CCO PROFILE: DAVID KASS
R&C: What pivotal experiences have shaped your approach to compliance or risk management throughout your career?
Kass: There have been a number of occasions where I have seen difficult ethics or compliance issues that employees were hesitant to escalate to leaders. Yet when those issues were escalated, leaders have always made the right choice to address the issue. It is a reminder about the importance of speak-up culture, and that there can be a gap between leaders’ expectations and frontline employees’ perceptions. Addressing that gap is a key part of my job, and it takes regular reinforcement so employees understand that speaking up is not just a choice – it is a critical part of their job, especially when it is uncomfortable.
R&C: In what ways have you contributed to your organisation’s ethical culture or corporate responsibility initiatives? How has this influenced your leadership style?
Kass: The backbone of any corporate compliance organisation is the work conducted by its ethics function. Whatever subjects your compliance programme covers, the way that most employees interact with it will be through the ethics process. When an employee picks up the phone to call the ethics hotline, it may be one of the most difficult calls they make in their careers. I am really proud of the ethics function we have built over the years. We have seen steady growth in contacts to our ethics hotline, which is a sign of a healthy speak-up culture. We have done that by ensuring every contact is handled with care, whether it is a request for advice or an allegation of misconduct. We want to make sure that the folks who contact our ethics hotline know that we take that call every bit as seriously as they do.
Apr-Jun 2026 Issue
Verizon