Diana Fox Carney

Strategic Advisor, Willis Towers Watson

Diana Fox Carney is strategic advisor with Willis Towers Watson. She is an energy and climate change expert with a background in policy and a current focus on identifying pathways to net zero carbon. She works with several climate tech companies, is a Senior Advisor at Eurasia Group and sits on the advisory board of BeyondNetZero, a growth equity fund in the emissions reduction space. She recently returned to Canada from the UK where she was Executive Director at Pi Capital, curating and communicating ideas across a very broad spectrum of topics for leaders from business and finance. She has held leadership roles at various think tanks in Canada and the UK and is a current or past board member of several not for profit organizations in the development and climate space.

Don Delves

Managing Director and Practice Leader for Executive Compensation, North America for Rewards Line of Business, Willis Towers Watson

Don Delves is a Managing Director and Practice Leader for Executive Compensation, North America for Willis Towers Watson’s Rewards Line of Business. Based in Chicago, Don is a leading expert and highly sought-after consultant and speaker on corporate governance and executive pay and performance, with over 30 years’ experience consulting with major corporate boards and executive teams across the country. Don previously founded and led Willis Towers Watson’s Closely Held Business Practice, and is a recognized expert on principles-based corporate governance, incentive design, performance measurement and value creation.

Dr. Delves is frequently interviewed and cited as an expert in major media including Harvard Business Review, Fortune, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fox Business News, The Today Show, CNBC and National Public Radio. He has testified before the U.S. Senate and the FASB on the hotly debated issue of stock option expensing. Delves’ has published two books including Accounting for Compensation Arrangements, the definitive guide for accounting for stock options, equity incentives, and other forms of compensation.

Delves joined Willis Towers Watson in 2013 when The Delves Group was aquired. In 2001, he founded The Delves Group, a Chicago-based consultancy dedicated to working with corporate boards and compensation committees to improve their effectiveness and the way they are organized and directed. Prior to founding The Delves Group, Dr. Delves was the Managing Director of the Chicago office of iQuantic, a Partner at Sibson and Company, and an executive compensation consultant with Towers Perrin. He had previously worked with Arthur Andersen & Co.

Delves holds a doctorate in education in principles-based corporate governance from Fielding Graduate University, an M.B.A. degree in finance from the University of Chicago and a B.A., summa cum laude, in economics from DePauw University. He is highly-trained in process- and principles-based leadership with certifications from the Wright Graduate University, and is on the faculty of WorldatWork.

Dr. Delves writes and speaks regularly on management, executive pay and governance at a variety of organizations including the National Association of Corporate Directors, the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, and the Brookings Institute. He has lectured on topics related to his field at several graduate schools of business, including the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and Loyola University Chicago. He also teaches principles-based leadership at the Wright Graduate University. Don serves on the boards of The Metropolitan Club of Chicago, the Private Directors Association, and the Wright Graduate University for the Realization of Human Potential.

Ken Kuk

Senior Director, Talent and Rewards, Willis Towers Watson

Ken is a Senior Director in the Talent and Rewards segment at Willis Towers Watson based in the Washington D.C. office.

Ken’s consulting experience specializes in executive and broad-based compensation, as well as HR issues in an M&A setting. In his compensation work, he advises Boards and senior management on subject areas such as effective executive and employee reward strategy and programs, incentive/equity program design, sales effectiveness and reward, performance goals setting, and pay-for-performance evaluations. Ken has worked across industries, with a particular focus on professional services, technology and renewable energy sectors. Much of Ken’s work is dedicated to designing effective rewards strategy and programs that increase engagement of digital talent and drive innovation, including compensation designs for pre-IPO companies and digital ventures.

Ken co-leads Willis Towers Watson’s professional services industry group. He is the lead compensation consultant for multiple leading consulting companies. He is a key contributor in some of Willis Towers Watson’s industry-leading research and intellectual capital development initiatives, such as ESG, equitable total rewards, as well as effective human capital management at start-ups, digital companies, partnerships, and private equity owned companies. 

Ken holds a B.S. with honors in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University. Prior to joining Willis Towers Watson, Ken worked at one of the nation’s largest public policy research organizations as a database manager.

John J. Merkovsky

Global Head of Risk and Analytics, Willis Towers Watson

John has been at Willis Towers Watson since 2014 when he joined the firm to establish its global Risk and Analytics (R&A) capability and deliver on the firms’ vision to be “The Analytical Broker”.

Since 2014 he has focused on building the talent, tools and technology that would enhance an organizations ability to better understand, manage and mitigate risk. R&A is established in over 20 countries with 500+ colleagues. The R&A team has a significant focus on innovation and among other industry- leading offerings is now delivering the risk industries first scalable platform of analytics and portfolio analytical tools.  The resources in R&A includes actuaries, engineers, technologist, CPAs and other subject matter experts.

Previously, John was the CEO of Marsh Risk Consulting. In that role he was responsible for building and leading a global team of 700+ risk consultants in over 40 countries, John was also the chairman of the Global Captive business, a Managing Director and head of the Office of Innovation. In this role he led research relating to supply chain risks, pandemic, climate change and the use of analytics to improve risk-based decision making. 

During his tenure at Marsh, John also worked closely with the World Economic Forum and was responsible for the development of various sections of their annual Global Risks Report.

John began his career as a forensic accountant and has been a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner.

Phillip A. Ellis

Managing Director, Head of Client Development for Risk and Analytics, Willis Towers Watson

Phil founded our Strategic Risk Consulting business and now leads client development globally for our Risk & Analytics division. He has more than thirty years’ experience advising some of the world’s largest and most complex companies and organizations on issues of strategy, risk, and organization development. He leads the expansion of our Connected Risk Intelligence platform globally. He is based in New York City.

Phil joined Willis Towers Watson in London in 2006. Prior to joining WTW he led a global practice and major client relationships for the Boston Consulting Group and prior to that for Booz Allen and Hamilton, where he also was a member of the Board of Directors and head of the Audit Committee. He holds degrees in finance and applied economics from the MIT Sloan (M.S. Management), in international affairs from the George Washington University (M.A.), and in atmospheric sciences from the University of California, Davis (B.S.). He has been published in risk and energy topics in the Financial Times and The Economist and speaks widely on risk topics around the world.

Phil has extensive experience in the public sector. For example, in 2010 he led the assessment of risk from allowing exploration for oil and gas in shallow waters for the House of Representatives of the State of Florida. He developed global investment strategies for European energy groups as the privatized and expanded from their home bases. In addition, he led the definition and the early development of Mubadala for the United Arab Emirates – this was that country’s entry into managing massive energy projects working with other States in the region.

WTW is home to more than 2000 risk modelers and equally impressive numbers of consultants across a wide range of risks – from human capital-related, tourism, environment, climate, infrastructure and many other areas.

David Shaw

Publishing Director, Family Business Magazine

David Shaw is the publishing director of Directors & Boards and its sister publication, Family Business. With more than 30 years of experience in business-to-business and consumer media markets, he has served as an editor, publisher, publishing director, group publisher and group vice president of a variety of publications, trade shows, conferences and websites.

Prior to founding GRID Media, David served as senior vice president for Phillips Business Information Inc., where he oversaw nearly 100 discrete media properties, and helped build the business from $35 million to more than $100 million in annual revenues. He is a frequent author and speaker on issues related to business-to-business media, multi-generational family businesses and private and public company governance. He is married, with two grown children, one serving in the Navy and the other in law school.