Helle Bank Jørgensen, GCB.D, NACD.DC

Helle Bank Jørgensen, GCB.D, NACD.DC Helle Bank Jørgensen, GCB.D, NACD.DC is an influencer

Global Managing Director, Board Development, Board Intelligence and Founder Competent Boards. #1 Amazon Bestselling Author, Global Keynote Speaker.

Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
31K followers 500+ connections

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The Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs

About

Helle Bank Jorgensen is leading Board Intelligence’s Board Development practice globally, empowering boards and leadership teams around the world to enhance their impact through the science of board effectiveness.

As the Founder of Competent Boards, she was inducted into the Corporate Governance Hall of Fame by IR (Investor Relations) Magazine.

She received the Corporate Governance Lifetime Achievement Award in New York City the same night she received another Lifetime Governance Achievement Award from the Governance Professionals of Canada in Toronto, Canada.

Board members and executives in over 55 countries – many from Fortune 500 companies – have achieved a certification from Competent Boards, and have gone on to help their companies mitigate the risks and seize the opportunities presented by the ever-evolving governance landscape.

A business lawyer and certified public accountant by training, Helle is an internationally recognized voice on governance, sustainability, climate, and nature and serves at the Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence, World Economic Forum (WEF) Expert Network for Corporate Governance, Leadership, and Emerging Multinationals; and as co-chair, global expert panel, Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) established by HM King Charles III, among other roles.

Originally from Denmark, she now lives in Canada, where she was recognized in 2023 as a ‘Global Changemaker’ by The Globe and Mail and one of the ‘Top 50 Influencers to Follow’ by Onalytica. In 2022 she was named one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women. She was also selected as one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in the Green Economy and received the SustainabilityX® Magazine’s Global 50 Women in Sustainability Award.

In addition to Competent Boards, offering the world's first globally accessible board training program, Helle has a few other brainchildren, including the world's first green account, the first integrated report, the first holistic supply chain program and many innovative business solutions, and latest The Future Boardroom.

Her Amazon bestseller, Stewards of the Future: A Guide for Competent Boards, was published in 2022. She is a regular contributor to FTs Agenda, Board Agenda and interviewed by many leading publications. Prior to Competent Boards she was a partner at PwC.

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Experience

  • Board Intelligence Graphic

    Global Managing Director, Board Development

    Board Intelligence

    - Present 7 months

  • Competent Boards Graphic

    Founder

    Competent Boards

    - Present 7 years 3 months

    Worldwide

    Competent Boards provides professional development and advisory services. The faculty delivering the highly praised online Global Competent Boards Designation and Certificate Program consists of over 180 of the world’s leading board members, C-suite executives, investors and experts.

  • World Economic Forum Graphic

    Expert Network for Corporate Governance, Leadership, and Emerging Multinationals

    World Economic Forum

    - Present 4 years 8 months

  • The Prince's Accounting for Sustainability Project (A4S) Graphic

    Co-chair Expert Panel

    The Prince's Accounting for Sustainability Project (A4S)

    - Present 8 years 11 months

    London, United Kingdom

    The Expert Panel provides senior finance and sustainability expertise to support A4S’s mission and aims on a global scale.

  • Nasdaq Graphic

    NASDAQ CENTER FOR BOARD EXCELLENCE INSIGHTS COUNCIL MEMBER

    Nasdaq

    - 3 years 3 months

    New York City Metropolitan Area

    I serve as an Insights Council member with the Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence, shaping its strategy, contributing insights, and working with other council members to identify and address important board governance matters.

  • Danish Canadian Chamber of Commerce Graphic

    Board Member

    Danish Canadian Chamber of Commerce

    - 8 years 6 months

    Toronto, Canada Area

  • B. Accountability Graphic

    CEO

    B. Accountability

    - 13 years 6 months

    Toronto, Canada Area

  • Impact Management Project Graphic

    Member Non-financial Digital Transformation Working Group

    Impact Management Project

    - 3 years

  • ESG Exchange Graphic

    Committee Chair

    ESG Exchange

    - 1 year 3 months

    A global collaboration between standard setters, regulators, assurance providers, professional bodies, educators, and experienced corporates.to advocate, curate, and guide on the How-To for sustainability information integration. We aim to remove the guesswork so companies can get it right the first time, and we can use more resources to improve what we report on - not how we report.

  • Datamaran Graphic

    Chairman

    Datamaran

    - 4 years 1 month

    London, United Kingdom

  • Global Compact Network Canada Graphic

    Chair and Executive Director

    Global Compact Network Canada

    - 4 years

  • International IDEA Graphic

    Member Finance and Audit Committee

    International IDEA

    - 4 years

    Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden

  • PricewaterhouseCoopers

    PricewaterhouseCoopers

    19 years 5 months

    • PricewaterhouseCoopers Graphic

      Partner, US Sustainability Advisory Leader

      PricewaterhouseCoopers

      - 2 years 9 months

    • PricewaterhouseCoopers Graphic

      Partner, Sustainable Business Solution Territory Leader; Marketing & Communication Leader (Denmark)

      PricewaterhouseCoopers

      - 8 years 10 months

      Partner, Sustainable Business Solution Territory Leader, From 2006 Marketing and Communication Leader (Denmark); Member of Country Leadership Team and Wide Leadership Team (Denmark)

    • PricewaterhouseCoopers Graphic

      Financial Auditor and Environmental Consultant

      PricewaterhouseCoopers

      - 8 years

      1998-2000 Senior Manager, Sustainable Business Solutions
      1997-1998 Environmental Manager
      1992-1997 Environmental Consultant
      1992-1997 Financial Auditor

  • AmCham Denmark Graphic

    Board Member

    AmCham Denmark

    - 2 years

  • European Policy Centre Graphic

    Board Member

    European Policy Centre

    - 2 years

    Brussels Region, Belgium

  • CSR Europe Graphic

    Board Member

    CSR Europe

    - 5 years

  • DTU - Technical University of Denmark Graphic

    Project Employee - The Life Cycle Centre - The Institute of Product Development

    DTU - Technical University of Denmark

    - 2 years

    Assisted the Danish Steelwork in developing the worlds first Green Accounts;
    Worked with Life Cycle Cost (pricing externalities) and Life Cycle Assessments

Education

Licenses & Certifications

Skills

Publications

  • Why sustainability must play a major role in your boardroom today — and tomorrow

    GreenBiz

    We need to shape the boardrooms of the future by choice, not by chance.....Our world faces an unprecedented and barely credible list of monumental challenges. This is a time when we need courage and leadership to steer us all through these toughest of times and into the sunlit uplands.

    See publication

  • The Anniversary Of A New Economy - The War In Ukraine At One Year

    Forbes

    See publication

  • ‘In the future, people like me will go to jail’

    Competent Boards

    Ray Anderson, the former founder, chairman, and CEO of Interface once said: “I had a revelation about what industry is doing to our planet. I stood convicted as a plunderer of the earth. In the future, people like me will go to jail.” More than 20 years later, his prophetic words may soon come to pass.

    See publication

  • Companies must find their Stewards of the Future to survive and thrive

    GreenBiz

    What does sustainability mean? And what value does it bring to a company? Learn how an aligned and empowered Board can cast illumination on sustainability issues and protect the long-term interests of their shareholders.

    See publication

  • Lessons in ESG: The road to net zero is paved by board education

    Environment Journal

    "Executives and board directors need to ask themselves: are they really ESG and climate competent? This goes beyond reviewing the glossy brochures".

    The essence of board education in reaching net-zero needs to be made clear, and in this article, I expand on why this is relevant

    See publication

  • Q&A-Corporate boards need training for ESG success; More democratic proxy voting to prompt transparency: Helle Banks Jorgensen, Competent Boards

    Reuters

    The success of corporate strategies around environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) will depend on whether company boards are able to support and critically analyze such projects, Helle Banks Jorgensen, CEO of Competent Boards, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum on Monday, January 24.
    "Boardrooms should be asking questions to management to ensure that the company is not greenwashing, they should be asking questions about data quality, on what is being incentivized," she…

    The success of corporate strategies around environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) will depend on whether company boards are able to support and critically analyze such projects, Helle Banks Jorgensen, CEO of Competent Boards, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum on Monday, January 24.
    "Boardrooms should be asking questions to management to ensure that the company is not greenwashing, they should be asking questions about data quality, on what is being incentivized," she said.
    Additionally, the push by prominent investors such as BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to make proxy voting more accessible will increase the need for companies to be transparent about their energy transition plans, Jorgensen said.

    See publication

  • 10 essential ESG new year’s resolutions for board directors

    GreenBiz

    See publication

  • Stewards of the Future

    Barlow Books

    Climate change and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues have become some of the biggest challenges faced by 21st-century board directors.

    Today’s boards must contend with a wide range of stakeholders who can affect the fortunes of a company — investors, customers, suppliers, employees, politicians, and activists, among others.

    This book demonstrates that for long-term profits and sustainability, boards must have the insight to ask the right questions of…

    Climate change and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues have become some of the biggest challenges faced by 21st-century board directors.

    Today’s boards must contend with a wide range of stakeholders who can affect the fortunes of a company — investors, customers, suppliers, employees, politicians, and activists, among others.

    This book demonstrates that for long-term profits and sustainability, boards must have the insight to ask the right questions of management on complex issues such as climate change, ESG, corruption, cybersecurity, human trafficking, supply-chain resilience, and much more.

    With insightful contributions from more than 100 world experts that make up the Competent Boards’ faculty for the Climate and ESG Certificate and Designation Programs, this book provides board members and executives with a practical guide on what is required today to develop not just boardroom competencies, but thriving, future-fit organizations.

    See publication

Honors & Awards

  • The Globe and Mail 50 Changemakers for 2023

    The Globe and Mail

    50 activists, executives, entrepreneurs and academics whose single-minded devotion to making the world a better place for everyone should be an inspiration to us all.

  • Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award Winner by the Women's Executive Network

    -

    Recognized as one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award Winners by the Women’s Executive Network

  • LinkedIn’s Top Voices in the Green Economy

    -

    Selected as one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in the Green Economy in the US and Canada

  • SustainabilityX® Magazine’s Global 50 Women In Sustainability Award

    -

    Received the SustainabilityX® Magazine’s Global 50 Women In Sustainability Award

  • Global Impact Award and named one of “5 people in ESG to look out for”

    -

    Presented with the Global Impact Award and named one of “5 people in ESG to look out for”

  • Clean50.

    -

    Awarded the Clean50 for outstanding contribution to clean capitalism

Languages

  • English

    Full professional proficiency

  • Danish

    Native or bilingual proficiency

  • Swedish

    Professional working proficiency

  • Norwegian

    Professional working proficiency

  • German

    Limited working proficiency

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