Critical Conversations

Critical Conversations: Competent Boards is giving business leaders and stewards the tools they need to grapple with the big issues of today

Conversations around social responsibility are becoming more prevalent and for businesses to ensure their long-term viability, leaders need to have a thorough understanding of how a variety of issues impact their business—and how their businesses in turn impact those issues. Gaining the confidence and having access to experts who can help give business leaders and stewards the insight they need can be a challenge. 

Competent Boards, founded in 2018, provides that access and insight through training courses and certifications to educate boards of directors, senior leaders and C-Suite executives, along with investors and asset managers, to ensure they have the knowledge they need to make informed business decisions in the 21st Century corporate context. 

The Designation and Certification programs are offered under two broad umbrellas: ESG and Climate. More than 180 global board members, leaders and other experts contribute directly to the program content, and the courses are endorsed by the Good Governance Academy. Over the course of the programs, participants from around the world have the opportunity to hear directly from experts and engage in group discussions and working groups to deepen their understanding of issues businesses can’t afford to ignore, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), human rights, climate issues and more. 

“All of those matters are important for the stakeholders and therefore are important for the company to ensure it stays relevant, compliant and to also create value now and in the future” says Founder and CEO Helle Bank Jorgensen, who has more than 30 years’ experience in sustainable business practices.

The motivation to launch Competent Boards came after Bank Jorgensen began to realize, through her conversations with business leaders, that issues like climate change, health and safety and diversity were being treated as projects rather than being embedded into the strategic vision and business plans for value creation. That approach not only leaves value on the table but also creates reputational risk, Jorgensen says, especially in the current context which is seeing shareholders and consumers expecting more from corporations when it comes to social responsibility. 

“I began to ask myself how to ensure boards of directors around the world are not only competent but also serious about making informed decisions for themselves, for the company and for their stakeholders,” says Jorgensen.

The programs are offered online and intentionally bring together participants from a variety of backgrounds and geographical locations. That diversity of perspective is important, adds Jorgensen, because it exposes people to different realities and approaches that they can then incorporate into their own thinking and planning. 

“You’re therefore getting so much more insight from issues in other places and you can then bring back that broader view to the boardroom or to leadership or to investors,” she says. 

Jorgensen’s hope is for leaders to not only gain an appreciation for the importance of understanding and incorporating ESG and Climate approaches into their business structures, but to also gain the confidence they need to have these conversations. There’s also a pragmatic reason to take these issues seriously when it comes to regulatory compliance, disclosure standards and risk management. 

“The risk of not being prepared now is very expensive,” says Jorgensen. “Standards are really ramping up, so what was voluntary before is now becoming mandatory.”

Ultimately, corporate leaders and boards of directors need to see themselves as stewards of the future, says Jorgensen. 

“We must consider that the future belongs to future generations and what is it that they care about? They care about those that care about them,” says Jorgensen. They care about making sure they have a place to live, and the environment, they care about social justice — all of these different aspects. This is an opportunity to not only show you are prepared but that you care about your stakeholders.”