ChampionScott Partners Breakfast Series – February 28, 2014
“Risk Revolution: The Threat Facing America and Technology’s Promise”
With Derek V. Smith, Founder and Former CEO of ChoicePoint
Friday, February 28th 8:30am–10am
The Ritz Carlton, Buckhead
3434 Peachtree Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30326
Business leaders and society are at a critical moment in American history; our right to privacy is seemingly at odds with our nation’s security needs in the post-September 11th world. This tension is creating a crisis in society as technology outpaces our ability to cope with the change it causes. The effects of technologies for risk management have mutated to create “Crisis Management” with significant societal impact.
This dynamic grows daily as technologies influence the macro forces that shape future human behavior. The implications of the “Risk Revolution” are creating momentum for a Human Renaissance in the technology driven world of the future.
This “Risk Revolution” will demand a new breed of professional possessing the right blend of expertise, leadership skills and personal characteristics to effectively lead in a diverse and complex world. Our objective is to review these critical issues to support you and your colleagues and to better enable your businesses to succeed in the future.
Derek V. Smith is an expert, author and business leader who has written two books founded from his considerable experience and thoughtful approach on how to think, act and lead in this increasingly complex and challenging world.
Please Join Derek and us to learn more about this critical topic and discuss in a confidential setting how as individuals, professionals and business leaders we can succeed in this world for the future.
Derek V. Smith
Founder and Chairman, GivingPoint, Inc. and The Game of Golf Institute
Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ChoicePoint Inc.
Derek Smith is the former chairman and CEO of ChoicePoint Inc., a leading provider of decision-making technology and information that helped to reduce fraud and mitigate risk. In Smith’s decade long leadership of ChoicePoint Inc., annual revenues grew more than five-times from just under $200 million to nearly $1 billion. The company’s share price grew more than 450 percent to a market cap that exceeded $4.3 billion. Headquartered outside of Atlanta, ChoicePoint employed approximately 5,000 associates in nearly 60 locations.
Smith strongly believes that a successful corporation must be a positive force in society to help improve the world where we live, work and do business. ChoicePoint had a unique workplace culture that has been recognized as one of the best places to work by local, regional and national organizations. This culture has also given birth to innovative products and services that helped recover more than one thousand missing children and the first national background screening service for nonprofit volunteers that has identified more than 200,000 convicted criminals attempting to work with children – including 2,700 sex offenders. The Maryland State Police used ChoicePoint’s software to help locate the D.C. snipers. And in the weeks and months following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, ChoicePoint through its DNA lab, Bode Technology, was involved in the identification of the remains of victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks.
Mr. Smith promoted the responsible use of information as a fundamental plank of the ChoicePoint business model. ChoicePoint became recognized by privacy advocates, regulators, other businesses and industry analysts as being a model company in the area of privacy and information security.
ChoicePoint’s philanthropic initiatives and employee volunteer efforts garnered recognition and awards from groups as diverse as the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Center for Victims of Crime and the HandsOn Network & Points of Light Foundation. In addition, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce acknowledged ChoicePoint with its Corporate Stewardship Award for the company’s “dedication and attention to the needs of its customers, investors, employees and community.”
Mr. Smith is the author of three books. In “A Purpose Under Heaven,” Smith uses allegory to explore the benefits and risks of technology to society. He is also the author of two nonfiction works, “The Risk Revolution: Threats Facing Technology’s Promise for a Safer Tomorrow” and “A Survival Guide in the Information Age.”
He is the Founder and Chairman of GivingPoint, Inc. a not for profit organization designed to inspire a new generation of social entrepreneurs who seek to connect and serve others in today’s technology-driven world. GivingPoint currently helps nearly 7,000 young people discover their philanthropic passion, create their giving profile, track their contributions, share their stories and be rewarded with cash grants to fund their community projects. GivingPointers as a group have volunteered over 289,000 hours in service with a community impact of over $5 million.
He most recently launched another not for profit initiative, the Game of Golf Institute (GOGI), a revolutionary concept to advance the enjoyment, popularity and growth of the game of golf. GOGI provides free education, research and game improvement tools driven by social media and mobile device applications with a primary focus on juniors, women and underserved golf populations.
Mr. Smith currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Aquarium and Geeknet. He is also a minority owner of the Atlanta Falcons.
Derek and his wife, Lisa, live in Georgia and have two children, Hanley and Tanner.
About ChampionScott Partners
ChampionScott Partners is a leading global retained executive search firm. Our specialty is senior leadership appointments in technology and technology-enabled companies, including related growth industries. Our client base encompasses both start-ups and global 500 companies. From our offices in Asia, Europe and the U.S., our partners recruit board directors, CEOs and senior executive leadership. We have successfully recruited senior management for leading companies in the U.S., China, Japan, Europe, and India. Our partners proven global operating and executive search expertise is applied to every search and integral to the success of the business strategies that shape our clients’ companies. For more information, visit: www.championscott.com