Board Composition – Critical to Your Company’s Success

Panelists

Joe Campanelli CEO/Board Chair Needham Bank

Joe Campanelli is Chairman, President & CEO at Needham Bank, headquartered in Massachusetts. Joe led Needham’s growth as a top “Super Community Bank” to assets today over $3 billion. Under Joe Campanelli’s leadership, Needham Bank went public in 2023. Joe has been actively engaged in leading transformational change in the financial services industry over the past four decades. He led the creation of Sovereign Bank, New England, overseeing the largest branch and business acquisition in US banking history, rising to CEO, President, and Director of Sovereign Bank Corp.    

Early in his career, Joe led Hartford National Bank’s foray into interstate banking and established loan production offices in RI, Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine.  He assumed leadership roles through the mergers with Connecticut National Bank, Shawmut Bank and Fleet Bank. Joe has a strong track record of successfully managing through a variety of economic conditions.  In 2009 he led the turnaround of Flagstar Bank, raising over $1 billion in capital and repositioning the company as a national leader in residential and commercial banking. 

 Joe also has a long history of community involvement as former Chairman of Tufts Medical Center, Trustee and Treasurer for the Boys & Girls Club of Boston, Executive Committee member at Mass Business Round Table, Independent Director at First Help Financial, and a Director of the 100 Club of Mass. 

Lori Tauber Marcus Corporate Board Director, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Author

Lori Tauber Marcus is a Corporate Board Director, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Author. Ms. Marcus serves as an independent board director for Primo Water Corporation (NYSE: PRMW), Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. (NYSE: FDP), and 24-Hour Fitness. Until recently she also served on the boards of DDC (DNA Diagnostics Center), Golub Corporation (owner/operator of the Price Chopper/Market 32 chain of grocery stores), Phunware (NASDAQ: PHUN), and Talalay Global (provider of high-end mattresses and pillows). She is also a board member for SHARE Cancer Support and the MMRF (Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation). Lori also serves as a board advisor to early-
stage direct-to-consumer, tech-enabled companies.

She comes to board service after a long career as a c-suite operating executive in leading consumer companies -- PepsiCo, The Children’s Place Retail Stores, Keurig Green Mountain, and Peloton Interactive. In addition to her board work, Ms. Marcus is an executive coach with Crenshaw Associates in New York. She works with senior executives in all disciplines including onboarding, outplacement, board director prep, and executive coaching. She is a founding member of the Band of Sisters, along with (5) former PepsiCo senior executives, speaking frequently on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Their book, “You Should Smile More; How to Dismantle Gender Bias in the Workplace” was published in September 2022. Ms. Marcus earned her BS degree in Marketing from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.

Joe Ayoub President Varuna Strategies

Joe Ayoub is the founder of Varuna Strategies, which helps private companies increase enterprise value through best governance practices, including forming or improving the effectiveness of governing boards. He has extensive experience creating new boards and evaluating and working with company leaders to improve the composition & performance of existing boards, as well as advising on leadership transition, structure and other important governance issues.Prior to founding Varuna Strategies, Joe was a partner in the Boston law firms of Nutter, McClennen & Fish, Greenberg Traurig, and Robinson & Cole, where he focused his practice on civil litigation, governance issues, legal risk management, and alternative dispute resolution. His years of representing and counseling private companies reinforced his view that a board, which brings outside expertise and experience to a company, is critical in helping stakeholders make informed decisions on the challenges they must address and strategies that will make their company successful.

Joe is the co-host of On Boards Podcast, now in its 9th season, where guests discuss the important issues that are facing boards, company leadership, and stakeholders.

Joe is also actively involved in a number of civic and charitable organizations including as a member of the national Board of Directors of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Tufts University School of Medicine Board of Advisors and the Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Office of Child Advocate. Mr. Ayoub is also an emeritus member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay, having served on the board for 33 years, including as its chair.

Moderator

Rick Williams Corporate Board Director PDA National Board of Directors

Rick Williams is an experienced technology company board of directors member. Rick currently serves on the national board of directors of the Private Directors Association, PDA. He has been board chair of a medical device company and a bank/VC firm. Williams is a company founder and CEO and was a management consultant advising clients in a wide variety of industries. He is an internationally published thought leader on board of directors as a value accelerator for the company. His new book, Create the Future, is a leadership guidebook for how to think creatively and make better decisions for the future of your company. (https://www.CreateTheFuture.solutions)

Rick is past President of the Harvard Business School Association of Boston. He was a management consultant with the global consulting firm Arthur D. Little, Inc. He is a physics graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. www.RickWilliamsLeadership.com 

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