Kellie Huennekens

Kellie Huennekens is Head of ESG Research at Nasdaq. She is a member of the firm’s cross-functional ESG Working Group and supports wider efforts to drive board excellence through an integrated approach to environmental, social and corporate governance expertise, insights and technology. At Nasdaq, Kellie advises boards and management teams on corporate practices by leading edge organizations and emerging best practices. Focus areas include board roles and responsibilities, composition, structure and organization; ESG/corporate sustainability as well as governance practices and disclosures; institutional investor priorities and shareholder engagement. Kellie, who has presented to corporate boards and a variety of governance organizations, serves on the Advisory Board of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, and is an officer of the Middle Atlantic chapter of the Society for Corporate Governance. Previously she served on the Council of Institutional Investors’ Markets Advisory Council. Before joining Nasdaq, Kellie helped establish the EY Center for Board Matters, where she served as an advisor to corporate boards and other governance stakeholders. At CBM, Kellie was responsible for the creation of thought leadership, benchmarking tools and custom client products, including through oversight of CBM’s research processes and data operations. In this role, Kellie partnered with CBM’s institutional investor engagement program, one of the largest in the US market, and collaborated with EY’s audit, tax, advisory, risk, sustainability and regulatory affairs practices. She also spearheaded research projects with external organizations, such as the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute. Kellie started her corporate governance career in 2005, when she joined Proxy Governance Inc., making recommendations on corporate ballot items, including for M&A and contested situations. She joined EY in 2011 when the firm acquired PGI’s research team and proprietary database. Kellie previously worked in corporate finance at Credit Suisse, Legg Mason, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the US Department of Treasury. She holds an MBA from the University of Maryland and a BA from the College of William and Mary.