Board of directors – n : the governing body of a corporation, responsible from a legal and fiduciary perspective for overseeing the activities and behavior of the CEO and other corporate officers on behalf of the company’s shareholders. Typically comprised of several individuals (“directors”), commonly including the CEO, perhaps one other employee/founder, as well as multiple outside directors (nonemployees) to represent investor shareholders and/or to provide industry knowledge and connections and/or general business experience to the company’s executive team. Boards are commonly comprised of an odd number of members in order to avoid the potential for tie votes. Often simply referred to as the board; sometimes abbreviated as BOD or BoD.

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Adapted from "The CompanyCrafters Entrepreneur's Dictionary"
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