October 2025

Cover Story

2025 Compensation Survey illustration featuring a small figure on a ladder reaching for the top dot on a bar graph. Palette is shades of teal with coral accents.

The 2025 Private Company Board Compensation Survey

The latest data reveals a significant increase in director pay.

Features

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How Directors Can Support CEOs Amid Macroeconomic Uncertainty

Great boards must evolve quickly, challenge wisely, support consistently and lead courageously.

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Private Company Governance, Compliance and Ethics Essentials

Strong governance and compliance build reputational capital and enhance investor confidence.

Guarding Value in the Age of Disruption

All private company boards must prioritize risk management expertise.

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How Boards Unlock Growth in a Volatile Economy

The best directors see risk as not just a threat, but an opportunity to ensure a company’s long-term success.

The AI Risk Small and Midsize Boards Are Missing

Most directors remain unaware of how AI systems can degrade over time — driven by the very training data they rely on.

Boardroom Leadership in Operational Excellence

A refined operational excellence culture can provide significant benefits to a company and its stakeholders.

Bring Federal Policy into the Boardroom

Directors can strengthen oversight by tracking evolving policy landscapes.

Step and repeat images of the cover of Good To Great, by Jim Collins

“Good to Great” in the Boardroom

Here’s how private company boards become value creators.

Columns

Shareholder Clarity Creates Lasting Value

When shareholders don’t articulate their goals clearly, directors are left guessing.

Boards and CEOs Succeed Together

While the chief executive may be lonely at the top, it’s the board’s job to help push them and the company up to the highest level.

Departments

Becoming a High-Performing Private Board

There are five critical areas boards must address to achieve optimal performance, including time expenditure and knowledge of shareholder desires.

Governance, Grit and Growth on a Ukrainian Board in Wartime

The Biosphere board’s responsibility is not just stewarding company performance, it’s building company resilience.

Directors to Watch

Reflections on a Board Journey: Justine Tobin

The First Citizens Bank Charlotte Metro director on the resilience necessary to go from would-be director to actual board member.

Reflections on a Board Journey: Craig Jimenez

The director of Air Tractor Inc. discusses his top concerns of the last six years.

Reflections on a Board Journey: Lynn Clarke

The Vollrath Company's lead independent director on the increasing importance of board effectiveness.

Reflections on a Board Journey: Jill Marcotte

The director of Ozinga and A. Stucki Company details boardroom transformation since COVID-19.

Reflections on a Board Journey: Valerie Woerner

The Matot Inc. director on private company board challenges over the last five years.

Reflections on a Board Journey: M. Jay Heilbrunn

The Top Notch Distributors Inc. director on the evolving issues for private company boards.

Reflections on a Board Journey: Marie Meliksetian

The Enclave at Taunton Lake director on the recent evolution of board responsibilities.

The Private Company Governance Summit

From left to right: Deloitte's Wolfe Tone, David Barnard, Letitia Hussey Beauregard, Brian Griffith and Bill Graebel at PCGS 2025. (Image: MLR Media)

Five Issues Impacting the Future of Private and Family Businesses

At The Private Company Governance Summit 2025, an all-star panel of family business chairs discussed talent, digitalization, stakeholder trust and more.

Cilker Henderson’s Greg and Dave Henderson on Generational Leadership and Letting Go

Father-and-son leaders on the board's role during a transition between generations.

The Private Company Governance Summit 2025: Getting Value from an Independent Board

It's great for a board to be independent, but it's better if you know how your directors can be of best use to your company.

The Private Company Governance Summit 2025: The War for Talent

How private and family companies can attract and retain the best of the workforce in a competitive market.

The Private Company Governance Summit 2025: Risk and Crisis Management

What are the most urgent risks facing private companies and who are the directors that can help you confront them?

Trust, Transition and Long-Term Leadership at Vollrath

Danielle Kohler and Erik Lampe address the relationship between ownership and nonfamily CEO leadership at Vollrath, and how it helps the 151-year-old company thrive.