserves – benefited from fracking technology. The midstream sector is the transportation and storage of oil and gas reserves. Finally, increased production led to growth in the downstream sector, petrochemical and refining industries. The big boom in Houston over the past ten years has been the chemical side, which is very different than upstream energy because the chemical industry is driven by cheaper natural gas prices. The U.S. percentage of the petrochemical and plastics industry has gone from approximately 20 percent of the global market share to a projected 50 percent. The domestic chemical industry has been transformed, and it provides a lot of good, bluecollar jobs that pay well.

Is there a strong public/private partnership in Houston to address the needs of the City?

A strong partnership starts with making sure you have organizations that are committed to convening the different sectors, and we are fortunate to have a variety of organizations dedicated to that effort in Houston. One is the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP), which is our version of the chamber of commerce.

They’ve addressed many issues over recent years that impact good commerce, from immigration to pension plan reform. GHP has done an effective job of focusing on what’s good for the community and for business and less on political partisanship. The whole community is well represented at GHP. The second one is United Way of Greater Houston, which is very well-organized and convenes with other charities to jointly address issues in the community. They were instrumental when Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston and remained dedicated to a holistic approach to support and improve the lives of those either in poverty or impacted by events like Hurricane Harvey.

These organizations are two well-respected examples of fostering public/private sector cooperation in Houston.

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Solving Tomorrow’s Aviation Challenges An Interview with Daniel Baker, Chief Executive Officer, FlightAware EDITORS’ NOTE Daniel Baker is Will you highlight the history and the founder of FlightAware and heritage of FlightAware and how has served as Chief Executive the business has evolved?

Officer since 2005. He is one of Given my background in softthe principal developers of the ware development, small business, FlightAware technology and, in and as a pilot, I started FlightAware his current role, directs all of the in 2005 as a hobby. The goal at the business units, leads worldwide time was to provide a transparent business development and drives web interface into the nation’s air corporate growth. Baker has years traffic control system with the target of experience as a driving archimarket being pilots and other operatect of rapid growth businesses tors of airplanes.

Daniel Baker fr om both the technology and It became evident very quickly business sides as well as enterprise after launching the free website that sales and partnerships with Fortune 500 com- there was tremendous interest from the industry panies and governments. He has been in the and that there were a lot of technical and data Internet services business for over two decades challenges that people were seeing throughand is a published author on the subject of out the aviation ecosystem that I was able Internet protocols. He is a regular speaker at to help with. We were fielding phone calls not aviation and technology conferences and just from FBOs, charter companies and flight serves as a member of the Board of Directors departments, but also from small airlines, cargo at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air companies and airport operators. We have and Space Museum and the General Aviation grown ever since then to the point of not only Manufacturers Association. Baker is a pas- having coverage worldwide in the air and on sionate photographer, cyclist, and pilot hold- the ground, but also to providing services. We ing an FAA Commercial Pilot certificate. have several sales offices around the world with more than 10,000 customers in business aviation COMPANY BRIEF FlightAware (flightaware.com) and 100 in the airline space. is a digital aviation company that operates the We have approximately 100 employees world’s largest flight tracking and data plat- right now, most of whom are in our Houston form. With global connectivity to every seg- office. Most of our employees focus on software ment of aviation, FlightAware provides over development and engineering, finding ways to 10,000 aircraft operators and service provid- leverage the latest technology in industry to ers, as well as over 12,000,000 passengers, with solve tomorrow’s aviation challenges. We have global flight tracking solutions, predictive tech- evolved into a company that uses everything nology, analytics and decision-making tools. from artificial intelligence to machine learnFlightAware receives data from air traffic con- ing to predict the future for airlines and airport trol systems in over 45 countries, as well as the operators. company’s network of ADS-B ground stations We recently announced that Frankfurt in 198 countries, Aireon global space-based A i r p o r t i n G e r m a n y w i l l b e g i n t o u s e global ADS-B, and datalink (satellite/VHF) FlightAware’s predictive technology to detervia every major provider, including ARINC, mine the order and time of flight arrivals for SITA, Satcom Direct, Garmin, and Honeywell the purpose of both gate/stand assignments and GoDirect. FlightAware’s HyperFeed® engine also for personnel and other types of schedulseamlessly fuses thousands of real-time, global ing, allowing for better airfield efficiency and data sources with FlightAware’s proprietary resource allocation. The impacts of our business AI models and algorithms. Leveraging this are far and wide. data with FlightAware’s powerful and reliWith the speed of change in technolable web-based interfaces and APIs yields the ogy, how critical is it to put innovation at world’s most comprehensive and capable flight the core of FlightAware’s culture? tracking and digital aviation data platform.

About five years after I started the comFounded in 2005, FlightAware is privately- pany, I realized that we had gone from being held with offices in Houston, New York City the most innovative company founded on the and Singapore. latest technology at the time to a company that 200 LEADERS

was beginning to have some legacy issues and that was using some older technology.

It became very clear to us that we needed to constantly reinvent, reengineer, iterate and, sometimes, even throw things out and find an entirely new way. In fact, we have a team here called the NextGen team that doesn’t really develop products or have a specific mandate.

Instead, they will bolt onto another team for six months to two years and try to take the way that something has been done and reinvent it in a way that is multiple orders of magnitude better using the latest technology.

Where do you see the greatest opportunities for growth?

Our growth will come from using machine learning to leverage all of our 1.5 petabytes of data to further enhance our predictive technology. We’re talking about predicting flight delays, gate conflicts, taxi times as well as de-icing events and de-icing durations.

What we have done has been amazing and I am very proud of it, but this is 100 times as big. This is being able to prevent delays rather than just report them. This is being able to save people a lot of time by preventing issues rather than just setting expectations so that people can modify their plans and try and be as efficient as possible.

We are already having success with this, and the industry is perhaps even more excited than we are about what we’re doing.

FlightAware is headquartered in Houston.

What do you see as the strengths of Houston from a business standpoint?

Houston is an extremely large, diverse, cosmopolitan and low-cost city relative to cities of comparable size across the U.S. and the world. It is located in the center of the U.S. with short flights to anywhere in North America and non-stop service to most places in the world.

There’s also a great talent pool here. We do an incredible amount of computer science and mass recruiting from Rice University, for example.

With the energy, healthcare and other sectors in Houston all being supported by technology, Houston is now one of the country’s top technology hubs.

Meanwhile, we enjoy all of the resources, infrastructure, parks and sense of connectivity that come from being in one of the largest cities in North America.

•

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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ifestyle Built to Win An Interview with Mike Flewitt, Chief Executive Officer, McLaren Automotive

Mike Flewitt, Chief Executive Officer, McLaren Automotive

EDITORS’ NOTE Mike Flewitt joined McLaren Automotive as Chief Operating Officer in June 2012 and became Chief Executive Officer in July 2013. Prior to joining McLaren, he was Vice President, Manufacturing, Ford of Europe, and Corporate Officer, Ford Motor Company. Before joining Ford, Flewitt held senior manufacturing and operations roles at TWR Group Limited, AutoNova AB, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Bentley Motors. He qualified in Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering and completed a post-graduate qualification in Management and Project Management at the University of Salford.

COMPANY BRIEF McLaren Group (mclaren.com) is globally-renowned as one of the world’s most illustrious high-technology brands. Since the formation of McLaren Racing in 1963, McLaren has been pioneering and innovating in the competitive world of Formula 1, forging a formidable reputation which has seen the racing team win 20 World Championships and over 180 races. The Group has built on its successful racing expertise and diversified to include a global, high-performance sportscar and supercar business, McLaren Automotive, and a game-changing technology 202 LEADERS

and innovation business, McLaren Applied Technologies. McLaren Automotive is now the largest part of the combined Group and currently accounts for 85 percent of Group turnover and counts North America as its largest market.

Will you highlight the history of McLaren and how the brand has evolved?

It is a really interesting history and a little different than many other companies. We were founded by Bruce McLaren in 1963. Bruce was a New Zealand race-car designer, driver, engineer and inventor. He did work for a U.K. company called Cooper, which was John Cooper’s company, and was successful with them. He set up McLaren Racing in 1963 and developed it all the way through to 1970 when he tragically died testing one of our cars at just the age of 32.

What was unique about Bruce was that he was the leading engineer in the company, he was the leading driver and won Formula One races and Can-Am races, and he was an entrepreneur.

If you put that in today’s context – chief engineer, chief racing driver, and chief businessman – these are three different jobs, but Bruce did all of them which is unique.

McLaren Technology Centre, Woking, England

The company progressed through the 1970s in Can-Am, in IndyCar and in Formula One, winning a few Indy 500s and a few Formula 1 championships with people like James Hunt and Emerson Fittipaldi. It was building its reputation and then Ron Dennis came along in 1980 and took over the reins of the business and ran the business for 37 years, making McLaren one of the most successful teams ever in Formula One. That really built the reputation of the brand. Along the way, we built and grew the automotive company that we have now and sold our first car in June 2011.

McLaren today is a very powerful brand which is about motorsport, racing and driving.

Our cars are supercars and people love supercars for all kinds of reasons, but what differentiates us and is our defining attribute is the way that the car drives.

What is the target market for McLaren?

It is a niche market if you take it in the broadest possible sense. In 2018 there were 94 million cars sold in the world. Out of those 94 million, 4,800 were McLarens, so clearly our cars are for a niche market. Having said that, we’re now a significant player in the segment we’re in, in the supercar segment. In many markets we’re outselling Lamborghini and Aston Martin. There are even markets where we outsold Ferrari, albeit not in total volume globally.

We are also expanding into the GT (Grand Tourer) segment in the fall this year with the new McLaren GT, but only in a way that is true to our DNA of lightweight performance.

McLaren is a true competitor now in our segment and I think when you look for who the McLaren customer is, I would say in many ways we are an enthusiast brand. Our customers tend to be well informed and are people who fundamentally love driving and love motorsports and have bought into the McLaren brand. Our customers also love technology because one of the things that enables our cars to be leaders in their driving dynamics is the technology we put into the cars.

How critical is technology to the strength and success of McLaren?

Technology is a key differentiator for McLaren and we use technology where it gives us a performance advantage. We invest in technology and then we develop it, such as lightweight carbon structures and all of our cars, race or road, have been built with lightweight carbon structures. This gives you a much stiffer VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

structure, and a stiffer structure enables things like the powertrain and chassis systems that hang off that structure to perform more consistently. They are also lighter, and a lighter car is a car that’s more agile and more nimble. We are using and investing in technology to give us attributes that bring real benefits to the driver.

Technology underpins our Track25 business plan and we’ll achieve 100 percent hybridization of our sportscars and supercars by 2025 which goes hand-in-hand with our focus on lightweight to achieve the performance characteristics that our customers expect of a McLaren.

When we design our cars, they’re very authentically designed. The features you see on the car are there because they enable performance, not because it looks cool. These are important principles. If you have those from day one when you start defining the car, it shapes what the car becomes, and rather than designing a car for the look and appeal, it is being created for performance and you end up with a very authentic product.

Will you highlight McLaren’s partnerships and collaborations with other leading global brands?

These relationships are very important and add real value. An example is Pirelli who supplies all of the tires that we have on our road and race cars. They’re a partner in the development of those tires and we fit those tires as standard equipment when we sell the car. We also fit them to our race cars out in the series. They’re absolutely critical to what we do, and it isn’t just a brand relationship. It’s a product/technology relationship.

Another important partnership would be with Bowers & Wilkins who provide the entertainment systems in our cars. They work with us on the development of the audio equipment and we have a pretty big piece of audio equipment in the engine. They work on developing that with us, so they are our partner in the development of the car. We also sell licensed products with them based on our deep relationship such as putting the McLaren name on a set of headphones.

We partner with Richard Mille, a leading watch brand and we have a lot of commonality

The new McLaren Grand Tourer

with that brand. We’ve done work together on developing lightweight materials that Richard has used in his watches. We have a common customer base. Richard sells around 5,000 watches a year and we sell about 5,000 cars a year. We sell broadly into the same demographic and into the same geographic distribution. We also do a lot of events together.

What matters to us for any partnership or collaboration that we enter is that it is an authentic relationship. We have to believe in the partnership.

How critical has it been to build the McLaren team and will you discuss your focus on attracting and retaining talent?

This is a huge challenge because in automotive terms we’re quite a small company.

We have fewer than 3,000 people. However, despite being a relatively small company and an independent company, we are competing globally with incredibly well-resourced

McLaren 720S Spider in belize blue VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

competitors. Our strength has to be the quality of the people we have, the leadership, and the direction that we give that team so that we’re really harnessing all our resources for the best result.

I think we have an absolutely outstanding international team. We have teams apart from the teams here at the head office who are doing engineering, design, development and manufacturing. We have a team in the U.S. that looks after the North American market; we have a team in Bahrain for the Middle East; we have teams in Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo for Asia, all committed to helping us understand the local markets and giving us a local focus and feel in each market.

I look at my priorities and my role in three parts. One is managing internal operations, giving direction to the team who are designing, engineering and manufacturing the car. Then there is the external role, working with customers, working with retailers, and getting our marketing message across. This is critical since there is no point in building something if you are not building the demand. The other focus is working with our shareholders and our investors. While they are definitely proud of McLaren and its products, this is a business and it needs to be a successful business.

With the success that McLaren has achieved under your leadership, are you able to take moments to enjoy the wins and appreciate what you have accomplished?

We take time to do this, and one of the things you learn as you get older and spend more time in business is that you need to put aside the time to celebrate. We celebrate successes. We display awards. We need to make it a commitment to do this since we’re quite relentless and never satisfied.

We will always be relentless in driving performance, whether that’s business performance or the performance attributes of our cars. That may be because we came out of a motorsport company. We’re incredibly competitive.

•

LEADERS 203

ifestyle Art as an Agent of Positive Change An Interview with Romero Britto, Britto Central

Romero Britto’s Deep Love (above), Always in Black (below) and Summer Bear sculpture (lower left)

EDITORS’ NOTE Romero Britto sculpture in Hyde Park (London) his(britto.com) has created a comtory. He served as an official artist for pletely new expression that reflects the 2010 World Cup and was appointed his optimistic faith in the world Ambassador to the 2014 FIFA World around him. Alluding to influences Cup Brazil. Britto’s pop sensibility has of early and modern masters, Britto’s since lent itself to many collaborapulsating colors, pop themes, and tions with such brands as Audi, commanding compositions have led Bentley, Coca-Cola, Disney, Evian, to his becoming one of the premier Hublot, Mattel, and Technomarine. contemporary artists of his generaHe is an artistic activist for charitable tion. Britto lived an extremely modorganizations worldwide and, most est lifestyle while growing up among of all, an artist who believes “art is too Romero Britto eight brothers and sisters in Recife, important not to share.” He serves as Brazil. However, his innate creativa benefactor, donating time, art, and ity allowed him to fill his life with vibrant color resources to over 250 charitable organizations and images of a beautiful world. He traveled to and sits on several boards, such as Best Buddies Europe in 1983 to examine firsthand the art of International and St. Jude’s Children’s Research the masters. After exhibiting in a few galleries and Hospital. Britto was named an inaugural foundprivate shows, Britto was encouraged to travel to ing benefactor of the Harvard International the U.S., where pop art was flourishing. He moved Negotiation Program by Daniel Shapiro, a proto Miami and set up a studio that was open to the gram that seeks peaceful resolution to modern public. Britto spent the next few years exhibiting conflict. Britto has been selected several times to and attracting the attention of many. In 1988, he be a speaker for the arts at the World Economic was selected alongside Andy Warhol and Keith Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A firm believer in Haring for Absolut Vodka’s “Absolut Art” cam- the role of an artist as an agent of positive change, paign. Romero Britto has since been exhibited he is committed to developing and supporting the in galleries and museums in over 100 countries, powerful role art plays in world issues. including the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux Arts exhibition at the Carrousel du Louvre How do you describe your work? in 2008 and 2010. In December 2013, Maria I create images that are very pleasing to my Elena and Carlos Slim Domit invited Britto to be eyes and to my heart and I share these with peothe first living artist to exhibit at Museo Soumaya. ple out there. One thing I realized through the He has created public art installations for the 02 years was that people are drawn to something Dome (Berlin), John F. Kennedy Airport (New that’s positive and happy, and that describes the York), Cirque du Soleil at Super Bowl XLI, and art that I create. has been credited with the largest monumental Are there certain characteristics that are a part of every Britto piece of art?

I put lots of love in my work. Maybe that is what it is, seeing love. I think that is one thing that is constantly in my work. I realized this after years of listening to people ask me about the love that I put in my art, the hope that my art conveys. This is displayed through colors and shapes.

How did growing up in Brazil impact your art?

Growing up in Brazil, my universe was very small. It was not very hopeful or full of dreams or full of encouragement.

So moving to U.S. had a very big impact on my life and it has been really amazing seeing everything unfold. Many people think my success has been fast and easy, but the truth is that it was very challenging. It has been a 204 LEADERS

mix of ups and downs, but at the end I have been very lucky.

You have had the opportunity to work with leading corporations and brands around the world. Will you discuss these partnerships?

Today’s art world is not just about museums or galleries, it also includes huge corporations that have access to millions of people, such as Coca-Cola or Mattel, that I have had the pleasure of working with. They have an incredible history and heritage, and people believe in what they do.

I treasure these relationships because they bring my art to millions of people. It would be very hard for an artist to get this type of exposure without working with a company that reaches millions of people so quickly and so effectively.

Are you able to find time to visit schools and mentor young artists?

I used to visit many schools and colleges. I still try to do this as much as I can, but it is hard to find the time with the demand for my work.

I enjoy sharing my life story to someone who is starting out in their career or thinking about being an artist.

I try as often as possible to be out there to share my story and I hope as I get much older that I am going to be able to do this even more.

•

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

ifestyle Bar-Quality Cocktails on Demand An Interview with Ryan Close, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bartesian Corp.

EDITORS’ NOTE Ryan Close has Like in college, you have the built and led successful sales and silo cups, booze and juice, and put it marketing teams for over a decade all on a table. and is set to deliver his gr eatAfter college, when we’re trying est accomplishment yet – disruptto be “adult,” we’re typically doing ing the cocktail world by bringing the same thing. The booze may be a the first premium capsule-based little bit better, but you’re still laying cocktail machine to market. His out a bunch of ingredients on a table persistent drive and keen strateexpecting your guests to have at it. gic insight along with a mindful Bartesian allows you to have a and modern leadership approach very sleek, innovative product that has helped him to orchestrate the looks sexy on your countertop and Ryan Close recruitment and growth of top tier doesn’t take up much space. Guests talent. Close identifies and execan pick any cocktail they want from cutes creative win-win partnerships with key a Negroni, Sazerac, Margarita, Old Fashioned, to players to effect intrinsic value for stakehold- others and in 20 seconds they enjoy a premium ers. His intricate decisions and directives over cocktail. the past five years developing the Bartesian are ready to be revealed. Explosive sales are anticipated from the home consumer, hotels, and stadiums across North America.

COMPANY BRIEF Bartesian (bartesian.com) is elevating the cocktail experience by offering premium cocktails without the hassle through its unique single-server cocktail maker. Bartesian creates bar-quality cocktails on demand, providing an effortless way to serve and enjoy premium cocktails at home.

What was your vision for creating Bartesian?

It was a culmination of several factors. I bartended to put myself through college, but I was lousy at it.

Right out of college, I was basically a fixer and would go into small and mediumsized companies to improve sales and operations. I would report directly to the CEO and I would go in as a change-maker for these companies.

I was always hustling on the side with small entrepreneurial ventures, but nothing was really lighting me up and I couldn’t justify leaving my full-time role to fully dive in. Bartesian was a passion project that I could really get behind and throw everything I had into it. I knew it would be a real disruptor.

When I tended bar in hotels, I’d have to push this big awkward bar on wheels into the banquet halls and only offered basic plus one cocktails (e.g., rum and cola). The experience wasn’t fun for me or the guests, the ingredients were average and the measuring was inconsistent.

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

You use your own spirits, so you control the quality. We’re the perfect addition for the discerning customer who appreciates a quick and easy way to make a great cocktail.

Will you discuss your focus on quality?

We were at a crossroads a year and a half ago, where we were splitting our limited resources between developing the appliance – as a hardware company - and creating the capsules, a CPG (consumer-packaged good). We decided to license the appliance to a highly reputable partner who manufacture and distribute Bartesian across North America. This allowed us to focus on the capsules and ensuring that the taste and quality are at the highest level, which aligned with our mission of creating an authentic cocktail.

Bartesian creates bar-quality cocktails on demand

Bartesian cocktail capsules

How have you been able to offer a high-quality product at an af fordable price point?

It is challenging and part of the reason why we licensed the appliance to an established firm. We were determined to not cut corners.

By leveraging higher volume purchases of noncustom parts, we reduced the cost of goods, allowing us to sell it at $349.

What are your expectations for growth?

We’ve already sold thousands of units and have demand for more than 50,000 machines in 2019. We expect to grow to well over 100,000 units by 2021. We have all the e-commerce websites, and we haven’t even turned on the marketing spend yet. We’ve partnered with Best Buy, Bloomingdales, and several other premium retailers to launch instore October 2019.

We also have secured partnerships with hotels (e.g., Hyatt), stadiums (e.g., Wrigley) and other entertainment venues.

As an entrepreneur always looking to the future, are you able to appreciate and enjoy what you are building with Bartesian?

It’s a very interesting question. It makes me think about the time when my wife and I were hiking in Hawaii before we had kids.

It was gorgeous and I spent the whole time racing to get to the end. I don’t think I looked around once to actually appreciate where we were. I was too focused on achieving a successful completion.

I am working hard to remember this lesson and what I missed out on by trying to enjoy the process rather than only the outcome. Life is short and there’s always going to be that next place that you need to get to.

•

LEADERS 205

ifestyle Fulfilling a Passion An Interview with Eli Wilner, Chief Executive Officer, Eli Wilner & Company EDITORS’ NOTE Eli Wilner is a leading frame dealer, frame restorer, and collector, as well as an acknowledged and published authority on the art of framing. His publications include Antique American Frames: Identification and Price Guide, and The Gilded Edge. Wilner has framed over 10,000 paintings, including the spectacular frame for Washington Crossing the Delaware for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and 28 paintings for the White House. Recently, Eli Wilner gave a presentation at the International Foundation for Art Research’s evening event, “What Frames Can Tell Us,” held at Christie’s New York. Eli Wilner has been doing frame evaluations and appraisals since 1978.

COMPANY BRIEF Eli Wilner & Company (eliwilner.com) is a Manhattan gallery, located on New York City’s Upper East Side. For over 30 years, Eli Wilner & Company has specialized in European and American period frames and frame r estoration, boasting a vast inventory of over 3,500 frames (valued at over $120 million) spanning the 15th century through the present. Since 1983, Eli Wilner & Company has published over 100 articles about antique frames, and collaborated extensively with curators from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

206 LEADERS

A selection of paintings by Eli Wilner will be displayed at his exhibition at the James Lamantia Gallery in Northport, Long Island on October 25th and 26th

LaMantia Gallery because I like the gallery owner and I felt that he was very sympathetic to what I was working on and how I saw my vision of the world.

What can people expect from this exhibit?

It is a newly renovated gallery in Northport, Long Island. It will have 100 of my paintings on view, ranging in size from 8 by 10 inches to 3 by 4 feet. I will be there for the opening and parts of the show, and then the paintings will be shipped to galleries nationally and internationally.

Do you work on multiple paintings or are you focused on one painting at a time?

I enjoy working on three or four paintings at the same time. I let them dry, varnish them, and leave them lying around while I work on another set of three or four paintings. I keep that process going, introducing new elements from each series of paintings into the previous series, until I feel a piece is finished.

While you have been a leader in the art framing world for many years, you also have a passion for painting. Will you discuss your work as an artist?

It has been a long, simmering passion. I have my master’s degree in fine art from Hunter College and I’ve been painting since the age of five. All through my framing career, I have dabbled from time to time in drawings and paintings and taking photographs and writing poetry. About three months ago, I began the transition into attempting a daily regimen of painting and it has taken off.

It has become an addiction. I can’t go through a day without painting for several hours. It is the joy I found in my life.

Is there a certain style that characterizes your work?

I think that basically a bridge between the German Expressionists and Romantic painters is how I see myself. I try to tell a story within my paintings. It is very abstract and very personal and it’s my storyline, so it becomes an abstract statement.

It is really a way for me to evoke emotions and thoughts about life that I’ve gained by living in Montauk for the last 25 years.

Will you discuss your Montauk Moments exhibit?

I chose a Long Island gallery for the exhibit because of the connection to Montauk being in Long Island. I chose to be exclusively represented by the

Do you look at your paintings as a business or is more about following a passion?

This is about fulfilling my passion. My intention is to get the artwork into collections, whether public or private, since I like them to be enjoyed by others. I am not focused on the business side, but my goal is for proceeds to go to charity.

•

VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

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Editors’

CHOICE Lotte New York Palace Lotte New York Palace (lottenypalace.com) has long been the venue of choice for travelling businessmen, society events and family vacations alike. With its close proximity to Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue shopping and Grand Central Terminal and other venerated New York locals, it is an oasis from the bustle of Midtown Manhattan. With the iconic Villard Mansion and courtyard in the foreground, built

by Henry Villard in 1882, the hotel effortlessly blends the long-standing traditions and history of the mansion with the modern conveniences and comforts necessary to bring the hotel into the 21st century.

The hotel boasts 909 guestrooms, including 176 luxury Towers rooms and suites, which provide unparalleled skyline views of Manhattan and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. These are some of the most highly sought-after hotel rooms in New York City. The Towers is home to four triplex suites, one of which, the Jewel Suite, was designed in collaboration with celebrity jewelry designer Martin Katz. While the two-story crystal chandelier is the most striking element of the one-of-a-kind suite, it features two spacious bedrooms, a mirrored-dining table for ten, and an expansive terrace complete with a stone spa.

While staying in the suite, guests receive a complimentary Martin Katz diamond microband ring and may request an in-suite private consultation with the Martin Katz team.

208 LEADERS

Lotte New York Palace exterior (top left); Gold Room Bar (top right); The Jewel Suite by Martin Katz living area (above ) and terrace (lower left); Cathedral View King Suite (lower right)

There are multiple dining options at Lotte New York Palace, ranging from the extensive and indulgent in-room dining and catering menus, to the luxurious Villard Restaurant located in the landmarked Villard Mansion. As regal today as it was in 1882, Villard Restaurant is a sought-after “breakfast room” in the mornings, offering New American cuisine for breakfast and brunch, before transitioning into the Gold Room Bar in the evening, serving signature cocktails and shared plates. For true connoisseurs, Rarities, a 25-seat lounge on the mezzanine level, is by invitation only.

Carrying on Henry Villard’s legacy as a warm and gracious host to the world’s elite in the 19th century, Rarities brings together industry leaders and their guests for curated experiences with winemakers and master distillers, enjoying exceptional Champagnes, pre-prohibition bottled spirits, modern classics and an expansive wine cellar.

Lotte New York Palace also offers over 30,000 square feet of meeting space, with 23 event rooms accommodating up to 600 guests.

The Villard Ballroom and landmark Villard Mansion spaces are two of the most coveted options for weddings and other social gatherings.

Events are meticulously planned and catered by the hotel, with a team of experienced planners, designers, and concierge on site, ensuring that every need and want is met.

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VOLUME 42, NUMBER 4

CARLTON FINE ARTS LTD. 㔀㌀㈀ 䴀愀d椀猀漀渀 A瘀攀Ⰰ 一攀眀 夀漀爀欀Ⰰ 一夀 100㈀㈀ P栀漀渀攀: ㈀1㈀ⴀ㔀㤀㌀ⴀ㈀800 | 䘀愀x: ㈀1㈀ⴀ㔀㤀㌀ⴀ㈀80㈀ | E洀愀椀氀: 椀渀昀漀@挀愀爀氀琀漀渀昀愀.挀漀洀

It turns out you can have it all The comfort of a grand tourer. The performance of a McLaren.

McLaren GT cars.mclaren.com