Modernizing Governance with a Fractional Corporate Secretary & Interim Senior Leadership
A governance review identified a gap that new policies and procedures could not fill. It needed a strong governance leader who had done the job before.
SECTOR
National Healthcare Organization
Size
17 directors; 50+ staff
Pathway
Embed → Outsourced governance support
Engagement
18 months (ongoing)
01
The Situation
Following a governance review in 2024 that identified the need for significant governance change, a national organization needed sustained, hands-on capacity to actually carry that plan forward.
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Real governance change meant jumping in and rolling up our sleeves.
02
Our Process
Governance Advisors
We facilitated collaborative governance visioning, intensive stakeholder engagement, an external CEO search, and one-to-one coaching to the board and committee chairs. Completed multiple governance projects related to policies, role descriptions, and new governance processes.
Corporate Secretary
Over an 18-month period: designing annual workplans, redesigning committee structures and meeting processes, maintaining board records with resolution trackers, document management practices, sourcing a new board portal, leading director elections, director appointment and onboarding processes.
Program Manager
Leading the governance modernization program as a coordinated set of activities: designing a 3-year implementation plan with detailed project scoping, resourcing and cost estimates, tracking deliverables and monitoring key outcomes across all workstreams, and providing monthly status and financial reporting to leadership.
03
The Outcome
The board today is barely recognizable as the one that started this journey.
IIn addition to having a shared vision for its governance model and practices, the directors have grown to have real confidence.
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The board now engages at a strategic level, asking sharper, more informed questions and challenging ideas respectfully and holding all accountable. A new strategic plan is bolder and more thoughtful than anyone could have imagined in the past. The board and committee chairs are excellent facilitators of appropriate governance discussion, and support directors in developing and making the changes stick.
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None of this happened by accident — it reflects the board's own determination to invest in the process and see it through, even when the work was hard.
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The organization's overall governance culture is more robust and sustainable as a result.
We will wrap up our involvement in the coming months, with great pride for this organization.
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What began as a set of recommendations from our review has become the organization's actual governance culture, an exciting new strategic direction, and greater assurance of its long-term relevance.