Independent Non-Executive Director, Bank of Montreal, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Audit Committee Chair)
Jan Babiak spent 28 years with Ernst & Young before starting her ‘portfolio career’. At EY, she held board level and global leadership roles over Technology Security and Risk Services; Climate Change and Sustainability Services; and Regulatory and Public Policy. Her experience includes serving on the firm’s most prestigious clients in financial services, technology, energy, media, entertainment, transportation, government, retail and other sectors.
Jan now sits on the board and Finance Committee and chairs the Audit Committee of Walgreens Boots Alliance Co., with annual global revenues exceeding $135 billion from retail, wholesale, distribution and its strong digital presence in the pharmacy sector. She also sits on the Audit and Conduct Review Committee and the Governance & Nominating Committee as an independent member of the board of the Bank of Montreal, which has assets of over $1.3 trillion. Jan also has current and/or prior experience serving on private PE-backed, family owned, and employee-owned company boards.
Her prior board service includes Euromoney Institutional Investors plc, a UK-based FTSE 250 company, from 2017 until its sale to PE in late 2022. She was Senior Independent Director and sat on the Nominations and the Remuneration Committees. She also served on the board of the Royal Mail during its successful IPO from full UK government ownership directly into the FTSE 100. From 2017 to 2021, she served as board member and Audit Committee Chair for GlobalLogic, a private equity owned digital product development services company that helps businesses design, build, and deliver their next-generation products and digital experiences until its acquisition by Hitachi for $9.6 billion. From 2010 until its sale in August 2012, she was a board member and Audit Committee Chair for Logica plc, a then UK headquartered FTSE 250 publicly traded technology company.
Jan served as the content designer and lead instructor on CABLE’s intensive Corporate Board Academy, which prepares qualified candidates for their first corporate board role. She is an experienced and sought-after executive coach working with a broad portfolio of global executives often focused on effective transition to new leadership roles and/or customized preparation for board service drawing from her considerable experience in the area.
In 2024, Corporate Board Member magazine included her in the Top 20 Value-Creating Directors in America. In 2017, she was named by NACD Directorship magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the boardroom community drawing from NACD’s 20,000 plus members. Agenda, a Financial Times publication for board members, named her in their ‘International 100: Top Board Candidates with Global Skills’. She is a published author and popular motivational speaker. She was lead author of a definitive book on board level oversight of IT and cybersecurity ‘Defending the Digital Frontier: Practical Security for Management’ and is published on sustainability, board governance, technology and gender diversity in the work place.
A qualified CPA in the US and Chartered Accountant in the UK, she served on the governing body of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales as a Council Member from 2011 to 2019 when she termed out. Born in Oklahoma, Jan has dual US and UK citizenship. After twenty years living in London, in 2010 she established Nashville, Tennessee as her primary residence and the base for her frequent travels to London and beyond.
