Family Business Network (FBN) Asia is the Asia-Pacific chapter of FBN International, dedicated to supporting and connecting family enterprises across the region. Based in Singapore, FBN Asia focuses on strengthening its presence in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand.
FBN Asia envisions a vibrant community where family enterprises are empowered to thrive, transform, and forge a sustainable legacy. It brings this to life by fostering a collaborative environment that unites progressive business leaders and industry experts through development programs, capacity-building initiatives, and knowledge-sharing sessions.
To deepen ties with leading family enterprises in the region, FBN Asia needed to streamline processes to engage members more effectively and deliver consistent value. It recognized that retaining manual workflows and fragmented communication tools would not close critical gaps, and sought a more integrated, secure, and scalable solution.
After a thorough evaluation of nonprofit board portals, FBN Asia selected Convene for its ease of use, strong security, robust governance capabilities, and cost-effectiveness—meeting all their key criteria in one solution.
Rena Chai, Executive Director at FBN Asia, shared their evaluation process: “I was looking for a tool that is easy to use, as many of our board members are not comfortable with digital tools. The other features we looked for are voting tools with instant results and a seamless board resolution approval process. Lastly, we wanted to have all board documents in one place with proper security features. As a nonprofit, the price of the software is a huge consideration as well. Many of the tools have similar features, so when comparing the various platforms, the decision factor comes down to price.”
Seamless Board Operations, Faster Approvals and Resolutions
Since adopting Convene in 2023, FBN Asia has implemented leaner processes for membership approvals, board meetings, and resolutions. Board members no longer rely on email chains or shared drives to track record approvals and retrieve meeting notes. Additionally, Convene centralized all board materials in one platform, empowering FBN Asia to conduct formal board activities with greater efficiency, accuracy, and compliance across all governance levels.
The transition to Convene primarily focused on user adoption, as many board members had limited experience with digital tools. With structured onboarding from the Convene support team and the platform’s intuitive design, FBN Asia experienced a smooth and seamless implementation.
Today, Convene is embedded in FBN Asia’s nonprofit governance workflow. Rena explained, “We use Convene tools regularly for membership approval by the board, for weekly and quarterly board meetings, and every 1-2 months for board resolutions. It’s been the platform we use to run any formal approval of membership and board meetings.”
Secure, Anonymous Voting with Convene’s Secret Ballot Feature
One of the most valuable features for FBN Asia is the secret ballot—a secure, anonymous voting method that allows board members to cast their votes on sensitive matters without bias or pressure. Convene guarantees confidentiality, encourages honest input, and facilitates more democratic decision-making during critical board resolutions and elections.
Rena added, “The secret ballot feature was a great one. We used it several times for the nomination of the board of directors and chairman. It shows instant results, which is great to help us to run the meeting more effectively.”
By digitizing its governance processes, FBN Asia now ensures greater transparency, faster decision-making, and improved stakeholder engagement.
“No More Email Chains“: Convene’s Impact on FBN Asia
For FBN Asia, “[Convene] is a great effective tool to help us to manage our board documents, approval process, and board meetings much more seamlessly. No more email chains or struggles to find records and board meeting notes. It saves us a lot of time.”
Convene’s transformative impact on FBN Asia has led the nonprofit to recommend the board portal solution within its network of family enterprises. “We have recommended Convene to a number of our family businesses that have a board of directors,” Rena said.
FBN Asia’s success with Convene demonstrates how adopting technology can empower nonprofits to build stronger, future-ready governance practices. Embrace digital board management like FBN Asia—Book a free demo with Convene.