The Conference Board Australia

Founded in 1916, The Conference Board is a member-focused think tank that provides trusted insights for what’s ahead. Our agenda is simple: to help leaders navigate the biggest issues facing business and better serve society. We believe in innovative approaches that make you think- and act- differently. And everything we do reflects the input of our members and their real-world challenges.

We do this by delivering business insights. We connect senior executives across industries and geographies to share ideas, and our experts create fact-based research and consensus-driven policy statements to help leaders address their most important business issues.

Because we are independent, non-partisan, and non-profit our work is trusted. If you learned it at The Conference Board you can count on it.

RELEVANCE

We strive for excellence in all that we do and are inspired to effect positive change in the world. For our members, we are focused on providing useful insights and perspectives on the issues that matter most to them. For society, we are dedicated to unraveling the complexities of difficult issues that intersect business and the social order to foster stability and improve global well-being.

OPENNESS

We are committed to building strong relationships with all stakeholders. We do this by creating a working environment that is sustainable, inclusive and devoid of bias; an environment that celebrates diversity as central to the development of truly brilliant ideas and services.

COLLABORATION

We believe that ground-breaking solutions derive from the power of collaborative thought and trusted action. We take pride in sharing knowledge and leveraging opportunities to better serve our members – and society – by teaming to create new products, new services and new value across all sectors and geographies.

INNOVATION

We are passionate about discovering new ways to create value for our members and society. Driven by intellectual curiosity, we promote a culture of invention by encouraging continuous learning among all our employees, and by expanding our knowledge base and the pursuit of new ideas, concepts and services.

INTEGRITY

We are honest and transparent in all of our dealings with all of our stakeholders. We do not compromise our research methodologies or conclusions; and we maintain the courage of our convictions regardless of external political or commercial pressures.

We're a Team

We believe in innovative approaches that make you think- and act- differently. And everything we do reflects the input of our members and their real-world challenges. Because we are independent, non-partisan, and non-profit our work is trusted. If you learned it at The Conference Board, you can count on it.

Our Journey

The Conference Board has been creating and sharing original ideas since our founding over 100 years ago in 1916. Our mission as a not-for-profit is to provide insights to executives that help them solve their toughest business issues. We do this by delivering real-life actionable insights. We facilitate meaningful peer-to-peer discussions across industries and geographies to share ideas, and our experts create fact-based research and consensus-driven policy statements to help leaders address their most important business issues.

What We Offer

The Conference Board is proud to embrace best practices in employee wellbeing. We offer a competitive total compensation package. As part of our benefits package, we offer flexibility with remote working capabilities, employer-sponsored learning and development, advancement opportunities, on-site health initiatives, a communal and collaborative working environment, and a strong sense of comradery with sports teams, clubs, volunteer opportunities, and employee events.

The Conference Board does not discriminate / we are an equal opportunity employer in all solicitations or advertisements for employees.

June was an exemplary month for internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives at The Conference Board. Our Employee Engagement Committee (EEC) spearheaded events on LGBTQ Pride (spotlighting the great work of the New York LGBT Community Center) and hosted a “lunch and learn” on the history and significance of Juneteenth with special guest, author, historian, and professor at Hunter College, Dr. D’Weston Haywood.

“It is incredibly meaningful to be part of an organization that not only values diversity, equity, and inclusion but allows the EEC to be the driving force for shaping the programs and inviting outside speakers,” said Lindsay Beltzer, EEC Member and DEI lead. “It’s empowering – and rewarding – to produce events outside of my direct ”˜day job’ that illuminate issues related to equality and advancing racial, social, and economic opportunity.”

The Conference Board has a century-long tradition of engagement on social issues. After the death of George Floyd in 2020, the organization engaged dozens of business leaders in frank interviews about racism and inequality, culminating in a March 2021 three-day virtual forum featuring the CEOs of PayPal, Ben & Jerry’s, and many others. These were not typical business interviews. They were candid, often surprising, and always worth listening to.

Meet Luke Tedaldi, Senior Producer at The Conference Board and recipient of the 2021 Employee of the Year Award. Luke is responsible for the organization’s live and taped programs, events, and webcasts. He oversees a team that consistently delivers stylish, high-quality productions. Their work puts The Conference Board at the leading edge of video and digital business communications.

Luke received this award for his exemplary achievement and leadership heading the Conferences and Digital Media team’s transition to virtual delivery using a new platform, ON24. They made the complex transition while continuing to ensure a great Member experience across all webcasts and virtual events.

“My five years at The Conference Board have been the most dynamic years of my professional career,” Luke says. “The opportunities for personal growth, along with the professionalism, kindness, and intelligence of my colleagues, have made for an unmatched experience that continues to evolve. My co-workers are complete rock stars!"

The Conference Board anticipated the gravity of COVID-19 and reacted early. By March 2020, when the World Health Organization declared the virus to be a global pandemic, The Conference Board Covid hub had already produced several podcasts and webcasts on the crisis and its business implications. Since then, The Conference Board COVID-19 hub has produced more than 700 individual offerings and hosted hundreds of thousands of visits.

The Conference Board approach, global and enterprise-wide, gave the organization the bandwidth to provide expertise and insights across the full range of the pandemic’s effects: on the economy, society, and every aspect of business.

“We provided everything you might want if you’re trying to operate a business during COVID,” said Moira James, Director of Digital Media at The Conference Board. By June 2020, 80 percent of the company’s digital programming revolved around COVID-19. Research reports, blogs, webcasts, and podcasts focused on everything from remote work policies to pandemic-related consumer behavior patterns to effects on the labor market.

“Members responded in droves,” said James. And they continue to rely on the hub. “We have addressed each stage of COVID-19 implications, and we are still ahead of the curve.”

Current offerings focus on vaccines, the K-shaped recovery, and the return to work.

Steve Odland, CEO of The Conference Board, was recognized as one of 10 top male leaders committed to gender inclusion and equity by Jennifer Openshaw, CEO of Girls with Impact, an entrepreneurship program for teenage girls. The highlighted leaders use their direct influence to alter company culture, values, and initiatives to empower women.

The Conference Board recently launched myTCBâ„¢, a personalized Members-only website that provides its Members with curated content and easy access to peer and expert networks. In normal times Before the pandemic, CEO Steve Odland remarked, a project launch of this magnitude would merit an in-person party; instead, scores of employees across the globe united via laptop for a company-wide virtual celebration in which many on the project team were acknowledged and thanked for their specific contributions.

“Building something with and for our Members is what The Conference Board is all about,” noted project lead Kim Blanck, Director of Member Experience. “A strong collaboration of a dynamic cross-functional team coupled with Member input brought this to life.”

To help employees across the globe feel connected to the company and each other, The Conference Board launched the Employee Engagement Committee (EEC) in January 2021. Since then, the EEC has reached more than half the workforce with online activities. They range from virtual lunch get-togethers to volunteer initiatives, all supporting diversity, health, wellness, and continued learning. Health and wellness activities include interactive healthy cooking classes, a monthly meditation session, and a team walking challenge that encourages participants to log 8,000 steps a day.

“We’re absolutely thrilled that our efforts to engage our colleagues have gone so well, and we’re looking forward to starting our upcoming Step Challenge,” said Amanda Edmonds, EEC Member. One of the participants of a recent “Virtual Lunch Bunch,” Maria DesRochers, added, “I can't wait for the Conference Department to win the step challenge :)!”