The New Standard in Board Governance Training
The Challenge
Non-profit boards of directors are indispensable in guiding organizations to success, delivering on their missions, and achieving positive outcomes for communities. The skills and expertise of a board’s directors are crucial to its collective impact. Yet many boards do not have the capacity to train their directors in a comprehensive, efficient way, and many directors are constrained by their schedules and limited access to resources. Improperly trained directors have many implications for a board: inefficient processes, reduced community impact, and strains on trust and commitment from funders.
Capacity Canada's ModernBoard
With ModernBoard, you will have access to unique and comprehensive online training from non-profit board governance experts. The two-course online training includes multi-media guidance through video lectures, reading materials, and journaling opportunities to reflect on your personal experience with board roles, responsibilities, and more! Not only will you walk away with insight into the basic knowledge of effective board members and the specific concerns you may face, but ModernBoard will also provide you with the valuable accreditation necessary to demonstrate your board governance capacity. In addition to accreditation from Capacity Canada, you will also earn a micro-credential in partnership with Conestoga College’s continuing education program. Don’t miss out, join ModernBoard, and register today.
Meet the Creator & Author of Modern Board
Lead Creator and Author of ModernBoard, Susan Radwan is an expert in Non-Profit Governance. Her background includes significant experience not only in the non-profit sector but also in insurance, risk management, and education. Radwan holds a B.A. in Communication Arts, and a M.E.d. in Individualized Instruction, which she has attributed to her success in governance education.
Radwan has over two decades of experience, running Leading Edge Mentoring, a non-profit leadership and governance consulting firm, since 1996. She is a Certified Association Executive (CAE) and Associate in Risk Management. In addition, Susan’s long list of accomplishments include holding certifications in Spiral Dynamics and Gold Mastery Certifications in Strategic Management and Systems, and Strategic Thinking. Capacity Canada is beyond pleased to work with Susan in the creation of ModernBoard.
“Modern Board will create change and fuel innovation in non-profit boards. The multiple courses in the program are unique, engaging, and multimodal."
ModernBoard Key Features
- Online learning allows for a flexible schedule
- Increased board governance capacity
- Gain tools/skills required to help drive boards to their goals
- Develop an understanding of board governance best practices
- Gain the confidence to approach board positions
- DEI training
- Continuous support from Capacity Canada
- Live coaching webinars
- Best practices from industry experts
- Multimedia; video, readings, journaling
- Professional development
Testimonials
“The Essentials of Governing course provided valuable information that will help our Charity's Board of Directors to leverage its time and energy where it can best serve the organization.”
“Modern Board is a brilliant offering by Capacity Canada to build capacity in board leadership. As an individual with board experience, I had significant, applicable takeaways that provoked thought and ideas. This program provides learning from the well-developed content right through to peer learning and feedback. I would highly recommend this program.”
“Having the subject matter presented with a combination of video lectures, articles to read and journaling really enhanced the virtual learning experience. The Conestoga College online course platform also gave me a great deal of flexibility in scheduling my learning sessions.”
“The course material examines relevant topics that directly impact our experiences and relationships not only on the board but also outside of the boardroom and in the workplace. It provides the tools that are required to create a thriving future.”
“ I started this course as a relatively experienced Board Member. It rapidly became clear to me that I had much to learn about how a modern board should run and the significant responsibilities I had taken on. This course has allowed me to fill in many of these gaps ... but only practice, commitment, and passion will allow me to fully realize the benefits! The journey continues!”
"Thanks, Susan and the team at Capacity Canada and Conestoga for another excellent course! This has been really helpful to me as I hope to become a not-for-profit ED/CEO and look forward to having a rewarding, productive and supportive partnership with a kick-ass board."
"I highly recommend this course and the precursor - Essentials of Board Governance - to board members. It has certainly expanded and informed my understanding of what an effective board can be and this last section on exploring trends has been most helpful."
Course Information FAQs
- Essentials Course is expected to be completed within 10 weeks of the start date
- Advanced Course is expected to be completed within 10 weeks of the start date
- Can learn at anytime of the day
- We hold virtual orientation night on the start date of the courses ( one hour in length)
- There will be quizzes during the course
- Yes, all materials are downloadable. Please just site Capacity Canada as your source of material
- Videos are downloadable as well and can be listened two offline like a Podcast
- Once registered, within 24 hours the Conestoga Register Officer will email your login Condor ID and Default Password
- All Passwords MUST be equal to or greater than 16 characters. Contain both upper case and lower-case letters, as well as numbers and special characters (#,$,% etc) NOT contain any part of your first or last name or login name.
- About three and a half hours per week (approximately one hour per module)
- There are no fixed class times
- Essentials course is expected to be completed within 10 weeks of the start date ( approx. 30 hours)
- Advanced Course is expected to be completed within 10 weeks of the start date( approx. 30 hours)
- You will receive a micro-credential certificate on successful completion of both courses
- A certificate of completion will be provided for the successful completion of one course
- No, the second course is $495
- No, the Essentials course is a prerequisite for the Advanced Course
- Please log into your student portal using your login credentials: https://studentportal.conestogac.on.ca/StudentPortal/Default.aspx
- Go to the Grades Tab: Courses are organized by program and session. Grades will be displayed as they become available.
- This page lets you view all course enrolments and grades and print your achievement report.
Essentials of Governing
Course One is offered twice in 2024 (March and September)
Course One
Essentials of GoverningCourse One is offered twice in 2024 ( March and September)
Course Begins September 9th, 2024
Registration opens July 22nd, 2024
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Six Course Included
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Online Support
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Approx 30 hours in length
Eight week course completed at your own pace.
Unit 1: What is a Board and How Does it Work?
- Module 1: The Nature and Privilege of Serving on a board
- Module 2: Types of Boards
- Module 3: The Board as a Collective
- Module 4: The Role of the Board
Unit 2: Role and Responsibilities of the Board
- Module 1: Individual Board Member Rights and Responsibilities
- Module 2: Roles and Responsibilities of the Board
- Module 3: Specific Concerns of the Board
- Module 4: Modes of Governance
Unit 3: The Board Process
- Module 1: The Board’s Agenda
- Module 2: How to Prepare for a Board Meeting
- Module 3: Participating in a Board Meeting
- Module 4: The role of the Board Chair
- Module 5: Board/Staff Relations
Unit 4: You in a Group Process
- Module 1: Build Your Credibility on the Board
- Module 2: How to be Powerful in a Group Process
- Module 3: How To Hold Tension When You Disagree With Someone
- Module 4: Dealing with Conflict
- Module 5: Modeling Board-Building Behaviours
- Module 6: Being Intentional in Board Deliberation
Unit 5: Successful Committee Service
- Module 1: Successful Committee Service
- Module 2: Chairing a Committee
- Module 3: Managing Projects of a Committee
- Module 4 Creating Accountability in Committee work
Unit 6: Getting Started- Planning Your First Steps
- Module 1: Where Do I Begin
- Module 2: Applying for Service
Advanced Board Governance
Course Two is Offered once in 2024
Ten week course completed at your own pace.
Course Two
Advanced Board GovernanceCourse Begins January 6, 2025
Registration opens November 2024
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Six Course Included
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Online Support
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Approx 30 hours in length
Recap
- Module 1: Individual Board Member Rights and Responsibilities
- Module 2: Roles and Responsibilities of the Board
- Module 3: Specific Concerns of the Board
- Module 4: Modes of Governance
Section 1 contains eight modules:
- Module 1: Understanding the Organization’s Financial Statements
- Module 2: The Board and Fundraising
- Module 3: Developing Broad Board Policy
- Module 4: Getting to Generative Thinking as the Board’s Culture
- Module 5: Preparing for a Strategic Planning Process
- Module 6: Evaluating Your CEO
- Module 7: Preparing for a CEO Search
- Module 8: Designing Your Board Orientation Process
Section 2 contains seven modules:
- Module 1: Identifying Your Organization’s Stage of Development
- Module 2: Examining Your Assumptions About the Organization and Its Future
- Module 3: Thinking about Social Enterprise
- Module 4: Scanning the Future External Environment
- Module 5: Converting Your Scanning Results into a Solid Plan for Action
- Module 6: Executing Your Strategic Plan
- Module 7: Measuring What Matters
Section 3 contains four modules:
- Module 1: The Board As a Critical Source of Leadership
- Module 2: Your Organization is Part of a Larger System
- Module 3: Strategic Alliances
- Module 4: Initiating Whole System Thinking
Section 4 contains four modules:
- Module 1: Preparing for Your First Meeting as Board Chair
- Module 2: Building Your Meeting Agenda & Creating the Board Packet
- Module 3: Facilitating a Meeting
- Module 4: Keeping Momentum as a Governing Board
Section 5 contains five modules:
- Module 1: Assess Inclusivity in Board Work
- Module 2: Recognize their own Implicit Bias
- Module 3: Create Emotional, Social, and Moral Safety in a Group Setting
- Module 4: Creating the Culture Appropriate to Achieve Feminist Governance, Part 1
- Module 5: Creating the Culture Appropriate to Achieve Feminist Governance, Part 2
Section 6 contains two modules:
- Module 1: The landscape of Non-profits
- Module 2: Impact Investing
Questions?
If you have any questions about the program or are interested in enrolling a group, please contact:
Andrew Wilding at [email protected] or call 866-317-1992 x2.
Academic Partner
Sponsor Partner
