Public Sector Governance

Introduction to Public Sector Governance

Directors of 501(c) organizations and government agencies are responsible for appropriate and deliberate governance to protect and support the missions of their organizations or the organizations they fund. Historically, the public sector boards, unlike their corporate counterparts, have not been under the same degree of external investigation of their governing policies and practices. However, due to recent events over the past decade, the public sector boards are likely to experience a heightened interest in their activities with the expectation of finding the highest levels of transparency and integrity. XCEO products and services are designed to provide boards and directors the skills and knowledge to embrace enlightened governance best practices. We arm boards, directors, and funders with accountability standards to prepare them to answer the most challenging question of all, “Where was the board?”

When looking at the behavior of existing boards, we, at XCEO, divide them into three categories: Traditional, Standard or Enlightened. A traditional board is one that continues to do things as they have always been done in the past. A standard board is more inclined to focus on laws and regulations. And an enlightened board will go well beyond the “what’s always been done in the past” and compliance issues and strives for excellence and exceeding the expectations of those that they serve. Since a board is made up of individuals, the board members or trustees can be categorized in the same way.

We believe boards, directors and funders should actively pursue ways to continue developing their effectiveness to better advance the mission of the nonprofit, foundation, and university boards they serve. Our mission is to partner with boards and their directors on their journey for professional governance and personal leadership development. In our Integrated Board Leadership Process, XCEO helps an individual or board focus on the following areas: Board Leadership Development, Risk Oversight & Mitigation, and Succession Planning, the three areas we deem most critical for board success.

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