Private Company Director‘s Directors to Watch 2024 highlights 24 significant and diverse directors who have contributed to and will continue to expand ongoing dialogue on board best practices and corporate governance excellence.
Anita Brown-Graham
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Investors Management Corporation, Research Triangle Park
Anita Brown-Graham is a highly sought-after public speaker. She is the founder and director of the ncIMPACT Initiative at the UNC School of Government, where she works with private- and public-sector leaders on complex economic policy issues.
An independent director of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Brown-Graham is chair of the nom/gov committee and a member of the strategic investments committee. She also serves on the board of IMC, a private holding company of eight partner companies with over 50,000 employees. She is on the personnel and compensation committee.
A lawyer and lover of strategy, Brown-Graham provides deep expertise on organizational cultures that drive increased valuations. She believes engaged employees and board members are key to successful strategy development and execution.
The standard for governance during an integration: “After a significant merger or acquisition, the hard work begins. Boards must implement specific, effective strategies for meaningful engagement during and between board meetings. We must maintain a laser focus on strategy — both planned and emergent — while also paying attention to how management is executing the specific integration. We must foster a level of trust across the board and with management that allows for frank conversations. We don’t manage the integration, but we must be prepared to ask tough questions about what is working and understand signals for course corrections needed to realize expected value and mitigate material risks.”