{"id":1573,"date":"2025-04-15T13:06:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T04:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bdtinew.wpenginepowered.com\/outside-director-lessons-1-genesis-of-director-training-nonprofit-bdti\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T17:01:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T08:01:47","slug":"newj1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bdti.or.jp\/en\/newj1\/","title":{"rendered":"Outside Director Lessons #1: Genesis of Director Training Nonprofit BDTI"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Outside Director Lessons #1: Genesis of Director Training Nonprofit BDTI<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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On 4\/16\/2023 I became 67 years old. On this \u201coccasion\u201d I would like to ask you to consider donating to The Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI), which I have led in offering director training in Japan for almost 14 years now, training about 3,000 persons in our programs, and many more via e-Learning. At the same time, going forward, I also will attempt to make a series of posts (on this discussion forum) giving a perspective or story related to corporate governance, based on recent events and\/or my own 15 years of experience sitting on boards here (or the experiences of people I know), that will be light, easy reading but hopefully also be thought-provoking.<\/p>

BDTI\u2019s work is \u201cmissionary work\u201d that requires passion and commitment. Perhaps these stories will be of interest in terms of revealing why I do what I do, the challenges that face Japan and its companies and investors, and how they can be overcome. This will be from the point of view of someone who has sat on boards here for almost 15 years, and has been an active advocate for better corporate governance for more than 20 years.<\/p>

Because Japan does not have a customary or mandatory requirement for serious director training, BDTI\u2019s courses need to be \u201csubsidized\u201d in some way so that we can offer high-quality programs at a price point that is low enough to attract our (overly frugal) customers, \u2013that is to say, at prices that on a per-person-per-hour basis are one-third or less than in other developed markets. (Even paying low salaries and donating a lot myself, this is the market reality). Moreover, \u201cG\u201d is the foundation on which the \u201chouse of ESG\u201d is built, but that fact is not as widely recognized as it should be.<\/p>

We \u201csubsidize\u201d and lower our prices in three ways: 1) first, by skimping on all expenses at a small office in the suburbs of Tokyo; 2) second, by receiving donations from individuals and institutional investors who think it is important to improve the effectiveness and trustworthiness of corporate governance in Japan; and 3) third, by collecting and normalizing a long-term \u201cbig data\u201d structured database of information (including text), and selling access to it to large fund managers, including large quantitative funds. <\/p>

At long last, Japanese institutional investors are now considering to support us, but this will take a bit more time\u2026so we need your help, even if it is just a few thousand Yen.<\/p>

BDTI training programs:<\/strong> https:\/\/bdti.or.jp\/course\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

How to donate: https:\/\/bdti.or.jp\/make-a-donation\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Thank you,
Nicholas Benes
Representative Director, The Board Director Training Institute of Japan<\/p>

(writing in his personal capacity and not representing any organization).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Please take a look at our Other Companies Outside Director Lessons Learned series as well. More to come!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Outside Director Lesson #2: My First Experience as an Outside Director<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Outside Director Lessons #3: How Suddenly Companies Can Collapse!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Outside Director Lessons #4: What is Worse Than the Company Going Under?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Outside Director Lessons #5: Being a Whistleblower Hotline<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Outside Director Lessons #6: Insist on Total Independence!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Outside Director Lessons #7: If No D&O\u2026Get It Yourself<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Outside Director Lessons #8: The Role of the Board<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Outside Director Lessons #9: Appointing the CEO<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Outside Director Lessons #10: Directors Set Direction<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Outside Director Lessons #11: Committees Need Rules<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Outside Director Lessons #1: Genesis of Director Training Nonprofit BDTI On 4\/16\/2023 I became 67 years old. On this \u201coccasion\u201d I would like to ask you to consider donating to The Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI), which I have led in offering director training in Japan for almost 14 years now, training about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"opb_popup_content":"Popup Content","ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","osp_disable_panel":"default","osh_disable_topbar_sticky":"default","osh_disable_header_sticky":"default","osh_sticky_header_style":"default","osh_sticky_header_effect":"","osh_custom_sticky_logo":0,"osh_custom_retina_sticky_logo":0,"osh_custom_sticky_logo_height":0,"osh_background_color":"","osh_links_color":"","osh_links_hover_color":"","osh_links_active_color":"","osh_links_bg_color":"","osh_links_hover_bg_color":"","osh_links_active_bg_color":"","osh_menu_social_links_color":"","osh_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1573","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry","owp-thumbs-layout-horizontal","owp-btn-normal","owp-tabs-layout-horizontal","has-no-thumbnails","has-product-nav"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bdti.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bdti.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bdti.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bdti.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bdti.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bdti.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1573\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bdti.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}