Capitalism’s Front Line: How Corporate Boards Can Fortify Economic Resilience and National Security Through Governance Excellence

Author: Christina Alfonso, President, Council on Global Competition and Innovation – CGCI, and Byron Loflin, Head of Global Board Advisory, Nasdaq

 

In an era marked by geopolitical disruption, technological rivalry, and economic volatility, the quest for governance excellence has emerged as a strategic differentiator. As economic and security landscapes converge, boardrooms and capital markets are increasingly central to national resilience. Today’s high-performing boards face a generational challenge—and opportunity—to ensure their organizations support economic security and national interests through prudent oversight of public-private partnerships and targeted investment. Recognizing this, the Council on Global Competition and Innovation (CGCI) and the Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence collaborate to equip board members with unique insights, tools, and leadership networks required to navigate this new era.

Today’s boards must anticipate and adapt to threats ranging from cyberattacks and supply chain disruptions to geopolitical coercion and technological espionage. The interconnectedness of global markets means that vulnerabilities in one sector or region can rapidly threaten both corporate value and national stability.

Governance Excellence: The New Strategic Imperative

At its best, capitalism is a force for positive transformation—lifting communities, driving innovation, and expanding opportunity. But the promise of capitalism can only be realized when it is anchored in governance excellence. In today’s high-stakes environment, corporate governance is not peripheral; it is the foundation upon which economic security and national resilience are built.

Governance excellence rests on three interdependent pillars: trust, confidence, and accountability. Trust is earned through ethical conduct and transparent decision-making, creating a culture where stakeholders believe in both the intentions and actions of leadership. Confidence is established when boards demonstrate competence, foresight, and integrity—assuring investors, employees, and the public that the organization is prepared for uncertainty. Accountability is the mechanism that aligns actions with both organizational values and the broader expectations of society, ensuring that decisions serve not just shareholders, but the long-term interests of all stakeholders.

Together, these pillars form a governance ecosystem that enables organizations to withstand shocks, adapt to disruption, and advance prosperity and security.

Actionable Strategies for Boardroom Leadership

To meet this moment, boards must embrace a new playbook—one that prioritizes economic security and national resilience as core elements of fiduciary duty. Four imperatives stand out:

 

  1. Integrate Geopolitical Foresight: Boards must elevate their awareness of geopolitical risks, using expert input and scenario planning to build resilience against disruptions.
  2. Reframe Capital Allocation Through a Security Lens: Investment decisions should consider strategic vulnerabilities (such as supply chain and dual-use technology risks, and the potential for adversarial capital flows), prioritizing sectors and assets vital to national and economic security. This approach aligns with the emerging discipline of “GCI investing,”—a market-led strategy that channels capital toward assets, technologies, and companies of strategic importance to national security, economic resilience, and the international rules-based order.
  3. Champion Public-Private Collaboration: While boards do not typically lead direct engagement, they should ensure that management actively collaborates with government and industry partners to set standards, share intelligence, and coordinate on national priorities (e.g., CHIPS Act).
  4. Elevate Board Composition and Continuous Learning: Boards need diverse, specialized skills—particularly in technology and security— and should commit to ongoing education and regular assessments, such as those led by the Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence, to ensure readiness for an evolving threat landscape.

 

The Boardroom at the Front Line of Capitalism

The convergence of economic and national security has elevated the boardroom from a seat of oversight to a crucible of strategic leadership. In this new era, governance excellence is not a static destination but a dynamic commitment-a willingness to interrogate assumptions, embrace scenario-based thinking, and continually invest in the board’s own agility and expertise. The most effective boards will not merely respond to disruption; they will anticipate and shape it, forging partnerships across public and private sectors and deploying capital in ways that strengthen both enterprise value and the broader architecture of economic resilience.

Directors must see themselves as stewards of a system whose stability and integrity underpin not only their organizations, but the prosperity and security of society itself. By embedding national security and economic resilience into the core of their governance frameworks, boards can help ensure that the promise of capitalism—a force for opportunity, innovation, and societal advancement—remains robust in the face of global uncertainty.

A Call To Leadership

The path forward will demand courage, humility, and relentless self-assessment. It will require boards to ask not only “Are we prepared for the risks we can see?” but also “Are we resilient enough for the ones we cannot yet imagine?” In answering these questions, today’s directors have the opportunity—and the obligation—to transform governance from a compliance exercise into a source of enduring strategic advantage.

Ultimately, the legacy of this generation of board leaders will be measured by their resolve to safeguard economic and national security. The boardroom’s highest calling is to ensure that the pursuit of profit and the protection of national security are mutually reinforcing pillars of a resilient future.

 

 

The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are solely those of the individual contributors of the Council on Global Competition and Innovation, Inc. (“CGCI”) and are not the views of CGCI or its affiliates.

Certain information included herein has been sourced from third parties, including external organizations or entities mentioned in this publication. While such information is believed to be reliable, CGCI has not independently verified its accuracy or completeness and makes no representations or warranties regarding its reliability or suitability for any specific purpose.

This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice. Readers should consult their own advisors before making decisions based on the content herein. Any references to specific entities, securities, or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute endorsements or recommendations.

This content is not intended to solicit investment or participation in any financial products or services. Past performance mentioned, if any, is not indicative of future results. CGCI disclaims any liability for actions taken based on this information.

Charts and graphs are illustrative and should not be relied upon for decision-making purposes. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. All content reflects information available as of the date of publication.

For further details, please refer to our Terms of Use policy at https://www.cgci.org/terms-of-use

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Five months of war have driven the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve to a 43-year low—while China has spent the past decade building its energy buffer.

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Dr Benedetta Berti

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Andrew J. Grotto

JD, MPA: William J. Perry International Security Fellow, Stanford University and Co-Director, Program on Geopolitics, Technology and Governance at the Stanford Cyber Policy Center.

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Dr. CHRISTOS A. MAKRIDIS

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Stephen Rubley

Fmr. President, Government Division, Thomson Reuters; CEO, TRSS LLC

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Michael Montelongo

President and CEO of GRC Advisory Services, LLC

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Senior Advisor, CGCI

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Philip Root

CTO, GRVTY
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Dame Fiona Murray

Associate Dean of Innovation, MIT
Chair, NATO Innovation Fund

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Fiona is Chair of the NATO Innovation Fund and has served on the British Prime Minister’s Council on Science and Technology and was awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) for her services to innovation and entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom. She is also a member of the Ministry of Defence Innovation Advisory Panel and the European Innovation Council Joint Expert Group. She also sits on a number of Boards including Prime Coalition (a not-for-profit creating new venture fund with catalytic capital to support start-ups focused on climate impact) and MassChallenge (one of the first large-scale accelerators in New England supporting entrepreneurs solving significant global issues).

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Dawn Meyerriecks

Corporate Board Member, Advisor, Speaker, Technologist
Former Deputy Director of Science and Technology, CIA

As an independent director and board member, government and commercial technical powerhouse leader, Dawn brings more than 40 years’ experience pioneering new products and services and leading transformation for iconic brands around the world, including CIA, AOL, and U.S. DoW. She is a recognized expert in delivering entrepreneurial technical capabilities and processes to international markets, leveraging unparalleled stakeholder acumen into strategy, development, integration, and operations.

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From 2014-2021, Dawn led the iconic CIA Directorate of Science and Technology, directing the organization’s first restructure in their fabled 57-year history, defining and delivering global capabilities beyond state-of-the-art even in the midst of significant workforce societal and health concerns. Prior to this role, Dawn redefined technical oversight for the Intelligence Community while serving at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, with a topline of +60B, enabling on-time, on-budget delivery while returning 30% of her own budget and staff to mission.

Dawn has served on the National Security Agency (NSA) Corporate Board for over a decade, also supporting both their Technical Strategy and Information Assurance subcommittees. During this time, NSA adopted and migrated all mission IT to the cloud and revamped their approach to encryption and defense in depth.

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With a passion for establishing strong partnerships to ensure America’s long-term global competitiveness, Dawn sustains a personal portfolio as a MITRE Senior Fellow; as an advisor to the national Special Competitive Studies Project; as a consultant to CIA, NSA, and Donovan Capital Group; and as a Commissioner on the Senate Armed Services Committee Commission on Emerging Biotechnology.

Before entering government service, Dawn was an executive at AOL and led the restructure of AOL Products to ensure alignment to business objectives, leading M&A technical assessments and ribbon-cutting new global facilities.

Dawn is a highly sought technical leadership speaker. She maintains a current TS/SCI clearance. Additionally, Dawn has been a Virginia Master Gardener Volunteer for the last 13 years, nurturing her local community. She lives in Virginia with her family.

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Graham “Gray” Chynoweth

Founder, The Next Offset
Former Director of Global Activities, Office of Strategic Capital at the U.S. Department of War

Graham Chynoweth’s career has seen him drive change and impact across the areas of innovation, finance, and national security.

As an operator, he has served as CEO and in executive leadership roles overseeing operations, engineering, finance, legal, and talent functions in companies ranging from early-stage startups to firms with over 450 employees. He has raised more than $100 million in capital across private and public markets for companies in internet infrastructure, software, hardware, and biotech. He has also served as CEO and Director of a NASDAQ-listed company and as a Director of a publicly traded commercial bank.

As an investor, Graham has backed more than 25 startups, led New Hampshire’s largest angel investor network, and served as a General Partner in a venture fund focused on early-stage companies in New Hampshire.

In parallel with his civilian career, Graham has served as a Naval officer, leading multiple innovation initiatives. He was Deputy Director of NavalX, the U.S. Navy’s innovation cell; Director of Global Technology Scouting and Co-Investments at the Office of Strategic Capital within the Office of the Secretary of War; and a technology scout with Task Force 59 under the U.S. Navy’s Central Command.

Graham, a New Hampshire native, is also deeply involved in civic and nonprofit work, having served as a Director or Advisor to organizations such as New Hampshire Public Radio, the St. Anselm College Ethics in Governance Program, and the Business School at Southern New Hampshire University.

He holds a B.A. in Political Science with High Distinction from the University of California, Berkeley; an M.A. in Public Policy from Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy; a J.D. from Duke University School of Law; and a Certificate in Transnational Law from Duke and the University of Geneva Faculty of Law.

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Jesús Mantas

Jesús Mantas

Former Global Managing Partner, IBM
Board Director, Biogen, IFF, and National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD)

Jesús Mantas is the former Global Managing Partner responsible for Business Transformation Services in IBM. Prior to this, he led IBM Business Consulting, IBM Global Process Services, and IBM GBS Latin America. Before IBM, he was a Partner in the High Technology practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting, and worked at Procter & Gamble in Spain.

He serves as the Chair of Compensation and Management Development of the Board of Director of Biogen Inc.(NASDAQ: BIIB), as well as a Board Director of IFF (NYSE: IFF) and NACD. He was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global AI Council and serves on the Boards of HITEC and NACME, non-profits focused on leadership development of diversity in technology. He is the emeritus chair of IBM’s Hispanic Diversity Council.

Jesús holds degrees in Telecommunications, Software Engineering, and Business Administration, was a professor at University of California, Irvine Graduate School of Management, and served as an officer in the Air Force of Spain.

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Glen Dodson

Glen Dodson

Job Title, Cyberistics

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David Ulevitch Portrait2

David Ulevitch

General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz

David Ulevitch is an entrepreneur and investor. As a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, he leads the firm’s American Dynamism practice, which focuses on investing in companies advancing American interests — including supporting builders in areas such as defense, national security, public safety, nuclear and aerospace. David sits on the boards of Alloy Automation, Anduril, AnyRoad, Charthop, Firstbase, Flock Safety, Orderful, Rewatch, Skydio, Superhuman, Supermove, Vitally, and WorkBoard. David has written extensively on the role of technology in advancing American interests, including how nuclear technology can untether our military, the future of public safety and how the U.S. can rewire the Pentagon for a new era. David was previously the founder and CEO of OpenDNS, a cloud-delivered security service that was acquired by Cisco in 2015 for $635 million. While at Cisco, David was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cisco Security — a $2.4 billion annual revenue business with more than 5,000 team members — where he oversaw the company’s global cybersecurity strategy, product portfolio, and business. Prior to OpenDNS, David founded EveryDNS, an authoritative DNS service, and grew it into the world’s largest free DNS service. He sold it to Dyn (now Oracle) in 2010.

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John M. B. O'Connor

John M. B. O’Connor

Chairman and CEO, J.H. Whitney Investment Management

John M. B. O’Connor is CEO of J.H. Whitney Investment Management, LLC. Previously, Mr. O’Connor was Chairman of JP Morgan Alternative Asset Management. Mr. O’Connor is also CEO of Whitney Strategic Services and Whitney Data Services. Mr. O’Connor serves on the Board of Directors of numerous companies including Oceus Networks, LLC., Sequoia Holdings, Inc., and Boon Logic, Inc.

Mr. O’Connor is a Senior Fellow at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where he lectures on the Economics of National Security. He served as a member of the U.S. Department of War Business Board from 2005 to 2021 and as a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army for New York from 2014 to 2019. He is a recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Air Force Distinguished Public Service Award and the Department of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award. Mr. O’Connor earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Tulane University and a Master’s in Business Administration degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

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Sherif Nahas

Sherif Nahas

Director of Private Equity, Ford Foundation

Sherif works at The Ford Foundation, where he manages approximately $7 billion in private investments, including venture capital, private equity, real estate, and natural resources. He previously managed private investments for the University of Virginia endowment, and before that worked at BankBoston and Sand Hill Capital. Sherif started his career as an engineer and product strategist at The Ford Motor Company. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.S. and M.E in Aerospace Engineering, and received an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

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Byron Loflin

Byron Loflin

Global Head of Board Advisory & Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence, Nasdaq

Byron Loflin is the Global Head of Board Advisory at Nasdaq where he leads the governance team in driving board and governance effectiveness. Byron founded the Center for Board Excellence (CBE) in 2010 and was CEO until it was acquired by Nasdaq in 2019.

Prior to CBE, Byron was the CEO and president for two private companies between 1992-2009. Along with speaking on and teaching corporate governance effectiveness, Byron is a graduate of James Madison University (BA) and Harvard Business School (OPM) and several HBS Executive Education Certificates including Havard’s Board Effectiveness program.

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Gen. David Stilwell

General David Stilwell

Ret. General USAF; Fmr Assistant Secretary of State (Asia)

Brig Gen (Ret) David Stilwell is the Fox Fellow for Future Pacing Threats at the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Institute for Future Conflict. In this role, he educates cadets and faculty on the growing military threat presented by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), including its use of political and information warfare to undermine democracies. His teachings help prepare future officers for the challenges they will face immediately after commissioning. Stilwell most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of EastAsian and Pacific Affairs from 2019 to 2021. Before that, he served in the U.S.Air Force for 35 years. Stilwell enlisted as a Korean linguist in 1980, served as a fighter pilot and commander for 25 years, and was later the Defense Attaché in Beijing. He retired in 2015 as the Asia advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He speaks Korean, Chinese, and some Japanese.
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Adam Segal

Ira A. Lipman Chair in Emerging Technologies and National Security, and Director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy program, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)

Adam Segal is the Ira A. Lipman chair in emerging technologies and national security and director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). An expert on security issues, technology development, and Chinese domestic and foreign policy, Segal was the project director for the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force reports Confronting Reality in Cyberspace, Innovation and National Security, Defending an Open, Global, Secure, and Resilient Internet, and Chinese Military Power. His book The Hacked World Order: How Nations Fight, Trade, Maneuver, and Manipulate in the Digital Age (PublicAffairs, 2016) describes the increasingly contentious geopolitics of cyberspace. His work has appeared in the Financial Times, the New York Times, Foreign Policy, the Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs, among others. From April 2023 to June 2024, Segal was a senior advisor in the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, where he led the development of the United States International Cyberspace and Digital Policy. Before coming to CFR, Segal was an arms control analyst for the China Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists. There, he wrote about missile defense, nuclear weapons, and Asian security issues. He has been a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for International Studies, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, and Tsinghua University in Beijing. He has taught at Vassar College and Columbia University. Segal is the author of Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge (W.W. Norton, 2011)
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Nazak Nikakhtar Portrait

The Honorable Nazak Nikakhtar

Partner and National Security Chair, Wiley Rein LLP
Former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce

The Honorable Nazak Nikakhtar brings over two decades of experience in international trade and national security to help clients succeed in the domestic and global marketplace. Through leadership roles in the U.S. government and private sector, Nazak has leveraged her valuable insights into the expansive range of U.S. and international laws, regulatory and policy processes, and federal agency resources to achieve clients’ business objectives. 

 

From 2018 to 2021, with unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Nazak served as the Department of Commerce’s Assistant Secretary for Industry & Analysis at the International Trade Administration (ITA). Nazak also served the duties of the Under Secretary for Industry and Security at Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). In these roles, Nazak was the agency’s primary liaison with U.S. industry and trade associations, and she shaped major initiatives to strengthen U.S. industry competitiveness, promote innovation, and accelerate economic and job growth.

 

As one of the key national security experts in the U.S. government, she developed and implemented innovative laws, regulations, and policies to safeguard strategically important technologies, strengthen the U.S. industrial base, and protect the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. As the Department’s lead on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), she played a key role in shaping U.S. investment policy. As the head of the agency’s trade policy office, she advised the U.S. government on legal and economic issues impacting critical technologies, advanced manufacturing, financial services, e-commerce, data privacy, cybersecurity, critical minerals/rare earths, and energy competition. Finally, as the federal agency’s lead on supply chain assessments, Nazak spearheaded the United States’ first-ever whole-of-government initiative to evaluate and strengthen supply chains across all strategic sectors of the economy.

 

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R.P. Eddy

R.P. Eddy

CEO, Ergo

R.P. Eddy is the CEO of Ergo, a geopolitical and economic intelligence firm known for forecasting critical world events. Leaders of allied governments and the world’s most consequential global businesses rely on Ergo to navigate what the firm calls “The Fastest Year in History”—with each year faster still.

Previously, R.P. served as a Director at the White House National Security Council and as a senior U.S. and UN diplomat. He has represented the U.S. in peace negotiations, played a role in the (flawed) creation of the International Criminal Court, and led attempts to recover American hostages. He was an initial architect of the Global Fund, which has since been credited with saving over 50 million lives; the UN team was honored with a Nobel Peace Prize. Recognized by Foreign Policy magazine as one of “America’s most respected national security experts,” R.P. was also named a “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum.

R.P. co-authored the award-winning bestseller Warnings: Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes (HarperCollins). His advocacy work spans leading counterterrorism programs for the NYPD and LAPD, promoting Western industrial competitiveness with DARPA, advocating for safe social media, and supporting the responsible development of AI. He has testified before Congress, spoken at the UN General Assembly and the Nobel Prize Summit, and is a member of both the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission.

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Christina Alfonso

Executive Director, CGCI

Christina Alfonso is a senior advisor to leaders across government and industry, specializing in national security, economic competitiveness, and emerging technology policy. As the Executive Director of the Council on Global Competition and Innovation (CGCI), she leads an initiative championed by the U.S. Department of War and private sector executives to advance resilient, market-driven security investments and foster strategic growth. As a Senior Advisor at DARPA, Christina prioritized developing public-private partnerships and advised on strategies to strengthen the U.S. defense innovation ecosystem.

Previously, as co-founder/CFO of Novata, a Microsoft and S&P-backed technology platform, Christina enhanced private market transparency through non-financial data reporting. As co-founder/CEO of Madeira Global (2012-2020), she pioneered values-based investment solutions for the private equity and credit sectors.

She is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School Senior Executives in National and International Security program. Christina holds an M.B.A. from ESADE Business School (Spain) and a B.S. in Finance and Economics from Fordham University. Christina is a trustee and treasurer of the RWJBH Monmouth Medical Center Foundation and has served on the advisory boards of the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle, PathNorth, and the Women’s Society for the Economy and Society. She has extensive international experience, most recently in São Paulo, and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.