Board Chairs and Governance Committees: Teleconference

This teleconference series, presented in partnership with BoardSource, will explore best practices (and problems and pitfalls) of board chairs and governance committees.  Foundation board chairs, board members, governance committee members, and CEOs are encouraged to participate to learn about the governance practices of other organizations and explore whether there are ways to improve your board’s performance.

Part I: Board Chairs
(Download the audio recording, 14.68 Mb)

What do we know about the critical success factors of board chairs? What are the common problems and pitfalls that board leaders encounter, and how do they resolve them? Most of us probably feel that our board chair and board are functioning at a high level of effectiveness. Listen to this conference call recording to learn more about whether there are additional strategies that your Board Chair could employ to further benefit your board. Topics covered include the basics of board leadership and style (e.g., chair roles and responsibilities; meeting management; reporting requirements; CEO compensation and review; and dealing with conflict). Agenda:

  1. Overview of Discussion
  2. Key Roles of Board Chairs
  3. Board Chair Relationship to CEO
  4. Responsibilities Shared with CEO
  5. Meeting Management
  6. Tips for Success
    • Be open, constructive, fair, and thoughtful.
    • Set the tone and culture within board.
    • Keep abreast of issues.
    • Make it safe for CEO to discuss difficult issues.
    • Assess board/ individual member performance.
    • Seize the opportunity to inspire and motivate.

Part II: Governance Committees 
(Download the audio recording, 13.38 Mb)

Your foundation has a governance committee, but is it too narrowly defined? Too often governance committees focus solely on getting more board members, rather than on getting the right board members or on ways to strengthen a board's performance. Understanding the unique role a vibrant governance committee can play, as well as finding the right mix of members and the right structure, are just as, if not more, important than filling the seats. Topics covered include: term limits, board assessment, ad hoc committees, board member transitions, and dealing with sensitive issues.  Agenda:

  1. Overview of Discussion
  2. Moving from “Nominating” to “Governance”
  3. Roles of the Governance Committee
  4. Composition of Committee
  5. Tips for Success
    • Keep the governance committee active, not reactive.
    • Work well with the board chair and CEO/ED.
    • Use retreats for thoughtful contemplation of important issues and board bonding.
    • Focus on prospect identification and recruitment early and often.
    • Know the organization’s opportunities and challenges.

SPEAKER BIOS

Doreen E. Boyce is the president of the Buhl Foundation in Pittsburgh. Dr. Boyce has served on the Board of Directors of the Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania and was elected its first President in 1984. Dr. Boyce is past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Franklin and Marshall College. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Independent Colleges and of the Carnegie Institute, and has served on a number of task forces and committees at the state, national and international level. Her business interests include service on the Board of Directors of DQE and Duquesne Light Company and of Dollar Bank, FSB.
Dr. Boyce is a graduate of the University of Oxford, where she attended Somerville College and specialized in development economics. Her Ph.D. is from the University of Pittsburgh where she received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in Higher Education in 1984 and the Bicentennial Medallion of Distinction in 1987. In 2004, she was named a University Laureate.

Deborah S. Hechinger is the president and CEO of BoardSource and a BoardSource senior consultant. Debbie joined BoardSource in October 2003, after serving as executive vice president of the World Wildlife Fund, a large international conservation organization where she was responsible for all fundraising, marketing, communication, and operations activities. Prior to joining the World Wildlife Fund in 1994, Debbie was Deputy Comptroller as well as Director of the Securities and Corporate Practices Division at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and held senior executive positions in the Division of Enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In addition to her extensive national and international experience, Debbie also has held key leadership positions on the boards of Sidwell Friends School and the Children's National Medical Center, and has served on the boards of the Washington Scholarship Fund and the Black Student Fund. Debbie served as a co-convener of the Governance and Fiduciary Responsibilities work group, one of five task force groups comprised under the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector. Debbie received a B.A. from Brown University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.