Corporate Governance
Nonprofit & Educational Corporate Governance
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Peter Drucker shared this observation 30 years ago, and it remains true today. Having both led large not for profits on the executive and governance side of things, I appreciate how the relationship with culture and strategy must be holistic to be successful.
- Mission-Driven Focus
- Financial Stewardship
- Continuous Improvement
- Transparency & Accountability
I’ll take you through identifying opportunities to harness community tradition and culture to accentuate and bolster the partnership between a board and an executive director in advancing the institution. This approach includes both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analytics from across a community so that the institution can better understand community perception and the interconnectedness of different systems. Essential to corporate governance is appreciation and coaching around both multi-year strategic and multiyear financial planning to ensure the institution’s ongoing success. I’ll take you through the most effective approaches to develop and implement long term planning.
Successful not for profits typically have dedicated boards who are champions for the institution, providing time, talent and treasure – or two out of the three – to advance mission and impact. I’ll help you identify aspects of culture that can be refined for more forward planning and systems based decision making. Having led several different board redesign and development plans, I can advise you on designing a robust pipeline of individuals to serve as fiduciaries for your organization.
Increasingly, over the last few years, institutions have identified engaging authentically, empathetically and respectfully around inclusion and bias are essential. No significant review of corporate governance is complete without a comprehensive review of the institution’s approach to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice and Belonging ( D E I J B). I’ve had the privilege to be integrally involved in leading institutional redesign around D E I J B, both as a board president, a Head of School and as a senior D E I J B officer for a large school. Having been a leader in this conversation for almost thirty years, I can bring that perspective and thoughtfulness to conversation with your institutional constituencies.
Studies demonstrate that the more diverse a community’s leadership, the more successful that institution is; different experiences and perspectives inspire a generative gestalt. My experience has taught me that an effective approach to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice and Belonging leverages individual story telling, identity marking and strategies designed to hone community and cohesive value systems.
Non profit and school board development
Over the last three decades, I’ve served in every officer role on respected not for profit and public agency boards – President, vice-president, secretary and treasurer- in addition to audit committee chair and governance committee chair. I’ll bring my expertise and understanding to advise you on refining synergy and common vision on boards. I’ll take you through using institutional storytelling to identify what is sacred and vital to an institution’s mission. Board members are asked to use a highly unique survey on board culture and our strategic missioning survey to launch the process.