about doug chia

A widely recognized and respected corporate attorney and governance professional

Douglas K. Chia is the President of Soundboard Governance LLC and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Corporate Law and Governance at Rutgers Law School.  He is also currently serving as Strategic Advisor to the Interim CEO of the Society for Corporate Governance.

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Prior to founding Soundboard Governance in June 2019, Doug was Executive Director of The Conference Board ESG Center.  Previously, Doug served as Assistant General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Johnson & Johnson and Assistant General Counsel, Corporate of Tyco International and practiced law at the global firms Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Clifford Chance, both in New York and Hong Kong. 

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Doug is also an ESG Fellow at The American College's Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics in Financial Services; Fellow at The Aspen Institute Business & Society Program and The Conference Board ESG Center; Adjunct Professor at Fordham University School of Law; Advisor to Foresight BoardOps; and a member of the Advisory Boards of the ESG Professionals Network and PracticalESG.com.

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Doug has held central leadership positions in the corporate governance field, including Chair of the Board of the Society for Corporate Governance; President of the Stockholder Relations Society of New York; and member of the New York Stock Exchange Corporate Governance Commission and the Corporate Laws Committee of the American Bar Association.  He is currently a member of the American Bar Association; American Bar Foundation; American Law Institute; Ascend Pan-Asian Leaders; National Asian Pacific American Bar Association; and Society for Governance Governance.  Doug has also received numerous awards and recognitions for his work in corporate governance.  He was in the first class of inductees to the Corporate Governance Awards Hall of Fame in 2023.

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A nationally recognized governance expert, Doug has spoken at major conferences and seminars across the United States throughout his career and has frequently appeared in the news media, including CNBC; CNN; NPR Marketplace; The Wall Street Journal; The New York Times; Financial Times; Barron's; Fortune; and The New Yorker. 

Doug received an A.B. degree from Dartmouth College and a J.D. degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.  He currently lives in Princeton, New Jersey with his wife and their four children.  Doug serves as President of the Board of Trustees of the Historical Society of Princeton and a member of the Dartmouth College Fund Committee.