Company Secretaries' Summit and AwardsThe Governance Landscape Is Shifting.Ghana's Company Secretaries Are Gathering to Lead What Comes Next.
The Company Secretaries' Summit and Awards is a single, full day designed for governance professionals who are already operating at the highest level and who intend to stay there.
You Are the Person Who Makes That Boardroom Work, but Most People Have No Idea.
You read the room before the meeting begins. You manage personalities, protect process, and counsel the Chair in the moments that matter most. When the board faces a governance crisis, you are the first call. When a decision needs to be right, in every legal, ethical, and strategic dimension, it passes through you.
You have built that authority carefully, over years. And you carry it well, because that is the nature of the role.
But the environment you are operating in is changing faster than at any point in the history of governance. AI is arriving at the board table. Boards are confronting challenges that no manual has prepared them for, and the company secretary is the person they are looking to first. The company secretaries who will lead Ghana's governance community over the next decade are not waiting to see how things unfold. They are positioning themselves now.
The Gap Between a Good Company Secretary and an Exceptional One Is Not Compliance. It Is Strategic Influence.
Every company secretary in a well-run organisation keeps the minutes and maintains the registers. The Summit does not spend a minute on that. It is the floor of the profession. You have been standing on it for years. The day is built for what sits above. The conversations that actually shape board decisions. The judgement calls that do not appear in any handbook. The influence you exert through the quality of your counsel, the clarity of your thinking, and the timing of your intervention.
Three things you will achieve by the end of the day.
- You leave Session 1 able to lead the AI governance conversation at your own board table. Karl George MBE will take you through the Five Dimensions of AI Risk and the three pillars of AI governance, the framework behind his latest book Reset Revolution. On the Monday after the Summit, when your Chair asks what the board should be doing about AI before the next strategy session, you will not be sending her an article. You will be framing the conversation.
- You leave Session 2 with a framework for reading the personalities in your boardroom. The Contribution Compass maps the natural contribution styles that show up around a board table. The Chair who leads by building consensus. The director who processes detail before speaking. The CEO who decides at pace and corrects on the move. Each style receives your counsel differently. Each is persuaded by different evidence. On the week before the Summit, you walk into your board meeting reading the room by instinct. On the Monday after, you walk in with a framework and a common language for what you have always known in your bones.
- You leave your chosen break-out room with a plan for your next twelve months. The three streams (in-house, professional services, and state-owned enterprises) are facilitated by company secretaries who have built what you are trying to build. Internal governance platforms. Advisory practices. Public-interest frameworks. Specific counsel from specific operators, in a room small enough for the conversation to find you.
Ghana's inaugural Company Secretary Awards close the day. Four categories, recognising the governance professionals who are defining what the ceiling of this profession looks like. You will know the names on the shortlist. You may be among them.
One Day. Engineered for the Level You Are Already At.
No introductory content. No remedial frameworks. Every session designed for senior governance professionals ready to go deeper.
Morning Plenary
Opening address
Charlotte Kesson-Smith Osei
Barrister & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana; founder and managing consultant, Cyrus Law; electoral and governance leader with more than thirty years across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors.
First woman to chair Ghana's NCCE and the Electoral Commission; continental electoral leadership and a UN-appointed international elections commissioner. Through Cyrus Law she advises on corporate and commercial work, banking, family wealth and legacy, PPPs, and constitutional law.
Session 1: The AI Wake-Up Call - A Guide to Governance in the Intelligent Age.
In January 2026, the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police (UK) was forced to resign after his force used an AI tool to generate an intelligence report containing a fabricated football match that never happened. No governance framework existed to catch it. A career was ended, an institution's reputation was damaged, and public trust was shaken. This is not a technology story. It is a governance story.
Drawing on three decades of international governance experience and his latest book Reset Revolution: The Directors' Guide to Governing Intelligence, Karl George MBE introduces the Five Dimensions of AI Risk and the three pillars of AI governance: Architecture, Leadership and Culture, and Technology Transformation. Delegates will leave with a clear understanding of what responsible AI governance looks like and the confidence to lead it.
"The cost of not understanding the risks of AI will not be ignorance; it will be irrelevance." Karl George MBE
Karl George MBE
Founder & CEO, Governance AI (UK)
- Internationally recognised Governance & AI Governance Strategist
- Founder of Governance AI and The Governance Forum
- Advised boards across 12+ countries
- Published author (Reset Revolution, Governance 3.0, The Effective Board Member)
From Karl George MBE
Watch Karl's digital clone explain why AI governance matters for boards now, and preview what you'll take into your next board meeting.
Session 2: Boardroom Dynamics Facilitated by Catherine Engmann, Founder and Managing Director, Mindful Governance
You will leave this session with a framework for reading the personalities in your boardroom. The Contribution Compass maps the natural contribution styles that show up around a board table. The Chair who leads by building consensus, the director who processes detail before speaking and the CEO who decides at pace and corrects on the move.
Each style receives your counsel differently and is persuaded by different evidence. The week before the Summit, you walk into your board meeting reading the room by instinct. On the Monday after, you walk in with a framework and a common language for what you have always known in your bones.We will work through the four energies that sit at the foundation of the Contribution Compass (Activating, Inspiring, Sustaining, and Refining) and the eight profiles they combine to produce.
Afternoon Breakout Sessions
In-House Company Secretaries:
Building Your Internal Platform Facilitated by Ruthy Amakie Strauss-Ashiaby and Adu Ampofo
Professional Services:
Advisory Excellence and Practice Building Facilitated by Naa Sackley Nuno-Amarteifio and Samuel Kumi Ayim
State-Owned Enterprises:
Governance in the Public Interest Facilitated by Eric Opoku and Catherine Engmann
Closing Ceremony: Company Secretary of the Year Awards
The inaugural Company Secretary of the Year Awards recognise governance professionals who are raising the standards of corporate governance. Four categories. Ghana's most senior governance professionals as witnesses.
- Company Secretary of the Year, Private Sector
- Company Secretary of the Year, State-Owned Enterprises
- Rising Star
- Company Secretarial Service Provider of the Year
Programme Essentials
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Registration is open. GHS 4,320. Payment processed securely via Paystack.
About the Convener
Catherine Engmann is a Chartered Governance Professional with over 25 years of experience in corporate governance, a decade of which was spent with FTSE-listed companies in the United Kingdom. She is the Founder and Managing Director of Mindful Governance, a corporate governance consultancy that specialises in governance behaviours, and a Consultant at the International Finance Corporation, Ghana Office. She was previously Board Chair of First Atlantic Asset Management, and a Non Executive Director of Affinity Ghana Savings and Loans.
The Company Secretaries' Summit and Awards is her conviction put into action: that Ghana's governance professionals deserve a dedicated annual platform at the level their work demands. A space to think deeply, connect meaningfully, and be recognised for what they actually do.
Catherine Engmann
Who This Is For
This Day Is Built for You If…
You are a Company Secretary, Deputy Company Secretary, Head of Legal, or senior governance professional and your work spans governance, board advisory, and strategic leadership
You believe governance is a leadership discipline and you carry it accordingly
You want to spend a day with peers who are operating at the same level, not an audience you need to explain your role to
Your organisation recognises the value of investing in governance capability at the highest level
What Is Included
Your Registration Includes:
Full-day access to all plenary sessions and your chosen afternoon breakout track
Keynote address by Karl George MBE
Networking lunch and refreshments
Delegate handbook and session resources
Access to the delegate directory for continued peer connection
A complimentary Contribution Compass Profile Assessment, a personalised leadership and governance influence profile valued at USD 120
Facilitators
Catherine Engmann
Managing Director and Founder, Mindful Governance
Catherine Engmann is a Chartered Governance Professional with over 25 years of experience in corporate governance, a decade of which was spent with FTSE-listed companies in the United Kingdom. She is the Founder and Managing Director of Mindful Governance, a corporate governance consultancy that specialises in governance behaviours, and a Consultant at the International Finance Corporation, Ghana Office. She was previously Board Chair of First Atlantic Asset Management, and a Non Executive Director of Affinity Ghana Savings and Loans.
Samuel Kumi Ayim
Founder and CEO, CTL Africa Leadership
Samuel Kumi Ayim is a seasoned governance leader, executive coach, and corporate lawyer with more than three decades of experience across Sub-Saharan Africa and international markets. He has served on the boards of leading financial institutions, universities, and professional bodies, bringing deep expertise in corporate governance, risk oversight, and strategic leadership. Samuel was previoulsly General Counsel and Company Secretary of the Ecobank Group and a Non Executive Director of UBA Ghana. He is currently Chairman of the Council of Governors at Heritage Christian University.
Ruthy Amakie Strauss-Ashiaby
Deputy Company Secretary, Ghana Reinsurance PLC
Ruthy Amakie Strauss-Ashiaby is a lawyer, Chartered Secretary, and Notary Public with over a decade of post-call experience. She serves as Manager, Legal & Compliance and Deputy Company Secretary at Ghana Reinsurance PLC, where she supports board governance, regulatory compliance, and executive-level strategic legal advisory services.
Adu Ampofo
Partner, Imara Gold
Adu Ampofo is a seasoned legal and governance professional with over 12 years of experience spanning corporate governance, regulatory compliance, and strategic legal advisory across Ghana and other developing markets. She is dual-qualified as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana and a Barrister at Law in England and Wales.
Mindful Governance. Supported by Ghana's Governance Community.
For over two decades, the founder has advised boards, developed governance professionals, and built the frameworks that underpin effective institutional leadership across Ghana and beyond. Mindful Governance carries forward this legacy, convening the Company Secretaries' Summit and Awards with the same rigour and intentionality that defines every engagement.
The summit builds on the foundation of the Mindful Governance Company Secretaries Roundtable, which has brought together governance professionals from across Ghana's private, public, and regulated sectors. Here is what past Roundtable participants have said:
The Company Secretaries Roundtable by Mindful Governance was a masterclass in modern governance. It delivered sharp insights, practical ideas, and real-world scenarios that every company secretary should hear. A powerful platform for learning, connection, and leadership growth.
Gideon Apomah (AudreyGrey)
This is what every company secretary needs: a community of governance professionals at different stages of their journey, yet with a common goal to keep growing and be fully present and better in their role.
Oduraa Botchwey (Republic Bank Ghana PLC)
This has been the best session I have ever attended as a company secretary. I look forward to many more of such interactive sessions. I highly recommend this.
Maame Efua Gyamfi-Arhin (Trustee Services)
I really enjoyed this session. It was very different from other training I have attended, as it was fully about participation, self-reflection, and the sharing of experiences.
Akua Oparebea Amponsah (Ghana Stock Exchange)
The Company Secretaries Roundtable by Mindful Governance was a masterclass in modern governance. It delivered sharp insights, practical ideas, and real-world scenarios that every company secretary should hear. A powerful platform for learning, connection, and leadership growth.
Gideon Apomah (AudreyGrey)
This is what every company secretary needs: a community of governance professionals at different stages of their journey, yet with a common goal to keep growing and be fully present and better in their role.
Oduraa Botchwey (Republic Bank Ghana PLC)
This has been the best session I have ever attended as a company secretary. I look forward to many more of such interactive sessions. I highly recommend this.
Maame Efua Gyamfi-Arhin (Trustee Services)
I really enjoyed this session. It was very different from other training I have attended, as it was fully about participation, self-reflection, and the sharing of experiences.
Akua Oparebea Amponsah (Ghana Stock Exchange)
FAQs
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Awards Nominations
Put a deserving governance leader in the spotlight.
The Company Secretary of the Year Awards recognise those raising the bar for governance in Ghana. Submit your nomination now and ensure exceptional work is seen and celebrated.