Board Role and Responsibilities
Our Board of Directors is comprised of a diverse group of concerned and interested professionals, family members, self-advocates and community members who share Community Living Renfrew County South’s vision of an inclusive community.
Along with our Volunteers, the Board is supported by an Executive Director and 105 staff members.
Our vision, program priorities and operational plans are all set by the Standing Committees of the Board. These committees include:
- Community Relations and Fund Raising
- Finance
- Personnel
- Properties Management
- Self-Advocates
- Strategic Planning
From time to time, the Board may establish other special committees to carry out specific tasks or to assist in meeting specified program goals.
Meet Our Board of Directors
The Board’s role in achieving Community Living Renfrew County Souths’ (CLRCS) mission is as follows:
- Plays a role in achieving the mission and supporting success as appropriate to local needs. CLRCS serves a range of populations including equity-seeking communities. It is essential that the Board of Directors represent the communities it serves in order to give voice to community needs.
- Provides governance to the organization to ensure that its operations are compliant with regulations, financial accountability, and responsibilities to employees and to the people we serve;
- Assists in guiding the strategic direction of the organization to best serve the interests of people that are supported;
- Provides a forum for management to discuss organizational challenges;
- Provides the benefit of Board members’ experience in discussion of operational issues and;
- Provides an annual written assessment of the performance of the Executive Director and;
- Serve no more than four consecutive terms of two years each.
The Board’s role is NOT to become involved in daily operations. That is the domain of the Executive Director and the Management team. The Executive Director is accountable to the Board, but daily operations are Management’s responsibility.
Typically a Board Member’s role includes the following duties and responsibilities:
- attendance at monthly Board meetings (in person or virtually) at which the Executive Director provides an operational update, and various committees report to the Board;
- participation on a committee of the Board. Current committees include Finance, Human Resources Management, Strategic Planning, Community Relations and Fundraising, Facilities Management, and Self-Advocates; and
- Board meetings occur monthly (excempting December, July and August) and committee meetings would be on the same frequency, or less depending on the committee. However, The Finance Committee meets 11 times throughout the year.
Criteria for Selection of Board Members
The Board of Directors is a group of individuals that collectively bring knowledge and experience gained from working or volunteering in a variety of private and public sectors including developmental services. The Board should be representative of its community’s demographic and ensure that inclusion and diversity are represented in its structure and representation. The following competencies apply to the selection of Board members:
- Members are committed and focussed on our mission;
- Members should have the proven ability to communicate constructively and actively and express their opinions with thoughtfulness and candor;
- Members should be self aware and skillfully manage their emotions especially when faced with conflict and confrontation;
- Diverse opinions and perspectives are valued in the pursuit of well-informed, fact based decisions supporting the management of CLRCS;
- Ethical integrity and trustworthiness are behaviours on display at all times; and
- Confidentiality of discussions should be respected as the Board speaks with one voice.
The Board is currently seeking people potentially interested in serving on the Board, to create a pool of candidates. The Board recognizes the value of diversity, and wishes to include candidates as representative of our communities as possible. As well, people who bring skills in Finance, Human Resources Management, Facilities Management, Information Technology, Legal, Executive Management, Organizational operations and support of people with disabilities will all be of value to current and future needs to sustain effective governance.
A role on this Board can be a very satisfying way to give something back to the community. Current Board members come from many career backgrounds, and many have served for a long time. The Board culture is collaborative and inclusive, and the relationship with the Management team is strong. If you would like to be considered for a Director’s role, or have additional quesitons, please contact the CLRCS Executive Director at commliving@clrcs.com.
