About the Speakers
Howard Brod Brownstein
President of Brownstein Corporation
Howard Brod Brownstein, CTP, is a nationally-known turnaround and restructuring professional, and regularly provides programs for Women in the Boardroom. He is President of Brownstein Corporation, which provides turnaround management and advisory services, as well as investment banking, fiduciary services, litigation consulting, investigations and valuation services. He regularly serves on the boards of directors of public and private companies, and currently serves on the boards of: P&F Industries (Nasdaq: PFIN) where he chairs the Nominating/Governance and Strategic Planning & Risk Assessment Committees, Renew Financial, where he serves as chair of the Risk Committee, and Merakey, a nonprofit with over 10,000 employees. He is a Certified Turnaround Professional, and also an NACD Board Leadership Fellow and Immediate Past President and Board Chair of the NACD Philadelphia Chapter. He has authored ninety articles and textbook chapters, is a Contributing Editor at two publications, and is a regular guest-lecturer at Harvard Business School, Wharton, NYU and elsewhere. He received JD and MBA degrees at Harvard, and B.S. (Wharton) and B.A. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.
Christine DiBartolo
Senior Managing Director, Head of Americas Corporate Reputation, FTI Consulting
Christine DiBartolo is a Senior Managing Director in FTI Consulting’s Strategic Communications segment and is the Head of the Americas Corporate Reputation practice. With more than 20 years of experience, Ms. DiBartolo is often called upon to provide counsel to clients recovering from crisis, as well as those facing ongoing transformation and executive transitions. Her experience includes issues and reputation management, Chief Executive Officer and corporate positioning, ESG and corporate social responsibility, message development, strategic planning, public education campaigns, public affairs and government relations.
Ms. DiBartolo is a member of the firm’s ESG Steering Committee and leads integrated communications programs that help clients identify and manage both risks and opportunities related to their ESG program. She regularly advises clients on ESG and sustainability reporting, community and stakeholder engagement and connecting ESG programs to a company’s broader corporate citizenship and purpose.
Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Ms. DiBartolo was a Director at Burson-Marsteller, leading accounts such as the $50 million public education campaign in support of the U.S. Government’s newly redesigned currency. The campaign, which was active in more than 20 countries, was the awarded the industry’s most prestigious accolades, including PR Week’s Global Campaign of the Year.
Preceding her time at Burson-Marsteller, Ms. DiBartolo served as an aide to former Attorney General Janet Reno where she was responsible for all communications to and from the Attorney General to Justice Department divisions and components, other Cabinet agencies, Members of Congress and the general public. She was also responsible for coordinating ongoing case updates on matters of particular interest to the Attorney General. While at the Department of Justice, Ms. DiBartolo also served as the spokesperson for the Civil Rights Division where she was the on-the-record spokesperson for all media inquiries related to civil rights issues, including police misconduct, voting rights, the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Fair Housing Act and equal employment issues.
Ms. DiBartolo was named one of the Top Women in PR by PR News and is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago where she received a B.A. in Communications and International Studies.
Kira Ciccarelli
Senior Manager of Research & Programs at the Diligent Institute
Kira Ciccarelli serves as the Lead Research Specialist at the Diligent Institute, the thought leadership and think tank arm of Diligent Corporation. In this role, she plans and executes high-level research reports on contemporary topics in modern governance for corporate leaders. Additionally, she produces The Corporate Director Podcast and Inside Today’s Boardrooms, a biweekly interview-based podcast and a weekly web show, both focused on the forefront of corporate governance.
Melanie Nolen
Research Editor, Corporate Board Member, and Director of Research, Chief Executive Group
Melanie is research editor for Corporate Board Member magazine and the director of research for parent company, Chief Executive Group. She oversees custom and proprietary research projects across the firm’s communities of C-Suite and board members and produces actionable intelligence to provide benchmarking and best practices insights on how leadership teams and their boards can navigate current challenges and plan for the future. Melanie has been a key contributor to Corporate Board Member’s editorial programs and has led our annual What Directors Think research since joining the firm in 2015.
