What is a board governance platform?

A board governance platform is a single, secure home for everything a board needs to govern well — papers, minutes, decisions, actions, and risks. Instead of scattering that record across shared drives, inboxes, and WhatsApp threads, Knowa keeps it in one living, auditable record, so the right information is always to hand and nothing is lost when the board rotates.

Knowa is built for the UK boards that serve something bigger than themselves — pension trustee boards, charity and foundation trustees, school governors and MAT boards, family offices, and company boards — along with the advisers, EBCs, and professional trustee firms who serve them. Each sector gets governance shaped to its own duties and regulators.

How is Knowa different from a shared drive, board portal, or email?

A shared drive stores files but understands nothing about them. A traditional board portal distributes the pack but stops at the meeting. Knowa connects the whole governance cycle — documents, discussion, decisions, and actions — into one record, then lets you query it in plain English with Knowa Q. The institutional memory stays with the board, not in one person's inbox.

Knowa Q is the platform's AI assistant. Ask a plain-English question — "What did we agree about the reserves policy?" or "When did we last review the SIP?" — and it answers from your board's own documents and history, with sources cited. It turns years of papers and minutes into something you can actually search and trust.

Does Knowa help us meet our regulatory obligations?

Yes. Knowa gives each sector a defensible, timestamped record aligned to the standards that apply to it — the TPR General Code for pension trustees, CC3 for charities, KCSIE and Ofsted expectations for schools, and the UK Corporate Governance Code for companies. Every decision, action, and supporting paper is captured as you work, so demonstrating a prudent process is straightforward when a regulator, auditor, or member asks.

Knowa is ISO 27001 certified, with UK-based data hosting, enterprise-grade encryption (TLS 1.3 and AES-256), and role-based access with full audit logs. The boards using Knowa hold members' pensions, children's safeguarding, and donors' money — so security is the foundation, not a feature. Knowa never uses your data to train AI models.

How long does it take to get set up?

Most boards are up and running quickly, with no IT project required. Onboarding, data migration, and training are handled as part of the subscription, and a new trustee or governor can be brought fully up to speed in an afternoon rather than over months.

Can advisers and clerks manage multiple boards in one place?

Yes. EBCs, professional trustee firms, clerks, and company secretaries can run multiple boards or entities from a single platform — every committee, scheme, or subsidiary kept in its own secure, ringfenced space. It's how advisers scale their book without scaling headcount.

Board Governance Platform for the People Behind the Decision

For the people
Behind the decision

Board papers, minutes, decisions and actions, connected in one secure place.

Find answers in your record, work with your colleagues and manage the decisions, risks and actions that support your organisation.

1,000+Boards on the platform

£300bnAssets under governance

Eight people around a board table that flows into a path connecting a school, a workplace and neighbours outside a community centre.

Smart Vault · Knowa Q

Put your collective knowledge to work.

Keep documents, policies and decision history in Smart Vault. Ask Knowa Q questions across the record, with source references you can check.

Smart Vault
Knowa Q
Decision history

Keep the knowledge when people change

New board members and colleagues can find the history behind earlier decisions.

Explore knowledge and AI →

Knowa Q product example with a question, answer and source documents. — Product example with sample content · Select for a larger view

Collaboration Space

Keep the conversation with the decision.

Bring discussions, comments, votes and approvals into shared spaces. Work with colleagues and advisers between meetings, with the relevant document and decision close by.

Discussions
Votes and approvals
Shared spaces

Work across boards, committees and teams

Give each group a space for its work, with access set for the people who need it.

Explore collaboration →

Knowa collaboration product example showing a vote, comments and a shared document. — Product example with sample content · Select for a larger view

Connected modules

Keep responsibilities and evidence in view.

Manage risks, conflicts, training and open actions together. Keep the supporting documents and discussion close to the work.

One record across the work

Review what needs attention, who is responsible and the evidence behind each item.

Explore the governance tools →

Connected governance tools

Risk registerAssessments, owners and review dates
Conflicts registerDeclarations and review records
Action trackerActions, owners and progress
Training & CPDLearning records and supporting evidence

Keep each tool connected to the supporting record.

Meeting Flow · Knowa Verse · Action Tracker

Bring the meeting and the follow-up together.

Prepare the agenda and papers, use Knowa Verse to draft minutes for review, then keep decisions and actions with their owners and due dates.

Meeting Flow
Knowa Verse
Action Tracker

Know what happens next

Review the draft, agree the record and track progress on the actions that follow.

Explore meetings and actions →

Knowa Verse product example connecting an agenda, transcript and draft minutes. — Product example with sample content · Select for a larger view

Documents, conversations, decisions and actions stay connected. AI supports the work; people review the sources and make the decisions.

Rated 4.9 / 5 by the people who actually use it.

Verified reviews across Capterra, Software Advice, and G2 — written by the trustees, secretaries, and chairs who work in Knowa every day.

Ease of use 4.8 · Customer service 5.0

Excellence. Every year.

Capterra

Best Ease of Use

2023202420252026

Software Advice

Best Customer Support

2023202420252026

Software Advice

Most Recommended

2023202420252026

For the people
Behind the decision

Find Knowa for your organisation.

Pension funds

Not-for-Profit

Schools

Family offices

Companies