Private Company Director’s Directors to Watch 2026 highlights 29 significant and diverse directors who have contributed to and will continue to expand ongoing dialogue on board best practices and corporate governance excellence.
Sandra D. Stratford
Aifred Health
Dr. Sandra D. Stratford, a leader in occupational health and employee well-being, held roles at Exxon and IBM, and was chief medical officer of Raytheon. She brings to her board work a focus on risk mitigation and implementation of services and technology that support all workforce demographics.
Stratford is a board director at Aifred Health, a firm that developed an AI-based clinical decision platform for mental health treatment selection. As trustee of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, roles include executive committee member, former co-chair of the community programs committee and member of the medical staff appointment committee. She is an advisor for the health equity council of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and a member of the advisory board for Blue Clay Health, and recently was appointed to the board of Beyond BookSmart.
Stratford is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and Private Directors Association.
Human-centered AI governance. “The workplace is experiencing the arrival of AI and its impact on the authentic minds of a multigenerational workforce. This is an area of human capital risk management that boards can ensure is monitored, measured, and included in business strategy and operations. The challenge is to holistically train the workforce in AI with the goals of sustaining business resilience and increasing efficiency, while acknowledging individualized life-stage stressors, tipping points for mental resilience, and the need to engage and retain employees. Boards should ask questions about innovative technology and benefits that support employees across all demographics and life stages.”