The Board of Directors' Association's secretariat

What The Board of Directors' Association's secretariat does

Bestyrelsesforeningen (The Board Leadership Society / The Board of Directors' Association) is a Danish non-profit association founded on 7 May 2013 and headquartered at Porcelænshaven 22, Frederiksberg, on the Copenhagen Business School campus. Its stated mission is to promote corporate governance and board work in Denmark on a non-profit basis, serving approximately 1,000 individual members — predominantly experienced board members admitted through an assessment process that screens for board experience or completion of recognized board education (CBS Board Educations, Børsen's Board Education, or international equivalents) — alongside corporate members spanning C25 companies, other listed firms, fund- and family-owned businesses, institutional investors, advisory firms, and publicly owned entities. The association is the Danish member of ecoDa and is represented on the ecoDa board, giving it a formal channel into EU governance and company law initiatives.

The core product is a membership programme that grants free access to 12-14 professional conferences per year, covering value creation, governance, board leadership, strategy, succession, AI, ESG, geopolitics, executive remuneration, and risk management. Individual membership is priced at DKK 2,800 per year excluding VAT; corporate membership pricing scales with company size. Revenue is supplemented by corporate contributions that fund strategic initiatives. Beyond the core programme, the association operates a wholly-owned subsidiary, the Centre for Cyber Competencies (est. 2019), which runs a cyber simulator training centre co-developed with CBS and supported by Industriens Fond, targeting 2,000 board and management trainees annually by 2026. Additional offerings include board evaluation services (with triennial external evaluation, most recently autumn 2024 with Leadership Advisor Group), board education programmes delivered through CBS Executive, and the Global Board Leadership Summit, an international conference series created with HCLI/Temasek and Stanford that has drawn over 1,000 global business leaders across four conferences.

The operating model is lean — approximately five core staff (CEO Bente Overgaard, Head of Secretariat Cristina Biondi Gartmann, Programme Director Henriette Fenger Ellekrog, Programme Assistant Marcus Marschall Billekop, Nathan Holfelt) supported by a 13-member board of directors chaired by Christian Frigast. Distribution is self-serve via the website, with conferences held physically at the Frederiksberg headquarters and virtually, and demand generation driven by LinkedIn, the conference programme, and peer referrals within the Danish board professional community. The association is privately held with no parent company, no institutional investor, and no disclosed funding rounds; it operates as a member-funded non-profit under Danish association law.

Name

The Board of Directors' Association's secretariat

Legal name

Bestyrelsesforeningen

Website

https://bestyrelsesforeningen.dk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Bestyrelsesforeningen is a Danish non-profit association that serves approximately 1,000 experienced board professionals through an annual membership programme granting access to 12-14 governance conferences, supplemented by a cyber training subsidiary, board evaluation services, and an international leadership summit.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Corporate Governance Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139), Business Associations (813910), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Association & Society Conference Management (Nonprofit, Professional Bodies) (THAHACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Product, Service & Domain Knowledge Onboarding (EDABAOAG)

Keywords

• Corporate governance education
• Board professional development
• Director networking services
• Governance conferences
• Board competency training

Headquarters

HQ city

Copenhagen

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Membership Fees: Personal membership fee of DKK 2,800 per year (excluding VAT). Membership provides free access to all 14 annual conferences, the Corporate Governance Network, and the association's networking events. Membership applications are subject to an assessment process.
2. Corporate Membership Fees: Corporate membership allows a company's board and management members to participate in the 14 annual events and provides a place in the Corporate Governance Network. Membership price depends on company size. Companies of all ownership types and sizes can become members, including C25 companies, other listed companies, fund- and family-owned companies, institutional investors, commercial funds, advisory companies, and publicly owned organizations.
3. Corporate Contributions: Corporate member companies contribute to covering the association's conference activity costs. These contributions also fund strategic initiatives such as ecoDa membership and the cyber project, both of which support competitive conditions for Danish business. Many member companies' board members and executives contribute with speeches, dialogue, and knowledge development at the association's professional events on an ad hoc basis.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Bestyrelsesforeningen is a non-profit professional association that delivers corporate governance education and board leadership development to Danish companies and board professionals. Its core offering is a membership program (individual and corporate) granting access to 12-14 annual professional conferences, networking with approximately 1,000 board members, board education in partnership with CBS Executive, and specialized programs including a cyber simulator training centre and the Global Board Leadership Summit.

Product overview

The Board Leadership Society operates as a membership-based professional association offering a platform of services centered around board leadership development. The core offerings include Personal and Corporate Membership programs (with 14 annual conferences as the primary engagement mechanism), supplemented by specialized modules including Board Education Programs delivered with CBS Executive, the Centre for Cyber Competencies (BCFC) for cybersecurity training, Board Evaluation services, and the Global Board Leadership Summit for international perspective sharing. The organization also facilitates networking through its Corporate Governance Network. The association functions on a non-profit basis and serves approximately 1,000 members including experienced board members, executive board members, top officials, and professors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bestyrelsesforeningens Center for Cyberkompetencer: Centre for Cyber Competencies focused on strengthening competencies in cyber risks, cyber governance, and cyber resilience for company management and boards. Operates a cyber simulator training centre.
• CBS Executive
• Global Board Leadership Summit

Products and services

• Personal Membership

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 150 conferences organized since 2013, with 12-14 conferences held annually.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• Copenhagen Business School (CBS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019CBS co-developed the Centre for Cyber Competencies' cyber simulator training centre in collaboration with the association and the business community. CBS also hosts the association's headquarters at Porcelænshaven 22, Frederiksberg. CBS Executive partners with the association for board education programmes. The founding of the association in 2013 was also rooted in the corporate governance environment around CBS.
• Leadership Advisor Group (Nina Nærby)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2019Every 3 years, the association uses an external consultant to conduct the board evaluation. In autumn 2024, the board evaluation was conducted in collaboration with Nina Nærby of Leadership Advisor Group. The external evaluation focuses on strengthening the board's value creation and contributing to the ongoing development of the board's work.
• ecoDa (European Confederation of Directors' Associations)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Bestyrelsesforeningen is the Danish member of ecoDa and is represented on the ecoDa board. Membership provides access to an overview and close dialogue on the EU's considerations and initiatives in the governance and company law area. In particular, EU legislative initiatives in continuation of the Green Deal — green and sustainable transition with the EU as a pioneer region — represent new European perspectives within governance and corporate governance. The association also participates in ecoDa Global, a 24-hour virtual conference held annually.
• HCLI (Human Capital Leadership Institute) / TemasekflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013With support from Industriens Fond, the association, in close cooperation with HCLI (a subsidiary of Temasek, which is an owner/investor in previously publicly owned companies in Singapore), Stanford, and leading board professionals around the world, created the Global Board Leadership Summit (GBLS). The purpose is to increase Danish companies' competitiveness by upskilling Danish boards in challenges, dilemmas, and corporate governance from an international perspective. More than 1,000 business leaders from around the world have participated in GBLS and its four conferences.
• Active Owners, Dansk Industri, Dansk Erhverv, PensionDanmark, EY, Kromann Reumert, CBS ExecutiveflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013The association was founded on 7 May 2013 as a non-profit organization in a collaboration between the Danish business community and the corporate governance environment around Copenhagen Business School. The 8 founding companies and organizations were: Active Owners, Confederation of Danish Industry (Dansk Industri), Dansk Erhverv, PensionDanmark, CBS, EY, Kromann Reumert, and CBS Executive. Additionally, 24 board chairs and 10 professors participated in the founding. These founding partners helped establish the association as the leading forum for dialogue and development of board work in Denmark.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Norsk Styreinstitutt (Norwegian Institute of Directors): Norwegian membership association for board members providing governance education, events, and a member network — directly comparable in scope, membership model, and Nordic board-professional focus.
• Styrelseakademien (Swedish Academy of Board Directors): Swedish non-profit membership association for board professionals offering conferences, education, and networking — the closest Nordic parallel to Bestyrelsesforeningen in mission, structure, and conference-led engagement model.
• National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD): Leading US membership association for corporate directors offering conferences, education, and a director community — comparable in core mission (board professionalization) and member-driven, conference-centric operating model.
• CBS Executive (Copenhagen Business School Executive): Co-founder and operational host of Bestyrelsesforeningen, also delivering competing/adjacent board leadership education programs — making it both a strategic partner and a directly comparable provider of board education in Denmark.
• Børsen Board Education: Danish board education program recognized as a qualifying pathway for Bestyrelsesforeningen membership. Directly comparable as a Danish provider of board professional development and a recognized alternative entry route to the association.

Regional players

• Deutsches Institut für Corporate Governance (DICG): German corporate governance think tank and platform convening boards, investors, and policymakers — comparable in advancing governance standards, with a more research/advocacy orientation than Bestyrelsesforeningen's conference-led model.
• IFA (Institut Français des Administrateurs): French association of directors providing governance training, networking, and research — comparable in mission and member-based model but operating primarily in France rather than Denmark.

Broad incumbents

• The Chartered Governance Institute (CGI): International qualifying body and membership organization for governance professionals offering training, certification, and continuing professional development — a broader, incumbent peer in the same governance-professionalism category.
• ecoDa (European Confederation of Directors' Associations): European federation of national director associations, of which Bestyrelsesforeningen is the Danish member and on whose board it sits. Operates at a pan-European rather than single-country level, providing governance advocacy and annual events.

Emerging players

• INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre: Academic corporate governance centre producing research, executive programs, and international board convenings — comparable in bridging academic and practitioner perspectives, and a Global Board Leadership Summit counterpart via Stanford.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bestyrelsesforeningen

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Board of Directors' Association's secretariat