A Danish corporate governance expert described as a “champion” of board diversity has been chosen as the new chair of the Institute of Directors. Charlotte Valeur is a former investment banker originally from Copenhagen who speaks six languages.
The UK business lobby group will be hoping the appointment draws a line under a boardroom crisis that saw the previous chair, Barbara Judge, quit in March amid claims that the IoD failed to conduct a fair investigation into allegations that Judge was a bully who made racist comments about staff.
Valeur has held seven directorships at public companies, including three as chair, over the past decade, and founded Board Apprentice, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to increasing diversity on boards globally.
She said: “It’s imperative that people of all backgrounds know that the world of business is not a closed shop, and the IoD has a major part to play in achieving this.”
The IoD was founded in 1903 and has more than 30,000 members.
