A critical friend and adviser to for-purpose boards
Independent Governance Evaluation and Review
I am a critical friend for organisations, boards and trustees. I specialise in supporting the board and governance function of organisations and institutions. I help create a clear sense of accountability, purpose and confidence – maximising boards’ potential, enabling successful collaboration with senior leadership teams, and supporting high performance and values alignment.
I have over twenty-five years of working with boards and in governance in the for-purpose sector: as a Consultant, Independent Board Evaluator / Facilitator, and as a Trustee, NED and Chair. From 2016 onwards I worked as the Director of a leading non-executive search practice, working globally and in the UK. In that role I built, appointed and advised the boards of some of the most well known for-purpose and not-for-profit brands.
I’ve worked with and advised boards of all governance structures and legal personalities, including:
Social Enterprises
CICs and CIOs
Companies Limited by Guarantee / Shares
Membership Bodies and VCS Alliances
Federations
Co-operatives and Collectives
Family and Corporate Trusts / Foundations
Early stage Start-ups and social investment
Organisations I’ve already helped
How I’ve helped
Here are a range of governance and organisational contexts where I’ve supported change:
Comprehensive governance review carried out as part of a statutory funding requirement for national policy body
Recommending suitable governance framework for regional partnership board
Exploring governance succession planning for the founder-led board of a global foundation
Re-establishing board stability and confidence post organisational reputational crisis
Creating a plan to support structural board development and culture change to create equity and inclusion
Planning and facilitating a board away-day post charity merger and acquisition, aligning values and vision
Nurturing a large new cohort of Trustees including succession planning, induction and onboarding
Strengthening the diversity and composition of a global thinktank – advising on board profile and appointments
How I work
I specialise in undertaking independent, in-depth evaluations and reviews of the governance of organisations, and of their boards’ effectiveness. My work often features some, or all, of the following:
• Confidential one-to-one interviews
Held with all board and senior leadership, as well as relevant stakeholders. Exploring culture, effectiveness, engagement, purpose and trust.
• Observation of board and subcommittee meetings
With feedback on timing, content, agenda, minutes, and board participation.
• Governance Documents and Desktop review
Benchmarking policies and governance framework, memorandum and articles of association, and other governing documents eg codes of conduct for board etc.
• Feedback
I provide structured and supportive feedback sessions for key board members (eg Chair) and insights for the wider board.
• Recommendations
In the form of an executive presentation or long-form report, which can be shared with key audiences in a range of different formats. I also advise on the implementation of the reports’ recommendations – from succession planning to building board effectiveness and culture.