BoardBench: Our strength is in who we are.
Our principals, employees, and advisors all share commonalities: we are all inquisitive, thoughtful, creative, precise, personable, and most importantly, passionately protective of the reputation of our clients, our directors, candidates, ourselves, each other, and our company: BoardBench.
Nancy May
President and CEO
Nancy May is CEO of The BoardBench Companies the parent company of BoardBench®, the Women’s Global Business Alliance and Peer Counsel®. Ms. May has more than 25 years experience as a strategic advisor to CEOs and executive management in evaluating, designing, developing, and implementing strategic business opportunities. Utilizing both new and trusted methodologies and technologies, she has worked in a broad variety of industries including: automotive, energy/utilities, technology, healthcare, consumer goods and services, education, financial services, industrial manufacturing, media, communications and others.
Ms. May currently serves on the Board of Economic Ventures Inc., a company that develops and provides economic and entrepreneurial educational programs. She has also served on the advisory boards of emerging high-growth consumer goods and technology companies. In addition, she served on the Board of Directors of the Girl Scout Council, Connecticut, where she chaired the Nominating Committee, and has served on the boards of and actively supports a number of international and regional women’s organizations including the International Women’s Forum, American Women’s Economic Development Corporation, the founding chapter of the World Affairs Council’s Global Women’s Issues Forum, and others. She is a current member of the Economic Club of New York, the Financial Women' s Association, HR People & Strategy, and the World Affairs Forum.
Ms. May has been honored by government and industry organizations for her work and support of women, was named in 1998 as Connecticut’s Women’s Business Advocate of the Year, and was invited to meet President Clinton as one of the nation’s top business leaders. Ms. May has been a guest lecturer and presenter for numerous business and professional organizations, including the Financial Executive Institute, The Conference Board, National Geographic Films, and numerous college and university graduate and director education programs.
Robert Antonion
SVP Operations
Robert Antonion is well known for his work and expertise in Corporate Governance, Operational Audit, and Internal Control Education. His industry experience ranges from financial services to federal, state and local government, and the transportation industry. Prior to joining BoardBench, he worked with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York, the worlds’ largest transportation organization, where he was responsible for operational audits and oversight of the organization’s seven agencies and subsidiaries. His work included administration of the consolidated Audit Services Department as well as coordination and oversight of the agency’s corporate governance functions.
Mr. Antonion was instrumental in developing the managerial internal control evaluation and reporting systems for each of the MTA’s Agencies (NYC Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Metro North Railroad, MTA Bridges and Tunnels, MTA Bus, and MTA Capital Construction). He also developed management education programs and tools for internal control enhancements used by the MTA and numerous New York State Agencies. In addition, he managed all staff support for MTA’s Audit Committee, and provided research and guidance on corporate governance issues to the Board and Executive Management.
Throughout his career, Mr. Antonion has been involved in developing concepts that evolved into today’s understandings of corporate governance, board responsibilities, and management’s evaluation, improvement, and reporting on internal controls. He is a Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Fraud Examiner, and Certified Control Self Assessment Facilitator, with an MBA in Financial Management from Iona College.
Advisors:
Michael (Mike) Critelli
Michael J. Critelli has had a long and distinguished career as a company, industry, and community leader. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Eaton Corporation. He served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Pitney Bowes Inc. from 1997 to 2007 and served on its board until the end of 2008. As Executive Chairman, he led the company's focus on emerging opportunities in the external environment, including postal reform and transformation in the U. S. and globally, and market opportunities arising from the company's innovation and leadership in areas such as health care, government services and corporate social responsibility. He also concentrated on building upon the company's already strong positions in corporate governance. Under his leadership as CEO, the company evolved from a collection of diverse businesses into a focused Mailstream industry leader, while increasing revenue by 50%.
Mr. Critelli has been instrumental in leading the $900 billion mailing industry's efforts to articulate and promote its interests. He co-chairs the Mailing Industry Task force with the Deputy Postmaster General, and is also the Chairman of the Mailing Industry CEO Council that provided industry input and advice to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate on Postal Reform, the President's Commission on the Postal Service and the U.S. Postal Service Transformation Plan. He has also been a driver of technological innovation in the mailing industry, and has been awarded four U.S. patents for mailing technology.
His leadership also extends to health care, sustainable economic development, diversity, corporate governance and ethics, talent development and transportation. Mr. Critelli's passion and expertise in these areas have led to both personal and company awards and recognition.
He currently served as the Chairman of the Board of several non-profit organizations: the National Urban League Board of Trustees, the Connecticut Regional Institute for the 21st Century, a public policy think tank, and most recently, The Dossia Founders Group. In addition he has served on the Board of Trustees of Catalyst, and on the Board of Trustees for the Connecticut Center for Science and Exploration, which supports scientific education and endeavors in the State. He previously served on the Connecticut Transportation Strategy Board where he co-chaired the Board's Funding and Finance Working Group.
He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
Jack Devine
Jack Devine is a founding partner and President of The Arkin Group LLC, which specializes in international crisis management, strategic intelligence, investigative research and business problem solving. He is a 32-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency (“CIA”). Mr. Devine served as both Acting Director and Associate Director of CIA’s operations outside the United States from 1993-1995, where he had supervisory authority over thousands of CIA employees involved in sensitive missions throughout the world. In addition, he served as Chief of the Latin American Division from 1992-1993 and was the principal manager of the CIA’s sensitive projects in Latin America.
Between 1990 and 1992, Mr. Devine headed the CIA’s Counternarcotics Center, which was responsible for coordinating and building close cooperation between all major U.S. and foreign law enforcement agencies in tracking worldwide narcotics and crime organizations. From 1985-1987, Mr. Devine headed the CIA’s Afghan Task Force, which successfully countered Soviet aggression in the region. In 1987, he was awarded the CIA’s Meritorious Officer Award for this accomplishment.
Mr. Devine’s international experience with the U.S. government included postings to Latin America and Europe. During his more than 30 years with the CIA, Mr. Devine was involved in organizing, planning and executing countless sensitive projects in virtually all areas of intelligence, including analysis, operations, technology and management.
He is the recipient of the Agency’s Distinguished Intelligence Medal and several meritorious awards. He is a recognized expert in Intelligence matters and has written Op-Ed articles for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Foreign Affair Magazine, The World Policy Journal, Politico and The Atlantic Monthly. He has also made guest appearances on National Press Club, CNN, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, Fox News, CSPAN, Bloomberg News as well as the History and Discovery channels, PBS, NPR and ABC Radio.
In the private sector, Mr. Devine serves on Kohl’s Cyber Security Advisory Group as well as SAP National Security Services (NS2) Advisory Board. He previously served on the CyberCore Advisory Board and the Secretary of Navy’s Advisory Board. Mr. Devine resides in New York City and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He speaks Spanish and Italian.
Mr. Devine’s book, “Good Hunting! An American Spymaster’s Story”, a New York Times bestseller, was published in June 2014. It focuses on his Agency career and the role of Covert Action in the past and the future. He is represented by Leading Authorities for all speaking engagements. Book orders are handled by his Publishing Company, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Evelyn Follit
Evelyn Follit has been recognized as one of the top 10 CIOs in the U.S. She has over 35 years experience in the Information Technology industry, including eight years as SVP and Chief Information Officer of RadioShack. While under her leadership, RadioShack’s I/T operations were listed as one of the top 100 places to work. Prior employers have included AC Nielsen, Dun & Bradstreet, ITT, and IBM. Her broad-ranging responsibilities have provided a rich perspective on technology innovation, hardware design, software development, and the pricing of hardware, software, consumer electronics products and services.
Ms. Follit has served on the Board of Directors of Catalina Marketing Corporation (Audit Committee), People Business Network, GETCONNECTEDinc.com, Linens-N-Things (Audit Committee), Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., and Nautilus, Inc. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of TECO Energy, and the retail department store, Bealls, Inc.
Ms. Follit has also been a member of the Hewlett-Packard Cross Industries Board of Advisors, the Compaq Computer Board of Advisors, the Sprint Advisory Board, Microsoft's Retail Client Advisory Board, and RadioShack’s Corporate Citizenship Council, which was developed to oversee the company’s charitable activities.
A native of New York City, Evelyn has an MBA in finance and information systems, a BA in mathematics, and completed executive planning and technology programs at Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and MIT’s Sloan School.
Lynne Hall
L. Lynne Hall advises academic, corporate, and philanthropic organizations as well as venture investors on the avoidance of litigation and on creation, protection and extraction of maximum value from intellectual capital.
Prior to founding Management Counsel, Ms Hall established her reputation in the fields of strategic management predicated on scenario-based planning with General Electric and AT&T in the US, Royal Dutch Shell in Canada, and Arthur Andersen in the EU. In field enterprise development, she led initiatives in emerging economies for the Breton Woods Institutions including the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Development Program, and the World Bank.
Ms. Hall previously served on the EthicScan Advisory Board, and the editorial board of Corporate Ethics Monitor. She is a former Fellow of Institute of Directors and has served on the boards of the United Way of America, the Faculty of Management at the University of Toronto, and the Canadian Tire Corporation where she chaired the company’s inaugural Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility.
Educated at Harvard Business and Law Schools, Yale Law School, London School of Economics, and INSEAD, Ms. Hall, a Fulbright Fellow and recipient of the George C. Marshall Prize, was appointed as Executive-in-Residence at the Graduate School of Business Administration at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario where she conducted an influential study of Canadian graduate level business education. Subsequently, she was appointed Visiting Fellow at ESAN in Lima, Peru and later to the same position at the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management in Brussels, Belgium.
Among Ms. Hall’s publications are “Using Intellectual Assets as a Success Strategy,” Journal of Intellectual Capital; Latecomers Guide to the New Europe, American Management Association; Doing Business in the New Europe: How the Market Sees the Market, Andersen Consulting/Economist Intelligence Unit; “The New Europe,” The Financial Post; “Corporate Value: Hallmark of Corporate Success,” Business Week; New Management Competencies, The Conference Board; and The Future World of Work, American Management Association.
Kenneth (Ken) V. Handal, JD
Ken Handal is an expert in corporate ethics and compliance, governance, and risk management. He has 40 years of experience as an attorney and is well-versed expert in addressing legal, compliance and operational issues for companies facing a variety of external and internal challenges.
Mr. Handal served as General Counsel and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer for the The New York Racing Association, Inc (NYRA), a $2 billion racing and wagering company. He was hired to help rebuild the organization’s reputation after a national betting scandal. Prior to his work at NYRA, he served as President of Governance, Risk and Compliance for Guidepost Solutions LLC, a global leader in investigations, compliance, monitoring, and risk management solutions. Previously he served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of CA Technologies, Inc. (formerly Computer Associates). While there, he led the company’s global risk and compliance group where he oversaw compliance with its deferred prosecution agreement concerning conduct prior to his joining the firm. Before CA, Mr. Handal was Associate General Counsel and Compliance Counsel for Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris, Kraft Foods, and Miller Beer, where he also oversaw critical litigation.
He has been recognized for establishing in-house pro bono advisory programs for both CA and Altria. Before Altria, Mr. Handal was a Partner with the law firm of Arnold & Porter, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Criminal Division, and served as a law clerk to Judge Robert A. Ainsworth, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Mr. Handal currently serves as the Founding Member on the Board of Advisors and on Audit and Compliance Committee of the Hospital for Special Surgery. He has served on the boards of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, The Legal Aid Society, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York Fund, Inc., New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, the International League for Human Rights, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Convent of the Sacred Heart, and Corporate Counsel magazine. Mr. Handal earned his law degree from The University of Chicago Law School, where he was managing editor of the Law Review. He obtained his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.
Frances Hesselbein
Frances Hesselbein is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Leader-to-Leader Institute (formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation). She serves on many nonprofit and private sector corporate boards, including the Board of Directors of Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, The Veterans Corporation Advisory Board, The Boards of the Center for Social Initiative at the Harvard Business School, and the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Management at the Kennedy School.
In 1998, Mrs. Hesselbein was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of America’s highest civilian honor, for her leadership as Chief Executive Officer of the Girl Scouts of the USA, as well as for her role as the Founding President of the Drucker Foundation. Her contributions were also recognized by former President George H. Bush, who appointed her to two Presidential Commissions on national and community service.
In 2001, Mrs. Hesselbein was awarded the Henry A. Rosso Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Ethical Fund Raising from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana university and the International ATHENA Award. In 2002, Mrs. Hesselbein was the first recipient of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Security Series Award for her outstanding contributions to America’s national security. Mrs. Hesselbein is also the recipient of sixteen honorary doctoral degrees.
Roger Kenny
Roger Kenny is Managing Partner of Kenny Boardroom Consulting and is recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders in the board search and governance industry. He is regarded among the world's most recognized boards for his balanced governance insights, director recruitment, board assessment and succession planning knowledge.
Roger has assisted the world’s leading organizations in strategically structuring boards and in identifying individuals with unique skill sets to fill specific and challenging roles. His clients include companies at every stage of growth across a broad range of industries. In addition, he has conducted more independent assessments of boards than any one person in the governance industry.
In 1982, Roger founded Kenny & Kindle, Inc. an executive search firm specializing in C-level engagements and board search. After acquiring Boardroom Consultants and assuming its name, Roger led the growth of the firm as President and Managing Partner until it was acquired in 2007.
Roger entered the industry with SpencerStuart. As Senior Vice President and Partner, he executed CEO and senior general management assignments for clients in a wide cross-section of industries. Early career experience includes holding senior roles in planning, consulting, and operations at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Heralded as an expert on governance, Roger is a frequent contributor to major business publications. His thought leadership articles have appeared in The Harvard Business Review, the California Management Review, The Business Quarterly, American Banker, The Corporate Board, Directors & Boards, Directors Monthly and The Financial Review. Roger and Ram Charan are the authors of EBoard Strategies: How to Survive and Win.
Roger is recognized by peers, the executive community and the business press for professional excellence. In 2008, BusinessWeek cited him as one of the 50 Most Influential Headhunters in the industry. The Association of Executive Search Consultants awarded him the Gardner W. Heidrick Award for outstanding contributions to the search industry.
A graduate of Manhattan College, Roger earned an MBA from the New York University Graduate School of Business. He received Manhattan College’s Dean Fitzgerald Award and is an Honorary Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association. He holds leadership roles in several organizations, serving as a member of the Board of Advisors of the New York Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and as a Senior Advisor at Proudfoot Consulting.
General Tom Kolditz
Tom Kolditz is Professor in the Practice of Leadership and Management and Director of the Leadership Development Program at the Yale School of Management. His experience as a leader development expert spans four decades in the public, private, and social sectors.
A retired Brigadier General and titled Professor Emeritus of the U.S. Military Academy, Tom led the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at West Point for 12 years. In that role, he was responsible for teaching, research, and outreach activities in Management, Leader Development Science, Psychology, and Sociology. A highly experienced global leader, General Kolditz has more than 26 years in leader roles on four continents. His career has focused on either leading organizations himself, or studying leadership and leadership policy across sectors. He served for two years as a leadership and human resources policy analyst in the Pentagon, a year as a concept developer in the Center for Army Leadership, and was the founding director of the West Point Leadership Center. He was instrumental in the design and formation of the Thayer Leader Development Group, and is the managing member of Saxon Castle LLC, a leader development consultancy.
General Kolditz has presented leadership content to more than 150 governmental, corporate, and social sector audiences worldwide. As a professor, he has led academic seminars or given lectures to students from Babson, Wellesley, Olin Colleges, the University of Missouri, Columbia University, Duke University, Yale University, the Military Psychology Center of the Israel Defense Forces, Peking University, the Beijing International MBA program, Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership, seven national and international service academies, and more than ten major metropolitan law enforcement, firefighting, and public service academies and assemblies.
General Kolditz has appeared on ABC World News, ABC 20-20, Al Jazeera, MSNBC, CBS, NPR, Calgary Today, Morning Ireland, and been interviewed by reporters from Fast Company, the New York Times, the Associated Press, Time, Discovery, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Washington Post, La Razon, and more than a dozen national and international news agencies.
He holds numerous degrees, including a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology from Vanderbilt University, as well as Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Social Psychology, a Master of Military Arts and Science, and a Masters in Strategic Studies.
Diane T. Woo
Diane Woo’s expertise centers on China international relations and business development. Throughout her career, Ms. Woo has served as a consultant for Chinese and Hong Kong businesses, and numerous companies seeking to do business in China. She has served as Vice President of Beatrice China, Ltd. where she established the first model joint-venture: Guang Mei Foods, Beatrice - CITIC. Ms. Woo is also responsible for establishing the first holding company in China, Beatrice-CITIC Development Company.
Mrs. Woo has managed instrumental positions and negotiations for Reader’s Digest, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, the Discovery Channel, Forbes Publishing, Numar Corporation, Gannaway Entertainment Corporation, and the Entergy Transportation Group among others. She is a Board and Committee Member of the National Committee on United States - China Relations and the Yale-China Association (Ms. Woo’s family originated and funded the Yale-China Association over 80 years ago).
A Chinese-American who has lived in New York City for the past 35 years, she speaks five Chinese dialects including Mandarin, Cantonese and Shanghainese.
Carl Yankowski
Carl Yankowski is a seasoned business executive who specializes in developing and marketing technology and consumer products. He has held senior positions at Palm, Inc, Sony Electronics, Reebok , Polaroid and others.
Starting as a systems analyst and electrical engineer for Proctor & Gamble, he instead preferred marketing, and helped develop promotional campaigns for Pringles and Duncan Hines mixes. At General Electric, he helped develop the Spacemaker range with its “We Bring Good Things to Light” campaign. He then moved to Memorex where he worked on the “Is It Live or Is It Memorex” campaign before working for PepsiCo on the three-year Pepsi Challenge campaign. He joined Polaroid Corporation in 1988 with initial responsibility for all business imaging, US consumer and industrial marketing before moving to Hong Kong as Group Vice President for the corporation’s Asia/Pacific region. On returning to the US, he became the President and CEO of Sony Electronics, growing revenue to over $10 billion. His teams led launches of the highly successful VAIO, Play Station, and a Qualcomm CDMA joint venture. In September of 1998, he became President and CEO of Reebok Brand where he was credited with initiating a successful turnaround. Carl then headed 3Com’s Palm division, where, in his first year, it was transformed into a public company with a market capitalization of $30 billion.
He has also served as CEO and Chairman of Majesco, a Director of Novell, a non-executive director of Informatica Corporation, and Chase Corporation. He also serves on the boards of several small firms and has held board positions at Boston College, the MIT Sloan Business School and several technology and consumer-product oriented companies.
Carl holds five current internet patents. He was on the Visiting Committee of the MIT Media Lab and the Sloan School, and is on the Board of the Boston College Carroll School of Business. He holds two BS degrees in electrical engineering and management from MIT Sloan School of Management. He is an active pilot and speaks extensively.
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