Masahiro Moro, President and CEO of Mazda Motor Corporation has led the company through transformation to record sales with his commitment to intentional innovation and a challenger spirit. Join Masahiro Moro and AnnaMaria DeSalva, global chairman of Burson, as they kick-off our Page annual conference to discuss Moro-san’s journey to CEO, his perspectives on building an empowering and inspiring brand through customer-driven innovation, the role of communication in value creation, and today’s major considerations for the auto industry - and for global business leaders.

Microsoft’s position as one of the top companies in the world based on market capitalization has been driven largely by CEO Satya Nadella’s laser focus on evolving the Microsoft culture and the brand – a marriage of mission and marketing – underpinned by a commitment to innovation, partnership, and purpose. In this illuminating conversation, Microsoft CCO Frank X. Shaw and Page Annual Conference Chair, HPE CCO Jennifer Temple, will explore the collaborative and visionary role CCOs play in building a brand that embodies a visionary CEO’s boldest dreams.

Approximately one-quarter of the world’s population is eligible to vote in an election in 2024, including eight of the ten most populous countries. Many of these places, including the U.S., are embroiled in domestic and international conflicts that have far-reaching consequences for organizations of all types and sizes. Bruce Mehlman, a frequent media commentator and renowned expert on policy and political trends, will share his bi-partisan perspective on the potential outcomes and consequences of this year’s elections. He’ll also counsel us on how to help our C-suite colleagues and CEOs prepare. Through an insightful general election analysis, Mehlman will help you and your organization understand, anticipate, and mitigate the impacts of political risk.

In this interaction, you and your peers will compare your reactions to the preceding Mehlman session, providing a debrief of the speaker’s content. With a question as a prompt, you’ll reflect, speak in a small group at your table and ultimately the whole room will be engaged in sharing the results of your conversations.

In conversation with Linda Rutherford who serves on a board herself, three board directors Brenda Harvey, Marie Oh Huber, and Peggy Foran will discuss how today’s boards create stakeholder value amidst competing priorities in a complex and volatile business environment. They will share their perspectives about the changing nature of the director’s role, the required skills and expertise of a modern director, the evolving landscape for thinking through sustainability and governance imperatives, and how they ensure management is best positioned to address competitor dynamics. This session will focus on how boards can best partner with management and will open your eyes to opportunities in the CCO/Board relationship, providing greater insight into how corporate directors are approaching their roles and how we can facilitate their understanding of a company’s present position and future opportunities.

David Hornik is a seasoned venture capitalist, educator, lawyer, art collector, and philanthropist. Michael Dougherty is a serial entrepreneur who is named on nine U.S.-issued technology patents. In this fast-paced conversation with Page Member Mike Doyle, David and Michael will reveal what all of us can learn from start-up entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, including sources of inspiration, how to find the next “big” thing, where VC money is currently being deployed most generously, and the paramount importance of good networks.

This is the annual meeting of the Page membership, as required by the Page bylaws. Members will hear updates on Page’s strategy and operations and vote to elect a slate of members to serve on the Board of Trustees and to ratify recent bylaws amendments approved by the Board of Trustees.

A compelling set of topics - generated by Page Member CCOs - will form the backbone of this afternoon interaction. There will be a different topic discussed in each of the five breakout rooms (see topic questions below). You’ll have the opportunity to choose what conversation you want to join at all times. CCOs will serve as our “convenors” to kick off each conversation with an anecdote and a question and then the session will be turned entirely over to you, the participants. There will be no presentations, no slides, and no microphones - just engaging dialogue you’ll not want to miss on the topics you care about the most. What’s happening with DEI and ESG in your organization? How is AI being implemented in your organization and in your function? How is your organization responding to the current geopolitical and economic environment? How do you see CCOs managing increasing complexity and demands? How is your organization engaging employees and responding to employee activism?

The role of the CCO as a strategic leader has expanded and transformed in the face of unprecedented challenges to our institutions. CCOs face the daunting task of helping their companies navigate a maze of changing stakeholder demands, technological advancements, and geopolitical conflict in the midst of a crisis of trust in institutions. This session will feature a discussion among CCOs on how they are changing the way they lead their functions and collaborate with their C-Suite partners to solve the strategic challenges disrupting their companies.

CCOs and their companies are increasingly challenged to manage their value equation narrative for an ever-broadening network of stakeholders, and investors remain a key audience. In this session, our panelists will discuss the importance of the CFO/CCO relationship in unlocking and activating the value creation story. They’ll also discuss ways to transform crisis situations into opportunities for enhancing brand relevance and converting investor skepticism and customer trepidation into confidence in your company.

Many organizations have set ambitious, science-based commitments in the area of sustainability. Making and meeting these commitments requires innovation in approaches to sustainability, reliance on a complex ecosystem of partners, and the ability to produce real business benefits from sustainable solutions. In this session, you’ll learn helpful specifics about how companies from different industries activate their stakeholder ecosystems to spur progress on goals and the value of a strong partnership between the CSO and CCO.

All the recent hype about AI has obscured many realities, including the fact that it’s been around for years in various iterations. What’s new is generative AI and it’s having a “moment.” The key question is, how can we safely integrate AI into our business models without stifling innovation? There are a host of governance and ethical issues to consider. And what about planning for the future? This session’s seasoned experts have R&D responsibility and are already designing future innovation with AI embedded into their plans for what their customers and consumers will experience next from their brands. They will provide compelling examples of how they have successfully implemented AI with deep consideration of the risks and rewards and what they foresee for the future of AI in their organizations.

Maybe Hollywood stars leave events with bags filled with bling, but you’re going to leave this conference with much better gifts. In this quick but crucial interaction, you’ll have a moment to reflect on what you can share as a “gift” with the people at your table following the conference. This “gift” could be anything from sharing expertise to sharing resources to simply sending them a great article - what you “give” and how you give it  is totally up to you. It’s very likely you’ll be surprised by the generosity of the Page community.

Jeff Gennette, the former Chairman and CEO of Macy’s, Inc. and Page Member Bobby Amirshahi will sit down with Page Member Charlene Wheeless to give us a behind the scenes view into their work together at Macy’s. Shepherding the organization during COVID and its aftermath was deeply affected by the strong relationship of trust between these leaders as they worked to rebuild the business after a government mandated shutdown of brick and mortar stores. Wheeless will guide them to discuss candidly what worked and what didn’t under Gennette’s tenure and we’ll hear about how Gennette’s openness and authenticity played a strong role in successfully communicating with internal and external stakeholders during the ongoing transformation of the retail industry.