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Capacity Canada’s Board Governance BootCamp heads to Hamilton for the first time this fall.
The program, which helps the leaders of charitable non-profits better understand the roles of boards and administrations, has been held annually in Waterloo Region since 2009.
With the assistance of local partners, Capacity has been taking the BootCamp to other communities in the past 11 months: Fort McMurray, Alta., last November, and St. John’s, N.L. in May 2016.
“Boards and administrations have separate but complementary roles, and organizations excel when those distinctions are respected and strengthened,” said Cathy Brothers, Capacity’s chief executive officer. “Being on a board means having a clear understanding of your responsibilities. The days of showing up for meetings to simply cast a vote and go home are long gone.”
The Hamilton BootCamp will be held Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in partnership with The Cowan Foundation and United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton. The venue is the Sheraton Hamilton Hotel, 116 King St. W.
Led by a faculty of governance experts, the program covers a lot of ground over two full days. Topics include legislative changes affecting boards; what terms such as “duty of care” really mean, and why organizations should recruit volunteer board members with the same thoroughness they apply to replacing paid staff.
Case studies highlight some of the governance challenges organizations often face.
A few months after the weekend session, BootCamp participants reconvene to compare notes on a homework assignment. They have to apply the training from the BootCamp to real governance challenges facing their boards and administrations.
So, how do these BootCamps take remarkable organizations and turn them into outstanding organizations? With the leadership of outstanding faculty.
For Hamilton, we’ve lined up:
• Don McCreesh, past chair of Imagine Canada and a chartered director of The Directors College. He is one of the country’s leading experts in the area of governance and leadership in the charitable not-for-profit sector.
• Fred Galloway, president of F.J. Galloway Associates of London, Ont. He provides non-profits and municipal organizations with a range of services, from governance and strategic planning to structural reviews and executive searches.
• Susan Radwan, an organizational consultant whose background includes risk management and strategic planning. She coaches boards of all types and writes frequently on the topic of governance.
• Jessica Jaremchuk, a regional manager with Frank Cowan Company, which provides insurance services for such organizations as municipalities and school boards. Jaremchuk is often called on to speak about risk management.
Mark Chamberlain, a well-known entrepreneur and social innovator in Hamilton, will give the keynote address at the BootCamp reception Sept. 29. Chamberlain leads a number of companies, including PV Labs and Trivaris Ltd. PV Labs develops airborne optical systems; Trivaris is a venture capital and private equity company.
But he is also a passionate liveable-city advocate, encouraging Hamilton to keep adding bikeways, light rail and other amenities that reduce traffic and get people outdoors. Bike For Mike, an annual campaign in memory of his son, promotes cycling as a leisure and commuting activity. Mike Bikes, a related program, provides bikes and cycling gear for children in Hamilton.
Expert instruction, plenty of roll-up-your-sleeves table work, and an inspirational speaker to start things off: BootCamp weekends are busy, indeed.
And it doesn’t end when somebody turns off the lights in the hall Sunday night.
Participants get free access to a training app developed by Capacity Canada and Axonify, an e-learning company based in Waterloo, Ont. Through a series of short quizzes, the app reinforces governance lessons learned on the weekend.
Organizations interested in the BootCamp can register here.
Capacity’s Manulife Board Governance BootCamp — the legacy program — has also been scheduled. It will be held Nov. 17-19 at the Holiday Inn on Fairway Road, Kitchener. The follow-up session and graduation is set for Jan. 26, 2017.
Watch this blog space for more about that in a few weeks.
