The SID Board Academy (SBA) is the dedicated professional services arm of the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID), focused on designing and delivering customised programmes for intact boards and organisations.

Unlike open-enrolment director courses, SBA programmes are tailored to address the specific governance, strategy and performance needs of a client board.

SID Board Academy is a brand and initiative under SID.

Unlike SID which does training for individual SID members and directors who don't need to attend as an intact board, the SID Board Academy offers training programmes that are customised specifically for intact boards.  

A simple way to differentiate:  

• SID members or any director can sign up to attend a course offered by SID, but they cannot sign up to attend any programme designed for a client by SID Board Academy. 

• Programmes offered by SID Board Academy are developed in consultation with the client to address specific needs and gaps, and can spend a range of topics from basic directorship duties to more focused topics such as energy transition. These are typically held during a board retreat or as part of a board meeting.  

• Other bespoke programmes by SID Board Academy include partnerships with overseas bodies (such as the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) Cambodia) to co-develop programmes meant for their target audience. For example, in tehe case of IBFKH, we designed pathways for board directors of Cambodian financial institutions to undergo both local training (Cambodian) and training by SID to raise their awareness of governance best practices in Singapore that they may apply in their own financial organisations in Cambodia. 

SID’s programmes are open for individual directors or SID members to sign up for.

In contrast, SID Board Academy programmes:

• Are commissioned by a specific organisation

• Are developed in consultation with the client board

• Address defined board development gaps

• Are delivered to the board as a group (often during board meetings or retreats)

An individual director cannot enrol in a Board Academy programme independently — it is designed for a specific client board.

SID Board Academy differentiates itself through:

• Faculty with real board experience – Most faculty members are experienced board directors themselves.

• Access to SID’s 5,500+ member network – The Academy can draw on SID’s membership base to match domain experts to client needs.

• Structured yet tailored design process – Programmes are developed through a systematic diagnostic and design framework.

• Institutional credibility – Backed by SID’s longstanding governance leadership in Singapore.

Unlike traditional consultants who rely heavily on theoretical frameworks, the Academy’s programmes are grounded in lived boardroom experience.

SID Board Academy offers:

• Bespoke board development programmes

• Board simulations

• Structured programmes (including partnerships with regional institutions)

• International governance collaborations

• Thematic board workshops (e.g., sustainability, AI governance, energy transition)

Programmes may be delivered as standalone sessions or as part of board retreats or meetings.

Currently, client boards reach out to SID for customised programmes. From January 2026 onwards, the SID Board Academy will have its own dedicated website: www.sidboardacademy.com 

The SID Board Academy tailors programmes to the specific needs of client boards through a 4-step process:  

1. Engage the client to understand the clients needs,  

2. Diagnose the development need and intervention,  

3. Work with associates to design the programme  

4. Deploy the best in-class faculty to deliver the training.  

The SID Board Academy team has expertise and experience in corporate programme design and delivery, and works with associate faculty who are domain experts to provide the content. A value differentiator of the SID Board Academy faculty is that each individual possesses actual board experience. Compared to typical consultants who may leverage frameworks and theories, the SID Board Academy’s faculty members are mostly experienced board directors themselves with expertise in different areas. SID Board Academy also has the advantage of drawing from the strength of SID's growing membership base (now more than 5,500) to identify suitable SID members to be faculty for specific projects based on the member's expertise, experience and availability. 

Even before formalising SID Board Academy, SID has been experimenting over the last two years with offering customised board programmes for a diverse range of organisations across sectors and geographies.  

In 2025 alone, SID has delivered: 

• a tailored programme for Mitsui & Co., a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, focusing on board governance, risk oversight, and board–management dynamics; 

• a series of four customised training programmes for Thai Beverage PCL and its main board and subsidiary boards, including Fraser and Neave Ltd (F&N), BeerCo Ltd, and Asia Breweries Ltd, with a focus on sustainability and AI governance.  

Other organisations that have benefitted from the SID's customised board training include Coeclerici Asia, a global family-owned enterprise with over 120 years of history; Embecta, a NASDAQ-listed medical technology company; and Metro Holdings Limited, listed on the SGX Mainboard. 

Over the last two years, SID has also delivered customised board training for Keppel Energy Pte Ltd, and non-commercial organisations including The Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute, MOH Holdings, and charities such as Wedu Global based in Thailand. At a regional level, SID has partnered with IBF Cambodia to collaborate on board and director training for board directors of financial institutions in Cambodia. 

We are currently in discussions with organisations such as OCBC, an SGX-listed bank, Workiva, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and Worldpay, formerly NYSE-listed, to develop tailored board programmes. With the launch of SID Board Academy as a brand of SID, all these projects will be housed under "SID Board Academy". 

No.

The Academy works with boards across sectors and geographies, including regional and international organisations. Examples include:

• Mitsui & Co. (Japan)

• Thai Beverage PCL and subsidiaries

• IBF Cambodia (regional collaboration)

Programmes include:

• Customised board governance workshops

• Board–management dynamics sessions

• Risk oversight training

• Sustainability and AI governance programmes

• Sector-specific governance programmes

• International governance pathways

• Board simulations

Structured programmes are curated learning pathways developed either independently or in partnership with other institutions.

For example:

• Collaboration with IBF Cambodia to co-develop director training pathways for Cambodian financial institutions, combining local and Singapore governance best practices.

Programmes can be delivered:

• In-person

• Virtually

• Hybrid

Delivery format is determined in consultation with the client.

SID Board Academy works with:

• SGX-listed companies

• International listed corporations

• Family-owned enterprises

• Financial institutions

• Government-linked organisations

• Non-profit and charitable organisations