Karl George, Managing Director at the governance forum is a thought leader and nationally established consultant in governance, with over twenty years combined experience in accountancy, business, and strategic development.
Karl works across the private, public and third sector, in which he specializes, delivering exceptional services in governance. He was the pioneer behind the Governance Assessment Process (GAP), a cross sector standard, endorsed by Sir Adrian Cadbury, previous chair of the Cadbury Committee who commissioned the 1992 Cadbury Report, a leading report that contributed to the UK Corporate Governance Code. The GAP has now been delivered to over 100 organisations nationally.
His passion to see the standard of governance improve across all sectors and for governance professionals to have a space to network and share best practice, led to him bringing together a number of leading professionals who collectively established the Association of Corporate Governance Practitioners (ACGP). With a growing membership, ACGP is the only professional body for cross sector governance practitioners and offers the opportunity for the sharing of good practice in governance, something that Karl sees as the backbone for the development of good governance.
In conjunction with the Birmingham Leadership Foundation, a Birmingham City Council initiative, Karl developed a programme for young leaders. The ‘On-Board’ series now also has specialist programmes for women and ex-footballers. The aim of the programmes is to extend the impact of governance and reach of those who would not ordinarily be exposed to it and to improve board skills and diversity across all sectors.
Ever the inventor, Karl has converted his governance knowledge into an interactive game- ‘The Board Game’ which he uses to encourage and facilitate board interaction, training and development in governance knowledge. Given this and his other exploits in governance, Karl is a renowned consultant and speaker, sought after by companies and organisations across all sectors, including housing, in which he has extensive experience.
Amongst other board appointments, he is a current board member and Chair of the Governance Committee at Midland Heart Limited, a large housing association and also chair of governors of a local independent school. Karl has held several board positions over the last two decades which has helped him to consolidate his expertise in board development and behaviour. An experienced chair and committee member, Karl has led organisations through mergers, developing and redefining corporate strategy to completely redesigning governance structures and has acted as a consultant to chairs and CEOs of companies of all sizes.
His consultancy and support extends to his role in academia and as a visiting professor, at Birmingham City University, Karl demonstrates his ability to adapt and share his passion and proficiency in governance. The delivery of governance in the academic world is combined with his skills as researcher and author, resulting in the development of the governance framework, a model for civil society organisations. The framework assists those working in governance in every sector to effectively manage their governance processes.
Having previously authored ‘Most People Only Try, I Make Sure,’ which gives the seven key strategies for success in business, and with a ‘Little Book’ series being developed for principles in governance, Karl is an author in his own right. His professional background has also afforded him the opportunity to write several articles for bodies such as the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, and he was previously a regular feature writer for the Birmingham Post and Governance Magazine.
Karl has established a number of initiatives, including starting the first international chapter of an American mentoring initiative that has over 10,000 members here in the UK. An outstanding member of his community, Karl has received many awards and accolades including being awarded an MBE in 2004.
