20 years of BoardEffect: Reflections on the past, focused on the future
Twenty years ago, I joined a small team that set out to build something deceptively simple: give nonprofit boards technology that genuinely elevates their work. I couldn’t have predicted how far that idea would go — or how essential it would become — but I knew boards needed better ways to prepare, make decisions and lead.
What excites me most now, two decades later, is that we’re no longer just digitizing board books or compressing workflows; we’re helping directors “see around the corner,” shifting them from being stewards of the past to architects of the future.
Back when we started BoardEffect, we persuaded directors to trade three-ring binders for digital board books; the iPad made that shift feel inevitable. Then the world changed: cybersecurity, more regulations coming down the tracks, changing stakeholder expectations — these have all pulled oversight forward. Board members started asking for visibility into what might come next, not just what already happened.
The pandemic slammed the accelerator on secure, cloud-based governance, and now generative AI has opened a new chapter: a chance to reimagine how boards navigate complexity, interrogate assumptions and prepare for decisions with greater speed and confidence.
A platform built for what’s next
That’s why this move for BoardEffect into the Diligent One Platform matters so much. It brings our customers a modern, unified experience with enhanced security, a consolidated view across governance, risk and compliance, and direct access to education and AI capabilities — all in one place, while retaining the BoardEffect functionality and ease of use our clients have come to rely on in the last twenty years.
The Diligent One Platform makes it easier for boards and administrators to work together. It brings everything into one place, so you can log in securely and access what you need without extra steps. Learning tools and dashboards are built right into your daily board activities, helping administrators support their boards with less hassle. Plus, new AI-powered features simplify tasks for everyone on the governance team, saving time and reducing complexity. It's still BoardEffect, but it's better than before.
What we’ve delivered this year for our BoardEffect community
This past year, we focused on three things: making the everyday easier, turning activity into insight and modernizing the user experience using native AI.
First, the everyday: a refreshed BoardEffect home experience makes the start of work more intuitive, so admins and directors can get to essential tasks faster. For leaders with multiple BoardEffect sites, the new Board Switcher means you log in once and move across sites without the usual juggling of passwords and URLs. We also added the ability to share annotations directly with anyone who can access a meeting book, lightweight collaboration that reduces email loops and keeps context where it belongs.
Second, turning activity into insight. Our AI Smart Minutes convert typed notes and transcripts into professional minutes in seconds, automatically capturing decisions and action items and supporting compliant recordkeeping. AI Smart Summary distils complex board books into concise, actionable overviews so board members arrive prepared and aligned, even on busy cycles. And for admins who need to tell the board’s story in numbers, Customizable Reporting now lets you visualize key metrics — terms, attendance, logins — and filter to what matters, then share with stakeholders.
Third, a modern design that keeps everything in one place, so you don’t have to jump between tools or feel overwhelmed. AI Smart Prep surfaces themes, decisions and questions from your meeting materials so members can focus quickly on the substance of the conversation. With Microsoft 365 integration enhancements, teams can create and collaborate on Excel files directly in BoardEffect, eliminating context switching and preserving controls.
GovernAI for BoardEffect
I’m especially proud of GovernAI. These AI assisted governance tools are built right into BoardEffect and are designed specifically for nonprofit and volunteer boards.
GovernAI speeds up the jobs that have historically slowed you down: summarizing dense materials, accelerating preparation, generating accurate minutes and finding the right information without digging.
Just as importantly, GovernAI is grounded in principles that put customers in control: the AI is only trained for your use, it produces clearly labelled AI outputs and it is always opt-in.
Where we’re going next
Looking forward, we’re continuing to invest in BoardEffect where you’ve asked us to deliver most: productivity, insight and seamless engagement.
You’ll soon see AI Smart Search, with natural language answers grounded in your permissions, so directors and admins can find relevant documents, events and highlights in seconds.
You’ll soon gain Board Engagement Reporting to understand how members interact with materials and where readiness can improve over time, helping you tailor support and spark better questions in the room.
We’re modernizing the UI across BoardEffect's web and mobile applications to make navigation cleaner, faster and more accessible, and we’re refreshing the mobile app to keep the on the go experience responsive and dependable.
Across all of this, we’re continuing accessibility improvements aligned to WCAG standards, alongside practical guidance to help teams prepare accessible materials.
Why I’m so excited about BoardEffect’s future
BoardEffect is not going away. On the contrary, it’s getting even better and more innovative for our customers as a result of moving onto the Diligent One Platform.
What began as a push to remove friction from board work has become something much bigger: an opportunity to help mission driven leaders govern with more foresight, more clarity and more confidence. We’re meeting boards where they are, on a secure, modern platform, with AI that saves real time, respects privacy and elevates preparation, and we’re doing it with the nuance that governance demands.
I’m excited for what BoardEffect will unlock in the year ahead: better prepared directors, crisper discussions and faster, more informed decisions that move your mission forward. That’s why we built BoardEffect in the first place, and it’s why I’m as energized now as I was on day one.
If you’d like a walkthrough tailored to your board’s needs, request a demo to see GovernAI and the latest BoardEffect enhancements in action.
