Modern governance matters.
The Institute’s mission is to empower it globally.

Modern governance has the power to drive financial performance, improve transparency, inclusion, and engagement, delivering value to all stakeholders. Diligent has the privilege of working with more than 650,000 leaders of 17,000 organizations in over 90 countries – we’re giving back to our industry with The Institute.

Our Approach

Diligent Institute provides publicly available, industry-leading research on global modern governance practices. Today’s increasingly dynamic world presents a dizzying array of economic opportunities and challenges. As companies navigate that environment, high-quality modern governance is more important than ever to ensure effective oversight, increase levels of diversity and inclusion, protect and create jobs, and positively impact society. The Institute equips corporate leaders around the globe with cutting-edge research to inform forward-looking decisions that leave a meaningful mark on the world. Diligent Institute’s research is derived from real experience across sectors and geographies, utilizing quantitative surveys, case studies, and interviews with directors, as well as objective data from publicly-available sources.

Who are we?

Diligent Institute was founded in 2018 to offer a global perspective on the complex and disruptive board governance topics that directors and leadership teams are tackling today. The Institute serves as the global governance research arm of Diligent Corporation, the pioneer in modern governance. Diligent® empowers leaders to turn governance into a competitive advantage through unparalleled insight and highly secure, integrated SaaS applications, helping organizations thrive and endure in today’s complex, global landscape. The Diligent Institute is solely funded by the Diligent Corporation.

Staff:

Dottie Schindlinger Annie Kors
Executive Director Lead Researcher

Institute Reports

Ask a Director: How Are Corporate Boards Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis?

Read Diligent Institute’s virtual panel discussion about how directors are handling the COVID-19 pandemic. … Read More

A Few Good Women: Gender Inclusion in Public Company Board Leadership

Read Diligent Institute’s research report about diversity and inclusion. Read More

Beyond the Board Room: How Corporate Directors Gain Insight

Read Diligent Institute’s research report about how directors prepare for board meetings. Read More

Ask a Director Series

What bucks stop with the board around corporate culture?

Our panelists offer their perspectives on the board of directors’ role in corporate culture. The panelists describe tactics for more effectively measuring corporate culture and setting the tone at the top. They also highlight the difficulty of this oversight responsibility given the centrality of the CEO’s role. Read More

What are some of the telltale signs that you might be serving on too many boards?

The panel puts forward flexible standards for assessing how much board involvement is too much. They agree that the answer depends heavily from director to director, especially because different boards entail different amounts of engagement and work. Read More

What should the role of an individual director be in a crisis situation?

While panelists discuss the importance of planning before a crisis occurs, they also offer advice for what to do once the crisis is at the company’s door. Individual directors should be ready step up as needed to support management and the board team. Read More

Meet the Advisory Board

Anddria Clack-Rogers Varnado

Board member at Umpqua Bank, and Vice President and Head of Strategy and Business Development at Macy’s, Inc.

Brian Stafford

CEO of Diligent Corporation, co-author of Governance in the Digital Age.

David Larcker, PhD

James Irvin Miller Professor of Accounting and Director of the Corporate Governance Research Initiative at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Lothar Schröder

Member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom, Chairman of the Data Protection Advisory Board of Deutsche Telekom AG, and Member of the German Parliament’s Study Commission on Artificial Intelligence.

Peter Gleason

President and CEO of the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Rahul K. Bhardwaj

CEO of the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Susan Forrester, AM

Director on the Boards of Directors of G8 Education Ltd, Over the Wire, and Viva Leisure.

Susan Kilsby

Non-Executive Director of Unilever, BHP, and Fortune Brand Home and Security.

TK Kerstetter

Founder and CEO of Boardroom Resources, Editor-at-Large of Corporate Board Member, and Host of Inside America’s Boardrooms.

Modern governance matters.The Institute’s mission is to empower it globally.