Board of Trustees

Functions

The Board of Trustees establishes the objectives and overall direction of CIMMYT, reviews and approves the Center’s strategy, business plan and annual budget, and sets and monitors various metrics of Center management and performance. A key Board responsibility is to appoint and monitor the performance of the Director General.

Activities

The Board formally meets twice a year. It is the responsibility of the Board Secretary to organize the meetings, ensure proper documentation of the Board’s business and support the Board Chair and other members.

The Board of Trustees delivers some of its work with the assistance of Board committees, which ensure efficient and effective implementation of the Board’s business.

Audit, Finance and Risk Committee

The Board of Trustees has appointed the CGIAR Audit, Finance and Risk Committee (AFRC) to advise it on all matters related to Internal and External Audit, Finance, Compliance and Risk Management. The AFRC is a common committee of the System Board and of the Boards of the CGIAR Centers and Alliances who have adopted unified governance arrangements as part of the One CGIAR transition.

The AFRC provides all Boards to which it reports with:

• reasonable assurance of performance of internal audit for each of One CGIAR’s legal entities;
• delivery of independent external audit for Board approval;
• reasonable assurance of the integrity of financial information;
• oversight of systems of risk management, an internal control framework and an ethics framework; and
• oversight of compliance with applicable laws, regulations and codes of conduct.

The AFRC provides the System Board with reasonable assurance of adequate internal audit capacity, system-wide governance, risk management and internal controls across the CGIAR System. For more details, read the AFRC terms of reference.

Committee members: Nancy Andrews, Esteban Chong, Richard Golding, Clarissa van Heerden (Chair), Chemutai Murgor, Hilary Wild (System Board voting member).

Board Executive Committee

The Executive Committee consists of six members and may meet in between formal Board meetings if circumstances require Board involvement.

Committee Members: Bill Angus, Margaret Bath (Chair), José Cacho, Luis Ángel Rodríguez del Bosque and Hilary Wild.

Organization and structure

CIMMYT’s Board of Trustees consists of internationally recognized and experienced experts with diverse backgrounds and skills. Current Board members represent a diverse pool of expertise in the areas of agricultural science, development and policy; financial management; business management and economics; and other professional disciplines.

The Board of Trustees comprises up to 12 voting members, one of whom is a member selected by the Government of Mexico. Eight of the voting members are elected by the Board from among persons nominated by CGIAR. The other three voting members are selected by a Nominations committee appointed for this purpose.

Additionally, there are four non-voting members, including a member selected by the Government of Mexico and CIMMYT’s Director General.

Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture serves as Honorary Chair of the Board.