Facilitated Board Retreat – Scenarios: A university foundation sought to include governance education at their board retreat. Our work included developing a relevant scenario and facilitating an interactive breakout session.  Directors and management explored potential responses to challenges the organization could experience and discussed their role and expectations across a spectrum of governance topics.

Nominee Director Education: A renewable power company sought to strengthen their management team’s understanding of nominee directors’ roles and duties, as well as common risks and challenges specific to directors in a joint venture. Our work included developing and delivering a webinar on director duties, challenges and expectations in a joint venture environment, and reviewing practical scenarios and solutions.

Restructured Board Reporting Framework: A reporting framework that defined the information and data a public-sector pension organization expected from its agent was not fully meeting the board’s needs. Our work included adjusting the document to focus on categories of board responsibilities and the types of reports and information that could support that oversight. We also identified potential areas to streamline reporting, including by adopting guardrails and notification triggers.

Modernized CEO Evaluation Process: A destination marketing organization wanted a CEO evaluation form that was easier for board members to use and that would produce actionable feedback on performance. Our work included developing an updated form that allowed for CEO self-assessment and board input on CEO goals, board partnership, and improvement expectations for the next year. It also included a set of guiding principles for CEO assessments.

Director Orientation: A public-sector pension organization sought to support new board members with a refreshed orientation program designed to better explain the governance framework and key board topics and activities, while minimizing redundancies with other onboarding information.  Our work included refreshing the orientation content and suggesting the cadence and format for the training, including which concepts should be delivered by pre-read materials, in-person presentations, online training and/or practical support.

Governance Handbook and Mandates That Reflect Governance Changes: An international industry association’s governance handbook and board/committee mandates were no longer reflecting its current governance model and decision-making practices, creating inconsistency and uncertainty. Our work included revising and reframing the handbook and mandates to align with updated governance structures and policies, as well as slimming the core handbook content to remove duplication and ease future updating.

Refreshed Finance Policies: An industry regulator sought to improve their financial management policies to create greater clarity on board / management roles, to separate oversight and operational concepts and to improve readability. In addition to suggesting revisions to the policies to increase clarity and address coverage gaps, we provided guidance to management on board and audit committee responsibilities, decision-making and reporting expectations. 

Modernized Governance Model and Policies: An international industry association sought greater clarity on board / management roles, delegation practices, and governance effectiveness as responsibilities and processes had evolved. Our work included a light governance assessment of the existing model and practical recommendations to adjust practices and documentation to reflect the modernized governance model. We also revised and separated policies and procedures and developed a delegation of authority policy and matrix that reflected management and board expectations on decision-making.

Third-Party Service Provider Assessment: A public-sector pension organization sought input on a report template that would help the board perform an annual assessment of a key service provider. Our work included providing categories and potential questions as prompts for considering performance, fees, service delivery, reporting and service provider capabilities.