AI Governance: A Board's Guide to Responsible Oversight

This session equips board members with practical strategies for overseeing AI governance. Drawing from the Athena Alliance AI Governance Playbook, we'll explore how to structure effective oversight, ask incisive questions of management, and evaluate the integrity of AI initiatives. Gain actionable insights on balancing innovation with risk management, ensuring ethical AI deployment, and fostering a culture of responsible AI use across your organization.

Key Discussion Topics:

1. Structuring Effective AI Oversight
2. Critical Questions for Management and How Management Can Prepare
3. Situational Awareness and Risk Intelligence
4. Fostering a Culture of Responsible AI
5. Six Month Update: Emerging Trends, Best Practices and Lessons Learned since the publication of the playbook
    
   

About Our Speakers

Andrea Bonime-Blanc, JD/PhD, is founder & CEO of GEC Risk Advisory, a governance, risk, ethics, cyber and tech advisor to business, NGOs, and government. A former c-suite executive, she serves on several boards and advisory boards and is Independent Ethics Advisor to the Financial Oversight & Management Board for Puerto Rico. She is a recipient of numerous awards including the 2023 Diligent Governance 100, and 2022 NACD Directorship 100. She is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a keynote speaker and book author, including Gloom to Boom: How Leaders Transform Risk into Resilience and Value (Routledge 2020). Her next book for Georgetown University Press on the governance of exponential technology will be published in 2025. She was born and raised in Germany and Spain and resides in New York City.

Heidi Lorenzen is the founder and executive producer of The Humanity Code, a documentary film, podcast, and impact campaign that empowers us all to encode our highest ideals — humanity’s unique code — into artificial intelligence before we lose that window.

Named one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology by the National Diversity Council in 2021, Heidi’s work is centered at the intersection of technology and impact. Her 35-year career in media and as a Silicon Valley executive has given her access to the greatest minds, leaders, and innovators in technology and A.I.   Executive roles at technology pioneers and media leaders such as Polycom, Autonomy and Business Week combined with her previous tenure running marketing at Singularity University place Heidi in the epicenter of explosive technologies, their implications to our shared humanity, and futurism itself. Amidst changing market conditions, Heidi has repeatedly guided profitable business pivots and helped companies embrace disruption to focus on new markets, exits, and other strategic priorities.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of visionary organizations Parallax Futures and Rising Worldwide, and a startup mentor at BRIIA. She received her B.A. in East Asian Studies from Middlebury College, where she learned to speak and write Mandarin Chinese, and her M.B.A. from New York University Stern School of Business.

Meghan Anzelc, Ph.D. is an experienced executive in driving positive business impact through the use of data, artificial intelligence and technology. Previously Global Head of Data & Analytics at Spencer Stuart and Chief Analytics Officer at AXIS Capital, Dr. Anzelc is skilled at determining how existing and emerging technologies can be applied to business problems and providing jargon-free guidance to senior executives on technology and digital strategy and decision trade-offs. Her 20 years of experience in data and AI in financial services and human capital has positively impacted multi-billion dollar books of business driving top and bottom line improvements at global organizations from $1B to $69B. 

Dr. Anzelc currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Athena Alliance and previously served on the board and as chair of the Nom/Gov Committee of the Chicago Literacy Alliance. She holds a Master’s and PhD in Physics and Astronomy from Northwestern University and a Bachelor’s in Physics from Loyola University Chicago.

Joyce Li, CFA, is the CEO of Averanda Partners, where she advises business and board leaders at the intersection of AI, finance, and governance. With decades of expertise in investing in growth companies and advising C-level executives on corporate governance, Joyce has also co-founded an AI startup and serves on advisory boards of two startups. Recognized as a "Top AI Voice" on LinkedIn, she co-authored the Athena Alliance AI Governance Playbook and created the 'AI Simplified for Leaders' newsletter, offering valuable insights to leaders navigating AI strategy and oversight complexities. Her leadership experience extends to serving as the Board Chair of the CFA Society San Francisco and as a director on various nonprofit boards. Joyce holds a Master's in Computer Science from the University of Virginia and an MBA with Palmer Scholar distinction from the Wharton School.