Yusuf Azizullah has over 23 years of international management and board-level experience. He is the CEO and founder of GBAC – Global Board Advisors Corp, a diversified Board Audit Committee member, tech innovator, boardroom education and Chairman corporate governance advisory firm to technology Mega Caps and Global 500 Large Caps. Yusuf has successfully led the organization from its origins in 2010, developing it into the leading International Boardroom brand and innovative platform subscribed to by Tech Billionaires.
Yusuf served as the Head of IT Audit & SOX Compliance Officer for AstraZeneca’s Medimmune division, in charge of internal audit and compliance for the Americas and Europe. AstraZeneca is a major Pharmaceutical developer in over 80 countries.
His current board portfolio includes The One Less Foundation (TOLF), a financial literacy tech innovator, and Building Community Bridges (BCB), a US-Based, International, West African social entrepreneur, both of which he joined in 2014. For both groups, Yusuf currently holds Chairmanship of the Board. He is the Chair of the Nomination Committee at TOLF, and Independent Financial Expert and member of the Finance Committees at both organizations. During his Chairmanship, these organizations have received numerous industry innovation awards for social entrepreneurship and financial inclusion. TOLF was awarded the FiNext Tech Industry award in October 2018 and BCB was awarded the prestigious Forbes Nonprofit winner award in 2016.
Yusuf’s board capabilities include supervising Large Cap CEOs navigating their organizations through Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) while Shareholder Activists are pushing for short-term returns and overlooking the wider long-term prospects. He has also been involved in counseling Global 500 Chairs on CEO succession planning, Millennial workforce, boardroom refreshing, Sustainability planning, multinational strategy and expanding into Emerging Markets joint ventures.
He has been featured and quoted in CNBC’s Squawk Box, the World Economic Forum (WEF), Compliance Week Magazine, Institute of Directors (IoD) of Kenya, Institute of Directors (IoD) of South Africa, German Institute of Directors (IoD), Australian Institute of Directors (AICD) on Boardroom topics. Yusuf is an adjunct global strategy Professor at the top-tier ranked University of Maryland’s Smith’s School of Business.
His formal qualifications include:
- US National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Board leadership credentialed Directors Governance Fellow.
- Audit Committees in a New Area of Governance, Executive Education at Harvard Business School (HBS)
- Certificate Diploma, Elements of Artificial Intelligence, University of Helsinki, Finland
- Masters of Business Administration (MBA), Jack Welch Management Institute Strayer University, Washington DC
- Masters of Management Information Systems (MS MIS), Honors Gold Medal Jack Welch Management Institute Strayer University, Washington DC
- Bachelors of Science (BSc) in Finance, School Of Management George Mason University Fairfax VA
Yusuf’s portfolio and acknowledgements:
- Author of thought leadership column on International Boardroom Recruitment disruption utilizing emerging innovative technologies by Microsoft Holoportation and rise in virtual boardroom meetings. Is this how you will get to your next board meeting? {(Publisher World Economic Forum (WEF)}
- Author of Four major challenges facing Boardrooms in 2016 {(Publisher World Economic Forum (WEF)}
- Member and Board Member of Financial Executives International (FEI), Washington DC chapter, a national organization directed at advancing CFOs in business leadership
- Yusuf has created and hosts a YouTube channel directed at Global 500 Chairs and Tech Billionaire Entrepreneurs, featuring Boardroom Video Case Studies and thought leadership from guest Audit Committee Chairs of DJIA, FTSE 100, DAX 30 and EURONEXT 100 Boards and CEOs. Boardroom guests have included Chairs and Boards from some of the largest Public companies in the world.