AI gaps in the boardroom are becoming a reputational risk; Axios, April 2, 2026

 Eleanor Hawkins, Axios; AI gaps in the boardroom are becoming a reputational risk

"The big picture: Companies across every industry are being forced into rapid AI-driven transformation, but many corporate boards lack the expertise to guide strategy, manage risk or communicate decisions credibly to stakeholders.

By the numbers: Only 39% of Fortune 100 boards have any form of AI oversight, such as committees, a director with AI expertise, or an ethics board, according to McKinsey research.

Another recent report found that only 13% of S&P 500 companies have at least one director with AI-related expertise.

Similarly, McKinsey's survey of directors found that 66% say their boards have "limited to no knowledge or experience" with AI, and nearly one in three say AI does not even appear on their agendas.

And a report from the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) found that only 17% have established an AI education plan for directors, and 6% have a dedicated committee to oversee AI.

Between the lines: Having an AI-savvy board is a major competitive advantage, according to a recent MIT study."

10 Things Every Board Member Needs to Know; American Libraries, July 1, 2024

Sanhita SinhaRoy, American Libraries ; 10 Things Every Board Member Needs to Know

Kip Currier: Preparing Board members for effective, ethical service is vital for all organizations. Surprisingly, the word "ethics" is never specifically mentioned in this article, though ethics is implicated with the words "abiding by the duties of care, loyalty, and honesty" at the very end. Board members need to be aware of ethics principles/codes of organizations where they serve, as well as legal requirements and fiduciary responsibilities that have ethical dimensions in states where their organizations are located. 

[Excerpt]

"As libraries and library workers face censorship attempts, campus protests, and budget cuts, among other challenges, Harrington—a consultant and current president of the Timberland Regional (Wash.) Library board of trustees—led the program “Top 10 Things Every Library Board Member Should Know—but Often Doesn’t.”...

#10 There are specific attributes of an effective nonprofit board member.

They include a commitment to the mission of the organization; understanding of the board’s governance roles; active involvement in board activities and committees; thinking and acting strategically; not being involved in day-to-day management of the organization; abiding by the duties of care, loyalty, and honesty; and supporting the organization financially and through advocacy."

Olympian Johnny Weir funds Quarryville library after Fulton Twp. cuts gift over LGBTQ+ content; Lancaster Online, November 6, 2023

JACK PANYARD , Lancaster Online; Olympian Johnny Weir funds Quarryville library after Fulton Twp. cuts gift over LGBTQ+ content

"When figure skating icon and Quarryville native Johnny Weir heard Fulton Township supervisors were defunding the borough’s library because it offers materials about LGBTQ+ life and culture, he decided to step in.

Weir, an avid supporter of both his hometown and LGBTQ+ causes, announced over social media Saturday that he would cover the township’s annual $1,000 allocation to the library for as long as he could, saying via Instagram that he wanted to “help save a community that raised me and to make sure the library represents everyone, not just the few.”

Weir’s generosity has become contagious." 

Despite scathing resignation, Greenville library leaders silent on Pride display removal; The Post and Courier, August 19, 2022

By Stephanie Mirah smirah@postandcourier.com, The Post and Courier; Despite scathing resignation, Greenville library leaders silent on Pride display removal

"Greenville County public library leaders have remained silent about who directed staff to remove Pride Month displays in June, despite a trustee’s scathing resignation that called for the board chair and the library system executive director to step down."

Anatomy of a Book Banning; The Washington Post, June 24, 2022

Dave Eggers, The Washington Post; Anatomy of a Book Banning

A South Dakota school district planned to destroy Dave Eggers’s novel. He went to investigate.

[Kip Currier: The 6/24/22 Washington Post article, Anatomy of a Book Banning, is an extraordinarily thought-provoking, illluminating "call-to-action" perspective by noted author Dave Eggers (The Circle, 2013). This article -- a proverbial "canary in the coal mine" on censorship realities and exigencies in present-day American school districts -- is relevant to all information professionals. This first-hand account also sheds light on a variety of stakeholders and communities, with particular pertinence to school libraries, teachers, students, parents, and all societal members concerned about informed citizenries and civil liberties.

Although information professionals are increasingly being asked to do more with less resources, less time, less compensation, less acknowledgement -- experiencing burgeoning compassion fatigue and the trauma of library work -- I would suggest we need to think even more strategically, both short-term and longitudinally, about what we can do to add our voices, ideas, passions, stories, and expertise to these bedrock issues of intellectual freedom, access to information, and the right to self-determination and pursuit of each person's happiness. To that end, more of us may need to consider running for and serving on school boards and other boards that make consequential decisions about many information-related matters that are within the wheelhouses and bailiwicks of librarians, archivists, data/information/computing/museum professionals. Or getting more involved in getting behind candidates and already-serving members of boards who support and lead on the kinds of issues that are integral to us and implicated by stories like this one by Dave Eggers.]

"South Dakota’s Codified Law 22-24-27 prevents the distribution to minors of sexually explicit material that is “without serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” Given that all five books are literary works that have only a few pages (or just a few paragraphs) of sexual content, the law does not apply in this case. Court rulings, including Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982), have further found that books cannot be removed from school libraries simply because certain individuals think they’re offensive.

Unspoken in much of the debate is that the vast majority of books assigned to high-schoolers also contain material that would probably be deemed objectionable under the same standards. The students of Rapid City are still allowed to read “Oedipus Rex,” in which the protagonist kills his father and then sleeps with his mother. They are still allowed to read “The Great Gatsby,” which contains alcoholism, adultery and murder. “Romeo and Juliet,” which remains on reading lists and on the shelves of all three Rapid City public high school libraries, centers on a torrid love affair between teenagers, both of whom kill themselves." 

Uber’s CEO says ‘I need leadership help.’ What should it look like?; Washington Post, March 1, 2017

Jena McGregor, Washington Post; Uber’s CEO says ‘I need leadership help.’ What should it look like?

""When you are seen as somebody who is damaged, you have to find religion" and make substantial changes, said Bob Sutton, a professor at Stanford University who wrote a widely read book on uncivil workplaces called "The No A--hole Rule." He believes Kalanick needs a coach and "he needs to find some humility."...

For Uber, it could take time. "Frankly, fixing the culture of a company is an extremely complex, long-term endeavor, and you usually want to do it with the goose that laid the golden egg," said Nicholas Donatiello, a management lecturer at Stanford University. "It is not unusual for fast-growing, entrepreneurial companies to find themselves with cultures that have been double-edged swords for them. The culture that may help a company get to the point where Uber is may not be the culture to take Uber forward.""

Suffolk University’s board taking a PR hit; Boston Globe, 2/1/16

Adrian Walker, Boston Globe; Suffolk University’s board taking a PR hit:

"Ultimately, McKenna wanted to dislodge Suffolk’s entrenched power structure — which includes Regan, who has managed to maintain an outsized influence since he left the Suffolk board.

He resigned several years ago after Coakley, ironically, charged that it was a conflict of interest for a board member to also hold a $366,000 annual contract to be the school’s public relations czar. But Regan didn’t need a title to maintain his juice with the board. It doesn’t hurt that his deputy remains on the board...

Lost in the maneuvering is the fate of the school itself. Honestly, who would want to work for this board? Or become a serious donor? The guys who run Suffolk like to say all they care about is the school and its mission. But everything they are doing says just the opposite."