Chartered Director

The Chartered Director programme is based upon the knowledge and skills acquired from the Certificate and Diploma levels.

The Chartered Director Programme encourages participants to develop their skills and to fulfil their role as board directors through the application of their knowledge and skills and the active implementation of change within their organisation.

The Chartered Director Programme puts into practice the learning the participant has acquired from both the Certificate and Diploma in Board Directorship through the application of a single or group of projects.

The Chartered Director Programme is aligned to the 8 pillars of GCC BDI’s Board Effectiveness Framework - a continuation of the approach adopted by the Certificate and Diploma programmes.

The Chartered Director Award is a professional designation conferred by the GCC Board Directors Institute and the Financial Academy. The designation is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated to a panel of experienced and distinguished directors and subject matter experts, the application of their knowledge and skills, acquired during the Director Certification and Diploma in Board Directorship, by successfully leading a change activity within their organisation and making an individual project presentation to the panel. The programme is based on GCC BDI’s Board Director Competency Framework.

The Chartered Director status is a life time award. However, the award may be revoked if a Chartered Director is found to have contravened the GCC BDI Professional Code of Conduct and have had their GCC BDI Fellowship or Membership status withdrawn.

Achieving the award of Chartered Director, means that a director has demonstrated the leadership skills to execute change within their organisation. A director with an award of Chartered Director is equipped to make a valuable contribution to any Board.

Professionalism
The award indicates higher levels of professionalism demonstrating that a board director has kept up to date on corporate governance matters and business trends.

Validation
It validates that an individual has the core knowledge, awareness, and leadership skills that are necessary to function effectively as a director. Board and regulators are increasingly requiring board directors to demonstrate they have undertaken professional development.

Competence
Through attaining the designation, a director is demonstrating their competence to the marketplace that they are ready and able to serve as a director. Companies appointing directors on to boards are increasingly recognising the value that board directors can provide to their organisations and want to ensure their appointees have the right knowledge, skills and leadership qualities.

Commitment
Chartered Directorship enables directors to demonstrate the highest commitment to professional development and to benchmark their own knowledge and skills against clearly established international standards of good governance practice.

Assurance
Being a Chartered Director provides directors with the confidence, as well as providing the market place with assurance, of their ability and competence.

Recognition
The professional designation raises a director's profile and sets them apart amongst their peers. We will publish the list of Chartered Directors on our website. Successful recipients of the award will be entitled to use the designation Chart.Dir. (GCCBDI) after your name. It is an internationally recognised designation.

Relevance
This programme is designed for GCC boards but is of international standard and benchmarked against similar programmes provided by the leading institutes in the world.

There are eight steps involved in attaining the Chartered Director award:

Further details for each step are available in the Chartered Director brochure here and the Chartered Director handbook here.

The Chartered Director programme is designed to meet the development needs of board directors and board committee members and is relevant for:

Roles

• Chairmen
• Executive directors
• Non-executive directors
• Independent directors
• Board secretaries
• Board committee members

Areas

• Private sector organisations
• Public sector organisations
• Multinational companies (MNCs)
• Listed companies
• State owned enterprises
• Unlisted and family companies

In order to meet eligibility requirements, you will be required to:

• Be a full Member or Fellow of the GCC BDI

• Have successfully completed the GCC BDI Diploma in Board Directorship including passing all of the assessments (i.e. passing the examination, the board simulation and the reflective practice presentation)

• Currently hold either an executive or non-executive director seat on a board for at least one year. This board should have at least 4 members and meet at least quarterly

• Be able to provide clear evidence of your directorial experience and history with details of your board(s) and organisation(s)

• Have good basic English literacy as this programme will be delivered in English

If you meet these eligibility requirements, you can apply for enrolment to the Chartered Director programme by completing an Application form.

​​​​​​

• Application: USD 500
• Upon Application Approval: USD 6,500
• Assessment Fee: USD 1,500

As a Chartered Director, you will automatically be invited to become a Fellow of the GCC Board Directors Institute. For more information on GCC BDI membership benefits and fees, please see our website. 

• GCC BDI is a not-for-profit company whose mission is to make a positive impact on the economies and societies of the region by promoting professional directorship and raising the level of board effectiveness.

• We have a long and successful and proven track record of delivering top quality programmes and working with the top companies in the GCC over the last 16 years.

• We work with a large talented pool of top international, regional, and local experts in their field, mainly practitioners. Our expertise extends well beyond pure academic references and is based on tried and tested methodologies and programmes.

• GCC BDI now works with over 3900 GCC alumni members, the largest and most influential network of directors in the region. Our members are our greatest ambassadors. 

• We believe that director development is critical to board effectiveness. GCC BDI’s unique combination of skills and experience, local knowledge and understanding, and strong corporate governance and regulatory knowledge, combined with practical director expertise is what enables us to deliver exceptionally high-quality programmes.

• Demonstrating exceptional proficiency of governance knowledge and its application.