Company Secretary and Corporate Stewardship Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Company Secretaries, Assistant Company Secretaries and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-CG-059

Before you join: Participants should have basic familiarity with their organisation's board or senior management structure and some exposure to meeting administration, legal, compliance, risk, finance or executive support work.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Company secretaries and governance professionals are expected to make boards work: meetings must be properly convened, papers must support sound decisions, minutes must evidence appropriate challenge, and statutory or regulatory obligations must not be missed. The role also carries a stewardship responsibility: protecting the integrity of governance processes while helping directors focus on strategy, risk, accountability and stakeholder confidence. Weak governance administration can lead to defective decisions, unmanaged conflicts, poor disclosures and damaged investor or public trust.

This course develops the practical judgement and operating methods needed to support an effective board and its committees. Participants examine the company secretary's advisory role, board authority, director duties, delegation, board calendars, meeting design, minute writing, committee terms of reference, shareholder engagement, annual general meetings, disclosures, conflicts of interest and whistleblowing arrangements. They use recognised governance references including the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, ISO 37000 and ICGN Global Governance Principles to assess governance arrangements and identify proportionate improvements.

Teaching combines focused briefings with board-paper reviews, governance cases, facilitated group work, meeting simulations and structured application planning. Cases reflect listed companies, banks, state-owned entities, charities and multinational subsidiaries, allowing participants to compare governance needs without treating one model as universal. Each participant leaves with a reusable company secretary operating pack containing governance calendar, board-paper checklist, minute structure, committee review tool, conflict register and 90-day improvement plan.

The course suits professionals who already work near boards, executive committees, legal, compliance, risk or investor relations functions and need a stronger command of formal governance practice.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply the G20/OECD Principles and ISO 37000 to assess governance arrangements
  • Prepare an annual board and committee calendar linked to statutory obligations
  • Design board-paper requirements that support informed decisions and clear accountability
  • Draft decision-focused minutes that record challenge, resolutions, actions and recusals
  • Review committee terms of reference, delegated authorities and reporting lines
  • Manage conflicts-of-interest declarations, related-party transactions and director independence records
  • Plan shareholder meetings, disclosures and engagement processes using a governance timetable
  • Produce a 90-day company secretariat improvement plan with ownership and milestones

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Write board minutes that distinguish discussion, challenge, decisions and actions
  • Advise chairs and directors on meeting process with greater confidence
  • Build a defensible annual governance calendar for boards and committees
  • Recognise governance warning signs before they become board failures
  • Create a practical development plan for a company secretariat function

For your organisation

  • Better documented board decisions, delegated authorities and action ownership
  • More consistent committee reporting and escalation of material risks
  • Reduced risk of missed governance, disclosure and meeting obligations
  • Clearer management of director conflicts and related-party transactions
  • Stronger evidence of board oversight for regulators, auditors and stakeholders

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain corporate stewardship and assess core governance responsibilities against recognised principles.

  • Corporate stewardship, accountability and long-term value creation for stakeholders
  • G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance and their practical application
  • ISO 37000 governance principles, governing bodies and organisational purpose
  • Shareholder primacy, stakeholder governance and public-interest responsibilities compared
  • Board, management and owner roles distinguished through accountability maps
  • Governance architecture: constitutions, policies, delegations and assurance channels

Participants can define the company secretary function, its authorities and its essential control processes.

  • Company secretary duties under constitutions, statutes and board mandates
  • Adviser, gatekeeper and administrator roles balanced with professional independence
  • Entity records, registers and statutory filings controlled through compliance calendars
  • RACI matrix for secretariat responsibilities, handoffs and escalation routes
  • Confidentiality protocols for board information, insider information and records
  • Service model choices for group, subsidiary and outsourced secretariat teams

Participants can support sound board composition, induction, evaluation and delegated authority arrangements.

  • Board skills matrix aligned with strategy, risk profile and succession needs
  • Director independence tests, tenure considerations and conflict indicators
  • Appointment, induction and continuing education records for directors
  • Delegation of authority schedules separating board and management decisions
  • Annual board evaluation using questionnaires, interviews and action tracking
  • Chair, chief executive and lead independent director roles clarified

Participants can plan board meetings that provide directors with timely information and clear decision routes.

  • Annual board calendar linked to strategy, reporting and governance cycles
  • Agenda architecture separating consent items, decisions and strategic discussion
  • Notice periods, quorums and meeting validity checked before convening
  • Board-paper templates specifying purpose, recommendation, evidence and requested decision
  • Pre-meeting chair briefings identify sensitive issues and decision dependencies
  • Virtual and hybrid meeting protocols protect participation, confidentiality and records

Participants can produce board documentation that supports informed decisions and reliable corporate records.

  • Materiality tests determine matters requiring board consideration or approval
  • Decision papers present options, risk analysis, financial implications and recommendations
  • Written resolutions managed through authority checks, circulation and signature controls
  • Minute-writing structure records attendance, declarations, deliberations, decisions and actions
  • Neutral language distinguishes director challenge from management presentations
  • Action logs assign owners, deadlines, status and board follow-up
  • Minute review protocols preserve accuracy without rewriting historical deliberations

Participants can establish and review committee arrangements that strengthen board oversight.

  • Committee terms of reference define purpose, authority, membership and reporting
  • Audit committee oversight of financial reporting, auditors and internal control
  • Risk committee reporting connects appetite, exposures, controls and emerging risks
  • Remuneration committee governance addresses incentives, performance and malus provisions
  • Nomination committee processes support succession, diversity and appointment decisions
  • Committee workplans align agendas with annual assurance and reporting cycles
  • Escalation protocols identify matters reserved for full board consideration

Participants can connect board decisions with risk oversight, assurance evidence and accountability records.

  • Three Lines Model clarifies management, oversight and independent assurance roles
  • Risk appetite statements translated into board reporting thresholds and triggers
  • COSO Internal Control framework applied to governance assurance discussions
  • Decision logs link resolutions, delegated actions, risks and evidence
  • Board assurance maps identify coverage gaps across strategic risks
  • Crisis governance protocols define authority, information flow and emergency meetings

Participants can plan shareholder communications and general meetings with proper governance controls.

  • Shareholder rights, voting mechanisms and information rights mapped clearly
  • Annual general meeting timetable covers notices, proxies, resolutions and records
  • Ordinary and special resolutions distinguished by purpose and approval thresholds
  • Disclosure controls coordinate financial, governance and market-sensitive information
  • Investor engagement records capture themes, commitments and escalation matters
  • Related-party transaction approvals documented through independent review procedures
  • Virtual meeting arrangements address access, voting integrity and participant questions

Participants can manage governance conduct issues and strengthen mechanisms for ethical challenge.

  • Conflict-of-interest registers capture interests, recusals, reviews and updates
  • Related-party transaction procedures establish disclosure, approval and monitoring steps
  • Whistleblowing arrangements protect reporters, investigations and board oversight
  • Code of conduct provisions address director behaviour and confidential information
  • Speak-up culture indicators reported through themes, trends and response actions
  • Ethical decision frameworks test legality, fairness, consequences and stakeholder impact

Participants can prioritise governance improvements and communicate a practical implementation plan to senior stakeholders.

  • Governance maturity assessment identifies priority gaps, controls and ownership
  • Gap analysis compares current practices against board-approved requirements
  • Ninety-day action plans sequence quick fixes, dependencies and milestones
  • Stakeholder mapping identifies chairs, directors, executives and control functions
  • Implementation risks assessed through impact, likelihood, ownership and mitigations
  • Progress dashboards report actions, overdue items and governance indicators
  • Personal advisory commitments define immediate changes to secretariat practice

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Annual board and committee calendar template
  2. Board-paper and resolution checklist
  3. Decision-focused board minute template
  4. Committee terms of reference review tool
  5. Conflict-of-interest register template
  6. 90-day governance improvement plan

Who should attend

  • Company Secretaries — strengthen board advisory, meeting and compliance responsibilities
  • Assistant Company Secretaries — build reliable methods for supporting boards and committees
  • Governance Managers — assess and improve governance policies, calendars and reporting
  • General Counsel — coordinate legal advice with board process and director obligations
  • Compliance and Risk Managers — connect assurance reporting with board oversight requirements
  • Executive Assistants to Boards — manage board logistics, records and follow-up confidently

Skills and tools covered

Board meeting managementGovernance advisory practiceMinute draftingCommittee administrationShareholder engagementConflict management

Tools and standards

G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, ISO 37000 Governance of Organizations, ICGN Global Governance Principles, COSO Internal Control Framework

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short practitioner briefings followed by governance cases, board-paper reviews, facilitated group exercises and meeting simulations. Participants examine realistic agendas, resolutions, minutes, committee charters, disclosure issues and conflict scenarios. Trainers compare governance approaches used by listed companies, regulated firms, public bodies and mission-led organisations, while stressing the need for jurisdiction-specific advice. Structured application planning converts learning into improvements participants can implement through their board or company secretariat processes.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with their organisation's board or senior management structure and some exposure to meeting administration, legal, compliance, risk, finance or executive support work. They should be able to read a board paper, policy or committee terms of reference and discuss governance issues professionally. No law degree, chartered company secretary qualification, accounting qualification or prior boardroom experience is required. The course explains common governance principles but does not replace jurisdiction-specific legal advice or statutory filing training.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand basic organisational structures and have some exposure to governance, legal, compliance, risk, finance or executive support work. A company secretary qualification or law degree is not required.

Bring a laptop or tablet if possible and, where permitted by your employer, a blank or redacted board agenda, governance calendar or committee terms of reference. Do not bring confidential board papers, personal data or market-sensitive information.

It is designed primarily for company secretaries, assistant company secretaries, governance managers and board support professionals. General counsel, compliance, risk and executive support staff with regular board contact also benefit.

Director programmes focus on the personal duties, conduct and strategic oversight expected of board members. This course focuses on the company secretary and governance professional's work of designing, administering, evidencing and improving the processes that support the board.

You can use the templates to review your board calendar, paper standards, minute format, committee charters and conflict arrangements. The 90-day improvement plan helps you present priorities, owners and milestones to your chair, general counsel or governance lead.

The programme contains ten modules delivered in teaching order, with approximately 6.5 contact hours each day from 08:30 to 16:30. Time is divided between short briefings, documentation review, case work, group discussion, simulations and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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