Board Structure

GOVERN for IMPACT (GOVERN) is governed by a minimum of five and no more than eight-member (plus up to two associates) board of directors serving 3-year terms. Members of the Board of Directors may serve up to two consecutive terms and may be re-elected after one year has passed since their last term ended.

Board Responsibilities and Expectations

Board members are ultimately accountable to GOVERN’s legal and moral owners for making a wise translation of their best interests to ensure the fulfillment of their purpose. Board members are expected to act in accordance with all of the board’s policies and to carry out their work in the manner expressed in the board’s Code of Conduct policy as contained in the board’s policy manual. The policy manual is available upon request by contacting: [email protected]

Board members are expected to:

1. Attend the two-hour teleconference board meeting which takes place on the first Tuesday of every month.  The time is fixed so that it takes place no earlier than 7 am anywhere a board member lives. There is also an in-person board meeting at GOVERN’s annual conference, attendance at which may be subject to modest reimbursement of expenses incurred in attending.
2. Be willing to take on specific roles (e.g. taking on specific projects, serving on ad hoc committees, monitoring summation, etc.) to further the board’s work between meetings.
3. Be willing to consider taking on a leadership role on the board.
4. Be willing to participate in board directed ownership linkage work including member recruitment.
   
   

Desirable Board Member Characteristics

We seek candidates who offer the membership a range of perspectives and backgrounds, for example in the form of:

• Understanding of a variety of cultures
• Support of equity, diversity, inclusion and justice values
• Experience of using Policy Governance in a variety of settings
• Age and gender balance,
• Geographic diversity

 Desirable characteristics for board members include:

• Understanding and commitment to the role of trustee, fidelity to the ownership and commitment to the general mission
• Propensity to think in terms of systems and context
• Ability and eagerness to deal with values, vision and the long-term
• Ability and willingness to participate assertively in deliberation and abide by the intent of established policies
• Willingness to share power in group process, and to delegate areas of decision-making to staff.
• Demonstrated excellence in Policy Governance