How We Help

Every Day We Are Adding Value To Every Seat
At The Boardroom Table™!

Governance Studio

specializes in helping boards structure their corporate governance strategies by creating tailored programs for each organization. With the board and governance team focused on the urgent matters of the day, improving corporate governance can get stuck in the “someday” pile and your organization never reaps the long-term gains of good board governance.

Governance Studio’s

experience and value-added approach ensures a continuous governance improvement strategy is developed that fits your organization perfectly. Directors get peace of mind and your organization has a governance foundation to build on going forward.

Governance Studio

will take care of everything – whether you are seeking to review your staffing requirements, improve board memo standards, or you need to do a complete Governance Audit™. We will review your corporate governance practices and programs to determine which areas could use an update and which are the most compelling for your organization, your board and your other stakeholders. We will build a corporate governance strategy that allows you to make continuous improvements over time and ensures that the most worthwhile enhancements come first. We can also help you with implementation.

Our Success Stories

“Governance Studio brought the critical thinking and imagination needed to create a framework that makes our innovative governance structure work for us.”

– John B. McWilliams, QC, Past Board Chair, Arts Commons

Nexen’s roadmaps and calendars, which translated the Board and Committee mandates into actions, were the heart of the entity level audit requirements reviewed by internal and external auditors.

Board Performance Evaluation

A great board evaluation is easy for you to administer and respects the time of your directors. Governance Studio employs innovative processes and keen corporate governance insight to provide confidential, constructive third-party board assessments.

The process:

Ensures the board of directors and management are on the same page
Highlights successes and challenges so lessons learned can be applied again
Identifies areas for improvement so they can be addressed
Supports ongoing director education and overall board of director effectiveness

Board Orientation

Getting new directors on board so that they can hit the ground running is one of the easiest ways to improve overall governance. Governance Studio uses its trademarked Board Builder Orientation process to build a format that will ensure your new directors are engaged and participating from their very first meeting.

Skills Matrix and Succession Plan

An up-to-date skills matrix and succession plan for your board provide a critical baseline for director recruitment so you have the right expertise in the board room, at the right time. Well-developed matrices and plans demonstrate your board’s commitment to the best interests of your shareholders and stakeholders. Governance Studio will assist you to meet recruiting goals by creating Ideal Director Profiles TM and a multi-year plan to get you there.

Governance Studio employs the latest best-practices to tailor these governance programs to your organization and then assesses your board of directors to identify current strengths and opportunities.

Our Success Stories

“All of the directors were very pleased with our new format of board evaluation and the excellent reporting and the insights from an objective governance advisor.”

– Dennis G. Flanagan, Board Chair, Canexus

“The Council’s success is tied to the quality of our board. It just makes sense to ensure that new directors are well oriented so that they can contribute right from the start.”

– Michelle Chawla, Corporate Secretary and Director, Strategic Initiatives, Canada Council for the Arts

Governance Studio’s

award-winning insights help you build trust with all of your stakeholders.

Increasing shareholder democracy means you must provide investors with clear explanations of your corporate governance and executive compensation practices.

Your proxy circular and website are often-missed opportunities to communicate your good governance.

When you truly engage your shareholders and stakeholders in your story, you build trust
with them through:

Transparency – explaining your corporate governance and compensation fully
Respect – being mindful of their time
Information – making your information easy to use and understand

Governance Studio

will apply its innovative and award-winning disclosure practices to your proxy circular or website, turning them into premier communications that tell your corporate governance story to your shareholders.

Disclosure consultations come in all sizes. Advisory consultations will provide a full review of your circular or website and written recommendations for changes that you can take back to implement. Extensive consultations provide re-writes and format overhauls to make your disclosure reader-friendly and easy to use.

Our Success Stories

“Vermilion is very proud of our good governance practices. Our goal was to enhance how we communicated those in our proxy circular – making it easy for our stakeholders to find and use exactly the information they want.”

– Lorenzo Donadeo, President and Chief Executive Officer

Governance Studio’s

President, Sylvia Groves, is a professional speaker and facilitator with decades of experience and insight. Her no-nonsense practical advice and front-line stories have helped thousands of directors and governance professionals enhance the effectiveness of their boards and their organizations.

Sylvia:

Contributes to governance events in Canada, the US and internationally and is consistently rated as a top speaker
Teaches both directors and governance professionals about their roles and responsibilities for numerous professional organizations
Develops and facilitates private educations sessions for boards on topics ranging from the 10 Secrets Directors Must Know About Minutes to explorations of best practices in board effectiveness evaluations
For governance professionals, she offers sessions running the gamut from the Top 10 Ways We Let Our Directors Down to building an effective board skills matrix and director succession plan
Facilitates strategic discussions that create a shared understanding of an organization’s next
steps

Our Success Stories

Strategy Facilitation

“The best part of working together was that Sylvia has a very clear vision on how to help an organization and she is able to articulate it in layman’s terms. She thinks quickly on her feet and can shine a light on situations from different perspectives. She stays impartial, doesn’t take sides, and is capable of making us all feel heard.”

– Yvonne Basten, Vice and Past President, Savoir Faire

Governance Presentations and Education

“Sylvia’s presentation was, as always, highly educational & provides practical guidance & action planning tools.”

– Session Participant

“Your offering of context and the role played by regulators, boards, compensation committees, executives, auditors, and corporate secretary were very much appreciated. The remarks by students were glowing and uniformly positive.”

– Dr. Richard Leblanc, Professor of Governance, Law and Ethics, York University

Testimonials

– Lorenzo Donadeo,
President and Chief Executive Officer, Vermilion Energy Inc.

Vermilion was the 2014 Governance Gavel Award winner for Best Disclosure of Governance Practices and Approach to Executive Compensation by a small to mid-size issuer company from CCGG

How We Help

Effective Governance – Adds Value

Our Success Stories

Effective Boards – Leverage Directors' Expertise

Our Success Stories

Effective Disclosure – Builds Stakeholder Trust

Our Success Stories

Effective Facilitation – Expands Insight

Our Success Stories

Testimonials

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