Patricia Harned is chief executive officer of the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI). Established in 1922, ECI is a nonprofit with a mission to empower organizations to operate with integrity. For two decades as CEO, Dr. Harned has overseen all of ECI’s strategy and operations. In that time ECI has become the leading provider of independent research about workplace integrity, the drivers of organizational culture, and effective compliance programs. Dr. Harned is a recognized expert on culture change, ethical leadership, and workplace reporting/retaliation. She leads ECI’s advisory service practice. Clients have included 200+ prominent organizations, often working to regain stakeholder trust following significant matters of misconduct. Dr. Harned has participated as a
member of several independent monitoring teams, imposed by federal enforcement agencies as a part of corporate settlement agreements. Dr. Harned also directs outreach efforts to policymakers and federal enforcement agencies in Washington, DC. She has provided ethics & compliance briefings to officials in the US Department of Justice, testified before Congress and the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and she has personally briefed U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, the OSHA Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee, and the Federal Bar Council on strategies to increase effective reporting of suspected misconduct. Dr.Harned also regularly provides training to corporate boards of directors on topics related to governance, and she is chairing a Blue-Ribbon Commission to define effective corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) programs. Dr. Harned is a multi-year honoree as one of Ethisphere Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics. She is also a multi-year honoree as a Top Thought Leader in Trust; a recognition
offered by Trust Across America. She was a member of the PCAOB Standing Advisory Group, and she currently serves on the board of the U.S. Center for SafeSport as well as the International Association of Independent Corporate Monitors (IAICM). Dr. Harned holds a bachelor of science degree from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, a masters of education degree from Indiana University, and a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh.