One of ECI’s greatest resources is its members. A pillar of our organization, we are proud to have E&C practitioners from industries across the globe in our community. Our new Member Spotlights are an opportunity to highlight just a few of our many great members, showcase their achievements and show our appreciation for their support of the incredible ECI community. This month, meet Greg Keeling!

Greg is a Director, Ethics for BMO Financial Group. Within BMO’s Ethics Office, Greg focuses on risk and compliance topics, including behavior, conduct, culture risk, regulatory compliance, and data/AI ethics. Greg has worked in ethics since 2018, joining from BMO’s Volcker Rule Compliance Office. Within BMO, he has worked in procurement, information risk and technology development. Before joining the bank, Greg worked in the public sector on topics such as privacy, access to information, library services and sustainability.

In addition to his E&C career, Greg has served on ECI’s board since January 2023, and joined CEO Pat Harned to announce top-line findings from the Global Business Ethics Survey® (GBES®) at our live event in September 2023. Read about his perspective on board participation, E&C trends, and more below!

 

Why did you make the decision to support ECI through joining the Board?

Joining the ECI Board provides me an opportunity to contribute to the E&C profession in a meaningful and different way than I have done before (through working groups, industry presentations, etc.). Being on the ECI Board enables me to help support an important organization in the ethics & compliance space – an organization that has made significant contributions to the profession for a century. It was a great honor to be asked to apply for a position on the Board – an opportunity I readily accepted (after receiving conflict of interest clearance).

What are the topics that are highly relevant to your current role, and that you see emerging in the E&C field more broadly?

Organizations are facing a range of challenges but in the end, it comes down to creating the conditions for an ethical culture, supporting employees in doing the right thing, and ensuring staff feel psychologically safe to speak up and raise concerns. Embedding ethical considerations in everything you do is vital, whether it is sales practices, product operations or AI development. Organizations and regulators are developing more advanced understandings of the linkage between culture, employee behavior and outcomes. Compliance isn’t just about laws and regulations and ethics is about more than philosophy. Now is a great time to work in E&C.

Where do you see the E&C field developing in the next five years?

E&C practitioners will have to expand their perspectives beyond what they may have traditionally focused on. Business today is more complex, more integrated and moving at tremendous pace. Reputational risk can arise at any time. It is imperative that E&C teams be multi-disciplinary and able to work across and throughout their organizations. Changes in technology, operations and regulation will continue to present challenges to be addressed. Embrace this dynamic situation and use it to re-frame the value proposition E&C professionals bring to the business.

What advice would you offer to professionals who are interested in board governance at an organization?

Getting involved in board governance with any type of organization is a great experience. It can provide you with insights into how organizations operate in ways that your day-to-day work may not. It can help you develop new perspectives on your work and position you for further opportunities to contribute to your own organization or another board. Organizations don’t just happen – they need support. Get involved and give back – your effort will be worth it.

Please contact membership@ethics.org if you are interested in submitting your own member spotlight contribution.

By: EJL