Coming Soon: Navex Next Conference

Since compliance professionals are all living the virtual life these days, let’s run with that idea and mark your calendar: the largest virtual compliance conference in the world is happening next week. 

The Navex Next conference, hosted by NAVEX Global, takes place on Oct. 22. This is an upgraded version of what was formerly known as the Ethics & Compliance Virtual Conference, the online conference Navex has hosted every fall for nine years. 

Registration is free and open to any compliance, audit, or risk professional who might be interested; and typically the event draws around 10,000 people (virtually). 

The theme for 2020 is “Beyond the Moment” — and lord knows, that’s a good one. 2020 has been an ordeal for just about everyone, compliance officers included. We’ve had lots of teachable moments, from pandemic lockdowns to recession to social justice protests; and even several explicit messages about compliance, such as the U.S. Justice Department’s revised guidance on effective corporate compliance programs. 

So how can we take all those lessons and leverage them into stronger corporate compliance programs for 2021 and beyond? That’s what “Beyond the Moment” will explore. 

Now, disclosure: I have been helping Navex to develop the programming for Navex Next. So I have an inside view into the agenda we’ve been assembling and the speakers we’ve been recruiting. They’re a thoughtful bunch. Among the keynotes:

• Robert Smith, founder and CEO of private equity firm Vista Partners; and one of the most successful black executives in the PE world. He’ll be talking about social justice issues.
• Jerry Greenfield, co-founder and second half of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. He’ll be talking about business ethics and why that should be a strategic imperative for corporate organizations. 
• Pat Harned, CEO of the Ethics Resource Center; who will be interviewing former Justice Department officials Matt Miner (who led the rewrite of the department’s compliance guidelines) and Mark Filip about effective compliance programs. 

Those are the keynote speakers. Throughout the day Navex Next will also offer nine other sessions addressing everything from ESG reporting, to the new EU whistleblower protection directive, to challenges around returning to office life in 2021, and much more. 

I’ll be moderating a few of those sessions myself (the first time I’ve had to wear a nice shirt in months!), and all the rest will be informative and thoughtful discussions, too.

So if you’re free on Oct. 22, by all means join the conversation. You can register on the Navex Next conference website, and I hope to see you there next week!