The Directors College Faculty

Our faculty of professionals, corporate directors and academics covers the full range of governance, accounting, law, regulations and human dynamics. Modules are delivered through a combination of lectures, interactive working sessions and case studies.

Faculty Directory

Ms. Beverly Behan
President, Board Advisor, LLC

Beverly Behan has worked with over 130 Boards of Directors over the past sixteen years in the United States, Canada and internationally. Her new book “Great Companies Deserve Great Boards: A CEO’s Guide to the Boardroom” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) was named Governance Book of the Year by Directors & Boards magazine in 2012. Beverly has been quoted as an expert in corporate governance by The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, CBS, The Globe and Mail, The Times of London, Fast Company and many other publications and served as a regular columnist for Bloomberg BusinessWeek.com (“The Boardroom”) from 2007-2011.

Beverly’s clients range from recent IPOs to the Fortune 500, from New York to Bogota, Kuala Lumpur and Tel Aviv. Her first major client was the board of the Bank of Montreal for which Beverly conducted the first ever individual director peer evaluation process undertaken by a major North American Board of Directors in 1996.

She was transferred to New York as a partner with Mercer Delta Consulting in 2000 and worked with that firm for 6 years, where her clients included the Board Chairs of Xerox, Continental Airlines, The New York Times and Bristol Meyers Squibb. While at Mercer Delta, she co-authored “Building Better Boards: A Blueprint for Effective Governance” (Jossey-Bass, 2005).
Beverly then led the Board Effectiveness Practice of the Hay Group from 2006-9, which enabled her to gain greater international board experience, including work with boards in the middle east, central America and Asia. In 2009, Beverly left Hay to start work on her latest book, Great Companies Deserve Great Boards and continues to take on consulting assignments through her own firm, Board Advisor, LLC, based in New York. She lives and works in midtown Manhattan.

Beverly’s focus has always been on creating truly great boards – not just those which are compliant with regulations or have adopted “best practices” – boards that actually make a significant contribution to the companies they govern. Since 2005, CEO succession planning has also comprised a significant part of her practice, as selection of the Chief Executive Officer is one of the board’s most critical decisions and an area that many boards failed to apply rigor to.

Beverly holds a law degree and an MBA. She was founding faculty of the Conference Board of Canada’s Directors College and has taught in the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors’ Program at McGill University for 8 years. Since 2011, she has also served as Lead Faculty for the Malaysian Directors Academy.

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What our graduates say?

“I found the Chartered Director Program to be an excellent forum to understand how strong governance complements effective management. The ability to create and execute an effective strategy is significantly enhanced by a robust process inclusive of board engagement where the right questions are asked and expected outcomes are identified. I truly enjoyed the setting which fostered a strong level of interaction that was supported by quality presentations and material. As CEO of a Shared Service Organization set to deliver benefits to its members, I see the advantage of having a number of our board members participating in this program.”

Tony Di Emanuele, MBA, C.Dir., President and CEO, Mohawk Shared Services

“I found the Directors College to be an excellent survey of the important matters of which a director must be aware in today’s corporate environment. The quality of the presentation and materials was first-rate and the perspectives gained were invaluable. I would highly recommend the Directors College.”

The Honourable John Manley, P.C., O.C., C.Dir., Former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister

“The changes that impact corporate governance are establishing a pattern of increased accountability for the delivery of long-term value to customers, shareholders, employees and society. Proper corporate governance is now being defined to include knowledge of critical elements such as risk management and the measurement of strategic performance. At the end of the day, each board will be judged on its ability to effectively deliver value, rather than on its structure. The Directors College innovative program fills a unique and important gap in providing knowledge and insight as to how this expectation can be met. CMA Canada is pleased to be a sponsor of this timely initiative.”

Steve Vieweg, C.Dir., Director, Executive Development, I.H. Asper School of Business – University of Manitoba

“As an organization focused on educating corporate secretaries, the ICSA believes in furthering the potential of board members to better contribute to building effective governance structures. Given the key role of directors and corporate secretaries in applying proper boardroom practices, corporations need to ensure that these individuals meet a professional standard. The Directors College curriculum covers all the formal regulatory issues for directors and also addresses the informal skills of building effective and appropriate relationships with senior management. We see significant benefits to this program and ICSA is pleased to endorse it.”

Lynn Beauregard, Executive Director, Chartered Secretaries Canada

“The Directors College has developed a director education program which goes well beyond the fundamentals to address the structures and the behavioural components of principle-based governance. I am proud to be associated with the Directors College and I am honoured to lend my name to the College’s graduate award. ”

Gilbert Bennett, Director and Recently-Retired Chairman of the Board, Canadian Tire Corporation Limited

“Our strategy is to raise the horizons and potential of directors by deepening and enriching their knowledge and application of advanced skills. Increasing the effectiveness of existing directors and broadening the pool of potential directors will contribute to the professionalism of boards across Canada.”

David Beatty, Managing Director, Canadian Coalition for Good Governance