Governance

Board of Governors

The Board of Governors provides strategic oversight, governance leadership, and institutional direction for the Global Institute of Behavior.

GIB governance chamber

Responsibilities

Independence

The Board operates independently from the day-to-day delivery of training to preserve objective oversight and protect the integrity of certification decisions.

Composition & Appointment

Board members are selected based on experience in behavioral science, governance, professional education, or related domains. Terms of service are structured to balance continuity with periodic renewal of perspectives.

The Board may include representatives with backgrounds in government, corporate leadership, academia, and specialized behavioral practice.

Current Board Members

The Board of Governors comprises practitioners, academics, and senior professionals appointed in accordance with the Institute's governance charter. Members serve fixed terms and are subject to the Institute's conflict-of-interest policy.

Chair, Board of Governors
Prof. Margaret L. Hargreaves, PhD
Emeritus Professor of Organizational Psychology
University of Edinburgh, School of Social & Political Science

Professor Hargreaves brings over three decades of academic and applied experience in organizational behaviour, professional competency frameworks, and workforce assessment. Prior to her current role, she led a multidisciplinary research group examining practitioner standards in high-stakes environments. She has advised government departments, professional bodies, and multinational organisations on behavioral science applications and ethical practice.

Deputy Chair
James A. Whitfield, MSc
Senior Director, Professional Standards & Workforce Development
Retired — Former Federal Law Enforcement Career

Mr. Whitfield brings a career spanning senior leadership roles in federal investigations, interview and interrogation programme oversight, and national training standards development. He has contributed to the design of professional certification frameworks for law enforcement practitioners and has served on multiple inter-agency advisory boards. His governance expertise focuses on assessment integrity and professional conduct standards.

Dr. Priya Narayan-Singh, DPsych
Consulting Forensic Behavioural Psychologist
Independent Practice; Affiliate Research Fellow, King's College London

Dr. Narayan-Singh is a practising forensic psychologist with specialist expertise in credibility assessment, structured professional judgement, and risk-relevant behaviour analysis. She has published peer-reviewed research on practitioner competency in applied behavioral contexts and contributes to post-graduate education in forensic and investigative psychology. Her advisory work spans justice, healthcare, and corporate risk sectors.

Col. (Ret.) David O. Brennan
Director of Behavioural Training Programmes
Former Senior Officer, United States Army; Current Independent Consultant

Colonel Brennan retired from a distinguished military career during which he held responsibility for behavioural science integration into operational training, leadership development, and human intelligence programmes. Since transitioning to the private sector, he has consulted on workforce competency design, scenario-based assessment, and the application of behavioral analysis frameworks to enterprise and security-sector clients.

Catherine Mott, MBA, FCIPD
Chief People Officer
Ellsworth Global Advisory Group

Ms. Mott is a senior human resources executive with extensive experience leading talent, organisational effectiveness, and professional development functions in international professional services and financial sector environments. Her work on evidence-based recruitment, management competency frameworks, and executive assessment directly informs the Institute's approach to practitioner credentialing within corporate and enterprise contexts.

Prof. Kwame Asante, PhD
Associate Professor of Applied Behavioural Science
Howard University, Department of Psychology

Professor Asante specialises in cross-cultural behavioural analysis, nonverbal communication research, and the design of culturally-informed competency standards. He has held visiting research positions at institutions in North America and West Africa and contributes regularly to professional conferences on behavioural science practice and ethics. His governance focus centres on standards equity and the international applicability of certification frameworks.

Sarah Richter-Hughes, JD
Partner, Professional Regulation & Ethics Practice
Devereaux, Croft & Wyndham LLP

Ms. Richter-Hughes is a qualified barrister and legal advisor specialising in professional regulation, disciplinary proceedings, and the governance of credentialing bodies. She has advised regulatory authorities, professional associations, and certification organisations on complaints handling procedures, codes of conduct, and ethics committee structures. Her input to the Institute's governance framework principally concerns disciplinary process design and legal compliance.

Dr. Elena Petrova, PhD
Senior Research Scientist, Behavioural Decision Sciences
Vierendeel Institute for Behavioural Research, Brussels

Dr. Petrova leads a research programme on decision-making under uncertainty, deception detection, and applied social psychology in professional settings. Her academic publications include contributions to credibility assessment methodology, practitioner competency evaluation, and the ethics of behavioural science application in investigative and intelligence-adjacent contexts. She represents the Institute's commitment to evidence-based standards development and international research alignment.

Committees & Meetings

Standing committees may be established to focus on areas such as audit and risk, standards and assessment, ethics, and organizational development. The Board meets at regular intervals to review performance, approve policy updates, and consider new initiatives aligned with the Institute's mission.

Governance Documentation

The Institute publishes key governance documents, including the institutional prospectus and governance packet, as part of its commitment to transparency. Governance policies, examination standards, and ethics frameworks are also referenced in the Governance & Ethics and Research & Standards pages.

Review Certification Standards → Governance & Ethics →