Through processes, practices and policies, corporate governance ensures strong and effective decisionmaking. It also acts as the first line of defense against any allegation of malpractice of corporate duty. Consulting firms that specialize in advice and implementation of good corporate governance is a crucial need given the pressures and the current highly competitive global economy scenario.

In this space, there is GoodGovern, a niche consulting firm focused solely on improving all aspects of corporate governance across organizations. It supports Boards to transition from Governance to ‘Good Governance’ by offering comprehensive advisory solutions focused on building a sustainable 'Business-India'.

Reema Mehta Dabas, COO at GoodGovern, is razor focused on being a trusted partner that organizations can lean on to prepare for the future and ensure continuing impact on the entire stakeholder ecosystem.

Women Entrepreneur Magazine engages in an exclusive interaction with Reema Mehta Dabas where we discuss the company’s growth, its journey, and her journey as well. Here’s the snippet from our interaction with Reema.

What are some important features about your expertise as an entrepreneur that you want us to highlight through the article?

Having worked in the corporate sector for over 24 years, I took up the mantle of entrepreneurship to apply my technical and functional knowledge to a cause which would help benefit the industry at large and build something from the ground-up.

As an entrepreneur, one is not held accountable to a 9-5 work schedule which felt empowering as I got to choose the time and place of my work hours. At the same time, for someone who thrives on structure, I had to quickly put in place a format where I could segregate my personal and professional responsibilities to be able to contribute effectively to our startup which was one of the early focus areas for me.

I was also clear that for us to become a preferred client partner, our solutions and products had to be truly world class and that led me to spend a lot of time researching and working with vendor partners on building products which were leading edge and designed to offer long term value to our customers.

Another aspect which stood out was the need to balance time with quality and costs as our start-up was bootstrapped from day one which meant we had little scope for re-work. To tackle this good problem, we ensured we were continuously tapping into our collective network to identify the right set of partners and individuals who could help translate our vision into viable products and offerings.

"Take that leap of faith. Don’t hesitate even if it seems difficult. Take the first step and soon you’ll be walking a mile"

Take us through your early educational journey and prior industry experience that you bring to the table.

During my high school days, I had initially planned to pursue Engineering and took up Science to prepare for the entrance exams. However, within the first year itself, I realized that I was influenced by peer pressure and my heart was not in the Sciences field. I then quickly switched to Commerce and strived hard to perform well as there was no further Plan B available. Not only did I find myself enjoying the change, but I also managed to top Punjab University and emerged as a university rank holder (in the Top 10) as a graduate of BCom (Hons).

On the professional front as well, I have spent a large part of my career in Banking and Financial Services where I have consciously tried to get exposure across multiple and diverse roles. This has served me extremely well as I have been pushed outside of my comfort zone on an ongoing basis which has allowed me to develop expertise across Operations, Technology, Finance, HR, Risk and Compliance. Over the span of my career, I have worked with some of the largest multinational Banks like American Express, Bank of America, RBS, UBS, Macquarie etc. in diverse roles like Project and Programme Management, Change and Transformation, Leadership Development, Performance and Business Management. I am one of the earliest Project Management Professionals (PMP) in the region, having got my certification in 2008 and I continue to keep this certification valid till date.

What motivated you to establish GoodGovern? Tell us about the underlying idea behind the company and some of its most unique features.

GoodGovern was set up with the intent of helping Business India make positive strides in moving away from mere “governance” to a position of “good governance”. Across the world, corporate are facing challenges on multiple fronts like shareholder activism, increasing in-equalities from a DE&I standpoint, enhanced climate risk, reputation management challenges, conflict between management and company boards, in-effective leadership, new and emerging risks like covid, cyber risk etc. GoodGovern was set up with the vision to be a trusted partner to company boards helping them on sustainable and effective governance practices. With a deep understanding of regulatory and governance frameworks, insights into organization culture, ESG and CSR practices, we work with Boards and leadership teams to increase their governance effectiveness and translate their vision into meaningful and measurable metrics.

What is unique about GoodGovern is that we are a niche player in the governance advisory space offering a full stack of governance solutions to our clients across corporate governance, good governance, board development and governance advisory to start-ups. Our offerings include aspects like Board evaluations, governance audits, succession planning, CSR implementation strategy, ESG monitoring strategy, board member training, reputation management, leadership coaching amongst others with focus on offering customized and industry specific solutions to our clients.

What would be your advice to budding women entrepreneurs?

Take that leap of faith. Don’t hesitate even if it seems difficult. Take the first step and soon you’ll be walking a mile. Also, stay resilient in the face of difficulties which is really a cornerstone when it comes to being successful. Do not pay attention to the naysayers because when you push yourself and achieve your goals, they will believe in your story. But most of all, even when times are tough, you cannot stop believing in yourself.

Reema Mehta Dabas, Chief Operating Officer, GoodGovern

Reema brings over 20+ years’ experience as an Entrepreneur and Business Leader having worked in Start-ups, Large Multinational Banks, and Global Capability Centers (GCCs) enabling both set-up and growth mandates. She has proven experience of leading teams and working with Business Heads/ Board Members/CXO level leaders in highly dynamic, matrix based and multi-cultural environments.