In today’s public sector organizations, efficiency is not just a goal, it’s essential. Every school district, college and local government is expected to deliver more with fewer resources, while upholding transparency and public trust. Purpose-built for the unique needs of public sector organizations, Diligent Community offers integrated digital tools that streamline operations and reduce manual administrative work so teams can focus on their core mission.

From automated agenda creation and custom approval workflows to AI-powered meeting minutes and real-time notifications, every feature is built to simplify governance and save time. 

 we know will boost productivity, save time and help you be more efficient so that your team can stay focused on what matters most — serving their communities effectively.

5 efficiency-boosting features on Diligent Community

1. Agenda Builder streamlining agenda creation and sharing

Building and revising agendas can be a huge administrative burden. With Community’s drag-and-drop Agenda Builder, you can quickly create, modify and distribute agendas without hassle. Attach documents, insert items, leverage user-friendly templates and auto-save your work for uninterrupted progress.

Administrators, clerks, board secretaries and anyone who manages meeting agendas

The agenda builder feature is included in all Diligent Community packages.

 Use Members Notes for secure, background briefings visible only to authorized users.

How others are getting the most from this Diligent Community feature

“We previously had a staff member dedicated to manually creating PDFs and attaching the individual files, an extremely time-consuming process. Now we simply attach a Word or PowerPoint file and it automatically uploads and saves instantly with the auto save feature. Another benefit is that we can revise or edit these documents within the platform, eliminating the need to download the file, make edits and then reattaching the file.” Myra Lomahan, Executive Assistant, Southwestern Community College District

2. Approval workflows making agenda item review simple and streamlined

Gone are the days of endless email threads. Diligent Community’s customizable Approval Workflows let teams submit agenda items and route them for review and sign-off in just a few clicks. Define linear or non-linear approval paths, tailor groups, and enable automated notifications so nothing falls through the cracks.

 SMS notifications alert approvers instantly for real-time responses!

“In my day-to-day role, the approval workflows are extremely valuable. The workflows can be structured in a few different ways to fit how your organization approves items. Text alerts are available for each step of the process and settings for those are saved for future use.” Shiona Nash, Executive Assistant, Fountain-Fort Carson School District

3. Policy Publisher simplifying policy lifecycle and management

Policy Publisher organizes the drafting, review, adoption and publication of policies in a single flow. Collaborative tools and Microsoft Word integration maintain version control and audit history. Merge documents with tracked changes, compare updates side-by-side, and publish policies directly to public handbooks — accelerating transparency and compliance.

 Tailored for governance professionals overseeing policy adoption

 Policy Publisher is available as an add-on to Diligent Community. Please contact your Customer Success representative today to find out more.

 Use the policy compare and merge tool to keep track of changes made since your last review and integrate policy updates with one click. This tool gives a side-by-side view of the old version vs. the new version.

“The redlining capability and centralized document management make policy updates and approvals much more efficient.” Shiona Nash, Executive Assistant, Fountain-Fort Carson School District

“What used to be something I dreaded is now something that’s really easy. The policy piece is just so good — the tracking, the transparency, the usability. It’s a game changer.” Amy Allen, Superintendent, Lebanon School District

"Directly within a single tool, we’re able to pass a policy through the collaboration and editing process, routing process and have digital documentation… all with one click.” Dr. R.J. Gravel, Superintendent, Glenbrook High School District 225

This free downloadable checklist helps public education board administrators ensure that every meeting’s minutes are concise, clear and compliant with all necessary regulations.

Meeting minutes made easy

4. Livestream Manager helping to deliver community access

Livestream Manager for Diligent Community lets organizations easily launch livestreamed meeting directlyon their public website, boosting transparency and saving setup time. Integration with BoxCast delivers high-quality streams, shown alongside agendas in split screen for context. Admins can upload recorded meetings with time-stamped minutes, ensuring easy public access and navigation. No technical expertise or extra resources are needed, just efficient, accessible meeting broadcasts.

 Any public board looking to add livestreaming to enhance meeting transparency.

 Reach out to your Diligent Customer Success representative to add Livestream Manager to your Diligent Community package.

 You can pause your livestream if you need to e.g. for closed session and then restart it again once that's completed.

“Some of our family members like not only to watch and see what’s going on, they like to follow the guide, they like to see the agenda and understand what were the conversations that took place as we’re making decisions.” Dr. R.J. Gravel, Superintendent, Glenbrook High School District 225

5. AI-Supported Minutes speeding up meeting documentation

Manually drafting meeting minutes can be tedious and error-prone. AI-supported minutes available with Livestream Manager takes your close-caption transcripts and:

Automatically captures actions, decisions and motions

 Board administrators looking to summarize meeting minutes quickly and easily

Reach out to your Diligent Customer Success representative to learn more.

 Suggest and add updates to motions with a single click.

Whether you’re an administrator, board member or leader, Diligent Community puts smarter digital tools at your fingertips, to help you operate at peak efficiency and focus your time and energy on what matters most.

If you have any questions or need support implementing these features, don’t hesitate to reach out to your Customer Success Manager. They’re here to help you get the most out of your software investment and uncover even more ways to drive value for your organization. We are here to help make sure your governance tools are working as hard as you do.

And if you’re interested in learning how we can support your governance team to help it be even more efficient, 

Internal audit and risk management functions operate in a dynamic balance within large organizations. As regulatory complexity increases and business risks evolve, the relationship between these functions becomes increasingly critical for effective governance.

The question isn't whether internal audit should participate in enterprise risk management, but how to maximize audit's strategic value while preserving the independence and objectivity that makes audit assurance credible.

Enterprise organizations face pressure to demonstrate comprehensive 

. Board members expect someone to check that management’s risk processes work well. Regulators require evidence of risk-based controls, while stakeholders demand transparent risk disclosure.

Internal audit sits at the center of these expectations, providing an objective assessment of how well organizations identify, assess and mitigate risks across the enterprise. This reality is reflected in 

 now have direct responsibility for enterprise risk management at their organizations, compared to just 24% nine years earlier, according to 

The role of internal audit in enterprise risk management and ERM oversight

How internal audit involvement in enterprise risk management differs from risk management responsibilities

Why enterprise risk management vs internal audit represents a balance rather than competition

Emerging risk areas requiring internal audit attention

technology enables more effective audit assurance

What is the role of internal audit in enterprise-wide risk management?

Internal audit provides independent assurance that risk management processes work effectively. While risk managers own the process of identifying and mitigating risks, internal audit evaluates whether those processes achieve intended outcomes — a distinction that preserves audit's independence and credibility with boards and stakeholders.

"There needs to be collaboration between risk and the business, vertically up and down but then also horizontally across the organization. It is absolutely essential — collaboration across risk departments. The problem is there are silos. Risk and audit are interconnected and interdependent. Collaboration helps provide audit's perspective, their insight across company policies and procedures that help improve risk's function," says Michael Rasmussen, CEO of GRC Report.

 primary responsibilities in ERM include:

Independent assessment of risk management effectiveness:

 Evaluating whether the organization's ERM program adequately identifies, assesses and manages the most significant business risks. This goes beyond checking documentation to assessing whether risk processes actually work as intended.

 Confirming that risk management processes themselves function effectively, including risk identification methodologies, assessment criteria, escalation protocols and mitigation tracking.

 designed to mitigate identified risks operate effectively and achieve intended outcomes.

 Providing insights on how to strengthen risk management approaches based on observations across the organization, industry best practices and emerging risk trends.

The key distinction: Risk managers own risk processes. Internal audit validates that those processes work.

Enterprise risk management and internal audit: Collaboration without compromise

The relationship between enterprise risk management and internal audit requires careful calibration. These functions must collaborate to deliver risk oversight while maintaining clear boundaries that preserve audit independence.

Where collaboration strengthens both functions

 benefits from ERM insights about emerging threats and changing risk profiles. When audit teams align their coverage with the organization's risk register, they provide assurance on the areas that matter most to leadership and the board.

Information sharing enhances both functions. Risk managers gain audit's comprehensive view across organizational silos. Auditors access risk intelligence that helps them focus on areas of greatest concern.

Joint reporting to audit committees can provide integrated perspectives on risk and control effectiveness. When presented thoughtfully, combined insights help boards understand not just what risks exist but how well the organization manages them.

"Trust is the number one thing. Once you have trust that the executive teams believe in the data, believe in the risk you are identifying, then you can have fulsome conversations, you can create change," says Tom Keaton, former Director of Internal Audit at Crown Castle.

Internal auditors should not assume management responsibility for risk processes. Designing risk management frameworks, conducting risk assessments or implementing risk mitigation strategies compromises the audit team’s ability to provide independent assurance on these activities.

Audit should not own or manage the risk register. While 

 may inform risk assessments, the audit team cannot both maintain the authoritative risk record and provide independent assurance on its accuracy.

Decision-making about risk appetite and acceptable risk levels remains a management responsibility. Audit can evaluate whether decisions align with stated risk appetite, but cannot determine what that appetite should be.

This balanced approach recognizes that internal audit involvement in enterprise risk management should enhance organizational risk management without compromising the independence that makes audit assurance valuable.

Discover how AI-powered audit platforms enable comprehensive risk assurance while preserving the independence that makes audit credible.

Strengthen audit independence 

Why internal auditors are well-positioned for risk assurance

Internal audit functions possess several characteristics that make them ideally suited for risk management oversight:

 Internal auditors develop an understanding of organizational operations, processes and controls across all business units and functions. This broad perspective enables them to identify cross-functional risks that individual departments might miss.

 Audit teams bring independent, analytical mindsets focused on evidence-based assessment rather than advocacy for specific outcomes. This objectivity proves essential for credible risk evaluation.

 Internal auditors possess expertise in risk assessment methodologies, control frameworks and compliance requirements. Many hold professional certifications demonstrating specialized knowledge in governance, risk and compliance.

 and maintains direct relationships with senior leadership, enabling effective communication of risk concerns to appropriate levels.

 Auditors excel at understanding how different organizational components interconnect and how failures in one area can cascade into broader risks.

' 2025 Global Standards emphasize the internal audit's evolving role in providing assurance on risk management, governance and control processes. These updated standards recognize that audit teams must adapt to new risk environments, including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, environmental sustainability and geopolitical uncertainty.

Maintaining audit independence while supporting risk management

Key to effective risk management collaboration is the ability of compliance and internal audit teams to work together while preserving the independence that makes audit oversight valuable. One frequently asked question relates to distinct roles held by compliance and internal audit teams during risk assessment processes.

The roles should remain clearly differentiated. While compliance teams carry out ongoing measurement of their processes and effectiveness, the 

 provides objective, independent evaluation of compliance and risk management at given points in time.

This typically involves annual events that take an objective look at compliance and risk management systems.

Current best practices implement the Three Lines Model to maintain proper role boundaries:

 Owns and manages risks directly through day-to-day operations

Second Line (Risk Management/Compliance):

 Provides independent oversight and challenge functions

 Delivers independent assurance without operational responsibilities

When it comes to risk oversight, the internal audit's primary function is to provide organizational boards and senior leadership assurance that the business manages risk successfully.

This assurance is two-fold: confirming that the organization's biggest business risks are managed effectively, and that the processes governing and monitoring risk management are themselves effective.

Critical boundaries: What internal audit should not do

While internal audit brings substantial value to ERM oversight, certain activities compromise independence and should be avoided:

 methodology or control framework, it cannot subsequently provide objective assurance on their effectiveness. This represents an inherent conflict of interest.

 Individual business units and functions should own their risks. Internal audit that takes ownership of specific risks becomes an advocate for those areas rather than an independent assessor.

 Determining whether identified risks are acceptable, deciding which mitigation strategies to pursue or allocating resources to risk management represent management responsibilities that the audit team should not assume.

 While an audit can recommend control improvements, actually 

 eliminates the audit team’s ability to independently assess their effectiveness.

These boundaries reflect fundamental principles of audit independence outlined in professional standards. Organizations that ask internal audit to blur these lines compromise the credibility of audit assurance and may face regulatory scrutiny or audit committee concerns.

Emerging risk areas requiring internal audit focus

The risk landscape continues to evolve rapidly, requiring internal audit functions to expand traditional control testing into new domains:

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting

These emerging risk areas require internal audit to develop new competencies, leverage specialized expertise and adopt technologies that enable more comprehensive (and continuous) risk assessment.

Download the 7-step guide for risk leaders on moving from reactive processes to proactive ERM that drives smarter decisions and stronger oversight across audit and risk functions.

Build performance-enhancing ERM 

How AI transforms internal auditors’ role in risk management

Artificial intelligence and advanced analytics fundamentally change how the internal audit team participates in enterprise-wide risk management. Traditional sample-based testing and annual assessments give way to comprehensive data analysis, continuous monitoring and predictive risk identification that addresses the coordination challenges and independence requirements discussed throughout this guide.

For organizations managing complex enterprise risk assessment requirements, AI-powered platforms like Diligent address the manual testing and limited data coverage challenges that compromise audit effectiveness. Here’s how:

 delivers AI-driven audit capabilities that reduce routine task completion time while improving audit finding accuracy. The platform's continuous monitoring systems provide real-time risk intelligence and automated exception identification, enabling "always-on" auditing that traditional periodic assessments cannot match.

This transformation allows audit teams to focus on investigation, root cause analysis and advisory work rather than manual data gathering and testing.

 complements risk management with no-code analytics capabilities and natural language query processing. Internal auditors examine complete data populations rather than small samples, identifying anomalies and patterns that manual testing would miss.

 integrates audit findings with comprehensive risk management workflows. The platform's AI-powered risk identification benchmarks against 180,000+ real-world risks from public company disclosures, providing the external intelligence that strengthens both audit planning and risk assessment.

Integration between audit and risk platforms enables seamless coordination without compromising independence, providing boards with unified perspectives on organizational risk posture and control effectiveness.

Ready to transform your internal audit team’s approach to risk management? Discover how Diligent's connected governance platform enables more effective audit assurance while strengthening enterprise-wide risk management. 

FAQs about the role of the internal audit team in risk management

What specific responsibilities should internal audit never undertake in risk management?

Internal auditors should never assume management responsibilities for developing or implementing risk management processes that they will later assess. This creates obvious conflicts of interest when reviewing effectiveness.

Similarly, internal auditors providing assurance on risk management should not be involved in deciding whether these assurances are adequate.

How can organizations ensure internal audit maintains objectivity while providing risk management advisory services?

Implement clear role boundaries using the Three Lines Model framework. Internal audit can advise on best practices and improvement approaches, but must avoid operational responsibilities.

Maintain dual reporting structures with functional reporting to the audit committee for independence and administrative reporting to management for operations.

What emerging risks should internal audit prioritize in enterprise risk management oversight?

Internal audit should prioritize cybersecurity and IT risk, AI governance and emerging technology risks, ESG data integrity and reporting, third-party risk management, and geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

These represent the areas of greatest organizational concern and 

 focus. Internal audit functions that develop specialized capabilities in these domains provide substantially greater value to organizations and boards while positioning themselves as strategic partners in enterprise risk management rather than backward-looking compliance functions.

How often should the internal audit team assess the organization's risk management program?

While traditional approaches involved annual risk management assessments, leading organizations now implement 

 approaches that provide ongoing evaluation of risk processes. The frequency depends on organizational complexity, risk environment volatility and regulatory requirements.

Most enterprise organizations conduct formal risk management reviews at least annually, supplemented by continuous monitoring of key risk indicators and controls. Audit committees typically review the internal audit team’s assessment of risk management effectiveness quarterly as part of broader risk oversight.

Ready to transform your internal audit risk management capabilities? 

 to discover how Diligent can deliver immediate efficiency gains while expanding risk coverage across your organization.

The evolving role of internal audit in enterprise risk management

This article originally appeared in our October 23rd edition of the Diligent Minute Newsletter. For more insights like these, delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe

After months of buzz in the third quarter of 2024, many expected 2025 would finally spark a wave of IPOs and breathe new life into public markets. Instead, mounting economic pressures and sudden shifts in U.S. fiscal and trade policy have forced companies to reconsider even their most basic transaction strategies. Traditionally, when IPO activity slows, mergers and acquisitions pick up the slack. But this year, deal-making has slowed, raising a critical question for organizations everywhere: are they genuinely prepared for transactions in this climate?

2025 IPO slowdown and M&A outlook: Transaction readiness under pressure

We surveyed over 230 chief financial officers, general counsels and directors

 from public and private companies around the world about their growth strategies and transaction plans in this uncertain landscape, in partnership with Wilson Sonsini, 

, CFO Alliance, and the CFO Leadership Council. Here’s what they had to say:

Nearly half of organizations stay the course, with caveats

Interestingly, we found that nearly half of organizations (49%) are still prioritizing M&A or strategic partnerships in their growth strategies. “[Companies are] taking much longer to evaluate deals and are being more selective about opportunities,” NetSuite’s Ranga Bodla, Vice President of Field Engagement and Marketing at NetSuite explains.

Geopolitical uncertainty accounts for some of this hesitancy. Thirty-five percent of the senior leaders we surveyed cited it as a major challenge when it comes to their transaction plans. But many companies just don’t feel ready for complex transactions right now, calling out increased caution, adjusted valuation models and financial projections, and enhanced focus on due diligence and risk as their responses to economic uncertainty.

Confidence in organizational readiness to support a major transaction right now ranks just 5.7 on a scale from 1 to 10, even as 

 say they are prioritizing M&A or strategic partnerships in their game plans for growth. 

“We need to strengthen our governance structures to suit the current VUCA [volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity] environment,” one survey respondent bluntly declares.

Over half (56%) cited limited resources, over one third (35%) data access, and over one quarter (28%) a lack of experienced personnel as challenges in the transaction process, with many also calling for better defined roles (42%) and stronger board communication and support (31%).

Close the readiness gap: Integrated GRC, finance and AI to accelerate due diligence

But here’s what stuck out as a red flag to me: A mere 4% of organizations reported having fully integrated governance, risk compliance (GRC), and finance systems for transactions. Just 5% use 

, 10% financial reporting tools, 16% ERP software and 20% secure data rooms. All of these technologies can bolster 

, valuations, analysis and planning, and help companies learn about and act on deal opportunities faster. In fact, a full 60% still operate with siloed or only partially integrated platforms.

“Many organizations remain stuck in analog transaction processes,” my colleague Nithya Das, General Manager and Chief Legal Officer at Diligent, said. “Technology adoption directly addresses the operational risks companies frequently cite.”

In short, insufficient tools are holding too many corporate deal teams back, and inefficient processes are slowing them down.

If 2025 has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t control the external environment your organization operates in. But you can adapt to it, think proactively, and get your internal processes in order to support and prepare for transactions. “Companies can do a lot of things day-to-day to improve readiness for a potential transaction,” notes Rich Mullen, Partner at Wilson Sonsini.

Think digital workrooms that engage internal stakeholders and external advisors in activities from onboarding to planning.

Collaboration workflows that standardize due diligence and keep it on track. Secure communications channels for sensitive information, along with records, checklists, playbooks, and “lessons learned” logs stored in one centralized place. “Transaction readiness requires integrated preparation across people, processes, and technology,” Nithya reminds readers.

Nick Araco, CEO of the CFO Alliance, said that “the most effective finance leaders are turning the discipline of transaction readiness into a year-round capability.”

He explains how these leaders are “integrating lessons learned into their planning cycles and building internal muscle for deal execution. We’re also seeing growing interest in how AI can accelerate diligence, flag risks earlier, and free teams from manual work so they can focus on value creation.”

That’s a sentiment we apply to financial modeling, data analysis, enhanced due diligence and more in our report. As Bodla concludes: “The organizations that invest in these technological capabilities now will be better positioned to move quickly and confidently when the right opportunities arise.”

Delve into the details — and step up your own game for deal preparation — by downloading the full analysis: “

Ready or not: How companies are rethinking transactions in a volatile market

Ready for the deal: Transaction readiness in turbulent times

, highlights a market navigating uncertainty with increased caution and deeper due diligence. Yet, a critical statistic suggests many companies are overlooking a key aspect of preparedness: only 4% have fully integrated their governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) with their financial systems.

This disconnect points to a larger issue. True readiness today extends beyond financial metrics to encompass a company’s operational resilience, long-term risk management, and cultural strength. The ability to manage these non-financial factors is a direct indicator of a company’s capacity to execute a successful transaction.

The report finds 40% of organizations are enhancing due diligence as a result of economic turbulence. In the current landscape, this diligence must assess a target’s holistic health. This includes operational risks like supply chain resilience, the strength of its corporate culture and employee morale, and the robustness of its compliance frameworks. A target that lacks control in these areas presents significant hidden liabilities that can impact valuation and post-deal integration.

Siloed GRC and financial systems can be a major red flag in a merger or acquisition because it shows a lack of ability to manage the broad set of data that defines a company's value and risk profile. When leaders prioritize “enhancing data quality,” they are speaking to the need for a unified view of performance. Acquirers now scrutinize a target’s environmental liabilities, social capital (like culture and employee relations), and governance structures. Companies that have mastered this can quickly respond to intense due diligence requests, demonstrating a level of operational discipline that builds confidence with partners and investors.

Successful integration demands cultural alignment

A significant challenge noted in the report is integrating new entities. Lasting success requires more than combining systems; it requires merging cultures and operational philosophies. Leaders must proactively plan for this cultural integration, ensuring shared values and practices to retain talent and achieve synergies. The best practice of using dedicated integration teams must be applied to these non-financial factors to ensure a smooth transition. 

The finding that only 42% of boards are deeply involved in transaction strategy reveals a gap. A board that provides rigorous oversight of material sustainability issues is inherently better equipped to guide a deal through today’s complexities by asking questions about long-term resilience: How durable is our business model? How strong is our talent pipeline? How adaptable are we to regulatory change? Asking tough questions about long-term resilience, not just short-term financials, is the mark of a transaction-ready leadership team. This broader perspective is essential for approving deals that create sustainable, not just immediate, value.

Transaction readiness is a measure of overall organizational health. The question for leaders is: Can we demonstrate strength not only in our financials but also in our operational integrity and cultural resilience?

As you assess your organization’s transaction readiness, evaluate your capability to manage and report on the full spectrum of social impact and sustainability governance factors. Building the systems and disciplines to manage this complete picture is the ultimate preparation for the opportunities and challenges ahead.

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