Mark W. Sickles, LLC partners with board of directors and top management teams to strengthen their efforts to create lasting value.
Our firm has developed a full service suite of systems-level organizational management services that provide a clear pathway to continued success.
Our clients include Fortune 1000 directors who are allied with company management in their commitment to delivering long-term shareholder value.
Mark W. Sickles
Creator of the globally recognized MWS Method for creating Long-Term Shareholder Value Assurance (SVA)
Mark W. Sickles has redefined corporate governance into a fine-tuned process for achieving long-term success. He is one of the most influential people in the country on the topic of corporate governance.
Over the years, Mark W. Sickles has practiced sound governance to create billions of dollars of shareholder value as a senior executive, officer, director, and external consultant. As one client said, "Mark took away our opportunities to fail", leading to a dramatic increase in profitability and doubling the firm's market value.
Mark W. Sickles is the originator of the MWS-Method used in many Fortune 500 companies with great success. He served as a Fortune 500 "C" level executive and corporate officer in the pharmaceutical, healthcare and industrial products sectors. He serves as organizational architect, advisor, and educator to boards and executives. His many roles include being Chairman of the Board of NACDNJ, Strategic Governance Fellow at Governance & Accountability Institute, and an advisory board member at Trestle Group. As an executive and consultant, he has created billions of dollars of shareholder value and recently provided the global business community with a superior governance regime. Mark is the author of Shareholder Value Assurance, The Mark W. Sickles Handbook for Well-Intended Boards & Directors, Strategic Governance and is published by Directors Monthly, Directors & Boards, Investor Relations Update, Global Sourcing Council, New Jersey Bankers Association, and Financial Executives International.Mark W. Sickles, LLC
Mark received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and his Master's degree from Rutgers University. He serves on the boards of Trestle Group and Insight Wellness, and is a former board member of Abington Health Care Corporation.
Author Mark W. Sickles As Your Competitive Advantage, he frequently is invited to national news events. To learn more watch a TV video of Mark addressing the Enron disaster, review his books – required reading at The University of San Francisco and Drexel University's Lebow College of Business - and select from a collection of Mark's recent articles published by Directors Monthly, The California Bankers Association, and FEI.
Edie Okamoto, Chief Marketing Officer
Edie Okamoto is an international business development, marketing and media professional with more than 30 years experience working with technology, banking, packaged goods, fashion, media and entertainment. Ms. Okamoto has hands-on in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Africa.
She advised C-level Managers at consumer companies such as Piñata Foods, Jelly Belly's, American Potatoes, S&W Foods, C&W Foods, Macy's, JC Penney, Cartier Eyewear, Logo Paris, L'Amy, among others. She served Media Companies such as International Data Group, PC Week Magazine, Cahners Publishing, The Summit Group, D.E.C.O.I./Tezuka, Imai, Media Synergy, Enchante, Inc., KABL AM/FM, KGO, University of California, Publishing, and Bonus.com. Banks she served included Nationwide Savings, Union Bank, ING, Bank of Boston, CMG, Imperial Capital, Vintage Bank, Fremont Bank, and Napa Valley Bank. She had great impact on the high tech industry with her work with Microsoft, Digital Research, Inc., MicroPro, SBT, Inc., Walker Interactive, Altos Computers (ACER), Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, AT&T, NCR, Hyundai Computers, Progilog, BMC, and Tymshare, Commodore Microcircuits, American Microsystems, National Semiconductor, GTE Microcircuits, GTE Lenkurt, and GTE Sylvania. As a media relations expert she has nurtured strategic relationships with top management of many major media companies all around the world, including Comcast, ABC, NBC, CBS, Time Inc., ADR, ZDF, RTL, Springer Verlag, Burda, Ziff, IDC, Canal+, etc.
Edie Okamoto serves on the boards of FLUROwater, Trestle Group Foundation, RioVida Networks, Kerry Gordy Enterprises and several other smaller start-ups.
At Mark W. Sickles, LLC, Edie Okamoto is responsible for strategic and international business development and media relations. She initiates and builds strong strategic partnerships. She is fluent in English, German, and proficient in French, Spanish and has intimate knowledge of Asian cultures and business practices. Over the years Ms. Okamoto has gained hands-on work experience in over 33 countries.
Brian Johns, Vice President of Communications
Brian Johns possesses 25 years of marketing, communications and business development experience. He has been published in media outlets such as the CalBusiness Magazine, California Lawyer Magazine, the Daily Deal, the Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader, the Oakland Tribune, the Journal of Commerce (of New York), the Progressive Magazine, the San Francisco Business Times, and World Trade Press. An award-winning investigative reporter, he has written on topics including business, municipal government, international trade, politics, and human rights. He worked with entities such Children Now, the East Bay Municipal Utilities District, the San Francisco Utilities Commission, the University of California at Berkeley.
He created marketing tools such as advertising copy, annual reports, employee training manuals, brochures, newsletters, press releases, communications plans, corporate backgrounders, ghostwritten articles, editorials, letters-to-the-editor, political campaigns, audio/visual presentations, and website content. He solicited millions of dollars for non-profits, environmental and progressive concerns for groups such as Cultural Odyssey, the Sierra Club, and the World Wildlife Fund. He worked with executive directors and boards of directors to managed department planning/goals and budgetary, operational activities; staffed board development committees; and managed annual events.
At Mark W. Sickles, LLC, Brian Johns is responsible for all communications, both internal and external. He provides strategic communications advice, and hands-on assistance to clients in developing corporate communications guidelines, international and internal communications standards and guidelines, and ad-hoc strategic advice on handling sensitive public relations matters.