Principled

S5E6 | Driving Change: Hiltrud Werner Rebuilds Volkswagen’s Culture After Emissions Scandal

Hiltrud Werner, Volkswagen’s head of integrity and legal affairs, talks with LRN’s Ben DiPietro about the work to change the company’s culture after its reputation-damaging emissions scandal; how COVID-19 has made that task more difficult; about the need for quotas to get women on boards; and what E&C people can do to make themselves ready for board service. 

“Everyone has understood that it’s not enough to overcome the diesel scandal; we need to be a scandal-free company...so we have to make sure that our culture is strong enough to make us robust, and that people will speak out if they have the feeling that something is wrong.” 

- Hiltrud Werner

Hiltrud Dorothea Werner, a German business executive, joined Volkswagen in 2016 as the head of group audit, and was appointed in 2017 to the company’s Board of Management, responsible for integrity and legal affairs. In her role at Volkswagen, Werner oversees the compliance and integrity teams, and legal affairs. She is tasked with restructuring the compliance culture. 

Werner is a member of the supervisory board of Audi AG, Porsche AG, Seat SA, and Tration SE. She began her career in 1991 at the consulting firm Softlab Gmbh as a project manager, and moved to BMW AG in 1996, where she held various positions in IT and audit. In 2011 Werner joined MAN SE as chief audit executive for the MAN Group, then became head of group internal audit at car supplier ZF Friedrichshafen in 2014. 

Werner was born 1966 in East Germany, and earned an economics degree from Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg. She is married and has two children. 

 

What You’ll Learn on This Episode: 

• [1:25] How has Werner’s career path led her to her current position at Volkswagen? 
  
  
• [3:47] What did Werner learn about VW’s culture in light of the emissions issues? How did she and the board enact the changes they did? 
  
  
• [5:21] What was the program that was in place at VW to encourage employees to come forward with concerns? How has it been strengthened? 
  
  
• [6:58] How challenging was it to get buy in at VW on these new programs? How is progress measured? 
  
  
• [8:47] How has COVID-19 impacted her planning and implementation of these goals? 
  
  
• [10:23] As someone who sits on a board representing ethics and compliance, what are some things the E&C community does well and what are some areas for growth? 
  
  
• [13:17] Germany recently passed a law mandating a percentage of board members be women. Are these laws necessary for diversification and why are so many companies resistant to this change? 
  
  
• [15:15] What advice does Werner have for E&C professionals for what they need to do to make themselves attractive candidates for board service? 

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S5E5 | It’s About the How: Siemens USA’s Juan Ignacio Diaz on Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

LRN’s Ben DiPietro speaks with Juan Ignacio Diaz, chief compliance officer for the U.S. and Latin America for Siemens USA, about how COVID-19 has forever changed the workplace; the importance and necessity of being a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion; and why the job of ethics and compliance isn’t for the faint of heart. 

“This job never ends. When you are in compliance, you never say, ‘I did it, that’s it, we made it,’ because the risks are always there...It’s a constant effort that we have to do every single day.”

 

- Juan Ignacio Diaz 

Juan Ignacio Díaz is senior vice president and chief compliance officer for Siemens USA, based in Atlanta. Diaz is responsible for the overall strategic management and direction of the compliance organization in the United States and Latin America. Since joining the company in 2008, Diaz has served in various functions in Mexico, Chile, and South America, first as general counsel for Chile and then for the South American region. 

In 2013 he was appointed CEO for Siemens Chile, and was responsible for its mobility division. In 2018 he was named Siemens country CEO for Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. He served as board member for Siemens Gamesa Latin America, and as a vice president of the World Energy Council (Chile & Mexico). 

Díaz holds an MBA from UAI-Chile, a master of laws from Duke University, and a law degree from UFT-Chile. Prior to joining Siemens, he worked as an attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, and before that as a lawyer for LATAM Airlines. 

 

What You’ll Learn on this Episode: 

• [1:30] What sparked Diaz’s interest in ethics and compliance, and how has his career path led to him to where he is? 
  
  

• [3:30] What does Siemens do? 
  
  
• [5:35] As the compliance chief for both the U.S. and Latin America, how does Diaz structure and operate the program for each region? 
  
  
• [7:00] What are the biggest adjustments Diaz has made to his program in the past year due to the pandemic? 
  
  
• [10:13] What diversity and inclusion policies has Diaz implemented, and what, if any, issues has he faced? 
  
  
• [11:27] What can companies do to create a better pipeline for people of color and people with diverse backgrounds? 
  
  
• [13:08] Who has been a mentor to Diaz, and how have those relationships helped him? 
  
  
• [14:29] What advice does Diaz have for individuals interested in ethics and compliance? 

 

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S5E4 | Hawaiian Style: Gurstel Law’s Amy Mertz Brown on Applying Aloha Spirit to E&C

 

Amy Mertz Brown, chief compliance officer for Gurstel Law, talks with LRN's Ben DiPietro about the differences of practicing ethics and compliance for a government agency and in the private sector, and how growing up in Hawaii allows her to incorporate the Aloha Spirit into how she connects with people to spread the E&C message. 

 

“That’s one of the biggest challenges in the private sector, bringing those entity-wide issues down to a personal level, and show folks why they need to follow those rules so that the organization can be on the right side of the compliance line.” 

- Amy Mertz

 

Amy Mertz Brown has more than 30 years of experience as a leader, lawyer, and compliance professional. Since August 2020, she has served as Chief Compliance Officer at Gurstel Law Firm, P.C., a creditors’ rights firm headquartered in Golden Valley, Minn. She leads the firm’s regulatory compliance with federal and state law concerning creditors’ rights and consumer rights, as well as compliance with operational requirements for the firm. 

Prior to joining Gurstel, Brown was chief compliance officer at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, leading a team of compliance attorneys and professionals to oversee government ethics compliance for all agency employees. Prior, she developed and implemented the enterprise ethics and compliance program at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She joined CFPB in its start-up phase and over the course of eight years helped to establish and build its in-house legal department. 

Prior to CFPB, Brown served in legal department management positions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the U.S. Small Business Administration. She is a 1988 graduate of Washington College of Law, The American University, Washington, D.C., and is licensed in California.

 

What You’ll Learn on This Episode: 

• [1:42] What sparked Brown’s interest in ethics and compliance, and how has her career path led to her to where she is today? 

• [5:00] What are some of the challenges of conducting E&C in a federal agency and what are the differences in doing E&C in the private sector?

• [7:26] What is Brown’s experience in joining Gurstel in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic? How can E&C programs help employees who join a company in the middle of remote work?

• [11:05] From Brown’s experience in government transitions, what did she see taking place in the current presidential transition?

• [14:00] What changes does Brown anticipate as the United States is back under Democratic Party leadership?

• [15:46] What is the “Aloha Spirit,” and how can E&C officers help incorporate it into their work to make them more effective?

 

Find this episode of Principled on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Podyssey, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

 

S5E2 | When the Levee Breaks: Vale’s Sandra Guerra on Changing a Culture After Tragedy

Sandra Guerra, Managing Director of Better Governance, talks about how she went from journalist to corporate executive to board member, what attracted her to the field of ethics and compliance, and what we can learn from Vale S.A.’s two deadly dam collapses as it relates to corporate culture, and acting when issues are brought forward by whistleblowers. 

 

“The main change that happened is precisely related to culture. Culture is something that takes time to change...this issue was so big, so important, that it opened eyes and hearts and minds of everyone, creating the condition to change the culture.” 

- Sandra Guerra 

 

One of the forerunners of corporate governance in Brazil, Sandra Guerra has served as a board member and chairperson of boards of directors since 1995. She presently is managing director of Better Governance, and sits on two public company boards. Her experience includes acting on the boards of listed, closed, family-controlled and state-controlled companies, as well as for nonprofit organizations in Brazil and abroad. 

 

With 25 years of experience in corporate governance, Guerra was one of the founding members of the Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance, where from 2012 to 2016 she was board chair. On two occasions, she was also a member of the board of directors of the International Corporate Governance Network, and served as a director of Global Reporting Initiative from 2017 to 2019. 

 

Ever since she completed her Master's degree in business administration at FEA-USP in 2009, Guerra's research has been focused on the board of directors. Certified as a board member by the IBGC, and as a mediator by the CEDR-Center for Effective Dispute Resolution, Guerra continues to serve as a board member, currently at Vale S.A. and GranBio S.A. In 2017 she published the book, “The Black Box of Governance: Boards of Directors Revealed by Those Who Are Part of Them.” 

 

What You’ll Learn on This Episode: 

• [1:06] What sparked Guerra’s interest in ethics and compliance and how has her career path led to her to where she is today? 
  
  
  
• [3:26] What sparked Guerra’s interest in corporate governance? 
  
  
  
• [5:36] Why didn’t the first dam incident at Vale lead to changes to prevent the second one? 
  
  
  
• [12:40] What can organizations learn from Vale’s experiences, especially as it relates to ethics and compliances issues? 
  
  
  
• [15:20] Beyond Vale, what are some issues Guerra sees driving corporate boards in 2021? 

 

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S5E3 | Energizing Ethics: Direct Energy’s Maria Fernandez on the Psychology of Building a Compliance Program

Maria Fernandez, head of ethics and compliance at Direct Energy, talks with LRN’s Ben DiPietro about her journey from law to ethics and compliance; how she uses her psychology degree to advance her program’s goals; and what companies need to do to turn their rhetoric about diversity, equity, and inclusion into action. 

“Corporations are suddenly saying, ‘Oh, I need to stop talking about it, and I need to do something.’ If the corporations continue that focus, and people continue to push the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion, I think it will continue.” 
- Maria Fernandez 

Maria Fernandez is vice president, head of ethics and compliance at Direct Energy. Maria supports Direct Energy’s lines of business to ensure they are operating in accordance with all relevant standards and regulations. Direct Energy is one of North America’s largest energy and energy-related service providers; it merged with NRG Energy in January 2021. 

 

Prior to her position at Direct Energy, Fernandez worked at IBM where she held various leadership positions. including being responsible for the design and implementation of IBM’s global compliance program, communication strategies and employee training modules. She was senior regional counsel of Latin America for IBM, where she managed all legal and compliance matters for the Latin America organization. 

 

Fernandez received her B.A. in psychology from Lehman College, and received her J.D. from Cornell Law. She is admitted to the bars of the states of New York and California, and the United States Supreme Court. She currently is vice chair of the membership committee of the President's Council of Cornell Women; and a member on the Houston Integrated School District district advisory committee. 

 

What You’ll Learn on This Episode: 

• [1:30] What sparked Fernandez’s interest in ethics and compliance and how has her career path led to her to where she is today?
  
  
• [5:00] How does Fernandez’s background in psychology help her in her current role?
  
  
• [6:26] What are the impacts to the energy industry and ethics and compliance as the world transitions away from fossil fuels? 
  
  
• [8:36] How is Covid-19 impacting Direct Energy's ethics and compliance department? 
  
  
• [10:58] Does Fernandez believe the current conversation about social justice will result in long-term change? 
  
  
• [14:28] As a woman in compliance, what advice does Fernandez give to women, and specifically women of color, who are thinking about entering the field? 
  

Find this episode of Principled on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Podyssey, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

 

S5E01 | An Even Higher Calling: Hui Chen’s Abiding Faith in Ethics and Compliance

Hui Chen is an internationally renowned leader in ethics and compliance who regularly consults with companies, and regulatory and enforcement authorities around the world, advising them on the design, implementation, and assessment of ethics and compliance programs. In addition to her work at Hui Chen Ethics, she serves as the chief integrity adviser to the attorney general for the state of Hawaii. 

 

As the first-ever compliance counsel expert at the U.S. Department of Justice, Chen was the exclusive consultant to the federal prosecutors in the fraud section, evaluating corporate ethics and compliance programs in areas such as anti-fraud, anti-bribery, healthcare, quality control, manipulation of financial markets, process safety, and environmental protection. 

 

Prior to joining the DOJ, Chen served as a senior compliance leader at companies including Microsoft, Pfizer, and Standard Chartered Bank.

“Listening is a very undervalued art in life. People yearn for respect, and the way you show respect is to listen to them. Listening doesn’t mean you agree with them, listening to people is you let them know you hear what they are saying...and that you sympathize with what they’re experiencing.” 

- Hui Chen 

 

What You’ll Learn on This Episode: 

 

• [2:42] What sparked Chen’s interest in ethics and compliance, and how has her career path led to her to where she is? 
• [8:08] What are the things companies most often do wrong when creating and managing their ethics and compliance programs? What do they do well? 
  
  
• [11:00] As someone who has been involved in government, how does Chen anticipate the new U.S. administration will help build trust, and how can businesses help? 
  
  
• [13:55] Looking back at the Covid-19 pandemic, what are the biggest changes Chen anticipates businesses adopting? 
  
  
• [16:10] As someone of Asian ancestry, what are Chen’s personal experiences with racism, and how have those experiences shaped the way she views race relations in the U.S.? 

 

Find this episode of Principled on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Podyssey, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

S4E12 | Problem Solver: RSG’s Michael Blackshear on the Challenge of Compliance and the Importance of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

Michael Blackshear of Ryan Specialty Group talks with LRN’s Ben DiPietro about why he enjoys being a chief compliance officer, what risks he sees emerging for 2021, and his experiences as a Black man and the son of a police officer and a judge, and how that shapes his own encounters with prejudice. 

 

“Using the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as the official end of Jim Crow, that’s 246 years of slavery plus 88 years of legal apartheid. This history has a direct impact on how our nation’s struggling to incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in our industry.”

- Michael Blackshear

 

Michael Blackshear serves as senior vice president and global chief compliance officer for insurer Ryan Specialty Group, with responsibilities for maintaining and growing an effective compliance and regulatory risk framework. He has over 29 years of financial service and executive experience in the areas of compliance and risk management. 

Prior to joining RSG, Blackshear was the North America chief compliance officer for Chubb Insurance Group, developing and maintaining the company’s North American compliance program. Before that, he held various leadership roles with Marsh & McLennan Companies, focusing on compliance and government affairs. Before joining Marsh, he held compliance and risk management-oriented advisory roles for both KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

Blackshear, recently named in Insurance Business America’s Hot 100 insurance practitioners for 2020, currently lectures as an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Fordham Law School; his MBA from St. John’s University School of Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Science; and his BS in Finance from Syracuse University.

 

What You’ll Learn on This Episode:

[1:09] What sparked Blackshear’s interest in ethics and compliance? How has his career path led to his current role? 

[5:22] How has COVID-19 impacted the insurance business? What are some of the risks being exacerbated by the pandemic? 

[7:16] How are ethics and compliance officers being stretched during the pandemic? What are some tips Blackshear has to navigate the changing landscape? 

[8:50] How does Blackshear see the role of businesses in helping to promote reform and change in light of the recent call to racial justice? 

[11:23] As a black man, how has Blackshear personally been impacted by the current movement for racial justice? 

Find this episode of Principled on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Sound Cloud, Podyssey, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

 

S4E11 | A Perfect Place For Me: Cindy Morrison of Post Holdings on Her Attraction to Ethics and Compliance

Cindy Morrison of Post Holdings discusses her passion for ethics and compliance, the difference between compliance at a holding company and a wholly owned business, and how she's maintained a focus on the company's values during the pandemic.

 

“I think it is incredibly important, as a compliance professional, to put yourself in the shoes of your employees. Whether it’s someone in the C-suite, or someone on the shop floor, it’s really important that you understand what their work life is like.”

- Cindy Morrison

 

Cindy Morrison is the director of compliance at Post Holdings, Inc. She is responsible for implementing and overseeing global compliance in partnership with the chief safety and compliance officer, corporate business functions and business units.

 

Her background includes building and sustaining effective compliance programs for multinational organizations. Morrison has conducted investigations related to fraud, conflicts of interest and employee misconduct. She has extensive experience in developing codes of conduct, legal compliance policies and training content.

 

Morrison is a founding member of the Compliance Association of St. Louis, a network of compliance professionals in the St. Louis region. She sits on the board of directors of a non-profit, Home Sweet Home, a furniture bank whose mission is to furnish hope.

 

What You’ll Learn on This Episode:

 

[0:57] What sparked Morrison’s interest in ethics and compliance and how has her career path led to her current role?

 

[5:39] How has working at a holdings company impacted the way that Morrison approaches ethics and compliance?

 

[6:59] How does Morrison mediate when disagreements arise when trying to achieve a a consensus.

 

[10:18] How is Covid changing the way that Morrison communicated and maintains company culture?

 

[13:26] What are some of the core values at Post Holdings and how are those values maintained with employees in remote locations?

 

[14:57] How does being on the board at Home Sweet Home help her be better in her current position?

 

Find this episode of Principled on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Sound Cloud, Podyssey, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

S4E10 | Great Woman in Compliance: Fresenius’s Mary Shirley on Recognition, Retaliation, Racism, and Realities of COVID

LRN’s Ben DiPietro talks with Mary Shirley of Fresenius Medical Care about the importance of recognizing contributions of colleagues; how putting leaders on notice about retaliation is necessary to build trust and set the tone; and the move of E&C teams to take on more issues of social justice, racial inequality, and ethics.

 

“Compliance departments seem to have been taking on more of a role beyond the usual key tenets of compliance, and really addressing social injustices, and moral failings, wider ethical issues that haven’t been part of our portfolio, at least traditionally.”

- Mary Shirley

 

Mary Shirley is a New Zealand-qualified lawyer with extensive experience implementing, evaluating, and monitoring compliance programs for multinational corporations. Currently the senior director of ethics and compliance at Fresenius Medical Care in Boston, Shirley has a large international footprint of experience, having held global ethics and compliance roles in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai. She has spent time working as an investigator for regulators in New Zealand in the areas of data privacy and antitrust.

 

She co-hosts the Great Women in Compliance podcast with Lisa Fine, co-hosts the Boston Compliance Professionals Networking Meet Ups with Matt Kelly, and contributes to thought leadership opportunities in the field regularly. She’s been named a Compliance Week Top Mind 2019, and a Trust Across America 2020 Top Thought Leader in Trust.

 

What You’ll Learn on This Episode:

 

[1:54] What sparked Shirley’s interest in ethics and compliance and how has her career path led to her current role?

 

[5:32] What has Shirley learned from working in ethics and compliance in so many different regions and cultures?

 

[6:33] How should companies work with police departments to bring about the change they would like to see?

 

[7:01] How has Shirley’s methods for ethics and compliance changed with so many employees working from home and how does she help maintain a “speak-up culture” at work?

 

[13:26] What has Shirley’s experience with the Black Lives Matter movement been like and how has it caused her to reflect on her own experiences as an Asian woman?

 

[12:01] What prompted Shirley to start her podcast and what are the main lessons’s she has learned from women who work in the ethics and compliance space?

 

Find this episode of Principled on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Sound Cloud, Podyssey, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

 

S4E9 | Walmart’s Daniel Trujillo Approaches E&C by the Numbers

LRN's Ben DiPietro speaks with Daniel Trujillo, Walmart's global chief ethics and compliance officer, about the company's 14 subject matters covered by E&C, his program's six building blocks, five pillars, and four key values. He talks about how COVID-19 is changing the program, and how the company is using its D&I program to bring about more racial equality.

 

“We are covering 14 different subject matters. I think there are very few companies that do that.… We want to be sure we have a whole culture of integrity, and that we are taking care of not only the program itself...but that we invest a fair amount of time and resources in improving our culture overall.”

- Daniel Trujillo

 

Daniel Trujillo is executive vice president and global chief ethics and compliance officer for Walmart Inc. As the leader of Walmart’s global E&C team, Trujillo develops the company’s strategic vision for our ethics and compliance program. Trujillo joined Walmart in 2012 as senior vice president and international chief compliance officer.

 

Prior to joining Walmart, Trujillo spent more than 15 years with Schlumberger Ltd., where he served in many roles, including legal counsel for Europe and Africa; global senior legal counsel; general counsel for Latin America; senior legal counsel for mergers and acquisitions; and deputy general counsel and director of compliance for Schlumberger Ltd. Prior to Schlumberger, Daniel worked for Cargill, Impregilo S.p.A., a litigation boutique firm, and a civil court in Argentina.

 

Originally from Argentina, Trujillo worked in more than 60 countries before relocating to Walmart headquarters at Bentonville, Ark. He graduated from Buenos Aires University Law School and has a master of business administration degree (MBA) from Salvador University in Argentina and Deusto, Spain, as well as a master in international commercial law from the University of California, Davis. He speaks five languages. Trujillo and his wife have two children.

 

What You’ll Learn on This Episode:

 

[1:37] What sparked Trujillo’s interest in ethics and compliance and how has his career path led to her current role at Walmart?

 

[3:25] How is Walmart’s ethics and compliance program designed and how and why has the structure changed over the years?

 

[8:42] How has the Walmart ethics and compliance program evolved over the last six months in light of the Covid-19 crisis?

 

[11:20] What can ethics and compliance programs do to maintain the Walmart key values during the pandemic?

 

[13:34] How important are the company’s values as Walmart works out protocols for employees to return back from working from home?

 

[14:54] What role can ethics and compliance teams play in the dialogue on racial justice and equality?

 

[16:53] What metrics help determine the effectiveness of diversity and inclusion programs?

 

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