The DEAP welcomes experienced and newly appointed directors with management or professional experience. Participants are drawn from a mix of backgrounds including public, Crown and not-for-profit corporations.

Work before the session - DEAP delivers critical content in a condensed period of time. When you register for DEAP, you will receive access to the study guides to be reviewed ahead time, ensuring the group begins the program at a similar level of knowledge. Depending on your background, plan on spending up to 30-40 hours with these materials in advance to familiarize yourself with the subject matter.

During the Session - The workshop is three days in duration consisting of presentations, discussions, case studies and a quiz (completed in class) for each module. The session provides a unique opportunity to learn about many different sectors; come prepared to share your experiences and perspectives with the group!

Each day will begin at 9:00am Eastern with multiple breaks provided throughout the day including 30 minutes for lunch. Assessments will be completed electronically at the end of the session.

• Tuesday February 16, 2021 - Governance (Janis Riven)
• Wednesday February 17, 2021 - Finance (Rick Giel)
• Thursday February 18, 2021 - Strategy and Risk (Logan Atkinson)

After the session - Upon successful completion, you will be awarded the Accredited Director designation (Acc.Dir.) and receive membership in our Affiliate Group for the remainder of the calendar year. As an Affiliate Group member, you will have a subscription to Corporate Governance Quarterly, our premier publication on good governance practice and access to special rates for seminars, workshops and other continuing professional development opportunities.

Certification Maintenance - Although no formal Professional Development hours are currently required, certification is maintained through continuous annual membership.

Janis Riven - Governance

Rick Giel - Finance

Logan Atkinson - Strategy and Risk

Janis Riven, BCL, LLB, MBA, FCIS, Acc.Dir.
Based in Montreal, Janis has an established consulting practice on governance and compliance matters with clients encompassing publicly listed and closely held companies, as well as various types of not-for-profits, and is currently Adjunct Professor at the John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, where she teaches Corporate Governance. She is a well-known speaker both in Canada and abroad at conferences on corporate governance and has acted as a facilitator for boards and board committees of a number of different organizations seeking to improve their governance effectiveness.
Janis was formerly Vice President, Compliance and Secretary for the Canadian and global operations of RBC Insurance. Ms. Riven is Past President of Chartered Secretaries Canada, the Canadian division of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), an international teaching organization focussed on governance. She is a member of the Quebec Bar, a Fellow of the ICSA, and currently serves on the boards of the Ombusdsman for Financial Services and Investments (OBSI), the Facility Association and Worldwide Magnesium Inc.

Richard Giel CPA, CA, Acc.Dir.
Richard (Rick) is a Chartered Accountant with over 35 years’ experience in financial accounting, reporting and financial planning and analysis. Subsequent to obtaining his designation at Deloitte Haskins and Sells (now Deloitte LLP), Rick held senior financial and operational management positions with Reuters, Maclean Hunter, Rogers Communications and CNW Group.

For the past 12 years, he has provided consulting services, as Chief Financial Officer or in other senior financial management roles, to publicly traded and private companies in various industries including mining, renewable energy, retail, IT training and cannabis. Previous clients include Nu Energy Uranium, NiCo Mining Limited, AimPowergen, Swala Resources, Red Crescent Resources, Polar Star Mining Corporation, Yamana Gold, Carter’s/OshKosh, Tokyo Smoke and Canopy Growth Corporation. In addition to financial reporting and analysis, he has merger and acquisition experience in negotiating agreements, has developed and executed business integration plans and divestitures, ERP system selections and implementations, rationalized business operations and evaluated and strengthened systems of internal control.

Logan Atkinson, B.A., LL.B., M.Phil. M.A.. LL.D., FCIS, Acc.Dir.
Logan practiced corporate and commercial law for many years and has been a corporate secretary at three large, diverse organizations – Carleton University, the University of Waterloo, and the Real Estate Council of Ontario. He has been a member of the bar for forty years. Logan is currently a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Law Society of Newfoundland & Labrador, and I will be admitted to the bar in New Brunswick in June 2020. Through his various employment positions, Logan has gained extensive experience in enterprise risk, change management and strategic planning. At the University of Waterloo, he was the chief risk officer and at the Real Estate Council of Ontario he was responsible for both enterprise risk and the full strategic and business planning spectrum. Logan holds the Change Management Practitioner designation

DEAP is $3,000 (early-bird rate - available 30 days in advance of the session taking place) or $3,250 (within 30 days of the session taking place) per participant.

Your membership must be current in order to receive the member price.

The session will be held via Zoom. The link will be provided to you once your registration has been processed.

Governance for Directors

Finance for Directors 

Strategy and Risk Management for Directors

Governance for Directors - This module will introduce you to the general governance standards and principles of current day corporate governance through the following learning objectives:

• Understand why governance is a discipline that needs to operate to standards;
• Understand the reliance which stakeholders place on the Board of Directors;
• Understand the roles of a Board of Directors and of a Director;
• Understand the key tenets to effective governance;
• Understand the separation between governance and management;
• Understand the importance of holding the CEO accountable; and
• Understand where to access information for further reading and ongoing update of knowledge in the governance arena.

Finance for Directors - The directors of any entity must be concerned with the well being of the entity they are entrusted to oversee. Directors must be independent and objective in fulfilling their fiduciary duties. An understanding of the basics of accounting, financial reporting and internal control is crucial to this objective.

The most important aspects of finance for the director to understand include:

• how the Finance organization contributes to the strategic mission
• the integrity of internal controls and financial information
• the integrity of financial reporting
• the regulatory or contractual obligations for financial reporting by the entity
• how entity assets and resources are protected by financial oversight
• expectations of entity stakeholders (e.g., sustainable growth or efficiency)

Strategy and Risk Management for Directors - Boards have a key role to play in strategy and risk management. However, it is not always clear on what that role should be. In addition, there may be challenges in understanding the fundamentals of strategy development and risk management amongst a Board of Directors. This module is designed to address these issues.

At the end of this module candidates will:

• Understand the role of the board and directors in strategy and risk management for the various types of organizations;
• Understand the context in which strategy is developed and organizations operate;
• Understand the fundamental process of strategic management and the director’s responsibility for each aspect of the process;
• Support best practices in the development of strategy;
• Evaluate management’s progress using appropriate tools in monitoring and implementing the desired strategy;
• Understand and counteract the key challenges to strategy development and implementation;
• Understand the relationship between strategy and risk;
• Understand the key concepts and approaches to risk;
• Understand the requirement for and oversight of controls;
• Understand the integrated and strategic approach to risk management - Enterprise Risk Management;
• Ensure that their boards are structured appropriately for risk governance; and
• Understand some of the major emerging risks for organizations.