Providing practical advice and risk consulting to non-profit and mission-driven boards.
We understand what effective oversight requires because we have practiced it. That perspective shapes how we work with boards to:
Assess whether risk governance shapes decisions versus whether it functions primarily as a report-out activity.
Determine whether board composition, dynamics, habits or structures inadvertently create or amplify organizational risks.
Quantify financial impact and consequence of priority risks on mission and sustainability.
Incorporate prudent risk governance into the board’s culture, routines, and cadences.
The result is a board that governs with greater fiduciary confidence, and that is less exposed, less likely to be surprised, better prepared to handle a crisis, and better equipped to protect mission, brand, and long-term financial sustainability.
Self Assessment: Your organization may benefit from strengthening its approach to board-level risk governance if one or more of the following is applicable:
The board relies largely on management assurances about risk.
The board seeks a better understanding of the degree to which AI drives decision making.
Risk receives attention primarily during budget approvals, audit reviews, or crises, yet would benefit from proactive attention across all board-level responsibilities
Risk reports primarily reflect generic industry or global risks rather than the organization’s mission-specific risks.
More insight is needed into insurance claim trends, as well as litigious, regulatory, and legislative developments within the organization’s global footprint.
The board and its committees seek to avoid fragmented or unclear roles, responsibilities, or accountability regarding the oversight of severe risks..
Implementing meaningful early-warning indicators would help identify deteriorating conditions before they become crises.
The board desires more clarity regarding its crisis-response roles, decision rights, escalation procedures, and communication protocols, and how these align with management’s responsibilities.
There is an opportunity to improve the financial quantification of critical risks, as well as the combined financial impact of multiple concurrent risks.
Overall, the structure of the board, its discussion protocols, and committee deliverables could use fine-tuning that optimizes the board’s view of and treatment of risk.