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Springboard Wellington: Kevin McCaffrey talks about effective governance

Dave Moskovitz — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:11:43 +0000

Kevin McCaffrey runs Effective Governance, an independent privately-owned consulting firm that delivers advice on Corporate Governance to clients in New Zealand and Australia. Kevin will discuss governance across all sectors of society and its power in making a difference. This will include how to do due diligence as a director.

When: Tuesday 16th Feb, 5.30-7.30pm
Where: Russell McVeagh, Level 24, Vodafone on the Park.

We look seeing you there, where you’ll have the opportunity to talk with Kevin and network with your Wellington peers.

Simon Telfer, co-founder of SpringBoard’s national group, who will talk more about SpringBoard and governance.

For more info and to RSVP, see the Springboard Wellington LinkedIn Group.

Damsels Den Wellington 2010: Meet entrepreneurs and angels

Springboard comes to Wellington

Dave Moskovitz — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:19:57 +0000

The Springboard NZ governance group for emerging directors is starting up a Wellington Branch. The inagural meeting will be held on Tuesday 24 November at 5:30 pm at Minter Ellison, Level 24, Vodafone Tower.

For more information and to RSVP, please see the discussion on the SpringBoard Wellington LinkedIn subgroup.

Springboard event: Governance – handbrake or accelerator?

Dave Moskovitz — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:21:24 +0000

Strong governance is critical to support a growing business however many business owners grapple with the concept. Governance has become synonymous with compliance, mitigating risk and those obligatory board meetings, yet it’s a lot more. It can be a platform that enables business owners to ensure their foot remains on the accelerator while maintaining control.

It is important you take the right people along for the journey. But how do you get them on board, maximise the guidance, advice and the challenge?

Ultimately the end goal is to achieve growth – but how do you ensure you end up there? Join the panel for alively discussion.

Dr Rick Boven – Director of the New Zealand Institute
Lance Wiggs – Director and Entrepreneur
Dean Ellwood – Accounting & Advisory Partner, Deloitte
Alison Andrew – Director and Executive

Faciltated by Simon Telfer, Director & Co-founder of Springboard

Event details
Date: Wednesday 11 November
Venue: Deloitte House, Level 8, 8 Nelson Street, Auckland
Time: 5.30pm
RSVP: via Linkedin

Download the flyer

Springboard Wellington: Kevin McCaffrey talks about effective governance

Startup Governance

Dave Moskovitz — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:08:10 +0000

We Angels frequently find ourselves explaining the role of a Board of Directors to entrepreneurs, and why governance is important even in a nascent business.

Springboard NZ has been busy filling the gap between the big-end-of-town Institute of Directors and the legendary entrepeneurial garage in terms of helping entrepreneurs upskill themselves and each other on governance issues.

Springboard ran a session last night on SME Governance which I was unable to attend, but thanks to Simon Telfer, Vicky Taylor and the Springboard team, the’ve posted slides from the two presentations on the Springboard web site:

If you’re on LinkedIn, I can recommend the Springboard group for lively discussion and getting to know the next generation of people serious about running great New Zealand companies.

Springboard Wellington: Kevin McCaffrey talks about effective governance

A springboard for high growth governance

Dave Moskovitz — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:19:45 +0000

Today’s guest blogger is Simon Telfer.

Does governance have an image problem? Possibly so. While 73% of the Deloitte/Unlimited Fast 50 companies have boards there is anecdotal evidence that many other high growth organisations are slow to embrace external directors and formalised boards.

Why is that? Perceptions that a board’s primary contribution is centered around compliance has gradually shifted – strategic planning and direction is now recognized as being twice as important as other board functions including governance culture, management accountability and compliance. Two other issues may therefore be impacting the adoption of governance:

Alignment: directors are typically seen as being older, more conservative and culturally misaligned with the new breed of rapid growth ventures.
Access: entrepreneurs have limited opportunities to be exposed to potential directors and informally discuss or experience the value and support that can be provided.

These were some of the ideas behind SpringBoard – a group recently formed to support the next generation of New Zealand directors and to promote age diversity around the board table. Existing directors or trustees under 45 years of age now have a forum for sharing ideas and experiences as well as the ability to professionally grow through attendance at events. SpringBoard actively promotes younger directors for appointment to established and nascent boards in both the commercial and NFP sectors.

If you’re interested in joining this community then connect with us via LinkedIn. If you’re looking to be put in touch with directors from a younger demographic please make contact with SpringBoard here.

As further insights arise in relation to high growth governance we’ll share them with you via this NZ Angels blog.