ESG Matters: How to Save the Planet, Empower People, and Outperform the Competition

We only have one planet.

Individually and corporately, we are all stewards of the natural environment, but we have not protected, nurtured, or renewed it as well as we should have.

In ESG Matters, authors Dr. Debra L. Brown and David A. H. Brown challenge the thinking that businesses operate in a vacuum, separate from the environment. Maintaining a focus on environment, social, and governance (ESG) places an organization a step above those that don’t consider the ethics of good business.

ESG goes beyond corporate social responsibility that holds an organization accountable. Using the right criteria, leaders can create visible metrics for the organization’s ESG success.

ESG Matters helps readers

• Examine their beliefs to make financial and investment decisions thoughtfully and deliberately.
• Understand how to use their purchasing power to protect and renew the environment.
• Recognize the true impact of their spending decisions.
• Influence public perception and ultimately boost their bottom line.

Save the Planet, Empower People, and Outperform the Competition starting today!

Debra was five years old when her father sat her behind the wheel of the family tractor, pointed at a tree across the field, and told her to drive straight at it, never taking her eye off the mark. It was her first lesson in vision and strategy: know where you're going, how to get there, and stay focused. Today, she is a globally respected thought leader and the founder, president, and CEO of Governance Solutions Inc (GSI). Under Debra's leadership, GSI developed a comprehensive, principles-based governance system that has been adopted by organizations, governments, and not-for-profit organizations around the world. GSI was the foundation for The Directors College, The Professional Director Education, and Certification Program(R), and other governance education and university-accredited certification programs. Before founding Governance Solutions, Debra twice served as a CEO and served on the boards of several organizations, including as Board Chair and Governance Committee Chair. As a result, she is uniquely qualified as a governance advisor, with the ability to see issues from both sides of the boardroom table. Debra has co-authored four books and written dozens of articles and publications on corporate governance. She also writes a column for The Financial Gazette and regularly contributes to Ethical Boardroom, a globally recognized corporate governance periodical. Equally prolific outside work, Debra is an enthusiastic painter, poet, and musician. A professional director and member of The Institute of Corporate Directors, Debra holds a doctorate in leadership and a master of divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where she graduated magna cum laude.

The son of two bankers, David grew up listening to business problems around the dining room table-and learning how to solve them. Finding or creating solutions has been his passion ever since. Today, David is Canada's leading thinker, speaker, writer, and practitioner in the area of corporate governance. As executive vice president and the GSI team's lead consultant, David has helped countless organizations improve their governance and board effectiveness. He cares deeply about corporations and their innate capacity to do good as well as their inherent risk of doing bad. His life's work is helping leaders make better choices for themselves and everyone they touch. David has co-founded more than a dozen board governance education programs, including university-accredited certification programs, The Professional Director Certification Program(R), and the Directors College. Prior to joining Governance Solutions in 1995, David had a distinguished twenty-year career in Canada's financial services industry. As an insolvency specialist, he learned hard lessons about the necessity for good corporate governance-and how badly things can go in its absence. David holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Queen's University in addition to Chartered Director and Professional Director designations in corporate governance. He has served as an accredited faculty member of several universities, including the Universities of St. Michael's College, Toronto, Saskatchewan, and McMaster University. David has co-authored three books and written dozens of articles for publications on the topic of corporate governance. An avid college football fan, he spends every Saturday afternoon in the fall cheering on the Alabama Crimson Tide.