Following our recent communication regarding the postponement of this event, we are pleased to confirm that Building Effective Boards has now been rescheduled and will take place in person at the Institute of Public Administration on Monday, 23 November 2026, from 09:30 to 16:30.
This special capability-building session is designed to support board and committee members, and those supporting boards and committees, with critical reflections on what makes for effective Boards/Governing Bodies. Board effectiveness depends not only on structures, processes and expertise, but also on what happens between people around the Board table. This includes the quality of challenge, curiosity, judgement, relationships and decision making.
The session will be interactive, with participants encouraged to share experiences and practices, and will include focus on:
Boards and the evolving governing landscape
Features of effective Boards
Characteristics of an effective Board member – critical self-reflection
What makes for an effective Board (as a Team)
Key processes and good practices to support Board effectiveness
Board composition
This interactive session will be led by: Dr Shirley Kavanagh, Executive Advisor and Coach Dr Tom Ward, Senior Governance Specialist, IPA Laura Shannon, Governance Specialist, IPA
Speakers
Dr. Shirley Kavanagh
Dr Shirley Kavanagh is an Executive Advisor and Coach and Adjunct Teaching Fellow at Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin. She works with CEOs, senior leaders, executive teams and boards on leadership, culture and organisational performance. She brings more than three decades of senior leadership experience across private and public-sector environments, holds a PhD in Strategic Leadership/HRM and a Diploma in Corporate Governance, and serves as an Independent Chair on Senior Public Appointments in the Irish Public Service. Her contribution will focus particularly on the behavioural, relational and judgement dimensions of board effectiveness.
Dr Tom Ward
Tom is a Senior Governance Specialist in the IPA Governance Team, and re-joined the Institute in May 2017 having previously been a member of staff between 2006 and 2011. He manages the Governance Forum and works on a range of governance assignments for clients, including board performance, risk framework and governance reviews, and the delivery of training and workshop sessions on governance matters for boards, committees and senior teams. He has worked with a wide range of organisations, including government departments, state agencies, local authorities, higher education institutions, and sport, community and charitable organisations.
Tom is currently a non-executive member of the Audit & Risk Committee of the Electoral Commission, and a non-executive member of the Audit Committee at the Department of Finance. He previously served two terms as ARC member at the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (2017-2023). He was also previously a non-executive Director and Vice-Chair of Badminton Ireland (2017-2022), the national governing body for the sport, where he chaired its Governance Committee and was a member of the High Performance Committee.
Laura Shannon
Laura is a Governance Specialist with the IPA Governance Team, joining in 2024 after eight years as a key member of the IPA's Research Division. She delivers training in a number of areas, including sustainability, strategy development and review, performance indicators, and governance agreements, and supports clients in advisory work such as board and committee evaluations, risk management and governance reviews. Laura also supports the work of the Governance Forum through developing, moderating and contributing to events.
Laura has a particular interest in the intersection of governance and sustainability, exploring how public sector bodies can leverage good governance to cultivate high-performing sustainable organisations and ultimately contribute to better outcomes for the public.
In her former role as Research Officer, Laura worked with clients across the civil and public service on a range of research, advisory and consultancy projects aiming to enhance and improve public governance. She has authored and contributed to several reports on issues of public management, governance and reform at both local and central levels.
