Erika Eliasson-Norris, CEO and Founder of award-winning consulting firm Beyond Governance, was the UK’s youngest FTSE 250 board governance adviser and has recently been awarded Governance Professional of the Year. Working closely with senior executives and investors alike, Beyond Governance seeks to bolster stakeholder confidence in addition to improving company efficiency and effectiveness for long-term success.
What motivated Erika to found Beyond Governance?
Beyond Governance was born in 2019 when Erika identified the opportunity to provide boards, executives and fellow Governance Professionals with tailored advice and support from seasoned Governance Professionals. With a mission of helping organisations find practical solutions to challenges around culture, decision-making and people, Erika is changing the face of governance and helping the C-suites, Chairs and investors to realise their organisation’s full potential.
What sets Erika and Beyond Governance apart?
At Beyond Governance, Erika’s unique drive and inquisitive spirit have resulted in a culture that stands out from the rest. Focusing solely on ex-in-house personnel for their services, they provide practical solutions based on real experiences instead of theoretical knowledge. The remote working environment also allows them unprecedented flexibility to work anywhere in the UK and beyond, while enjoying better productivity and work-life balance. What sets Beyond Governance apart is how they have built a strong organisational culture remotely.
Erika is a unique person, with unique qualities. With a naturally curious and ambitious mind, Erika asks the hard questions and has a forthright approach to her business. Beyond Governance does things differently.
At Beyond Governance, Erika has crafted a remarkable corporate culture that champions talent and collaboration. She has brought together some of the best professionals in the industry with not only expertise and capabilities but also those who are personable team players, possess an upbeat disposition, maintain high ethical standards and harbour true enthusiasm for their work. Despite their clients always coming first, Erika ensures her staff are content in life as well; rewarding each of them equally through activities like networking days, invitations to awards or simply having fun at “team outings”. All members regardless of position or seniority can benefit from these unique experiences – guaranteeing everyone ultimately feels valued within the company.
Erika is dedicated to Beyond Governance’s sustainability and has worked hard to gain a B-Corp accreditation, proving that their values extend beyond words. They strive for profitability while also honouring their mission of supporting stakeholders and making decisions in the best interests of each individual client they serve. This has been shown in their twice awarded ‘Best For the World’ B-Corp award putting Beyond Governance in the top 5% for governance in the world amongst all B-Corps.
Erika’s Road to Becoming CEO
Growing up in a working-class family with little support from her teachers, Erika was determined to make something of herself. She harnessed an incredible drive and resilience that saw her defy all expectations – exceeding her predicted GCSE results.
Erika’s life was changed dramatically when a close family member experienced unexpected health issues, leading her to divert attention away from achieving the A-level grades she needed for Cambridge University. Rather than giving up hope entirely, Erika persevered and chose Reading University as an alternative route – where she studied Law as an undergraduate before progressing on to a Master’s in Commercial Law at Bristol University. Thanks to this dedication and hard work, Erika soon found herself training within KPMG’s Company Secretarial division; fast forward nine months later, however – after committing wholeheartedly towards impressing those around her – a promotion came knocking. Thereafter began what proved integral in propelling Erika’s already fantastic career further into uncharted success.
Erika became the youngest person in the industry to move into the highest governance and legal role in a London-based FTSE 250 organisation, Low & Bonar plc (FTSE SmallCap engineering company), at only 32 years old. This was largely due to the hands-on experience that she gained at numerous large corporations at InterContinental Hotels Group plc (FTSE 100 dual-listed in New York), Premier Foods plc (FTSE 250 food manufacturer), ICAP plc (FTSE100 financial services), and The Restaurant Group plc (FTSE 250 hospitality company).
At just 32, Erika’s ascension to a C-level position is remarkable – particularly in this challenging industry. Her experience and resilience enabled her to effectively navigate an ever-changing landscape of corporate issues: from share price collapse and external pressure group protests, through investigations into fatal incidents or fraudulent behaviour, even up the highest levels of management. In spite of these obstacles she never stopped pushing for answers; when faced with difficult questions that often had no answer it wasn’t enough for Erika who persevered until she found out all there was to know by herself.
Erika has explored the power of individuality and is unapologetically authentic as she steps into her role as CEO at Beyond Governance. Being a mother to twin girls, who are both so similar yet unique from each other, had been one of the greatest influences that encouraged her managerial skills. She aims to incorporate this valued mindset within her company by empowering employees with self-acceptance and allowing them the freedom in expressing their individualism without judgement or apology.
What do the coming years look like for Beyond Governance?
Beyond Governance is striving to empower organisations by equipping them with the knowledge they need on governance practices. This will ensure that they are up-to-date and prepared for any potential challenges ahead. There is enormous potential for governance to drive increased profits, employee retention and recruitment as well as improve the general operations of organisations. Taking what they have learnt over their combined 150 years Beyond Governance is set to change the face of corporate governance in the UK and internationally.
Erika Eliasson-Norris, CEO of Beyond Governance, has always worked in the ‘eye of the storm’. Her career included navigating controversial board decisions, shareholder rebellions, a share price collapse to the brink of insolvency, high-profile anti-management stakeholder protests, survival-focused business division disposals, corporate manslaughter investigations, forced CEO and Chair removals, c-suite fraud investigations, FCA dawn raids, unexpected radio appearances, liquidation evading emergency finance and more. These challenging and extensive experiences afforded her the top governance and legal position in a London-based FTSE 250 organisation at the age of 32 – the youngest person in the industry to take on this c-suite-level role. Following frustrations over the lack of tailored, realistic, practical advice for c-suite Governance Professionals, Erika left her corporate career in 2019 and founded Beyond Governance.