Board Evaluations

A Board evaluation is a structured, confidential look at how well your Board governs and works together as a team. Satori Consulting partners with organizations across Canada and beyond to run independent Board evaluations and peer assessments, using them as a tool to learn, grow, and build a stronger, better aligned Board.

For over 20 years, Satori Consulting has partnered with Boards that want to keep getting better. The true differentiator of a high performing governance Board is a belief in using assessment as a tool to learn and grow. Handled with care, well-intentioned feedback becomes the impetus for positive change and weaves a solid foundation of trust and communication.

A Board evaluation is a structured review of how effectively your Board carries out its governance role. It looks honestly at your Board’s composition, processes, decisions, and how directors work together, then turns what it finds into clear, practical recommendations you can act on. Governance, simply put, is the system by which an organization is directed, controlled, and held accountable to its members and stakeholders.

Feedback is important, but it is often feared. A well-run evaluation gives your Board permission to have the honest conversations it might otherwise avoid, and turns them into positive change rather than conflict. For organizations and not-for-profits held to Ontario’s governance expectations under the Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 (ONCA), a regular evaluation is also a clear sign of diligence and accountability.

A high performing Board has the right blend of directors who work as a team and provide the knowledge, skills, and viewpoints that support your organization’s strategic goals and risk tolerance. In our experience, a high performing Board:

We do not believe one size fits all, so we choose the methods that fit your Board’s size, maturity, and goals:

What is a peer evaluation?

A peer evaluation is a confidential process that allows fellow directors to share their perspective on how each director contributes to the Board’s success. Because it is confidential, it invites the candour that makes feedback genuinely useful.

What is a Board skills matrix?

A skills matrix maps the skills, experience, and perspectives currently around your Board table against what your Board needs to deliver on its strategy. Most Boards spend little, if any, time planning their own succession or assessing the composition of the Board today, and a skills matrix brings those gaps into the open.

We act as a guide, always assuming your Board holds the answers and that our role is to support the conversations that lead to alignment. A typical evaluation follows a clear, confidential path: