About

Governance and how we work

How ADP makes decisions, ensures its independence from any single firm or funder, and sustains itself financially — published openly so the field can hold us accountable.

How standards are developed

ADP’s standards are developed by practitioner-led working groups, not by ADP staff. Each standard begins with a charter — a short public document agreed by the working group covering the scope, competencies, audience, and timeline.

Working groups are composed of practising professionals in the relevant field. Members are recruited through an open call, and composition is published. Groups include people from multiple regions, multiple types of organisation (NGO, government, multilateral, academic, private), and at least one practitioner from a context the standard is explicitly written for.

Drafting is iterative. A first draft is reviewed inside the working group, then opened for public consultation under an open licence. Feedback windows are advertised publicly; substantive contributions are credited in the published edition. The final body of knowledge is approved by the working group, reviewed against ADP’s standards committee criteria, and published with a changelog.

Independence and conflicts of interest

ADP is structurally independent from the trainers it accredits and the exam partner it works with. The relationships are deliberately separated:

  • ADP develops standards and accredits trainers.
  • certN designs and delivers the examinations independently.
  • Accredited trainers prepare candidates but do not write or mark exams.

This separation is enforced in policy. Members of the standards committee may not hold a paid role in a trainer organisation while serving. Working-group members declare interests at the start of each charter and recuse themselves from decisions where a conflict exists.

ADP publishes a conflict-of-interest policy and a register of declared interests. Both are reviewed annually by the board. If a conflict cannot be resolved by recusal, the member steps down from the relevant decision.

Board and leadership

ADP’s board provides strategic direction, approves the budget, appoints the standards committee, and is accountable for the institution’s financial and ethical conduct.

ADP’s board is being constituted. Composition will be published here once appointments are complete, including names, declared affiliations, term lengths, and committee memberships. Until then, decisions follow the interim governance arrangements agreed by the founding members; significant decisions are documented and will be open for review by the incoming board.

The board meets at least quarterly. Decisions of constitutional importance — changes to the standards process, board composition, or financial policy — require a two-thirds majority. Minutes of board decisions are published on this page.

Funding model

ADP is funded through three streams, in declining order of preference:

  • Trainer accreditation fees. Trainers pay an annual fee tied to tier. These fees fund the accreditation process, the public directory, and the institutional infrastructure that maintains the standards.
  • Grants and partnership funding. ADP accepts restricted grants for specific standards development work, working-group convening, and translation. Grants are accepted only where the funder agrees that the resulting body of knowledge will be published under an open licence and that funder representation in the working group does not exceed an agreed share.
  • Donations from individuals and organisations. ADP accepts unrestricted donations. All donations above a published threshold are disclosed in the annual report.

ADP does not accept funding that requires keeping the body of knowledge proprietary, that restricts who may sit the examination, or that gives a single funder control over a standard’s content.

A summary financial statement is published annually with revenue by stream, expenditure by category, and a list of named funders above the disclosure threshold.

ADP is being constituted as a non-profit professional body. Legal entity name, registration country, and registration number will be published here once incorporation is complete.

For correspondence about ADP’s legal status — including for due-diligence requests from donors and partners — write to info@adp-international.org.