Join us for a complimentary live webinar, “2027 Proxy Season Preview,” on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, as our expert panel explores what public company executives, boards, legal counsel, and corporate governance professionals need to expect for the upcoming 2027 Proxy Season.
Moderator:
Keith E. Gottfried
Founder & CEO, Gottfried Shareholder Advisory, LLC
Keith Gottfried is the CEO of Gottfried Shareholder Advisory LLC, a strategic advisory firm focused on advising public companies, the C-suite, and boards of directors on shareholder activism preparedness and defense. Keith is a highly experienced shareholder activism advisor. Throughout a career that spans over 30 years, working at some of the country’s most prominent firms, Keith has advised numerous public companies in connection with high-profile shareholder activism campaigns. Before founding his firm in 2021, Keith led the shareholder activism defense practice at a large global law firm.
Keith's work as a shareholder activism defense advisor has been recognized on numerous occasions. In both 2018 and 2019, Keith was named by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) to its list of Directorship 100 honorees, which recognizes the most influential people in the boardroom community, including directors, corporate governance experts, regulators, and advisors. Keith publishes and presents regularly and has been frequently quoted by the national business and news media, on shareholder activism trends and developments. Keith has also been a frequent contributor to the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance on shareholder activism developments. Keith holds an M.B.A., with high honors, from Boston University's Questrom School of Business, a J.D., cum laude, from Boston University's School of Law, where he was an Edward F. Hennessey Distinguished Scholar of Law, and a G. Joseph Tauro Scholar of Law, and a B.S from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
Panelists:
Brendan M. Foo
Partner and Global Head of Corporate Contests, Forward Global
Brendan M. Foo is a Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Forward Risk, the investigations and intelligence practice of Forward Global. He leads the firm’s corporate contests practice, and his clients include some of the world’s top activist investors. He has also been engaged by issuers and their outside counsel on over 75 proxy contests and hostile takeover defenses. By bringing together his expertise as a practitioner and strategist, he has helped clients to prevail in multiple high-stakes proxy battles. Brendan has extensive experience in all the firm’s core practice areas, as well as significant international experience. He has lived, studied, and worked in several countries. He also speaks Chinese and has undertaken multifaceted investigations for clients doing business around the world.
Prior to co-founding Forward Risk, Brendan established and led the Asia Desk and headed internal research operations in aid of initial public offerings and private equity due diligence at a global risk and compliance firm. Early in his career, he worked as a journalist in Singapore. Brendan serves on the board of directors of the Capital Rowing Club and on the advisory board of the Master of Science in Foreign Service program at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He holds two Bachelor’s degrees from Fordham University and an MSFS from Georgetown University.
Sydney Isaacs
Co-President, H/Advisors - U.S., Houston
For more than 20 years, Sydney Isaacs has helped executives, boards and communications teams preserve value and reputation during key moments of change and challenge. She regularly advises companies on issues and events ranging from mergers and acquisitions to crises to restructurings. While she develops strategies that consider how to best reach and influence all stakeholders, she has particularly deep experience advising on investor engagement.
Sydney leads the firm’s work and team in Houston. While her clients span a broad range of industries, she has deep experience advising companies across the energy sector, providing support to clients on communications related to their diverse efforts to participate in and respond to the energy transition.
As Co-President, Sydney helps lead the firm's strategic direction and operations. She is focused on driving excellence in strategic counsel and client service, deepening existing capabilities, expanding the firm's offering, strengthening culture and ways of working, and driving alignment with the broader H/Advisors global network.
Sydney initially joined H/Advisors in the company’s Los Angeles office in 2005. She is a frequent speaker, sharing insights on topics ranging from crisis management to shareholder activism defense. She graduated cum laude with a dual B.A. in Economics and Government from Claremont McKenna College.
Sydney was named one of the 50 most influential leaders in corporate governance in 2022 by the National Association of Corporate Directors. She serves on the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Greater Houston.
Amy I. Pandit
Partner, Jones Day
Amy Pandit represents publicly traded corporations and counsels clients on corporate governance, executive compensation, and in federal securities laws, stock exchange, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and Dodd-Frank Act compliance matters. She recommends courses of action for companies navigating the increasingly complex regulatory environment, designs and develops executive compensation and other incentive programs for publicly traded companies, and advises on the legal implications and potential public implications of those programs as well as on shareholder engagement and proposal matters. Amy has been recognized by BTI as an "all-star" for superior client service and as an Acritas "Star Lawyer."
Amy also works closely with companies' boards of directors and executive management teams, engaging them on critical legal and compliance matters and advising on corporate governance issues and disclosure matters most relevant to their business, shareholders, and other stakeholders.
Amy is a board member of The Three Rivers Chapter of the National Association for Corporate Directors. She frequently writes and presents on Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), executive compensation, corporate governance, and shareholder proposal topics.
Ryan Nowicki Stewart
Co-Founder & CEO, Pennant
Ryan spent over a decade at the intersection of shareholder engagement, corporate governance, and technology — experience that led directly to building Pennant.
Most recently, Ryan was a Vice President at PJT Partners, where he advised public company boards and management teams on shareholder engagement, activism defense, and long-term corporate strategy. His clients included Fortune 100 companies across industries including industrials, materials, consumer, information technology and financials.
At State Street Investment Management, Ryan engaged directly with the boards and management teams of portfolio companies to vote the shares of State Street’s clients. He also maintained constructive dialogues with activist investors in his coverage of contested elections, M&A and core board oversight issues. He led stewardship integration efforts with the Active Equity team, partnering with portfolio managers and research analysts on high-profile votes and campaigns. Ryan also represented State Street on the Corporate Governance Advisory Council of the Council of Institutional Investors.
Ryan began his career at BlackRock, where he built technology products for institutional investors. He held several product and people management roles across the Aladdin technology business, with full-time assignments in New York, Tokyo, and London. While in Tokyo, he managed a team of twenty analysts across five offices spanning Hong Kong, Singapore, Gurgaon, and Sydney, and expanded the front office product footprint across Japanese asset managers and pension funds
During this webinar, our expert panel we’ll explore the following:
The SEC’s Regulatory Shifts and The Future of Rule 14a-8: How the end of SEC no-action relief for Rule 14a-8 shareholder proposals shifts exclusion decisions to companies, elevates federal court litigation exposure, and the broader SEC trajectory toward Rule 14a-8 rescission.
Expectations for Shareholder Proposals in 2027 and Beyond: Where ESG proponents will focus during potentially the final proxy season under Rule 14a-8—and how ESG activists may adapt to life after the rule.
Shareholder Engagement: Navigating the SEC’s revised CFIs on passive investor eligibility—how issuers can structure shareholder engagement so Schedule 13G holders can substantively engage with issuers and share perspectives and voting insights without risking passive investor disqualification.
Institutional Voting Shifts: Navigating the decentralization of voting power driven by investor pass-through programs, split internal stewardship teams, and AI-assisted voting models.
Proxy Advisory Firm Policy Shifts: How Glass Lewis's new multi-perspective research model and ISS benchmark updates fragment voting guidelines, requiring issuers to tailor their proxy communications to multiple investor decision lenses.
Shareholder Activism Outlook: Key lessons from 2026 campaigns, evolving company and activist tactics, and the legal impact of recent court decisions—including Delaware rulings on advance notice bylaw enforcement and board nomination rejections.
Who Should Attend:
C-Suite & Board Members: Chief Executive Officers, Chief Financial Officers, General Counsel, Corporate Secretaries, and Board Directors,.
Corporate Governance & Compliance Leaders: Heads of Corporate Governance, Chief Compliance Officers, and Governance Committee Chairs.
Investor Relations & Communications Teams: Chief Communications Officers, Heads of Investor Relations, and Public Relations Leads handling shareholder outreach.
Legal Counsel & Advisors: Outside Securities Attorneys, Activism Defense Practitioners, and Corporate Governance Advisors.