How to assess your board's governance maturity

using ISO 37004

  • 12 March 2026

Effective governance is more than meeting compliance requirements — it is the foundation for sustainable performance, responsible stewardship, and ethical leadership.

The challenge for many organisations is understanding how well governance is working, where it is inconsistent, and what improvements will have the greatest impact.

ISO 37004:2023, Governance of Organizations — Governance Maturity Model — Guidance, provides the first internationally agreed framework to measure governance maturity.

 

Built on the principles and outcomes-based approach defined in ISO 37000, it enables governing bodies and stakeholders to evaluate governance practices, identify strengths and gaps, and prioritise practical improvements across three key aspects:

  • Governance behaviour — how governance principles are applied in practice

  • Governance effectiveness — the extent to which governance practices achieve their intended objectives

  • Governance efficiency — how consistently governance practices are implemented, sustained, and improved

Carolynn Chalmers 620px
  • ISO 37004 Editor and
    co-convenor ISO/TC309/WG6

The model applies a six-level maturity scale, from Undefined through to Optimising, providing a clear roadmap for progression.

 

Using this structured approach, organisations can set realistic improvement targets, benchmark performance over time (and where appropriate, against peers), and connect governance maturity directly to better decision-making and strategic outcomes.


Here Carolynn Chalmers explores how to apply ISO 37004 in a board context — using evidence-based assessment to move governance from a reactive function to a measurable strategic advantage.

This webinar is the FOURTH in the ISO 37004: Governance Maturity series.

Effective governance is no longer just about meeting compliance requirements — it’s a strategic advantage.


ISO 37004:2023 provides the first internationally agreed framework to measure and improve governance maturity, helping boards and organisations move from undefined practices to optimised performance with clearer evidence, better decision-making, and more consistent outcomes.

Other events in the series:

Carolynn Chalmers

Chief Executive Officer, Good Governance Academy

Carolynn Chalmers is the Chief Executive Officer of Professor Mervyn King’s Good Governance Academy and its initiative, The ESG Exchange. She has edited two international standards: ISO 37000:2021 – Governance of organizations – Guidance and its associated Governance Maturity Model, ISO 37004:2023.

 

Carolynn makes corporate dreams come true, assisting leaders and leadership teams in how to create value for their organisations. She makes use of her expertise and experience in corporate governance, organizational strategy, Digital Transformation, and IT to do so.

 

Carolynn is an Independent Committee Member of South Africa’s largest private Pension Fund, the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund, and recently retired as Independent Committee member of several board committees for the Government Employee Medical Scheme. Carolynn has extensive management, assurance and governance experience and has held various Executive roles for international, listed, private and public organisations across many industries.

 

Carolynn is best known for her successes in establishing governance frameworks, and designing and the leading large, complex initiatives that can result. She attributes this success to the application of good governance principles. She shares her insights on her 2 LinkedIn Groups – Applying King IV and Corporate Governance Institute. 

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Dr Lindie Grebe

Senior Lecturer, College of Accounting Sciences, University of South Africa

Dr Grebe is a chartered accountant and senior lecturer at the University of South Africa (Unisa). 

 

She teaches postgraduate accounting sciences through blended learning using technology in distance education, and through face-to-face study schools throughout South Africa. During her employment at Unisa, she also acted as Coordinator: Master’s and Doctoral Degrees for the College of Accounting Sciences (CAS), chairperson of the research ethics committee and chairperson of the Gauteng North Region of the Southern African Accounting Association (SAAA). 

 

Before joining Unisa as academic, she gained ten years’ experience in audit practice and in commerce.