- IMD Business School  - IMD Business School  - IMD Business School
Board programs

Your trusted partner in shaping high-performing boards for a changing world

Board programs

Your trusted partner in shaping high-performing boards for a changing world

IMD board programs: Research-based excellence

The IMD Board Center works with boards around the world to understand what truly drives effective governance. Through research, advisory work, and close collaboration with leaders like you, we’ve seen the realities of today’s boardrooms – complex decisions, competing stakeholders, and a fast-changing governance landscape. 

This isn’t textbook theory. It’s practical expertise, shaped by real challenges and delivered in formats that fit your needs:

  • A wide portfolio of open programs addressing tomorrow’s boardroom challenges 
Built on 45+ years of insight

Our learning solutions are built on decades of board education and continuous research into what makes boards effective. Learn from the latest governance thinking and see how the world’s best boards operate.

A comprehensive portfolio

From boardroom dynamics and stakeholder engagement to digital transformation and AI governance, our programs cover the full spectrum of challenges facing today’s directors. Develop the breadth and depth needed to contribute meaningfully in any boardroom.

Real impact, real expertise

98% of participants in our 2025 programs gained new knowledge and tools they could immediately apply. Beyond the numbers, they experienced learning designed by people who truly understand the pressures, responsibilities, and opportunities of board service.

 - IMD Business School

Open programs

IMD’s open-enrolment board programs focus on the real issues shaping today’s governance landscape – from sustainability and AI to risk, gender balance and more. Each program blends research with practice in an interactive setting, encouraging exchange and fresh thinking that translates into practical impact.

 - IMD Business School

Board diplomas

Our two Board Diploma pathways provide flexible routes to strengthen governance capability. Both pathways combine research-based insight with real boardroom practice, offering a recognized standard of excellence in board education:

 - IMD Business School

Certificate in Board Governance (CAS)

Our Certificate in Board Governance (CAS), designed for senior leaders preparing for non-executive board roles in Switzerland and Europe, is a Swiss-accredited journey. Across five immersive, face-to-face modules, participants build core governance, finance, risk, and strategy capabilities while refining their board identity, CV, and positioning with executive search guidance

 - IMD Business School

Custom programs

Looking for a custom solution? Our custom board programs draw on cutting-edge research, the experience of our faculty, and the practices of leading organizations worldwide. Designed around experiential and discussion-based learning, each program is tailored deliver practical insights and tools directors can apply immediately.

What our participants say
 - IMD Business School
Jacqueline Hess

Vice-Chair Board of Directors, Vontobel Swiss Financial Advisers AG, Switzerland

Governance skills that drive impact

IMD’s board education is a strong credential to evidence good board governance skills that drive impact. It honed my governance experience and skill set and broadened my perspective. I now have a better awareness of blind spots and the actions I can take to work on them.

 - IMD Business School
George Vadakkekara

Executive Chairman, Thejo Engineering Limited, India

Global participants, targeted learning

The different programs have empowered me to make real use of the learnings around board processes, team dynamics and managing politics. With global participants and targeted learning, IMD shows you what is truly achievable for your board.

 - IMD Business School
Jessica Teo

Global Chief Human Resources Officer, Louis Dreyfus Company, Singapore

I grew as a board member

As a board member you need to stay on your toes and keep learning. With IMD, I grew as a board member in terms of professional knowledge, with a new way of looking at things and the capacity to ask the right questions around a business plan.

 - IMD Business School
Bjarni Thordur Bjarnason

Founder & Deputy CEO, Arctica Finance, Iceland

I found my role and balance

IMD enlightened me on how exemplary boards function and helped me find my role and balance on boards in order to make a real contribution.

 - IMD Business School
Maria Pejter

Head of HR, A.P. Møller Holding
Board Member at Maersk Tankers and ZeroNorth, Denmark

Challenged in a safe place

Being challenged in a safe place really shifts how we see things. Gathering best practices and having that IMD quality assurance is of immense value I’ve become aware of models and ways of looking at problems that I simply did not know before.