I am excited to be taking the reins as President of Governance Institute as we move into what promises to be one of our best years. I look forward to working with Vice Presidents Rachel Rees FGIA FCIS and John Mazengarb FGIA FCIS guiding and supporting the Board and management team led by our CEO Steven Burrell.
As the company secretary for a major listed company and also as a director of a large not-for-profit health care organisation, I, like many of you, spend my working time on the challenges of instilling good governance and a healthy culture into our organisations.
As a practitioner, I have valued the services and opportunities available through my membership of Governance Institute of Australia. As your President in 2018 I will continue engaging with our members to ensure that Governance Institute continues to be relevant and valuable for you in your careers.
I am looking forward to meeting with members around the country as Steven Burrell and I visit our state councils. The state councils represent a cross-section of our members and contribute valued advice and feedback to the Board and management that help us shape professional development offerings to fit member needs.
It was a pleasure to see so many members at our 2017 National Conference — by far the best attended and reviewed conference we’ve had. Most importantly, feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive, with the new format, content and the overall conference experience being very well received.
We are also taking a new approach for other member activities in 2018. Our corporate governance forums are being revamped as two-day governance and risk management forums focused on strategy, culture and technology, to be held in May and June across five states. We have successfully opened up new pathways to membership, and our new programs coming on line in 2018 include an all-new Effective Director Course and the continued roll out of our on-line Sports Governance offering.
Our thought leadership and advocacy focus in 2018 will be around emerging issues in ethics and culture.
So there’s lots going on and we have an exciting year ahead.
I look forward to my time as your President and encourage our members to be involved and make the most of your membership.