Speakers
Medical Associations Forum
Medical association boards are often familiar with reviewing risk registers and compliance reports; far fewer are genuinely equipped for the moment when a funding shock, political backlash, security incident, cyber breach or AI‑related integrity issue unfolds in real time around their congress or scientific content.
This confidential, healthcare‑only forum functions as a live boardroom stress test: you will work through realistic specialty‑specific crisis scenarios (from sudden defunding, disruptive vaccines or guideline shifts, to host‑city politics, data breaches and AI‑generated abstracts) and see, with clarity, whether your current board dynamics surface the right questions quickly enough and drive to decisions that would withstand scrutiny from clinicians, patients, regulators and the media.
Today, many associations face concentrated revenue from a relatively small number of commercial partners, rising public and political scrutiny of relationships with industry, fast‑moving debates on topics such as CME funding, health access and affordability, and the quiet spread of digital and AI‑enabled tools into abstracts, programme design, communications and IT infrastructure. At the same time, very few associations have a real plan B for key people, cyber or on‑site security, and boards can slip into “not in my term” denial even when the warning signals are clear.
While many leaders believe their boards “address these issues”, they rarely pressure‑test how those conversations play out under time pressure, conflicting interests and incomplete information, when postponing or “monitoring” is no longer a safe option. This session is deliberately framed as a closed‑door boardroom lab, helping you build practical “muscle memory” for crisis decision‑making and giving you a sharper set of hard questions, examples and processes you can take straight back into your own governance toolkit.
Agenda
Simon Dufaur is a senior association strategist and board advisor who partners with international medical and professional associations to translate mission into measurable, sustainable growth. With over three decades of experience across healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and professional communities, he advises Boards and Executive Committees on governance, commercial strategy, and long-term value creation.
At MCI, Simon combines executive leadership with advisory depth, having served as Chief Executive/Executive Director for multiple organisations while guiding Boards through complex transformation, revenue diversification, and stakeholder alignment. His work spans more than 40 countries, where he translates strategy into tangible outcomes within diverse regulatory and cultural environments.
He additionally leads strategic PCO engagements across Europe, helping associations reposition their congresses as core drivers of growth: commercially robust, strategically aligned, and board-endorsed. His approach integrates structured board-level insight, international benchmarking, and disciplined execution, ensuring that strategy is not only ambitious but implementable.
Known for his ability to align governance, commercial performance, and member value, Simon brings an operator’s mindset and access to a global network of senior leaders, enabling organisations to move decisively from ambition to impact.