Martha Carter
Vice Chairman & Head of Governance Advisory
Dr. Martha L. Carter is Vice Chairman and Head of Governance Advisory with Teneo. She advises CEOs and boards on corporate governance, sustainability, activism defense, executive compensation, shareholder engagement, strategy, and other matters. Martha sits on the Advisory Council of the Harvard Corporate Governance Forum and previously sat on the Markets Advisory Council at the Council of Institutional Investors (CII). She has certifications in SASB and TCFD reporting frameworks.
Previously, Martha was the Head of Global Research at Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Chair and Founder of the ISS Global Policy Board. At ISS, Martha led Global Research’s team of governance analysts in 10 offices worldwide. Martha’s team provided institutional investors with research and voting recommendations on more than 38,000 companies in 115 markets.
Martha has been quoted in media worldwide and has been a speaker at corporate governance events. She has also written articles for a number of publications, including: NYSE: Corporate Governance Guide; International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Benefits Magazine; ICGN Yearbook; and Financial Analysts Journal. In 2022, she was named one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in Consulting by The Consulting Report.
Martha holds a Ph.D. in finance from George Washington University, an M.B.A. in finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and undergraduate degrees in mathematics and French from Purdue University.
Related Service Areas
- Board Search & Effectiveness
- CEO & C-Suite Strategic Counsel
- Commitment to DE&I and ESG
- Corporate Governance Advisory
- Diversity & Inclusion Advisory
- Executive Search
- Initial Public Offering Advisory
- Merger & Acquisition Advisory
- Restructuring Communications
- Shareholder Activism Defense
- Strategy & Communications
Awards & Recognitions
- Directorship 100: Most Influential People in the Boardroom Community, National Association of Corporate Directors (2008 – 2012)
Memberships & Affiliations
- Council of Institutional Investors
- Harvard Governance Forum
Related Insights
Stuck in the Middle with ESG: What Companies Can Expect in 2025 & Beyond After a much-anticipated election cycle in the U.S., Republicans will take over the White House and control both chambers of Congress. This shift in power will significantly impact ESG initiatives. While it is too early to determine precisely what those impacts will be, we present our view of the most… 
What Chief Sustainability Officers Are Thinking Below is a summarized collection of insights that we have heard from Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) recently. Covering topics such as how global businesses are approaching sustainability strategies, responding to reporting requirements, addressing stakeholder feedback and communicating their priorities, these insights highlight the importance of sustainability across industries and the… 
Seven Early Takeaways from the 2024 Proxy Season With the 2024 US proxy season nearly in the rear-view mirror, a few key trends and takeaways have emerged. Amidst an uncertain regulatory and political landscape, investors have remained supportive of management on average, as indicated by the modest increase in average voting across management proposals. Concurrently, the number of… 
DEI in an Era of Unrest: A Few Truths and a Path Forward Anti-diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) activity is not new, but it is intensifying, having been emboldened by the Supreme Court ruling on Affirmative Action in higher education and the divisive nature of current politics and policy. Corporations are navigating lawsuits, retraction letters, calls for EEOC investigations and… 
Three Key Considerations for Companies Heading into 2024 Proxy Season The 2024 proxy season is expected to be a challenging period for companies to navigate. The upcoming U.S. presidential election has fueled further political divide on ESG topics, and that political divide continues to complicate the domestic landscape. Outside of the U.S., Europe and other markets continue to mandate company… 
2023 Proxy Season Review: Institutional Investor Expectations in a Divided World The 2023 proxy season reflected a post-pandemic “return to normal” with investors balancing increased focus on financial materiality with ESG considerations. Below are our top 11 takeaways from the 2023 proxy season. 1: Institutional investors go all-in on financial materiality. Walking a thin line in a divided world of ESG,… 
Teneo ‘23 & ESG Series: The DNA of 2023 U.S. Sustainability Reports Since we published our last study on U.S. sustainability reports 12 months ago, political attacks on ESG have escalated heading into the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign. As a result, companies are now facing critical questions on how to communicate their ESG strategies and initiatives, especially within… 
Teneo Insights Series APAC: How to Keep ESG on the C-suite Radar Amid Competing Priorities Samantha Woods, Sustainability Director, Swire Coca-Cola; Mehul Thakkar, APAC Head of ESG Issuer Relations, MSCI Inc.; and Martha Carter, Vice Chairman & Head of Governance Advisory at Teneo joined Mark Watson, Senior Managing Director and Head of APAC ESG Advisory, Teneo to discuss the ever-changing ESG… Communicating Your Company’s ESG Strategy in 2023: Five Tactical Considerations U.S. companies are facing a new challenge in 2023 – communicating their ESG strategies in the middle of an intense anti-ESG political campaign. To help companies navigate this landscape, we have provided the below key considerations for communicating strategies within 2023 ESG reports, websites, press releases, social media, proxy statements… 
(Claw) Back to the Future: Implications of the SEC’s Final Executive Compensation Recovery Rule On October 28th 2022, the SEC adopted the final compensation-related rule of the Dodd Frank Act, requiring companies to recoup compensation that was previously awarded to certain executives based on false information. Whereas companies were able to implement other Dodd-Frank compensation-related rules without fundamentally changing their pay plans (such as… 
Be Careful What You Wish For: Four Potential Consequences of “Pass-Through” Voting for Companies Earlier this year, Republican Senators introduced the “INDEX” Act that would require passively managed funds to vote proxies in accordance with the instructions from their clients. The proposed bill followed the announcement of BlackRock’s “Voting Choice” initiative that provides clients the option to vote proxies themselves. Vanguard and SSGA have… 
Who’s Down With ESG? The U.S. Midterm Elections & The Future of ESG Investing With the 2022 midterm elections nearly in the rearview mirror, has the momentum towards ESG shifted, or is the backlash that was growing around ESG still gaining ground? The meteoric rise of ESG over the past several years was predicted to receive pushback at the hands of a Republican Congress. 
What’s ESG Got To Do With It? The Current State of U.S. Sustainability Reporting In 2022, global companies have encountered a fractured ESG landscape marked by widely divergent views. On the one hand, regulators are mandating more robust ESG disclosures from both companies and institutional investors. Regulators are also cracking down on so-called “greenwashing” – trying to hold companies accountable… 
More Money, More Problems? How the SEC’s New Executive Compensation Disclosure Rule Could Impact the 2023 Proxy Season On August 25, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted final rules on company pay for performance disclosure required under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. To help companies prepare for 2023 proxy statements and annual shareholder meetings, we summarize below the key elements of the final rules, how key stakeholders (activists,… 
ESG and the Bear: What to Make of the 2022 Proxy Season The 2022 proxy season was marked by external turbulence with a considerable ESG impact. In the wake of the still ongoing pandemic, companies faced new black swan events such as the war in Ukraine and navigated rising inflation, high oil prices and continued supply chain issues. Executives, directors and even… 
Too Soon? An Analysis of Major Investor Comments on the SEC’s Proposed Climate Disclosure Rule The comment period for the U.S. SEC’s proposed rule on climate-related disclosure ended on June 20th. Thousands of comments were submitted by companies, investors, trade associations and individuals. To help companies plan for their future climate disclosures and shareholder engagement, we have provided a summary of the six (6) issues… 
Name That Boon: SEC Proposes Rules on ESG Fund Names & Disclosure On May 25th, the SEC proposed two rules that seek to provide the market with greater clarity on how funds incorporate ESG factors into their investment activities. While the SEC’s proposed rules are directed at investment companies and mutual funds, other companies are likely to be impacted as well. The… 
Different Strokes to Move the World? How the SEC’s Proposed Climate Disclosure Rule Impacts the ESG Disclosure Landscape In a stated desire to standardize company ESG disclosures and provide investors with comparable information, the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has proposed its climate-related disclosure rule for U.S. publicly-traded companies and certain foreign issuers. A brief summary of the proposed rule is provided below. We have also analyzed… 
They Want Their ESG! Top 10 Questions to Expect From Investors This Proxy Season Those of a certain age may remember the 1980s “I Want My MTV” campaign demanding that the popular music television station be included in all cable lineups. Over 30 years later, major institutional investors have launched a similar campaign demanding that a different three-letter acronym – ESG – be included… 
For Good Measure: Current Best Practices in Tying Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Metrics to Executive Compensation Amid the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investing revolution, companies are currently grappling with how to incorporate ESG measures, particularly those relating to DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), into their executive compensation programs. We reviewed 68 companies that disclose DEI metrics in their executive compensation design… 
Are We There Yet? Progress Towards a Global ESG Disclosure Framework The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, an organization responsible for setting global accounting standards, launched the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). The ISSB will work to establish a singular, global ESG disclosure framework for corporates. The Value Reporting Foundation (VRF) - which includes the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)… 
We Are Living in a Material World: The State of U.S. Sustainability Reporting The significant events of 2020 have caused companies, institutional investors and regulators to re-energize their efforts towards sustainability initiatives. Institutional investors have dramatically enhanced their focus on issues relating to climate, diversity, human capital management and board governance (collectively, “ESG”). Under the Biden Administration, U.S. regulators are on the verge… 
DE&I State of Play: Without a Regulatory Framework, Investors Demand Transparency At his March 2nd confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, President Biden’s nominee to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, voiced support for the SEC’s role in strengthening corporate diversity. In response to questioning from Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania) arguing that corporations should not face mandates to… 
It’s Still Not Easy Being Green: What a Biden Administration Could Mean for ESG Investing & Corporate Governance A Biden Administration will certainly have a tremendous impact on ESG issues such as climate change, racial justice and healthcare. Consequently, companies are going to be impacted in a variety of ways on ESG issues, ranging from increasing climate regulation and penalties to criminal justice and diversity. Teneo has written… 
Corporate Leadership in the Stakeholder Era
Key Takeaways from the New WEF/IBC ESG Disclosure Framework The rise of ESG investing has resulted in an evolving and sometimes confusing set of ESG acronyms. Companies often struggle to make sense of the hundreds of ESG ratings, rankings, indexes and disclosure frameworks in the marketplace. On September 22nd, the World Economic Forum, the International Business Council and the… 
Teneo Insights Webinar: ESG Does it Matter? Below please find key take-outs from our September 17th panel with the Rt Hon Claire Perry O'Neill, Managing Director, Climate and Engergy, World Business Council for Sustainable Development; James Harding, Co-founder of Tortoise Media, former editor of The Times and former Director of BBC News; David Blood, Founder and Senior… 
A Weekly Update From Teneo: The Rise of ESG Investing Barbara G. Novick, Martha Carter, Matt Filosa and Jerome Hauer, Ph.D join Kevin Kajiwara to discuss the reopening of the American economy and the rise of ESG investing. Kevin Kajiwara (KK): Well, good day, everyone. Welcome and thank you again for joining our weekly Teneo Insights call. I hope you… 
20 For 20: 20 Imperatives for Fall 2020 Shareholder Engagement The once-in-a-hundred years global pandemic and once-in-a-generation global protests have created a seminal moment for companies and their leaders to reestablish and reinforce the basic tenets by which they run their businesses. The expansiveness of the role of the CEO and the board, as demonstrated by ESG, will continue. The changes… 
Coronavirus: A Weekly Update from Teneo – Call Transcript and Recording from 4.2.20 Jerome Hauer, Ph.D, Gabriel Wildau, Martha Carter, Orson Porter, and Tony Sayegh join Kevin Kajiwara to discuss the latest updates and developments regarding the effect of the coronavirus. Kevin Kajiwara (KK): Good morning everyone or good afternoon and thank you for joining today’s Teneo insights call. I’m Kevin Kajiwara, Co-President…