Governance Guiding Principles: Assessing Effectiveness, Accountability, and Board Readiness for 2027.

Effective governance requires directors to understand how board responsibilities, committee oversight, management accountability, information flows, risk governance, and decision-making processes work together across the enterprise.

In this session, Grant Thornton will lead a practical discussion on how boards can evaluate the effectiveness and maturity of their governance practices through an integrated governance lens. Using the COSO Integrated Governance Framework as a reference point, directors will consider whether governance structures, oversight processes, and accountability mechanisms align with the organization’s strategy, risk profile, and long-term value creation objectives.

The discussion will examine practical boardroom considerations related to strategy, enterprise risk, culture, people, communication, organizational resilience, and management reporting. Participants will explore how boards can assess escalation protocols, committee coordination, risk ownership, decision rights, information quality, and accountability for follow-through.

The session will also consider how these governance principles can inform year-end board planning, including identifying governance gaps, setting improvement priorities, refining board and committee work plans, and preparing for the 2027 governance cycle.

Attendees will leave with practical approaches for assessing governance effectiveness, strengthening oversight discipline, improving coordination across the governance structure, and reinforcing accountability throughout the enterprise.

Primary Governance Lens

• Governance maturity and effectiveness
• Board, committee, and management roles and accountability
• Enterprise risk oversight and escalation
• Strategy alignment and oversight priorities
• Management reporting and information quality
• Committee coordination and decision rights
• Accountability and follow-through
• 2027 board and committee planning

By the end of this program, attendees will be able to:

• Evaluate the maturity and effectiveness of the organization’s governance system through an integrated governance lens.
• Assess whether board, committee, and management responsibilities are clearly defined and appropriately aligned.
• Evaluate whether governance structures, charters, meeting practices, and information flows support effective oversight of strategy and enterprise risk.
• Assess whether management reporting provides directors with timely, relevant, and decision-useful information.
• Identify governance gaps related to escalation, committee coordination, risk ownership, decision rights, accountability, and follow-through.
• Strengthen alignment among strategy, enterprise risk oversight, board priorities, and committee work plans.
• Apply integrated governance principles to year-end board planning and establish priorities for the 2027 governance cycle.

Who Should Attend

This program is designed for current and aspiring directors, board chairs, committee chairs, lead independent directors, CEOs, general counsel, chief risk officers, internal audit leaders, corporate secretaries, and senior executives who support the board’s governance, risk, reporting, and planning responsibilities.

Why Attend

Boards are expected to oversee an increasingly interconnected set of responsibilities involving strategy, enterprise risk, culture, people, communication, resilience, and accountability. The COSO-PWC Integrated Governance Framework provides a practical structure for evaluating whether the board’s governance system is sufficiently aligned, informed, and effective to meet those responsibilities.

This program will help participants strengthen governance practices related to:

• Governance maturity and board effectiveness

• Board, committee, and management roles and decision rights

• Enterprise risk oversight, escalation protocols, and accountability

• Board and committee alignment with strategic priorities

• Management reporting, information quality, and oversight discipline

• Committee coordination, follow-through, and governance gaps

• Year-end board planning and 2027 governance priorities

Attendees will leave with a practical governance lens for assessing current board practices, identifying areas that require attention, and applying the COSO-PWC Integrated Governance Framework to improve oversight, accountability, and long-term value creation.