Leadership & governance
Governance that protects mission, standards and independence
IOWL's governance architecture combines accountable executive leadership, independent international advisory input and clear separation between development, assurance, awarding and applied-performance functions. The objective is not governance by prestige, but governance that protects the credibility of the Calibre proposition.
How governance works International Advisory Council
Mission-led
Independent
International
Standards-protecting
Accountability
Executive responsibility must be identifiable rather than dispersed through advisory titles.
Advisory challenge
International contributors provide expertise, perspective and challenge without becoming executive management.
Role separation
Development, assurance, awarding and applied-performance functions have distinct institutional responsibilities.
Independence
IOWL is independent, impartial and apolitical, and advisory participation does not confer institutional control.
Governance is more than a list of names
For IOWL, good governance means knowing who is responsible for decisions, who provides challenge, who protects standards and who is authorised to make recognition claims.
The Institute is a not-for-profit community interest company headquartered in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Its public governance proposition is built around independence from political, institutional and special-interest control, while drawing internationally on expertise from academia, business, civil society and public life.
The governance model therefore separates executive authority from advisory contribution, and separates the development of Positive Value Leadership from curriculum assurance, Calibre awarding and the applied productivity function.
Governance objective
Protect the mission: ensure decisions remain aligned with IOWL's purpose and Positive Values.
Protect the standard: prevent growth, partnerships or commercial pressure from weakening recognition boundaries.
Protect independence: advisory relationships and institutional affiliations provide insight, not ownership of IOWL's decisions or awards.
Core governance principles
The same Calibre standards IOWL asks learners and institutions to consider must also inform the way IOWL itself is led.
Mission before status
Governance roles exist to protect purpose, standards and public value. Titles, affiliations and reputation are secondary to the responsibility attached to the role.
Independence of judgement
Advisers contribute personal expertise and judgement. Their participation does not mean they represent, bind or speak for their employer or affiliated institution.
Proportionate authority
Advisory, executive, assurance and awarding responsibilities are not interchangeable. Authority should sit with the function accountable for the decision.
Evidence before claim
Governance should protect against overstatement - particularly where course outcomes, professional standing, partnerships and Calibre Credits are concerned.
International perspective
Calibre is globally relevant but context matters. International academic and professional insight helps challenge assumptions formed within one country or discipline.
Transparency of role
Public-facing governance should distinguish contributors, advisers, executive leadership and awarding responsibilities rather than allowing one category to imply another.
Leadership and advisory roles
Accountability is clearest when executive responsibility and advisory contribution are described separately.
Executive leadership
Executive Director and Dean
Professor Noel Ferguson leads the Institute as Executive Director and Dean.
The executive role carries responsibility for institutional direction, delivery, partnerships, operations and ensuring that the different elements of the IOWL architecture work together coherently.
Executive accountability is not delegated to the International Advisory Council.
Independent advisory input
International Advisory Council
The International Advisory Council is non-voting. Its purpose is to provide international, interdisciplinary perspective, specialist insight and constructive challenge in support of IOWL's mission and values.
Members participate in their personal advisory capacity. Institutional affiliations identify experience and context; they do not imply that the member's institution governs, sponsors or endorses IOWL.
Separation of responsibilities protects credibility
IOWL's current architecture is stronger when the role of each specialist function is explicit.
The International Advisory Council can inform and challenge the institution, but it does not become the curriculum, the assessor or the awarding authority. Likewise, the body that develops PVL is not presented as if it independently awards Calibre Credits.
Distinct functions, connected architecture
Each function contributes to credibility without collapsing into the others.
Centre for Positive Value Leadership™
Develops and stewards the Positive Value Leadership framework and the transformation from Positive Values towards Calibre and Integrous Agency.
Integrous Leadership Calibre Framework™ and CCF
Inform the developmental substance and assure that curriculum, assessment and recognition remain coherent and proportionate.
Global Institute for Calibre & Integrity™
Provides the specialist standards and awarding function for Calibre Credits™ and connected professional recognition.
Centre for Calibre-Driven Productivity & Performance™
Applies the Calibre proposition to employability, productivity, workforce reliability and wider institutional or system performance.
International Advisory Council & Academic Contributors
IOWL draws on a deliberately broad international and interdisciplinary network. The value of the network is the range of perspective it can bring to the development, challenge and contextualisation of the Institute's work.
Advisory participation is not institutional representation
People listed in the public directory contribute or have contributed specialist academic, professional or advisory perspective to IOWL. Their institutional affiliation is shown to describe their professional context.
Unless separately stated, inclusion does not mean that their employer or institution is an IOWL partner, sponsor, accreditor or governing body, and it does not transfer awarding or executive authority to that person or institution.
The directory is maintained separately from the Institute's executive and awarding functions so that advisory expertise cannot be confused with governance control or recognition authority.
| Member / contributor | Specialism | Role | Institution / organisation | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr Vita Akstinaite | Global Leadership & Strategy | Professor, and Head of Global Leadership & Executive Rhetoric | ISM University of Management and Economics | Lithuania |
| Dr Amal Abdellatif | Gender Equitability & Inclusion | Lecturer | Northumbria University | United Kingdom |
| Dr Taha Al-Mahbashi | Business Managment | Professor | Lebanese International University | Yemen |
| Dr Murad Al-Nashmi | Management | Professor | University of Science and Technology | Yemen |
| Dr Muzaffar Asad | Entrepreneurship | Professor | University of Bahrain | Bahrain |
| Dr Karen Blakeley | Compassionate Leadership | Independent (prev. Programme leader, BA Business Management) | University of Winchester | United Kingdom |
| Dr Pierre-Jean Bordahandy | International Law | Professor | The University of the South Pacific | Vanuatu |
| Dr Ximena Fernández Delucchi | Research and Diagnostic Methods in Education | Professor and Academic Director | Universidad ORT Uruguay | Uruguay |
| Dr Rut Diamint | International Relations | Professor of Political Science | Torcuato Di Tella University | Argentina |
| Dr Henri-Count Evans | Culture, Communication and Media Studies; Digital Transformation | Lecturer | University of Eswatini | Eswatini |
| Dr Rachel George | Political Sciences | Research Fellow | Overseas Development Institute | United States |
| Prof Dr Christoph Hartmann | Business & Management | Professor | ISEC - Institut Supérieur de l'Economie | Luxembourg |
| Dr Kiran Hassan | International Relations | Research Fellow | University of London | United Kingdom |
| Dr Victoria Ann Hasson | Parliamentary Practice | Parliamentary Advisor | Westminster Foundation for Democracy | Netherlands |
| Dr Fahimeh Jabbari | Entrepreneurship | Professor & Director, College of Business | Qazvin Islamic Azad University | Iran |
| Dr Felix Kanungwe Kalaba | Environment & Development | Professor | Copperbelt University | Zambia |
| Dr Päivi Karhu | Organisational Ambidexterity | Management & Marketing Lecturer | Kajaani University of Applied Sciences | Finland |
| Dr Shad Ahmad Khan | Business Administration & Sustainability | Professor | University of Buraimi | Oman |
| Dr Oleg Konovalov | Visionary Leadership | Independent Author - The Vision Code; Leaderology | Thinkers50 Radar | United Kingdom |
| Dr Monika Nadova Kroslakova | Entrepreneurship & Innovation | Associate Professor & Founder of the Family Business Centre; Co-founder IBERA-International top leaders and researchers network | University of Economics in Bratislava | Slovakia |
| Dr Sunil Lohani | Renewable and Sustainable Energy | Professor | Kathmandu University | Nepal |
| Dr Aurora Martin | Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies | Professor & Vice President | Pontifical Oriental Institute, (& International Institute for Human Security; Bucharest, Romania) | Vatican City |
| Tony Matchaba-Hove DCom | Business Management | Head of Department | Nelson Mandela University | South Africa |
| Dr Pippa Malmgren | International Relations Political Economy | Independent Author - 2018 Business Book of the Year 'The Leadership Lab' | Inspiring 50 Top 100 Women in Tech | United Kingdom |
| Dr Margarita Mayo | Authentic Leadership | Professor of Organisational Behaviour & Leadership Author - 2019 International Business Book of the Year Yours Truly - Staying Authentic in Leadership and Life | IE Business School | Spain |
| Prof Senida Mesi | Political Science & Macroeconomics for a Sustainable Planet | Former Deputy Prime Minister and MP Albania | Chair and Funder of Albanian Sustainable Development subcommittee | Albania |
| Dr Inga Minelgaite | HRM & Social Science | Professor | Háskóli Íslands (University of Iceland) | Iceland |
| Dr Mohamed Ndiaye | Economics & Policy Analysis | Professor | Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (UCAD) | Senegal |
| Anya Neistat JD | Human Rights, and Corporate Crime | Legal Director (prev Senior Director for Research - Amnesty International) | Clooney Foundation for Justice | France |
| Dr Sixte Vigny Nimuraba | Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution | Lecturer | Université du Burundi | Burundi |
| Dr Krisztina Némethy | Future of Work, AI, Sustainable Humanity | Lecturer | International Business School | Hungary |
| Dr Francis Rakotsoane | Philosophy & Ethics | Professor | University of Eswatini | Lesotho |
| Dr Andrea Reid | Marketing & Management | Programme Director | Ulster University | United Kingdom |
| Dr Jacinthe Rihan | Sociology, Sustainable & Organisational Development | Professor | Ain Shams University | Egypt |
| Laura Round MSc* | International Relations | Director of Communications (prev Special Adviser to UK Minister for Women and Equalities) | The Sustainable Markets Initiative | United Kingdom |
| Professor Michele Russell | Educational Leadership | Joint Director of Education - UCL Head of Learning (Provost) of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom National Leadership Centre - Service Academies Board - Cabinet Office, UK. Visiting Professor of Clinical Education, Newcastle University and New York University (NYU) | University College London | United Kingdom |
| Prof Dr Roselina Ahmad Saufi | Business & Management | Dean of Malaysian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship and Business | Universiti Malaysia Kelantan | Malaysia |
| Dr Heïdi Sevestre | Glaciology and Climate | Glaciologist, Project Coordinator & Consultant in Science Policy and Science Communication | AMAP - The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme | France |
| Dr Ahmed Shahid | Human Rights & International Law | Professor and Dean of Research | Villa College | Maldives |
| Dr Katrin Stefan | Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management | Head of Master Program "Global Business Development" | Kempten University of Applied Sciences | Germany |
| Prof Dr Beata Stępień | International Management | Head of Department | Poznan University of Economics | Poland |
| Dr Francis Tembo | Geology & Earth Sciences | Executive Director | Zambian Institute of Earth Sciences and Resource Technology | Zambia |
| Dr Juliette Thiolas | Geopolitics and International Perspectives | Professor | INSEEC Business School - Bordeaux | France |
| Prof Darko Tipurić | Business & Management | Professor and Head of Department of Organisation &Management | University of Zagreb | Croatia |
| Dr Mauricio Umana | Business Competitiveness, Sustainability and Strategic CSR | Professor | Universidad Católica de El Salvador | El Salvador |
Institutional independence
IOWL's ability to make credible judgements about Calibre, integrity and trusted performance depends on being clear about whose interests it serves.
Independent, impartial and apolitical
IOWL is headquartered in Belfast, Northern Ireland and operates as a not-for-profit community interest company. It is independent, impartial, apolitical and not tied to any special interest. Its partnerships and advisory relationships should strengthen evidence, reach and impact without transferring control of IOWL's mission, standards or awards to an external party.
Frequently asked questions
Key points about executive responsibility, advisory participation, institutional affiliations and the separation of IOWL's specialist functions.
The Institute is led by Professor Noel Ferguson as Executive Director and Dean. Executive responsibility for institutional direction and operations remains distinct from the non-voting advisory role of the International Advisory Council.
It is a non-voting international advisory network that contributes specialist knowledge, perspective and constructive challenge. It supports the mission and values of IOWL but does not exercise executive management or Calibre-awarding authority.
No, unless a separate institutional relationship explicitly says otherwise. Affiliations are shown to describe the contributor's professional context. Advisory participation should not be read as institutional sponsorship, partnership, accreditation or endorsement.
No. Calibre Credits™ are awarded through the Global Institute for Calibre & Integrity™ on eligible assessed professional pathways where the required standards are achieved.
The separation makes roles clearer. The Centre for Positive Value Leadership™ develops and stewards the developmental framework, assurance mechanisms protect curriculum and assessment integrity, and the Global Institute provides the specialist awarding function.
No. IOWL describes itself as independent, impartial and apolitical. It may work with governments, universities, businesses, international organisations and civil society while retaining institutional independence.
Calibre, judgement and leadership operate across cultures, systems and disciplines. A broad network helps IOWL challenge narrow assumptions and consider the social, behavioural, institutional and cultural context in which Positive Values must be translated into practice.
Lead clearly
Executive responsibility should be identifiable and accountable rather than obscured by advisory structures.
Advise broadly
International and interdisciplinary contributors strengthen perspective without becoming institutional owners of the mission.
Protect standards
Clear separation of development, assurance and awarding responsibilities protects the credibility of Calibre recognition.
Governance should make the Calibre proposition more credible
Explore IOWL's purpose and mission, understand how Positive Value Leadership develops Calibre, or see how the Global Institute for Calibre & Integrity protects the awarding of Calibre Credits.
Purpose & mission Understand PVL Understand Calibre Credits