The Sorrel Group was founded in 2004, by Paula HJ Cholmondeley.  It  is focused on providing education to support corporate directors who excel at overseeing their corporations in today's challenging business environment.

"I believe excellence in directors leads to excellence in management, which leads to excellence in corporations."

PAULA H.J. CHOLMONDELEY
Principal
The Sorrel Group
Current Boards: Lexeo Therapeutics/ Terex Corp/ Bank OZK 

Summary:

Ms. Cholmondeley has served on 10 corporate boards. Across her board career she has served on the audit, governance, strategy, corporate social responsibility, CRA nd  compensation committees. She has also chaired 5 audit committees, a nominating and governance committee; and a strategy and corporate social responsibility committee.  She currently chairs the Nationwide Mutual Funds audit committee.  During her executive career, Ms. Cholmondeley has had profit and loss responsibility for global divisions with revenues up to $750M, served as CFO of companies with revenues up to $2B, brought new technologies to market including construction of manufacturing plants, and served as the head of strategy at two large corporations. She is a former CPA and also was a White House Fellow in the office of the US Trade Representative. 

In the non-profit arena, she has previously served on the Board of the American Institute of CPAs and Gifts-in-Kind (today Goods 360), the largest product-giving charity in the US, the Executive Leadership Council and the National Association of Black Accountants. the White House Fellows  foundation and  association and the Wharton School MBA Program. She co leads the Mid Atlantic Region for the Black Corporate Directors Group.

D'ANNE HURD
Principal
The Sorrel Group
Current Boards: Peckham Industries/Martin Engineering/Impax Funds 

Summary:

D’Anne Hurd is a qualified financial expert and ESG authority who brings to her board assignments hands-on experience as a senior financial management executive at two Fortune 100 companies. She has served on the boards of four public companies—including as chair and lead independent director—and six private company boards across retail, medical devices, cloud-based SaaS, technology, pharma/biotech, financial services, telecommunications, and manufacturing industries. D’Anne has advised more than 70 corporate boards and is an active public speaker on governance issues. Presently, she chairs and sits on audit, and nominating and governance committees on several corporate boards.

Wharton Women in Business Award 1999

NACD Directorship Certified

Customized Individual Corporate Governance Education:
New corporate directors are  chosen for their  industry expertise or specialized skill.  Effective corporate governance is a skill in itself.  Board members must balance their role as a representative of a broad spectrum of shareholders some with short term and some with long term goals.  Often this involves hard decisions requiring courage. They must collaborate with colleagues, and hold management accountable for results, while bringing their specific experience and knowledge to bear for the good of the corporation.

The Sorrel Group, after consultation with the client, creates a customized education program unique to the clients' back ground and corporate board on which they will  serve.  Education for a military general might focus on how to read a 10-K, while education for an IT executive  might focus of  the role of the compensation committee.  Clients are grounded in all of the best practices highlighted in the Blue Ribbon Commission Reports of National Association of Corporate Directors;  and the publications and reports of Nasdaq, the NYSE and Catalyst.  One-on-one education provides a confidential environment where directors can feel comfortable asking a variety of questions.  New directors enter the boardroom up to date on all the current governance topics discussed in boardrooms today. They are ready to contribute from day one.

Education through the National Association of Corporate Directors:
Ms. Cholmondeley is a part time faculty member for NACD. NACD is the premier membership association for corporate directors in America.  It is focused on excellence in director education.  She and her colleagues provide  governance education in a series of general education programs offered to any director.  She has been a recent presenter at the Director Professionalism, Advanced Director Professionalism, and Master Class.  She has also presented at the Association's annual meeting, which is the largest annual gathering of corporate directors.  In addition, she is a frequent faculty member for the NACD "In-Boardroom Programs."  This program provides customized education for both boards and committees, as a group.  Through this same  program evaluations for boards, committees and individual directors are  also conducted.

She has taught in a wide range of  industry boardrooms, including:
- Insurance
- Energy
- Chemical
- Skin care
- Retail
- Regulatory bodies
- Medical partnerships
- Commercial vehicular dealerships
- Scientific research companies
- Specialty steel
- Food  manufacturing